Errors,Not enough hard drive space and more HELP! pls..moms pc

[cherylholmes]

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I am also trying to fix Mom's PC. Her PC keeps saying "not enough disk space" and the screen pops up to delete temporary files etc. So I do that, then the screen pops up again and again. I have also run all the scans on this machine which is pretty new. Her hd shows it's full even though there is hardly anything on it...her desktop icons will all the sudden start opening up all over the place (intermittently), says no mouse sometimes on bootup, locks up, will not defrag, scan disk, allow any downloads (no disk space). I can't find any worms, viruses, trojans or anything wrong except it also isn't recognizing her CD Rom and is also recognizing a 5-1/4" floppy which she doesn't have.

I have done everything I know to do...as I am a pretty advanced user I think...and I have run all sorts of scans...am thinking I will do an FDisk and reload everything...her PC is in worse condition than mine and mine has so much stuff on it that I need. I figured we somehow picked up a trojan or something that none of of av's, firewalls, scan are detecting...have talked to several ppl all having the same issues in the last week...

Any ideas? Thks so much for your help...Cheryl :cry: :cry:

[dlh6213]

Hi Cheryl and welcome to DaniWeb!

I haven't heard of any pests that make the computer show the hard drive as being full when it isn't -- but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. If anyone here knows of any, let us know! What size is the drive and what are some of the programs she has on it? (To help determine if it really is full or not)

It seems odd that you both are showing the 5-1/4 drive, perhaps there is some pest causing this. Try the suggestions in your other post (http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread11018.html) from bentkey for this as well as the CD-ROM.

Make sure your mouse is connected firmly and/or try another mouse to see if that helps.

Most of the other problems you listed could be caused by insufficient hard drive space so that problem needs to be resolved first.

[DMR]

Her hd shows it's full even though there is hardly anything on it

What is the size of the drive?

When you say there is hardly anything on it, how are you determining the actual size of the disk space occupied by whatever is installed?

[cherylholmes]

Thks so much for your help. I believe there is some adware or something continaully writing to mom's hard drive. Her computer is new, an oem with an amd processor, but I can't remember which one. She has a 40 gig hd with only win 98se, sbc's dsl, msn instant messenger, av, spybot,and a printer on it. She should have tons of hd space but I do suspect something is writing to it, even though I can't figure out what. It is now unusable because the out of hard drive space pops up all the time and doesn't allow her to do a thing on it.

I am going to FDISK it in a little while, but I want to chk her bios first. My thought is to set everything to "fail safe"
Would this be ok? Anything else I should do in it prior to an FDISK? I will make sure the CD is at "AUTO DETECT"

Will dl Belarc Advisor to it when I get it all done too so I will have the answers to such questions as yours if I need them again too. Any other suggestions?

I'm very sorry I didn't respond sooner...I am an animal rescuer and got tied up for several days in a project. Thks so much for your welcome and for all your help and assistance..cheryl

Hi Cheryl and welcome to DaniWeb!

I haven't heard of any pests that make the computer show the hard drive as being full when it isn't -- but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. If anyone here knows of any, let us know! What size is the drive and what are some of the programs she has on it? (To help determine if it really is full or not)

It seems odd that you both are showing the 5-1/4 drive, perhaps there is some pest causing this. Try the suggestions in your other post (http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread11018.html) from bentkey for this as well as the CD-ROM.

Make sure your mouse is connected firmly and/or try another mouse to see if that helps.

Most of the other problems you listed could be caused by insufficient hard drive space so that problem needs to be resolved first.

[dlh6213]

First of all I'm curious, where did you find a new computer with Windows 98?

Before you fdisk and format, make sure you back up any data on there that she want to keep. If it's new, there probably isn't much.

You will want to set your hard drives to Auto Detect as well, not just the CD.

Since she's using DSL, I would recommend getting a hardware firewall before going online to update Windows (which should be your first step after all the drivers are installed). Otherwise she most likely will be reinfested before she can get updated. I've been through that with a Window 2000 install and it's pretty frustrating.

Hope this helps some.

Oh, and I doubt very much if the hard drive is full, there must be some pest causing that message to come up.

[cherylholmes]

First of all I'm curious, where did you find a new computer with Windows 98?

Before you fdisk and format, make sure you back up any data on there that she want to keep. If it's new, there probably isn't much.

You will want to set your hard drives to Auto Detect as well, not just the CD.

Since she's using DSL, I would recommend getting a hardware firewall before going online to update Windows (which should be your first step after all the drivers are installed). Otherwise she most likely will be reinfested before she can get updated. I've been through that with a Window 2000 install and it's pretty frustrating.

Hope this helps some.

Oh, and I doubt very much if the hard drive is full, there must be some pest causing that message to come up.

Thks DLH!
She is hooked up to my router and behind a firewall but something got through it...and is obviously writing like crazy to her HD. I will check and make sure the CD rom and HD are set to auto detect before I do anything on hers...

Oh, We have OEM computers made by a local company that we purchased without an operating system since we have all our own software. I just did the software install. No, I know you don't buy a PC with Win 98se anymore lol and I have been very reluctant to go XP yet...even though I hear a lot less stories of problems with it now...I'm just scared to try a new O/S and one I'm not familar with...and not at all sure how it will work on our systems...

You're right, she doesn't have anything to back up so that's good at least...unlike me...
Thks again for you help! so much to chk and think abt before doing this..it's been along time since I've had to do an FDISK on any computer...cheryl

[dlh6213]

I'm attaching a document here -- it is for dual booting, but you only need to follow the first part in order to install Win98 (you should go ahead and follow the instructions to make 2 partitions though).

After you get Windows and your antivirus all set up, check out this thread and look for SpywareBlaster and install it, this will help prevent reinfection (help prevent, not stop!):
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread5690.html

I like Window98 too; the only thing I don't like about XP is it's price and the fact that you can only put it on one computer. Windows 2000 is a good compromise, more stable then 98, less expensive then XP and can be put on more then one computer.

Okay, well it won't let me attach it because I've already attached it in another thread. Look for the attachment in the 3rd post to this thread:
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread10966.html

[cherylholmes]

I'm attaching a document here -- it is for dual booting, but you only need to follow the first part in order to install Win98 (you should go ahead and follow the instructions to make 2 partitions though).

After you get Windows and your antivirus all set up, check out this thread and look for SpywareBlaster and install it, this will help prevent reinfection (help prevent, not stop!):
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread5690.html

I like Window98 too; the only thing I don't like about XP is it's price and the fact that you can only put it on one computer. Windows 2000 is a good compromise, more stable then 98, less expensive then XP and can be put on more then one computer.

Okay, well it won't let me attach it because I've already attached it in another thread. Look for the attachment in the 3rd post to this thread:
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread10966.html

Thks again DLH, printing out the instructions from your attachment and will follow them. will also dl spyblaster, adware se, spybot...what are the advantages to win 2000 over win 98 se? Is it worth the upgrade you think?

Yeah, I couldn't afford the upgrade to xp on both computers...i hear most software companies are doing this now too...like if you purchase and dl a program, you can only use the key on that one computer. i wonder if trojanhunter is like this too. thks again cheryl

[dlh6213]

Thks again DLH, printing out the instructions from your attachment and will follow them. will also dl spyblaster, adware se, spybot...what are the advantages to win 2000 over win 98 se? Is it worth the upgrade you think?

Yeah, I couldn't afford the upgrade to xp on both computers...i hear most software companies are doing this now too...like if you purchase and dl a program, you can only use the key on that one computer. i wonder if trojanhunter is like this too. thks again cheryl

Ummm, it's actually SpywareBlaster, not spyblaster -- that was probably just a typo, but just to make sure...

Basically, Windows 2000 is more reliable and stable then Windows9x. It also has many features that the 9x series does not. Here are a couple of links you can check out:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/whyupgrade/featurecomp.mspx
http://www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/~erick/nexus/why.htm
You can find the system requirements for Win2K here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/professional/howtobuy/upgrading/default.asp

In addition, Microsoft is planning to end support for Windows 98, which means no more updates.

One bad thing is Windows 2000 isn't as good for a lot of games that work with Win9x, but I doubt this is an issue for you.

Is it worth the upgrade? That'll have to be your decision :).

[cherylholmes]

Anything for a buck! ...that's how these companies are...I did get Mom's fdisk completed and reloaded win 98se no problems..now if i can keep her dial up from "timing out" on the downloads that would be a miracle! If I could get my pc to recognize my CD Roms again, I could dl the adware etc to a cd and put it on hers a lot easier...but I can't...I don't want her online herself until I get hers protected as best I can with the programs you recommended. I need to drop a cable from my router to her computer too but it has been so hot here I wanted to wait til it cools off, if it ever does (south Texas)...darn...

Will read up on the sites you sent tho DLH and thanks so much for all your help! It is greatly appreciated! Cheryl

Ummm, it's actually SpywareBlaster, not spyblaster -- that was probably just a typo, but just to make sure...

Basically, Windows 2000 is more reliable and stable then Windows9x. It also has many features that the 9x series does not. Here are a couple of links you can check out:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/whyupgrade/featurecomp.mspx
http://www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/~erick/nexus/why.htm
You can find the system requirements for Win2K here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/professional/howtobuy/upgrading/default.asp

In addition, Microsoft is planning to end support for Windows 98, which means no more updates.

One bad thing is Windows 2000 isn't as good for a lot of games that work with Win9x, but I doubt this is an issue for you.

Is it worth the upgrade? That'll have to be your decision :).

[dlh6213]

In your second post you said you had DSL, in this last one you mentioned dial-up, which do you have?

[cherylholmes]

In your first post you said you had DSL, in this last one you mentioned dial-up, which do you have?

Sorry for the confusion, I have both. I have dsl on my computer only for now...I have to rehook hers back up to my router again...collie pup ate the cable...sorry! cheryl

[dlh6213]

If using dial-up, you can probably get the Windows Updates without worrying as much about being infected. Granted it will take longer, but as long as you have an antivirus program installed, you should be okay.

[cherylholmes]

Yep, working on that DLH...trying to get that downloaded...before the darn servers time out on me...we need to go buy some extra cat 6 cable...I like to keep extra cables and cords since I never know when I will find one chewed...My collie pup has developed a real liking to the cat6 and the phone cords! thks again for all your help! cheryl
the fdisk was very smooth, no problems at all and I used your info as backup...followed it since it has been so long since I did one...

If using dial-up, you can probably get the Windows Updates without worrying as much about being infected. Granted it will take longer, but as long as you have an antivirus program installed, you should be okay.

[dlh6213]

My collie pup has developed a real liking to the cat6 and the phone cords!

Can't you run your cables through the attic, or under the house, or at least under carpets to keep puppy from chewing them up?

[dlh6213]

I ran across this thread where they're discussing different Operating Systems (mostly Win2K & WinXP) and thought you might want to have a look when you get some free time:
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread11050.html

[cherylholmes]

THKS DLH! I am keeping this one in my files too! You're a doll! BTW I am looking at what I can do to keep my collie pup from eating so many cords..lol I am a collie rescuer and this boy was dumped at 6 mos old I'm sure because he totally ate someone else's house down. I do have him crate trained but you know they can't spend their whole life in a crate...the first 2 yrs of their lives they spend remodeling..now, we have to live through it!
thks again...i am leaning towards win 2000 if I upgrade...c

I ran across this thread where they're discussing different Operating Systems (mostly Win2K & WinXP) and thought you might want to have a look when you get some free time:
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread11050.html

[dlh6213]

You're a doll!

:o

How's the reinstall coming?