Posts by DMR

You wont get any messages from Windows, and you may or may not see any messages from the BIOS at bootup.

If the computer is an older model, refuses to keep the date/time settings, and you know the battery has never been changed, you should probably just replace it. The batteries are cheap, and it's usually pretty easy to change them out.

OK- keep us posted....

Hi PTALLY,

Those are a couple of pretty broad subjects and would be impossible to cover entirely in a single post. If you can tell us the specific points that you need help with, we can tackle them one by one.

If you just need links to resources on the subjects so that you can teach yourself, just let us know and we can help you there as well.

In the mean time, you can find out how to secure your system from further infection by browsing through many of the threads in our Security forum. :)

I tried the following commands and everything succeeded EXCEPT the final command (regsvr32 Shell32.dll)

That final command only works on Win 2k and XP.

Check your system for "spyware" and viruses; they can break IE pretty badly. Read the threads in our Security forum for (much) more information on the whole mess.

Hi Matt- welcome to the site!

- Can you find websites by their IP address as opposed to URL? For instance (using Google as an example): if you enter http://64.233.167.99 into IE's address bar instead of http://www.google.com, can you reach the site?

- When IE craps out, can you still ping sites either by IP or URL? Again using Google, open a DOS box and try the following two commands:

ping 64.233.167.99
ping www.google.com

- Also ping the IP of your router.

- "Have run spybot and ad-aware and have nothing that could seem to cause probs..." Are you positive about that? I'm assuming the programs did find and fix some things, yes?

My problem is when every I want to open this browser it close in by itself in a without warning.

Scan your system for viruses, spyware, and other infections; malicious programs can seriously alter and damage IE. Read the threads in our Security forum for more information on how to detect and remove the "nasties". If you find that you're infected, please start a separate thread in the Security forum and post your info/questions there- we don't deal with those sorts of problems in any other forum but Security.

I know that there was a virus or spyware something or other that actually named its payload notepad.exe. If you ever had this virus, that could be contributing.

Yup, Alex is right- the Qaz virus/trojan does that; here's more info from Symantec (Norton):

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.hllw.qaz.a.html

Yahoo! Mail was only playing well with Netscape 4.7

No, Yahoo! Mail works fine with Netscape 7.x as well (at least it always has for me).

You should probably check your system for viruses and other nasties. Run a full virus scan with Norton, McAfee, or whatever program you use, making sure that you've updated it with the absolutely most current virus definitions.

After that, have a look through the threads in our Security forum to find out how to download and use utilities such as Spybot Search & Destroy, Ad Aware, and HijackThis. Run those utilities, and if they do find "spyware" and you have any further questions about that, start a new thread in the Security forum, giving us as much info as possible in your post. (Please do not post any virus/spyware/etc-related questions in any forum other than the Security forum.)

It definitely sound like a driver issue. What's the make/model of video card, and what driver does Device Manager indicate that the system is using for it?

CDFS is refering to the filesystem on the CD-ROM; I'll second the motion for checking the disk for damage.

If you verify that the CD isn't damaged, then you might have a hardware problem, which could account for the BSODs you were getting before you decided to reinstall. Do you remember any of the BSOD error messages? If you have any more detailed information you can give us, that might help us narrow things down.

It is nice to know that a "newbie" member can get in trouble on their first post for posting in the wrong place.

Dont' worry- it's a very common mistake for new members to make.

Your log indicates that you're pretty heavily infested, so there are a few things you should do before we work with HJT:

1. Make sure your Norton anti-virus program is using the most current virus definitions and run a full manual system scan.

2. Download Ad Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy; the download links are in my sig below.

3. Open Ad Aware and configure it as follows:

- click the "Check for updates now" option on the main startup page; follow the prompts to install the most current reference file.

- Click the "Scanning" button.
Under Drives & Folders, select "Scan within Archives".
Click "Click here to select Drives + folders" and select your installed hard drives.

Under Memory & Registry, select all options.
Click the "Advanced" button.
Under "Log-file detail", select all options.
Click the "Tweaks" button.

Under "Scanning Engine", select the following:
"Include additional Ad-aware settings in logfile" and
"Unload recognized processes during scanning."
Under "Cleaning Engine", select the following:
"Let Windows remove files in use after reboot."
Click on 'Proceed' to save these Preferences.
activate "IN-DEPTH scanning"
Close the program

4. Open SpyBot and get the latest …

Ignore my above post; I see you've already started a fresh thread of your own- thanks.

(I've deleted the post that I split from here, as it is now redundant)

OK,

Due to the " O10 - Broken Internet access..." entry in your log, you should download and run the latest version of SpyBot Search & Destroy (the link is in my sig below). Having HJT "fix" the 010 entries can break your networking, but SpyBot should be able to fix the problem. SpyBot will also find and fix a lot of the other nasties on your system. You should also download and run Ad Aware; it will probably catch some spyware that SpyBot missed.

So- here's the drill once you've gotten SpyBot and Ad Aware:

1. Open Ad Aware and configure it as follows:

- click the "Check for updates now" option on the main startup page; follow the prompts to install the most current reference file.

- Click the "Scanning" button.
Under Drives & Folders, select "Scan within Archives".
Click "Click here to select Drives + folders" and select your installed hard drives.

Under Memory & Registry, select all options.
Click the "Advanced" button.
Under "Log-file detail", select all options.
Click the "Tweaks" button.

Under "Scanning Engine", select the following:
"Include additional Ad-aware settings in logfile" and
"Unload recognized processes during scanning."
Under "Cleaning Engine", select the following:
"Let Windows remove files in use after reboot."
Click on 'Proceed' to save these Preferences.
activate "IN-DEPTH scanning"
Close the program

2. Open SpyBot and get the latest updates for …

TLVenus,

We ask that members not tag their questions on to a thread previously started by another member (regardless of how similar your problem might seem). Not only does it divert the focus of the thread away from the original poster's problem, but it also makes it less likely that you yourself will get the individual attention that you need.

I've split your post here into it own thread, which is at the following location:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/showthread.php?t=9651

For a full description of our posting guidelines and general rules of conduct, please see this page:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforu...b_faq#faq_rules

Thanks.

Sphyenx,

Have a look through the threads in our Security forum to find out where to get and how to use the standard (and free) "spyware" detection and removal utilites; links to some of them are in my sig file, but please read the configuration instructions for them in the Security threads to learn how to use them most effectively.

If you do find that malicious programs are the cause of your problems, please start a new thread in the Security forum. In that thread, give us as much information as possible about what you've done and found and our security experts will help you out from there.

can anyone tell me what i need to do?

jcourt- Please do not post your questions in threads started by other members- you need to start your own thread. Read our posting rules to familiarize yourself with our guidelines.

This should keep you busy for a while :mrgreen: :

HijackThis explanations/tutorials:

http://www.help2go.com/article153.html
http://hjt.wizardsofwebsites.com
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtutorial=42

Other security-oriented sites:

http://cexx.org/neuter.htm
http://www.pestpatrol.com/PestResearchCenter/
http://wilders.org/
http://forums.subratam.org/
http://www1.spywareinfo.com/
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm

OK, just to recap:

1. You've tried different drives, all with the same result.
2. You've changed the cable.
3. You get the drive not ready/format disk errors.
4. You're BIOS seems to recognize that a floppy drive is attached.

If all of the above is true, I'd go back to dmbfan819's hunch about a driver issue. If you go into Device Manager, is the drive reported to be working correctly there?

Have you run full anti-virus, Ad Aware, and Spybot scans yet using the most current updates to those programs? If not, please do so and then post a fresh log. Links to Ad Aware and Spybot are in my sig below, and instructions on using those utilities are posted in many of the other threads here; please read and follow those instructions befre scanning.

In other words- what exactly do the drives do when you insert a disk? Do they sound like they engage and spin the floppy, do the drive lights indicate activity?

Also- what's the history of the problem? Did this just unexplainably start happening, or did something happen around the time of the failure which might account for it?

investigating what???

They're joking with each other- p3-450 obviously works at one of the other tech support/security forums that crunchie works on. When you've been at this online support thing for a while, you eventually bump into someone you know from someplace else. :mrgreen:

CMOSis the the battery that hold the data for the BIOS.

Not quite.

CMOS itself is a special memory chip on your motherboard (it is not part of your RAM) which stores certain system configuration information used by the BIOS. CMOS stands for Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor, which is the name of the particular type of transistor circuitry that the CMOS chip is constructed of.

When people refer to the CMOS battery, they're talking about a battery on the motherboard which supplies a very small trickle charge to the CMOS memory chip so that the information in the memory gets retained even when the computer is unplugged for prolonged periods of time.

CMOS batteries have a pretty long lifetime (years), but they do eventually need to be replaced. The classic sign that your CMOS battery has died is that the computer suddenly stops keeping the correct date/time through reboots or extended periods of being powered off.

- Does your BIOS recognize the drive(s)?

- What is the exact behaviour of the failure(s)?

The name "localhost" has a special meaning in TCP/IP networking- it is an alias to the local loopback device IP of 127.0.0.1, which is present on any machine running TCP/IP regardless of operating system. As such, "localhost" should never be used as the actual computer name/hostname for any machine on a network, because it causes exactly the conflict you're experiencing.

If any computer on your network is using "localhost" as its hostname, you need to change that name to something unique.

Cr4nberry,

For the reason given in my previous post above, I've split your post into its own thread in the main Linux forum. You can find it here:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread9598.html

To set up sharing, you basically want to:

1. Give each computer a unique name.
2. Put all of the computers in the same workgroup.
3. Activate sharing for whatever folders or printers you want.

For #1 & #2, on each computer:

- Right-click on the My Computer icon and choose Properties.
- Click on the Computer Name tab and then the Change button.
- Type in a unique name for each computer.
- In the "Member of" section, choose Workgroup and type in a workgroup
name. The workgroup name should be the same on all computers.
- Click OK to close the name change box, and then click OK in the main
System Properties box.
- You will need to reboot for the changes to take effect.

File/print sharing works (or at least looks) a little differently between XP Home and XP Pro, but you should be able to figure it out. You'll find instructions and info in the following links:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=share+folder+printer+%22windows+XP%22&btnG=Search

You should be able to boot into rescue mode from the first Fedora CD and reinstall Grub from there. An explanation of the process is here:

http://www.linuxcompatible.org/thread27844-1.html

Try The Gimp

It's open source so it's free.

I'll second that.

You should also have a look at the Free Software Foundation's repository. They have a lots of freeware programs of many different types (unfortunately for Windows users though, many of the programs don't have Windows versions).

What I meant was that if I remembered correctly, I thought NoAdware was one of the "rogue" anti-spyware programs that gives you false positives to convince you to buy the full program.

Yes, that's exactly the issue with NoAdware; you can read more about it here:

http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

It could quite possibly be that you're infected with viruses/spyware/etc. Have a look through the threads in our Security forum for information on how to detect and remove those pests.

If you find that infections are the problem, start a new thread in the Security forum telling us what you've found and we'll help you from there.

Both C:\Windows\catroot and C:\Windows\system\catroot are valid Win 98 system folders. I think what you're worried about is the fact that there is an IRC trojan which adds files to your catroot folder in the course of its infection. More info on the trojan is here:

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/backdoor.irc.aladinz.r.html

Another one of our members is having a similar problem- see if anything in that thread helps you:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/showthread.php?p=46682#post46682

You can also look in your logs for errors messages which might indicate exactly which service is failing. At least that might narrow things down a bit.

To view your logs, use the Event Viewer in your Administrative Tools folder.

Did you use a "crossover" Ethernet cable or just a standard Ethernet cable? When you connect two computers directly together, a standard Ethernet cable won't work; you need a crossover cable instead.

(I'm moving this to the networking forum, as your question is directly network-related.)

I'm having, i think, i similar problem with the rundll32.exe. when i look at my task manager and look at the processes it says that this process is using up 99 of my CPU. my CPU is being used a 100%! i can't run anything efficiently.

i've ran spybot-s&d and ad-aware numerous times but it won't get rid of it.

can anyone tell me what i need to do?

Hi jcourt- you need to start your own thread and post your question there. We ask that members not post their questions in a thread that has been started by another member; it takes the focus of the thread away from that member's problem.

not sure if i am doing this right , if not sorry, i am newbi ...
can any one help me????? please???

Actually, you need to start a new thread in our Security forum and post your log there; Security is the only forum where HijackThis logs should be posted.

You should do that as soon as possible- your log file indicates that you've got a lot of problems, but our security experts can help out.

Cool. Thank you...

... and at times after waiting ten secs it goes to a page thats has something like 66.019.1320, ill get the exact numbers later if it helps...

The exact IP would help, but if your browser is being redirected to some site that you're unfamiliar with and your browsing has become sluggish in general, you've most likely been "hijacked" by a malicious program. Have a read through the threads in our Security forum to find out more about these types of programs and what you can do to remove them. If you do get any indication that your problems are malware-related, start another thread in the Security forum telling us what detection/removal programs you've run and what some of the results were. Our security experts will help you out from there.

The word "best" is always subjective, especially when it relates to
"which is the best operating system/computer/program/etc."-types of questions. The answer is that there is no definitive best program. Different users will have had different experiences with the browsers we've mentioned, and will base their recommendations on those experiences.

The browsers we've suggested are all free to download, so try them all and see which one you like the best. Also keep in mind that these browsers evolve and improve over time, so what might have been considered the "best" browser 6 months ago might not be considered to be so today.

System folders such as the Program Files folders shouldn't be shared for security and stability reasons, nor should the root of any system drive for the same reasons. Win 200x and XP are more strict about this than previous versions of Windows.

If you really do need/want to muck with the permissions on such folders, or on the entire drive itself, you'll need to look into the advanced permissions and security options, including fiddling with the parent/child permission propagation options. I really wouldn't suggest doing that though- at the very least you'll be punching gaping holes in the security of the systems; at the worst you're liable to "break" something.

Which exact game?

Linux/BSD running sendmail or postfix work great.

If the box isn't going to see much action, you could install that on a very low-end box, and be in pretty good shape.

Hmm... now why did I just know that was coming? :mrgreen:

You can read about the possible causes for the dependancy error, and their solutions, in the links returned by the following Google search:

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22windows+xp%22+ics+firewall+services+dependency&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=10&sa=N

Try those and let us know if one does the trick for you.

I agree with everything Catweazle is saying about the laptop- you'd be better off saving your $$ and just living with the beast as it is until you can afford a newer model.

In terms of kernel32.dll and errors related to it, here's more info than you probably ever wanted to know about the possible causes of those types of errors:

http://www.all-windows.com/kernel32.html

Opera is another great browser:

http://www.opera.com/

Hey punkrockmetal, welcome to the site! :)

Please read my post directly above yours regarding adding your questions to someone else's thread. You need to start your own thread and post your question there. When you do, posting details about what version of Windows, Internet Explorer, etc. you use could help us.

Also- we've had many threads here in the past which deal with msn/hotmail account problems. Have a look through the many suggested solutions and see if one of those works for you:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/search.php?searchid=107051

...but the problem is i do not no where to get it at.. does anyone know?

You can buy computer fans at a zillion places online, but to make sure you get an exact fit I'd suggest you take the fan with you to one of the large computer stores in your area. They usually stock a good range of fans, heatsinks, etc., and by having the fan on you you'll be able to verify that you're getting a replacement that will definitely fit.

Freely-downloadable utilities for testing video cards and other system components can be found on many of the sites in this Google search:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=%22video+card%22+freeware+diagnostic+test+utility+&btnG=Search