Posts by gerbil

Sure fixmr and fixboot are two Recovery Console commands, and you enter them on the command line, just as in DOS you enter DOS commands.
All they do is rewrite the MBR and boot sector code respectively - they do not rewrite ALL the MBR or ALL the boot sector, just the code segments which are passed to BIOS to program it to run that segment of the boot process. I really doubt that i would be necessary to run Fixboot, though.
Does BIOS show your hdd as detected?
It may be that your hdd has mech problems.
If the MBR is incorrect then fixmbr will hopefully correct it.
It may also be that you do not have your System partition marked as Active, and strangely enough, there is no simple M$ solution to that on an unbootable machine - it is not possible to do it via Recovery Console, which i find a bit staggering. You must do it via another OS or a third party tool. I can give you a good one if it comes to that.

Because of the particular msg you receive you should use the 2000 Recovery Console to run...
fixmbr
If that does not solve the issue then use ..
fixboot

Simply copy them over. Do a search for your old .dbx files, they are possibly under your Docs & Settings.
-if you have no new emails in your current OE simply copy in the old mail .dbx files, overwriting the new.
-if you do have new emails you wish to keep, then in your new email folder first rename the relevant .dbx files to .dbx.bak and then copy in the old files. And so on.
You can simply add the contents by creating a new folder, dragging wanted mails into there, then redragging them back into your new email folders once you reset them.

The rclick context menu.. well, umm... it is contextual, that is, its contents relate to the object you have rclicked. Its contents also relate to what you have set for inclusion in the menus. The highlighted explore, open or search entry comes from the settings you have made in Folder options, File Types.
I wonder... is that what you were after? Lekka? do you eat that? how do you kill them?

If I start apologising for my errors I'll block this forum out.... I still learning.

A partition that is marked Active has a bit set in the MBR of that partition - BIOS checks on the hdd for such an MBR; this tells it that this is the system partition which contains the boot files for the OS.
Do as Bob said to enter Disk Mgmnt, then rclick your System partition [most likely C:], and mark it Active. Restart without the cd.
You might also consider putting the hdd at the top of the boot order, since it is from there that you would generally be booting. Change it back to CD first, or use the one-time boot order methiod for the odd time you wish to actually boot from a cd.

Mmmm.. okay, I cannot tell much from that log. This may be better for you - it does not require Java:
==Please use IE or Firefox to do an online scan at panda:- http://www.pandasecurity.com/activescan/index/
-First Register [otherwise there will be no disinfection, merely detection] with a valid email address for the free online virus scan and follow through.
Unlike Kaspersky this scan does not require Java.
Please ATTACH to your post the log it produces.

Very possibly one of your files is corrupted in some way, and explorer is having a time creating a thumbnail. What happens if you change the view to say, Details?
WMP also gets into the act somehow... I think.. and do not know... that it is it that creates the thumbnails or loads previews of the movie files, it has the codecs... something for you to check out.

"two errors should not throw stop errors againts his screen".... two installations? No, they should not... I wuz jus pointing out that he had two... some folks don't realize that they have em, wasting a lot of disk space.

Well, yeah, you do. It uses Java for the online scan.
Any chance of your posting the log? I'd like to see it.

Check in Disk Mgmnt that your system drive is marked Active.

Hello, Manda.. you have a few problems in there.
==Download this file to your desktop: http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/sUBs/ComboFix.exe
- to run it dclick combofix.exe and follow the prompts to start it. When finished, it will produce a log, C:\Combofix.txt - post that log in your next reply.
A word of caution - do not touch your mouse/keyboard until the scan has completed. The scan will temporarily disable your desktop, and if interrupted may leave your desktop disabled. If this occurs reboot to restore the desktop.

==Start hijackthis, select Scan Only, place checkmarks against all the entries listed below that still exist, and then press Fix Checked.

O2 - BHO: (no name) - {42EFFB50-781B-4DF6-A374-9BBCA3E618E3} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\khfDsPFw.dll
O2 - BHO: {42334260-c05c-28ba-39f4-6a89b100c77f} - {f77c001b-98a6-4f93-ab82-c50c06243324} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\ggcrlq.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Host Process] C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\svchosts.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [BMb3f78d2c] Rundll32.exe "C:\WINDOWS\system32\jwlqsadx.dll",s
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SMrhcp2wj0e9cp] C:\Program Files\rhcp2wj0e9cp\rhcp2wj0e9cp.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [b0c4beb0] rundll32.exe "C:\WINDOWS\system32\tlkwtamn.dll",b
O20 - AppInit_DLLs: C:\WINDOWS\system32\__c008C286.dat

==Search for and delete these files and folders:
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\svchosts.exe
C:\Program Files\rhcp2wj0e9cp\rhcp2wj0e9cp.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\khfDsPFw.dll
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ggcrlq.dll
C:\WINDOWS\system32\jwlqsadx.dll
C:\Program Files\rhcp2wj0e9cp\rhcp2wj0e9cp.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\tlkwtamn.dll
C:\WINDOWS\system32\__c008C286.dat

C:\Program Files\rhcp2wj0e9cp\

Good. Now post the combofix log along with a fresh hijackthis scan result, please.

Log is clean, though. You seem to have two XP installations in the same partition...?

Ah... manda, I just found your post... this is what happens when you tag onto another's thread.. you can get missed.
I'm just bumping it atm, will deal with your problem later tonight.

Sigh... it shouldn't matter if they are used CDRWs. And I think she means new disks of the same make.

Nope, that one will not work... you must have an equivalent upgrade status on it, for that sys it should be SP2. Just borrow one from a mate, same type.. eg OEM, or retail version. When you boot from the cd, hit Enter to setup: "To set up Windows XP now, Press ENTER" [yeah, I know...], but you will be given the choice to Repair when Setup recognises your installation. Don't type R to use the Recovery Console.
PS... when you run Repair there will be an automatic restart... and the msg Press any key to boot from the CD - don't touch anything... let the sys bypass that and boot itself from the hdd.

My thinking also, mm. Not worth the bother... in that position I'd go out and get a scondhand LCD monitor... under 19" they are so cheap.

Ah, I see the stop code there. I also see a trojan. Please do this online scan:
http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner

mmm, okay. I understand now. But cannot help... I thought one of the main purposes of imaging software was the ability to restore a backup to a new drive after a hardware failure. I do not know why yours cannot restore the image of C: on D: to a new C:.

Stag, possibly your PSU standby power supply to the mb has failed [without that you usually cannot turn a pc on], else the mb itself has a problem. Okay, there are two types of sys turn-ons - in the old type the power switch is actually a mains switch which turns the PSU on, on the more modern type you press a switch which instructs the mb to turn on the PSU. For this type there must be a working standby power output from the PSU. If the main supply voltages from the PSU are out of range the PSU will not allow the cpu to start processing - not even BIOS will run. If your cpu itself is dead not much happens either. Same with RAM.
So...MB, CPU, or RAM. Or PSU.
Lifting the CMOS battery for several minutes resets BIOS to some pretty basic default settings which should enable your BIOS to run, recognise hardware and report onscreen to you.

I got a feeling he is talking RF connector, sittas.... just a feeling. UHF or VHF....

This, enrish...
a Repair is almost the only option, well, the simplest one. However if you have a virus or some other piece of malware that is able to crash AVG8 in Safe Mode, then I fear it will junk your Repair job also. But try it. Your first priority should then be to clean the sys - if you are able to enter Safe Mode with Networking:
==Please use IE or Firefox to do an online scan at panda:- http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeuse...s/activescan/?
-for the free online virus scan select the link Scan your PC, then Register [otherwise there will be no disinfection, merely detection] with a valid email and follow through.
Please ATTACH to your post the log it produces.
Note. Do not format your machine until your data is safe by either one of two ways: repair or file copy. If a Repair and AV scan won't do the job, the next thing is to copy off your vital files, and a format would make that tougher. If you cannot get your sys clean, but are able to copy your files safely, then you can do a format [which deletes your File Allocation Tables, and so the malware files also get lost], and a clean installation.
Before I started that I would reinstall the firewall that you had, else load the installer file for , say, Zonealarm or other firewall that you like, into an Pen drive, Repair, start up or install …

Windows break, so does Windows. It can happen that errors slowly creep in until they reach a critical point where they suddenly interfere destructively. My installation first started showing problems with [system] Search whereupon it could only be used from IE, not Explorer; then it just failed totally and I tried everything to get it back. Then my sys got hit by lightning so I did a Repair [new mb and cpu etc...], and all is back. You won't lose settings, files, accounts, and most pgms [3rd party sware] will still work afterwards.It does sound like more than Explorer is broken in your sys... eg. links are broken, Winlogon and security systems are down, so...
BTW, sfc does its job and just closes, no fanfare.

Mobius's thoughts got me scratching around, and he is correct. These two pages may be of interest.
http://windowssecrets.com/comp/080403/#story1
http://windowssecrets.com/2007/02/01/01-Get-Vista-upgrade-never-pay-full-price

Check this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE
\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer
Create a Name, a DWord=NoDrives
Assign a value = 0

Boot into Windows normally and open the command prompt by typing cmd at Run and pressing enter.

Now type :
net user AdminName *

and press enter.
Sittas, re the above - I think I got the wrong end of the stick; I thought this was being given as a way for a guest to hack an admin a/c. ie change password, which does not work. You gotta be in the admin gp to do that.
But the whole thread is a bit screwy.... to use the RC you need to be an admin cos you can do damage. To do a Windows Repair you do not need a password because one of the bits of registry left unaltered is SAM..ie passwords and login details, user accounts are unchanged. So even after running a Repair you still need the original passwords. So there is no need to change or reset any password of the admin gp to enable the running of Windows Repair.
Is that any help?

A Windows Repair will copy some of your current registry to Windows\Repair, it will rewrite some system files, it will rewrite some of registry, it will not overwrite your data files, it should not, but may, damage some of your third party sware so requiring reinstallation of some.
As I wrote in anothre thread a few days back, userinit.exe and its launch key are targets of malware because the key is run at every startup, will start whatever sware is called by it... sometime the file itself is replaced by a malware file. So do the repair then immediately, from Safe Mode with Networking, run a good AV/AS scan, such as this:
==Please use IE or Firefox to do an online scan at panda:- http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/solutions/activescan/?
-for the free online virus scan select the link Scan your PC, then Register [otherwise there will be no disinfection, merely detection] with a valid email and follow through.
Please ATTACH to your post the log it produces.
Unfortunately, with a repair many malware files can survive... just like your data files.. but their keys can get overwritten, so fingers crossed.

Well, M$ update site has it... it is the "professional installation" option, the filename is:
WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe
from..
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=049C9DBE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en
Copy that to your USB pen and run it from there like any self-installing file.

Aggie, this is the option you must select.. it opens to a choice to use Windows Repair:
1. "To set up Windows XP now, Press ENTER"
This advice:
.....Now type :
net user AdminName *
and press enter.
..has not worked since SP1 was released. It blocked some holes like this one.

Ah, gotcha.. sorry, then, I cannot help.

Forget about trawling through registry for that... in IE go to Tools > Internet options > Content > AutoComplete, and hit " Clear forms ".

Good on yer, caper.
Enrish, any computer repairman will have a bucket full of burnt disks. M$ may not like it, but unless they break the door down there is absolutely no way they can find out. You are permitted to make one copy, anyway....

It is on tv, tv is off.

"removed a hard drive & changed sata connections" - my understanding is that Sata controllers order the drives according to the number of the plug you connect them to. That's it, no drama there. That will be the order you see them in BIOS.
"both drives should have same inf." - What? inf?
"I am now booting form Drive "D"". Okay... that means you have set D: Active? Which makes it the system drive, containing the boot files ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini....
Am I correct so far?
In your boot.ini where is the default OS [or the one you are starting] located? Is it D: [which, following M$'s nomenclature, makes it the boot drive also.. it will show up in Disk Mgmnt as System drive]? If I am correct in following you, then you probably installed a second operating system on drive D: while the C: drive was plugged in and operating... in which case Setup saw the old OS. That makes Setup get all girlish, confuses it...
Then does this page apply to you [reversing the C: and D: terms, of course...]: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223188
[when you install a second XP OS prevent Setup seeing the first by simply unplugging the Sata cable if it is a separate drive, or by changing /Windows to /Wasteaspace. Or whatever.]

A lot of hard drive performance measures are reported upon by the drive electronics, and even if we knew what was the problem I do not think help would be possible. Your manual will be on the web, for sure. Personally, with any sort of hdd problem showing up, I'd be copying off and inserting a new one. Saving money and effort by waiting until it goes bang is just not worth the excitement.
Good luck with it.

Go Start, Run, enter..
cmd
In the cmd window enter..
chkdsk /r
It will run on a restart. This method will check the whole hdd [all drives or partitions]. If you are checking the boot partition [where your OS is, eg C: ] as in this case, your sys must restart. If you specify a non-boot drive eg chkdsk /r D: then it will run immediately. And you can do that from explorer ... rclick a drive, eg D:, go properties, tools, Error Checking.... but again, if you try it with your boot drive, your sys will restart.
It is the same tool as the first.
By the way... did your error msg contain something like SMART? If so, copy off your good gear, fast - that is the built-in hdd erroir monitoring system.

Your sys sounds really messed up. So you cannot get into Safe Mode, with Networking? Just a blue screen on each attempt? Okay, a few points....
For a start... I have seen those "temp" files on the net, and they are fine but hardly comprehensive. A better way is to get CCleaner - out of the box it does a fine job, but is also customisable.
Disk Cleanup recommended and then dld software? - that must be some other third party disk cleanup, not the one in Windows [rclick a drive, eg C: and you will see it, also Defrag].
Install only ONE resident AV [such as AVG8] -they fight, and it can be bare knuckle stuff. But it does not matter how many online AV scans [they usually combine an AS scan also] you run, they will not conflict with your resident AV.
AVG8 is a combo AV and AS, and a bit of a drag on your sys, but it is good. I use Avast [also a combo] but it is lighter on resources.
AdAware is not as good as it used to be [my personal opion only...].
But your immediate problem is none of that - if you cannot get into Safe Mode then a Repair is almost the only option, well, the simplest one. However if you have a virus or some other piece of malware that is able to crash AVG8 in Safe Mode, then I fear it will …

Enrish, all you require to do a Windows Repair is an OEM installation cd of the same update status as your sys, eg XP SP2 Home, and you can just borrow one. Input your own Product Key though. Being an OEM machine, that will be on the sticker on the side of your box.
If you cannot borrow a disk from a mate or neighbour, nip down to your local puter shop and they should be able to burn you one for a couple of dollars.
A Repair will not cause you to lose any files, but it may break some of your third party software.

PCI Controller is a function of the North bridge, would thus be Intel, and the driver would be in the chipset driver cd supplied with the motherboard. The Intel driver site for your mb should have the latest version, though.
http://downloadfinder.intel.com
Or put "Intel PCI simple communications controller" into your search engine.

Nothing... it's working. :)
Just think, if you didn have a firewall, were running XP with no updates.. some of those might have gotten thru.
I updated on 9th July, it has clocked 12,000 attempts. The web is loaded with systems which patrol constantly looking for unguarded, open ports.

I don't think it would be against forum rules to put out that info, sittas.

sittas, that product key in I386 is a generic one that allows installation, but must be changed for a legit one to register? It's almost laughable if you do a net search for a key that will at least allow you to play with an unregistered copy for 30 days. :).
Ancient... with all the Vistas out now, ppl should be able to sell an unwanted XP key? I dunno, not deeply into the legal aspect, just asking.

By all means use the method outlined in the F-Prot website linked above. But please don't use the key in post #4 to launch the explorer shell [explorer.exe] because you will be bypassing some important user initialisations that are performed by userinit.exe [it is also the job of userinit to launch explorer.exe, which is why it is listed as the shell to use in that key].
Instead that key, HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon, should contain a Value:
Userinit
that has an entry:
C:\Windows\system32\userinit.exe,
in a std XP setup. Some OEM installations may have another file mentioned after the comma, in which case that would be launched also. But some malwares think it is useful to get launched by this method, or even to replace userinit.exe in the entry with their own filename, and it may not be the only launch point they have. So if you merely replace the userinit.exe file the malware may immediately write itself back.
Run an Av or AS service - if you are able to start Task Manager you can start a scan from there if you know the pathname, or start explorer from there, and thence the scan. Then fix the reg key.

No intrusion at all.... Spybot 1.6 is the latest version, just go to the homepage...
http://www.spybot.info/index2.html
and dl from a mirror close to yourself. When you install consider carefully the options for the types of protection you want from it. But you can change your options later from the menus.
How can you not trust your sys to software from a bloke who, in the licence agreement, dedicates the app to the most wonderful girl in the world..?

Midi, WD dows not get great reviews for detection/removal efficiency. As for the S problem.... get something better? I used to use AVG but the new, combined AVG8 I did not much like, so I switched to Avast. It is a combined AV, AS, has an ignore list. I don't use AdAware any more. Avast and Spybot do it for me.

Hello, Colin... naturally enough, there is lots of software out there that will do just what you want. It's where our society is at. Mostly, though, it is not freeware because it is more levelled at businesses. But you know, I'd just rather you involved him more in other parts of life..... wander in and say let's do stuff... there's a whole world out there. PC games can be fun, and very involving... yep, and you know, he might actuallly be interested in researching worthwhile stuff. But as for aimless "web surfing", well, to me that indicates a temporary deadend in life. Just go in and chat.

With IE6 I have found it depends on the webpage... authors can write the code to open pages in the same or a new page. But you can force it by rclicking a link and making your choice.
I don't know of an IE setting, but then again, I only use IE when a site forces me to, like some Microsoft stuff. Firefox and Opera are my choices. And with both of those you can make a default setting about new or same tab. But a page's script may still override those settings.... the rclick menu is the ultimate decider, though.

I already gave you the best free tools. Partedmagic or Gparted 3.6.7.

Hello, waterfrom, that is a clean log, as I would expect after your running all those tests. I suspect your sys instability is caused by hardware or driver problems. The quickest to check is your RAM module... turn the power OFF and try reseating it, or moving to another slot. If you have multiple modules try running with just one, then swap. Could be hdd or power supply related.
Next failure please post the complete error messsage from the screen, code + text. The last one may be in C:\windows\minidump.

Brent, the trial sware is severely limited in function. Please say how you get on with the trial. I'd just like to know.