Posts by gerbil

"the installation put a new DLL on the system that replaced one of the standard ones" That would be just too naughty. I thought M$ and the industry had stomped that path to hell looong ago, and sorted it. Maybe not.
But if your suggestion is the case here, then running...
sfc /scannow
...should repair the system.

I can understand your post, boris. Coming from Greater Tian Chao, you're doing okay. As regards M$ security patches well, yes, your computer can survive without them as long as you don't happen to stumble upon an infected website and suffer a "drive-by" download of a trojan, or open an email attachment that is an agent. I know a few people who rarely bother with security patches; I don't recommend not using the patches, but I must admit that only one of those people has had his system infected (a couple of times).
If you stick to the websites of banks, stores and reputed companies, or simply reputable websites, then you are quite likely to remain secure. Not having Java installed is a VERY good safety practice if you can do without it.
Good luck out there.

Mm.. that's nice of them, but you wouldn't use it, would you, because it has the lowest rating of about 30 AV softwares?
I'd make a guess, though and say the average person clinging to XP wouldn't be the adventurous sort, dredging deeply into the dirty bits of the web. XP as it ends will be good enough for them. It's always been good enough for me.

An entry in your Hosts file blocking you?

A continuing, working AV is important. AV-TEST has some interesting reading on that subject re XP.
http://www.av-test.org/en/news/news-single-view/artikel/the-end-is-nigh-for-windows-xp-these-anti-virus-software-products-will-continue-to-protect-xp-after/
Reading a few of the linked pages, one can conclude that XP users should be using Panda Security: Cloud Antivirus FREE vsn 2.2, if a free aV is your style. Kaspersky is still the best overall (not free), closely followed by Bitdefender (again not free).

I don't know much about different soundcards/sound chips on mobos, but I do know that Realtek has a built-in equalizer which allows frequency band adjustments.

Things like this serve to support the notion that Apple users are more intelligent. As far as I am aware, it is not recorded that anyone has gone to a greengrocer for Apple products.
Ok, there is that brilliant BBC skit with Ronnie Corbett....

Happy,
Idly reading articles about security, hacking, password use, hash thefts, covert surveillence, leaks.... and trying to put it all together with the public's rush to divulge all on Facebook, to be part of anything on Twitter, to be a friend of anyone and everyone, to like strangers and unknown companies while not knowing what that means.... and so I gotta say.... the public just does not care. Sure, sections of the press kick it over, try to make it sound important, try to tell people that they can be hurt by being uncaring, but it just does not work. People get murdered too, but I won't be....
When banks, card companies have to put in software to detect and refuse new PIN entries such as 1234, or 1111, or 2468, what does that tell you? When the most common password is umm... password, closely followed by 12345, and third being 123456 for the more energetic or concerned... doesn't that say that people aren't all that bothered? A dictionary attack with words of 6 or fewer letters pulls in up to 40% of passwords.
People send intimate pictures to others they barely know, and perhaps feel violated when they are posted. They don't care what THEY themselves put out there, but oh boy, they see the web as being personal when they are attacked, even being driven to suicide by vitriol which pretty much they do not have to read. Bit of a drug, really, the web …

No toffee-apple for you.

Hi, John. To stop Outlook (Express?) freezing, use Explorer to navigate to your Outlook account; change the name of your Inbox.dbx to Inbox.old.
You should now be able to start OE without it freezing. OE will create a new Inbox.dbx file. Go to Tools, Options and check Read messages in plain text. You might also need to check Block images and external content under the Security tab.
Close OE, go back to the mail folder and swap the name of Inbox.old back to .dbx. OE may now let you read mail; delete unknown mail, or that which could be suspect... you can pull it out of Deleted file again until you isolate the baddie.

Hi, Rik. So I got a simple audio sinewave generator off the web... and my on-mobo soundchip {realtek] gave up at about 12KHz. It ran up to 11600, but 12000 gave too much of a background rushing sound, not just a clear tone. Viewing it on a realtime analyser [shareware trial] showed the background.
Which is probably okay, because my pc is not a core part of my sound sys, and my pc earphones are def not hifi.
You got a clear tone of 22KHz from your card? Gee. And you could hear that? GEE. My ears run out at about 12KHz.... I may need to place my ossicles on a diet.

Hi, Kristen, just as a quick test start explorer.exe from Task Manager [File, New Task... explorer.exe] or from the cmd prompt [TM again, File, Ctrl-click New Task.. explorer.exe]. That should give the desktop back.
If that is the case, then please show me the content of this registry key by pasting this as one line into your cmd window:

reg query "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v shell > C:\shell_reply.txt & start C:\shell_reply.txt 

Post the content of the notepad that pops.

Searching does not show any file with such a name.... closest is mngr.dll.
This link points to the latter as being quite unnecessary.
http://www.shouldiblockit.com/mngr.dll-11263.aspx
Remove it, is my advice. Thing is, if it's not known, then likely it is malware, and in your case, one that is not coded well.

Perhaps you could post a list of the files in your Malwarebytes and AV bins, in order for us to see what was corrupted but important.
On another system please download Farbar Service Scanner to a UFD; run the program on your unconnected system and present the report here.
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/farbar-service-scanner/

Turning ECHO on might have guided you to the answer. You were testing %2 = empty as null - If tests strings.
But if the wish was to print 1 2 3 then there is no need for %2...
IF "%1" == "" GOTO end
would work. A sprinkling of pauses can help, too.
I hope that made sense.

Not a user of W8.... but it seems that you have lost your system's password AND confused your Windows Live acount? Hmmm.. busy mind. Okay, I understand the Petter Nordahl-Hagen's Offline NT Password & Registry Editor
works with W8 to reset the password. You can then start the sys and enter a new password. Download the iso - it's free.
I should point out that if the laptop is not yours and you proceed to use this tool, then the original password will be removed [you will not be shown it] and the proper owner will know his machine has been hacked.

I have AMI BIOS. "Hard Disk....: S.M.A.R.T. Status OK" - i get such entries for all my hdds, it simply means that they are OK, within tolerances. Do not be concerned.
For older AMI BIOSes use F1 or F2 to enter Setup. Delete key works for me.

"Ah... of course, you want the copy dialogue for files existing in the target. So this is the cmd to put into your shortcut:"
And that was my answer to your request. Gee, just try it with some folders and files and a dummy target. But if you wish the dialogue to appear elsewhere than the cmd window then xcopy is not your command, and cmd is not the environment to use.
"Also, I need a way to see the sizes and file creation dates". Yes, possible with copy cmd, but you will need to invoke other commands to copy folders, and so a simple batch file will be required at the very least, and the dialogue will still appear in the cmd window.
Anyway, I was just following on from your mention of std Windows XP commands. Me, I'd use Richcopy and fully automate the process, no need to study individual overwrites. If you cannot/are not permitted to download that command from Technet then I cannot help further [it isn't supported by M$, but is written by one of their software engineers. Heck, it installs as Microsoft Richcopy]. It's pinned to my Start Menu; if drag n drop doesn't cut it [as it does not for you] then Richcopy gets the job. Runs on XP, is blindingly fast and can remember your task options.
Syncback also would work for you, present a list only of duplicates and their specific differences, and request actions.
Not …

Hi. If you still are having a problem removing ilivid then I may be able to help.
==Please download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
from: http://www.majorgeeks.com/Malwarebytes_Anti-Malware_d5756.html
or from: http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free/
=Dclick that file, mbam-setup.exe, to install the application,
-ensure that it is set to update and start, else start it via the icon, and UPDATE it.
Select "Perform QUICK Scan", then click Scan; the application will guide you through the remaining steps.
ENSURE that EVERYTHING found has a CHECKMARK against it, then click Remove Selected.
If malware has been found [and removed] MBAM will automatically produce a log for you when it completes... do not click the Save Logfile button.
Examine the log: if some files are listed as Delete on Reboot then restart your machine before continuing.
Copy and post that log [it is also saved under Logs tab in MBAM].

==Download OTL from http://oldtimer.geekstogo.com/OTL.exe to your Desktop.

• Double click on the icon to start the application.
• Press Scan All Users, Minimal Output, Standard Registry ALL, check both LOP and Purity boxes, leave other sections as they are.
• Under the Custom Scan box paste this in:

netsvcs
%SYSTEMDRIVE%*.exe
CREATERESTOREPOINT

• Press Run Scan.
  The scan will take maybe 5 minutes; 2 notepads will present [saved to the place from where you ran OTL.exe] - please post both.

You can append commands in there, too, but you must be careful with syntax; a space or no in the wrong place and the string won't work. So:

%comspec% /k title Student Folders Updater & xcopy.exe j:\*.*" k:\ /e /q /-y

Now your window has a title, not just the command string it is executing.

Hi, Rosy, just choose a forum topic you wish to address from the tabs below the <DANIWEB> banner, and do what you just did... post. Either in a current topic if you wish to add to that conversation, else click Start a New Discussion.

Ah... of course, you want the copy dialogue for files existing in the target. So this is the cmd to put into your shortcut:

%comspec% /k xcopy.exe j:\*.* k:\ /e /q /-y

%comspec% will open the cmd window; the /k will keep it open after all copying is done so you can see the summary, else a /c will close the window immediately copying is over - you need one or the other.
I have put a \ after your target so that xcopy knows it to be a directory.
You don't actually need %comspec% to run xcopy.exe because it is an external command, but it will run it, of course, and it shows you the copying dialogue you require.

with an AMI BIOS, pressing Delete a couple of times as soon as you turn on the system should get you into BIOS Setup where you can alter the CMOS data. F8 you press for the BBS popup just after drive detection; any later and it will give you the system boot options [that's because you are then in the Windows part of booting, BIOS has handed over]; later still and it is ignored.
Because you have you BIOS set so as to report briefly you do not have much time.
Rik... his hdd is Ok, SMART says so... AMI reports SMART status as a matter of course during POST. I guess his other drives are not SMART capable.

If that command is doing just what you wish, then put it into a desktop shortcut.
Rclick desktop, New, Shortcut, paste in your command, Next to name it. Done.
A cmd window will flash, but that's hard to stop without using WSH.

The Gateway's BIOS issues one short beep before passing control to the operating system. Overheating? I doubt that as the system has only run a low demand POST before closing down. Does POST show your hdd detection as correct, because loading from the system disk is the next step, and appears to be the one where it is falling down? Alternatively, you could enter the BIOS and see if the drive is listed.

Gee, I don't know about that, RJ.
Sure, as far as devices go, my sys does not bother to show any but speakers - it seems to leave all that definition to the sound controller. So I plug something in to the rear jacks, the controller detects that action and asks for confirmation of what I have plugged. But as for the front jacks, control is not so simple as in a switch contact redirection of speakers to headphones.... it's individual lines, chip controlled. I can plug speakers or a headset into my mike jack, or vv; I just need to tell the controller that that is what I have done, and it sets it up. So I can run two headsets at once, or two mikes, speakers...
I wouldn't mind betting that there ARE systems out there with an action such as you describe.
If a headset is not working it is just so simple to plug in another set to test the hardware.

Diablo, Diablo II.

EVAL base 64 file infector. There is a video showing a manual removal/php file-cleanup, and another site boasting of an automated tool, but Avast declares that to be a malignant site with a rampant php infector...

MBAM will remove it for you. Visit this site for the tool and instructions. A quick scan will do.
http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free/

If you know what you are doing, then open a cmd window as System and run delete file from there. So, in a admin cmd window, enter:
at 12:34 /interactive cmd.exe
where 12:34 is, say, one minute ahead of your current time.

That would ensure that the infs got run... :)

Ha ha... I wanted to give you a link to a page which would explain the methods to save me typing them.... let me tell you, you must frame the search engine terms very carefully to avoid pages of hacking instructions.. :)
Here are the genuine methods:
http://www.wikihow.com/Activate-Windows-7
Your product key should be on the cassette box. Good luck.

The reason I ask that is because not so long ago my USB HP printer "disappeared"... task bar icon gone; when I tried to print I just got a msg that file could be saved as no printer was connected. Not in DMgr, PnP thingo could not find it; find new hardware could not see it. Uninstalled HP software, could not reinstall as it could not see the printer. Finally I tried the Add Printer Wiz ie. the print .inf files - it found my printer; after that, the HP software installer ran. I guess somehow the M$ drivers fell out of the stack.

You ran bth.inf, right?

Around about this time you start to suspect interference from poorly written softwares launching with/hooking IE.
Folks disable add-ons, run the system file checker, roll back SP1, uninstall a few security updates, change IE versions, run registry cleaners, look narrow-eyed at their RAM... Maybe a rootkit? Tried TDSSKiller, or another rootkit scanner? eg GMER, RootkitRevealer, IceSword,MBAM's AR Beta...? Tricky that it sometimes disappears upon a restart. What does the event log say is causing it [the process...dclick the error line]?

Does your sys have KB2859537? If so, you could try uninstalling it; it came out on 15 Aug 2013. Find it in Windows folder with hidden files showing, and tunnel down to its spuninst.exe file, dclick that, or via CP/Programs. If no change then just reinstall it via dl.

Oh, true... I remember reading of one or two that disturbed the system itself. Now they don't have much excuse for that.

ShiftAltS works with FF to post; AltS functions as Cimmerian said.
In Opera, no combination with S works to do anything.
IE? Haven't a clue.
So with Chrome it is likely a local problem... they removed it in an update.
AltS is used in a few M$ softwares... Office, Outlook...

So where did that silly aphorism come from..?

I think some of M$'s problems with updates could stem from their effects on 3rd party and M$ softwares not being able to be tested fully with updated system files. It's a scarily complex comuting world out there... in over a billion different systems and configurations something aint gunna be accounted for.
Me? I've never had a problem with an XP security or system update.... reaching out to touch desk.. [wood].

I think that in his last paragraph "If you get something like ..", rch [Rodney] meant "If you did not get something like.."
However. You do realise that you can copy from a cmd window? Rclick in top border for best use of options. Then we don't get typos.
eg. from your "nslookup google.com" result it appears that 8.8.8.8 is your DNS server (cf result with "nslookup google.com 8.8.8.8"). Confirmable via "ipconfig /all", or thru the control panel/network connections gateway.
But those things you tested are working for you.
If all browsers are down then perhaps your TCP/IP stack is corrupted, or sockets.
How did you get on when your ISP woke up?

If you're adjusting your volume with a keyboard button, then very likely the graph comes from the keyboard driver softwares.
I have Realtek; if I adjust the sound using their icon I get a window with various sliders. If I use the keyboard buttons I get a bargraph [courtesy Logitech].

I wouldn't be without ERUNT....
SysRestore is capable of some file restoration, though...
This is interesting.... apply to you?..
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/missingrpv.html

.

ShiftAltS?

You could try reinstalling it with the inf file. In a cmd winodw, or just Run...:
%Windir%\Inf\sr.inf
That procedure will totally reset it, removing all current points.

Cool... good luck with it.

Sure. MBAM has been on top of it for years, now. Download it from the .org site [free is good], update, quick scan, delete all, restart if required [it will be...].
http://www.malwarebytes.org/‎

It seems as if you need a proper firewall, one that learns, one to which you can identify your safe and usual softwares, one that you can finally set into safe mode whereby it understands that it should only query new software actions, and risky ones. I use Comodo, there are others. With a good firewall you don't need UAC. My opinion.
Comodo is a complex tool, it queries all the time, but nothing gets by it. My experience.

But if you're serious, then build a lil timer; start switch can be a pressure plate on Enter key [2 bare wires or foil pieces will do just fine], stop would be taken from PSU PSON [green] wire connector. That will give you shutdown time to a zillionth of a sec. Sleep timer? Create a task in the scheduler to wake the sys, have ProcMon running and take your return time from that, but I don't know what you would accept as a "ready" instant [see the Rev's post above].