Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 8:45 am Post subject: Running a Fast and Smooth Windows 98se...
I hear that some people are having problems with running older model PC's.. so I put this together to help them out ...
For people running Windows 98se in an obsolete PC.. this simple formula should give your Computering and Interneting a Big Boost of confidence...
I self taught myself the computer.. by that painful and infamous "trial and error" method...
I had enough cumulative grief to sink a healthy whale to the sea bottom...
There were times I really wanted to fling the whole computer out the window...
I purchased PC's at garage sales for pennies.. and learned what not to do with PC's by destroying them..
Then I'd be out early the next Saturday shopping for more old PC's to kill...
I think I tried everything you can do to wreck a PC.. and pretty much all those operating system destroyer software downloads... I must have formatted-C over a hundred times... And now I think I've finally got it... I hope!..
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SOLUTION FOR RUNNING A SMOOTH FAST WINDOWS 98se ON AN OBSOLETE COMPUTER...
...There's a lot of good new-stuff is out there on the Net now, and it's getting better by the hour...
Very first thing to do after you've loaded an operating system is to download a copy of "Tiny Personal Firewall", and put it onto a floppy...
If you are getting ready to erase the hard drive, you probably need to save all your treasures first... In this case, erasing the hard drive is sort of like "flushing the PC's toilet"...
Next thing to do is to surf, "Clean load Windows 98", and READ it all at least three times.. and print out some copies for reference, to be there in front of you should you run into troubles...
Make a copy, on paper, of your Internet data and settings...
Move all conventional audio speakers at least six feet from the computer... and keep your floppies away from those powerful floppy and hard drive erasing magnets...
Never drink things over the keyboard... One little splash, and the keyboard is probably dead and gone... If that happens, Flip the keyboard over ASAP.. wipe it off clean.. and gently dry it with the hair drier... And you WILL need to take it apart, and do an extensive cleanup on and in it, or your keys will be all sticking as the sugary mess dries inside...
It takes about 1.5 hours to first-time properly clean a spill out of a keyboard.. and still there's always that 20% chance that it's destroyed...
It's a good plan to always have an spare keyboard and mouse on hand...
Get them at garage sales for a dollar each...
If you get achy mouse-wrist.. then get yourself a Logitech Marble Mouse, for no-more sore-wrist......
Save all your precious files and favorites, or bookmarks, on floppies or CD...
*Make a fresh new startup floppy, *from a bug-free computer...
To format the hard drive.. restart in MS DOS command mode... type in "format C:", and hit enter... That erases almost everything on the hard drive... everything but invisible traces, that only experts can find...
If you are real Brave.. shut 'er off, open the case, and pull the battery for half hour.. to clean out the rest of the nasties that got into your PC's hard systems.. so you won't forever be haunted by those demons...
If the battery is soldered-in, there's a little removable black plastic coupling that you move to other pins to cancel the battery... Search your motherboard on the Net to find which pins to use... Wait an hour, then reinstall the battery, or replace the connector to original setting... CHECK that all connectors are tight into their connections...
Keep your fingers off the transistors!... Some transistors really don't like to be touched... Static from your fingers hitting them, would be like lightning hitting you... Fry a moss-Q with static from your fingers, and your PC is History!.. unless you've got a pocket full of money... and if you did, then you wouldn't be reading this...
Make sure the fans are running smooth and clean... New fans are cheap... I pull old computers from the trash, whenever I see one that seems to have parts I might need... but you can be sure they are e-virus infected... Don't plug their HD's into your PC... If you do, you'll probably need to pull the battery, after erasing the HD, if they are holding any boot-bugs...
Pop in the Windows 98 CD, and the new bootup floppy.. and give 'er... then install the Internet, then add the W98se update CD... Babysit the installs...
This is where I usually have some problems in getting the Ethernet modem to engage... Usually a couple restarts, and changing settings in Internet options and Network options, fixes the problems...
The method I use to get this irritating DSL card to take, is I first load the W98 CD after running the fdisk command.. Then I plug the Internet card into a different slot, and restart.. is when it usually installs properly, without any undo grief... If it didn't, then I shut down , and slip it into another slot, till the computer recognizes the new hardware... From there I go to control panel's Network and Internet settings, and only pray it works... make up your own prayer...
If you just can't get an Internet connection, and your walls and windows have had condensation problems, check the wall phone-connectors for green-corrosion... Green corrosion means you must replace it... Do it yourself... If you get the telephone company to repair it, they'll bill you 50-bucks or more... Phone 'em, and ask if they charge to do it...
Now it's time to clean-up the mess... Run Scandisk.. Run Standard and Fix Errors.. Uncheck "Thorough"... or run it on thorough at least once, but it can take an hour or more... But fdisk already did that, if you formated when fdisk instructed you to... If it didn't, and you didn't, there is a good chance that you will be doing a buggy reload... Go back, and start again...
If you get popup warnings while reloading a fresh new OS, this is the time to stop, and start back at square one, to get rid of something that might mess up the system forever...
After the OS is working good, run Defrag...
In Defrag's settings *uncheck "sort programs"... which seems to mess-up the operating system after it has become comfortable with how the PC has placed its engines and peripherals... Or you might want to run sort the first time only...
If defrag doesn't work, then download PowerDefrag...
Now install your Antivirus CD, and that floppy with Little Firewall on it...
Set Little Firewall to block everything, and pop-up a message for everything that wants to contact the Internet...
Then get the trial download of BlackIce Firewall...
Next thing is to get yourself "Mozilla SeaMonkey"... The King of Browsers.. for fast carefree fun Internet work and play... SeaMonkey is Loaded with "knock yer socks off" features.. and they are adding new features monthly, sometimes daily...
Add Microsoft Office 2000 CD, or your available word processing softwares...
Now surf the Net for the "W98se unofficial update".. and check all the boxes, and install the whole thing... *Save that download on your desktop, or right click> copy, and paste it into a new folder... Check to see that you've stored a file, not just a shortcut, before you delete the one on the desktop... I always save my big downloads on the desktop for a couple months, till I'm sure I won't need them, or load them all to a CD... They don't load the desktop...
A modified version of Tweak-UI for W98se is in the "unofficial 98se updates download"...
It's WISE to have a Router between your PC and the Internet... It stops most of the evils out-there from even finding your PC... and your software firewall never alerts you to attacks, cuz there just aren't any...
This is where the bored badboy mini-hacker takes my statements as bragging and a challenge, and me sees me as a target, and jumps-in, and attacks my PC, just to show me that my PC is really not as safe as I thought.. and manages to mess-up few things in the PC, but RegistryCleaner repairs it... Get a Router.. it helps.. but it's not perfect.. nothing is...
Check for used routers on eBay... For eBay you need a credit card.. and it takes a little time, and a little pain in the butt, to register... but Get registered at eBay ASAP...
I never open Outlook Express nor Internet Explorer (OE & IE)... I use Little Firewall to fully block them from the Internet.. and I just leave them in in the back-room, making the W98 system run reasonably smooth and fast.. and for downloading from Microsoft.. and because HP printer CD install says it needs IE6 to function...
All my email work is done in Mozilla SeaMonkey and FastMail email accounts... You can fully Trust FastMail.. and their web pages aren't full of all that mind boggling time-wasting slow-loading advertising and news garbage... And whenever there are ads, I block them with SeaMonkey's image blocker tool...
Caution.. You CAN'T safely remove Internet Explorer nor Outlook Express from the system... They are INTEGRAL parts of the Windows98 operating system... Don't do it.. or you Will be formating the hd, and reloading the operating system...
And don't go deleting stuff you don't know about... just let it rest where and how it is... Deleting a few unnecessary pix and files in the operating system won't do anything to speed up your machine... Leave it all be till you are a computer expert... Deleting certain system pix can seriously damage the operating system.. seems they have bits of the OS with them...
As you get better in understanding the PC, you can go into RUN, Regedit, and Find all the .coms and "@"'s that prove to be parts of email addresses, and delete those Internet contacts if you intend to work on maintaining your privacy... But if you start messing in the registry, make a registry backup first.. and expect to have to format the whole thing, and start all over again... but it's one way to learn what not to do... The backup can restore the messes you made in the registry...
Get a good firewall... ZoneAlarm doesn't work with Norton and Mozilla stuff... so forget about ZoneAlarm... Try "Black Ice"... It doesn't use up too much memory like some do.. and it's reliable, powerful, and full featured, but not perfect...
Now you need a good antivirus scanner/cleaner...
I tried F-Secure.. Nice combo Firewall/AVS software, but it always crashed near the end of an hour long scan, in W98.. It seems it's not for old W98, till they fix the glitches to make it run in an antique low-ram OS... but who would want to waste the time..? F-Secure is for the newer more powerful operating systems and boxes...
I fall back to Norton's 2k AVS... because I just happen to have the CD.. and it works just fine.. almost... well sort of... but some hackers can bypass some of that Norton stuff like it isn't even there... Like the couple times they turned Norton off before trashing my PC's OS...
Now get you some new PC cleaner softwares...
"Cacheman Memory Recover" is powerful...
"Window Washer" is good...
I got "FastDefrag2".. it works super.. but some of the FD2 downloads come with a real nasty downloads manager which hurts your PC.
Avoid the "FastDefrag2" download that contains a nasty downloads manager... That download manager is right full PC OS slowing and damaging nasties... Maybe just avoid the big-mess altogether... If their junk hurts people, they won't be getting people's money... Maybe that will wake them up one day to a little reality, that it's not good for business to upset potential paying customers...
Get a Registry Cleaner.. Don't mess with the options and controls, unless you are an expert... They can clean out a lot of your important files in a flash... Read the instructions Carefully.. and know what you are doing.. Don't just run a registry cleaner, then delete everything it found, or you Will be Sorry... Registry Mechanic is reasonably safe.. but not perfect...
For spywear trojans, AdAware Personal, or Spybot is a Must Have... I chose Spybot... It's reliable as it gets... SpywareBlaster costs, but I've read that it's super too...
You'll need a downloads unzipper... There are several free compression utilities out there... The newer ones create problems in W98se... Use old stuff in W98, because W98 is old... Check out "Older Versions" web page...
If you want to play with pixel photo-retouching, try PaintBuster, PhotoImpression, or PhotoPlus8.. PP6 is a pain in the butt... PP8 has, or had, a nice little offer running, where you get a cheap cutie little pocket camera and two-CD's for $15... I got it.. it works ok, but I'd rather have a real camera... PP8 is a super photo editor...
Run your cleanup software collection every couple days... I have four registry cleaners that I'm working with, in trying to determine which one is the one for me...
Can't get rid of the windows login password..?
Go to Settings>Control>Network>Primary Network Login>Set "Family Login">Restart...
If you have any serious irreparable problems.. as a last resort, reinstall the Windows 98 CD, *saving the system... but it will likely cause a few real nasty glitches, and may well force you to format-C anyway, as the next thing you must do... Sometimes it works to start in command.. type-in the required registry/ repair code, and pick an early backup... and only hope...
You can, as a second-last resort, try to run the W98se update again as a cure-all... but those two last resort cures can really mess up your other CD and download installs.. and you'll likely have to redo each one.. or format-C again... If you run into that mess, you probably do need to format C... If you must format, then this is the time to spend a few hours experimenting with the computer, trying to fix it yourself, exploring new things that you found on the Net... This is when you learn a lot, fast... Mess it all up, destroy the OS, fool around in the registry, do what ever comes to whim.. have your fun.. then format it, fdisk it, and start over from square one... having read all the data on doing a clean install...
Should you need to delete a software from the HD.. Don't just trash it.. it can take out a lot of the Windows98 operating system with it, forcing you to reload bits of the W98 CD in system tools, in accessories>, or forcing you to start back at square one... Uninstall things Properly... First, right click properties to determine if that software is connected to any systems files... If it is, it needs be uninstalled properly... Start>Programs>Accessories>Settings>ControlPanel>Add/Remove>Reboot...
Now I hope you've got a Windows 98 PC, running about as good as it gets, until you add the various tweaks out there to download and install, which can make it a lot better.....
And stay away from German hacker sites and German site downloads... They'll kill your PC in a blink.. even sometimes just by visiting their web pages... Those German Hacker kids are powerful wizards, with their super destructive computer destroying technologies... They could make WW4 on the Internet... They live in a world of their own... They should have their own private WW4 Internet... I don't know even a thousandth of what they know... I wish I did...
Find your "TweakUI" program in ControlPanel.. and configure it to taste... Careful! It's a very powerful tool... Read the instructions well... Should you mess-up, you can always fall back on your RegistryCleaner registry repair, IF you've made a registry backup with its rescue feature, or in accessories>system info... On second thought, just leave TweakUI as it is... It's not a toy... Unless you make notes of everything you do.. Then you can probably handle the trip...
Now.. Go through SeaMonkey's Preferences, and get a clear picture of everything in Preferences.. and make changes to suit your tastes... then go to themes, and change it to classic if you like classic, and restart SeaMonkey...
Run: Scandisk, Defrag, Cacheman Memory-Recover, a Registry Cleaner, and Defrag...
NEVER open an email attachment.. And delete every suspect email, before opening it, when it's from someone you don't know, don't want to know, or don't trust.. especially receipts to emails you sent.. and offers that are too good to be true.. Never open them.. Just delete them...
This where "curiosity kills the cat's PC", or not... I instantly delete messages that state my email wasn't delivered, without opening them...
Some bad-boys send nasties to PC's that way... I'm getting about one emailed nasty per day... It's like someone is mailing me "beetles"...
In my email accounts I've set the preferences to auto delete all spams and bulk mail garbage... I rarely have to view any of the garbage... it all gets instantly delivered to the trash... and the crap that does get through, I set to block, by tagging it as spam...
Should you get an email instructing you to delete an icon... That's a scam fake virus.. to trick the user to deleting part of the operating system... Always do an Internet search for every warning and every popup... key the address in a web search, adding "virus scam" to the phrase...
Checkout the "Block Images" feature in SeaMonkey... There are a lot of fine features in SeaMonkey's right-click... Those guys are state of the art computer wizards.. except for the grumpy one "in his cross"...
When you receive a 419 Scam-letter, which claims that it needs your help to recover a multi-million dollar account.. that is a criminal's money-sucking conjob scam... Simply copy it with *full-headers.. and paste in forward.. and send it to <abuse@their providers>... It keeps the evil-ones out of the loop for a while... The provider cancels their email service... Generally they use freebie email accounts, like hotmail and, yahoo... It's all they can afford... They can acquire another free email address in about five minutes.. but the doors are closed on that last one...
Sometimes I surf their scam, and surf and copy the authority's data on their scam, and paste it all in the reply, and send it all back at them.. but that's not such a good idea, because now it tells them that your email address is an active one.. and now they will start sending you virus emails... I was receiving two 419-Scam emails per day for months... Now I get about one per week...
You can tell a scam... The con sells you up on a deal that there's a lot of money to be had, if and when something in the greedy culture breaks free...
He sells and sells his scheme to elderly folks and suckers, then sells it some more... And just when his intended victims begin to squawk about his plan seeming to never show any success, he sends all his suckers an email, stating that his multi-million dollar booty is as ready as it can be, and ripe for picking.. it's just that he needs a little working capital to get at that huge money package, to get it released from a fictitious bank or source... He asks his victims for a little loan, of about 10-grand each... He cashes his couple million dollars in cheques, and vanishes... There are a few who have established in their sucker's minds that there is a blob of money as secret and illusive as the definition of the Christian god... He sells them and sells them, for years.. then asks for the 10-grand.. then scoots with his millions.. to a stable third world nation.. where he retires in luxury...
Should you get that "gimme-gimme letter", from someone you think you trust and respect, and you still aren't convinced that it's a scam.. telephone that bank, and ask to speak to the bank manager... Ask him if this guy's project is real, or just a scam to rob elderly folks of their life savings... 99% of the time you'll find that bank doesn't even exist... or that business doesn't even exist... Just gaping mouthed parasites, blindly swimming around in the Web, hoping to attach to a victim.. like the lamprey attaches to a lake erie perch...
Or you might ask that person right to his face, "Is this a scam?".. And watch what he does with eyes... If he glances side to side, that means he was flashing on an escape route... means it's a scam...
Crashes usually happen when you don't give the PC time to fulfill commands... I've found that when crashes start to occur frequently, the cure is to simply run all the cleanup software... If that doesn't help, it's likely that your PC has a deep boot-bug... Reloading the system probably will just mess things up worse... Best procedure, is to learn how to not let bugs get into your computer... If your PC caught a bug, that it cannot fix.. use the next hours to play with the system, trying your best to fix it, and learning what not to do, and taking notes.. Before you format C...
After a Crash, run Spybot, Reg Mechanic, an AVS, and CCleaner... and maybe run yesterday's registry backup...
With a Mac.. after I load a bunch of Mac software, I reload the CD I made of all the Mac updates.. It seems to act as a cure-all... Especially after I've done a lot of downloading, installing, and uninstalling...
Over the years I've heard a lot of experts and hackers claim that they prefer W98se over the newer systems.. because it's a simple reliable system, after they've done a few deep fixes, and have learned how to maintain it properly.. and they've learned it inside-out...
Some wise expert-users, strip the W98 system down to its bare essentials, to give them a fast clean simple W98se... I try to do that with download softwares.. It makes the system run a little faster and cleaner, but it's tough getting into their locked files, to shovel out the brown...
The thing for the novice to keep in mind, is that, any use of a computer OS stresses the software, mainly because all the present PC technologies still aren't perfect, and nearly everything about the PC is still in second and third generation infancy stages of development, although I'm starting to see the third generation in its sunrise-state of development, as in Mozilla SeaMonkey, which is a whole new ballgame, and a whole new way of thinking...
Heck!.. Our Species just found gas and electricity only a couple hundred years ago.. if that.. and we still don't fully know what they really are...
I can see how to make liquid electricity power cars and boats... and how we can grow synthetic replacement organs and tissues from petroleum.. and even that's not the end of it... So we can be sure that the computer has a long way to go before it's foolproof and trouble-free.. Same goes for people-evolution....
Active computer operating systems wear out like everything does... And I suspect that frequent hard starts, and thoughtless silly impatient aggressive operating of a computer, causes the OS to wear out much faster... like I've seen some seriously impatient, almost psychotic consumers hammering at the keys while the system is working on fulfilling the last barrage of unfulfilled commands.. thereby forcing a string of commands, and a "logjam", and a lockup... sort of like trying to ram a kid's school books down its throat, to save time... I suspect that rage impatience be the major cause for OS breakdown glitches in the PC...
I take my time, and maintain my patience like I'm brown-trout fly-fishing on a warm summer's early morning in a crisp green forest.. listening to the water's ripples...
I let the thing load and process its commands before I kick-it in a new direction and process... like when the truck's stuck in snow and ice, and I'm anxiously feverishly changing gears from forward to reverse, rapidly and repeatedly, I always wait till the last command is finished before giving it the next... My high-strung neighbors don't.. and they all go through a transmission, and a PC, about every three years...
*Important!.. Once you've got the thing running as smooth and fast as you can.. run RegistryCleaner.. go to tools, and to "Rescue".. and make a full registry backup, and even copy it to a floppy... and should your PC ever happen to be attacked by a bad-boy hacker, or should it catch a bug from Internet activity, do a full cleanup, then run that backup in RegistryCleaner to restore the registry back to its clean original state...
That's about it.. This PC is running smooth, and about as fast as it can... and Registry Cleaner has already repaired the messes done by two nasty hacker attacks this month... I wrote this post for my millions of computer-novice brothers and sisters, so they wouldn't need to go through the years of pain and crap I had to, to learn the computer.. and how to keep it running reasonably smooth and efficient... And in all this I didn't write any of those amazing softwares... I just copied them from the Internet and CD's, and learned how to use them... The real wizards are the ones who write those programs.. and sometimes they let us use them for free... The good ones need our Support... If you like their free softwares, send them a dollar...
If you know how to get this thing running even better, I'd Love to hear about it...
You might start a new thread in computer help forum...
The very BEST Basic and Advanced Windows Operating Systems problems solving webpage and guide that I've seen on the Net yet.. is "buds troubleshooter"... The fellow says it like it is, and doesn't leave anything out... His literary artistry in teaching the computer is a must see... In my whole life, I have have never met, nor read, someone who is so real and honest, and is so a tells it like it is "straight shooter", than the person who wrote those webpages... I am impressed!... I just wish I could find more people like that in this world...
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How to make your Internet experience a Lot safer from bullies...
Use your Mozilla SeaMonkey Compose, to write your stuff... After you have clicked that little cable-connector icon at the lower right of the browser screen, to have temporarily disconnected your PC from the Internet, for while you write... to minimize the time your PC is needlessly connected to "hell's web", susceptible to hell's wandering bully hacker spiders... Then click the little cable-icon again to instantly reconnect... Do all your posting, and whatevers, then click the icon to instantly disconnect, for while you work in compose, on your next project.. and so on... minimizing the windows of opportunity a hacker has to snoop and attack your PC... That is, if you have made any hacker enemies out-there in the spider's web, or plan to...
SeaMonkey has a super spellcheck, and several dictionary add-ons, and all the latest word-processing tools you need.. and more...
Nothing tops Mozilla-Seamonkey, the King of Browsers... and the thing actually works in "W98se"... which some self-proclaimed elitists seem to believe is already in its grave... except for those of us bound to, and still running, 100 to 600mhz, 30 to 128 meg ram, 1 to 6 gig, "steam and coal powered" antiques...
For those of us in this boat.. this simple formula for a fast smooth running reliable PC, is the ticket.. the catz portafumus-horriblus!"...
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In the topic "editing pictures"...
I stumbled in on this ink cartridge instructional video webpage...
You've probably heard about "refilling ink cartridges".. and it all probably sounds like just a big nasty nightmare...
But it's really the prices of new toner cartridges that is the nightmare...
Check this out.. <.http://www.printcountry.com/how_to.asp?cai...=PC&ref=#Videos" target="_blank">http://www.printcountry.com/how_to.asp?cai...=PC&ref=#Videos
Read the numbers on your cartridge, and download the instruction video for that cartridge...
I didn't know it was this easy...
And a couple days ago the neighbor gave me four full ink cartridge refill kits...
I read in one webpage, the first instructional cartridge refilling webpage in the Goggle search.. a fellow instructing people to ram the refill needle as deep as you can into the toner cartridge... That guy is selling refurbished toner cartridges...
Then I read in a photo retouching forum that you should never ram the needle too-deep into the cartridge, because it will puncture the filter screen, thereby destroying the cartridge, making it leak badly... That guy doesn't sell toner cartridges...
As far as the toner seller guy's purposeful misinformation.. I didn't know that people could be so upfront cruel, and still maintain a business..? Probably not for long though...
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In topic, "why would anyone want to use W98?"
For one.. It's what I got... It's all I can afford at the moment...
This antique 6-gig/600 mhz PC is running W98se FAST and SMOOTH, without any glitches, nor bugs...
And the whole thing was 99% FREE... A free PC from the local machine shop.. a free set of old CD's from my neighbor.. a good printer and sound system from the junk, (spring-cleanup).. five-year's supply of free toner from a neighbor.. an Ethernet modem from an acquaintance... A Logitech marble mouse, and Logitech remote keyboard, from a garage sale, for 2-bucks each.. a free Internet hookup to a shed, from a relative neighbor...
5-bucks for a printer patch-cord... and 25-bucks for a matching Compaq notebook with W98se already on it...
Total cost for this super running system.. 34-dollars Canadian. which is like about "2-dollars U.S."... or "four walrus skins, Two muclucks, and a carving"...
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To save the world, on a buck a day, I need to save my computer...
I angered a couple of your basic everyday Internet hacker attack bullies, by my posting wake-up calls for this human race to start opening its minds to some reality... and offering solutions and simple exercises for people to use to open their minds to more reality, to stop wrecking this planet...
It seems I've made a lot of enemies from the Numbs.. who like wrecking the planet...
Now crazy hacker bullies are sending me all kinds of electronic nasties, almost daily, in trying to wreck the operating system in this PC, probably to force me to format-C just for the grief of it, just because they don't agree with what I say, because they can't even fathom that there is a reality and a mind, and that I'm not their mummy...
The Router, Spybot, BlackIce, and Norton, seem to keep their attacks out to a degree.. but sometimes they get in, right through all that protection like it wasn't even their, probably through a badly written software's backdoor, or I'm running on administrator.. Then I am forced to run all my cleanup-softwares to restore the OS from little messes they made in the OS... Or in a worst case scenario, I am forced to format and reinstall the system... About ten hours reloading, ten hours tweaking...
The last four attacks left this PC unable to rebuild the registry from the registry backup in "Registry Cleaner", nor in Run.. and even the Registry Cleaner software-writer hasn't figured out what was done to shut down their software's registry rescue feature, and block registry restore... At their request, I uninstalled Registry Cleaner, and downloaded and installed a fresh Registry Cleaner, and it still doesn't restore the registry..?? An attack must have made a hard-change in a registry key.. but which one, is the big question... It seems that my only option to clean that hacker's bug out, is to format-C, and spend the 10 to 20-hours it takes to rebuild the system...
I figure the best way to deal with those electronic attacks is to simply run all the software cleaners, then rebuild the registry each time it happens... but sometimes it's not enough... Sometimes something that got damaged, is still damaged, even after running all those fixers and cleaners... Try Accessories>file checker.. Insert the W98se CD, and run the search for deleted files only.. re-installing them... reboot, and hope...
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"Computer crime costs $67.2 billion per year", says America's FBI... I bet it's three to ten times that figure...
Last edited by cosmicB on Thu Jan 03, 2008 8:23 am; edited 11 times in total
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 6:11 am Post subject: More on running a fast W98se...
I dumped my computer slow-down spyware softwares, in favor of "Spybot"...
Suddenly this PC is running even faster and cleaner than ever before...
The HD clicks sound quick, snappy, happy, and hollow, like they should.. and processes and things load super fast... I don't know why.. it just does...
I can only hope those two programs are reasonably connected in the PC, and are compatible with Mozilla SeaMonkey, and are actually protecting this machine from the Web's shiny black attack-spiders...
I can only "pray" that they are.. but I have doubts...
I'll only really know, if and when someone breaks through my wet tissue security system, and destroys the OS again...
I suspect and expect that I'll have to go back to BlackIce, and purchase the CD.. and the Spybot CD too... For now this is just a test...
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Spyware is nearly everywhere out-there in Internet-land...
NewYork has its gators in its sewers..
The Internet has its spywares in its sewers..
Same things.. only different levels.. and they smell different.. and bite different...
When spywares infect your PC, they slow it down, progressively worse as your PC collects more and more spywares...
You can tell your PC is seriously infected with several spywares, when the HD clicks sound mushy, things load slow, and the HD clicks sound something like waves...
Those spywares are sort of like nasty little sea-monsters with a hundred tentacles, all connected to, and monitoring, nearly every system and function in the operating system, like they own it...
So far, "Spybot" seems to have eliminated that problem...
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In another topic.. A novice was having serious problems failing to get the Ethernet card to be recognized by the HD after a format and systems reload...
I always have that same problem with this antique Compaq desktop...
I solved it by switching the PC off.. remove the Ethernet card.. relocate the card in a different slot.. restart.. install the drivers floppy.. then the PC finds the modem card, and loads the drivers...
While you are inside the tower.. Always store the case screws away from the tower in a little container...
Check the connectors to ensure that they are tight...
Remove any dirt from the boards.. Be careful to not use any plastic objects, like plastic brushes, that could cause static charges on the extremely sensitive transistors...
Before you switch it on and close up the case, pick it up and give the tower a little shaking to be sure that there aren't any bits of metal bouncing around in there, that could short out a component, and instantly nuke the PC... and don't leave loose wires sitting on transistors and boards.. tape them up and away... Replace every screw properly and tight...
.
Last edited by cosmicB on Sun Feb 18, 2007 4:50 pm; edited 5 times in total
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 3:25 am Post subject: More fun with W98se...
Go to Major Geeks.. and click on their utilities downloads...
Go through ALL Major Geeks download index pages... There's a lot of useful stuff there.. and those guys are geniuses...
Before you get into the Major Geeks downloads indexes, best to place a couple pillows on your chair... You are going to be at the computer for many hours.. and the pillows save from you getting "computer bum"...
Checkout their freebies that are Windows 98 compatible...
"Remove It" will delete stuff that just won't flush... Be careful how you use it... That one acts like a hungry tiger in a cage after a chunk of meat was tossed in...
"SubDesktop" or "WinWall" will give you an instant secondary desktop at the click of the mouse... WinWall is good for if your desktop has a pix that you don't want kids or wifey to see... When you hear them coming, click the icon...
There are a couple tiny downloads that change the W98 desktop-icons to XP-icons... A pleasant change...
I am testing those mentioned installs.. and a few others... There isn't any bad stuff in them.. and they don't slow down the machine... It seems that "MajorGeeks" is a reputable good-guy download site...
Last edited by cosmicB on Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:56 pm; edited 3 times in total
Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 5:08 pm Post subject: Installations Tip...
I'm finding in loading CD softwares, that way too often, little bits of the software's programs don't install perfectly... and should I run it off the initial install, sometimes it takes days, or even weeks, before I find the few little glitches that are caused by the faulty install, as they start to irritate me, and make me wonder if that software really is any good..?...
A second install over the first, usually cleans things up...
One CD that's super guilty of this little glitch, is the photo editor I use... Now I always load it twice right off.. then everything always works like the label says...
ALWAYS restart the computer after installs, even if doesn't say to...
It helps the hard drive get settled with the new stuff...
You must keep in mind, with today's computers, no matter how super they claim them to be, computer technology is still in its infancy stages.. and there are still a lot of unsolved glitches and distortions.. even in the new stuff... Go slow and easy with the PC, and give it time to load and unload processes, and keep it maintained properly, and it will work long and hard, and last for you... After all it is your: Word Processor.. Your World Library.. Your School.. Your Post Office.. Your Printing Shop.. Your Music Store.. Your Video Shop.. Your Art Studio.. Your Photo Shop.. Your Movie Studio.. Your World News Service.. Your Accurate Clock.. Your Business.. Your Dating Agency.. Your Connection to ALL the whole world's Cultures.. and it is an instant connection to a large part of the 6-billion Humans out there in PeopleLand.. all in one...
Last edited by cosmicB on Sun Feb 18, 2007 4:54 pm; edited 2 times in total
Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 7:24 pm Post subject: Killer Glitches and New Stuff...
I bumped into a real NASTY webpage.. that literally took control of my PC... and Super messed-up Spybot, so bad that I couldn't even see the options to click on, to the delete bad-files.. and it made a lot of security alert pop-up windows stick on the desktop... I had no option but to foramt-C, and reload the whole system...
It seems there is a corporate tech-war going on out there, with the little-guys (us) caught in the crossfire, like always happens in wars... I suspect that nasty got into my PC through that nasty downloads manager that came with Fast Defrag2.. and the bugger used it as a door into my PC...
Someone out there in Internet land is attaching a nasty downloads manager to FastDefrag2... A couple of bad-guys might be using them as a vehicle to plant their nasties and holes into your PC' OS... Be sure your download is a clean download, free of that nasty downloads manager, by getting it from the original builder.. or just pass on it...
When you've got the download on the desktop, check it with Spybot and your AVS.. and maybe even do a find search in it for "downloads manager"... If it's in there, delete it, and find a different site for the download...
I believe my PC got double-nuked while I was in that $3000 offer link in the hotmail login page... I posted to the guy, that "it looked like a pyramid scam".. and suddenly my PC's hard drive went balistic/hyper-active, and in a few seconds the PC's operating system crashed, and was nearly totally destroyed...
Only my files and Seamonkey would work... and my IP was instantly blocked from everything microsoft.. including my hotmail account... there wasn't anything on it anyway.. no loss...
I don't need microsoft for anything anyway.. it's all in the unofficial W98se update, and in my old CD's...
I found FastMail freebie email-accounts... It's three times better than hotmail... It's super fast and clean, and it remembers your login...
A lot of good honest, fun, respectful people in their forums too...
Those folks don't try to wreck your computer.. They know that working computers is why they have a business and an income...
P.S.: I've made several crucial integral changes in all this thread's posts... If you are following this thread, you might want to read it again from start to finish... I will make changes to this thread the moment I find better things to do in maintaining a fast smooth running w98se in an old computer...
Last edited by cosmicB on Mon Feb 12, 2007 8:12 pm; edited 4 times in total
Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 5:38 pm Post subject: About Formatting a PC...
A very upset novice wrote: "I had a major crash. .exe error, please reinstall Windows98se. I can't get anything to work."
______________
I know that feeling... That's the same Nightmare I got dragged through, a few months ago...
Felt like being keelhauled, and dragged over broken glass at the least...
It could be caused by many things... Maybe you've been deleting pix and files that you shouldn't have... Or maybe it's a virus... Or maybe you deleted a software, and it took some of the operating system with it... Or maybe you just installed a bad software... Or maybe you've been in the serials and or triple x websites... Or maybe there's an overheating problem in the tower... Lot of maybe's...
I'm no expert.. but I know lots of what works, and what doesn't, after these 150 formats.. and in trying almost all of the downloads out there in Internet land... and destroying a few garage sale PC's.. in doing things you aren't supposed to do in them... One even sparked, crackled, and smoked... A LOT of Smoke!.. About then, all you've got left for a PC, is a sad-sigh...
If your PC isn't smoking.. You'll need to erase everything, and start fresh... I'll detail how I do it...
...Format-C.. then open the case, and remove the battery for ten minutes... and push-on all the contacts in the tower, to be sure they are in their connectors solid... Turns out that the HD connector was almost falling off in this PC... No wonder they gave me this PC tower for free...
Keep your fingers OFF the chips... Some transistors don't like to be touched by a "jolt of micro-lightning" from your fingertips... Fry a motherboard chip, and your PC is History... been there.. done that... Not fun!.. "sad sigh"...
Reinstall the battery, and reload the OS...
Maybe your PC has a bug in the chips..? SnowWhite e-virus was bad for that... Pulling the battery kills those deepset chip-hugging bugs...
Are you AVS scanning all your floppies?.. I'm bets you've got some dirty ones.. maybe even a dirty boot floppy..?
If your OS CD is a pirate, you might do a AVS scan on it too, in a clean computer... If an enemy gave you a pirate boot floppy and CD, there's a chance they gave you one with a nasty bug in it... been there.. had it done to me by someone who was pretending to be my friend... It's one of the meanest things I can think of done in the computer world, aside from having your notebook robbed...
Make sure you are using a CLEAN fresh boot-floppy and CD...
I bets your problem is from the websites you visit...
Maybe it's time to find a whole new class of links... There are huge lists of ugly bad links to avoid... If you must visit porn sites, try things like Met Art, and the like.. they are generally clean and honest... If a pix seems to mess up your PC, dump it, and run all your cleanup softwares, then run a registry backup restore.. and boycott that website for a year or two, or century...
OK.. So now you've got a clean reload of Windows 98, you hope...
First thing to do is install "Tiny Personal Firewall", from floppy.. to give you a little-edge, to prevent any nasties, in your computer, from contacting the Net from your PC while you are getting things in order...
Next is to install the Internet.. and get it working...
Now install the Windows 98se CD...
Then get the unofficial W98se updater...
And there's a lot of good soft-stuff in some computer forum download sites...
Expect to be sitting at the computer for several hours... You might want to place a couple pillows on the chair, to save from getting "computer-bum"...
Checkout "SubDesktop", and "Experience Pack"...
It's a good habit to run an AVS and spyware scan on new downloads, before you install them... And it's a real good plan to always make a fresh registry backup before you install an unknown new software...
Add: SeaMonkey, BlackIce, Spybot, Norton 2k, Registry Mechanic, or PC OnPoint, a good Uninstaller (McAfee's old Uninstaller is prime), Add Office, Camera, Printer, Scanner, and a couple photo editors, and maybe Blender... and keep out of the XXX.. or soon you'll be doing it all-over-again...
It seems that BlackIce is the only firewall that actually works with the W98se/SeaMonkey combo.. but it's not perfect...
Use the little disconnect icon in SeaMonkey's bottom right corner, to disconnect while your are composing.. to minimize your PC's vulnerability to the Net...
ZoneAlarm Doesn't work with Norton-AVS, nor with Mozilla's FireFox and SeaMonkey...
Mix those three together, and all you'll get is GRIEF...
ZoneAlarm is SUPER for other some other Browsers and AVS's... I love ZoneAlarm's features and design.. but if it doesn't work, it doesn't work...
Watchout with some of those super powerful registry cleaners... Some of them can Destroy your OS in a second, should you just click clean, without knowing what it's cleaning... They'll Clean alright!.. EVERYTHING you want to keep, and more... Most of those reg-cleaners are for the experts... RegMech and PC OnPoint seem to be safe...
Do all the updates... Always run the updates till you get nothing more...
I've found it's wise to reboot after every major process.. even if it doesn't tell you to reboot... and let scandisk do its thing... and let processes load before you start heavily clicking the mouse... W98 doesn't like to do ten to a hundred things all at once... that's when you get those crashes... give the turtle time to fulfill commands...
Now get into the Preferences of all those softwares.. and set them to taste...
Don't forget TweakUI... and go through EVERY page of Spybot's and SeaMonkey's Pref's..
Now run AVS and Spybot... And scandisk and defrag, if they'll work... Probably won't, because of the too-new softwares you've got in your machine... You'll need an after-market defragger...
Then run Reg Mechanic.. and make a reg backup... You can fall back on the reg backup should your PC ever get infected by a nasty...
As far as scandisking and defragging the whole mess.. try "Dis Keeper 7 or 10 pro"...
I keep the download of SeaMonkey, and Major Geeks Updater, on the desktop... and should I run into any glitches that I can't solve.. I uninstall SeaMonkey.. and reinstall... And if that didn't help.. I reinstall the W98se Updater as a cure-all... And if that didn't work.. then it's likely I've got to format-C uhgain...
Hope that helps... This PC is working smooth and fast with this formula...
________________________
"Wow, Thanks"... Format-C? I'm a new at this. You may have to explain the Format-C part to me...does that wipe out the hard drive?
I have AVG, Zone Alarm, Spybot, RegistryFix, and Firefox, but when I updated Shockwave it totally messed up my PC, irreparable.
I found unplugging the Internet connection and disabling Zone Alarm and AVG, lets scandisk and defrag work... hope that helps your problem.
I'll AVS scan the floppies and the pirate OS CD in the meantime. thanks!"
_________________________
YIKES! and OK'ie... So we've got to start you off with step-one for this...
Re: "Format-C"...
Basically, formating the hard drive is just restarting the computer in ms dos command, type in "format C:", click enter, choose "y", click enter... Unless there are treasures you need to get off of the hard drive first...
I clicked the disconnect icon at the bottom of SeaMonkey.. and copied your post.. and pasted it in SeaMonkey's Compose... Now I can write my response in peace, free from the Internet's thousand eyes...
I've found that as I'm writing posts.. too often, weird-things happen to the posts, if the PC is connected to the black shiny spiders' Web, while I write... Seems that a few forum owners often read what you are typing as you type.. and should you type something they might disagree with, they can hit a few keys, and mess up your post in process... Best to be disconnected from the Net when writing in forum forms...
I think you need to find a ShockWave that's old, like W98 is old...
Pushing those softwares up to max-beta with W98.. is like adding a gallon of nitro-methane to a 1950 stock VW's gastank... then stomping on the gas-peddle... "KABOOMAH!"... I simply avoid Macromedia's ShockWave... It always messed up my PC' OS.. but it comes with the IE6 download, and I am forced to clean it out of the PC after IE6 has completed its install...
You are using ZoneAlarm with Mozilla... That's probably some of your troubles... That's a no-no... Before you download a software, read about it in forums...
I tried AVG... I always had lots of problems with it in my W98's... It sort of runs like it was built in Linux for Linux.. then modified to W98.. don't know for-sure..?
I have Norton 2k.. That's all I need for W98... Old CD's are cheap on eBay...
W98 is "the turtle on its back"... Rejoice that the dam thing even works at all... And quit trying to fix what's not broken... Get it working nice.. then backoff... And if you get real bored, after you've got it running good.. instead of updating the H out of the PC, to keep you busy wrecking the PC's OS, trying to modernize it too-much, to break the boredom.. download some classy photography at metart.. and try your hand at pixel photo editing...
Or Buy a cheapy old iMac.. and learn that system too... And there's Linux too... Get yourself another cheapy garage-sale PC, and give Linux a shot... I understand you can download a whole operating system for Linux.. And if you partition the hd, you can run Windows and Linux on the same computer...
Linux forum people are super friendly, and extremely intelligent...
Linux people are like one big happy Linux, nice-people family...
Or.. Go outside and do some living while you still can.. while you've still got breath and beat and heat... Get outside for awhile an breathe in some fresh O2, and feel those sun's rays on your ghostly pale skin...
The PC is just a toy, and a package of communication tools...
After I get financed, we'll be wearing our PC's on our arms as skin-grafts...
Thanks for the "unplug to defrag tip"...
For a Defragger.. I'm now exploring a trial download of "DisKeeper 10 Pro"...
I sat here watching the red lines vanish.. and the blue lines get fatter... I'll probably purchase the CD... or offer them their next level, in trade for their CD's...
"Format-C"... Zowie!.. It's a lot more than just, "click the mouse and wait for something nice to happen"... It's about as same and rough as changing a baby's diaper... Only thangs missing is the smell and the heaves.. "WhooH!"...
No problem!.. I'll detail for you, how to preformat a hard drive...
Pre-Format:
There's a LOT to do before you erase your computer's hard drive...
First thing is to save all your treasures... They might have bugs in them.. so the first thing to do is update, and Run, Spybot and AVS, so you won't be saving bugs... You can clean most bugs from a floppy, but not from a CD...
Make it a clean PC, run a final AVS scan, then transfer to floppies, or CD.. ALL your treasured files, addresses, pix, bookmarks, favorites...
Make a floppy-copy of your present registry backups.. to analyze later... to expose and trap the evil one(s).. hurting the Internet, and you....
There should be a software that compares the old sick backup to the new system backup.. and details the differences... and prepares an email to send to the bad guy, informing them that their vile-eturd was found in this machine.. and was "flushed out!".. and that you intend to fully boycott their sites.. Forever!.. That tells them that they ain't ever gonna get any of your lovely money... They'll understand that...
Their email should open with the loud audio of a classic toilet flushing.. so to give them a reasonably meaningful message about how you felt about them wrecking your PC's OS... I'd call it "FlushOff!"...
Now that your PC is clean.. you hope.. download a copy of "Tiny Personal Firewall".. saved to floppy or CD, or both....
If you can.. save all your prized downloads to CD... and their keys and serials, if required... reinstalling them might be a bitch without that crucial data...
Save your Internet connection profile... print a copy...
Plug all your toys in...
Cameras probably need to be disconnected before you install camera software...
*Don't be unplugging and plugging hardware wires into the tower when the thing is running... Sometimes that can pooch a motherboard... Something to do with poorly designed connectors, and cross-pin sparks, and too fast dropping the load off a power transistor, from sudden current buildup in unprotected board components...
If you've got furry critters.. make sure the PC's connections can't be knocked out by a playful cat, dog, bunny, or kid... Especially bunnies!.. Bunnies love to chew on wires... They'll even chew through an AC wire, kill themselves, and can burn your house down... Bunnies are for stews, not pets... but there are a few bunnies that don't chew wires.. maybe two or three... Hey!.. Don't get me wrong.. I like bunnies.. with a little curry...
Watch-out Easter Bunny.. I've got a real yummy rabbit-stew and eggs recipe...
If the PC sits on the floor.. make sure it's not near a heater, nor vent... The fans will suck in the heat, and heat what they're supposed to be cooling... Then it Will fry transistors...
*Never sweep near a PC that is running... The fans will suck up airborne dirt.. and suicide... You Can't clean a PC fan's plugged bearings... Once plugged up, the fan is history... You can free it up for a while with cleaners and oils.. but it Will fail when you least expect it, and will kill your computer... That's why corporations spend a couple 100-grand to make computer-rooms sterile... Check your fans... New fans are cheap... Overheating in the tower will cause the meanest glitches and crashes ever... PC's should have replaceable dust filters, and a plugged-filter warning vacuum-sensor...
If your Internet card doesn't register with the new OS.. Shut down.. remove the card.. and place it in a different slot.. and restart... That's what this Compaq needs done every time... It's a PAIN in the butt... Probably I've got the wrong card for this old mother-board...
Surf: "clean windows 98se install".. print a copy... (Check out Bud's)
Surf: the computer manufacturer, for OS loading guides, and known glitches... print a copy..
Download a copy of your mouse drivers to floppy or CD... Same for the keyboard, if you've got a fancy-dancy one...
Best to do this downloading with a clean PC... Your's sounds like it's in serious trouble, and very likely buggy as H... I would save my stuff, format-C, and reload, and boycott the sites that gave me all that grief...
_______________
Now you are ready to format... after a couple hours of "swimming in the cesspool of prep"... "The diaper is now half-changed..."
Restart in MS DOS.. Type-in "format C:"...
Tap Enter... and choose "y"... and wait for the hard drive to get erased...
For your purposes.. all the data on the hard drive is "washed off".. (but computer wizards could still easily read it)...
It's might be a good plan, to format the HD a few times... Some say it doesn't make any difference...
Now type in the command, "fdisk"... and delete the existing partition.. and create a new partition... Two if you know you need two...
Put the Boot floppy into drive A.. and the CD into Drive D... and switch it Off...
Restart.. Choose install with CD.. and watch the slide show... You need to babysit the install... Have your serial code ready...
Connect the Internet... then install the W98se CD...
_______________
If you want to get into super clean installing an OS.. or partitioning... and ghost slaves... That's a whole other level of computer larnin'... to detail it here now would be like using gold dust for table salt...
Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 6:25 pm Post subject: Defragging the System...
With this new systems install, defrag doesn't work anymore...
I tried Diskeeper10 pro (defragger)... It worked fine, till I found a serious glitch in it, and wrote the makers.. offering them the data of what I found, in trade for a $30 CD of their software...
Next day my PC was hit by a hard hack, and Diskeeper10 went nonfunctional, and the browser went sour too...
Took me a few hours to repair the damages they caused...
I reinstalled the browser.. and opted for a freebie version of download of Diskeeper7.. Then I went through Find, and Regedit, deleting everything that could be a hole for those monsters to get into my PC...
I deleted everything Diskeeper7 didn't need to function as a defragger.. and suddenly the PC was running about 5% faster.. snappy, and clean again...
Your PC needs to be defragged every day, if you use it a lot... It will keep it running fast... And every so often, click the Cacheman Memory Restore icon.. espacially after you've been downloading pix and music...
Always defrag after installing new software... Then run Regedit, and search for unwanted links to delete... Carefull to not delete Spybot's bad links files.. That's how Spybot knows what to block and delete... And don't mess with Spybot's advertisings.. or you will kill Spybot...
If your PC is slowing down, and experiencing freeze ups.. uninstall ShockWave, and everything Macromedia...
Do regedit and find searches, deleting everything Macromedia and Shockwave, and FlashPlayer.... That stuff seems to be like spyware trojanish adware stuff... It's seems it's all just for animated advertising...
If you are having weird troubles with your PC, your first troubleshooting-check should be to run Scandisk's Surface scan, to check for "bad clusters"... Aging hard drives can develop damaged clusters...
Damaged clusters will take software data, but generally are unreadable by the hard drive... That means if your hard drive has bad clusters, it's likely that some of your computer's operating system is inaccessible by your computer... ScanDisk Surface Scan locates bad clusters, and pulls the data out of the bad cluster, rewrites it into a good cluster, and quarantines the bad cluster...
If you enjoy customizing your PC desktop pix.. you have got to try "Winwall" from Majorgeeks Downloads... It's a free download... It doesn't hurt the operating system.. and it's quick to learn...
It changes your desktop colors to any color(s) of your choosing... You can save a splash-color as a pix, then add your color splashes to WinWall's pix file...
It holds 1000 pictures of your choice...
It adds magic to your desktop... It puts a little life into your PC...
I'm running on of those 6-gig/600 mhz PCs with W98se. I've done a lot of cleaning up but can't seem to get my free space to more than 800MB. Is that fairly normal.
Also from time to time it slows perceptibly with a lot of whirring and noise in the tower and seems to stop and think about everything leaving me as one fo those people you spoke about banging on the keyboard in impatience. Any ideas?
That's what I'm running.. and that's the problems I had...
I ran a scandisk surface scan, that found several bad clusters, and repaired them... I suspect your HD is full of bad clusters...
I found I had software contradictions.. as in Norton and Zone Alarm... I had to switch to BlackIce Firewall.. any less is just trouble...
The whirring is generally a logjam of trojans... To clean that mess out, I did a registry clean up with regedit, removing every Internet link I didn't need from the registry.. especially all Macromedia stuff...
You can hear trojans in your PC... It loads softwares in series of hard drive sounds that resemble soft lagoon waves... It's like each trojan seems to believe that the PC belongs to it...
You also need Tiny Personal Firewall, to lock out all the links that contact the Internet covertly from your PC... TPF is free...
You need to run Defrag every day or two...
If you are experiencing whirring and freezeups, it might be that the fan's bearings are plugged with dust.. which has turned into hard carbon from the motion and heat.. and is now abrading the bearings into dust...
All in all, it sounds like you need to do a little serious maintenance in all parts of your machine.. or buy a new computer...
If I had your troubles, I would do a super cleanup in the tower with a brush and vacuum... then oil the fan's bearings as a temporary cure to damaged fan bearings.. and replace the fans ASAP if they are dying..
Then I would format-C, pull the battery, do a clean partitioned reload, and reload my prefferred software environment...
And I'd stay away from all the sites that make my AVS and firewall activate...
And forsure I'd run BlackIce, Norton AVS, TPF, Registry Mechanic, CCleaner, Cacheman Memory-Restore, Spybot, and Diskeeper-7...
And after I loaded all those softwares, I would do a regedit, and remove all the links I don't use...
Given that there are weird sounds from the tower.. your priority should be to check those fans...
Sometimes whirring and squeeling is just a wornout hard drive... If the hard drive whirrs, squeels, and clicks loudly, you know you've got a dying hard drive... Save your files and pix daily, because one-day the thing will just poop-out dead with out any obvious warning... Work on getting a replacement HD... Not too big for the mother board though.. but if too big, there are ways to limit them so they'll work with old computers...
If you tap the tower, and the PC crashes.. you likely have a pooched hard drive, and/or a seriously loose connector...
Listen very close to the sounds your tower makes when in operation... Then listen between the sounds... and isolate each sound in your mind, and try to mentally reproduce each sound... That can give you a good insight for what's causing the troubles...
Banging on the keys, and loosing your temper with the computer, will only damage the operating system...
Also it sounds a little like you have reloaded the operating system over the operating system... That can cause some of those troubles... If you did, you probably need to format-C...
A final thought on what might be your problem in not being able to access most of your hard drive... It might be that you have a huge hard drive, and the settings are set to limit the HD... How many gigs does the HD label say is in your HD, and how many gigs does the computer say it has?.. Just maybe the limit setting is wrong... If you had your PC repaired by someone who didn't know what they were doing, it's possible that they made a mess of the internal tower settings and connectors... Or the HD could have been replaced, and the settings not adjusted properly... Or there could have once been a slave HD removed, and the settings not returned to normal... A lot of if's...
Last edited by cosmicB on Sat Nov 11, 2006 7:17 pm; edited 1 time in total
A nasty Spyware Trojan found in Executive Software's Diskeeper Defragger...
"SHOWHTML.EXE(urlmon.dll)"
My PC kept waking-up from sleep-mode every 15-minutes...
BlackIce Firewall found it as a Trojan...
I ran regedit find "urlmon.dll", and deleted the many entries...
I hope it wasn't something I shouldn't have deleted.. but this is how you learn stuff.. by trial and error...
The PC is still working good.. and maybe even better... Now at least it doesn't wake till I command it to wake... The PC seems to be running a little faster and snappier...
Some of those software companies seem to think our PC's are there's to mess in... The mindless monsters in the world need a serious wake-up call... Less people purchasing their products should do it... The sudden lack of money will wake-up the bully beasts in the world.. given that money is their souls and spirits...
I just tried "Power Defragger" download from Major Geeks... It's a Super piece of hard-working software...
Dump Diskeeper, and run REGEDIT to delete all Diskeeper and Executive registry items...
Run FIND, to uninstall and delete all you find of "diskeeper" and "executive"... then install Power Defragger, and check all its options on the first run...
HotDam! that's a Super fantastic piece of software!.. and it's clean and honest...
If you run the surface-scan option, it will likely take nearly an hour.. It's a good thing to do, at least once...
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