if this is what you’re referring to then it seems as if you did a non destructive restore rather than a clean install (you’ll need to stick with the latter if you want your unit to be functioning properly) and you know what that means —>> back up your important junk Again and reinstall your OS (delete all previous partitions and leave nothing; start fresh) that’s what u need to do and all your probs. should be set.
…I am unsure if I even have the OS disc considering I think my mother got this computer used. I also, I am unsure of how to properly backup things considering everytime I work with CDs I end up “finalizing” them and then I can never get anything off of them. (Stupid Roxio program.)
I am “hilariously” inept when it comes to computers, especially taking into account how much time I spend on the Internet.
Help I may be infected!
Hello everyone, I have tried to scan my computer with anti virus programs and spyware programs and nothing comes up. When ever I am surfing the internet or just idling on my favorite websites with firefox, IE opens up random pop ups and every so often it would open a string a windows and multiple tabs freezing up my computer. I’ve tried to do some research on this and the most I cam up with was Vundo virus? So I downloaded the necessary program to get rid of it and IE is still spittin pops up. Why just writing this message I must of had about 10 pop ups come up. Has anyone experienced this?
Wow, what do you mean the “necessary program”? That right there to me is a dangerous statement.
Yeah, you sound currently 0wned. Look up HijackThis and how it works…
there are some really cheap backup websites around… Mozy.com is $5 a month, and they give you a 2GB storage space, and it constantly grows.
Your registry is fucked literally; you need to re-install your OS (unless of course you have a cmos virus then you are Truly screwed but luckily, that is not the case)
This the Best way of starting from scratch but it Will benefit you in the long run.
Additionally, I ‘d like to add for the fellow people in here that have problems similar to this, this is what I recommend you guys do as follows. Tis going to be a bit lengthy but it will be a good guide to all. First and foremost, Stop being lazy asses and constantly back up your shit REGARDLESS of what you do to another medium other than you HDD you currently have installed. If your rig is set up in RAID then I suggest you not rely on the shit because sooner or later when that shit crashes on you , I’ll be laughing at you when you spend a couple of thousand when trying to recover your crap as that what data recovery specialists will charge . No tech at best buy, frys, circuit city or local mom n pops store will do this for a leniant price but there is hope however as there is one good place here where I live (about 5 minutes or so off the 5 in san diego) I can’t recall the name of them but they specialize in data recovery if ever needed (not like you guys will but heck, it’s food for thought as you never know) 2) Again, stop being lazy and make/create your set of system recovery cd/dvd’s regardless if there’s a built in recovery partition on the hdd. Reason I say this is mainly due to hdd crashing, you have no disks because manufacturer doesn’t provide them anymore (only toshiba and some acer laptops but the latter also has a built in partition that can be accessed by pushing alt+f6 simultaneously while booting) but again, don’t be reliant on built in recovery partitions as they can/will eventually crash hence the aforementioned creation of discs 3) shouldn’t repeat but again, back up your shit regardless of what you do. You’d be surprised at how much people despise this when it comes time to pony up the cash and client wanting to kick themselves for being idiots of avoiding this task. 4) NEVER use IE other than windows updates, THAT"S IT! yes some people like it but it continues to suck ass to this day. And not only that, wtf is up withthe half assed plug ins they claim are free when in fact I’ve seen you have to pay for them. sorry but stick to yeah doods thread on moziilla plug ins although my preference is as follows: ad block plus, filter set g, element hide (if you do a search for ad block plus, various other plug ins that are recommended for ad block plus is listed, I suggest you look over the list and choose the ones that pertain to it and nothing more as I can’t recall the names) faster fox is also good, download status bar (optional) and again refer to yeah doods thread on the plug ins for additional info for your liking. 5) Programs to purchase aka Essentials. All I use along with mozilla & plug ins as my main browser is spy sweeper with anti virus, peer guardian, registry mechanic and nothing more. Additionally you can always delete your prefetch files by doing a run command as follows: start > Run > prefetch. once inside this window, hit ctrl+A to select all then hold down the shift key as you delete all the files in the folder as it’s safe to do so. Windows automatically recreates files within this folder when u download, surf, virus scan, etc so no worries about it. 6) defrag and chkdsk (forr chkdsk, do a run command as well just like prefetch). Schedule at least a monthly defrag to keep you hdd in good shape otherwise your drive will be heavily fragmented and sluggish which is not good in general. You have to keep up on this along with your sweeps, windows updates & mozilla updates tp be considered alright for the long run. 7) be weary of dust, static heat & moisture as it will KILL your unit. in easier terms, keep your rig happy and it will treat you nice as well. I think I pretty much touched base with all the info I’ve given out to all but might have to edit/add more along the way as I might have forgotten some tidbits here n there but you guys should be fine as long as you stick to this as a routine. On another note, if you suspect your hdd has a virus/crash and are trying to recover data, invest in an enclosure as they are you best friend at such times. Reason I say this is, lets say you due have a virus and your comp is sluggish/down and your trying to recover a report for your college/high school etc whatever the funk your in 
paper that’s due sometime. Well this gadget will allow you to remove the hdd that’s currently installed on your computer and move it onto another unit as an external drive that you can connect to another unit and run a virus scan to remove/extract files AFTER you cleansed/detained the virus (if applicable, doesn’t work all the time but about 60%/40 it will) once done, reinstall your drive and reformat the sucker and do a clean OS install as the virus that was previously removed/detained is still in the registry. Once there, this is the best solution as viruses have a tendency to relapse without notice (ie, I’ve had spy sheriff installed on my comp that I’m using as we speak and boy it’s not a good program; it’s a fuct up spyware that will screw your system up badly. thats’ where the spy sweeper help comes along as it can remove such deal with a little tech support from their behalf and hijack this program that they will provide with instructions to use unless of course you DL it yourself but don’t use without their discretion as it’s vital. good thing about spy sweeper is that you can also use it in safe mode for diags which is a good thing. Usually if you have norton installed, they suggest you update your virus definitions like your supposed to do (this also applies to spy sweepr as well so don’t flake) then run your AV prog. in safe mode at least 3 times, each time removing any remnants that were p/u from the scan & stored in quarantine and deleted. once done, do your prefetch deal again, restart your comp. and it should start up w/o error. if for any reason your computer continues to blue screen then you might have a corrupted windows file such as NIS file missing, sys.inf, win32, so on so forth errors. If that’s the case then again, I’d suggest you do another clean OS install or you could try to do a windows repair restore aka non-destructive restore by inputting the following dos command chkdsk /r when using your recovery disks. Ok, I think this should set you straight but again, I night have to reiterate myself as I might have missed some things but hell, it’s late and I gots to get to work tomorrow just like the rest of you. Best of luck to all and again, I’m here to help out the people of the forums. take it easy. any feed back is much appreciated. :looney:
BTW preppy, i think this dood is referring to the vundo removal tool by symantec althought I might be wrong as he might be using “other means” ?? who knows but , I know for a fact he is owned thus, this lenghty ass reply of mine. (tired)
Whoa. Do you work for HP technical support? Why is this usually people’s first step? It should be a last step.
Ok, shin D. Before you restore your machine, let’s try a few more steps. First I’ll make a list of free software to download, and then a list of steps to follow. Here we go:
Software to download:
Rogueremoval (http://www.elitekiller.com/files/rogueremoval.zip)
Steps to follow:
We’re just gonna try a few things, and see if it fixes up your problem. So, first:
Right Click “My Computer,” Properties, Click the “System Restore” tab, and check the box to “Disable system restore.” Apply, and OK.
Unzip the rogueremoval folder into a folder of the same name on your desktop.
Restart in Safe Mode w/ Networking (make sure it’s w/ networking).
Inside this folder you’ve unzipped you’ll find a CCleaner installer
Install CCleaner
Run the Cleaner. If you’ve never removed temp files before, it could take some time.
Open SmitFraudFix
Option 4 (check for updates)
After it searches for some, it may update itself, regardless it takes you back to the numbered menu.
Option 2 (Clean)
This will start scrolling some text across your command prompt, and eventually ask you if you want to clean the Registry. Say yes. It will probably log you out, and then back into safe mode. This is normal.
When it’s all done close the program.
Open the "roguefix(numbers).bat file and keep pressing any key until the cleaner starts it’s job. It’ll look similar to the other one, but red.
After it’s done, close it down, follow the same process on the ComboFix file.
Install the rr-free-setup file, and run that program. Check for updates first, then run the scan. It takes just a few seconds. Remove anything it finds.
Ok, close it down. Restart your computer in normal mode.
Are you using any Anti-Virus software? If so, which one? Please don’t tell me you’re using a bunch, or anything like that.
This only takes about 20 minutes, max, and it will most likely help your problem. If not, then in the same unzipped folder you’ll find Hijackthis. Open that up, (the hijackthis_merijn folder) and click “Do a system scan and save a logfile” then copy and paste that logfile that opens up right here in the forum. This is really basic stuff, and I’ve got a lot of other ideas to help you out if this doesn’t help.
Ok, lemme know how you’re doing.
BTW, Chozen1, SmitFraudFix would have cleared up your SpySheriff problem in about 6 seconds.
SoupOrMan is correct 
i changed my ram and added an hd and xp said it would need to re-activate in 3 days. when i restarted it said i had to do it now.
how can i get around this?
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk - People with FAT errors and non-booting drives can try using this to recover. Nope, I’ve never used it before, but I will keep a couple copies on hand for emergencies. :tup:
And in answer to Mr. Newbie: There’s no real way around it unless you search for a bootleg patch and run it, but it might be too late if you can’t get the system up now anyway. If you can, then just search for a “Windows XP no Activation patch” on Google or something along those lines. Be smart… I don’t like to use things like that for the potential that you can get owned very easily, but if you’re willing to risk it…
Or if you actually have your auth key, just use it. That’s all it’s asking for.
If you don’t have it and you can’t get into your system to use/download the patch, AND you have your Windows CD, just install Windows over itself and you’ll keep all your data and you get another three days. In fact, I think it’s like 10 days or something. G’luck.
yes he is right however, for newbies whom are intimidated by screwing with the registry, having to report logs of hijack this, playing email tag and waiting for the responses from tech support, You’d already be done with restoring your OS to OEM specs (that is of course if the individual has their recovery disks on hand). Don’t get me wrong, your suggestion is by far a good resort in keeping your unit in it’s current state of not losing your progs although for someone who unfamiliar and hesitant in trying something they might be uncomfortable or confused about it’s much more simplistic to resort in starting over. Additionally, bear in mind that I am not be trying to be claimed as “the big cheese tech” despite it being my job nor am I trying to provoke people to piss and moan for user error or being flamed upon for being realistic about dire unfortunate accounts of their comps going to shit, I’m just here merely to help out fellow people that are unfamiliar with common mishaps that I see Much too often. Sure we got mixah, preppy you, I and others that like to post and help out but, we each have our own way of resolving issues and fixing them properly. Just my 2 cents. And again, please don’t take anything I state personal as we’re all here to help out our fellow people in the forums.
btw, the spy sheriff deal was killed off in about 20 minutes or so after using spy sweeper
Choz, edit and re-format your post, please! :annoy:
I agree, BTW. Nothing you have should be so precious that you can’t just hit delete and walk away. Back up your things and if you ever get a virus wipe and reload. That’s the only way to be “sure.” Images make things all the more easier. :tup:
I have an old laptop that I want to upgrade the cpu, is it possible?
here’s the specs:
TwinHead Corp. P88TF 1.0
Asset Tag: NoAsset Tag
Enclosure Type: Notebook
450 megahertz Intel Pentium III
32 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Board: TwinHead Corp. P88TF 1.0
Serial Number: MB1234567
Bus Clock: 66 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies LTD 4.06 08/30/00
well the model is twinhead p88tf. it’s such a shitty laptop that there’s practically nothing for it as in manual etc…
so I saw on a site that a guy commented that he put a p3 850 mhz cpu into what used to be celeron 466mhz.
here’s the quote: "I even found a Twinhead P88TF model that used Micro-PGA2 cpus, and I upgraded from a Celeron 466 MHz to a Pentium III @ 850MHz"
http://ryxi.com/chips/173-130-re-twinhead-vxe-p88te-windows-xp-works-with-sound-read.shtml
I was wondering if I can do the same. does mine use Micro-PGA2? and how do I check to see if it does. I was thinking of buying INTEL P3 850MHZ 256MB CACHE MICRO PGA2 SL53L SPEEDSTEP but mine is not a celeron processor, it’s a p3 450mhz.
I don’t care about crashing this laptop, the only thing I care about is wasting money on something that might not be compatible since I have to buying this online, no returns.
any help is greatly appreciated.
i tried a repair install. i’ll give the fulll install a shot tomorrow.
Do it ONLY after doing a ton of research and if you know how to take apart your laptop and replace the parts. In fact, take it apart first and inspect the CPU. Older laptops are known to have parts soldered in permanently, so as to disallow tinkering/upgrading. And even if it’s upgradeable and easy to install, you might run into problems getting the right P3. I think there’s about 5 or 6 different variations of P3’s out there, but I’m not sure it that’s true for laptops as well. Make sure you get the exact same type, or if you get something different make sure it works with the socket on your laptop. :tup:
you CAN do it, but keep something in mind. Laptop CPUs are not your typical, drop in, drop heatsink on, and go!
Here’s an example of a Sony one, one that I recently had to do actually. It’s quite annoying to get it right.
I tried to do the research already, but as I mention, there isn’t a lot of stuff on this notebook. I know how and did take everything apart. I know there are lots of p3 out there, that’s why I was wondering if the one I was planning to get works, and if not, which one will?
I’m not affraid of crashing/frying/burning this thing I just don’t want to waste $20 because it was the wrong type of processor. I have taken apart cpu/fan. My question is the compatibility of the chip I want to get for my current system.
here’s the spec on the cpu I currently have:
http://www.cpu-world.com/sspec/SL/SL3RF.html
here’s the spec on the one I’m planning on getting:
http://www.cpu-world.com/sspec/SL/SL53L.html
yes, just make sure that the voltage in your bios re-adjusts itself, but everything else looks good
ok when I first got this computer, the resolution settings were set to 1024 by 768 pixels. I like my icons bigger so I set it back to 800 by 600 pixels. The weird thing is, after a week or so, when I turn on my computer, the settings change back to 1024 by 768 by themselves. What gives?
Worked a double today for father’s day, so I’m too tired to think of any ideas right now. However, there should be some options available in Windows which will enable you to stay at 1024 x 768 and still have larger icons.
Specifically:
Right click on desktop
Properties
Advanced
Item: Icons
Adjust size accordingly