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Joe_London
HijackThis Helper
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 10701
Loc: London
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Hi Pete,
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Model - still no idea - saw nothing on either of the 2 checks to enlighten me.
No problem we have enough now.
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Info at the diskmgmt.msc window was thus:
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Disc 0 - Basic - 38.16Gb
Backup - 1.95Gb - FAT32 - Healthy (Unknown Partition) - 42% free
HDD (C:\) - 36.2Gb - NTFS - Healthy (System) - 68% free
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It was my understanding that I have 1 hard drive, partitioned so as to use for the backup / recovery info.
Untill last night I did have a C: drive and a D: drive and the cd drive was E:
When I plugged in any USB memory stick it became the F: drive
Now my cd is the D:, and my memory stick is the E:
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It appears Windows isn't recognising the FAT32 partition. The main C drive is formatted in NTFS so that may be the reason. Can yo tell us if someone set up your system in this way or did you use some third party tool to do this? For example, have you installed a third party backup system?
Don't do anything about it for now until we have all the information and I've had a think about it.
Have you backed up your personal data on this machine? I ask this question because its vital you have a backup of all your important data etc at all times and more especially when things go wrong. There is no point in backing stuff up to the same hard drive because if the hard drive goes then you lose everything including anything you've backed up.
As I see it you are in a pretty vulnerable position right now because you do not have an install disk, there are issues with the RAM, the Hard Drive and, if that weren't enough, the registry is corrupted as well
So you need to proceed with great caution at this point because you could lose all your stuff on there if you're not careful.
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Info at the system \ advanced etc page:
C: paging file size (Mb) 288-576
Custom size - Initial (Mb) 288 / Max (Mb) 576
Total paging file size for all drives:
Min allowed 2 Mb / Recommended 286 Mb / Current allocated 288 Mb
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Whenever there isn't enough physical memory windows try to compensate by creating virtual memory. This can be resolved by installing more RAM. I suggest sorting out the hard drive issue first in case that too is faulty.
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Info from crucial.com - same as last time I went to crucial to scan - the scan fails
It basically identifies that I have 2 slots - 1 with 256 in it and and max passible of 2056
During the attempt to scan I get a windows error message:
16 bit MS DOS Subsystem
C:\ Windows \ Downloaded Program Files \ conspawn.exe
Its not completing the scan due to a corrupt registry.
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C:\ Program~1\Symantec\S32EVNT1.Dll
An unstable Virtual device driver failed Dll initialization
We'll try and fix this, see below.
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I think I'll have to open the box, take the RAM out and see what it says on the label
Not necessary and besides the information may not be on there.
Try this registry fix.Then try the crucial scan again.
Create a Restore Point - this is standard procedure before making any registry changes.
A tutorial for System Restore is available here.
Open Notepad, (Start | Run, type in Notepad)
Copy ALL the bold text below to notepad.
Click File | Save As
Change the Save as type to *All Files*
Save it to your desktop as fixme.reg
REGEDIT 4
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\VirtualDeviceDrivers\VDD]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\VirtualDeviceDrivers\VDD]
Locate fixme.reg on your Desktop and double-click on it. You will receive a prompt similar to: "Do you wish to merge the information into the registry?". Answer Yes and wait for a message to appear similar to Merged Successfully.
Reboot your computer.
Delete the fixme.reg
Now try the Crucial scan again and post the results here please along with the other information.
Joe.
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Member of UNITE and ASAP.
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PeteH
regular
Reg'd: Mon
Posts: 110
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Delay was due to time taken to check / sort my "My Documents" before doing a backup. Keep thinking about and keep forgetting. Went to back up My docs and it was 1.8Gb in size. Predominantly pics and some music files. Resized / deleted pics and got it down to 450Mb in the end which is now burnt to disk
Hard Drive
I have had the pc approx 6yrs. In all that time it has always had a C: drive and a D: (recovery) drive - that's how it came when I bought it. No body else has ever done any work on it and and I wouldn't have the slightest clue how to change the drive format.
The D: drive only disappeared after Combofix was run
Should I try restore back to pre Combo and see if it makes a difference?
Memory
Copied / pasted / merged the fixme.reg data - rebooted - went to crucial site - no difference - Dll initialization error window and scan fails to determine the memory details other than 2 slots, 1 in use with 256mb in it
AVG SCan
My AVG scan last night was started at 2100 (usual) and at 01:10 (4hrs later !!) I got fed up with the wife moaning about the computer still being on and had to abort it. After all that time all it it found were 2 active x suspects and 2 false positive warnings (PSKill and the restore point with PSKill in it). Looked for how to add PSKill to an exceptions list but couldn't see how - wasn't totally alert mind you at 01:10 and a whining noise in my ear  . I'll look again some time.
Defrag
Less than 2 weeks ago I defragged and ended with 0% file fragmentation / 1% total fragmentation. Just glanced at it an hour ago and I have 24% file fragmentation / 24% total
I'm going to defrag again in 5 mins time (Once I post this)
Finally - for some reason your last post above is failing to show in the thread header. When I kept glancing in to see the responses move from 60 to 61 it hasn't. Only by clicking on show all (instead of jumping to page 3) can I get to see the post. If I click page 3 or, I click my user name, view all posts, click my last post then scroll down - your post wont show!
Pete
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Joe_London
HijackThis Helper
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 10701
Loc: London
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Hi Pete,
Quote:
Delay was due to time taken to check / sort my "My Documents" before doing a backup. Keep thinking about and keep forgetting. Went to back up My docs and it was 1.8Gb in size. Predominantly pics and some music files. Resized / deleted pics and got it down to 450Mb in the end which is now burnt to disk
Thats good, make sure you back up any other important documents as well such as emails, favourites, downloaded programmes etc. In other words anything that you can't replace.
Quote:
Hard Drive
I have had the pc approx 6yrs. In all that time it has always had a C: drive and a D: (recovery) drive - that's how it came when I bought it. No body else has ever done any work on it and and I wouldn't have the slightest clue how to change the drive format.
The D: drive only disappeared after Combofix was run
Should I try restore back to pre Combo and see if it makes a difference?
Don't try to restore it, just leave as is. I discussed this with my colleague Gryests and this is what he had to say:
Quote:
What you are seeing is the first hard disk in the system - Disc 0 (zero). Microsoft always counts things starting at zero.
It has a total capacity of 38.16gb so it was probably labelled as a 40gb hard disk when installed in the PC.
It has 2 partitions. The first one is the Backup partition and is 1.95gb. Hewlett Packard along with many other manufacturers always create a backup partition in FAT32 because when you need to do a restore it is done from a DOS prompt and DOS cannot read NTFS partitions.
The second partition is the main C: drive and is 36.2gb.
It is possible to go into the system and allocate a drive letter to the backup partition and thus make it available from My Computer but I would counsel against it. He doesn't need to access it in the normal course of events and when he does the restore function will find it anyway.
Under no circumstances whatsoever should it be converted to NTFS.
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Memory
Copied / pasted / merged the fixme.reg data - rebooted - went to crucial site - no difference - Dll initialization error window and scan fails to determine the memory details other than 2 slots, 1 in use with 256mb in it
The other way to verify the type and amount of RAM is to go back to the Crucial site and enter all the details of your computer manually. I prefer the scan method myself but that isn't possible in this instance for some reason. Try that and report back.
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AVG SCan
My AVG scan last night was started at 2100 (usual) and at 01:10 (4hrs later !!) I got fed up with the wife moaning about the computer still being on and had to abort it. After all that time all it it found were 2 active x suspects and 2 false positive warnings (PSKill and the restore point with PSKill in it). Looked for how to add PSKill to an exceptions list but couldn't see how - wasn't totally alert mind you at 01:10 and a whining noise in my ear . I'll look again some time.
I suggest changing the settings from automatic to manual scan at least for now as you'll be really fed up with this thing running for hours like that.
PSKill belongs to Hewlett Packard so forget that one.
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Defrag
Less than 2 weeks ago I defragged and ended with 0% file fragmentation / 1% total fragmentation. Just glanced at it an hour ago and I have 24% file fragmentation / 24% total
I'm going to defrag again in 5 mins time (Once I post this)
OK
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Finally - for some reason your last post above is failing to show in the thread header. When I kept glancing in to see the responses move from 60 to 61 it hasn't. Only by clicking on show all (instead of jumping to page 3) can I get to see the post. If I click page 3 or, I click my user name, view all posts, click my last post then scroll down - your post wont show!
There are problems with this forum and long threads like this one become badly distorted, unfortunately its outside our control but we're hopeful it will be rectified soon. In the meantime once you receive a notification that the thread has been updated go to the Hijackthis forum and click "All" or "show all" in your thread. Then scroll down to the last post.
Joe.
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If I have helped you in any way, please consider a donation:
Joe's WebSite.
Member of UNITE and ASAP.
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PeteH
regular
Reg'd: Mon
Posts: 110
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Hi Joe
I hadn't thought about e-mails and favourites (got loads of them I could do without losing ! ) - they are backed up as well now
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Memory - I can't enter the details manually into the crucial site - i don't know the model or product line. Even when I look in system information it shows just a long line of zero's - the same as the scan gets when it tries to run
I have now had the memory out and looked at whats written on it:
MT8VDDT3264AG-265B1
PC2100U-25330-AO
BZABPE 6001 200236
256MB DDR 266MHZ CL2.5
Unsure how many pins - tried counting the little gold bard but, even with glasses on they are small lol I counted approx 90 on 1 side (I think)
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Changed AVG scan settings to manual - certainly can't be assed to put up with 4hr scans every day !
___________________________________________________________________
Defrag is back to % file / 0% total but pc just seems to be getting slower and slower in everything it does - IE / opening applications / start up (now routinely close to 5 mins to start up  )
I'm sure it's about to roll over and die on me
Pete
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Joe_London
HijackThis Helper
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 10701
Loc: London
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Hi Pete.
Quote:
Memory - I can't enter the details manually into the crucial site - i don't know the model or product line. Even when I look in system information it shows just a long line of zero's - the same as the scan gets when it tries to run
OK, so the position is you cannot use the automatic scanning faility and you don't have a record of the Computer Model Number. Are you sure about that? maybe you have the original paperwork/receipt in a drawer somewhere?
Try downloading the Belarc Adviser and run that. If it runs it will give you all the information. Heres the link:
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
Joe.
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If I have helped you in any way, please consider a donation:
Joe's WebSite.
Member of UNITE and ASAP.
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PeteH
regular
Reg'd: Mon
Posts: 110
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The Belarc scan did run and produce masses of information but it still didn't produce the model details (gives serial No and chassis No but not model) or the RAM specifics - the same old 2 slots - 1 empty 1 with 256 in it.
I have made some progress though - been to the Packard Bell site and started going through trouble shooting pages there. Not surprisingly, it starts by asking the model of ur product - but then provides multiple photos to choose from and hovering over the pic produces a larger screen shot
Now pretty sure it is either an Imedia SL or Imedia VL but still no model number to compare with the last info box on the crucial page
I have posted that info though in an e-mail to the crucial site - once I get an answer I'll post again
Pete
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Joe_London
HijackThis Helper
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 10701
Loc: London
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Hi Pete,
Quote:
Now pretty sure it is either an Imedia SL or Imedia VL but still no model number to compare with the last info box on the crucial page
I have posted that info though in an e-mail to the crucial site - once I get an answer I'll post again
Thats a good idea as they are very helpful normally. Usually this information is on a plate somewhere on the case. Where did you buy the Computer from? Did you retain the paperwork?
Looking forward to hearing from you shortly.
Joe.
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If I have helped you in any way, please consider a donation:
Joe's WebSite.
Member of UNITE and ASAP.
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PeteH
regular
Reg'd: Mon
Posts: 110
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Bought the computer from PC-World but over 6yr ago and have moved house since then so the chances of the original documents still being around are slim
Plus, I'm not a hoarder - once it's gone past the guarantee period (12 month norm) I ditch paperwork
Pete
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Joe_London
HijackThis Helper
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 10701
Loc: London
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There should be a model number or name on a plate attached to the case. Possibly at the back somewhere.
Joe.
--------------------
If I have helped you in any way, please consider a donation:
Joe's WebSite.
Member of UNITE and ASAP.
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