Windows ME start up problem

[LadyGrey]

Hello all, I've got a friend who has one of the emachines, it's running windows me and she is getting an error message that says it's trying to update system files, then it says it can't update and windows may not run properly. It also tells her to run SETUP again if it won't run right. Then it says to press any key to continue. There are no numbered error codes that I could see. I tried getting a DOS prompt and typed in SETUP but it says bad command or file name. I know that's probably not what it means by running setup but I thought I'd give it a shot. She can go ahead and start windows but all she can do with it is read things. She can't download anything at all, she can't work on her web site she can't do anything but read things. I tried dumping her cache, she had never dumped it, that was a mess, and I reset her cache to 64 mb, it was set at 9967 mb. The computer is horribly slow, worse than the computer we all fixed for my son. It shouldn't be that slow. It's got an intel 667 mhz cpu, 15 gig hard drive. Any suggestions would really be a great help. Thanks, LadyGrey:)

[mjc]

LG, welcome back.......

First, did she try to install something and have it choke on it?

Windows doesn't usually try to update the settings unless something is being installed. So if she didn't do it, and doesn't have the Windows update set as a scheduled task, and doesn't have any of the various auto updaters turned on, then it is time to do a good AV (anti-virus) scan.

Look here (http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15179) for a list of AV apps. The free DrWeb DOS fits on a single floppy. To use it you make a Win98 bootdisk, then stick DrWeb on a second disk, write protect both disks (slide the little tab). Boot to the 98 disk, skip the cd-rom support, pop it out, then put in the DrWeb disk, and run it.....

If she tried to install something, or has any auto-updates on then it is probably a bad install. You may be able to trick it into finishing or thinking it has finished by booting into safe mode and cleaning things out from there.

[jabarnutcase]

Hi LG!

Just a little observation here. After you try MJC's suggestions, (Which sound good:) ), and hopefully get this sorted out, I would suggest that you run defrag too.
This only comes to mind since your friend has never emptied her cache, chances are, maybe she has never run defrag either.
A friend of mine had her computer slow down almost to a halt- I asked her when the last time she ran Disk cleanup, Scandisk, and defrag.
Her reply: What the heck are you talking about? :confused:

Ran defrag three times, the first two took forever .
Needless to say, big difference when we were done! :D

[LadyGrey]

Thanks so much for the suggestions, I am going to give all of it a shot and see what happens. I'm heading to bootdisk.com right now to create a boot disk for her too. Ok, here is a really stupid question, I know the minute you tell me the answer I'll have already known it but for the life of me I can't remember how to boot into safemode. I tried to run her Norton av but it was so slow and I didn't have enough time to wait for it before I had to leave to come home. I told her to run it over night. I've never seen an av run so slow. There is something major wrong with that computer for sure. I asked her if she had done anything lately like installing something but she didn't know, she's not really into computers, her hubby is tho so I need to talk to him and find out what has been done in the last week or so. Never even thought of the auto updates so I have to find out about that too. I told her I was coming here and all about this board and the neat people who helped me so much so she may drop in just to look around. Thanks mjc for the nice welcome back, I haven't been here in awhile. It's been so hot here that I have to turn off my computer. I'm paranoid it will over heat and burn up.:D In the mean time I'm going over to her house tomorrow or monday I think so I will get all of the disks ready and write down all the stuff that we want to try. Thanks again. LG ;)

[sea69]

press F5 after memory test and before windows starts to load to get to safe mode.

you didn't mention how much RAM this machine has.



;)

[Whyzman]

I don't know if the problem machine is capable of making the bootdisk, but I suggest you make it using a computer known to be free of any viri...same for the download of DrWEB...then write protect as mjc instructed.

[Sylvander]

Hello LadyGray

If I had these problems I would not even try to find the cause.


I'd just re-format my hard drive and restore my latest good backup [from CD-RW disks] using "Simple Backup" and my "Disaster Recovery Diskette". [It's a floppy that you boot to]

This would restore a working system.

If she doesn't have anything like this at the moment tell her to get a backup system for the future. It puts an end to all the hassles.

[Paleo Pete]

I'd just re-format my hard drive and restore my latest good backup

NOPE...it's not a last resort yet.

First thing that comes to mind is RAM...Someone has already asked, and I would like to know as well, how much RAM does this machine have, and what CPU. What motherboard and chipset would also help. If this is a 1st generation Pentium, 233MMX or lower, with a motherboard that has the Intel i430xx chipset, anything over 64MB RAM will slow it down so that it runs about like a 386.

Check the first boot screen, during memory count, and press [Pause], write down the long number at bottom left. That's the BIOS ID string. Go to Wim's BIOS (http://www.wimsbios.com) and look up the motherboard, try to get a manual. The manual should tell you what chipset it uses. Many i430xx boards have i430xx in the ID String too. The xx portion will be FX, TX, VX or HX.

Being ME, I suspect this may be a big part of the problem. ME is also a resource hog, and if the System Restore function is enabled that can both slow the machine down and tie up huge amounts of disk space eventually. Open My Computer, right click C drive, click Properties and see how much free space is left on the drive. If it's under about 300MB start trying to reclaim some free space.

Check the virtual memory too, see if it has been disabled, or is using such a huge swap file it no longer has hard drive space for it. Right click My Computer and click Properties. Look under the Performance tab. Also let us know if that has a white box saying some drives are running in MS-DOS Compatibility Mode.

Don't make any changes in Virtual Memory unless you KNOW what you're doing...the results can be disastrous...

That's all I can think of for now, get us some system specs, check free space and virtual memory and we'll go from there.

[Whyzman]

The default settings for System Restore are based on a percentage of the Harddrive size. You can reclaim some of this by Right clicking on My Computer>Properties>Performance>Advance Settings File System. Move the System Restore from the default Maximum all the way to the 200MB minimum.

This will ultimately give you about 2 weeks worth of backups which should be plenty.

Also, in WinMe you cannot get a real DOS prompt unless you boot using bootdisk.

[jabarnutcase]

I agree about the Ram-
I would be very curious too. As Pete and others have mentioned, it can make a huge difference- (More so than a processor upgrade in many cases). However, this is a case I think, where the computer was once fast and now it's slow.
LG did say that her friend was using "an Intel 667mhx CPU with a 15GB hard drive", so I would be suprised if she is out of disk space (although not really suprised). And I'll bet that the machine came with at least a "decent" amount of ram installed- 128mb of so. And, yes- one of the first things I do with system restore, is turn down the amount of disk space that system restore is allowed to use. (In the case of WinME, when I was using it, I actually turned it off because It never worked properly!)

Thats it- I'm outta here for the day, just had to get my 'fix' in before I left. :)
Have a great day :D

[Sylvander]

Hello all

I feel in a storytelling mood so if your all sitting comfortably I'll tell the story of Alexander the great and the Gordion Knot.

This was a very special knot kept at a temple in North Africa [can't remember where exactly....was it Thebes?]

Now this knot was so difficult to undo that it was said that anyone who could undo it would rule the world.
[They're a kenning lot these priests. I picture them using a two inch diameter rope and teams of elephants making multiple knots to create one huge knot which was impossible to undo, then telling the story to thwart any power-crazed individual with ambitions of taking over the world]

So along comes Alexander and presents himself like all the failures before him and stands beside the knot and all the priests know that this over-ambitious upstart will be put in his place like all the others and they smile with quiet contentment.

Then an aide appears and hands Alexander a great, heavy, sharp sword. He raises it high above his head and slices down into the rope again and again untill it lies in two bundles of fragments.

The priests stand open mouthed in amazement and feel rather cheated and angry and afraid.
This man is going to be trouble!

He has just demonstrated that there is more than one way solve a problem, and sometimes the crudest is the quickest and most effective.

So don't spend your precious time sifting through that haystack looking for that needle.

Pete thinks restoring a backup is a last resort.
It would be my first resort and it would end the problem in about one hour and involve about fifteen minutes work.

Re-format the drive; boot with the recovery diskette in place; select to restore the C: drive and go listen to your favourite CD and check back every 15 minutes or so to swap to the next backup CD.
Come back when your music has finished and re-boot to a functioning PC.
Why make it difficult?

In the VERY unlikely event that this doesn't work you know you have a hardware problem.

[mjc]

Sylvander, the point of trying to find out what the problem is:

a) If it is hardware - repair or replace the defective part. If the problem is hardware related, she will end up going through the suggestions above anyway, after the reinstall, if it even allows to OS to be reinstalled. I find it much easier to troubleshoot a hardware problem with an OS than without one.

b) If it is something simple, like a stuck install or too much junk on the hard drive (like never cleaned temp files), then there is no real need to reinstall just to catch up on "standard" maintenance.

c) Find out if it is malware related, because if so then other steps may need to be taken (especially if it is a trojan).

Wiping the disk and reinstall will fix most problems, but if the underlying cause is not discovered and taken care of, it is no better than the support options offered by most major sellers.

[Sylvander]

Hello mjc

I'm not keen on re-installing the operating system [and "rebuilding" the software system]. It takes too much time and work and, as you say, it can go wrong.
Thats why I was actually advocating Restoring a "good" backup of a working system.
Perhaps I'm spoiled by a system that makes it too easy.
I have "drive overlay software" in use and the manufacturer of this supplies a prog on a floppy disk which makes reformatting the drive so easy. Then "Simple Backup" and it's "Disaster Recovery Diskette" makes it so easy because you only need to boot with this floppy in place and the program takes control of the RESTORE operation which never fails.

So to address the points you made:

DISCOVERING THE UNDERLYING CAUSE OF A PROBLEM
In my case I don't really care. all I want is to get the PC up and running again as soon as possible with the minimum of hassle. If there were something to be learned that would be nice, but that would become a lifetime's work because there is so much to know it would be never-ending. sometimes there is no alternative and you are forced to discover the cause to find the fix, but don't make it an end in itself.

POINT C
I'm not sure about this but doesn't reformatting eliminate the threat posed by virus's etc? Again, I'm only interested ineliminating that threat and restoring a working system.

POINT B
Eliminating the problem of the stuck install would be achieved. Eliminating junk on the hard drive can still be done [and done easier] once the system is retuned to a fully functional state. Mind you, the restore will probably return the system to a better state with less junk on it since a backup should be taken when conditions are good.

POINT A
If things go as they should and the problem is eliminated then it would be obvious that no hardware problem exists, thus eliminating a whole avenue of investigation. If the problem remains then it is probably a hardware problem, the software avenue is eliminated, the hardware becomes the focus.
QUOTE
"I find it much easier to troubleshoot a hardware problem with an OS than without one."
I agree, but would it not be much better to look for a hardware problem with an operating system restored from a backup, which was known to be in good working order; rather than one which is suspect to say the least?

CONCLUSION
Get the system working again; don't make finding the cause of the problem an end in itself.

[LadyGrey]

Hi again, I've got a little more info on the emachine I think.
Restoring the system may be the only thing to do but I really want to try some of the other suggestions first as my friends are not really sure about backing up their files and I'm afraid I'm no better.
From what I've been told the slowness really could be not enough RAM. The machine only has 64 mb which is crazy. More RAM is on the way however so we will see if that makes a difference. Now, not being over to see the machine I've got at least I think a BIOS version, EPP- ver.9.0
Not being familer with anything but the Award BIOS I know nothing about this EPP. We may have a motherboard too, Whitney Sys CR Board, Sys-X86 CT PC.
Now, if after we have tried everything we still have to restore would you recommend partioning the disk? I think it would be a big help if anything ever goes wrong again. They could keep most of the files they don't want to loose in the other partion and only run system files on the other. I do that with my computer and it has saved my butt many a time. It is a 15 gig hard drive so what amount of space should be alotted for each partion? I have the program Partion Magic would you recommend using that? I think I'm going to experiment on my sons computer and try to partion his little 6 gig harddrive before I try it on theirs. As always and forever, thank you for you help and any suggestons. LG ;)

[Whyzman]

Sea was definitely headed in the right direction with his initial question on RAM supply. The WinMe minimum system requirement is 32MB.

What kind of stuff do they have running in the background? (Ctrl+Alt+Del) Could you tell us what Task programs are running?

There's also an available RAM check in System Information...Perhaps someone can direct you there to see how much RAM is available following boot.

[mjc]

eMachines, there will be a ton of background stuff if none it was ever shutdown. Also with ME and 64NB of RAM they will be using the swapfile for just about everything. Background apps = slower; Swapfile use = even slower!!!

Sylvander, formatting a drive does not actually erase anything on the drive, so some malware can survive a format.

And yes, if you have a backup (ghost image of your perfect install and make no hardware changes it can be very easy to clear the drive and start over...but I would not say the eMachines restore disk is a perfect install...to much included junk.) Besides, cleaning out the drive now with an iffy OS would give the owner practice and not much would be lost if they messed it up. Besides they aren't paying for support, so in this I still stand by my first position... make them get their hands a little dirty, then maybe they will work a little harder at keeping it clean in the first place :D

[sea69]

the reason my first and only question was regarding RAM is because the OS is winME, and she had left that VERY important piece of information out.

If running winME the optimum amount of RAM needed to run "smoothly" is 128 and up- winME needlessly takes much more RAM than win98se- to run things like the non-working- or at best hit and miss system restore point built in program that additionally can take up a majority of your hard drive.

no offense intended but to suggest a reformat/reinstall without knowing what the posters COMPLETE system specifications are is just IRRESPONSIBLE.

and- while this program that Sylvander mentions sounds nice- WHERE did this original poster state that she had it, or a cdrw??

Now, you could reinstall windows or use a back up (which would be the exact same thing and I don't see how that would help) until your head falls off, and without adding more RAM the machine will REMAIN slow.

Perhaps try a real operating system- if you want to install something that works and your system is compatible get a copy of winXP.

(of course with winXP you would like to have a MINIMUM of 256 RAM.)


winXP is what Micro$oft was trying for when they did winME.




just some thoughts.

;)

[LadyGrey]

Hi All,
Some of the programs that came up when I asked them to do the three finger salute are, Sandicon, Nava32, MDM, OSSproxy. The systray and explorer where there too and I told them to leave those two alone as they are the only ones I know of that you really should have running and to turn the others off and see what happens. It's real hard trying to help them, they are about where I was a year or so ago, afraid to touch anything for fear of making it worse. I sure sympathize with that feeling. I had my own computer problems here the last couple of days or I would have gone over and done all this myself. Had a modem problem but I found the help I needed in the archives so I'm up and running again. It's not as hot here, only 85 compared to the 104 we have had so maybe I'll get my butt in gear today and go over and try all this good stuff. Get some more info too. Thanks for all the help. LG ;)

[sea69]

Sandicon- :\PROGRAM FILES\IMAGEMATE COMPACTFLASH USB\SANDICON.EXE - can be deleted or taken OUT of the start-up menu.
open registry and go to key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Run Locate sandicon item and delete it. Next time you log on, the Windows does not run it.

Nava32 does not show up anywhere except as a reference to NAVW32.exe which is norton and possibly changed due to The 'NAVW32.EXE has been altered message' is not normal, and appears to indicate that you have a virus on the system. This message states that the NAVW32.EXE file was changed from what it should be. One possible cause of this problem is that a virus has infected the NAVW32.EXE file, and possibly other files on the system as well. We have been seeing this problem frequently as a result of the W95.CIH virus. There is a file that you can download which does have support for detecting and removing the W95.CIH based virus. I recommend that you download the file and scan your system. The file is a DOS virus scanner by the name of NAVC10.EXE and it can be downloaded from here: <ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/products/norton_antivirus/ver3_win3x/scanner/navc10.exe> The instructions for installing this file and scanning for the WIN95.CIH based virus can be found in this text file: <ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/products/norton_antivirus/ver3_win3x/scanner/navc10.txt> Following the steps in the above text file should enable you to detect and remove the W95.CIH based virus from your system.


MDM- Disabling MDM.exe
The following info has been consolidated and reworded from posts on the GRC optout newsgroup:

From "NT Canuck"and "CK" Sept 05-00: "mdm.exe "machine debug manager" is a feature of MS Office and some VB and C++ optional programs. In Internet Explorer 5.5, go to the Tools, menu properties option, advanced tab and place a checkmark in: DISABLE SCRIPT DEBUGGING and uncheck the option to: DISPLAY a notification about all script errors. (Wording of the options may be different in earlier versions of IE ). If you don't use scripting in MS Office, it should be deselected from Options. More info is available from the links below." [Note: For IE 4.73, this was accomplished by choosing View | Internet Options | Advanced, then putting a check mark in DISABLE SCRIPT DEBUGGING under the Browsing Options section.]

OFF2000: Files Whose Name Begins with "fff" Appear in Windows Folder support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q158/5/08.asp <http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q158/5/08.asp>
This FAQ includes directions for disabling Mdm.exe by editing the Registry.

LangaList: More Files You Can Safely Delete www.langa.com/newsletters/1999/oct-18-99.htm <http://www.langa.com/newsletters/1999/oct-18-99.htm>

OSSproxy-

Description
MarketScore is a proxy service which claims to increase the speed of your internet connection. It runs at startup to ensure all your web connections are routed through MarketScore's proxies. (I did not observe any significant speedup from using the service.)
Also known as
Netsetter (previous name), ossproxy (program name).
Distribution
Is installed through ActiveX at MarketScore's site, heavily pushed by MarketScore affiliates. Possibly installed with some ISP software?
What it does
Advertising
No.
Privacy violation
Yes. Every web connection you make, including 'secure' connections, goes through the proxies and is logged and analysed on behalf of MarketScore's customer companies.
Security issues
Unconfirmed. There is a 'required update' feature, but it is unknown whether this happens without consent from the user.
Stability problems
Won't work if you have to use a different proxy. Will kill your internet connection if you try to delete the csloa.dll component manually.
Removal
There is a hidden uninstall feature. Open a command window and enter (for Windows 95/98/Me):
"%WinDir%\SYSTEM\NSCheck.exe" /uninstall
Or for Windows NT/2000/XP just:
NSCheck /uninstall
Spybot S&D version 0.95b6 and up can remove MarketScore.

get and run the new adaware (free) from lavasoft:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/index.html


;)

[LadyGrey]

Hi Everyone,
Ok, here we go, progress report time.
Went over this morning and we worked for about 3 hours and here is what we have gotten done. As per Sea69 I followed the directions for MDM and getting it disabled but as I didn't go into the registry I'm sure it will pop right back up, at least we now know it is safe to disable it from running in the background. I rechecked the info on the other programs that are running in the background and the Nava32 that I first reported is actually Navawp32, is that something different? The OSSproxy from what I can understand is Spyware and is probably put there by the ISP they are using, Juno. We were afraid to try to take that out as it may have affected the internet connection. I could not get a BIOS string number as the memory test is not shown on bootup, just a blank dark screen but we were able to freeze the BIOS screen. I'll put down what seemed to me (uh oh) to be what you need to know. Celeron 667 mhz, system memory 640 kb, Extended memory 63488 kb, Shadow RAM 384 kb,Cache RAM 128 kb, System ROM E74D-FFFF, BIOS date 9-5-00 PhonenixBIOS, Hard disk 0 ST315323A-(PM)
85% free space.
Finaly got into SafeMode after the same updating system configuration message came up and we had to press another key. Tried to run Norton from there and while it ran it kept hanging up and wouldn't complete, the file it seemed to be hanging up on was C:\_Restore\Temp
Tried and got to the system restore area as per Whyzmans instructions but the option for setting the amount was greyed out and wouldn't let us move the slider. The slider was set at about half to three quarters of the way up.
From what I understand auto updates are running. Could this be the reason that Norton is hanging up in the restore\temp file. An update that had tried to be downloaded and installed is in there and is corrupted or infected? How do we clean that out and turn off the auto update? The computer is barely a year and a half old. Defrag and scandisk have been run. Took some doing but it got done. Took a very long time.
Hope this helps, we had crossed eyes by the time we had had enough and quit but we learned an awful lot by just running around trying to get the info you all needed. The instructions were so clear. I forgot to check virtual memory Pete but I think they will be able to tell me if I call. And we didn't mess with the sandicon as that involved the registry and I'm not even sure how to get there much less what to do afterwards. At least I have enough sense not to mess with things I really and truly know nothing about. As there is no way to download anything like the file for detecting the W95.CIH virus we didn't try that. That's pretty much all for now, if I think of something else I'll get it put up. Thanks so very much! LG ;)
ps. Has anyone seen FTT? I've not seen him and he's been such a wonderful help to me in the past. Hope he's ok.

[sea69]

hi again LG-

we could (and someone or all of combined may) type out all of the instructions for all the things you MUST do- but I was wondering- do you by chance have a decent mom & pop pc shop around there??

if so, call them and ask what they charge for a "Tune Up" (at least that's what I call it here)

;)

I do these all the time for people who have far worse they have inadvertently downloaded (or been tricked into doing so)

it should include cleaning out the registry, the HDD, diagnose the possibilities and advise as to what is really worth putting into the machine money-wise. Also, this should include virus def updates system file checker,trojan removal etc..

no more than $40.00, the way to go short of a fresh install.

if you're ever in Baltimore bring it to me!

heh



:p

[LadyGrey]

Hi Sea69,
You know I kinda had a feeling you were gonna say that. After we had worked and worked on it today, there was just so much that I knew wasn't right but didn't have the knowledge to fix. I'm really afraid that a restore is going to be what we will have to do. I just hate to, as there are so many pictures and things on there and I'm just not very good at doing back ups. I may be able to get some things to disk for them and her hubby does have a basic knowledge of puters like me so maybe between the two of us we can at least do that. I sure wish I could go to school to learn to repair computers, I'm so facinated with them. I've looked into the local college but all they offer is running the puter, nothing on repair.
Hey, on another note, my family came from up your way, in fact both my kids were born in Baltimore. We were out in the Columbia area.
Well, both my friends have been checking out the answers here so I guess they will see and decide what to do. Thanks very much. LG ;)

[mjc]

As for finding a BIOS string/update...don't bother, it is an eMachine, it is a proprietary board and for most of their machines the latest BIOS (read only one available is the one it came with).

You can try to disable the system restore...here are some instructions how to do it from a Klez removal too......

For Windows ME
a. Right click the My Computer icon on the Desktop and select
Properties.
b. Select the Performance Tab, click the File System button.
c. Select the Troubleshooting tab, then put a check mark next
to 'Disable System Restore.'
d. Click Apply > Close > Close. When prompted to restart the
computer, click Yes. The System Restore utility is then
disabled.
e. Restart your computer in Safe Mode and continue with the
scan/clean process. Files under the _Restore folder can now
be deleted.
f. To re-enable System Restore, simply follow steps A to D but this time, removing the check mark next to 'Disable System Restore.'
g. Restart your system normally.

[Paul Komski]

Seems a pity to lose valuable data if formatting in view. Is there much "stuff" involved and no CDburner? If you can get your hands on any old 2nd hand HDD and put it in as a slave drive - it could be an easy way of backing-up the data.

One other thought for storing backup stuff (depends on how much obviously) is to upload it temporarily to a website.

[sea69]

well, you still could do the cdrw route to backup the files you want to save- picture, word documents, install exe's for applications you want to reinstall.

remember where mjc mentioned that sometimes even a reformat will not wipe out the "badies"?

I don't know that the machine in question is that far 'infected' to have to worry about that eventuality, but then again I haven't seen it either to be sure.

If cdrw is out- try a simple file transfer app like icq (http://www.icq.com/)

send the files you want to save to another computer for use after you get this one straightened out.

and if you hang around HERE long enough, you will learn all the things they want to teach (and charge you for) in school!

as Paul says we really don't want to see you/them loose things they want, we just want to get rid of the things that shoudn't be there and clean it up.

I don't want to put you through 'hoops' here on fixing as opposed to a clean install as you seem to not be comfortable with that.

The first thing to do though in either case is to save the files you want (just in case)




;)

[Fruss Tray Ted]

:D Nice to know you still care LG! Thanks.

I've just been really busy lately and don't have enough time to even FISH let alone post! And the fishing season is waning FAST! :( (Working on 2 vehicles, new job, packing and looking for another place plus a couple gigs)

I've been reading your posts, and you are in 'good hands' with the "Allstate" gang above. ;)

Norton's Live update disable:
Right click the little popup in the task bar, open 'configure Norton Antivirus' and click on Live-Update, then uncheck the "enable Auto Live Update" box.

Do your friends have Norton's System Works or just the Antivirus? Reason I ask is the scandisk and defrag from Symantec are much faster and better than Windows'. (with the possible exception of XP's, don't know) The thought was, if NAVA32 was what was you saw onscreen, the pc may have had a virus but after you corrected yourself of your mistyped word(s) and I think that at least on that note, there's no virus. (May be others though)

The computer is barely a year and a half old.
And it only has 64 megs of RAM? Definitely find out what kind and add more ASAP! Especially with ME. Have them D/L Belarc Advisor (http://www.belarc.com/Programs/Crucial/advisor.exe) to see the motherboard info so you can find out just how much the board can utilize for RAM by going to the mobo's website. Same as we did for your son's IBM.

You mentioned 'partitioning'. I am wanting to do the same but have put it on the backburner for now till I get settled in later. Maybe we can work on the same bench again later? No?

My sis has an E-Machine (w/W98SE) with a somewhere around 500 megahertz processor and only 32 or was it 48 megs of pc100 RAM. My niece has put every "cool" thing she can find on it (dangerous creatures, also stuff from the internet) and it runs slower than frozen molasses going uphill. And every time I TOUCH the mouse they slap the back of my hand. :eek: Go figure! They have cable modem and my dial up is faster! If your friends can decide on what they need on their pc, and 'uninstall' what isn't, this will help a little too. Also if they have a lot of games and/or music and things of the sort, they should seriously consider getting a CD-RW and clean up their HDD even more with it.

But then, if you didn't have to go rescue them, what fun would that be? :D

To be continued.....

[mjc]

In all likelyhood the motherboard is an i810e chipset, so PC 100 or 133 RAM is what to feed it.

Youh will not have enough juice from the PSU to add a second CD type drive, so swapping for the current CD would be the way to go. BUT right now a CD_RW is not going to much good because with the condition it is in the writing software will most likely not even install :eek: !

You can't even really try a partial restore by wiping the Win folder, because there is no real OS install disk. It looks like it is going to be either fix it or lose it...:(. Unless you can slave another HD to it...actually I would install the second hard drive as master (with a clean install) and then use the current drive as the slave and copy the files from it to the newer one. If you do decide to use this method, make sure there is an active AV app with updated definitions running to monitor any files transferred.

[LadyGrey]

Hello Everyone,
Please forgive me for not getting back to you for so long, as usual, life got in the way again and we were waiting for RAM to arrive and be installed. Any way, the RAM, 128 mb has been installed and so far the computer seems to be just flying! They are running a total of 192 mb now and that seems to be helping a whole lot!! I'm supposed to go over today and visit so I'll ask some more questions too. Their son in law is down from canada and is right good with computers, he's the one who put in the RAM for them so I'll ask him and see what his opinions are too. I don't think they have tried to work on her web site yet or download anything so the problem may still be there. Oh, defrag has been run, took about an hour but it did complete this time! Thank goodness!! They are thinking about just getting rid of ME altogether and getting either W2K or XP. I told them W2K would really be the best, no activation hassles. I've run W2K now for over a year and I swear I can't remember it ever crashing on me so I'm a firm believer in it. You know, I think Sea69 was right about hanging around this board. I'm trying to help another friend now with an ME running machine. I'm getting quite a reputation around here as the crazy computer person. I always give you all the credit tho. I've already told everyone I know about this board and to come and sign up and start posting. I can't believe that just a few months ago we were working on Donnies computer and I knew nothing and I mean nothing about what I was doing. I still know nothing but I'm having a devil of a good time!!:D I'll let you know what I find out and find out if they have tried to run their AV yet. That was another thing that was so slow that it would take all night to run. LG ;)

[LadyGrey]

Hi All,
Well, life finally got out of my way long enough for me to sit down and give you the ending to a happy story. You all were right on just about everything single thing you told me to try. It was the RAM, and ME did choke on a download! Also the computer had gotten itself into something called diagnostic mode, I'm not familer very much at all with ME so I'm not quite sure what that is. The auto updates were on just like you all said and it had tried to dl IE 6 and choked on it! It was us and their son in law that put all our heads together to get this thing fixed. I was so happy! The computer is just doing great. She can work on her web site, and dl things and just do everything she needs too. Defrag and AV has all been run and completed and the system is clean as a whistle! You know, this is the third person that I've tried to help and do you know that they were all running ME? Kinda makes ya think huh? Well, anyway we have another happy ending here. You all are batting 2 for 2 with me! Thanks very much for all the help and the time you have spent and all your brains too ! LG;)

[James Bond 007]

Use this free program to clean you computer http://www.skylarkutilities.com works under Windows system not in Dos.
This should work to clean her computer, unless the software she installed the last time she use it had a minor virus creating a huge dummy file,Doc, txt or something like that. That is usually located inside the last program file she installed by useing the program Stupen Dos (Dos Base) you can navigate and delete that file.But she probuble never cleaned the computer so these are web pages in her internet history folder and Temp Internet files and can contain as much as 2 giga bytes of web pages.you can navigate Dos much better by down loading Stupen Dos Install on a Flopy or CD so you can navigate her computer if you need to (this is not a boot disk but can be installed on a boot Flopy, then type SD then press enter. Do you know how to get to the Bios?Then boot from the windows CD?If you Boot from floppy you may not be able to switch to your CD drives and if you did you wouldn't see much of any thing so you would have to boot from CD. Either drive should work for Inserting Windows.or try Tapping F8 while booting from the Hard drive.The procedure for Installing Windows is a bit Lengthy so E-Mail me if you still haveing troubles.jamesbondca007@hotmail.com

[mjc]

James,

Hi and welcome, a couple of freindly tips.

1. Please try to use normal spacing and punctuation when posting, it is much easier to read and follow what you are trying to say.

2. Also make sure of what link you are clicking on, because you emailed me a reply to the forums, but I'm not quite sure where it belongs....;)

[sea69]

Welcome

;)

[James Bond 007]

sorry aboute that,I see I had quite a few spelling errors.The response for the post is generated to everyone on that paticular topic, not necessarily about you or too you,this is part of most automated B.B. Forums and not much I can do about that..................Regards James