Strange goings on - help!

As for changing over firewall and anti virus this is what you do

Download the antivirus, get offline, uninstall the etrust, install the AVG anti virus- done!

For the firewall. Download and install it. Then go over to control panel and click on windows firewall icon, check to make sure it is off. Done!

For spybot teatimer, if it bugs you, you can turn it off. Easy to do, theres instructions around here if you need, just ask. I noticed I updated it without uninstalling my old version first. This necessitated uninstalling them both and redownloading the new version for a tidy computer.

As for anti spyware programs. All I have is spywareblaster, spybot, and avg anti spyware. I will soon get winpatrol and then turn off spybots teatimer and only use spybot for scans. Avg Antispyware I will probably get rid of soon as they have pulled alot of the teeth in it to put in the paid version from what I hear.

Winpatrol has a nice realtime protection. I've never used a squared or adaware. Might try Winpatrol instead of windows defender, the BillP who makes it is awesome and part of this community. He recently turned down an offer from ask toolbar to foist unwanted toolbars on people for $$$ via pre checked box. Adaware took the same offer. if you decide winpatrol just turn off teatimer on spybot. I'm not 100 percent sure, but I am pretty sure winpatrol and spybots realtime protection shouldn't be running at the same time.

Hope you feel better- rest is good!

Oh God.....
What a mess I'm in.
Somebody Help, I don't know where to begin to tell you what has happened since last I was here but my PC is falling apart.
I'm seriously thinking that it is only fit for landfil now!
Scotty passed me on to the a-Squared team, and since then it's gone from bad to worse to absolute dispair.

six-h

Hi six-h

What's happened to your machine?

Oh God Scotty

Where do I begin.
I've almost forgotten myself!
When last we spoke You referred me to the a-Squared forum, who dissected and interrogated my poor PC with all sorts of tools, ultimately declaring me "clean".
Forgive me, Ill have to consult the old forum thread to refresh my memory, (If it's still available)

back soon.
six-h

Right!
Although declared clean by a-Squared, my erratic desktop build was not completely corrected, and I thought ..well if that's all that I have to put up with, so be it.
Oh, and just before they "signed me off", they suggested updating Spybot S&D 1.4.... this turned out to be a new installation, S&D 1.5 something, and included "Teatimer".
although I'd not uninstalled the previous version, it seemed OK.
Then, I decided to replace windows firewall with the Sunbelt one, then things started to deteriorate, and I had to contact Sunbelt Helpdesk.
Some 40 emails later, they felt there was something odd going on in my PC. and asked me to do a system report their instructions were as follows : -

First please go to Start then Run and type in winmsd (or msinfo32 if you are using vista). Click Ok. Now go to the File Menu and choose Save. Save this export to your desktop and call it system information

Slavishly following this instruction, the report seemed to be building, but in the final stages, it hung, and I had to "End Task", the resulting report was of course corrupted.
Sunbelt said, Hmm.. strange, try in safe mode.
Same outcome.
They then said there is something going on in your machine, you need to sort that first then try the firewall again.
Back to a-Squared.
Much much more dissection and interrogation, remove Sunbelt firewall, install Outpost, on bootup after installing this one, BSOD.
Not being familiar with the infamous BSOD, I didn't record the code that accompanied it.
Uninstall Outpost uninstall Spybot uninstall e-Trust(expired) and AdAware 2007 install Online Armor and AVG Free.
then as soon a I try to update AVG, I was getting the BSOD.
after much more interogation, I started experiencing boot ups that were very odd: -
Push the button.... Energy Star screen appears, followed by the first two or three lines of text, then stops....for more than 3 minutes!
Then continues with the rest of it's text,...DOS screen appears, disappears, Windows Loading screen appears then black screen for a further 2/3 minutes before the desktop builds.
Also from this time onward, I have been getting frequent and random freezes in IE7, downloaded Firefox, and experienced the same.
Much more interrogation.....beginning to think it's a hardware problem, probably RAM.
downloaded "memtest86", burned an ISO disk, put it in the DVD ROM and re-booted.......... Totally ignored it.
The ROM drive didn't even start whizzing 'till the windows loading screen appeared!
checked BIOS, and found that something had changed 3rd boot from Card Reader (the correct setting) to CD ROM.
changed it back, saved settings and re-booted, again the ISO Disk was ignored.
More interrogation found " C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\mc21.tmp " apparently associated with "Spyware Doctor" which I've never had installed!
The consensus was ..prepare to do a factory re-set.
I was unsure if the machine would recognise the disk at boot up bearing in mind the lack of success with the memtest disk, but it did.
then followed the long and winding road back from November2003, to March 2008!
Installed SP2, and a whole herd of updates that took me 20 hrs at one sitting to persuade all the errant updates to eventually install.
followed by my previously backed up folders, and at this point, I found that I was unable to talk to my Router.
Fortunately, ten long days later, I found an article in this month's PC Advisor, that showed how to force windows to release the old IP address, and renew it.
Worked like magic!
That's the only bit of good luck I've had in the last 6 weeks!
At least I was back in touch with the world.
That's where the good news ends.
Able to get online again, albeit with IE6, I almost immediately found that I had not escaped from the dratted freezing.
I had only the windows firewall at that time, but had re-installed AVG Free from a CD.
last advice from a-Squared was to disable all startup items, re-enabling them one by one to find out if there was a conflict.
I'm not sure how to do this, so haven't yet tried it.
I've downloaded the latest Java, shockwave, and activ X, just in case they were responsible for the freezes, but no change.


Since then, Ive managed to create the "System Report" requested by Sunbelt, via a different route, and they have kindly looked at it and say there still seems to be "something else" on the machine, sounds ominous!

There's more I could say, but I can't think what at present.
If you want to see the above in detail, here's the link: http://forum.emsisoft.com/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=3099see what you think!

sorry for the diatribe! but you did ask!
six-h

Im not sure how far we can go to help you here, as this isnt a tech forum. What you need is a tech helper who will be the only one to reply to you. The problem with a lot of forums is that anyone and everyone has a fix and it can be confusing and a case of too many cooks.
Try registering here
http://forums.whatthetech.com/forums.html

and posting in this forum
http://forums.whatthetech.com/Microsoft_Windows_f119.html

Explain the situation, and Ill pm whoever helps with anything helpful I can think of.

Thanks Scotty

(Sighs heavily)
Yet another forum, more poking and prodding and re-iterating the whole horrible tale.
Will it ever end!

six-h

I know, but it sounds like there has been so much done, it's causing all your new problems. I cant say for sure as Im not a qualified tech. If you lived in Kiltown Id surely pop round.

Just copy and paste what you posted above, saves you typing it all out again.
And provide a link to to your thread at A2

Thanks for that Scotty
You're right, about the poking and prodding, but I'm getting a bit punch drunk now!

I appreciate your willingness to have paid a personal call, that's just what I need.
Katana I believe lives not a cock stride away (Hint Hint!)

Just caught me writing my memoirs on the forum you sent me to, and was about half way through when your e-mail arrived, and I had one of my freeze ups.
I've lost the lot, shortcut to the site et all!
I'll go back and see if my registration has been a success, and start again!!
I really must do something about my typing speed!

six-h

Well Scotty

all done!
here are links to my postings: -
intro:
http://forums.whatthetech.com/Just_to_say_Hello_and_Help_t89909.html
and main thread:
http://forums.whatthetech.com/Conflict_Software_Hardware_or_something_failing_t89910.html#entry447446

God help me I hope that somone can.
I think I'm just about at my last resort now.

Thanks for your help and your interest,
it's people like you that encourage folk like me not to give up,
It's priceless,.. keep doing it.

Regards,
six-h

Hi Scotty

just an update on my progress (or lack of it) on the "What the Tech" forum,
someone called "tallin" posted in the meet and greet section, but hasn't come back since.
Chewey at least is talking to me!
Do they work like you do here?
Am I to expect to be assisted by tallin throughout the process?
Sorry to bother you, but I'm getting no response there, I'm not allowed to contact the people directly, and I feel that we,(tallin or whoever, and myself) should be pursuing this in their "Windows" forum.

I know it's Easter, but feel that I'm in God's waiting room there!

Don't know if this is pertinent, but my scanner has been driving me bloody mad....either installing with the "windows generic driver" or, having gone through the manual's installation proceedure, with it's own driver, then it some times seems OK for a few boot ups, but if I don't use my PC for a couple of days, it "Finds new hardware" again, and we're back on the same sodding merry-go-round!

It is reminiscent of when I had a Motherboard changed, and each time I re-booted after being down for more than 24 hrs, the BIOS had re-set to defaults.
It took a visit by two engineers from Swindon, on a Saturday, to find out that my new motherboard had an old battery in it!

six-h

Hi

You had gotten a bit mixed up by posting in the Introductionsand in the right forum.
Let Chewy see what he can do but one of the other Tech Helpers had a look for me and feels your best option is to start anew. I dont know if that is possible. Do you have the installation disc?

Scotty
I thought I had "started anew"!

The disks I have, and information on my harddrive partitions copied from the "What the Tech" forum thread: -

The Hard drive is in 3 sectors, C : - "Boot" 74.5GB (NTFS) D : - "Backup" 68.6GB (NTFS) and E : - "Recover" 5.84GB (FAT 32)

I have been supplied with an "Application & Support Disk", which I used to restore Factory settings, and I believe this works in conjunction with the FAT 32 recovery sector of my Hard Drive.

I was also given an "Operating System Installation Disk", which Medion tell me if used, will only install the operating system, No drivers, No bundled software, nothing!
They were also dubious that if I used this Disk, whether I would in the future still have the option of being able to use the "Application & Support" Disk to "Restore to factory settings" ever again!!
There is a further Medion Disk included with the pack, "Nero Burning ROM 6.0.0.17d"
this mystifies me a bit, 'cos I've not needed it when restoring to factory settings, and Nero seems to be all present and correct!

The last Disk is the Microsoft "Works Suite 2004" DVD, which includes Word 2002, and the add-ins for Word, ..what ever they are!
It also has my Product Key sticker on it.

six-h

Ah Ive got you. I need to take a proper look through the thread. I owned a Medion laptop briefly a while back, and if I remember it did come with the main installation disc, the Works disc and some other rubbish.
Anyway, when I get a moment Ill look in over WTT and see how far Chewy's helped.

No progress yet,

we seem to be stuck on the relative merits of Nero and Imgburn, when all I want to do is fix my poorly PC,
not complicate the issue with more software downloads!


six-h