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Title: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 08:56:30 PM As most of the new games Arcade and Slot are now starting to use off the shelf computer parts in there system and that most Tech's are :50-"Computer Geeks in Hiding" :50- We Hope you injoy this topic..... :32- Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 08:57:00 PM We use a Octel 250 by Lucent / Avaya. The replacement drives are 10K for a 360mb drive. I have USB flash drives that are bigger than that and are a fraction of the price. I told our telecom lady next time the Octel crashes that we should buy a couple of 250's and just part them out ourselves. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 08:57:38 PM Winblows settings :71- Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 08:58:34 PM Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 08:58:48 PM We use a Octel 250 by Lucent / Avaya. The replacement drives are 10K for a 360mb drive. I have USB flash drives that are bigger than that and are a fraction of the price. I told our telecom lady next time the Octel crashes that we should buy a couple of 250's and just part them out ourselves. If it were my system, I'd take the 360Mb drive out and see what the make/mfg of the drive was... Then I'd put it into a regular PC to see what the BIOS identifies the drive as. If it IDs the drive as a regular drive then you have an easy fix... Scour eBay and other places regularly for replacement drives of the same make/model. If it IDs as a special drive then you need to either find some utility to reflash the firmware on the replacement drive or find the same make/model of drives and ghost or bitcopy from the old drive to the replacement drive BEFORE it fails... Then after the drive fails you can swap logic boards to get the special firmware needed onto the new drive. Please keep in mind that this only works between same makes/models of hard drives and may not work between different revisions of drive models if they change the data format in any way. BUT - if it does work (and it has on other arcade games that use special drives) it will save you lots of money! RJ Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 08:59:04 PM I think the interface on the drive is like an IDA (Pre IDE). I am sure there is nothing special about the drive. Its all the electronics around it. The issue is if you start putting some kind of jury rigged drive in there the vendor won't support the unit. Its just ugly. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 08:59:19 PM To revive a REALLY old help topic... My Compaq laptop took a nose dive. Shut it down the other night and next day it would not boot up. I got the following error: lsass.exe - System Error Security Accounts Manager initialization failed because of the following error: The handle is invalid. Error Status: 0xc0000008. Please click OK to shutdown this system and reboot into Safe Mode, check the event log for more detailed information I am running Windows XP Home Edition. This error would not allow Windows to boot up in any way. Not in safe mode and not with boot from cd rom. Just would not let you in no matter what. I tried to repair Windows with the cd but could not get past Administrators Password...I can't even remember even having one...I bought this computer new from Best Buy. So out of desperation I re-installed Windows without conducting a format of the drive...hoping info on drive would be accessible as I would only be re-installing Windows and not conducting a complete system restore. After the install it was as if I had restored to just a basic Windows installation. None of the Compaq options and none of the files from before. The computer does now boot up to Windows so I figure I need to run some sort of Data Recovery program. Does anybody have any experience, ideas, and/or suggestions as to recovering lost files etc from a hard drive? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Travis Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 08:59:33 PM Well if you installed windows as a "new installatin" then you probably formatted your old data. There's a screen when you install windows that asks if you want to leave the file system intact or if you want to format it, which option did you choose. If you said, leave intact, then you might want to look into the folder: C:\Documents and Settings Under that directory there will be some directories. Look into each folder that has a username and check the folders inside. You might be able to find your data. If you did choose format filesystem, then you will most likely have lost your data. A Data recovery program may help, but since you installed over your old installation it's very possible you overwrote some or all of your data. You will probably want to remove the drive from the laptop and run the recovery procedure on a pc that has it's own os and attach the notebook drive through the usb port. The longer you keep using your pc with the original drive in it, the more likely you are overwriting your data. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 08:59:47 PM Also, "C:\Program Files" may have some usable Compaq utilities left in it. It didn't come with a "Restore Disk"? Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:00:04 PM Also, "C:\Program Files" may have some usable Compaq utilities left in it. It didn't come with a "Restore Disk"? I was going to post that he should have received a separate disk for the Compaq programs and utilities. The thing is that he must follow Rick's advice FIRST if he has overwritten his data and wants a chance to recover it. Installing more on that hard drive would ruin any chance of getting his data back if he formatted during the Windows installation. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:00:30 PM The drivers et all you can probably download. You may even be able to buy a recovery disk, depending on the age of the PC. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:11:40 PM Some computers come with only a restore disk that has Windows and some of the core programs. I know with my mom's compaq, she has the restore CD, but it works in conjuction with a separate partition on the HD that has the model specific stuff. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:11:52 PM That partition might (should) still be there if Travis just did a Windows format because it is usually in a non-microsoft format and that part of the disk is not seen. Windows would only format the visible partition. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:12:07 PM A format generally won't effect other partitions. Only if he were to run "Fdisk", or choose "remove existing partitions" when installing XP. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:14:38 PM Thanks for all of the replies guys. I did not format the drive. I did not use the Compaq Quick Restore disks as I did not want to do a full system restore...hopes of recovering the data. I only used the Operating System CD to re-install Windows. The re-install program asked if I wanted to format and which file system to format to. I selected in-stall operating system only. (leave file system intact) After the installation, I downloaded a Trial Version of a data recovery program to try out. This program did find a WHOLE LOT of data but sadly nothing I was hoping to see. My drive IS partitioned but the Partion is for Compaq restore. It is still there. I am not too worried about doing a full restore and having the drivers etc. I just want to salvage some data before doing so. Basically, I did the MINIMUM amount I could just to get into the drive...before I couldn't even get a command prompt. So if anyone has any suggestions for a good data recovery program or methods to recover data, I am ALL EARS. Thanks Again. Travis Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:14:50 PM I have come across that before on a corrupted OS. The admin password doesn't actually exist. I got a USB flash program from a hackers web site. It basically boots from USB then you are able to write whatever password you want into the MS-OS. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:15:03 PM I have come across that before on a corrupted OS. The admin password doesn't actually exist. I got a USB flash program from a hackers web site. It basically boots from USB then you are able to write whatever password you want into the MS-OS. Jay, THANKS for the reply. I thought I lost my mind. I tried EVERY password I have ever had practically since the inception of passwords :5- and nothing worked. I told my wife I could not remember ever even setting a password on my computer. I am now VERY curious where I can get this USB info you spoke of...it could come in quite handy should I come across this situation again. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:15:17 PM Jay, THANKS for the reply. I thought I lost my mind. I tried EVERY password I have ever had practically since the inception of passwords :5- and nothing worked. I told my wife I could not remember ever even setting a password on my computer. I am now VERY curious where I can get this USB info you spoke of...it could come in quite handy should I come across this situation again. Google pointed me here: http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/ (http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/) Note: I haven't tried this boot disk. Play at your own risk. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:15:29 PM Yeah Jay!! Pony up!. :29- I always hesitate to download things like that from google searches because of the virus/worm possibilities. We are dealing with shady websites. I always prefer to get a link from a friend who knows that it's a valid program and an only slightly illegal site. :5- :72- :72- Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:15:40 PM Sounds like a worm got your computer. Next time that happens try to download the Stinger software from McAfee.com. Boot the PC in safe mode and run it to find those nasty worms. Make sure you are updated on patches and that you have a real hardware firewall - not some of that software firewall crap (Zone Alarm, etc..) as that won't stop most worms. RJ Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:15:53 PM Sounds like a worm got your computer. Next time that happens try to download the Stinger software from McAfee.com. Boot the PC in safe mode and run it to find those nasty worms. Make sure you are updated on patches and that you have a real hardware firewall - not some of that software firewall crap (Zone Alarm, etc..) as that won't stop most worms. RJ Thanks for the info on the Stinger software. I've never had a worm. I do have a hardware firewall. I have gotten a virus from a downloaded program, and from Tucows no less. I had a realtime virus checker running. I scanned the file twice with two different brands of anti-virus software scans before opening it. They all said the damned thing was clean. As soon as I opened it, WHAM. Fortunately, Norton was able to clean it up, even if it was totally useless in prevention. I downloaded the program to clean that particular virus from their website and no real damage was done to the computer. Several hours were killed though. Police never made an arrest in the hour killings investigation. Oh, and naturally Windows System Restore didn't work. (now why I would dignify these words with capital letters is beyond me. :5- ) Has anyone else ever noticed that after SR has been running for a few months that every restore point you try to use comes back as "unable to restore to this point. Try selecting a different restore point"? It seems that the entire restore database grows too large and gets corrupted. I have now instituted my own best practice of turning SR off to delete all entries, rebooting, and then turning SR back on to create a single restore point before installing anything that might be a risk. It's a pain, but it's worth it. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:16:09 PM Sounds like a worm got your computer. Next time that happens try to download the Stinger software from McAfee.com. Boot the PC in safe mode and run it to find those nasty worms. Make sure you are updated on patches and that you have a real hardware firewall - not some of that software firewall crap (Zone Alarm, etc..) as that won't stop most worms. RJ RJ, I think that is exactly what happened. I use AVG and have for many years...It's proven to be quite reliable up until this incident. Thanks for the advice. :3- Has anyone else ever noticed that after SR has been running for a few months that every restore point you try to use comes back as "unable to restore to this point. Try selecting a different restore point"? It seems that the entire restore database grows too large and gets corrupted. I have now instituted my own best practice of turning SR off to delete all entries, rebooting, and then turning SR back on to create a single restore point before installing anything that might be a risk. It's a pain, but it's worth it. Stat, Thanks for the reply and advice. :3- Google pointed me here: http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/ (http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/) Note: I haven't tried this boot disk. Play at your own risk. Brichter, thanks for the info. :3- Hmmm, maybe...? Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:16:24 PM tjkeller, if you do end up downloading that program let us know if it works. :5- The site did look legitamate, but who knows? Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:16:38 PM I uploaded the USB_MEMORY_BOOT.EXE as a PDF in the Submit a new file section. You need to rename it to .EXE after you download it. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:16:51 PM BTW ---- Use at your own risk. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:17:05 PM tjkeller, You're a brave test pilot! May the force be with you... You're experiencing every friggin problem I've had with mine...some how over the years, I've learned how to to actually make a backup! Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:17:17 PM There's a way to change the administrative password in windows xp to whatever you want. Google "Hiren's boot disk" It's a cd image that you burn and boot with. It will contain a program to let you change any password in an NT/XP/Server200x installation. I use whenever somebody turns in their laptops but don't remember the admin password. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:17:34 PM Thanks Jay :3- Now if I had any intelligence at all I would have posted the question BEFORE I re-installed Windows. :25- Always good to have info though as you just never know when it will come in handy. :89- Thanks Rick :3- I went to THIS (http://www.hiren.info/) website. They even have some Data Recovery info, amongst many other things, listed here. Methinks it's worth some looking into. :89- Best Regards, Travis Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:17:45 PM I uploaded the USB_MEMORY_BOOT.EXE as a PDF in the Submit a new file section. You need to rename it to .EXE after you download it. Anybody brave the final frontier and try this yet??? I am too "C_____K" (Hint: Kentucky Fried) to try it! ;) Inquiring minds want to know...... and they prefer that someone else be the guinea pig..... :72- :72- :72- HC :95- Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:18:00 PM kinda remainds me of that tv show where they had a pail next to the table where people were wolfing down gazelle balls and goat intestines. there was the host that always opened the show with the disclaimer saying "Don't try this at home" :72- Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:18:11 PM Anybody brave the final frontier and try this yet??? I am too "C_____K" (Hint: Kentucky Fried) to try it! ;) Inquiring minds want to know...... and they prefer that someone else be the guinea pig..... :72- :72- :72- HC :95- I'll guinea pig it. I have a laptop at work which is no longer in use with windows xp on it. It can be my guinea pig. I'll post results when I get to it. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:18:29 PM I'll guinea pig it. I have a laptop at work which is no longer in use with windows xp on it. It can be my guinea pig. I'll post results when I get to it. That is what VMware is for... test unknown software on a virtual machine that you can restore to a snapshot if something goes wrong. :D Makes a great sacrificial lamb. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:18:44 PM Never thought of that. I have a couple of vm machines that are just clean installs for quick deployment. Though I have never tried to boot off a usb key on a vm machine. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:19:00 PM :7- :7- :7- :7- :7- :7- :7- :7- :7- :7- :7- :7- :7- VERY frustrated. I haven't had much time to spend working on computer. Just want to salvage some info, in particular pics of my kids. I had I don't know how many gig of info on there, there's GOTTA be something??? Seems everytime I make one step forward, I'm pushed two steps back. :25- Not much time to try until next day off. Still looking for some good recovery software. i haven't had time to research that either. GRRRrrrrr!!! Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:19:13 PM we use Ontrack Easy Recovery Professional, it's kind of pricey, but it has worked well the time's i've used it. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:19:49 PM If you are just looking to recover some data the easiest way is to get a new hard drive, and install a clean set of windows as you probably can't rule out hardware failure as the cause. You then slave the old drive to the computer and copy off the data. If you don't want to fool with jumpers and such for slaving then you can get a USB adapter that fits on any type of drive. This is not mine but simimar - http://www.newertech.com/products/usb2_adapt.php (http://www.newertech.com/products/usb2_adapt.php) I picked mine up off the shelf from CompUSA. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:21:39 PM :7- :7- :7- :7- :7- :7- :7- :7- :7- :7- :7- :7- :7- VERY frustrated. I haven't had much time to spend working on computer. Just want to salvage some info, in particular pics of my kids. I had I don't know how many gig of info on there, there's GOTTA be something??? Seems everytime I make one step forward, I'm pushed two steps back. :25- Not much time to try until next day off. Still looking for some good recovery software. i haven't had time to research that either. GRRRrrrrr!!! If you are just looking to recover some data the easiest way is to get a new hard drive, and install a clean set of windows as you probably can't rule out hardware failure as the cause. You then slave the old drive to the computer and copy off the data. If you don't want to fool with jumpers and such for slaving then you can get a USB adapter that fits on any type of drive. This is not mine but simimar - http://www.newertech.com/products/usb2_adapt.php (http://www.newertech.com/products/usb2_adapt.php) I picked mine up off the shelf from CompUSA. I would agree that Jay's suggestion would be your best bet. However, if your problem is being caused by a bad hard drive sector, you may want to invest in a Hard drive recovery utility called "SpinRite" by Steve Gibson at www.grc.com I have heard countless testimonials about Spin-Rite. It uses a very low level disk surface check and data recovery system. It recovers data and restores hard drives that were thought to be unrecoverable by other programs. It's not cheap - $89 I believe, but if it does the job it will be worth it! Check it out at www.grc.com. There are also countless FREE utilities that Steve created, all written in Assembly Language so they are very small and efficient! Steve also has a weekly Pod-Cast called "Security Now", that covers all aspects of Computer security. It is Co-hosted by Tech-TV's Leo Laport and is very informative! :89- You can also get the Podcast, along with all the show notes at GRC.com as well. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:22:31 PM I would agree that Jay's suggestion would be your best bet. However, if your problem is being caused by a bad hard drive sector, you may want to invest in a Hard drive recovery utility called "SpinRite" by Steve Gibson at www.grc.com I have heard countless testimonials about Spin-Rite. It uses a very low level disk surface check and data recoavery system. It recovers data and restores hard drives that were thought to be unrecoverable by other programs. It's not cheap - $89 I believe, but if it does the job it will be worth it! Check it out at www.grc.com. There are also countless FREE utilities that Steve created, all written in Assembly Language so they are very small and efficient! Steve also has a weekly Pod-Cast called "Security Now", that covers all aspects of Computer security. It is Co-hosted by Tech-TV's Leo Laport and is very informative! :89- You can also get the Podcast, along with all the show notes at GRC.com as well. Apparently my hard drive sectors are fine. This program hasn't really done anything for me. Although this program DOES have rave reviews and seems to be a very beneficial utility. My problem is a worm corrupted files so the operating system would not longer boot...couldn't even boot to DOS command prompt or Safe Mode. Instead of finding a way to boot, :25- I re-installed the operating system (Windows XP) without formatting the hard drive and keeping file system intact. I did this HOPING files would still be available. There ARE tons of files that stayed in the Program Files area and even a couple documents in my wife's documents folder but what I need to get to is MY documents folder. This is where I had all my stuff ie all Slots info, Chilrens pics, etc. The program files does not concern me neither does all the slots info and everything else I had. The programs can be reinstalled and my slots info library can be rebuilt hopefully with some of the folks here (hint,hint...I lost EVERYTHING). My BIG concern is my kids' pics. I had pics of my kids from birth to current and SADLY, LIKE AN IDIOT, I never burned them to cd. Always had the intention but just never did it...damned procrastination! :7- Now my documents folder did show up but when I try to get into it I get a "Not Accessible" "Access is denied" error. Even going through DOS, I can't get into it. Seeing the many, many gigs of program info that stayed in the Program Files area, out of the oodles and oodles of pics I had, SURELY there must be ONE that I can retrieve. I would not doubt that I had a thousand pics...my kids are 1, 3, & 5yrs old and I had birth, birthday, holidays, vacations, everything even pics from before the kids. I refuse to accept I cannot retrieve ANY of these. Some how, some way there must be a way. This drive has not been wiped and re-written so I know there is info there, but how to get to it? There are several Data Recovery Programs out there. I've tried IOLO Search and Recover and SpinRite. Also tried going in through DOS. Thus far, still no luck. Will keep trying though. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:25:23 PM Have you tried Hiren's boot disk to change the Administrator's password? Then you login as the admin and should have access to all files. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:25:40 PM I would not do any more to the drive than you have. Recovery programs are generally trying to retrive bad data or data from bad spots. The more you add to the drive the greater the risk of losing data. On a positiive note It sounds like you simply have access permission issues. By slaving a hard drive you would have full access to the information as the onboard permissions are no longer considered. If you are really not familar with how to bypass MS security - may I suggest you take this down to geek squad at best buy and tell them what you want back. It will probably cost $150 by the time your are done but at least it will be done and then you can wipe the whole thing and start again. I will however reitterate my advice in getting a new hard drive. I once thought I had a virus. Turned out my machine crashed due to a bad spot on my hard drive right in the middle of the swap file. When I reformatted the drive it simply excluded the bad spot and I was good for about six months. At somepoint the bad spot got worse and my whole drive died. If I had to pin point the root cause I think the fan on my power supply went, the drive got hot and warped which first manifested itself as a bad spot but later caused a full crash. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:25:55 PM Actually... There are worms that will encrypt parts of a drive and try to extort you into paying for a key to unlock data. It IS odd to have one that renders the drive unbootable though. I think you probably just have a bad drive or a corrupt directory table. First step: put the drive in the freezer overnight then put it back in and try to boot. If it does, grab all the data off and throw the drive away. If it doesn't then try booting to your OS CD's Recovery Console and try to run a CHKDSK command on the drive. That should fix a corrupt directory table problem. My old PC would corrupt the directory table from time to time as it had been a Win95 PC that was upgraded to 95, then NT 4.0, and finally to 2K Pro and would occasionally hang on shutdown due to software issues. When it would hang there was a 25% chance that I'd have to use the dang CD to boot and run CHKDSK to fix it. RJ Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:26:08 PM Thanks for all of the suggestions guys. You will see in my earlier posts when I was getting the lsass error and my pc would not boot, I re-installed Windows. That took care of the boot problem. Although, rather than re-installing I SHOULD HAVE used a boot disk of some sort to get around the error...hind sight. :25- ANYWAY, after re-installing Windows, my pc DOES boot up to Windows. It is as if I am starting up a brand new computer...there is only basic windows installation although SOME info did stay. Program files has tons of info from before and my wife's documents file had a few things. MY documents file showed up but denied access. Properties did not indicate any file space used for the file but C: drive showed only 6-gig available on a 30-gig drive so I knew the info was there, just needed a way to get to it. SpinRite did not find errors or bad sectors on the drive so this further indicates this was a worm that corrupted the boot info in the operating system. IOLO Search and Recover found a lot of info but nothing I was looking for so I kept trying different software recovery programs. RICK, I HAVE YOU TO THANK FOR DIRECTING ME TO HIREN'S WEBSITE. While I did NOT use Hiren's software for anything, they did have SEVERAL links on their website for HD Recovery. One of those links led me to powerdatarecovery.com. THIS PROGRAM WAS THE MIRACLE I WAS LOOKING FOR! Sure enough this program FOUND ALL OF MY INFO and then some! This program essentially uncovered ALL info that was on the hard drive! I now have to just figure out the logistics of copying all the data. On that computer (laptop) I have a cd burner but that's only 700mb max at a shot. My wife's laptop has a dvd burner which would be much nicer as I could get 4.7GB at a shot. Other than removing the drive and using a setup like Jay suggested, Is there any other way to connect two laptops? I have never set up any kind of network before and don't even know if that would accomplish what I want. Ideally, I would be able to connect the two PCs and save the info from the one to the other where I could burn the data to dvd vs cd. If Tech Support can access your pc remotely and access info on your pc, surely there is a way YOU can do the same??? Any ideas here? (ps: I do have a 4-port gateway/router if that makes any difference) Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:26:23 PM Hey TJ - I'd recommend something like this... http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=ST900803FGA1E1RK-R&cat=HDD (http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=ST900803FGA1E1RK-R&cat=HDD) or this http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=NOU10-120&cat=HDD (http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=NOU10-120&cat=HDD) With the second one - you can hook it up to your router and any PC on your home network can access files stored there. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:26:35 PM Since you procrastinated your backup, NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME to get an external USB based hard drive and backup your data that way. Then you can just copy from the external drive to the other laptop at your leisure. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:26:49 PM Since you procrastinated your backup, NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME to get an external USB based hard drive and backup your data that way. Then you can just copy from the external drive to the other laptop at your leisure. VERY Good Advice! :3- And thanks RG for pointing me to some ideas...that 8port 120GB HDD seems to be one heck of a unit :89- Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:27:04 PM The only issue with the ximeta product is that it's not based on open standards. You will need to install the software on each pc in order to access the drive as a network drive. In your case, I would recommend you just get an external usb drive and drag and drop the files you want to backup into it. Easy and it works. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:27:17 PM The only issue with the ximeta product is that it's not based on open standards. You will need to install the software on each pc in order to access the drive as a network drive. In your case, I would recommend you just get an external usb drive and drag and drop the files you want to backup into it. Easy and it works. The Ximeta drive also has a USB2.0 interface, you get the best of both worlds. I have one of these, after 2 years I replaced the 160GB drive with a 400GB drive. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:27:31 PM After seeing that Seagate FreeAgent Go 80GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive on geeks.com and doing a little research, I just bought a 160GB version off Ebay. :72- Now let's hope I don't get screwed again. :25- Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:27:44 PM Awesome TJ!, You're on your way to FINALLY backing up your stuff! I'm proud of you!!!! I'm just kidding really....good job. I had all the problems you had at one time and the ONE thing I learned was to back up stuff. Nowadays it's so easy really to back up your pictures and documents. What would really suck is that you put it off and the hard drive bunrs out and you do NOT get a chance to back up anything. I strongly suggest putting that particular hard drive aside until you recieve your back up drive so it doesnt get worse. Mean while, treat yourself to a nice new hard drive - it'll last a few few years before it dies out or gets corruppted again. Again, good luck! Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:27:57 PM Hi all, I have an big big big problem with my new Portable PC HP Compaq nc6120 and on the work nc 6320. I have many old programs that works only in DOS but on this PC I have originaly installed Windows XP Professional. I need to use this DOS programs on Windows XP Professional. I try this programs but they don't work. On my old PC with DOS and Win 98 its work fine, but this PC its old, without battery and broken LCD. I need to use Mikohn PSP program and software for my old Xeltek EEPROM Burner thats work only in DOS. I need help if this is possible that this program work in an Virtual Machine or DOS Box or every other program on Windows XP. I'm not familiary with Virtual Machine and DOS Box, can anyone help? Or if exist another topic or forum for this? Thanks, Elvis Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:28:26 PM Certain MS-DOS program that use the printer port need exclusive access to it. Windows XP does not allow for this. I suggest you make yourself a bootable USB drive with MSDOS and have your programs on it. Then just boot with the USB stick whenever you need to use them. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:28:38 PM Just to try PSP. Click on start, Run and the when prompted with OPEN: Type CMD This will put you in DOS. Type CD \PSP (your prompt should change to C:\PSP> Then start the program. if it runs great. If not then you will have to boot in DOS. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:28:52 PM I've never gotten PSP to run on an XP install. I have an OLD toshiba laptop that I just have msdos on it and use it for my psp fun. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:29:06 PM Dell Inspiron 8000 P3 700MHz 512MB RAM WinXP SP2 Runs Download for Windows and PSP. Note: This laptop, being so old, does not need any compatibility mode changes to run PSP. FLI2MIK will not run, though, I have an old Toshiba Tecra with Win98 for that. :71- Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:32:37 PM I use PSP on my desktop computer running XP Pro and have no operating system issues accessing the serial port. I open a DOS window in the run box like others have and jumper the serial cable. The only thing I can say it that the computer is self-built with "parts is parts" from Fry's. The motherboard is a uGuru Abit with Phoenix - AwardBIOS and has a Pentium IV processor installed. The serial port is directly on the motherboard. I hope this is of help to someone. :71- Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:32:50 PM On my old laptop toshiba with DOS and Win 98 PSP work fine but with my new laptop HP Compaq nc6120 with only Win XP Pro PSP don't work. My new laptop have COM port on motherboard. How can I use PSP in Win XP Pro? How can I make an bootable USB with DOS? Thanks, Elvis Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:33:06 PM If you want to start the computer with DOS - when the computer is starting. Hit the F8 key repeatly. You will get a short menu of different start up options. Choose Command promt. This might be enough. For a bootable USB, There is a file called USB_memory_boot.pdf in the UPLOAD section. You can download this and change the PDF to a EXE - this will turn a memory stick into a bootable device. You might have to alter your BIOS to allow USB boot devices....and/or the boot order. First is usually floppy, then hard drive... etc. You want USB to be first. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:33:20 PM If you want to start the computer with DOS - when the computer is starting. Hit the F8 key repeatly. You will get a short menu of different start up options. Choose Command promt. This might be enough. For a bootable USB, There is a file called USB_memory_boot.pdf in the UPLOAD section. You can download this and change the PDF to a EXE - this will turn a memory stick into a bootable device. You might have to alter your BIOS to allow USB boot devices....and/or the boot order. First is usually floppy, then hard drive... etc. You want USB to be first. This don't work with Win XP, they don't have Command prompt at StartUp. I try with this USB_memory_boot.pdf Thanks, Elvis Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:33:32 PM WOW!!!...Retina Readers from GEEKS.COM for ONLY $49.99!!!!! IMAGINE the Possibilities!!! :61- :46- :91- :5- http://www.geeks.com/pix/2008/RETINA.html?cm_mmc=geekmail-_-daily_html-_-31mar08_RETINA-Viewasweb (http://www.geeks.com/pix/2008/RETINA.html?cm_mmc=geekmail-_-daily_html-_-31mar08_RETINA-Viewasweb) Check out the Dog Bark Analyzer and Paw Print Analyzer TOO!!!!!!! :3- I think I may just buy several of each of these as you just NEVER know! :89- 4.1.08 :97- Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:33:44 PM :72- :72- :72- :72- :72- :72- :72- :72- Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:33:59 PM Wouldn't you think that the Dog Bark Analyzer would have the potential to back fire on you..... Upon a stranger approaching your locked home the pup begins its tirade at the unwanted visitor and "Click" the door unlocks itself. This would be ok if it was a PitBill or a Rottie but a yappy Polmeranian or Basset would become a furry football soon punted. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:34:13 PM Wouldn't you think that the Dog Bark Analyzer would have the potential to back fire on you..... Upon a stranger approaching your locked home the pup begins its tirade at the unwanted visitor and "Click" the door unlocks itself. This would be ok if it was a PitBill or a Rottie but a yappy Polmeranian or Basset would become a furry football soon punted. Maybe it can measure stress levels in the dog's bark? Or maybe it has a 5 word dog vocabulary installed and "knows" when your dog is barking, "I have to pee", "Walkies!", or "Stay out, big bad burgler"? :96- :25- I'm surprised they didn't come up with a cat meow voice-print access analyzer? Or is it because cats are resourceful enough to get in without one? :31- How about that paw print analyzer? Poor Spike comes home with a missing leg and the next night your house is emptied out. :58- :81- I think I need TWO of those retinal scanners. After all, I have TWO eyes! :25- :72- :72- :72- <ADD> I always thought it would be cool to have warning signs on my property/house that said, "Beware of snake!" Then I'd let a 20ft python run loose in the livingroom, or maybe a Cobra when I wasn't home providing I could contain it when necessary. :71- Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on September 30, 2008, 09:34:30 PM UPDATE....I FINALLY got my laptop back up and running. Thanks to Power Data Recovery and my New Seagate FreeAgent Go portable hard drive, I managed to salvage almost ALL of my LOST information. Spent yesterday formatting, reinstalling, and updating. I still have to copy my files back over from the portable hd but at least I am now back up & running. Now my wife can have HER laptop back :72- Woo-Hoo!!! Methinks any other worms I come across shall be fed to the fishys! Thanks to everyone for all the ideas and suggestions! :3- Travis Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: uniman on March 10, 2009, 09:41:08 PM Having trouble with my XP home edition. The dreaded svchost.exe error! :8-
I tried MalWare scan, nothing. Windows Defender, for what that's worth, nothing there too. Was gone several days with computer off. Got home, turned it on, several updates. Next thing I know... svchost errors. Same one each time, "Instruction 0x7c90100b referenced memory 0x02falea8, memory could not be read" Suspected corrupted update (since I have dialup) Disabled auto updates, rebooted, and reupdated. No change. Hard drive almost full, moved files to second drive, deleted several old doc's and pic's, movie files. Defragged and now have 20% free space. Any help appreciated!!! Took two reboots to get this post completed! :37- Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on March 10, 2009, 10:01:33 PM are you running vista or xp???
If you are on xp, i would suggest to try combofix ..... But note there are some cautions to be understood before run this application :89- Read the disclaimer carefully and cross your fingers to get your PC back on business. I have used it several times and it restores my xp laptop to factory state everytime i need it. Go to this site for a tutorial on how to use it http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/how-to-use-combofix (download it from one of the three sites mentioned in the article) Good luck! Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: tacman on March 10, 2009, 10:15:14 PM I forget, does XP have a system restore feature or just Vista?
Dan (tacman) Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: stayouttadabunker on March 10, 2009, 10:45:01 PM they both do and both don't work....lol
Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: SAT (aka GANDHI) on March 11, 2009, 12:51:33 AM they both do and both don't work....lol :97- :97- :97- :97- :25- :25- :30- :30- Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: StatFreak on March 11, 2009, 01:24:28 AM they both do and both don't work....lol :97- :97- :97- :97- :25- :25- :30- :30- I agree in part, but to be truthful, system restore has saved my butt in XP several times. I used to get restoration failures when using SR, but I found that as long as I make sure to leave the slider set to maximum space for saving data (under My Computer/Properties/System Restore/Advanced), AND I periodically shut down SR and re-start it (to delete the database of previously saved system states), then it never fails me. It seems that the database gets corrupted once there are too many restore points. Of course, even when it does work it doesn't always fix the problem at hand. I also set a new restore point before beginning any kind of install, without exception. That's really what has saved me. Sometimes I'll even set a new point before browsing to new websites. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: tjkeller on March 11, 2009, 02:11:50 PM Having trouble with my XP home edition. The dreaded svchost.exe error! :8- Found This: How to Fix the Svchost.exe Application Error in Windows XP by DiDill (http://www.ehow.com/PrintArticle.html?id=4480978) How to Fix the Svchost.exe Application Error in Windows XP Introduction: If you use Windows XP Professional, you may encounter the SVCHOST.EXE error message. When this error is displayed, you will have the option to either click "OK" to terminate the program or click "Cancel" to debug the program. This error message usually occurs after Windows Updates ran before your previous shutdown. When starting the computer in Safe Mode, you will still receive the error message. If you use the event log in Windows XP, you will more than likely find out that the process causing the problem is svchost.exe. Follow the steps below to fix this error. Instructions: Difficulty: Moderate Verify and Configure your Windows Update Service Settings. Step One: Click on the START button at the bottom left-hand corner of your desktop. Once the Start menu opens, click RUN and then type in "services.msc" in the text field. Click OK when you are done. Step Two: Navigate to the Automatic Updates service in the right-hand pane and then double-click on it. Select the LOG ON tab. Now make sure that Local System Account is selected as the default logon account. Step Three: Un-check the option labeled "Allow service to interact with desktop." Now go to the "Hardware Profile" section, also found under the "Log On tab." Enable this service. Step Four: Click on the GENERAL tab. Verify that the start-up type is set to "Automatic." If not, use the drop-down menu to select this option. Step Five: Go to the "Service Status" section. Click on the START button to enable this service. Do the same thing for the "Background Intelligent Transfer Service." (or BITS) Re-configure Your Windows Update DLLs Step One: Click the START button and then click Run. Type: cmd into the text field. Click OK. Step Two: In the Command Prompt, type in REGSVR32 WUAPI.DLL and hit Enter. Step Three: Wait until you receive a message reading "DllRegisterServer in WUAPI.DLL succeeded." Step Four: Repeat this process for each of the following commands: type in each command and hit Enter after each line: REGSVR32 WUAUENG.DLL, REGSVR32 WUAUENG1.DLL, REGSVR32 ATL.DLL, REGSVR32 WUCLTUI.DLL, REGSVR32 WUPS.DLL, REGSVR32 WUPS2.DLL, REGSVR32 WUWEB.DLL Delete the Corrupted Windows Update Files Step One: Type the following command into the command prompt and press Enter: net stop WuAuServ. Type in: cd %windir% and hit Enter. Step Two: Now type in: ren SoftwareDistribution SD_OLD. This will rename the SoftwareDistribution folder. Step Three: Restart the Windows Update service by inputting the following command: net start WuAuServ. Step Four: Type in: Exit and then hit Enter to close the Windows Command Prompt. Step Five: Reboot your PC. When you restart Windows, you shouldn’t receive this error message anymore. If you do, Download the two Windows Updates listed in RESOURCES below Resources: * * Update for Windows XP (KB927891) (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=7A81B0CD-A0B9-497E-8A89-404327772E5A&displaylang=en) * * Windows Update Agent WSUS 3.0 (http://download.windowsupdate.com/v6/windowsupdate/redist/standalone/WindowsUpdateAgent20-x86.exe) Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: stayouttadabunker on March 11, 2009, 03:34:00 PM Thanks for the fix TJ :131-
I have a question for you. :88- Is there supposed to be THAT many svchost processes as shown in a snapshot of my Task Manager? :103- click on photo to enlarge it>> Or click on link and open even larger with windoze picture and fax viewer>> Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: dpalmi on March 11, 2009, 04:41:12 PM Nice PINK color scheme you've got there, stayouttadabunker.....
:72- :72- :72- :72- Dan #2 Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: stayouttadabunker on March 11, 2009, 04:44:53 PM I printed it out then scanned it because NLG doesnt accept .rtf files...arghh!!!
I was running out of colored ink... :96- Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: tjkeller on March 11, 2009, 05:18:08 PM From MSDN Forums: svchost.exe- Application Error (http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vsdebug/thread/287d95a2-8f64-437b-9d76-912febee58fd/)
Quote from: unit101 svchost.exe is a generic process used by MANY different programs on your system... - if you have recently loaded a new printer / scanner or other device w/ software... camera... uninstall and see if ok... - to narrow it down... get a application called "Absolute Startup" .. free eval version on inet is fine -install it... go to Services section... look thru the list... you will see many services that use the svchost.exe to start... you can see this in the description of the service... near the end it will show that it uses srvchost.exe to run - if it does... disable it... make note of what you disable... probably 5 -10 services -restart... if ok... note, then go and start service back up and see which causes the error - another common culprit is Mcaffe... uninstall... - basically some software service is using SVCHOST.exe to start... and it is crashing... eliminate by stopping all the auto start stuff from starting up... get it to just the basics ... fix it... than work back - also you can try to start in Safe Mode With Networking... press F8 while booting... it will probably now work fine with no errors... this is because it did NOT try to start the culprit process As this author noted, "svchost.exe is a generic process used by MANY different programs on your system" so it is not uncommon to see this many processes running with this listed due to the fact many programs use svchost.exe to start. While in most cases this is not a big issue except when you get a corrupt file or program. Then the infamous, WHY?, What's Wrong?, What's causing this? It can come from any number of things. Virus Attack, Incomplete/Interrupted Updates, Disk Issues, etc, etc. In Uniman's case, I suspect the updates were incomplete/interrupted. No matter what the case, these issues are just another pain in the a :58- :58- . Personally, my luck has not been good with software repairs. It seems almost inevitable that at some point you will have to do a complete system restore. You may be able to limp along for awhile but sooner or later that day is coming. Funny thing is your PC always runs better after a restore due to the fact there's not all that junk anymore...until the next time. PS: As noted by the Author, Absolute Startup can be found Here (http://www.absolutestartup.com/) Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: stayouttadabunker on March 11, 2009, 05:55:55 PM Thanks TJ,
I will check out my start up box and see what's going on there before I download this... Again, thank you very much for your help on this... Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: uniman on March 11, 2009, 09:38:18 PM Thanks for the post TJ.
I just finished running the "combofix" about 1/2 hour ago. So far so good. If the problem returns I'll follow the steps you posted. Some of those I had done previously including downloading the two recent updates. I too believe it was a corrupted update that caused this. Hope it's gone now. THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP!!! :3- :3- :3- :3- :3- :3- :3- Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: stayouttadabunker on March 13, 2009, 11:56:17 AM I have a question...I'm running XP on a 21" square Dell display monitor using Mozilla Firefox as my web browser.
It seems that I remember buying this monitor because web pages were getting bigger and wider. It seems that I used to have to scroll up and down to see the whole web page, now I'm ever increasing scrolling side to side. Are web pages generally getting too big for our monitors nowadays? It really doesn't matter if I use a wide screen monitor either, or use the option of "Full Screen" What really gets me is that if I change the screen resolution to "1024 X 768", I STILL have to scroll side to side, though not as much. Plus the fonts really get too small when the screen resolution is set to that.... Do web pages have side margins? Any ideas? Make the fonts bigger while in a different screen resolution? :103- Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: StatFreak on March 13, 2009, 08:31:31 PM Any ideas? Make the fonts bigger while in a different screen resolution? :103- Exactly. I'm running 1280x800 on a 15 inch laptop. With a 19 inch monitor I would be running a minimum of 1600x1200 or better. Firefox has an interesting feature in the Zoom menu. If you click on View/Zoom/Zoom Text Only and then zoom, only the text will get bigger. It's pretty cool. So if you increase your monitor's resolution, you shouldn't have to scroll horizontally on the majority of web sites, and if the text is too small to read, you can use FireFox's zoom function with the Text Only option checked and the rest of the page won't end up off the end of your monitor. <ADD> To zoom in and out quickly in Firefox, hold down the <Ctrl> key and use the wheel on your mouse. To quickly get back to normal zoom, just click <Ctrl> 0. Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: stayouttadabunker on March 14, 2009, 12:07:46 AM yes,
I like that in firefox... I think rick posted that move last week.... I think I'm going to have to buy a widescreen about the size of my tv to fit web pages soon. :72- Title: Re: General Computer Help Post by: StatFreak on March 14, 2009, 03:27:56 AM He did, but he didn't mention the "Zoom Text Only" feature.
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