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Need help to Compile of Anti-Malware Progs.


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#1
MysticGolem

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Hi, i have just found this forum today, and i am very impressed with the support that u guys give. Good Work and keep it up.

I will be reformatting my Computer this weekend, and hopefuly have everything back to normal by monday afternoon, before i go to school.

Firstly i need help to compile a list of the best free and downloadable programs that will protect me agains't Malware.

I currently have Nortan 2003 (i am no longer impressed of this anymore)
I just downloaded AVG free version and ran a scan with and found well over 26 viruses ( i am still scanning right now)
I will be using P2P programs and i am aware of the viruses and other malware that comes with it and etc. (this is prolly why i got so many virsus :tazz:
I also read that having multiple anti-virus programs conflict with eachother, so i wanna stick to having like 1 or 2 anti-virus programs.
I also want to have anti spyware programs, i heard that Search and Destroy and Adaware are the best?? if so can i get a link to download them plz.

I have a windows XP with SP1 CD, that i will be using to install windows, i am wondering is it good to have SP2?? i have had it before, about 6 months ago, and i didn't like it cos everything i did, i had to tell the program to Accept or Deny access and etc.

I also have a 160 gb WD 7200 rpm hard drive in my comp that is corrupted, meaning everything i install on it stops working saying certain files are corrupted, i have returned the HD and they gave me a new one, and the same problem occurs. I am planning on just removing it from my computer for now.

I will be using my 120gb to serve for my needs for now.

I also got a quick question, i was using my 160gb HD to download stuff and it possibly got virsus from downloading, and i used my 120gb, which is split 20 and 100 to run windows and my programs, will viruses jump from my 160 HD to my 120 HD, thus creating more problems?

Thanks in advance

MysticGolem
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#2
Resident_Blonde

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Hello ;) MysticGolem

I can only help you with a couple of issues, and you will be getting help from more knowledge GEEKS shortly.


I also read that having multiple anti-virus programs conflict with eachother, so i wanna stick to having like 1 or 2 anti-virus programs.


Even with two, your still going to have conflict... I use NOD32, wonderful antivirus program, as well as there reviews. Out does Norton and AVG totally!!!

http://www.nod32.com/
And you can buy it threw Paypal if you have an account...


I also want to have anti spyware programs, i heard that Search and Destroy and Adaware are the best?? if so can i get a link to download them plz.


http://www.geekstogo...indpost&p=12367

And from here on... :tazz: We need to find you a GEEK to help ya, cause it is all :) to me... lol


But good luck with all your issues... YOu came to the RIGHT place ;)



Stay Safe...








:)
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#3
MysticGolem

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Thanks for the Reply, unfortunately NOd32 is something i havta pay for, im cheap lol, can't afford it...

Also i just read on the internet that there is a Fat32 Hard Disk Barrier, as u know i have 120 gb HD that i basicaly use for windows and applications.

I read that Fat32 right now only allows up to 137ish gb, otherwise u will have to some changes in Bios and stuff like that. If I put my 160 gb, in my comp. (which it is) then it will result in problems and memory loss and so on.

Well as i said before, basicaly anything i put onto th 160gb HD gets corrupted after a few hours or even after restarting the comp. etc, and when i do restart my comp. it says my 160 gb HD has problems and it does a scan.

Plz help me if possible
Or Give any advice

Thanks

MysticGolem
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#4
Resident_Blonde

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MysticGolem, Hi again hun...

Well, Like I said, I'm not very knowledge with computers... They guys here knew where to place me...

But I do try and help out as much as possible even if it may mean to transfer you to the HiJack Logs / Malware.

But do to me not knowing much about your issue, the only thing that I can say is to post a HJT log and see if our intelligent Geeks can help you out further.

Here is where I need you to go here:
http://www.geekstogo...indpost&p=12367

Which it is GTG just in the Malware location. These are the steps that need to be taken before posting a HJT (HiJack This) Log.

Just make sure that you have enough Malware/Spyware scans before you do the HJT...

You will fine HiJack This in Step 5 of this page.

I wish you all the luck... But make sure you post your HJT log in the proper location:

Malware Removal - HiJackThis Logs Go Here
http://www.geekstogo...o_Here-f37.html

I wish you all the luck hun... And if you find yourself at a lost, please feel free to respond to this topic here and I WILL help you as much as I can, and I will also post a note in our Staff forum to see if someone else has any idea on your issue, and can help you out from here.


You take care, and I know you will get the help you need...





:tazz:
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#5
tazz1964

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HI
I would use avg for your antivirus if your looking to save $ for your spyware and adware use adware SE and spybot & Destroy and in stall and let run in the backround spywareblaster you can down load them from here CLICK HERE Make sure you update the spyware and virus once a week.
When you install your windows XP change your fat 32 to NTFS its better for windows Xp and install the updates for SP2 and yes you may need to make a change in you bios to run a harddrive bigger then 137g if you let use know what your MB is and the bios ver. we can help you change that setting.
:tazz:
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#6
MysticGolem

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Thanks for the response, Resident_Blonde i have just put my HJT log on the forums u told me to, thx :tazz:.

And Tazz1964, hmm, when i registered i put my comps specs in that window, i dunno if u guys can access that but w/e. I will post em here.

P4 2.53
Gforce 4 ti 4200 128mb
Asus P4PE
512 ddr
Sound Blaster 4.1
120 gb Western Digital (Drive C:, I use this for windows and other applications i need)
160 gb Western Digital (Drive D:, I used this for downloading and games and music, however the HD is "corrupt" or not being read properly because of something in BIOS) I am currently trying to clear the drive of its contents and formatting it
These 2 HDs are in NTFS format and are currently both in my PC
I have 40 gb Western Digital hard drive that i put into a USB external box, it is currently in NTFS format, but i am trying to clear it so i can change it to a Fat32 so my other computer which has Win98 can read it and use it when needed. I know for a fact that converting Fat32 to NFTS is easy, u can just use RUN and type a simple command and it will change the format of the HD without loss of data, but i haven't found much infomation on converting backwards without loss of data.

As for my Bios Version i have no clue what it is and i don't know how to check it, plz let me know.

Thanks alot

MysticGolem
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#7
MysticGolem

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Hi, again

I just fixed some more problems on my comp. I fixed my cmd problem, supposedly my some of my system32 files were damaged. My error was something like 16 bit windows subsystem... blah blah blah, i typed that onto google, downloaded a zipfile and put that into my system 32 folder. Then i looked through my system32 folder for anything that is named Cmd (with w/e extension) and deleted them. Now i am able to go Start => Run => "cmd"

now i can install Winpatrol with no errors :tazz:

I also have tried to convert my NTFS back HD which is in an external box to a Fat32 so my win98 comp can read it.

i used the following code in cmd prompt. "format X: /fs:fat32" where X is your HD letter, this of course formats my HD, but of course i cleared some space on my 120 gb HD and put the files into it. I found on the net that that above command will only work if ur HD is <32gb big, otherwise u get an error saying ur HD is too big for fat32.

For a reference, to convert fat32 to ntfs u can use "convert X: /fs:ntfs" and it will convert the HD for u without loss of data.
U can can convert back by using Partition Magic 7.0 or any higher version.

I have been reading that Fdisk can partition my 40gb HD to 2 small 20 gb partitions and then format to fat32 and then combine them back together.
Can someone give me a step by step procedure on how to do this?
Also i read that i will need SP2 to get my computer to read hard drives that are over 32gb and in Fat32 format, is this true? and how do i update and get SP2, i think i have my auto downloads off and i don't know how to turn them back on

Now both my 160gb NTFS and 40gb Fat32 are empty. I still have no clue how to get my 160gb working properly.

Anyways guys Thanks so much, hope fully we can get my both my HDs working soon ;)

Thanks,

MysticGolem

Edited by MysticGolem, 17 May 2005 - 09:42 AM.

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#8
Resident_Blonde

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Hi again :)

I'm going to move your topic to the Windows XP forum so that you will get better help.

Sorry I did not do this earlier... You get a blonde doing more than one thing ;) "your in trouble" lol


But I SHOULD have thought of that earlier, when I first noticed you... But I guess brain was not function properly due to not enough caffeine ;)

But this is where I'm going to move your post to:


Operating Systems
Windows XP, 2000, 2003, NT
http://www.geekstogo...2003_NT-f5.html


Thanks hun, you give me some good reading... I was starting to figure out all the abbreviations you were stating... :tazz:











:)
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#9
gerryf

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You seem to be kind of meandering around here--so much so, I don't know what your ultimate goal is now.

You want to start fresh with windows XP on this machine and you do or do not care if the data is saved ?
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#10
MysticGolem

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K,

Problem (A)
Basicaly my goal is to have a 160gb HD working if possible. right now the current state of the Hard drive is still in my computer and is NTFS and whenever i put files, games, movies, programs into they all get corrupted over time.

Now the research of i have done, is that most comps. read hard drives up to i think 137gb. And that there's something in bios u can do to change that, so that my PC can read oversized HDs.

So i needa step by step process on how to enable reading of oversized HDs, through some BIOS adjustments. plz

Problem (B)
I also have a formatted 40gb HD that is in NTFS format, which is in a USB external box. I want to make it a Fat32 so that my other PC which runs on Win98 can read it, if it is a Fat32 HD. And i don't wanna convert my other PC to Win98 cos i use dos related programs on it.

Now the research i have done, is that NTFS is the more effect format for XP comps, also that u can easily change a Fat32 HD into a NTFS with a simple code in CMD. Also there's a code in CMD that will format a NTFS HD into a Fat32 HD but the HD must be <32gb in size.

Also i have found that u can partition the 40gb into 2 small 20gb partitions, then format them into a Fat32 HD, using Fdisk.

I needa Step by step process on how to do this using Fdisk(boot disk), i don't wanna use a 3rd party program like Partition Magic or anything like that. plz

FYI, here's my computer specs:
P4 2.53
Asus P4PE
Soundblaster 4.1
Gforce 4 ti 4200 128mb
3 Hard Drives
1) 120gb WD (Wester Digital) - I have Windows XP (Sp1) installed on it, i use this HD for windows and other simple applications i use.
2) 160gb WD - Well this is spose to be my HD where i download and install, games, movies, musics and other apps, because they all take up alot of space.
However the HD seems to be disfunctional
3) 40gb WD - i have this in a External USB box so i can transfer files onto it and take it anywhere i want and make backups of my files from both of my PCs. But can't use it with my Win98 pc cos its this HD is NTFS, and i needa convert it to a fat32.

Also if i need to get SP2 for WinXP plz let me know, and if possible where i can download it or how to turn on my autodownloads to get SP2.

Thanks, Resident_blonde for transfering me to this part of the forums

Gerryf, i think i have now made it clear on what my goal is now.

Thanks in advance for the help


MysticGolem
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#11
MysticGolem

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Ok, i've done more research on how to make my Oversized 160gb WD Hard Drive.

I have an Asus P4PE, Bios Version 1007, this support BigLba

I ran Adaware, Spybot, and AVG again, everything is clear.

I also just downloaded 19 updates from windows update, and i am still using SP1.
There is one more update left which is Eula AV program, I don't know if i should get it?? :tazz:

So now i found some helpfull info on the net. Firstly my Atapi.sys is up to date with Microsoft's version.

There is a manual way of enabling oversized HDs,
start-> Run-> Regedit.exe
Open the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Atapi\Parameters
Then add a new REG_DWORD value name EnableBigLba and set its value to 1.
Exit and reboot.
I HAVE NOT TRIED THIS REGEDIT METHOD YET
i will not use this untill i get confirmation from u guys or something.

So i downloaded a program to tell me if my HD is working fine and if it supports 48-bit LBA.

Here's the Log
IDE Channel..............: Primary Slave
Drive Model..............: ST3160021A
Serial...................: 3JX0CXTS
Firmware.................: 3.06
Manufacturer.............: Seagate
Size.....................: 160.1 GB
Type.....................: Fixed
Cylinders................: 19457
Tracks/Cylinder..........: 255
Sectors..................: 63
Drive Features...........:
48-bit LBA.............: Supported
LBA....................: Supported
DMA....................: Supported
IORDY..................: Supported
PIO Modes..............: 3 4
ATA/ATAPI Specs........: 2 3 4 5 6
Ultra DMA Modes........: 0 1 2 3 4 5
Current Ultra DMA Mode.: Mode 5

According to this now everything should be working. I am gonna restart my comp. and see what happens. Once again, the 160gb HD is formatted in NTFS and has nothing on it. Also my comp. is reading that 160gb HD as a 160gb HD but only allowing me to use 149gbs which is normal, and was like this from the start of this whole problem. So I will be testing out the HD for corruption of data over several weeks. As soon as one file gets corrupted, i may need to input that above file into the regedit ot make things work but not sure.
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#12
MysticGolem

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After the restart everything seems to be ok, so far, i am now going to install, several games, p2p programs like, Edonkey, Shareaza, Azurus, Bittorent++, Limewire.

And hopefuly all of them work 24/7 and work after restarting the computer, and work after going idle or hibernating for several hours.

Also, can anyone help me to get my 40gb HD into Fat32 from NTFS, i sitll need help with that.

Thanks

MysticGolem
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#13
gerryf

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you're going to have to remove the data (copy) then reformat it. You cannot convert from ntfs to fat32 and retain data.

Once you copy the data to your xp box (temporarily), you should be able to format the drive by going to logical disk manager

right click MY COMPUTER, choose MANAGE, choose STORAGE > DISLK MANAGEMENT...choose the drive, right click, choose FORMAT, set the type as fat32

As for the other thing, yes, the registry fix was OK, as that is all the SEAGATE UTILITY does anyway.
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#14
MysticGolem

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Hmm, gerryf, i am unable to set the format to Fat32,

remember my HD is 40gb, and Windows cannot format NTFS to Fat32 if the HD is bigger than 32gb.

Unless i am doing something wrong with the instructions u given me below "right click MY COMPUTER, choose MANAGE, choose STORAGE > DISLK MANAGEMENT...choose the drive, right click, choose FORMAT, set the type as fat32"

I can't format it.

I heard on the net u can partition the HD into two 20gb HDs and then format it and then combine them after the format is done.

Also i would like to do it without using 3rd Party Programs. I would prefer doing it the Fdisk way or windows method, or w/e u can come up with.

Also remember the 40gb HD is connected by USB, its in an external box. I dunno if that makes a difference

Thanks

MysticGolem

Edited by MysticGolem, 20 May 2005 - 04:57 PM.

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#15
gerryf

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fat32 theoretically supports up to 8 terabytes in size, but you're right (i was incorrect--windows XP can only format fat32 volumes in 32gb size, though it can read those that are larger...

OK, so...formatting it larger than, is the trick....and formatting it within the external connection....let me think...
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