[pixillated]

hi jwang01;

just finished with my busy weekend, so am able to plug in here again if we both decide to go ahead with the more drastic reformat or running more diagnostics.

any luck with finding out if my recovery cds will still work after doing the reformat, and without having an XP install cd?

does resetting the bios mean to just reset it to default, or something else?

question about the command screen that keeps flashing: could that have anything to do with my bios?

i just opened task manager to have a look. i have 6 svchost processes running. do you suppose some of those are orphans or clones?

i do still have internet capabilities, so i could run some of those diagnostic tools again, or try to. if that fails, i can go to the library and print out instructions on how to do the drastic reformat. and... i still have that old e machine hard drive if all else fails. i could put that in this box and reformat it, and do what i did with this one. or not reformat it and run diagnostics on that. (it too had problems that i think were virus related). so there are options, depending on what you want to do with your time on this.

for now, i'm going to download and run the norton removal tool, and try downloading the last thing you asked me to download and see if i can get it to work and get those devices to not have the yellow exclamation marks by them. will await further instruction or advice.

thanks, and i hope you had a good weekend!

EDIT:
i guess i don't need to run the norton removal tool! because i never used norton when i did this reformat, it was all removed in the add/remove programs.

i tried extracting that program that was some kind of fix to the devices that have the yellow exclamation points but it still would not extract. from what i can tell i don't have the right chipset or something. do you want me to try to repair those devices from device manager?

Edited by pixillated, 10 May 2010 - 12:59 AM.

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Hello,


It's up to you on how you want to proceed. I will help you which ever way you wish to go.


I'm still unsure about the low level reformat. I'm waiting for an email to come back to me, which should not be to long. Going this route may not even solve the issues. It's definitly a last option for me, at least for this drive.

Swaping out the hard drives is also an option. That may also stop the issues. If you decide to try this out first, let me know. Also let me know what kind of problems your having with the new drive in. If it's malware realated, we could probobly fix it.


Also, you can find drivers for the T4060 Here including the chipset driver.

Edited by jwang01, 10 May 2010 - 02:31 PM.

[jwang01]

Hello,


It's up to you on how you want to proceed. I will help you which ever way you wish to go.


I'm still unsure about the low level reformat. I'm waiting for an email to come back to me, which should not be to long. Going this route may not even solve the issues. It's definitly a last option for me, at least for this drive.

Swaping out the hard drives is also an option. That may also stop the issues. If you decide to try this out first, let me know. Also let me know what kind of problems your having with the new drive in. If it's malware realated, we could probobly fix it.


Also, you can find drivers for the T4060 Here including the chipset driver.

Edited by jwang01, 10 May 2010 - 02:31 PM.

[pixillated]

Hello,


It's up to you on how you want to proceed. I will help you which ever way you wish to go.

well if we just stick with this drive, what would you suggest i try? i so appreciate your willingness to help me, and i don't want to waste your time or energy if you don't think we can fix whatever problems i have. do you still think it's a file infector?

I'm still unsure about the low level reformat. I'm waiting for an email to come back to me, which should not be to long. Going this route may not even solve the issues. It's definitly a last option for me, at least for this drive.

hmmmm.... so if it may not even fix it, is my hard drive simply going bad or do i have malware?

Swaping out the hard drives is also an option. That may also stop the issues. If you decide to try this out first, let me know. Also let me know what kind of problems your having with the new drive in. If it's malware realated, we could probobly fix it.


Also, you can find drivers for the T4060 Here including the chipset driver.

well, i do have a T4060 box, but used W3052 recovery CDs because i got messages saying the install from the original cds was corrupt! so does that affect which drivers i would choose and which chipset driver?

also, ive noticed that the only time avira guard stops access to D: Autorun.inf is when malwarebytes is scanning the registry and then the D partition. not sure i know how to make an exception for malwarebytes so that it can scan that, or how important that is. i do know there are some autoruns that are trojans and worms, and also that autorun.inf is a windows function, although i can't seem to locate it on the hard drive.

[jwang01]

Hello,

well if we just stick with this drive, what would you suggest i try? i so appreciate your willingness to help me, and i don't want to waste your time or energy if you don't think we can fix whatever problems i have. do you still think it's a file infector?

I don't think to . The reformat should of fixed that. We could do an online scan to confirm it's gone if you have the internet, but since we may do a low-level reformat, it won't really be worth it.

hmmmm.... so if it may not even fix it, is my hard drive simply going bad or do i have malware?

Again, I don't really think it's malware. It could be the drive, or other things.

well, i do have a T4060 box, but used W3052 recovery CDs because i got messages saying the install from the original cds was corrupt! so does that affect which drivers i would choose and which chipset driver?

You would want the T4060 Drivers as that is the PC your using. Thats why I was thinking the problems were because of the differnet recovery disks, but since you said this happend even with the other disks, that can't be the cause. I would download and install the drivers for that box so you have the correct ones. You could see if that helps at all.

also, ive noticed that the only time avira guard stops access to D: Autorun.inf is when malwarebytes is scanning the registry and then the D partition. not sure i know how to make an exception for malwarebytes so that it can scan that, or how important that is. i do know there are some autoruns that are trojans and worms, and also that autorun.inf is a windows function, although i can't seem to locate it on the hard drive.

AutoRuns are a normal part of windows, however some can be used to auto start nasties. autorun files are hidden also.



I think you should try and swap out the Hard Drive. It's not that hard to do, and would be quicker that a low-level reformat. Thats what I would do if I had an extra hard drive and was in your situation. Do you know how to swap out a Hard Drive?

Is there already an install of Windows on that drive?

I'm hoping swapping the drives will stop all the issues. But whatever way you want to go, I will help you out.

Edited by jwang01, 12 May 2010 - 02:16 AM.

[pixillated]

hey jwang01;
i thought i was up late!

i am going to try installing the chipset and vga driver here on this drive, too. in my device driver for those 3 things (Network controller, sm bus controller, and video controller- vga compatible) - it says those drivers are not installed. but do i even want them? are they good things?

so then when i download those drivers for this box, should i use that file thing you recommended i use? (845GL_4.00.1009)? it may be too new for my ancient machine; i noticed all the chipset drivers for supported packages had much higher numbers than mine. i guess i'm just curious to see if it'll help, even though this box had major problems even before i used the recovery cds from my other box.


regarding the other hard drive from the emachine W3052: there was a windows install on that other drive, but it was an illegal one from a friend from a long time ago. it's a much better install than i have with these recovery cds! it had the complete microsoft office on it. what i'm not sure is what's left on that drive because he messed with it a few years ago and may have just wiped it and used the recovery cds; which would mean it's about as good as this drive but maybe not quite as corrupted. i could start there, put on avira, then do the windows updates, etc.

i can probably figure out how to swap out the drive; i guess i just look at how this one is put in and then try to do it the same way, right? i do know you're supposed to touch metal to ground yourself when you do it, and not wear wool. i think i can manage that.

it may take me a few days to get back to you, but i will for sure let you know what happens with all of this. who knows? we may have a whole new situation on our hands if there still is malware on it.

thanks!

EDIT;
tried installing chipset drivers and got the same message and it wouldn't install. oh well!

Edited by pixillated, 12 May 2010 - 03:02 AM.

[jwang01]

Hello,

i am going to try installing the chipset and vga driver here on this drive, too. in my device driver for those 3 things (Network controller, sm bus controller, and video controller- vga compatible) - it says those drivers are not installed. but do i even want them? are they good things?

Yes, you want them. You actually should download and install all of them if your going to see if it helps stop the problems.

so then when i download those drivers for this box, should i use that file thing you recommended i use? (845GL_4.00.1009)? it may be too new for my ancient machine; i noticed all the chipset drivers for supported packages had much higher numbers than mine. i guess i'm just curious to see if it'll help, even though this box had major problems even before i used the recovery cds from my other box.

No, you can delete that one.

regarding the other hard drive from the emachine W3052: there was a windows install on that other drive, but it was an illegal one from a friend from a long time ago. it's a much better install than i have with these recovery cds! it had the complete microsoft office on it. what i'm not sure is what's left on that drive because he messed with it a few years ago and may have just wiped it and used the recovery cds; which would mean it's about as good as this drive but maybe not quite as corrupted. i could start there, put on avira, then do the windows updates, etc.

If it is an illegal copy of Windows, I won't be able to offer any help untill there is a legal copy on board. I have ways we can test that though. If it is illegal, you will have to do a fresh install with your cd's.

i can probably figure out how to swap out the drive; i guess i just look at how this one is put in and then try to do it the same way, right? i do know you're supposed to touch metal to ground yourself when you do it, and not wear wool. i think i can manage that.

Yes, you will need to install it just like the one you are using, and it is a good idea to ground yourself. If you have any questions, just ask.



Ok, keep me informed on what you want to do.

[pixillated]

hello jwang01;

i'm just on site for a bit, and before we both spend more time and energy on this, i want to ask some things.

i probably won't even get to doing anything with this computer until at least sunday night, so would you please keep this thread open for a bit more? thanks!

here are my gazillion questions:

is there any way that my recovery cds could have gotten corrupted from whatever happened on this box? if i have to use them on the other drive, i want to be sure they are ok, since the other cds that came with this box seem to have done a corrupt install. (that probably has more to do with the fact that i didn't "kill" everything on the hard drive first, and whateveritis keeps jumping partitions, if it is an infection, or ....?

also, if it's not an infection and i'm pretty sure the hard drive is not going bad, what else could it possibly be? can 'it' live in the usb ports, the motherboard, or anyplace else on this box besides the hard drive? (thinking i don't wanna corrupt the other hard drive or a new hard drive if i buy one and put it in this #@/% box.)

do you think recovery cds will work on that other drive if it too is corrupt or infected, has an illegal install of windows, and/or if we have to "kill" all the files and ghost files on it too? i still would kinda like to know what would happen if you kill a disk and then try to use recovery cds to install windows.

i don't wanna spend 2 more months on this, and i bet you don't either.

obviously, if i had money, i would've simply bought a new computer by now, so i really appreciate all the help you give, and have given.

i'm buying lotto tickets and hoping for the big win, in which case, you get paid well and i get a new puter!

thanks!

[jwang01]

Hello,

is there any way that my recovery cds could have gotten corrupted from whatever happened on this box? if i have to use them on the other drive, i want to be sure they are ok, since the other cds that came with this box seem to have done a corrupt install. (that probably has more to do with the fact that i didn't "kill" everything on the hard drive first, and whateveritis keeps jumping partitions, if it is an infection, or ....?

No, your CD's will be fine.

also, if it's not an infection and i'm pretty sure the hard drive is not going bad, what else could it possibly be? can 'it' live in the usb ports, the motherboard, or anyplace else on this box besides the hard drive? (thinking i don't wanna corrupt the other hard drive or a new hard drive if i buy one and put it in this #@/% box.)

Some infections can stay in the memory of a computer. Also, there are a few out there that can infect the BIOS, but are very rare. You should be fine installing a new drive.

do you think recovery cds will work on that other drive if it too is corrupt or infected, has an illegal install of windows, and/or if we have to "kill" all the files and ghost files on it too? i still would kinda like to know what would happen if you kill a disk and then try to use recovery cds to install windows.

The recovery CD's should work with the other drive as it is the same brand of computer. Let's see what happens with the other drive before we start thinking about wiping the drive.

i don't wanna spend 2 more months on this, and i bet you don't either.

obviously, if i had money, i would've simply bought a new computer by now, so i really appreciate all the help you give, and have given.

i'm buying lotto tickets and hoping for the big win, in which case, you get paid well and i get a new puter!

thanks!

No problem. Hopfully we can get this figured out.

Good luck on those lotto tickets. I should go get a few myself.

[pixillated]

gulp. ok. here i go... should get this done late tonight or maybe tomorrow, and will start windows updates after i put avira on that drive.

give me a few days to get it sorted out. if it goes badly, i will write you from the library.

thanks again, jwang01!

[jwang01]

Hello,


Ok, sounds good. Let me know how it goes.

[pixillated]

okay, now you have me worried! waaaah!!

a virus or malware can live in the memory? well then it would explain why no destructive reformat works! i just looked in avira, which would not properly update, even manually, for days. i finally had to uninstall and reinstall the program to get the updates. but that is a temporary fix, and there are viruses that infect the memory. so... am i screwed no matter what i do?

i don't wanna install a new or even another old hard drive if there is even a remote chance this thing is living in my memory; for instance, win32/Sality.Y. that virus lives in the memory and has a polymorphic engine.

if nothing is detecting that i have malware, but the puter acts like i do, how can i even know it is on the memory? unless i can wipe the memory too so it doesn't keep reinfecting the computer, i'm not sure i should even waste our time trying the other drive. what do you think?

sorry this keeps going on and on with the questions and concerns. i just am feeling tired of it all, after over two months of trying.

Edited by pixillated, 16 May 2010 - 10:44 AM.

[jwang01]

Hello,

Like I said before, I don't think this is a malware issue. Also, you are not infected it Sality. Even if you were, the recovery would have wiped that out. Even memory resident malware would be wiped out by the recovery. You can try to get a hand me down if you wish, but if your that worried about being infected, you can run an online scan to be safe. Let me know what you want to do.

[pixillated]

okay maybe i will try an online scan again. something keeps shutting down my antivirus programs' ability to update. if that does not work, i will try the new hard drive.

perhaps my lack of understanding causes me to worry so much and ask so many questions. thanks for your patience, i know this has probably not been easy for you!

so, should i go ahead with the other used hard drive (an unknown at this point, as far as operating systems and infections go)?

Edited by pixillated, 16 May 2010 - 10:48 AM.

[jwang01]

Hello,


Ok, give this scanner a shot. It may take a bit to complete, but if it comes back clean go ahead and try the new drive.



Using Internet Explorer or Firefox, visit Kaspersky Online Scanner

1. Click Accept, when prompted to download and install the program files and database of malware definitions.

2. To optimize scanning time and produce a more sensible report for review:

• Close any open programs
• Turn off the real time scanner of any existing antivirus program while performing the online scan. Click HERE to see how to disable the most common antivirus programs.

3. Click Run at the Security prompt.

The program will then begin downloading and installing and will also update the database.
Please be patient as this can take quite a long time to download.

• Once the update is complete, click on Settings.
• Make sure these boxes are checked (ticked). If they are not, please tick them and click on the Save button:
  • Spyware, adware, dialers, and other riskware
  • Archives
  • E-mail databases
• Click on My Computer under the green Scan bar to the left to start the scan.
• Once the scan is complete, it will display if your system has been infected. It does not provide an option to clean/disinfect. We only require a report from it.
• Do NOT be alarmed by what you see in the report. Many of the finds have likely been quarantined.
• Click View report... at the bottom.
• Click the Save report... button.
  
  
  
  
• Change the Files of type dropdown box to Text file (.txt) and name the file KasReport.txt to save the file to your desktop so that you may post it in your next reply

[pixillated]

if i read my mail on the web and don't download emails, how will this affect the kaspersky? does that mean there could be an infection in my emails someplace that is not being scanned? (i'm just in paranoid mode!)

and so, how do i scan web mail, or is there no need to?

Edited by pixillated, 16 May 2010 - 11:12 AM.