I am only able to access drive "D" as read only. As far as I know, no multiple user permissions have been set up on this PC, and I've no idea how to change them. Could this possibly be spyware? If so, how would I go about removing it? Once again, this computer is running Windows 95.

I am only able to access drive "D" as read only. As far as I know, no multiple user permissions have been set up on this PC, and I've no idea how to change them. Could this possibly be spyware? If so, how would I go about removing it? Once again, this computer is running Windows 95.

usually drive d: is the cdrom ,so i assume you d: is another hard drive ,and it will not let you use it for storage .right .

usually drive d: is the cdrom ,so i assume you d: is another hard drive ,and it will not let you use it for storage .right .

Yes, the hard drive is partitioned. Here is the configuration: Drive "A" is the floppy drive, Drives "C" and "D" are local drives, and Drive "E" is the cdrom drive.

Yes, the hard drive is partitioned. Here is the configuration: Drive "A" is the floppy drive, Drives "C" and "D" are local drives, and Drive "E" is the cdrom drive.

Its been a long time since i used win95 not sure about permissions ,and the multiple users was a bit flakey if at all possiable .did it work the right way at one time for you ! ,also just for the heck of it im loading win95 on a machine with 2 partitions to check it out .i will post back in awhile if i find anything out .

Win95 installed and second drive d:\ works fine im able to read and writ to the drive ,still looking for info on one being set read only.
might i suggest ,right clicking on the drive ,go to/properties/ tools ,and run the thorough scandisk

Win95 installed and second drive d:\ works fine im able to read and writ to the drive ,still looking for info on one being set read only.
might i suggest ,right clicking on the drive ,go to/properties/ tools ,and run the thorough scandisk

The disk used to work fine, it is only recently acting up. As this is only a home computer (I have another one running WinXP), I can't imagine any reason for there to be some kind of locking software on there.
I also have all of the OS reloading disks, but I would like to avoid that option if all possible.

I also have all of the OS reloading disks, but I would like to avoid that option if all possible.

Cant imagin why you would have to reload windows ,isn't the os on the c:\ drive and d:\ ,drive just a storage drive .
did you run the scandisk on drive d:\

did you run the scandisk on drive d:\

I also have Norton SystemWorks installed (it was a top-end computer back in it's day). Should I run the Norton ScanDisk, the standard windows Scandisk, or both?

There is also the possibility that this machine is chuck full of spyware and viruses. I use this computer for internet access. The problem is that although I do have Norton SystemWorks, including virusscan, the definitions are several years out of date. I also have Spybot S&D 1.3 installed, which runs very slowly but did detect a few things. Could you possibly reccomend a virus program that can update but also runs on Win95?

AVG ,should do it for you .this win95 site has links and help for win 95 computers .http://www.95isalive.com/privacy.htm#Virus

as for the defrag just right click on the drive go to properties ,tools and run the defrag doesent matter if it windows or notons .

From what I remeber about W95, there isn't such possibility to set the whole drive to "read-only".

My best guess is that the File Allocation Table is busted on your D drive and the system CAN'T read or write (Actually it can read first cluster of a file or folder). You should run any scan disk you have. Doesn't really matter if it is Norton DiscDoctor or windows scandisk. They work the same. Be sure to do a surface scan (system area). And expect heavy losses.

Also find some freeware or trial anti virus-spy-adware to cleanup the system.

I can't imagine there is somthing wrong with the file allocation table, as I have had no problem reading data off the disk. I am able to save files to the disk through an application, just not by Windows Explorer. Also, when I try to run scan disk, I am given an error message stating that an application has locked the disk. AVG free locked my CPU at 100%. Could this possibly be an interference with one of the Norton products I have installed?

Could be Norton's speed disk running in backgrond. That would lock the drive. Look at the tray if there's a speed disk icon. It tends to keep on running in the background when you press the "x" on it's window.

It would also keep CPU at 100%. It is defragmenting the disk.

I was able to run ScanDisk off the system floppy using the command line (rebooted in MS-DOS mode). I also ran a surface test. It showed no problem. Could it be Norton SpeedDisk that is preventing me from writing to the disk?

Sad thing is, I originally paid over $2000 for this machine. Now I'd be lucky to get $20 off of it.

One thing that I think could be (I believe that it is possible in W95), is if you have enabled sharing (read only permission) the hard disk in question, mapped it in explorer and actually, trying to write to it's mapped instance. Still, you would have both instances available in explorer.

I also remember, regarding Norton system works, that default settings included system doctor at startup. Maybe it was win doctor. One of those would startup with windows. That one can run scheduled tasks, like disk doctor, speed disk, Norton update... Maybe it is running something in the background every time that would lock the drive.

P.S. Hardware is not an issue here. So don't be gettin' rid of it.

One thing that I think could be (I believe that it is possible in W95), is if you have enabled sharing (read only permission) the hard disk in question, mapped it in explorer and actually, trying to write to it's mapped instance. Still, you would have both instances available in explorer.

I don't see anything about sharing by right-clicking on the drive. The drive used to work fine, I dunno what's wrong.If I close down norton, will the drive be unlocked and writeable? Why can applications read and write to the drive, but I can only read? Would reformatting the drive fix the problem (this is only a LAST RESORT)?

No, formating the drive is out of the question. Your las resort would be reinstalling windows. This is pure software bug/issue. Otherwise you would get BSOD and stuff.

Do try closing down norton.
And if that fails, try disabling norton protection (rightclick recycle bin, select properties, and uncheck the "enable norton protection" or something like that).


One more thing, which ver. of norton systemworks is it?
Last I remember, Norton 2001 (I think) refused to install without Internet Explorer 6, And IE6 won't install unless it's W98SE minimum.


One more thing, which ver. of norton systemworks is it?
Last I remember, Norton 2001 (I think) refused to install without Internet Explorer 6, And IE6 won't install unless it's W98SE minimum.

I belive it is SystemWorks 2000.

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