Posts by firekid1239

Also, when I start "control userpasswords2", it shows the only 2 accounts that are active on the system are the primary admin account and the admin2 I created.

Well first and foremost my problem is that I'm an idiot and I love to download pirated software, been doing it for years and never caught anything. I always check what I'm downloading very carefully and read comments about the specific torrent to make sure that it has good reviews and plenty of seeds.

However, the other night I went on sort of a downloading frenzy and failed to give the torrents I download the typical scrutiny. I am almost certain one of the torrents contained a virus.

I HAD one account on my windows XP Pro system, the Administrator. It seems that all of the privileges hve been set to that of a guest or "user" account. For example, I cannot run things like Dos (cmd.exe), devmgmt.msc, services.msc, msconfig, regedt, task manager, etc...

It tells me that all of these have been disabled by the administrator. Also, the run option on my start menu has been removed and I can't seem to get it back.

I created a second administrator account which I simply called "admin2" on the PC to see if the same things would happen. Everything seems to work fine with the second administrator account and in the primary admin account I can run the items listed above if I select "run as" and select Admin2

Now for my futile efforts in repairing the problem.....

I uninstalled every program that I downloaded (winamp pro, nero, adobe audition) others. I ran …

Ok so let's get this straight before I or anyone else attempts to provide you with a possible solution. You have a single wireless router, and you are trying to set up a wireless network, and share a printer on this wireless network between two (2) windows XP computers. Do you have internet that you want to share on the network (Cable, Dsl, T1 etc...)? Does the printer have a built in wireless card?

The first thing you need to do is STOP writing things to your hard disk. Once a file or picture is deleted, although it is not available, it is still on your computer. But it is in a position to be overwritten. So that means no more downloading music, putting pictures on, adding ANYTHING else to your hard drive. The second thing you need to do is to download a program to recover your deleted files. It's been a while since I've used one and there is a host of new ones out there and many of them are freeware. I would reccomend doing a google search fro free file recover apps. Download.com should also have a wealth of software as well.

The first thing you should do is go to start menu>run>regedit and follow the path that you stated above. Only it's going to be HKLM Current Machine. Sometimes there are entries there that are not in Msconifg and vice versa. Also run Hijackthis so you can see a true list of EVERYTHING that starts up when your computer does. I would also reccomend running spyware and adware scans using Malwarebytes and Spybot SD.

Why not just buy a USB KB and Mouse? They are relatively inexpensive and would solve your problem.

Count on me to point out the obvious...lol.

Ahhh my bad Chard... I didn't realize the computer I was using had a language pack or whatever installed. It ended up translating some of the page so I could see the link you needed to click. Caperjack has some good advice as well.

An upgrade is only if you have a previous version of windows on your computer. You need to buy a "full version". Just look for the one that's more expensive... that's it. Also... are you using 64 bit hardware? Such as an Athlon 64 or a Intel Core 2 series? If not don't bother wasting your money an an x86 (64-bit) of windows. Of course, if you want to install more than 3 gigs of ram you will need the 64-bit version.

Charp... I have found what you need. It is, of course, all written in Japanese but you still can see what you need to download for your BIOS. The link is

http://support.sharp.co.jp/mebius/menu/download/bios/

Check it out.... you'll see what u need to click.

Just so I understand the system...
at my high school we have a system where we are on as power users (we can't install or create other user names, change passwords, etc.)
Through this all of our files are stored at the main office (not even in the same town as us) and we access them through vertual drives. Is this like what you have?

Well what it sounds like Fragfighter is that the high school is similar to a magnet school where students are assigned a laptop to use for the school year. The school most likely has wifi set up for the laptops to access the web. I would assume that the students laptops are the User's Group so they wouldnt be able to install any programs or anything. I didn't think about that when I was posting the fix. If every account on the laptops are Administrators, well that would just be stupid. But even as a basic user, you can still delete the history from IE.

Just a correction to what I said earlier... instead of making all the registry keys under HKEY_current user make them under HKEY_local Machine. That way they can't make another user account and use delete the history under that account.

You can also download the K-lite codec Pack for free... that should help with alot of problems. It might even solve your thumbnail problem for the MPEG.

Well I can give you advice on bypassing a proxy server but I cannot give you advice on downloading pirated software or anything seeing as I just got spanked by a moderator for doing so (you've got me paranoid jbennet LOL).

First of all, are you using firefox or IE?

I would go to manufacturers website and download the latest update for your system. Including the BIOS flash and any other updates the manufacturer reccomends.

I went to Sharps website and they did not seem to have ever made a computer with the model number you listed. Recheck the model number and go back to Sharpusa.com to find the latest updates.

Service Pack one is a great update and it fixes ALOT of the bugs that windows vista has. The problem with microsoft is that they release an operating system too early before they work out all the problems. It seems with vista SP1 they did a better job of cleaning up their mess compared to the SP's released with Windows XP.

I would recommend uninstalling Internet explorer (control panel>Add Remove Programs>Windows Components) and installing a browser such as Mozilla Firefox. Since firefox is not hijacked it should help SOME of your problems. Update Spybot to the latest definitions and run a complete scan. Install another adware removal program such as Malwarebytes, update it and run it as well. Then I would download AVG antivirus free edition, update it, and run a full scan. If this does not find most of the problems and fix them I would reccomend reinstalling the system. You could chase individual problems and nuke them one by one, but it would take a lot more time and hassle. In the long run it may just be easier to reinstall.

If there is anything I have missed please forgive me and correct me as well. I read your post and Hijackthis log the best I could.

I just double checked the fix I posted above on my windows XP system to make sure it works, and it works Perfect!

Also... beware that all a student needs to do is install another browser such as Firefox, Opera, Safari, Netscape, etc... to get around this. They can hide the icons and virtually everything except for the program files folder and no one will ever know it's there. I would get the school to invest in buying some sort of windows control software such as Fortres. To keep students from installing unwanted programs. Winguard pro is another good option and it is free, the only problem with it is that it is easily disabled. All you need to do is go into safe mode and uninstall it.

I'm not sure if this is above your skill level or not, but give it a shot.

1. Open the Registry Editor.

2. Navigate to the following string:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel

If you get to the Microsoft key folder and don't see keys for Internet Explorer\Control Panel, you'll need to add Internet Explorer as a subkey of Microsoft and Control Panel as a subkey of Internet Explorer.

3. Go into the Control Panel key folder and create a new DWORD value (REG_DWORD). Name it History. Right-click the History value and choose Modify. Change the data from 0 to 1.

Immediately, your "Clear History" options will become grayed out in your IE Tool menu. When you open the History menu, you'll no longer see an option to delete selected URLs by right-clicking them. If the tweak isn't working for you, close and relaunch any instance of IE you have running.

Too easy... All you need to do is reset your CMOS. You wont lose any data and there is no risk whatsoever. I'm about 95% sure this will work for as I have encountered many similar problems and this was the fix.

Open your case and look on your motherboard for the CMOS battery. Within the vicinity (maybe an inch away or so but somehwere around there) of that battery you will see 3 small pins with a jumper bridging 2 of them. Move the jumper over to the other position and press the power button to start the computer. You only need to leave the PC on for a few seconds and then shut it back off by either pushing the power button or holding it in untill power cuts off. Then place the jumper back the position it was in before and turn on the computer. That should be it.

Like I said this is a 95% fix to your problem, but if it happens to be that other 5 percent your going to need to reinstall windows. To do that all you have to do is enter the BIOS, change the boot device priority and select the CDrom to be the first boot device. Put in the windows CD, and have fun.

Yea reinstall WMP, QT, Divx (If you have allready), and any other media player on your system.

Alcohol 120%. In my opinion the best program... you can get a free trial version or if you're feelin' lucky you can download a pirated version. It's all over the torrent site as well as the Gnutella Network.

First of all you need to make sure that you have a CD-RW drive. Because your PC is old... it may not have one. You can pick one up at walmart or any other computer store for about 40 bucks or so. Make sure you buy one that is ATA (IDE) and not SATA. Because of the age of your PC... you won't be able to use Serial ATA (SATA). Even today burning Cd's for backup purposes is becoming outdated. A CD only holds 700MB while a DVD hold 4.3 GB! A dvd burner won't be much more expensive. And a DVD burner can burn to regular CD's as well.

Another option you have is to buy an External harddrive. While they are more expensive, they provide a Quick way to back up your files, keep the portable, and when you finally get a new computer you can copy your old files easily and MUCH faster than burning to CD's.

If you still want to stick to burning cd's and you have a cd-rw drive... just open nero and select to burn a Data Disc. Add the files which you want to burn and click burn on nero. You can also use the built in windows tool which is just as simple. Simply drag and drop the files that you want to burn to the CD-RW icon in My computer and windows will do the rest.

Hope this helps...

-Firekid

Spybot is definitely one of the best programs out there to detect and remove spyware, malware, adware and generally shitware. AVG Anti-virus, free edition is also a very good program. Avast is right up there with it as well. I would definitely change your browser to Firefox if you haven't already. Internet Explorer has a lot of security issues, and Firefox simply does not. It tends to run a little bit faster as well.

LOL! Chill dude, it isn't a virus or anything. It's just the way windows is. I know... it's a pain in the balls, and I hate to tell you... but You shoulda bought a MAC!

Anywho... there is one other possibility, which is highly unlikely.. but still slightly possible. It could be spyware imitating the windows live messenger window... it which case you should download Spybot Search and Destroy. Spybot is free and is one of the leading programs for Malware removal. Download.com will have the latest version and you should update it before you scan with it... just like you would with AVG. Then if you don't allready have it, download Mozilla Firefox, also from download.com while your at it. Internet Explorer is just horrible these days... Firefox is the best replacement browser out there. It REALLY helps blocking spyware, malware, adware, and generally all shitware from getting on your computer. It is also free... any other questions feel free to reply... I'll respond somewhat quickly

Hijackthis should solve your problem... you may also want to try Spybot which you can get for free from download.com. Spybot has a built in feature for IE and many of its problems. The last and final thing you should do. DITCH IE!!! Go with firefox, safari, or Netscape. Firefox being your best choice. It will eliminate soooo many problems.

A virus programmed to can, it can mess with your bios and cmos, and cause all sorts of hardware issues. Haven't you ever heard of the virus that infected the computer and "fried" it. Well it isn't just a folklore, it is possible. Software interacts with hardware all the time. Tells it how to run... think about it

Your best bet is something called Hirens Boot CD. You can download it for free and what it offers is about 300 hundred different tools to do pretty much anything you could imagine both software and hardware wise. I forgot the site that hiren has set up to download it but there is a Wiki that you should read about it before you download. It is truly the most versatile cd I have ever used. Just search Google.

Sounds almost like someone could have spilled something on the keyboard which could cause a host of problems... also could be a virus. You said the problems were happening and then you changed the motherboard? Did you reinstall windows before you replaced the mobo? If it was a virus geared to causing problems with hardware, then the new motherboard was infected as well. Reinstall windows, and THEN change the motherboard... might solve your problem.

Yea I'm allready a step ahead of you Darren... I allready trashed it. I kinda like the smell of silicone on a charcoal grill... lol :)

Thought that site would be useful to you!

You really need to find out what MB you have in order to go forward with this.

There is a "Stingray" MB with the model PTS73 (see http://support.packardbell.com/uk/item/index.php?i=spec_ic_motherboard_PTS73_layout&ppn=PC14104001)

Hmmm... I know my board is a HP pull because of the "HP Invent" POST screen, but it's not that packard bell, I don't have pci express. Although the board is new enough that it has serial ATA. All I know it that is has an intel chipset, and there is a sticker on the bios chip (which I'm pretty sure is the BIOS chip) (it right in between the battery and the jumper to reset the CMOS) that says stingray.

What would be the easiest way to figure out what kind of board I have? There were tools on that site that darren2005 posted, but they require the OS to be running...
My buddy Mark gave me a wonderful little disc called Hiren's Boot CD which has hundreds of little tools on it including analyzers which should tell me what hardware I'm using in great detail... I just gotta figure out how to get the pc to boot from the CD drive...

*siiiigh*... fuck my life...

Try checking the power switch connections where it plugs into the motherboard. They often can come loose when a computer is moved around seeing as they do not clip in or anything. Make sure it is securely on the pins and give it a try. If your not sure where it goes look closely on the motherboard... there is usually a very fine print labeling it.

Yea try replacing the CMOS battery. That would be the most common reason. A bad flash is another reason as well, but if you haven't flashed your BIOS recently then we can eliminate that.

Once you replace you CMOS battery, if the same problem arises there is something that you can do and it should solve the problem. You need to clear the CMOS. Right around the general area of your battery and BIOS chip are three pins with a Jumper connecting 2 of them. Move that jumper to connect the middle pin with the other pin that was not connected. Turn the computer on for a few seconds and then turn it off. Move the jumper back in the position it was in and turn the computer on. It should clear all the errors and everything should work fine. If not you should look into a new Motherboard. Newegg.com will be your best friend.

The precise details for recovering from a corrupted BIOS varies for the different BIOS distributions, but typically involve recovering a working version of BIOS code from a floppy disk/CD when corrupt.

This would be a good site for you to refer to http://www.wimsbios.com/faq.jsp

Oh btw, thanks Darren2005, that site was pretty helpful. It didn't really give me a whole lot of options for my situation, but I did learn quite a bit about BIOS in general, things that I didn't know.

Well I need to figure out what type of BIOS my board has. All I know is that it was a pull from a HP system because during the POST is the " HP Invent" screen... the BIOS chip itself is not removable and it attached to the board and there is a sticker on it that "Stingray". Would it have anything to do with the Chipset? It has an Intel chipset thats all I know. I really have no problem flashing the BIOS, because either way the board is going in the trash. If I can't find a BIOS flash: Trash. If I mess up the BIOS flash: Trash.

A freind of mine who has a degree in Computer Programming as Well as Network Administration told me one other thing I could try was to push the power button and hold it in to turn the computer off 3 times. He said most modern BIOS's will recognize that it is not booting. On the 4th time he told me to hold in the Ctrl+End keys and I would hear a series of beeps and the CMOS would completely clear itself. He told me I couldn't have anything plugged in other than the keyoboard. Well I tried it and it didn't work for me.

Any other sugegstions would be nice. After all that why I'm here.

-Josh

No I listed up above the type of keyboard it is. It is a ps2 keyboard and I have tried a few different ones to make sure my keyboard wasn't faulty. When the computer turns on the lights on the keyboard do light up so there is power getting to it... but the computer just doesnt want to take input from it. The Mobo is seated correctly and and the battery is new. I reset the CMOS and I guess the only thign I have left to do is to flash the bios. Does anyone have ny idea on how to do this. I have flashed the Bios on systems before but they were complete systems by dell and hp and I was able to get the proper flash off the website. All i know is that the motherboard is a pull from a HP PC and it has an Intel chipset.

Ok, A buddy of mine recently asked me o fix his pc that some idiot custom built for him. I have worked on hundreds of computers starting when I was only 9 years old. Never found a computer that I couldn't fix. I have my A+, MCP and I'm also a college student for network administration.

The way the computer was running I deemed it a hardware issue and told him that he would need to replace his motherboard to fix the problem. It seemed that the processer wasn't pulling information from the ram the right way seeing as fedora core 6 was running INCREDIBLY slow with many errors.

He told me to dissasemble the PC and save whatever hardware was good. While I was dissaembling it I noticed that the douche bag who built the computer didn't set the processor in the socket all the way and there were some pins that were not in. So i reset the processor in the socket and figured that was the problem. While I was disssembling the computer I had taken the CMOS battery out. I put eveyrthing back in including the Battery and when I started the coputer it got an error that said syste, date not set or bad checksum. Plus the computer is not taking any input from the ps/2 keyboard, although the lights on the keyboard to light up when the computer starts. I cleared the CMOS by moving the jumper on the motherboard to position …