System has been tampered with

[Wendy R]

I've been having this problem for a while. Most of the time when I turn off
my pc and then start the next morning, I get the message "176 the system has
been tampered with. The keyboard is locked. Turn off and then turn on your
computer."

In addition to that, I receive various messages at times. This morning I
also got "RF ID tag has changed. 184 Asset Control antenna not detected.
....System Security."

I have used system restore back to a time that I believe was before I
started receiving these messages but to no avail. I have run adaware and
sypware a few times thinking that may be the problem and that didn't work.

Is this a serious problem that can end up in a system crash? Or just an
ongoing nuisance that can continue to be resolved by turning off then on my
pc?

How can I fix whatever the problem is?

Thank you very much for your help. I appreciate it.

 

[Bob I]

I think you have hardware problems, it may be due to a low CMOS battery,
which may be replaced(small coin battery on motherboard) If it is due
to motherboard/BIOS damage you may need to get a repair shop to take
care of it.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

I've been having this problem for a while. Most of the time when I turn
off my pc and then start the next morning, I get the message "176 the
system has been tampered with. The keyboard is locked. Turn off and then
turn on your computer."

In addition to that, I receive various messages at times. This morning I
also got "RF ID tag has changed. 184 Asset Control antenna not detected.
...System Security."

I have used system restore back to a time that I believe was before I
started receiving these messages but to no avail. I have run adaware and
sypware a few times thinking that may be the problem and that didn't work.

Is this a serious problem that can end up in a system crash? Or just an
ongoing nuisance that can continue to be resolved by turning off then on
my pc?

How can I fix whatever the problem is?

Thank you very much for your help. I appreciate it.

You apparently have a machine with asset control hardware sensors, and they
may be failing. When, exactly, do these messages appear? Right at
startup before any of the Windows screens?

These messages often come from the BIOS level and don't have much of
anything to do with the operating system, though they may pass messages to
it. Spyware tools and system restores will probably not come anywhere near
where the problem is actually located.

It is possible - if your machine is used and was obtained from a large
company - that it has some asset control software running as a service. If
you locate this (MSCONFIG, the Services tab can help you with this) you can
simply disable it.

You might want to look closely at the security settings in the machine's
BIOS, and turn off whatever appears to be related to this. Past that, find
a service manual for that machine - if you look carefully at the
manufacturer's site you should be able to find that- and disconnect the
sensors, after turning off the BIOS settings. You might need to have some
small amount of professional service for this.

HTH
-pk

 

[Wendy R]

Yes, the messages are before the Windows page at startup. Need to turn off
and on 1 to 3 times before it will go to the Windows page. Yes, this pc came
from an insurance company. I will try to snoop around to find what you have
mentioned. Can you point me in the right direction to find (MSCONFIG, the
Services tab can help you with this)? Sorry...not very adept at hardware
stuff.

thanks again!

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Yes, the messages are before the Windows page at startup. Need to turn off
and on 1 to 3 times before it will go to the Windows page. Yes, this pc
came from an insurance company. I will try to snoop around to find what
you have mentioned. Can you point me in the right direction to find
(MSCONFIG, the Services tab can help you with this)? Sorry...not very
adept at hardware stuff.

thanks again!

Start Windows, and go to Start, Run, and type MSCONFIG, then press enter.
it should start and there is a tab for 'services'. This lists the things
that run as services, and you'll need to go through the lists to see if any
of them are related to asset management software. When you identify these,
de-select them and restart the machine. However, the problem arises before
Windows knows anything about this.

The place to start is in the BIOS. Hopefully they didn't password protect
that - if so, you'll need to try to get the password. If it is password
protected and you can't get the password, contact the manufacturer for a
workaround or a way to clear the password. This isn't always easy.

You should have a look at the manufacturer's site to see if you can find the
system manuals, which will tell you what settings to change.

HTH
-pk

 

[V Green]

I've been having this problem for a while. Most of the time when I turn off
my pc and then start the next morning, I get the message "176 the system has
been tampered with. The keyboard is locked. Turn off and then turn on your
computer."

In addition to that, I receive various messages at times. This morning I
also got "RF ID tag has changed. 184 Asset Control antenna not detected.
...System Security."

I have used system restore back to a time that I believe was before I
started receiving these messages but to no avail. I have run adaware and
sypware a few times thinking that may be the problem and that didn't work.

Is this a serious problem that can end up in a system crash? Or just an
ongoing nuisance that can continue to be resolved by turning off then on my
pc?

How can I fix whatever the problem is?

Thank you very much for your help. I appreciate it.

Does this machine belong to YOU, or your employer?

From some of the stuff you've described, is sounds like a
corporate machine that's been locked down in various ways.

If this is true, take it to IT and get it fixed. It isn't yours
to play with.

If this is NOT true, chekc Event Viewer for other
clues and let us know what you find.

 

[Wendy R]

This was a surplus pc from an insurance company that went out of business.
They gave these to a few select 'former' employees.

Where do I find Event Viewer?

 

[V Green]

This was a surplus pc from an insurance company that went out of business.
They gave these to a few select 'former' employees.

Where do I find Event Viewer?

Control Panel>>Administrative Tools. Look for stuff
in System related to the messages you described.

I know this may not be what you want to hear, but
your best two options with this thing may be:

live with this stuff and just keep restarting when it asks

buy a new copy of XP and install from scratch

There's corporate things afoot in this machine, a holdover
from its previous life. Hardware based, from the sound
of it, and may be hard to get rid of.

What make/model is it? If the thing has RFID hardware
embedded in it, there may be a way to turn it off.

 

[Wendy R]

It's an old IBM PC 300PL. If I can turn off the RFID, great. I am also
willing to live with it....if this isn't an indication of major system
problems down the road. I'm afraid that one day I won't be able to turn it
on. If these errors can remain nothing more than a nuisance, I have no
problem with it.

Also, the PC was supposedly "wiped clean" before I got it. I installed XP
new on the machine (couple of times actually) and a new Maxtor HD. Don't
know if this is a factor at all, but I've have the PC standing on it's side
for over a year under my desk -- should be ok but wonder sometimes if it's
not.

thanks again.

 

[V Green]

Well, you have a lot of reading to do...

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=ibm&lndocid=MIGR-46391

If this thing actually contains this security stuff, maybe you
can find some info on how to deal with it.

After familiarizing yourself with some of the "features"
of this, look for things related to it in Device Manager
and DISABLE them, AFTER backing up everything.

Or just keep doing what you've been doing

 

[bnakano]

The answer is bad capacitors! I know it sounds imposible and I didn'
believe it but I had the EXACT same error message and did a search o
googl look here:
forum.java.sun.com/thread. jspa?threadID=569551&tstart=60

read the whole thread look at the pics and buy some capacitors!!

*I've been having this problem for a while. Most of the time when
turn off
my pc and then start the next morning, I get the message "176 th
system has
been tampered with. The keyboard is locked. Turn off and then turn o
your
computer."

In addition to that, I receive various messages at times. Thi
morning I
also got "RF ID tag has changed. 184 Asset Control antenna no
detected.
.....System Security."

I have used system restore back to a time that I believe was befor
I
started receiving these messages but to no avail. I have run adawar
and
sypware a few times thinking that may be the problem and that didn'
work.

Is this a serious problem that can end up in a system crash? Or jus
an
ongoing nuisance that can continue to be resolved by turning off the
on my
pc?

How can I fix whatever the problem is?

Thank you very much for your help. I appreciate it.

-
bnakan

 

[Wendy R]

Thank you! How to I see the thread? I pasted the url into my browser and it
said the thread is unavailable.

 

[viente]

I had the same problem and in the BIOS setup I disabled AssetCare and
AssetID and after that the system started to boot and load Windows.