How can I clean install Windows XP if I don't have the CD?

[UYV]

My first time using these groups so forgive me if this is the wrong place

My computer is running very slowly and about the only thing I haven't tried
is reformatting and reinstalling Windows, which is said to help. The problem
is I don't have the CD...

Am I stuck? Can I legally borrow someone else's disc, and would that work
anyway?

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

My first time using these groups so forgive me if this is the wrong place

My computer is running very slowly and about the only thing I haven't tried
is reformatting and reinstalling Windows, which is said to help. The problem
is I don't have the CD...

Although it invariably fixes such problems, unless they are hardware
problems, I think it's almost always the wrong thing to do, for two
reasons:

1. It's a lot of work to back up your data, reinstall Windows, reload
all your drivers, restore your data, reload all your programs,
reconfigure Windows and all your programs the way you like to have
them, etc.

2. When you take that approach, you never find out what was wrong, and
almost certainly what is wrong is something you did incorrectly or
didn't do. That means that you are extremely likely to make the same
mistake and very quickly find yourself back in the same situation.

So my recommendation is that you do *not* do this, but instead
describe your problems and your environment here, giving us to the
chance to help you and fix the problems without reinstallation.

To start with, answer these two questions:

1. What anti-virus and anti-spyware programs do you run, and are they
kept up to date?

2. What programs do you have starting automatically when you boot.

The answer to most poor performance problems is usually found in one
or both of these questions.

Am I stuck? Can I legally borrow someone else's disc, and would that work
anyway?

Yes, you can use someone else's CD, as long as it matches yours with
respect to Professional vs. Home, Retail vs. OEM, and Full vs.
Upgrade. If it doesn't match in all those respects, your product key
won't work with it.

 

[UYV]

So my recommendation is that you do *not* do this, but instead
describe your problems and your environment here, giving us to the
chance to help you and fix the problems without reinstallation.

Ok, here goes:

I have XP Pro, and the computer is a several-years-old Emachines 380 but a)
it was probably modified when we got it and b) we've had the motherboard
replaced since. Not sure what it is now but I can find out if you need to
know.
Other info: 20GB free space (out of 60GB), 2.2GHz, 1GB RAM, basic onboard
graphics etc.

For anti-virus stuff I run AVG Free 8, Spybot S&D and the normal Windows
firewall. Could be better I suppose but I'm pretty sure I don't have a virus
and getting bogged down in these programs could be just as bad at the moment.

So far I've tried all the normal stuff - defragged, run CCleaner, bought
more RAM, freed up hard drive space, cut down the startup programs, even used
a little Microsoft tool called PageDefrag... Can't think of anything else
right now.

I don't just mean I'm trying to tweak the speed, it's really slow. Drives
my mother mad when she's trying to use a site like ebay or amazon and each
page takes ages to load. If more than 3 or 4 tabs/windows are open when
using the internet it tends to freeze up almost completely until you close
some.
It's not only using the internet that's slow, just the examples that come to
mind.

With these specs it should be running quite well, so I don't know what to do
next apart from trying a reinstallation.....

 

[Gerry]

UYV

Are there any yellow question marks in Device Manager? Right click on
the My Computer icon on your Desktop and select Properties,
Hardware,Device Manager. If yes what is the Device Error code?

Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System
Information. Open Components under System Summary and click on Problem
Devices. Is anything listed there?

What is the Current Transfer Mode for your hard drives?
http://www.helpwithwindows.com/WindowsXP/howto-05.html

Have a look in the System and Application logs in Event Viewer for
Errors and Warnings
and post copies here. Don't post any more than 48
hours ago.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning
of the error, information regarding Event ID, Source and Description
are important.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Ok, here goes:

I have XP Pro, and the computer is a several-years-old Emachines 380 but a)
it was probably modified when we got it and b) we've had the motherboard
replaced since. Not sure what it is now but I can find out if you need to
know.
Other info: 20GB free space (out of 60GB), 2.2GHz, 1GB RAM, basic onboard
graphics etc.

For anti-virus stuff I run AVG Free 8, Spybot S&D and the normal Windows
firewall. Could be better I suppose but I'm pretty sure I don't have a virus
and getting bogged down in these programs could be just as bad at the moment.

So far I've tried all the normal stuff - defragged, run CCleaner, bought
more RAM, freed up hard drive space, cut down the startup programs, even used
a little Microsoft tool called PageDefrag... Can't think of anything else
right now.

I don't just mean I'm trying to tweak the speed, it's really slow.

I can't be sure of course, but my guess is that you're infected with
malware. That's the most common reason for slowness these days.

You say above that you run "AVG Free 8, Spybot S&D." AVG is not one of
the best anti-virus choices, but it's far from the worst either. I
would recommend that instead you get NOD32 if you are willing to pay
for an anti-virus or Avast or Avira if you want a free one.

But AVG is good enough that I doubt that you're infected with a virus.
But I do think it's considerably more likely that you are infected
with spyware. Spybot Search and Destroy is nowhere near the top level
available. Moreover, no anti-spyware program is anywhere near perfect,
and you should have at least two or three good ones installed for real
protection. I recommend that you add the MalwareBytes program and also
SuperAntiSpyware. If you want still more (it wouldn't hurt), add
Spyware Blaster and Adaware.

Drives
my mother mad when she's trying to use a site like ebay or amazon and each
page takes ages to load. If more than 3 or 4 tabs/windows are open when
using the internet it tends to freeze up almost completely until you close
some.
It's not only using the internet that's slow, just the examples that come to
mind.

With these specs it should be running quite well, so I don't know what to do
next apart from trying a reinstallation.....

If I'm right that you are infected with spyware, reinstalling will fix
the problem, but not for long. You will very likely quickly repeat the
behavior that led to the infection and find yourself back where you
started.

 

[Gerry]

Ken

I use AVG 8.0 and Spybot S & D with Windows Defender. Host file and
Windows Firewall . No problems.

An interesting link:
http://snipurl.com/9nmqt [www_av-comparatives_org]

I agree malware is always a possibility. I have been watching the
results achieved by Malwarebytes ( freeware version available )and it
does seem to achieve good results in difficult situations. I did not
know about it's potential when I encountered a nasty mess on a
colleagues computer in November. If I had I think I would liked to have
seen what it could do.

However, I do not think UyV has ruled out non-malware causes either.

--



Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[UYV]

UYV

Are there any yellow question marks in Device Manager? Right click on
the My Computer icon on your Desktop and select Properties,
Hardware,Device Manager. If yes what is the Device Error code?
Nope.

Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System
Information. Open Components under System Summary and click on Problem
Devices. Is anything listed there?
Nope.

What is the Current Transfer Mode for your hard drives?
http://www.helpwithwindows.com/WindowsXP/howto-05.html

DMA if available. Exactly like the second screenshot in that link but
without "Multi-Word DMA Mode 1", which is blank.

Have a look in the System and Application logs in Event Viewer for
Errors and Warnings
and post copies here. Don't post any more than 48
hours ago.

Application: None recent.
Security: None.
Internet Explorer: None.
System:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: ipnathlp
Event Category: None
Event ID: 30013
Date: 09/01/2009
Time: 12:42:25
User: N/A
Computer: YISHIAH
Description:
The DHCP allocator has disabled itself on IP address 10.0.0.4, since the IP
address is outside the 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0 scope from which addresses
are being allocated to DHCP clients. To enable the DHCP allocator on this IP
address, please change the scope to include the IP address, or change the IP
address to fall within the scope.
___________________________

Event Type: Error
Event Source: DCOM
Event Category: None
Event ID: 10010
Date: 09/01/2009
Time: 12:42:25
User: NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
Computer: YISHIAH
Description:
The server {204810B9-73B2-11D4-BF42-00B0D0118B56} did not register with DCOM
within the required timeout.
__________________________

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7000
Date: 09/01/2009
Time: 12:41:18
User: N/A
Computer: YISHIAH
Description:
The Icatch(IV) Video Camera Device service failed to start due to the
following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it
has no enabled devices associated with it.
______________________

Event Type: Warning
Event Source: BROWSER
Event Category: None
Event ID: 8021
Date: 08/01/2009
Time: 14:07:07
User: N/A
Computer: YISHIAH
Description:
The browser was unable to retrieve a list of servers from the browser master
\\UYVLAPTOP on the network \Device\NwlnkNb. The data is the error code.
Data:
0000: 35 00 00 00 5...
________________________

Event Type: Warning
Event Source: BROWSER
Event Category: None
Event ID: 8021
Date: 08/01/2009
Time: 14:05:36
User: N/A
Computer: YISHIAH
Description:
The browser was unable to retrieve a list of servers from the browser master
\\UYVLAPTOP on the network
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{E1A1CBE8-2E77-49DD-AC69-E0BCD49BB37B}. The data is the
error code.
Data:
0000: 35 00 00 00 5...
______________________

Event Type: Error
Event Source: ipnathlp
Event Category: None
Event ID: 30013
Date: 08/01/2009
Time: 13:41:09
User: N/A
Computer: YISHIAH
Description:
The DHCP allocator has disabled itself on IP address 10.0.0.4, since the IP
address is outside the 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0 scope from which addresses
are being allocated to DHCP clients. To enable the DHCP allocator on this IP
address, please change the scope to include the IP address, or change the IP
address to fall within the scope.
_____________________

Event Type: Error
Event Source: DCOM
Event Category: None
Event ID: 10010
Date: 08/01/2009
Time: 13:41:09
User: NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
Computer: YISHIAH
Description:
The server {204810B9-73B2-11D4-BF42-00B0D0118B56} did not register with DCOM
within the required timeout.
_____________________

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7000
Date: 08/01/2009
Time: 13:40:31
User: N/A
Computer: YISHIAH
Description:
The Icatch(IV) Video Camera Device service failed to start due to the
following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it
has no enabled devices associated with it.
___________________________

I've left out some warnings about the clock, or the printer running out of
ink!
The computer (YISHIAH) is on a network with UYVLAPTOP which I've had some
unconnected troubles with, so that might be some of these.
I don't know what the Icatch thing is because there's no webcam or anything.

Ken, I tried MalwareBytes and did a full scan. It took over 2 and a half
hours, is that normal? It only came up with one dodgy registry key though.

 

[Gerry]

UYV


Try HD Tune it only gives information and does not fix any
problems.

Download and run it and see what it turns up. You want HD Tune
(freeware) version 2.55 not HD Tune Pro (not Freeware) version 3.00.
http://www.hdtune.com/

Select the Info tabs and place the cursor on the drive under Drive
letter and then double click the two page icon ( copy to Clipboard )
and copy into a further message.

Select the Health tab and then double click the two page icon ( copy to
Clipboard ) and copy into a further message.

What type of internet connection do you have?

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?

You should be able to gather more information from Task Manager. With
the Processes tab open select View, Select, Columns and check the boxes
before Peak Memory Usage and Virtual Memory size. What are the figures
for the 6 processes using the largest amounts?

Do you leave your computer on 24/7?

I would be interested in seeing a Disk Defragmenter report . Open Disk
Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View Report and click on Save
As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My Documents Folder and post a
copy. Do this before running Disk Defragmenter as it is more
informative.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Robert Schiele]

Ok, here goes:

I have XP Pro, and the computer is a several-years-old Emachines 380 but a)
it was probably modified when we got it and b) we've had the motherboard
replaced since. Not sure what it is now but I can find out if you need to
know.
Other info: 20GB free space (out of 60GB), 2.2GHz, 1GB RAM, basic onboard
graphics etc.

For anti-virus stuff I run AVG Free 8, Spybot S&D and the normal Windows
firewall. Could be better I suppose but I'm pretty sure I don't have a virus
and getting bogged down in these programs could be just as bad at the moment.

So far I've tried all the normal stuff - defragged, run CCleaner, bought
more RAM, freed up hard drive space, cut down the startup programs, even used
a little Microsoft tool called PageDefrag... Can't think of anything else
right now.

I don't just mean I'm trying to tweak the speed, it's really slow. Drives
my mother mad when she's trying to use a site like ebay or amazon and each
page takes ages to load. If more than 3 or 4 tabs/windows are open when
using the internet it tends to freeze up almost completely until you close
some.
It's not only using the internet that's slow, just the examples that come to
mind.

With these specs it should be running quite well, so I don't know what to do
next apart from trying a reinstallation.....

The short answer is that if you don't have the XP installation CD, and
you don't have an restorable image of the original installation, you
can't reinstall the OS unless you purchase the installation CD.

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Ok, here goes:

I have XP Pro, and the computer is a several-years-old Emachines 380 but
a)
it was probably modified when we got it and b) we've had the motherboard
replaced since. Not sure what it is now but I can find out if you need to
know.
Other info: 20GB free space (out of 60GB), 2.2GHz, 1GB RAM, basic onboard
graphics etc.

For anti-virus stuff I run AVG Free 8, Spybot S&D and the normal Windows
firewall. Could be better I suppose but I'm pretty sure I don't have a
virus
and getting bogged down in these programs could be just as bad at the
moment.

So far I've tried all the normal stuff - defragged, run CCleaner, bought
more RAM, freed up hard drive space, cut down the startup programs, even
used
a little Microsoft tool called PageDefrag... Can't think of anything else
right now.

I don't just mean I'm trying to tweak the speed, it's really slow. Drives
my mother mad when she's trying to use a site like ebay or amazon and each
page takes ages to load. If more than 3 or 4 tabs/windows are open when
using the internet it tends to freeze up almost completely until you close
some.
It's not only using the internet that's slow, just the examples that come
to
mind.

With these specs it should be running quite well, so I don't know what to
do
next apart from trying a reinstallation.....

Uninstall AVG free version and install Avast or Avira instead.

AVG cripples Internet performance..


--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=newswhelp&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

 

[Tom [Pepper] Willett]

:
: AVG cripples Internet performance..
:
:
Not mine.

 

[Gerry]

Mike

AVG 8.00 ( Free ) Anti-Virus does not cripple performance here. What RAM
and CPU was on your machine?


--



Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
..

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Mike

AVG 8.00 ( Free ) Anti-Virus does not cripple performance here. What RAM
and CPU was on your machine?


--



Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.

The same as I have now.. no change..

--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=newswhelp&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

 

[UYV]

UYV


Try HD Tune it only gives information and does not fix any
problems.

Download and run it and see what it turns up. You want HD Tune
(freeware) version 2.55 not HD Tune Pro (not Freeware) version 3.00.
http://www.hdtune.com/

Select the Info tabs and place the cursor on the drive under Drive
letter and then double click the two page icon ( copy to Clipboard )
and copy into a further message.

HD Tune: Maxtor 4R060J0 Information

Firmware version : RAMB1TU0
Serial number : R217XH1E
Capacity : 57.3 GB (~61.5 GB)
Buffer size : 2048 KB
Standard : ATA/ATAPI-7
Supported mode : UDMA Mode 6 (Ultra ATA/133)
Current mode : UDMA Mode 6 (Ultra ATA/133)

S.M.A.R.T : yes
48-bit Address : no
Read Look-Ahead : yes
Write Cache : yes
Host Protected Area : yes
Device Configuration Overlay : yes
Automatic Acoustic Management: yes
Power Management : yes
Advanced Power Management : yes
Power-up in Standby : no
Security Mode : yes
Firmware Upgradable : yes

Partition : 1
Drive letter : C:\
Label :
Capacity : 58643 MB
Usage : 67.20%
Type : NTFS
Bootable : Yes

Select the Health tab and then double click the two page icon ( copy to
Clipboard ) and copy into a further message.

HD Tune: Maxtor 4R060J0 Health

ID Current Worst ThresholdData Status
(03) Spin Up Time 233 232 63 7012 Ok
(04) Start/Stop Count 252 252 0 2582 Ok
(05) Reallocated Sector Count 253 253 63 0 Ok
(06) Read Channel Margin 253 253 100 0 Ok
(07) Seek Error Rate 253 252 0 0 Ok
(08) Seek Time Performance 250 230 187 58746 Ok
(09) Power On Hours Count 209 209 0 64538 Ok
(0A) Spin Retry Count 253 252 157 0 Ok
(0B) Calibration Retry Count 253 252 223 0 Ok
(0C) Power Cycle Count 246 246 0 3039 Ok
(C0) Power Off Retract Count 253 253 0 0 Ok
(C1) Load Cycle Count 253 253 0 0 Ok
(C2) Temperature 253 253 0 29 Ok
(C3) Hardware ECC Recovered 253 252 0 53301 Ok
(C4) Reallocated Event Count 253 253 0 0 Ok
(C5) Current Pending Sector 253 253 0 0 Ok
(C6) Offline Uncorrectable 253 253 0 0 Ok
(C7) Ultra DMA CRC Error Count 199 199 0 0 Ok
(C8) Write Error Rate 253 252 0 0 Ok
(C9) TA Counter Detected 253 252 0 8 Ok
(CA) TA Counter Increased 253 252 0 0 Ok
(CB) Run Out Cancel 253 252 180 0 Ok
(CC) Soft ECC Correction 253 252 0 0 Ok
(CD) Thermal Asperity Rate 253 252 0 0 Ok
(CF) Spin High Current 253 252 0 0 Ok
(D0) Spin Buzz 253 252 0 0 Ok
(D1) Offline Seek Performance 139 139 0 0 Ok
(63) (unknown attribute) 253 253 0 0 Ok
(64) (unknown attribute) 253 253 0 0 Ok
(65) (unknown attribute) 253 253 0 0 Ok

Power On Time : 64538
Health Status : Ok

What type of internet connection do you have?

ADSL Broadband using a wired router. Not sure what speed but it's fine on
my laptop which uses the same router.

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?

Total: 440044
Limit: 1532488
Peak: 528260

You should be able to gather more information from Task Manager. With
the Processes tab open select View, Select, Columns and check the boxes
before Peak Memory Usage and Virtual Memory size. What are the figures
for the 6 processes using the largest amounts?

Peak:
TeaTimer.exe 104,284 K
System 59,508 K
explorer.exe 50,752 K
avgrsx.exe 45,584 K
svchost.exe 32,204 K
RTHDCPL.exe 21,672 K

VM size:
TeaTimer.exe 50,716 K
explorer.exe 39,232 K
RTHDCPL.exe 20,856 K
svchost.exe 19,424 K
avgrsx.exe 12,176 K
avgemc.exe 11,136 K

Do you leave your computer on 24/7?

No, it's on most of the day but shut down each night.

I would be interested in seeing a Disk Defragmenter report . Open Disk
Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View Report and click on Save
As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My Documents Folder and post a
copy. Do this before running Disk Defragmenter as it is more
informative.

Volume (C
Volume size = 57.27 GB
Cluster size = 4 KB
Used space = 38.49 GB
Free space = 18.78 GB
Percent free space = 32 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 2 %
File fragmentation = 4 %
Free space fragmentation = 0 %

File fragmentation
Total files = 90,206
Average file size = 586 KB
Total fragmented files = 3,597
Total excess fragments = 12,971
Average fragments per file = 1.14

Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 672 MB
Total fragments = 1

Folder fragmentation
Total folders = 6,576
Fragmented folders = 61
Excess folder fragments = 1,471

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 161 MB
MFT record count = 97,517
Percent MFT in use = 59 %
Total MFT fragments = 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments File Size Most fragmented files
374 27 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{46C38B56-D5A9-49BE-8DD1-9F71B3B707BC}\RP455\snapshot\_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
351 27 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{46C38B56-D5A9-49BE-8DD1-9F71B3B707BC}\RP469\snapshot\_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
335 27 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{46C38B56-D5A9-49BE-8DD1-9F71B3B707BC}\RP474\snapshot\_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
299 27 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{46C38B56-D5A9-49BE-8DD1-9F71B3B707BC}\RP452\snapshot\_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
263 17 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{46C38B56-D5A9-49BE-8DD1-9F71B3B707BC}\RP461\A0084856.exe
122 9 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{46C38B56-D5A9-49BE-8DD1-9F71B3B707BC}\RP471\snapshot\_REGISTRY_USER_NTUSER_S-1-5-21-823518204-152049171-839522115-1003
119 496 KB \Documents and Settings\Rivka\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\E5BUQ1IP
118 508 KB \Documents and Settings\Rivka\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\K5CVKRK8
116 500 KB \Documents and Settings\Rivka\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\0TJDYBK9
114 468 KB \Documents and Settings\Rivka\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\RMFFH62S
113 496 KB \Documents and Settings\Rivka\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\VRKL2LES
113 9 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{46C38B56-D5A9-49BE-8DD1-9F71B3B707BC}\RP479\snapshot\_REGISTRY_USER_NTUSER_S-1-5-21-823518204-152049171-839522115-1003
113 464 KB \Documents and Settings\Rivka\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\BLI6HIBE
111 8 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{46C38B56-D5A9-49BE-8DD1-9F71B3B707BC}\RP455\snapshot\_REGISTRY_USER_NTUSER_S-1-5-21-823518204-152049171-839522115-1003
111 480 KB \Documents and Settings\Rivka\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\U0QUO13D
111 452 KB \Documents and Settings\Rivka\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\WN254UNF
111 456 KB \Documents and Settings\Rivka\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\5ZLUUKMP
110 468 KB \Documents and Settings\Rivka\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\271UKXEV
109 460 KB \Documents and Settings\Rivka\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\0SS9R0VS
105 9 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{46C38B56-D5A9-49BE-8DD1-9F71B3B707BC}\RP477\snapshot\_REGISTRY_USER_NTUSER_S-1-5-21-823518204-152049171-839522115-1003
105 9 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{46C38B56-D5A9-49BE-8DD1-9F71B3B707BC}\RP478\snapshot\_REGISTRY_USER_NTUSER_S-1-5-21-823518204-152049171-839522115-1006
103 9 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{46C38B56-D5A9-49BE-8DD1-9F71B3B707BC}\RP474\snapshot\_REGISTRY_USER_NTUSER_S-1-5-21-823518204-152049171-839522115-1003
98 8 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{46C38B56-D5A9-49BE-8DD1-9F71B3B707BC}\RP456\snapshot\_REGISTRY_USER_NTUSER_S-1-5-21-823518204-152049171-839522115-1003
97 1 KB \Documents and Settings\Rivka\ntuser.dat.LOG
94 8 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{46C38B56-D5A9-49BE-8DD1-9F71B3B707BC}\RP452\snapshot\_REGISTRY_USER_NTUSER_S-1-5-21-823518204-152049171-839522115-1003
94 9 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{46C38B56-D5A9-49BE-8DD1-9F71B3B707BC}\RP473\snapshot\_REGISTRY_USER_NTUSER_S-1-5-21-823518204-152049171-839522115-1003
92 369 KB \Documents and Settings\Rivka\My
Documents\Registry backup and other stuff - don't touch!\cc_20081221_0635.reg
90 6 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{46C38B56-D5A9-49BE-8DD1-9F71B3B707BC}\RP460\A0084830.dll
80 8 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{46C38B56-D5A9-49BE-8DD1-9F71B3B707BC}\RP453\snapshot\_REGISTRY_USER_NTUSER_S-1-5-21-823518204-152049171-839522115-1003
79 8 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{46C38B56-D5A9-49BE-8DD1-9F71B3B707BC}\RP449\snapshot\_REGISTRY_USER_NTUSER_S-1-5-21-823518204-152049171-839522115-1003

Hope this helps!

 

[Gerry]

UYV

Icatch(IV) Video Camera

I think this software can be used for Video Conferencing, which I know
nothing about. However, it is logical to suppose that this could use a
lot of resources. Earlier you said "I don't know what the Icatch thing
is because there's no webcam or anything." Is there perhaps an entry in
Add / Remove Programs? Select Start, Control Panel, Add / Remove
Programs, Change or Remove Programs.

Has a Video camera, as distinct from a web cam, been connected at some
time to the computer?

Is the audio system functioning correctly? There are reports regarding
Realtek HD Audio Control Panel and problems since updating to SP3.

One of your Error Reports led me to DivX codec v6.4.0. Is this freeware
installed?

Is the Error Report regarding Icatch(IV) Video Camera always the first
in a series of Apllication and System Errors ? Warnings. Are these
whilst the system is booting or later?

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Anteaus]

Look for an i386 folder somewhere on the HD. This may contain the setup
files. If so it will have 'winnt.exe' in it.

If so, burn the folder to a CD/DVD. You then need a dos or winpe bootdisk.

Change to the i386 folder on your CD, and type 'winnt' (dos) or 'winnt32'
(winpe) This should start setup.

 

[Anteaus]

There are known issues with the search-filter component. I always deselect
this.

 

[UYV]

UYV

Icatch(IV) Video Camera

I think this software can be used for Video Conferencing, which I know
nothing about. However, it is logical to suppose that this could use a
lot of resources. Earlier you said "I don't know what the Icatch thing
is because there's no webcam or anything." Is there perhaps an entry in
Add / Remove Programs? Select Start, Control Panel, Add / Remove
Programs, Change or Remove Programs.

Has a Video camera, as distinct from a web cam, been connected at some
time to the computer?

I don't know why I presumed it was a webcam.
Yes, my sister's digital camera is used with it sometimes so maybe it's to
do with that. There was an 'Icatch Video Driver' in the programs list so I
uninstalled it. If it turns out to be needed I'm sure we have the disc
somewhere...

Not sure if it's made a difference yet, so I'll check that soon.

Is the audio system functioning correctly? There are reports regarding
Realtek HD Audio Control Panel and problems since updating to SP3.

No problems with audio, and this has been going on since before I installed
SP3.

One of your Error Reports led me to DivX codec v6.4.0. Is this freeware
installed?

Version 5.0.2 is installed, but never/rarely used as far as I know.

Is the Error Report regarding Icatch(IV) Video Camera always the first
in a series of Apllication and System Errors ? Warnings. Are these
whilst the system is booting or later?

Yes it's always the first on a particular day so I presume it's while
booting. On each date it starts with these 4 events in System:
Info: The Event log service was stopped.
Info: Microsoft (R) Windows (R) 5.01. 2600 Service Pack 3 Uniprocessor Free.
Info: The Event log service was started.
Error: Icatch etc.

Now I've uninstalled Icatch I'll reboot and see what it says, but I'll have
to do that a bit later today.

 

[Gerry]

UYV

Icatch(IV) Video Camera

If the problem is still there check your Start Up items using Autoruns.

A useful programme is Autoruns.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Autoruns.mspx

With Autoruns you can uncheck an item, which disables it from starting,
or you can can right click an item and then delete it. If you uncheck
you can recheck to re-enable the item. It is a much safer approach than
editing the Registry. Another useful feature of the programme is that
you can right click an item and select Search Online to get information
about the item selected.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Daave]

Ok, here goes:

I have XP Pro, and the computer is a several-years-old Emachines 380
but a)
it was probably modified when we got it and b) we've had the
motherboard
replaced since. Not sure what it is now but I can find out if you
need to
know.
Other info: 20GB free space (out of 60GB), 2.2GHz, 1GB RAM, basic
onboard
graphics etc.

For anti-virus stuff I run AVG Free 8, Spybot S&D and the normal
Windows
firewall. Could be better I suppose but I'm pretty sure I don't have
a virus
and getting bogged down in these programs could be just as bad at the
moment.

So far I've tried all the normal stuff - defragged, run CCleaner,
bought
more RAM, freed up hard drive space, cut down the startup programs,
even used
a little Microsoft tool called PageDefrag... Can't think of anything
else
right now.

I don't just mean I'm trying to tweak the speed, it's really slow.
Drives
my mother mad when she's trying to use a site like ebay or amazon and
each
page takes ages to load. If more than 3 or 4 tabs/windows are open
when
using the internet it tends to freeze up almost completely until you
close
some.
It's not only using the internet that's slow, just the examples that
come to
mind.

With these specs it should be running quite well, so I don't know what
to do
next apart from trying a reinstallation.....

Those specs are half-decent. But I'm not sure malware has been ruled
out. And Ken's right. While a clean install will be an improvement in
the short term, once programs are installed and certain behaviors
repeat, the same situation you see now repeating itself is almost
certainly a foregone conclusion.

The following links all deal with practicing safe hex. It's required
reading:

http://www.claymania.com/safe-hex.html
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/security.htm
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=27971

Regarding sluggishness in general, here are its usual causes:

1. Malicious software (malware)

2. Certain programs that are designed to combat malware (e.g., Norton
and McAfee). Ironically, they can slow things down because they simply
use way too many resources. Sometime they cause conflicts with other
programs. And their default mode is to scan your entire hard drive each
time you boot up.

3. Too many of *certain types* of programs always running in the
background -- with or without your knowledge.

Use these sites to determine what these programs are and to learn how to
configure them not to always run at startup:

http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php#THE_PROGRAMS
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Sometimes it is recommended to use msconfig to configure the programs to
not run at startup. A better, more thorough program is Autoruns:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

4. Not enough RAM, which causes the PC to overly rely on the pagefile. A
quick way to determine if this is happening is to open Task Manager
(Ctrl+Alt+Del) and click the Performance tab. Then note the three values
under Commit Charge (K): in the lower left-hand corner: Total, Limit,
and Peak.

The Total figure represents the amount of memory you are using at that
very moment. The Peak figure represents the highest amount of memory you
used since last bootup. If both these figures are below the value of
Physical Memory (K) Total, then you probably have plenty of RAM.
Otherwise, you may want to explore this further by running Page File
Monitor for Windows XP:

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm

5. You might also want to check that your hard drive's access mode
didn't change from DMA to PIO:

http://www.technize.com/2007/08/02/is-your-hard-disk-cddvd-drives-too-slow-while-copying/

and

http://users.bigpond.net.au/ninjaduck/itserviceduck/udma_fix/