A
anonycat
Dell Dimension 8400
Windows XP Professional sp2
i have become much more accustomed to Mac os and Windows has me completely
confused. I'm not sure which of the many things i've done messed things up,
and there are too many things going wrong to list in a title. Apologies for
the lengthy post.
------problems:------
+ none of my programs )ie: zonealarm, anydvd, bitdefender, etc.) start
automatically anymore when i boot (or, at least, they are not in the system
tray)
+ there are no longer any programs in the left column of the start menu (it
is blank).
+ My files are hidden in the folders. If I set them to be shown... they are
hidden again the next time I open the folder.
+ I cannot copy things to my cd/dvd drive (so i am unable to do a backup)
+ none of my media players (wmp, realplayer (fatal application error),
powerdvd) work, except for VLC.
+ I can't start zonelab client manually ("validation failed for
C:\\WINDOWS\system32\VSINIT.dll... probably missing a necessary root
certificate), but it says in the security center that zonelab is running.
-----things i've tried to fix it: -----
+ bugdoctor
+ ad-aware (says run prog from administrator account, but i am and have run
it before from this account)
+ spybot (went through registry backup and ststem immunization- nearly every
prog I run is acting like it is its first time running).
+ disk check (said: "fixing mirror copy of the security descriptors data
stream")
some things i try (registry cleaning tools, remote backup progs so that i
can just reformat my hd and reinstall xp) cannot be done, because i am not
able to download or install some things. That is what happened when I tried
to
+ import a VeriSign certificate (internet explorer said it could not dl) and
when i did successfully dl it through firefox and went through the
certificate import wizard, it ended with "an error occurred during the
opening of the Enterprise Trust store". :-(
i keep hitting dead ends, and I am not sure what to attempt next.
------how i messed up my pc:----
i was cleaning out my pc (hadn't used it in a /very/ long time since i
usually use macbook pro)... removing unwanted programs from control panel,
deleting folders in program files and deleting any remaining unused/unwanted
program files in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE & HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE and
then updating windows and all the programs i wanted to keep.
i updated my video card. with that, i downloaded ati catalyst controller.
which required me to install .net framework 1 and 2 (and their service packs).
i later decided i didn't really need catalyst control and so i removed it
and the .net frameworks and their service packs from control panel.
Everything was working great at this point, except that my pc was
unconnectable. I could download things, watch movies over the net, etc, but
it showed my NAT was firewalled when I had all necessary ports open and I
could not use file sharing or remote desktop with computers in my network.
(My macbook pro is completely connectable, so I know it is an issue with my
pc and not my network.).
I went to xp security center and remembered the long existing problem: when
i try to access xp firewall it says: "cannot be displayed... associated
service is not running" When i click that I want it to start, it says it
cannot start.
The 4 dependent services are listed (i cannot tell if they are active or
not) and the firewall/ICS is set on automatic. When I try to start it there,
it says "ERROR 1058: Tge service cannot be started, either becaus it is
disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."
Based on advice on the net, i backed up my registry keys, then i ran these
commands:
REG DELETE HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess /v
DependOnService
REG ADD HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess /v
DependOnService /t REG_MULTI_SZ /d "Netman"
I rebooted and tried to start xp firewall, but this had not worked.
So I tried to merge the saved registry back, but it said that not all were
able to merge.
i then tried: cmd> "Netsh winsock reset", rebooted, and was still unable to
start firewall/ics.
Everything else on my computer was still functioning properly, but I decided
that, since nothing had worked, I would just restore my computer back to
before i downloaded the video card, the catalyst control center, and the .net
frameworks.
When restore was complete and my pc had rebooted, everything was all messed
up. I tried restoring it a few more times to points further down the
timeline, but it all had the same result.
Any Ideas? :-/
Windows XP Professional sp2
i have become much more accustomed to Mac os and Windows has me completely
confused. I'm not sure which of the many things i've done messed things up,
and there are too many things going wrong to list in a title. Apologies for
the lengthy post.
------problems:------
+ none of my programs )ie: zonealarm, anydvd, bitdefender, etc.) start
automatically anymore when i boot (or, at least, they are not in the system
tray)
+ there are no longer any programs in the left column of the start menu (it
is blank).
+ My files are hidden in the folders. If I set them to be shown... they are
hidden again the next time I open the folder.
+ I cannot copy things to my cd/dvd drive (so i am unable to do a backup)
+ none of my media players (wmp, realplayer (fatal application error),
powerdvd) work, except for VLC.
+ I can't start zonelab client manually ("validation failed for
C:\\WINDOWS\system32\VSINIT.dll... probably missing a necessary root
certificate), but it says in the security center that zonelab is running.
-----things i've tried to fix it: -----
+ bugdoctor
+ ad-aware (says run prog from administrator account, but i am and have run
it before from this account)
+ spybot (went through registry backup and ststem immunization- nearly every
prog I run is acting like it is its first time running).
+ disk check (said: "fixing mirror copy of the security descriptors data
stream")
some things i try (registry cleaning tools, remote backup progs so that i
can just reformat my hd and reinstall xp) cannot be done, because i am not
able to download or install some things. That is what happened when I tried
to
+ import a VeriSign certificate (internet explorer said it could not dl) and
when i did successfully dl it through firefox and went through the
certificate import wizard, it ended with "an error occurred during the
opening of the Enterprise Trust store". :-(
i keep hitting dead ends, and I am not sure what to attempt next.
------how i messed up my pc:----
i was cleaning out my pc (hadn't used it in a /very/ long time since i
usually use macbook pro)... removing unwanted programs from control panel,
deleting folders in program files and deleting any remaining unused/unwanted
program files in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE & HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE and
then updating windows and all the programs i wanted to keep.
i updated my video card. with that, i downloaded ati catalyst controller.
which required me to install .net framework 1 and 2 (and their service packs).
i later decided i didn't really need catalyst control and so i removed it
and the .net frameworks and their service packs from control panel.
Everything was working great at this point, except that my pc was
unconnectable. I could download things, watch movies over the net, etc, but
it showed my NAT was firewalled when I had all necessary ports open and I
could not use file sharing or remote desktop with computers in my network.
(My macbook pro is completely connectable, so I know it is an issue with my
pc and not my network.).
I went to xp security center and remembered the long existing problem: when
i try to access xp firewall it says: "cannot be displayed... associated
service is not running" When i click that I want it to start, it says it
cannot start.
The 4 dependent services are listed (i cannot tell if they are active or
not) and the firewall/ICS is set on automatic. When I try to start it there,
it says "ERROR 1058: Tge service cannot be started, either becaus it is
disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."
Based on advice on the net, i backed up my registry keys, then i ran these
commands:
REG DELETE HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess /v
DependOnService
REG ADD HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess /v
DependOnService /t REG_MULTI_SZ /d "Netman"
I rebooted and tried to start xp firewall, but this had not worked.
So I tried to merge the saved registry back, but it said that not all were
able to merge.
i then tried: cmd> "Netsh winsock reset", rebooted, and was still unable to
start firewall/ics.
Everything else on my computer was still functioning properly, but I decided
that, since nothing had worked, I would just restore my computer back to
before i downloaded the video card, the catalyst control center, and the .net
frameworks.
When restore was complete and my pc had rebooted, everything was all messed
up. I tried restoring it a few more times to points further down the
timeline, but it all had the same result.
Any Ideas? :-/