priddy_flutterby said:
1. When I go to add/remove programs (to delete rarely used programs
because my system shows only 4% free space!), it does not list all programs
on my computer.
Plus, it shows 20 or more Windows updates??? Some of them take up space, some do not
That's normal, Microsoft includes a separate Add/Remove entry for each update so that you can uninstall them individually.
Honestly, it's a stupid practice. It unnecessarily clutters up the uninstall list a LOT. A better method would be to include a
single uninstall entry for all updates, which runs an update manager that allows you to select one or more updates to uninstall.
But what can you do?
2. Upon start up, I have a NEW WARNING, states that my system is at risk,
that I do not have an original version of windows..........
That's the new WGA (Windows Genuine "Advantage"). It says that you don't have a legit/legal copy of Windows, but in truth it just
means that you haven't validated your copy yet. The easiest way to do so to get it to shut up is to go to
http//download.microsoft.com/ and download something that requires WGA validation (anything will do as long as it has that golden
background with the Continue button next to the phrase "Validation Required"). For example you could get this:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...e7-da2b-4a6a-afa4-f7f14e605a0d&displaylang=en
It's a copy of Microsoft Defender. You don't have to keep it, you don't even have to actually download it. All you really need to
do is to click the Continue button, then follow the instructions until you get to the blue bar with the Download button. At that
point you can close the browser if you want. The WGA should have created a data file on your system that indicates that your copy
of Windows has been validated, and it should no longer bug you.
If you were unable to get to the Download button (could not get past the Validation steps), then there was something wrong and there
will be detailed instructions, including everything from other ways to validate to reporting the store that sold you a bootleg copy
to get a free legit one.
You could also do an Internet search on the terms "disable WGA". There will be plenty of sites that explain how to disable it
altogether, although you will then not be able to download some things from Microsoft, and will not be able to receive any
non-critical updates.
3. My virus check system (Symanytic Anti-Virus), states that I have the
Trojan virus, and that it has it quarantined, but not removed? WTF?
Actually a Trojan is not a virus, it's a Trojan Horse. It's related to a virus and does similar things, but it's different in how
it travels and infects. Your AV scanner has detected that a file is infected (it may be a false positive but usually not). It did
not remove it because it cannot 100% guarantee that the file is infected (more like 99.99%; like I said, false positives could
potentially happen). It has quarantined the file instead, which means that it has encrypted it so that it is available but unusable
to prevent further infection. It's up to you to look at it to see if it's really infected or not or if it is, whether or not you
really need it and it's worth trying to get fixed. Most people just choose to set their anti-virus programs to automatically delete
infected files since it's the safest thing to do. Unless it is an infected document that's really important for example and you
have no backup copies, you will probably just want to empty the quarantine.
4. Fianally, my system (HA!), will not run scan disk completely when
prompted. It may run correctly one out of 20 times. PLEASE HELP ME!
What do you mean by it won't run correctly/completely? You're using Windows XP right? XP doesn't really have a scan disk like
previous versions of Windows. How are you performing the scan? Right-clicking on the drive, then Properties, Tools, Check Disk?
Try this: click Start, Run, type cmd.exe, click OK. You should have a command prompt window open. Type "chkdsk c:" (without the
quotes) and press enter. What happens? Type "exit" and enter to close it.
