What are PREFETCH files for?

  • Thread starter Thread starter casey.o
  • Start date Start date
C

casey.o

There's a whole folder of files with the extension .PF.

What lead me there is that while I was having that
"Exception Processing Message" problem, I had inserted a flash drive in
that computer to copy some files to taht computer. Because of the
error, I could not copy them, but I noticed the flash drive had a fiile
called YTITG on it (no extension). I searched the computer and found a
files in PREFETCH called YTITG.PIF-1DEDD958.pf
This file is NOT on my laptop with XP-Pro

There was also an "autorun.inf" file on that flash drive. I did NOT put
them there.

All I did was copy some MP4 movies from my laptop to that flash drive,
and wanted to move them to the XP desktop (to conserve drive space on my
laptop).

Those files were NOT on the blank Flash drive when I inserted it. I
cant say if they were in the MP4 folder, if they were, I did not notice
them. But I had already MOVEd all the files to the flash drive.

All I know is that the flash drive had these two oddball files, adn I
have no clue where they came from. "autorun.inf" and "ytitg" (no
extension).
 
There's a whole folder of files with the extension .PF.

What lead me there is that while I was having that
"Exception Processing Message" problem, I had inserted a flash drive in
that computer to copy some files to taht computer. Because of the
error, I could not copy them, but I noticed the flash drive had a fiile
called YTITG on it (no extension). I searched the computer and found a
files in PREFETCH called YTITG.PIF-1DEDD958.pf
This file is NOT on my laptop with XP-Pro

There was also an "autorun.inf" file on that flash drive. I did NOT put
them there.

All I did was copy some MP4 movies from my laptop to that flash drive,
and wanted to move them to the XP desktop (to conserve drive space on my
laptop).

Those files were NOT on the blank Flash drive when I inserted it. I
cant say if they were in the MP4 folder, if they were, I did not notice
them. But I had already MOVEd all the files to the flash drive.

All I know is that the flash drive had these two oddball files, adn I
have no clue where they came from. "autorun.inf" and "ytitg" (no
extension).
Click to expand...
Google: What are PREFETCH files for?
You know how to use Google search engine, don't you?
 
| On 22/05/14 11:24, (e-mail address removed) wrote:
| > There's a whole folder of files with the extension .PF.
| > What lead me there is that while I was having that
| > "Exception Processing Message" problem, I had inserted a flash drive in
| > that computer to copy some files to taht computer. Because of the
| > error, I could not copy them, but I noticed the flash drive had a fiile
| > called YTITG on it (no extension). I searched the computer and found a
| > files in PREFETCH called YTITG.PIF-1DEDD958.pf
| > This file is NOT on my laptop with XP-Pro
| > There was also an "autorun.inf" file on that flash drive. I did NOT put
| > them there.
| > All I did was copy some MP4 movies from my laptop to that flash drive,
| > and wanted to move them to the XP desktop (to conserve drive space on my
| > laptop).
| > Those files were NOT on the blank Flash drive when I inserted it. I
| > cant say if they were in the MP4 folder, if they were, I did not notice
| > them. But I had already MOVEd all the files to the flash drive.
| > All I know is that the flash drive had these two oddball files, adn I
| > have no clue where they came from. "autorun.inf" and "ytitg" (no
| > extension).
| Google: What are PREFETCH files for?
| You know how to use Google search engine, don't you?

Dam
Google keep sending me
Back to Microsoft Windows
Why not Just Bing it
In the First place
< http://www.bing.com/search?q=PREFETCH&form=OPRTSD&pc=OPER >
# 1
<
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/What-is-the-prefetch-folder
Goo doo Da Da
Sucks
 
| There's a whole folder of files with the extension .PF.
|
| What lead me there is that while I was having that
| "Exception Processing Message" problem, I had inserted a flash drive in
| that computer to copy some files to taht computer. Because of the
| error, I could not copy them, but I noticed the flash drive had a fiile
| called YTITG on it (no extension). I searched the computer and found a
| files in PREFETCH called YTITG.PIF-1DEDD958.pf
| This file is NOT on my laptop with XP-Pro

# 1 Bing's Answer
<
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/What-is-the-prefetch-folderSame for XP Too!

| There was also an "autorun.inf" file on that flash drive. I did NOT put
| them there.
| All I did was copy some MP4 movies from my laptop to that flash drive,
| and wanted to move them to the XP desktop (to conserve drive space on my
| laptop).
| Those files were NOT on the blank Flash drive when I inserted it. I
| cant say if they were in the MP4 folder, if they were, I did not notice
| them. But I had already MOVEd all the files to the flash drive.
| All I know is that the flash drive had these two oddball files, adn I
| have no clue where they came from. "autorun.inf" and "ytitg" (no
| extension).
|
 
CapraIbex said:
Google: What are PREFETCH files for?
You know how to use Google search engine, don't you?
Click to expand...

He's on dialup, and surfing is torture :-)

*******

I'd say he is infected now.

Not the prefetch thing, which we can discuss another time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prefetcher

Time for an offline scan of all computers, looking
for the thing that's adding autoruns and infectors
to USB flash drives. A good time for that Kaspersky CD.
Maybe a trip to the public library, with a blank CD-R,
you can make one of these.

http://support.kaspersky.com/8092

"The ISO image of Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 (~375 MB)"

The Kaspersky disc cannot pick up definitions over dialup.
It has no PPP in Gentoo added for that. Instead, a dialup
user downloads a fresh CD, and then the definitions will
be at most about a week out of date or so.

You can edit the autorun.inf with notepad, and see
what executable the USB key was trying to use. Malware
can always delete the infector after the job is done.
And add it back at any time in the future. They could
easily have removed all evidence, so you couldn't
figure it out. At least you got a nice "hint"
you're in trouble. Examine the autorun.inf to
see whether it was this YTITG. When a random
string like that doesn't show up in Google,
that's another hint of trouble. Random executables
are typically malware.

For online tools, there are MBAM and MBAR.

The MBAM download is a one-shot scanner to be
used while Windows is running.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malwarebytes

MBAR on the other hand, specializes in rootkits.
The missing drive problem could related to some
changes made to atapi.sys. A related tool is
Kaspersky TDSSKiller (which presumably is intended
for TDSS and not for any conceivable rootkit).

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/how-to-use-malwarebytes-anti-rootkit

If a suspicious exe can be located, it can be
uploaded to virustotal.com for scanning.

And all activities are going to be a PITA to do
with only dialup for networking. Like when MBAM
needs definitions.

Paul
 
He's on dialup, and surfing is torture :-)

*******

I'd say he is infected now.

Not the prefetch thing, which we can discuss another time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prefetcher

Time for an offline scan of all computers, looking
for the thing that's adding autoruns and infectors
to USB flash drives. A good time for that Kaspersky CD.
Maybe a trip to the public library, with a blank CD-R,
you can make one of these.

http://support.kaspersky.com/8092

"The ISO image of Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 (~375 MB)"

The Kaspersky disc cannot pick up definitions over dialup.
It has no PPP in Gentoo added for that. Instead, a dialup
user downloads a fresh CD, and then the definitions will
be at most about a week out of date or so.

You can edit the autorun.inf with notepad, and see
what executable the USB key was trying to use. Malware
can always delete the infector after the job is done.
And add it back at any time in the future. They could
easily have removed all evidence, so you couldn't
figure it out. At least you got a nice "hint"
you're in trouble. Examine the autorun.inf to
see whether it was this YTITG. When a random
string like that doesn't show up in Google,
that's another hint of trouble. Random executables
are typically malware.

For online tools, there are MBAM and MBAR.

The MBAM download is a one-shot scanner to be
used while Windows is running.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malwarebytes

MBAR on the other hand, specializes in rootkits.
The missing drive problem could related to some
changes made to atapi.sys. A related tool is
Kaspersky TDSSKiller (which presumably is intended
for TDSS and not for any conceivable rootkit).

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/how-to-use-malwarebytes-anti-rootkit

If a suspicious exe can be located, it can be
uploaded to virustotal.com for scanning.

And all activities are going to be a PITA to do
with only dialup for networking. Like when MBAM
needs definitions.

Paul
Click to expand...

Thanks Paul,

This is more than a simple infection. My whole system is totally f**ked
up. I've worked on this all night, and I'm about ready to just format
the hard drive and say the hell with it. I used to enjoy computers
until I started using XP. It seems that all I do now is fight with
them. If it's not trying to remove one of the millions of annoyances in
XP, it's trying to remove all the junk it deposits on my drive, or
fighting with modems that wont work. And now this mess, which should
not have occurred at all, since I dotn even connect to the internet with
this computer.

I may try a few more things on here, but it's pissing me off so much
that a format seems inevitable, and will remove my physical headache as
well as the computer headache. A guy on one of the Linux newsgroups
said that Windows itself IS a virus. At the time I thought he was
exaggerating, but now I think he might be right.

I got my trustworthy Win98 computer, and aside from fighting with
browsers, it works well, and I enjoy using it. If XP is this
complicated, unreliable, and so easy to infect, I hate to think what the
newer windows are like. I guess before I spend any more significant
amount of time on XP, which is obsolete anyhow, I'd rather direct my
efforts into learning Linux. There are several distros that are
supposed to work and look very much like Windows. I'd already be trying
them, but I spent several hours downloading large ISO files, spent $8 on
some blank CDs, and not one of the CD's worked. I know you said to burn
a CD, and that wont happen. The next time I even think about buying
another boxx of blank CDs, I'd flush the money down the toilet first.
At least that way I'll throw away the money without the added
frustration. I'll just buy some of those CDs from distro watch for
about $5 each (with S+h) and be done with it.

I guess I just dont care anymore. I've spent months setting up XP so it
worked without all the annoyances, and i'm not getting any use out of it
anyhow since I cant connect ot the internet. So, I'd be better off
using that computer to try linux distros and install that ReactOs, which
seems to work, but running the demo under windows is terribly slow.

Anyhow, just to say what happened, not that it matters much, but I
copied a bunch of MP4 videos and some programs made for XP from my
laptop, and put them on a USB flash drv. I put the drive on the XP
desktop, and unloaded the programs to the temp folder, and then placed
tht same USB drv into my Win98/Win2K computer. I was booted to @K at
the time because this flash drive wont work on 98. That's when weird
things started to happen. In Win2K, I kept getting drive errors
relatred to that usb drv. However, W2K seems to work ok still.
Apparently this did not effect 2K. In fact I had to use 2K to finally
format the flash drv, because XP would not let me use Format.

Since then, moving the flash drives around between computers, I found
that it only gets these files from the XP desktop. Fortunately the XP
laptop does not appear infected. Probably because I recall disabling
autorun.inf files awhile ago. But every time I moved the flash drive,
there was a autorun.inf and another file, which changed the name each
time. Besides the one I said, there has been BENZO.PIF,
*something*.exe, CCC.exe, and more.....

I looked at some of those autorun.inf files and tried to save one by
renaming it to autorun.txt. But they just disappered after a short
time. Yet, the reason I could not format that flash drive was because
the files were still there, but hidden. I was able to view and delete
them on Win2K, but not on XP. (which tells me they did not load on 2K).

Since then, I installed Spybot2, scanned the whole computer, nothing
serious was shown. I ran the ROOTKIT scanner in spybot, and it did find
something which shows a zero entry in the registry in something like
"locat settings/microsoft/software/environment". But the delete
function in spybot would not delete it. I opened Regedit, went to that
place, and can not delete it from there either.
Then I tried to boot to Safe Mode, hoping I could delete it that way.
The computer will NOT boot into safe mode. It just keeps goingf back
"select how you want to boot" over and over.

I also can not load any programs that access the system, not even
CPU-ID, Process Hacker, Process Viewer and so on. Hijack This does
load, but acts goofy, and wont let me remove some stuff.

Yet, I can load programs like Firefox, Winzip, Foxit reader, etc...

I used Erunt, and restored the registry from 2 days ago (I just
installed that program 2 days ago). It looked like this fixed it at
first, but then I started to get taht "No Disk.... exception processing
message..... error, and then all those runtime errors started to
reappear when I load Process Hacker, CPU-ID, and so on.

I ran Spybot a second time after restoring the registry and rebooting,
but nothing changed. If I knew how to edit the registey from a linux
boot, I would try that, but I dont. At this point, I dont much care
what I do or how harsh I am on the registry or files. I keep all my
important and saved Data on the Win98 computer. I have a backup of
Win2000, and my laptop. Unfortunately I did not backup this XP desktop,
although I have the HDD that I cloned it from, but that was never
activated, so it wont run anymore.

I am downloading MALWAREBYTES anti-root kit right now. That's small
enough to do on dialup. But then I'll have to infect one of my falsh
drives to put it on that computer. But I'll just keep formatting them
each time.....

If Malwarebytes dont fix it, I give up.
Then it's format time.

I still dont understand how this got on that computer. I can only guess
it's some program file I downloaded, which is strictly a XP program, so
I did not run it on the Win98 machine. This seems too severe to just be
the ressult of doing that one name change of the Card Reader to CD drive
letter. But then again, it seems thateverything in XP is major
problem. I know this is an XP newsgroup, but I dont have much of
anything good to say about XP right now. I've had some pretty screwed
up things happen to Win98 over the years, and I always fixed them.
That's why I'm still running the same install of Win98 from 1998. I've
only had this install of XP for 6 to 10 weeks, and it's already trash,
and I hardly even used it.

I'll have to give a little praise to Win2000 too. It's still working
well, after taking the brunt of this mess.....

What more can I say.....


BTW: I see that prefetch files are just more rubbish. I deleted all of
them.......
 
Thanks Paul,

This is more than a simple infection. My whole system is totally f**ked
up. I've worked on this all night, and I'm about ready to just format
the hard drive and say the hell with it. I used to enjoy computers
until I started using XP. It seems that all I do now is fight with
them. If it's not trying to remove one of the millions of annoyances in
XP, it's trying to remove all the junk it deposits on my drive, or
fighting with modems that wont work. And now this mess, which should
not have occurred at all, since I dotn even connect to the internet with
this computer.

I may try a few more things on here, but it's pissing me off so much
that a format seems inevitable, and will remove my physical headache as
well as the computer headache. A guy on one of the Linux newsgroups
said that Windows itself IS a virus. At the time I thought he was
exaggerating, but now I think he might be right.

I got my trustworthy Win98 computer, and aside from fighting with
browsers, it works well, and I enjoy using it. If XP is this
complicated, unreliable, and so easy to infect, I hate to think what the
newer windows are like. I guess before I spend any more significant
amount of time on XP, which is obsolete anyhow, I'd rather direct my
efforts into learning Linux. There are several distros that are
supposed to work and look very much like Windows. I'd already be trying
them, but I spent several hours downloading large ISO files, spent $8 on
some blank CDs, and not one of the CD's worked. I know you said to burn
a CD, and that wont happen. The next time I even think about buying
another boxx of blank CDs, I'd flush the money down the toilet first.
At least that way I'll throw away the money without the added
frustration. I'll just buy some of those CDs from distro watch for
about $5 each (with S+h) and be done with it.

I guess I just dont care anymore. I've spent months setting up XP so it
worked without all the annoyances, and i'm not getting any use out of it
anyhow since I cant connect ot the internet. So, I'd be better off
using that computer to try linux distros and install that ReactOs, which
seems to work, but running the demo under windows is terribly slow.

Anyhow, just to say what happened, not that it matters much, but I
copied a bunch of MP4 videos and some programs made for XP from my
laptop, and put them on a USB flash drv. I put the drive on the XP
desktop, and unloaded the programs to the temp folder, and then placed
tht same USB drv into my Win98/Win2K computer. I was booted to @K at
the time because this flash drive wont work on 98. That's when weird
things started to happen. In Win2K, I kept getting drive errors
relatred to that usb drv. However, W2K seems to work ok still.
Apparently this did not effect 2K. In fact I had to use 2K to finally
format the flash drv, because XP would not let me use Format.

Since then, moving the flash drives around between computers, I found
that it only gets these files from the XP desktop. Fortunately the XP
laptop does not appear infected. Probably because I recall disabling
autorun.inf files awhile ago. But every time I moved the flash drive,
there was a autorun.inf and another file, which changed the name each
time. Besides the one I said, there has been BENZO.PIF,
*something*.exe, CCC.exe, and more.....

I looked at some of those autorun.inf files and tried to save one by
renaming it to autorun.txt. But they just disappered after a short
time. Yet, the reason I could not format that flash drive was because
the files were still there, but hidden. I was able to view and delete
them on Win2K, but not on XP. (which tells me they did not load on 2K).

Since then, I installed Spybot2, scanned the whole computer, nothing
serious was shown. I ran the ROOTKIT scanner in spybot, and it did find
something which shows a zero entry in the registry in something like
"locat settings/microsoft/software/environment". But the delete
function in spybot would not delete it. I opened Regedit, went to that
place, and can not delete it from there either.
Then I tried to boot to Safe Mode, hoping I could delete it that way.
The computer will NOT boot into safe mode. It just keeps goingf back
"select how you want to boot" over and over.

I also can not load any programs that access the system, not even
CPU-ID, Process Hacker, Process Viewer and so on. Hijack This does
load, but acts goofy, and wont let me remove some stuff.

Yet, I can load programs like Firefox, Winzip, Foxit reader, etc...

I used Erunt, and restored the registry from 2 days ago (I just
installed that program 2 days ago). It looked like this fixed it at
first, but then I started to get taht "No Disk.... exception processing
message..... error, and then all those runtime errors started to
reappear when I load Process Hacker, CPU-ID, and so on.

I ran Spybot a second time after restoring the registry and rebooting,
but nothing changed. If I knew how to edit the registey from a linux
boot, I would try that, but I dont. At this point, I dont much care
what I do or how harsh I am on the registry or files. I keep all my
important and saved Data on the Win98 computer. I have a backup of
Win2000, and my laptop. Unfortunately I did not backup this XP desktop,
although I have the HDD that I cloned it from, but that was never
activated, so it wont run anymore.

I am downloading MALWAREBYTES anti-root kit right now. That's small
enough to do on dialup. But then I'll have to infect one of my falsh
drives to put it on that computer. But I'll just keep formatting them
each time.....

If Malwarebytes dont fix it, I give up.
Then it's format time.

I still dont understand how this got on that computer. I can only guess
it's some program file I downloaded, which is strictly a XP program, so
I did not run it on the Win98 machine. This seems too severe to just be
the ressult of doing that one name change of the Card Reader to CD drive
letter. But then again, it seems thateverything in XP is major
problem. I know this is an XP newsgroup, but I dont have much of
anything good to say about XP right now. I've had some pretty screwed
up things happen to Win98 over the years, and I always fixed them.
That's why I'm still running the same install of Win98 from 1998. I've
only had this install of XP for 6 to 10 weeks, and it's already trash,
and I hardly even used it.

I'll have to give a little praise to Win2000 too. It's still working
well, after taking the brunt of this mess.....

What more can I say.....


BTW: I see that prefetch files are just more rubbish. I deleted all of
them.......
Click to expand...

This is one reason to keep some backups around.

If you keep your C: relatively small, that makes it
easier to back up. And it takes less time that way.
You keep enough of them (rotation), so that you're
covered over a short period of time.

When I download stuff, I store it on a separate data partition.
In order to keep C: slim. It takes ten minutes to back up my C:.
And ten minutes to restore it. I did a backup of WinXP about
eight hours ago.

My XP install seems to hold up well. If anything strange happens
while I'm using a browser, I can scan the system offline with the
Kaspersky CD. (Boot KAV and scan from there.)

The autorun.inf thing doesn't have a good track record.
You might say "just disable it", but the thing is, some
Windows updates change the policy on it, and the next thing
you know, the OS is using it again. Now that updates have stopped,
I guess if you "fixed" it today, it would stay fixed.

Win2K is very close to WinXP, so it's a puzzle as to why
it doesn't get infected.

If the file referenced in the autorun.inf is still present
on the USB key, and you can access it, you could try
uploading it to virustotal.com. But just as likely,
it would attempt to disable access to virustotal.com.
I'm just curious what the name of the thing is you've
got on the machine.

*******

Oh Oh. I hear a disk failing. Gotta go...

Paul
 
In Paul typed:
(e-mail address removed) wrote:
Win2K is very close to WinXP, so it's a puzzle as to why
it doesn't get infected.
Click to expand...

I am not surprised. If the malware uses autorun.inf to infect, it is
possible that Casey's 2000 machine has autorun disabled. This is one of
the first things I do when I get a new machine. And I am not sure, but I
think Microsoft had one security update that turned autorun off by
default.
 
This is more than a simple infection. My whole system is totally f**ked
up. I've worked on this all night, and I'm about ready to just format
the hard drive and say the hell with it. I used to enjoy computers
until I started using XP. It seems that all I do now is fight with
them. If it's not trying to remove one of the millions of annoyances in
XP, it's trying to remove all the junk it deposits on my drive, or
fighting with modems that wont work. And now this mess, which should
not have occurred at all, since I dotn even connect to the internet with
this computer.
Click to expand...

Hi, Casey,

I know what you mean when you say "used to enjoy computers", been there
done that. :-) I think part of the problem for me was I would do just
what you are trying to do, tweak, fiddle, and fart around trying to get
the computer to be "exactly" the way I wanted. Now, I just want to use
it/them, which is why I'm using a 5 year old Mac instead of a hugely
speedier Win7/8 computer I have. Simply put, it just plain works.

I've read this newsgroup and others for a long, long time, and almost
invariably, those with problems are the ones who like to tweak, twiddle,
and fart with them. LOL They pick which updates to install, edit the
registry, remove this and that because they don't like them or don't
think they need them or who knows what. NetFramework always seems to be
one of the favorites to pick on. <G>

And then someone like Paul and others try to help. Kudos to them.

I don't do any of that anymore. I let all the updates be installed. I
don't fool with the registry. If I do any customization of the OS, it's
via utilities someone smarter than me have written. And you know what?
I don't have any of these problems. XP just ran fine. And still is
when I boot that computer for some reason.
I may try a few more things on here, but it's pissing me off so much
that a format seems inevitable, and will remove my physical headache as
well as the computer headache. A guy on one of the Linux newsgroups
said that Windows itself IS a virus. At the time I thought he was
exaggerating, but now I think he might be right.
Click to expand...

If this was me, I would have formatted and reinstalled a long time ago.
:-) But I also don't set the computer up the way Windows does as a
default. I think I've posted more than once regarding the way I set the
computer up. I think it's very similar to the way Paul does his. And
it doesn't involve any registry editing or anything, I just work within
what the OS easily allows. The computer always works, and the friends
I've done it for at least feel like the computer is faster than before.

I've read the "Windows is a virus" type of comment before. Too me,
those are people who don't like the way MS does just about anything, or
are a fanboi of something else. So I just blow them off.
I got my trustworthy Win98 computer, and aside from fighting with
browsers, it works well, and I enjoy using it. If XP is this
complicated, unreliable, and so easy to infect, I hate to think what the
newer windows are like.
Click to expand...

As I said, I've never had any problems with XP like you're having. My
suspicion is some percentage of your problems are of your own doing.
:-) Plus I've run antivirus software for years and years. Sometime a
paid for one, but now just free versions.
I guess before I spend any more significant
amount of time on XP, which is obsolete anyhow, I'd rather direct my
efforts into learning Linux.
Click to expand...

Linux might be the correct solution for you. It is an OS that's
supposed to allow the user to change what the user wants to their
heart's content. Windows and OS X are not designed that way, that's why
they are proprietary.
There are several distros that are
supposed to work and look very much like Windows. I'd already be trying
them, but I spent several hours downloading large ISO files, spent $8 on
some blank CDs, and not one of the CD's worked. I know you said to burn
a CD, and that wont happen. The next time I even think about buying
another boxx of blank CDs, I'd flush the money down the toilet first.
At least that way I'll throw away the money without the added
frustration. I'll just buy some of those CDs from distro watch for
about $5 each (with S+h) and be done with it.
Click to expand...

I think you probably know this, but with an ISO file, you don't just
copy it to the optical media. Plus, some of the newer distros need a
DVD, not a CD. Your old equipment may not have a DVD burner or the
software to do correctly "burn" the media.

I've also found a large variation of which distro will run on a
particular computer. I think you just have to try them and find out.

I just wish I had the time to experiment with Linux, I set aside a
partition on the Win7/8 machine's boot drive just for this purpose.
I guess I just dont care anymore. I've spent months setting up XP so it
worked without all the annoyances, and i'm not getting any use out of it
anyhow since I cant connect ot the internet. So, I'd be better off
using that computer to try linux distros and install that ReactOs, which
seems to work, but running the demo under windows is terribly slow.
Click to expand...

I am still befuddled why your computer won't connect. And I've no way
of offering any suggestions. :-(

I am downloading MALWAREBYTES anti-root kit right now. That's small
enough to do on dialup. But then I'll have to infect one of my falsh
drives to put it on that computer. But I'll just keep formatting them
each time.....

If Malwarebytes dont fix it, I give up.
Then it's format time.
Click to expand...

Be aware, Malwarebytes takes a long time to run.

And what would be really nice is, if you could install Malwarebytes on
the laptop, and pull the hard drive from the problem computer, then
connect the removed HD to the laptop for scanning. That way no files on
the problem drive will be loaded and run.
I still dont understand how this got on that computer. I can only guess
it's some program file I downloaded, which is strictly a XP program, so
I did not run it on the Win98 machine. This seems too severe to just be
the ressult of doing that one name change of the Card Reader to CD drive
letter. But then again, it seems thateverything in XP is major
problem. I know this is an XP newsgroup, but I dont have much of
anything good to say about XP right now. I've had some pretty screwed
up things happen to Win98 over the years, and I always fixed them.
That's why I'm still running the same install of Win98 from 1998. I've
only had this install of XP for 6 to 10 weeks, and it's already trash,
and I hardly even used it.

I'll have to give a little praise to Win2000 too. It's still working
well, after taking the brunt of this mess.....

What more can I say.....


BTW: I see that prefetch files are just more rubbish. I deleted all of
them.......
Click to expand...

This is the kind of thing I don't do, I have no problems. :-)



--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 25.0
Thunderbird 24.3.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"
 
In Ken Springer typed:
<snip>

Hi, Casey,

I know what you mean when you say "used to enjoy computers", been
there done that. :-) I think part of the problem for me was I would
do just what you are trying to do, tweak, fiddle, and fart around
trying to get the computer to be "exactly" the way I wanted. Now, I
just want to use it/them...
Click to expand...

Oh yes! I too used to change the internals of DOS and W9x all of the
time and things were fine. Although 2000 and up doesn't take kindly to
changing the way Windows works. So like Ken, I learned to just leave
Windows to do its thing while I am free to do my thing. This acceptance
works really well.

Although there are some tweaks Windows is ok with. And one of the best
utilities I ever ran across is called "Tweaker". There must be like a
thousand or more things you can change in there. It is somewhat like
Microsoft's TweakUI, but it has zillions of more stuff. It is supposedly
a freeware utility. Although the only versions I ever found in the wild
are Russian versions. My English version came with "AnVir Task Manager".
I use the commercial version, but I believe it comes with the free
"AnVir Task Manager" version too.
And then someone like Paul and others try to help. Kudos to them.
Click to expand...

Yes indeed! These people are way under paid!
I let all the updates be installed.
Click to expand...

Never been burned by a Windows update before, Ken? Normally this isn't a
problem, but for a small percent of users, it could be horrible. I will
run into one now and then myself. Recently like one machine that runs
Windows 8 just fine. I updated it to 8.1U1 and now it boots up without
Internet. Running the troubleshooter repair works every time I boot so
far, but it is still annoying. I've learned to make clones of my
machines and I still have cloned drives of Windows 8, so I can always go
back.
 
In Ken Springer typed:


Never been burned by a Windows update before, Ken?
Click to expand...

Only once that I can remember. I was rebuilding an old Gateway desktop,
and after doing automatic updates, it would not shut down using the
mouse, only by pressing the power button. I started troubleshooting and
tracked down the offending update. That update had free support if
there was a problem, so I contacted MS via email.

I ended up talking on the phone with a tech in New Delhi, India, and
spent a lot of time watching him twiddle and fiddle with the computer
using Teamviewer. FWIW, he also had me run Malwarebytes. After some
time, he pushed the problem "uphill", all to no avail. Finally, they
gave up on the issue, and filed it as unresolved.

I wasn't ready to give up! LOL

While watching the tech do his thing, and doing the things at my end he
couldn't do, I noticed that when the modem/router was turned off, it
would shut down fine. If it was on, it would reboot. Sat around for
awhile, mulling it over, as I wasn't about to donate the computer with a
high priority update issue.

One day, I said to myself, "What if I change the Ethernet card?" Bingo!
Then it would shut down. Was it the card, the update, or both? I
don't know, don't really care. LOL
Normally this isn't a
problem, but for a small percent of users, it could be horrible. I will
run into one now and then myself. Recently like one machine that runs
Windows 8 just fine. I updated it to 8.1U1 and now it boots up without
Internet.
Click to expand...

With all the possible hardware combos out there, I'm surprised there
aren't more problems like mine on the Gateway and your Internet access.
But if you buy/build a Windows computer, those are the chances you are
accepting, whether you know it or not.
Running the troubleshooter repair works every time I boot so
far, but it is still annoying. I've learned to make clones of my
machines and I still have cloned drives of Windows 8, so I can always go
back.
Click to expand...


--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 25.0
Thunderbird 24.3.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"
 
|
| Thanks Paul,
|
| This is more than a simple infection. My whole system is totally f**ked
| up. I've worked on this all night, and I'm about ready to just format
| the hard drive and say the hell with it.

Don't format it
But Re-In-Stall
Over Your XP System
Will Fix it

You be able
The keep all
Of your Files

And Your added Software Too

Just like you would
With that good Old
98

Start with that
First XP CD
You have
Then Re-In-Stall your
Xp Sp3 update



Keep a copy of your
XP_PC Folder call C:\WINDOWS\INF

Put it in to a
UBS key
Files that in
INF Folder
You will need it to
Help in Re-In-Stall
Same of the Drives
 
Hi, Casey,

I know what you mean when you say "used to enjoy computers", been there
done that. :-) I think part of the problem for me was I would do just
what you are trying to do, tweak, fiddle, and fart around trying to get
the computer to be "exactly" the way I wanted. Now, I just want to use
it/them, which is why I'm using a 5 year old Mac instead of a hugely
speedier Win7/8 computer I have. Simply put, it just plain works.
Click to expand...

For years I have "just used" the computer, referring to Win98. If it
was not the browser issues, I'd never even started all this XP stuff. I
didn't like XP the first time I ever touched it. back in the early
2000's. Mostly because of the popups, annoyances, and complexity/bloat.
I never liked it over the years, but I had to start to use it on my
laptop to make the WIFI work. But that computer came with XP Pro SP3
installed, and I did remove many of those annoyances. I only use that
computer for WIFI access, so I'm really only using Firefox, and
occasionally notepad or an image or video viewer. But I was always glad
when I got home and turned on Win98 for normal use. I have that setup
just how I like it, and it works well, without annoying me.
I've read this newsgroup and others for a long, long time, and almost
invariably, those with problems are the ones who like to tweak, twiddle,
and fart with them. LOL They pick which updates to install, edit the
registry, remove this and that because they don't like them or don't
think they need them or who knows what. NetFramework always seems to be
one of the favorites to pick on. <G>

And then someone like Paul and others try to help. Kudos to them.

I don't do any of that anymore. I let all the updates be installed. I
don't fool with the registry. If I do any customization of the OS, it's
via utilities someone smarter than me have written. And you know what?
I don't have any of these problems. XP just ran fine. And still is
when I boot that computer for some reason.
Click to expand...

I have seriously considered buying a Mac computer. I dont want to do
all this tweaking just to remove all the annoyances in XP. I just had
to reinstall XP for a friend, on a piece of junk dual core Dell
machine. I really did not want to do it, but her computer was so
screwed up it was not fixable. Somehow she had two install CDs for XP
Pro, and gave me one of them, but it's dedicated to Dell. I reinstalled
it, and as soon as it booted, I was taken back to "why I hate XP". All
those annoying popups and alerts, and so on. I was thinking how glad I
am to have cleared most of that out of my installation.
If this was me, I would have formatted and reinstalled a long time ago.
:-) But I also don't set the computer up the way Windows does as a
default. I think I've posted more than once regarding the way I set the
computer up. I think it's very similar to the way Paul does his. And
it doesn't involve any registry editing or anything, I just work within
what the OS easily allows. The computer always works, and the friends
I've done it for at least feel like the computer is faster than before.
Click to expand...

Of course it's faster. I've now seen how XP just collecting garbage and
getting bigger and bigger. The default for those backup files was set
to 10 or 12% of the drive. And if I look at the program "Hijack This",
it takes two pages of entries of loaded stuff. When I run that program
on Win98, I have 7 or 8 entries, since I dont let anything run at
startup except parts of the actual OS. It seems that XP MUST be
reinstalled every few years or it just fails. That'[s what happened to
that friend,s machine. A dual core p4, high speed machine that ran
slower than my old 386 computer.
I've read the "Windows is a virus" type of comment before. Too me,
those are people who don't like the way MS does just about anything, or
are a fanboi of something else. So I just blow them off.
Click to expand...

Some linux users are really anti-MS, so I do understand that, but the
way XP operates, I can see it being very virus prone, and designed to be
tracked. I dont do online banking even on Win98, but I know that on 98,
when I delete the browser cache, and clear out a few folders, there is
no remnants of my activity stored. I've quickly learned that everytime
I touch a key on XP, it's stored all over the computer, which makes it a
target for spys and malware and identity thefts. I probably have not
even seen all the places it stores junk.
As I said, I've never had any problems with XP like you're having. My
suspicion is some percentage of your problems are of your own doing.
:-) Plus I've run antivirus software for years and years. Sometime a
paid for one, but now just free versions.
Click to expand...
I never installed any Anti-virus software on that computer. I was not
using it online so I never expected any issues with viruses. Plus, all
those AV progs. requires updates which are huge and not downloadable on
dialup.
Linux might be the correct solution for you. It is an OS that's
supposed to allow the user to change what the user wants to their
heart's content. Windows and OS X are not designed that way, that's why
they are proprietary.
Click to expand...

It'sd funny, because I used to have a very negative view of linux,
thinking a peraon had to spend ALL their time on the computer just
making linux work. That's exactly what I've been finding with XP
lately. Yet, what I've been seeing with linux is very diffwerent from
the linux I first tried a decade ago. The linux command line is scary
to me, and that was all I saw a decade ago. Now it's not really needed.
I just wish it was easier, like Dos, when it IS needed.
I think you probably know this, but with an ISO file, you don't just
copy it to the optical media. Plus, some of the newer distros need a
DVD, not a CD. Your old equipment may not have a DVD burner or the
software to do correctly "burn" the media.
Click to expand...
Yep, I know it's not just to COPY the ISO file. I've used several
burners, tried different software Imagburn, Nero, etc. The CD's always
produce errors when I try to sue them, or wont bootup, or some other
hassle. I buy a 10pack of CDs, and a week latrer (or less), they are
all in my garbage can.
I've also found a large variation of which distro will run on a
particular computer. I think you just have to try them and find out.

I just wish I had the time to experiment with Linux, I set aside a
partition on the Win7/8 machine's boot drive just for this purpose.


I am still befuddled why your computer won't connect. And I've no way
of offering any suggestions. :-(
Click to expand...

You know what's funny, I actually was getting a fairly good connection
using Win2000. Not quite as fast as Win98, but better than on XP. I
actually got a 49K connect on Win2000 recently, which is damn good. But
then came the shocker. When Firefox 8 gets a script error in Win2000,
the computer just shuts off cold. I did this 3 times on the same
website at exactly the same moment. This is the same computer and modem
as Win98. When FF 3.x gets a script error, the browser just freezes up.
Be aware, Malwarebytes takes a long time to run.
Click to expand...

I got it, it begged for an upgrade of the virus def files, which I could
not provide. I ran it on that defective computer, and it said "No
Problems". So much for that.....


<snipped>
 
Something is wrong somewhere, casey, but I can't tell you what. I once
bought a couple packs of Memorex CD, most did not work. Memorex doesn't
make the CDs, they contract it out. It turned out all the defective CDs
came from the same original manufacturer. ImgBurn will tell you that
manufacturer if you check.
Click to expand...

That's interesting because Walmart is the only nearby place that sells
them, and Memorex is the only brand they carry.
Why don't you dump the dialup? I don't think anyone is going to want to
give you much support in that area any more.
Click to expand...
If I dump dialup I wont have internet at all. There are no other
options which are even close to affordable here. There is no cable. I
could get some sort of private WIFI at a cost of over $100 a month, plus
something like $3 a foot to wire it, and I'm nearly a mile from the
connection point. Satellite is the other option, which only comes with
tv. I dont need or even want the tv. That's also close to $100 a
month. Retired people like me just cant afford stuff like that.
My dialup costs $20 a month, including basic phone service. I dont have
long distance or any special stuff, so that is all I pay.
 
For years I have "just used" the computer, referring to Win98. If it
was not the browser issues, I'd never even started all this XP stuff. I
didn't like XP the first time I ever touched it. back in the early
2000's. Mostly because of the popups, annoyances, and complexity/bloat.
I never liked it over the years, but I had to start to use it on my
laptop to make the WIFI work. But that computer came with XP Pro SP3
installed, and I did remove many of those annoyances. I only use that
computer for WIFI access, so I'm really only using Firefox, and
occasionally notepad or an image or video viewer. But I was always glad
when I got home and turned on Win98 for normal use. I have that setup
just how I like it, and it works well, without annoying me.
Click to expand...

Nah, you didn't "just use" it, you tweaked things to make it the way you
wanted. said:
I have seriously considered buying a Mac computer. I dont want to do
all this tweaking just to remove all the annoyances in XP. I just had
to reinstall XP for a friend, on a piece of junk dual core Dell
machine. I really did not want to do it, but her computer was so
screwed up it was not fixable. Somehow she had two install CDs for XP
Pro, and gave me one of them, but it's dedicated to Dell. I reinstalled
it, and as soon as it booted, I was taken back to "why I hate XP". All
those annoying popups and alerts, and so on. I was thinking how glad I
am to have cleared most of that out of my installation.
Click to expand...

Honestly? I think you'd hate OS X too. Mostly because there will be
annoyances for you that you can't tweak out of OS X. Apple doesn't want
you to do that, which is why they "just run". :-)
If this was me, I would have formatted and reinstalled a long time ago.
:-) But I also don't set the computer up the way Windows does as a
default. I think I've posted more than once regarding the way I set the
computer up. I think it's very similar to the way Paul does his. And
it doesn't involve any registry editing or anything, I just work within
what the OS easily allows. The computer always works, and the friends
I've done it for at least feel like the computer is faster than before.
Click to expand...

Of course it's faster. I've now seen how XP just collecting garbage and
getting bigger and bigger. The default for those backup files was set
to 10 or 12% of the drive. And if I look at the program "Hijack This",
it takes two pages of entries of loaded stuff. When I run that program
on Win98, I have 7 or 8 entries, since I dont let anything run at
startup except parts of the actual OS. It seems that XP MUST be
reinstalled every few years or it just fails. That'[s what happened to
that friend,s machine. A dual core p4, high speed machine that ran
slower than my old 386 computer.
Click to expand...

I think you're trying to ignore the fact that XP is a far more
sophisticated OS, with more features available. But I suspect you don't
want those features, so you're trying to remove them, and it's getting
you in trouble.

For years, I just wanted faster hardware to run an older OS. But that's
not going to happen, they aren't building the hardware to support the
older OSes. They're building them for the newer versions, because
that's what the majority of users are looking for.

I honestly don't believe XP has to be reinstalled every few years, *if*
the user doesn't screw with things, and has a decent education about
computers. Sadly, I don't believe either condition exists in most
cases. :-(
Some linux users are really anti-MS, so I do understand that, but the
way XP operates, I can see it being very virus prone, and designed to be
tracked. I dont do online banking even on Win98, but I know that on 98,
when I delete the browser cache, and clear out a few folders, there is
no remnants of my activity stored. I've quickly learned that everytime
I touch a key on XP, it's stored all over the computer, which makes it a
target for spys and malware and identity thefts. I probably have not
even seen all the places it stores junk.
I never installed any Anti-virus software on that computer. I was not
using it online so I never expected any issues with viruses. Plus, all
those AV progs. requires updates which are huge and not downloadable on
dialup.
Click to expand...

Which proves you don't have to be connected to the internet to get a
virus or other form of malware. You just have to plug something into
the computer. Which is why if you bring something in to places like the
library, college class, etc., you have to run their virus scan software
before you can access it.

But, you can't be angry with the writers of the antivirus software. The
programs have to cover definitions for all malware they protect against.
And they will always be behind the curve.

Be angry at the people creating the malware.
It'sd funny, because I used to have a very negative view of linux,
thinking a peraon had to spend ALL their time on the computer just
making linux work. That's exactly what I've been finding with XP
lately. Yet, what I've been seeing with linux is very diffwerent from
the linux I first tried a decade ago. The linux command line is scary
to me, and that was all I saw a decade ago. Now it's not really needed.
I just wish it was easier, like Dos, when it IS needed.
Click to expand...

The Mac command line is probably very similar to Linux. I don't even
attempt it. Heck, I don't attempt the Windows command lines anymore.
This is 2014, not 1984. I don't care to operate in that timeframe. LOL
Yep, I know it's not just to COPY the ISO file. I've used several
burners, tried different software Imagburn, Nero, etc. The CD's always
produce errors when I try to sue them, or wont bootup, or some other
hassle. I buy a 10pack of CDs, and a week latrer (or less), they are
all in my garbage can.
Click to expand...

Something is wrong somewhere, casey, but I can't tell you what. I once
bought a couple packs of Memorex CD, most did not work. Memorex doesn't
make the CDs, they contract it out. It turned out all the defective CDs
came from the same original manufacturer. ImgBurn will tell you that
manufacturer if you check.
You know what's funny, I actually was getting a fairly good connection
using Win2000. Not quite as fast as Win98, but better than on XP. I
actually got a 49K connect on Win2000 recently, which is damn good. But
then came the shocker. When Firefox 8 gets a script error in Win2000,
the computer just shuts off cold. I did this 3 times on the same
website at exactly the same moment. This is the same computer and modem
as Win98. When FF 3.x gets a script error, the browser just freezes up.
Click to expand...

Why don't you dump the dialup? I don't think anyone is going to want to
give you much support in that area any more.
I got it, it begged for an upgrade of the virus def files, which I could
not provide. I ran it on that defective computer, and it said "No
Problems". So much for that.....
Click to expand...

Did you run the full and complete scan, and not the quick scan?
<snipped>
Click to expand...


--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 25.0
Thunderbird 24.3.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"
 
That's interesting because Walmart is the only nearby place that sells
them, and Memorex is the only brand they carry.

If I dump dialup I wont have internet at all. There are no other
options which are even close to affordable here. There is no cable. I
could get some sort of private WIFI at a cost of over $100 a month, plus
something like $3 a foot to wire it, and I'm nearly a mile from the
connection point. Satellite is the other option, which only comes with
tv. I dont need or even want the tv. That's also close to $100 a
month. Retired people like me just cant afford stuff like that.
My dialup costs $20 a month, including basic phone service. I dont have
long distance or any special stuff, so that is all I pay.
Click to expand...

This is an example of a rural system. It isn't "wired" and is more like
a microwave link. Max range 120 miles. I suspect my sister is using
one of these, for some value of "boonies". She probably has
better Internet than I do in the city. At the time she got it,
I didn't even know of the technical term "Canopy", which
is why I didn't ask more questions about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_Canopy

In some places, those are subsidized, as a result
of settlements about monopoly territories for broadband.
For example, for a provider to have exclusive access
to a region, they may be saddled with providing Casey
with service. And that service would be done with a
Canopy system, as the cheapest way to get a connection
in place. That's cheaper than a DSLAM and fiber line, routed
to the middle of howhere. But the capitol cost still isn't
zero, and the monthly charge will likely never pay for the
equipment the provider might use. But to have monopoly access
to the urban regions, sometimes they're forced to do this
for rural customers.

I company that supported nothing but rural customers,
would go bust in no time.

It's funny that a telephone line can be run to the country,
but no higher rate service can be cooked up. You'd think
technically, there'd be some way to do backhaul and remoting,
to fit the bill. Even ISDN would give you a better user
experience than what you've got now, and that might
even exist for free on the telephone system as it exists.
(ISDN as an option on the line card, as well as seventeen
different telco interface standards.) I doubt ISDN tariffing
ever made any sense, so it won't be $20 per month. It isn't
that much faster than what you've got, but it is the sort
of thing that a router could be set up, and the Win98 and
WinXP boxes would be "equals". With IDSN, you'd have no problems
getting the boxes to network to that line.

*******

Based on my bad experience with Memorex, I just recommend
staying away from them. Obviously, shop keepers get Memorex
for next to nothing, and that's why it is so prevalent.

I use Maxell or Verbatim. And occasionally Fuji, which
seems to have disappeared here.

Since those companies don't actually make the discs,
all we can do is trust they won't switch to the
cheapest supplier, to make an extra buck for themselves.
You can get some (out of date) info from Wikipedia,
as to who makes the discs for them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbatim_Corporation

including but not limited to products by
Taiyo Yuden, Ritek Corporation, CMC Magnetics,
Prodisc, Moser Baer, Daxon/BenQ

Of those, I only know of the first two, and can't
comment on the last four. Many of my discs here,
are actually Ritek. And Ritek even has its own
store brand now, so you can find discs fronted
and manufactured by them now. In less fancy
packaging.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorex

for example, CD-Rs are made by CMC Magnetics Corp of Taiwan,
Ritek of Taiwan and Moser Baer of India. CD-Rs were formerly
made by Daxon of Malaysia and Prodisc Technology of Taiwan.

What some of us want to know, is who made their CD-RW :-(
They're so bad, you can't read the media tag on them,
so you can curse out the original supplier.

In Canada, we get RiData on the store shelf. For one
small computer store. The majors like Best Buy, less so.
The last time I looked at Best Buy, I couldn't
find anything attractive on the shelf, in terms of
media. Almost like they were just eliminating
stock of optical entirely or something. At least
the small computer store I shop at, there wasn't
any Memorex on their shelf. And if I go to Staples
(which used to have a great selection), now their
optical media is dominated by "Staples brand" media.
And who wants to fork out good money, testing that ?
I don't. I want to improve my gambling odds, with
products where there's some existing hints as to
who actually makes it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritek

Paul
 
That's interesting because Walmart is the only nearby place that sells
them, and Memorex is the only brand they carry.
Click to expand...

I know Walmart, worked the night shift in the local store over the winter.

Check their online ordering for other brands. Only look at the items
that are available with Site-to-Store shipping. That makes shipping free.
If I dump dialup I wont have internet at all. There are no other
options which are even close to affordable here. There is no cable. I
could get some sort of private WIFI at a cost of over $100 a month, plus
something like $3 a foot to wire it, and I'm nearly a mile from the
connection point. Satellite is the other option, which only comes with
tv. I dont need or even want the tv. That's also close to $100 a
month. Retired people like me just cant afford stuff like that.
My dialup costs $20 a month, including basic phone service. I dont have
long distance or any special stuff, so that is all I pay.
Click to expand...

I don't know where you are, but when was the last time you priced
satellite internet? You don't have to have TV bundled with it. I just
looked at Dish Network, Hughesnet, and Wild Blue, and all 3 have
internet packages for under $50/month.

FYI, retired here too. :-)




--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 25.0
Thunderbird 24.3.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"
 
It's funny that a telephone line can be run to the country,
but no higher rate service can be cooked up. You'd think
technically, there'd be some way to do backhaul and remoting,
to fit the bill. Even ISDN would give you a better user
experience than what you've got now, and that might
even exist for free on the telephone system as it exists.
(ISDN as an option on the line card, as well as seventeen
different telco interface standards.) I doubt ISDN tariffing
ever made any sense, so it won't be $20 per month. It isn't
that much faster than what you've got, but it is the sort
of thing that a router could be set up, and the Win98 and
WinXP boxes would be "equals". With IDSN, you'd have no problems
getting the boxes to network to that line.
Click to expand...

It could be the condition of the lines at some point. The existing
underground "main line" wiring was so old, dialup was the only thing
that would work. Just 3 or 4 years ago, fiber optic was installed to
replace that old copper, and now I have DSL. Who knows how long that
old wiring was in the ground.
*******

Based on my bad experience with Memorex, I just recommend
staying away from them. Obviously, shop keepers get Memorex
for next to nothing, and that's why it is so prevalent.

I use Maxell or Verbatim. And occasionally Fuji, which
seems to have disappeared here.

Since those companies don't actually make the discs,
all we can do is trust they won't switch to the
cheapest supplier, to make an extra buck for themselves.
You can get some (out of date) info from Wikipedia,
as to who makes the discs for them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbatim_Corporation

including but not limited to products by
Taiyo Yuden, Ritek Corporation, CMC Magnetics,
Prodisc, Moser Baer, Daxon/BenQ

Of those, I only know of the first two, and can't
comment on the last four. Many of my discs here,
are actually Ritek. And Ritek even has its own
store brand now, so you can find discs fronted
and manufactured by them now. In less fancy
packaging.
Click to expand...

Ritek discs were the culprits for me.

<snip>


--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 25.0
Thunderbird 24.3.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"
 
Ken said:
Ritek discs were the culprits for me.

<snip>
Click to expand...

Is your optical drive firmware up to date ?

It's also possible for a counterfeiter to make
an optical disc with a Ritek media tag. They're
not signed or anything. There's no way to
authenticate what you've got, as far as I know.

I'm guessing your issue is firmware. You
can waste half the evening, zeroing in on
a good firmware. In some cases, some retail
and a different OEM drive, happen to use the
same firmware. Don't give up, if your exact
model number has nothing offered. The specialist
optical drive sites, have more info on this.

You can get a hint of the depth of some of
these firmware collections, at sites like this.

http://tdb.rpc1.org/

Paul
 
| > (e-mail address removed) wrote:
| > Win2K is very close to WinXP, so it's a puzzle as to why
| > it doesn't get infected.

Win2000-sp4 is a Server
WinXp you have to make it in to One
Believe You're Secure from
A Professional Hacker

| I am not surprised. If the malware uses autorun.inf to infect,

First, second and third person

But a INF file have to be install
Use by Add Hardware Wizard
Or a Right Hand Click on Install

A malware can use a inf
To infect a PC Drives

But it have to be in the files
on The Hardware

| it is possible that Casey's 2000
| Machine has autorun disabled.

Autorun Add Hardware
Run By just plug-in a Hardware

The Hardware Drives
Master Boot Record on
A USB Disk [MBR]
Can get infect
With a malware

By a Editing the MBR
No
By using third person FreeWare
To fix Microsoft Drives with
SpyWare and MicroWare32

|This is one of the first things I do when I get a new machine. And I am not
sure, but I
| think Microsoft had one security update that turned autorun off by
| default.

Not that i know of::::::::::::::;;

Autorun.INI is first files run
Looking for a list of Drives to Run
In Dos
A malware have start there or in
A *.sys File Call by REGISTER

For the REGISTER is
The Second to run
It's the Autorun for Sys's Drive
That do not run in DOS mode

Third Person REGISTER Suck
Pro. Hacker Say:
Thank you for using
The Free Fix My Microsoft Register

< www.top4download.com/free-microwave/ >
SpyWare and MicroWare32
FreeWare Buyer's BeWare
 
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