[FPM]

Salutations,

This story is long and complicated so please bear with me. Just yesterday, I purchased Microsoft Combat Simulator 3 as a fun way to pass the spare time. It installed fine, however, when I tried to start it was a whole different matter. Its not that the computer froze or hung or anything like that....instead, simply put, nothing happened. It would start to load itself and then just stop, as If I didn't try to start it. Dumbfounded, I started to try to figure out why it wasn't working. I have a HP Pavilion ZE1210, and meets all the requirements to run it. At first, I thought it was the graphic card. I tried to download the new driver for the graphics card, but the driver update feature froze. I tried downloading the new DirectX from online. Froze durring download. However, I have ran much more demanding games on this machine before (not for a long time though), so that didn't make much sense. It didn't quite ring a bell until I realized that a few other programs, including my anti-virus software, doesn't really respond. So, the bottem line, I might have a virus.

Rewind 2 months. This isn't the first time I had major problems with viruses on this computer. At the turn of the new year, the computer slowed down to a point where it was almost useless. With help the the UMASS OIT people, I managed to download my "current" anti-virus software and got the machine running fine. I also installed service pack 1 and a XP security patch. I use this machine for heavy internet use, so to no surprize it started to slow up a bit again, my guess is from another virus or what not. I admit, I have not updated the virus definitions for the anti-virus software since late january, so of course it the problem with programs not starting due to virus is my own dumb fault. But, this is where it gets interesting. I ran a virus scan anyway and it didn't find anything. However, certain important functions of XP simply dont work. I tried downloading a new version of the anti-virus software, again from our computer savy friends at UMASS, however, installer hangs like a potted plant. It will start to install and then just stop. I tried doing it in safe mode, but again it did not recognize the installer program.

To put the iceing on the cake, IE6 also is useless. I currently run Mozilla and it runs fine. I have tried using IE6 before, but it either hung all the time or just simply didn't work. Doing a little more research online, I found out that it would be who of me to get service pack 2. Ironically, you need to use IE6 to get it. I tried to go to the control panel to see about automatic updates (since I may have deactivated it on accident) and there was no way to "reactive" it. Not to mention, the tab froze. Hense, it just goes in a vicious circle.

Im stumped. Few programs work. Important fetures are laughing at me. Bottem line is: Should I just delete the hard drive and start over? or is there a way to actually salvage this?

Thanks!
Frank

PS: Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention. Some of the processes in task manager seem to be missing. There is also a large number of dwwin.exe and svchost.exe running. Is this normal? Some sources say yes, others say no. Also, some MS-DOS functions are also acting up. However, in all of this, I have NEVER gotten the "blue screen of death". Amazing, really.

[Elvandil]

You don't mention anywhere whether you have looked for malware. Antivirus applications won't pick up many of that group and the effects can be just as devastating as any virus.

Have you done a scan recently?

[RAM-PAGE]

The dwwin.exe file is a part of the Microsoft Doctor Watson error reporting tool.

It deals with application errors so in the Run window type: drwtsn32 , and press Enter. Anything?

Next open the Help & Support centre, Bottom right> Tools, Left panel> Advanced System Information, then right hand side, View the Error Log. Anything?

Do you use SpywareBlaster, and do you scan with AdAware SE & SpyBot SD?

Have you tried an on-line anti-virus scan from Trend Micro's Housecall?

If you click the Hijack This link download HJT to its own folder C:\HJT\Hijackthis.exe , and run a scan.

You can analyse it yourself using the Automatic analyser, or post it here for analysis. It helps if you can identify the things which you KNOW are OK and put them on the HJT Ignore list.

[FPM]

Thanks all who replied. I did check for malware using spybot S&D, and found a good share of them. However, the computer froze when trying to remove them. Even after the spyware was gone, computer still acting up. Windows Update is doing the same thing as MCS 3: Starting to load and then just stopping as if nothing happened.

Another curious thing, too. I finialy managed to check my memory. Out of a total of the computer (256 megs worth), only 51 megs are available. What would cause this?

Out of complete fustration, however, Ive decited to bite the bullet, back up anything that we need, and reinstall windows.

Frank

[RAM-PAGE]

Originally Posted by FPM

Out of a total of the computers 256 megs worth, only 51 megs are available. What would cause this?

Out of complete fustration, however, I've decited to bite the bullet, back up anything that we need, and reinstall windows.

Frank

It is just that the other 205Mb of RAM is in use. You should really put another 256Mb module in.

You'll see a very big improvement in the way that XP performs with 512Mb of system RAM available.

The static loading doesn't really give a good indication of RAM useage. The dynamic use is so fast that you really only notice it when there is not enough free RAM available and/or when the system starts excessive paging to the HDD as the system will then slow down.

I have tried 256Mb, 512Mb, 768Mb and 1536Mb (which is the maximum for this mainboard)

256Mb is too low. Having 512Mb produces the most improvement for general use. 768Mb is good when using large graphics programs. 1536Mb is the max for my system, but, as I don't have any programs capable of using this amount, it is not worth installing more than you really need.

Depends on what you start out with. If you have 128Mb and three RAM slots you could fit 3 x 128Mb modules, as 384Mb is also a reasonable amount of RAM for most people's use and that can keep the price down and produce more versatility if one module should fail.

It often just depends on whether your mainboard will accept unmatched module sizes. If it does then it is usual to put the biggest module in the first slot.

I try always to install to a C: drive partition, as it makes it easier for the drive to be imaged. If you make a drive image when you have got a really good install running properly, then you can simply restore the image if things go wrong.

This is a far better safeguard then System Restore which is only a System Rollback device which is incapable of FULLY restoring your system.

It should never have been called System Restore in the first place, as this is quite misleading.

Do you know if your video RAM is inclusive in the 256Mb total or does your system have a seperate video card?

[FPM]

I re-did XP, and everything works fine now. Yeah, I was thinking about installing more RAM, but in all reality I am not sure how much space I have. I have a pavilion ZE1210.

The video card I have is 32MB, and all of it is on the video card itself. I was thinking about upgrading this, until I learned you cant do that on a laptop.

However, thank you very much for your help. I think Ill just be more careful in the future so I dont have to do all of this again!

Thanks!
Frank

[RAM-PAGE]

Nice job. Now is the time to make that back-up drive image!

I had a look for the HP Pavilion ZE1210 notebook, and came up with this from Crucial.

System Information for the
HP Pavilion ze1200 Series
System Type: Laptop/Notebook
Maximum memory: 1024MB
Standard memory: 128, 256, or 512MB removable
Slots/banks: 2 (2 banks of 1)

Depends if you really use it, but XP does seem to perform better with 512Mb.

Thanks for replying.