[rainforest123]

s:

1. / One
Uninstall SB S & D.
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/howto/uninstall.html

You may need to use task manager to stop SB S & D services, such as tea times.

Pressing ctrl alt delete simultaneously will bring up T.M. Go to "processes" tab.
Left click a process. Then left click "end process" button. Confirm if asked.

Note: some processes will not allow you to stop them.

Reboot & report results regarding "The problem occurs immediately on startup. I noticed that when windows (i.e. explorer.exe) starts up, there is a small pop-up in the top left saying something about Personalized Settings: C:\Recycler\k234\...(etc. etc...) which never appeared beforehand. It appears each time explorer.exe restarts (the computer does not reboot; the desktop just flashes and reloads).".

2.
From post #4 of this thread:
open internet explorer
go to www.microsoft.com/updates
upper right, left click "microsoft updates"
upper left, look for review my update history
follow the prompts
when the link becomes active, open it
look for failed updates
in the status column, left click "failed" or "error"
note the information about the failure.
Provide that information to us.

3. Boot to safe mode.
Does "The problem occurs immediately on startup. I noticed that when windows (i.e. explorer.exe) starts up, there is a small pop-up in the top left saying something about Personalized Settings: C:\Recycler\k234\...(etc. etc...) which never appeared beforehand. It appears each time explorer.exe restarts (the computer does not reboot; the desktop just flashes and reloads)." occur?

4.
How to fix system restore.
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srfail.html

Note link for users with Norton [ Symantec ] products.
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/symantecdoc1.html

5.
Backup your data, in case your HDD fails. Reference my last comment, 13 Mar, 621am.

RF123

[sammyg]

RF:

Sorry I've been away... had a long week, and I've been going over the things you said and backing up my computer. Have a few questions about what you propose:

First off, as for what I have tried.
I started in safe mode, both with and without networking, and the computer starts up ok; explorer.exe does not crash and there is no popup "Personalized Settings: C:\Recycler.... "
Last Known Good Config is not helpful. The one thing that I noticed on Last Known config is that Dr. Watson crashes which had occurred when this problem first started (see my earlier post) but which had not been occurring over the past few days.

I am confused as to what you said about "activating" windows. I did not see any such option in Accessories:System Tools. Does it only appear from within Safe Mode?

I was about to start the memtest and FTD, but am a bit confused as to this procedure. Is it true that I need to create a startup disk? I do not have a floppy drive; I have a CD drive with Roxio. If so, do I need to change the boot menu upon startup--POST?

I checked Microsoft Update history; since I have not directly downloaded from the update site in months, there is no record of any failed updates.

As for WGAPluginInstall, there was some error message which I did not record. I tried opening the setup file again just to see what the message was, and then I got a window: "Welcome to WGA"... or something, "press next to proceed with installing this plugin." I don't recall getting that before (it seemed to be running properly), and I was too scared to start installing something that a) I do not think I need, b) might not even be the correct version for my computer, and c) We think may be causing the computer all this trouble. If WGA is in fact the trouble, could it possibly help if I go ahead and install the plugin?

Thanks for your help,
-SG

[rainforest123]

s:
Welcome back.
On my XP Pro SP3 PCs, accessories > system tools > activate windows is present

copy this:
%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /A

paste it into start > run
Then, click "ok"

2.
"I was about to start the memtest and FTD, but am a bit confused as to this procedure. Is it true that I need to create a startup disk? I do not have a floppy drive; I have a CD drive with Roxio. If so, do I need to change the boot menu upon startup--POST?"

You will need to download Memtest86 and DST .iso files.

After downloading, left click. Roxio should open and walk you through the creation of the bootable CD from an .ISO file. If it fails:
1, Which Roxio version? Did you purchase it or was it installed by your PC manufacturer?
2. Record all error messages.

Depends upon your boot order.
Which brand, model, model # PC have you?

Turn off your PC.
Look for a key on your keyboard labeled "pause / break" or similar
Turn on your PC.
Watch for a notice about entering setup [ the bios ]; has nothing to do with setting up Windows.
Watch for a notice about boot order.
If present, they will mention a key, such as del or F2 or F10, for example.

regarding the wga plug in, please provide the complete message / warning.

Do you mean there is no notice in your update history about this issue?
"Attempted but failed inexplicably to install WGAPluginInstall (Windows Genuine Advantage Validation--unknown Microsoft Knowledge Base KB number)"
#1 of this thread

from #2 of this thread If you have a Windows install CD, which might be labeled, as Operating System Disk, or can make a recovery console CD
, you can use the rec con to access system restore.
http://forums.techguy.org/windows-nt...h-startup.html

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307654

As I asked in #4
"What are the brand & model of your computer? If not OEM, what are the brand and model of your HDD? "

If the messages do not appear when you boot to safe mode, it means that a device driver or program that loads outside of safe mode is responsible. OR that you have an intermittent problem.

Boot to normal mode.
Try to run Windows updates.
If it works, great.
If it fails,
Check the event viewer.
start > run > eventvwr.exe
OK
Maximize screen.
On left, left click "applications". WGA or windows genuine advantage.
Do the same for "system".
If you find an entry, left click the button with 2 pieces of paper. That will copy the information to your clipboard. Then, paste into notepad and / or this thread.

Summary:
1. Answer each of the questions I have previously asked.
2. Perform hard disk drive & ram tests.
Run MemTest86 for 8+ hrs. I think the default, when booting to the CD is 1 pass. Let me know.
3. Backup your data.
4. If your computer passes the tests, we will work on the error messages, by using clean boot troubleshooting.
5. WGA

RF123

[sammyg]

Again, sorry about the delay...

I have not been able to get the DFT CD to work... I downloaded the .iso file from hitachi. I inserted a blank CD-R, opened Roxio, and using data-project, added the .iso fiile to the project and burned the .iso file onto the cd. I did not finalize the cd. I rebooted with the CD, the computer read the CD, but proceeded to boot normally. This happened both when I changed the boot order to load from the CD drive and when I did not. I have not tried Memtest yet (I am running low on CDs and want to know what I'm doing before I waste them.)

Did I not make the CD properly? I forgot to check which version of Roxio I have; it came with the computer back in 2001. The computer is a Dell Inspiron with Windows XP Home. As for your last message, when should I hit the pause/break key?

Thanks,
-sam

[btgreen1]

Had the same type of flashing message and explorer.exe must close messages, only maybe my filename was different. c:\bin\recycle\bin.exe

I'm pretty sure you had a virus that deleted you system restore points.

You may be better off wacking your computer unless you are good.

Here's what I did to fix explorer.exe must close errors on start up.

turned off startup programs in msconfig. went into IE and disabled any add ons that I didn't recognize.

deleted prefetch. rebooted. found bin.exe back in prefetch. (c:\bin\recycle\bin.exe)
went into safe mode.
deleted c:\bin and c:\driver(s) folders (not sure if I had to delete the latter) folder. backed up registry and deleted all references to bin.exe from registry and was fine from that point on.

Problems I had before safe mode:
1. tried to delete references to bin.exe out of registry in normal mode ,but found one kept coming back before I exited regedit.
2. found bin.exe copied to my memory stick. be careful. No doubt you will have to do something different, but your case looks similar.

[rainforest123]

s :
Nice to read from you, again.

I think TGF closes threads that have been inactive for a month; maybe 28 days. FYI .

Did I not make the CD properly? I forgot to check which version of Roxio I have; it came with the computer back in 2001. The computer is a Dell Inspiron with Windows XP Home. As for your last message, when should I hit the pause/break key?

1. Try finalizing the disk.
1.b. If that fails, provide the Roxio information, version #.
2.Using Roxio 9, commercial version, I simply open the .iso file. Roxio does the rest.

3. I strongly suggest that you do NOT edit the registry at this point.

4. If that fails, contact Dell for their assistance running HDD diags. Often, on Dell computers, desktops & laptops, I have used HDD diags built into the Dell computer.

5. If that fails, try the other steps noted.

6. If your computer has a floppy disk drive [ FDD ], download the DFT & Memtest 86 files for creating bootable floppies.

RF123

[sammyg]

I have Roxio Easy CD Creator 5 (Free version), which came with my computer back in 2001. I clicked on the file, which sent me to the the project page, and added the .iso file to the project for the disk, and put the file on the disk like I would any other. I never saw anything about making a bootable cd or anything exceptional about the .iso file. I do not have a floppy drive on my laptop.

[rainforest123]

s:
Copying an .ISO file to a CD will not result in the creation of a bootable disk.

Try this page. http://www.efg2.com/Lab/Library/Kyli...CDCreator5.pdf
Source: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&c...22&btnG=Search

I suggest that you contact Dell about HDD diags.

Do you have a flash drive?

Do you know if your computer can boot to a flash drive? Ask Dell.

Dell has a forum at which you might be able to find answers to these questions.

Which Dell Inspiron have you? I will try to help you find answers to the questions, if you are unable to find the answers.

http://support.dell.com
click on "technical support".
You can find information about your computer if you enter the service tag. Less information is available if you enter only the model #.

Dell forums.
http://en.community.dell.com/?~ck=mn

Which CDs have you, from Dell? Some Dell computers come with an operating system CD, 1 or more device drivers CD[s]; 1 or more applications CD[s].

RF123

[sammyg]

RF:
a friend of mine has nero, and is making me a bootable disk. I will let you know how it goes.
-sammyg

[rainforest123]

sammyg:
Thanks for the update.


Yes, do keep us posted, please.

RF123

[sammyg]

I used Nero to make a bootable cd, but when I put the disk in and rebooted, the computer started up as normal. So, I tried changing the boot order to boot from the cd drive, and that opened a program called drdos by cavenda?? (I think it was called) in dos prompts. I tried opening the file from the dos prompts, but the few commands which I know did not register, so I just gave up and reboot.
When I did reboot, a funny thing happened. I mentioned in an earlier post that when I closed the error message stating that explorer.exe crashed, a popup came up for "Personalized Settings C:/Recycler/k...." and a task opened up in task manager called hn.exe (but only very briefly, a second or two at most).
So, I tried closing ending hn.exe, and when I did so, explorer.exe did not continue to crash 2-3 more times as had been the case. I searched hn.exe and came up with some stuff about malware (http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/hn-exe-t228580.html ... hope you don't mind me looking at tgf's competitors ) Any suggestions?

I really am not advanced enough to know how to properly use the boot menu, or using bootable disks (the last bootable disk I made was for Windows 3.1). Did I screw that up when I tried using diagnostic startup in msconfig?
-sammyg

[rainforest123]

sammyg:
How did you try to change the boot order?

Which Dell Inspiron have you? I will try to help you find answers to the questions, if you are unable to find the answers.

Since you have not provided the requested information, my ability to help you is limited.
According to this Dell page, you need to press F12 to change the boot order.

http://support.dell.com/support/topi...doclang=en&cs=

Best of success.

Keep us posted.

RF123

[sammyg]

Yes, I pressed F12 immediately upon startup, selected CD Drive, and then DRDOS (a dosprompt program) started up, but I did not know which commands to use to boot from the dft--.iso file
I have a Dell Inspiron 1100

[rainforest123]

hn.exe (but only very briefly, a second or two at most).

Search your Hard Disk Drive HDD, for hn.exe
Search hidden & system locations.
Also, unhide extensions for known file types.
Set your computer to display hidden, system & protected files & folders.
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tuto...utorial62.html
See OldTimer's entry, 15 Sep 2005
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/foru...hp/t30243.html

I used Nero to make a bootable cd, but when I put the disk in and rebooted, the computer started up as normal. So, I tried changing the boot order to boot from the cd drive, and that opened a program called drdos by cavenda??

Not a clue.

Caldera, perhaps? You might have to accept the terms. Then, select [ press enter ] for option #1. Using my DFT bootable CD, blue background.
Then pale blue & turquoise backgrounds.

DFT user guide
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/suppor...User_Guide.pdf
Pictures & everything, beginning page 7

Inspiron 1100 product page at Dell
http://support.dell.com/support/topi...S_PNT_CEL_1100

Manuals
http://support.dell.com/support/topi...n&lnki=0&s=gen

Dell Diags
http://support.dell.com/support/down...&catid=&impid=

Did I screw that up when I tried using diagnostic startup in msconfig?

That is for diagnosing Windows problems. You removed all Windows XP system restore points when you booted to XP's diagnostic startup.

RF123

[rainforest123]

So, I tried closing ending hn.exe, and when I did so, explorer.exe did not continue to crash 2-3 more times as had been the case. I searched hn.exe and came up with some stuff about malware (http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/hn-exe-t228580.html ... hope you don't mind me looking at tgf's competitors ) Any suggestions?

Research is a GOOD thing. Posting your problem at multiple forums is a waste of time for the people helping you, AND you might receive conflicting advice.

If you think this malware is the cause of your problem, read the 1st 2 stickies here http://forums.techguy.org/54-malware...jackthis-logs/ , then follow the instructions, to post a HJT log. Then, click on "report" on your entry and as a moderator to move your thread to the malware removal log. I am NOT suggesting that you do so. Only you can make that determination.

RF123