Win 98- Comp not showing ANY pictures!!

[Shelob]

I have absolutely no idea what my computer is up to now.

This morning, after a brief crash (of which I generally have a lot) my computer stopped showing any kind of images. Not only on the net, but even in 'my documents' it doesn't preview the images with thumbnails anymore. This has never happened before.

Also none of the icons used for hyperlinks are visible, so I had to find the link for posting this message by brail - hovering my cursor over all the white bits until I found what I was looking for.

I've run an exhaustive scan disk - nothing. I cleaned the disk. No better. I tried running a de-frag, and after NINE hours it was still not done and kept going back to the beginning.
Suicide beckons once again.

I do have a virus program, a Mcaffee, but it never seems to do a great deal.

My computer is an IBM 365, about 4 years old. OS Win 98.

It is probably just me being fantastically dense, but I don't know what to do next, and it's hard to locate things within the computer as my windows is in Portuguese (I live there, but am English).

HELP!!!!! And please, talk to me in computer baby terms.

Thankyou.

 

[Styxx]

Do not run a Thorough ScanDisk only a Standard. No need to do a Thorough, if the hard drive is going bad you'll get specific hard drive read failure error messages or the computer won't start correctly with error message:

Start ScanDisk; Check the Standard box; Check Automatically fix errors; click the Advanced button, the settings should be as follows - Display Summary - Always, Log File - Replace Log, Cross-Linked Files - Delete, Lost File Fragments - Free, Check Files For - check (Invalid File Names, Invalid Dates and Times) should be checked.

***

Uninstall Mcaffee (McCheapie) immediately; Get Free AVG Anti-virus from http://www.grisoft.com. Give them a valid e-mail addreess when registering as they send you a key necessary for the software installation. Please see the enclosed attachment on how to update AVG, then do all the following. Especially the on-line scan even before downloading, installing and scanning with a updated AVG, one time.

***

Please see the enclosed virus-free attachment on how to update AVG weekly. Click on the avgupdat.txt.

Update your antivirus, temporarily disable your screen saver (choose None) and scan with your anti-virus set to scan All Files. Update and scan bi-monthly.

You can scan on-line to double-check your Windows scanner at http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

*** Mandatory (get a firewall of any brand) - Get free Sygate personal firewall anti-hacker countermeasure from http://www.sygate.com. 'Don't let anything out to the Internet you don't know what it is.' Also please see http://www.firewallguide.com/ for more information on why all on-line home computers should be firewall enabled.

***

On the images not previewing anymore, you need to right-click on one picture and choose Open With; point to Choose Program; Image Viewer. Repeat as necessary

***

Cure Your Ills With the System File Checker
Windows 98

When you're having trouble with Windows 98--and who doesn't at some point--you might want to try a little-known utility called the System File Checker. Close all open programs and go to Run in the Start menu. Type sfc and click OK.
Check the Scan For Altered Files radio button and click Start. SFC will look for files that have been corrupted. If it finds any, you can use it to extract clean versions of the files directly from your installation disk.

Or

To start System File Checker, follow these steps:
Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, click System Information, and then click System File Checker on the Tools menu.

You may need a Win98 Install CD to complete this if you don't have one or can't successfully complete this hit Cancel not Ignore.

Try all this in order of appearance. Maybe you need to print it out too.

 

[Shelob]

I checked all the boxes you told me to in the 'scan disc' setting, and they were different to what was there before - I had always assumed that the standard settings would be sufficient. phooey.
Then ran the scan, and although it took ages, it said it found nothing wrong.
While having a look at the anti virus site, my computer froze and died for the umpteenth time today, but unlike all the other times, when I rebooted it brought the images back!

So I'm off to have another look at the anti virus information now, but I just wanted to say a big THANKS for the help!

Lots of love, Shelob.

 

[Shelob]

Well, I'm getting good at remembering where all the litle icon-links are and finding them without being able to see them

Yep, the images have disapeared again, and I think I know what caused it this time, although I don't know 'why'.

Today, in 'my documents' I noticed a small PNG file, only about 10 kb. I tried to preview it as a thumbanil, nothing came up, so I thought it was just a spacer or such and tried to delete it. I then kept receiving strange messages that I could not delete it.
Neither could I move it or change it's name.

It is just a harmless (I thought) little image of some leaves that I saved yesterday from another the photo album in an msn community.
But I remember now it was when I tried to preview that image as a thumbnail earlier that the images started disappearing, and bingo, same thing is happening again now. I hadn't made that connection until now, or I would have mentioned it sooner.

The title of this image is B2585, I've tried to attach it so, hope it works. From what I can translate, the message that pops up each time says check the hard drive isn't full or that the file is not in use.

Hard drive isn't full, and the file isn't in use. Those leaves are scaring me now.

I've only just got my key from AVG, so I shall be running that next.

Rats rats rats.

 

[Shelob]

I am still having the same trouble with that png file that I whined about in my last message.
I can view thumbnails of all the images in my docs, except that one, no image comes up, and after clicking on it I can no longer see any thumbnail for any other image until I have rebooted.
Then after that I lose all images from everywhere, including from viewing on the net.
I cannot delete it, or move it or change its name!
Aaahhhh how can I kill it???

 

[Styxx]

Run a Standard ScanDisk not Thorough!

Please state what anti-virus you're using.

When you're run Defrag or ScanDisk you must disable your anti-virus' real-time scanner. In AVG it's called Resident Shield and you just tick a box. Or, run Defrag/ScanDisk in Safe Mode:

- (tap F8 five times per second during a restart; Choose option number three (3) in the Windows Startup dialog box using the arrow keys below the Delete key, and strike the Enter key; Click Ok when prompted).

 

[Shelob]

Hello again Styxx,
And thank you for replying.

As you said the first time, I don't run exhaustive scans anymore, just the standard one.

The anti virus system I use is the one you suggested: AVG, and so far so good.

I did the system file check, and the first time I ran it, it did find some error in 'viewer' so I used the Win98 cd to fix it, and there have been no more error reports when I run the sfc since.

BUT.... that image, that little png image is still ruining my life.
Can't delete it, move it into another file, can't change it or its name at all.
And every time I click on it, even when selecting it with a group of other things (which I keep doing by accident) it stops ALL graphics from being visible afterwards!!! And that includes on the internet.

Desperate and miserably yours, Shelob.

 

[amthmi]

Maybe you can delete from pure dos
Reboot to the command prompt
At C:\> type cd c:\mydocu~1
At C:\my documents> type del (the file name) press enter

Check the properties of the file first and make
sure its not read only, you want it to be archive

 

[Styxx]

(tap F8 five times per second during a restart; Choose option number three (3) in the Windows Startup dialog box using the arrow keys below the Delete key, and strike the Enter key; Click Ok when prompted).

Now find and delete the thing. Never heard of png image. Jpeg, bmp. But not png.

 

[jm100dm]

*.png = Ulead PhotoImpact Image
I have hundreds of them. It is a valid extention.

 

[Shelob]

PNG is portable network graphics (I think) if you see your jpeg files as red, and gif as green then you'd seen png as pink.
They're usually quite good, because they take up less space than a bitmap, but unlike jpeg they don't lose quality no matter how many times you save something, but they are still quite big.
this one isn't big, just scary.

Right, sigh, I am going to try the F8 thing, I didn't before because I wasn't exactly sure what I was supposed to do with it.
I'll probably be back here soon enough.

Lol, poor Styxx, I am grateful.

 

[jm100dm]

Can you send the file to my e-mail address? I will see if I can figure it out.

 

[Shelob]

Okay JM,
That's awfully kind of you! I just hope the file doesn't do the same evil things to you as it has to me, or I'll feel very guilty, lol.

Styxx,
I did try the F8 five times in restart, and got into MS Dos for the second time today, but (and here is where I feel extremely blonde) I don't know what to do when I get there.

I did take the 'third' option, it was something about ports? Sigh, the whole thing is in Portuguese, so it isn't easy to translate at the best of times. (English person living in Portugal).
But I was looking round MS Dos for somewhere to type in the things suggested by amthmi, but to no avail.

I'm not used to working in dos at all, so I'm afraid what may be really obvious to most has escaped me.
If you need me I shall be face down in the cat litter in mid primal scream.

 

[Shelob]

JM, hello again.
I was going to send this via email, but I didn't see any facility for adding attachments via this forum's email, so I am putting the dastardly file here....
May the force be with you....

 

[jm100dm]

Thanks, It just appears normal for me. That didn't help. Not sure if this will help but hold the shift key down and right click you mouse. Select openwith put a check in the always use this program to open files of this type and then scroll down to mspaint and select it. See if that works. Possibly your file association for that type is messed up.