I need to to a virus scan...desperately( )..but don't know how..I have tried booting and holding down ctrl/alt/enter, but it doesn't seem to work. I also want to format my hdd, but the Microsoft nazis demand to know the key, and address..and I bought the laptop secondhand, and it is registeed to somebody else, the original owner..help please!! (I didn't get a handbook with it Nick
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04:31 AM
PFF
System Bot
Falcon4 Member
Posts: 1189 From: Fresno, CA, USA Registered: Oct 2006
Virus scan generally won't solve anything... modern viruses aren't viruses, they're spyware and adware. Viruses just eat CPU time and try spreading. *shrug*
You can get into safe mode, for what it's worth, by holding Ctrl at the moment you turn the power on, until it presents you with a menu (if your bios complains about a stuck key, screw it, try holding Ctrl a few seconds later). If you get to "Windows XP" (the boot logo) you did it wrong. Try it again. If it screws up again, it might not let you use the Ctrl method. Use F8, but tap it instead of holding it. It should do the same. You'll know what to do from the menu.
As far as the key goes, use this: keyfinder.exe. It'll show you your current Windows key on that computer. MS will let you re-activate it as long as you're not using it on other computers.
And as far as Windows, I suggest running the CD through nLite before installing, to integrate SP2 if needed, integrate drivers and updates, remove unwanted bloat, and pre-customize the installation. It's a very useful tool.
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'87 Fiero GT, Automatic, 153k miles, stock everything, just trying to make it all work again. Shameless self promotion: tired of Problematic Image Poster? Check out http://hostfile.org!
To get into safe mode if holding ctrl doesnt work, tapping F5 just before windows loads ( I start when it boots and dont stop till I get what I want) will force it into SM, or hitting F8 will give you a list of choices, SM,SM with net, command, last known good, etc. Also holding shift while windows loads will prevent it from running some startup programs, which might help, but chances are if its a virus it wont
It is a year-old Samsung P 28, running Windows XP home I KNOW it is clogged up with too much stuff, but I don't have the patience to get rid of some of the stuff I have. I am always having problems with my ISP, but I am wondering if my machine is contributing to the problems. I would like to format, and start again..but I have so much stuff I want to keep! I guess we have all been there, eh? I can't get rid of these dammed tracking thingies..clean them out, and they are back in minutes. I run S/D, Lavasoft, AVG, Spyware Doctor, clean it all out, and I still have trouble with connecting to the internet. It will go halfway on the bars in the toolbar, and then stop. Won't d/l pictures...I really should bone-up on these things..but am always 'too busy' Something else I have noticed: my ISP has two sites to connect to; one is an 'open' one, the other is encrypted. They are both on channel 13!! Is this the root of the problem? Thanks for your kind assistance!! Nick
[This message has been edited by fierofetish (edited 11-30-2006).]
Virus scan generally won't solve anything... modern viruses aren't viruses, they're spyware and adware. Viruses just eat CPU time and try spreading. *shrug*
You can get into safe mode, for what it's worth, by holding Ctrl at the moment you turn the power on, until it presents you with a menu (if your bios complains about a stuck key, screw it, try holding Ctrl a few seconds later). If you get to "Windows XP" (the boot logo) you did it wrong. Try it again. If it screws up again, it might not let you use the Ctrl method. Use F8, but tap it instead of holding it. It should do the same. You'll know what to do from the menu.
As far as the key goes, use this: keyfinder.exe. It'll show you your current Windows key on that computer. MS will let you re-activate it as long as you're not using it on other computers.
And as far as Windows, I suggest running the CD through nLite before installing, to integrate SP2 if needed, integrate drivers and updates, remove unwanted bloat, and pre-customize the installation. It's a very useful tool.
Yup. No offense, but if you didnt know the F8 trick to get to Safe Mode, you probably have a crappy antivirus. Go download this. Its the only freeware virus scanner that I trust on my machine and it is the staple AV software I use when I clean computers at work. Its very good at what it does.
You need to boot into safe mode WITH NETWORKING, otherwise Windows wont load with internet browsing capabilities.
Linsux... LOL!! Nice trick. Hah. I pity a foo that actually falls for that.
As for me, I use... well, nothing. No AV, no firewall (except the router), no antispy crap. Sometimes I go through Task Manager and make sure I recognize everything. No problems here.
Customized Windows (and I don't mean a downloaded pre-customized crap version) > Linux. Less time compiling and tweaking, more time computing and enjoying.
I conceede that Linux is not for everyone, especially Fedora for a complete Linux noob. Still, at least the filesystem doesnt get fragmented worse than %5 and its for more responsive than my Windows installation.
Lately I've been having to reinstall every 6 moths or so (sooner if I screw up my partition table ) and I'm way past due. I'll post a screeny of my Fedora desktop when I get home. At least KDE whips the crap out of Windows for pure customobility of the taskbar and environment.
You wont like me saying this, but once I get Counterstrike: Source working under Linux, I will be killing my Windows installation entirely. I'll post the benchmarks between the two OS' when I'm done. Interestingly enough, CSS seems to get better framerates when running in OpenGL mode than it does in DirectX. (at least with my dad's nVidia 6600 and my MX 440. Dont laugh, I still get average 40 fps at max detail at 1280x800)
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06:01 PM
Falcon4 Member
Posts: 1189 From: Fresno, CA, USA Registered: Oct 2006
Linux' filesystem is practically the #2 reason I hate it! Don't even, even get me started there... rant rant rant rant rant...
6 months is all your Linux box will stand up to? LOL! LOLOL even... that's sad!
No no. 6 months for Windows. Jeez, if I said I had to reinstall Linux every 6 months Id have to hide my head in shame, lol.
But whats your beef with the filesystem? Is it that you have so many to chose from (ext2 and 3 are the only ones most users should concern themselves with anyway)? Yes, I'm curious and dont want to start another flame war.
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06:12 PM
Falcon4 Member
Posts: 1189 From: Fresno, CA, USA Registered: Oct 2006
No!! It's not the variation... it's the fact that "/" is the center of the universe! All the devices are files, all the inputs and outputs are files, everything is clumped together into one disastrous mess! Ugh, I can't even begin to think about it... it's just a disaster. Permissions are impossible, working under a "user" account and having to authenticate every. damn. thing. you. do... UGH. It's the worst possible incarnation of a computer operating system... >.<
Copy this file! Wait, where's the file? What obscene trail of file folders, symbolic links, mount points, and case sensitive name is it located under? Ahh, there it is. Now copy it. I have to be root?? It's in a protected folder?? Or is it going to a protected folder?? I don't know, here's my damn password! What?? I have to chmod the stupid thing first?? YES, COPY THE STUPID THING! Ooh, I can't write to the destination, it's an NTFS partition.
I feel that way sometimes. I can circumvent all that by running my file browser in root mode though so I can copy whatever I feel like. If you hate having to authenticate everything, just wait until Vista.
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05:42 AM
Falcon4 Member
Posts: 1189 From: Fresno, CA, USA Registered: Oct 2006
Yeah, but at least in Vista I can disable that without being harassed by the entire OS community for "running your OS in admin mode".
It's my goddamn computer, I can run it as an admin if I want to! I've been admin my whole life, I certainly wouldn't voluntarily give up that position.
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05:49 AM
tutnkmn Member
Posts: 3426 From: York, England, U.K. Living in Ohio Registered: May 2006
No!! It's not the variation... it's the fact that "/" is the center of the universe! All the devices are files, all the inputs and outputs are files, everything is clumped together into one disastrous mess! Ugh, I can't even begin to think about it... it's just a disaster. Permissions are impossible, working under a "user" account and having to authenticate every. damn. thing. you. do... UGH. It's the worst possible incarnation of a computer operating system... >.<
Copy this file! Wait, where's the file? What obscene trail of file folders, symbolic links, mount points, and case sensitive name is it located under? Ahh, there it is. Now copy it. I have to be root?? It's in a protected folder?? Or is it going to a protected folder?? I don't know, here's my damn password! What?? I have to chmod the stupid thing first?? YES, COPY THE STUPID THING! Ooh, I can't write to the destination, it's an NTFS partition.
I hate Linux.
I think the opposite way. Having been a Unix and Mac guy for 25+ years I think Windows is a horrid mess even though I have worked on it as a developer! Unix/Linux is simple once you understand where everything is located (mostly in /usr for programs - /usr/bin). Windows: Registry editing, code bloat and disk fragmentation? C'mon, what a disaster area!
chmod a+x is becoming something of the past. Usually I only have to exec a file with chmod if it's something like Java. Most newer Linux systems use a package manager like synaptic that takes this step out and also checks and installs dependencies.
Why do you have problems writing to an NTFS file system? Newer Linux systems I have used have no problem there. Try Mepis, SuSE or Ubuntu.
Nick is in the spot most folks are. Need rip out the old Windows and install new, it's a vicious but necessary cycle. Gee, what are they Anderson windows? LOL.
This was written on a Mandrake 10.1 machine
[This message has been edited by tutnkmn (edited 12-01-2006).]
)..but don't know how..I have tried booting and holding down ctrl/alt/enter, but it doesn't seem to work. I also want to format my hdd, but the Microsoft nazis demand to know the key, and address..and I bought the laptop secondhand, and it is registeed to somebody else, the original owner..help please!! (I didn't get a handbook with it 
