ot/question on computers

[donald stringer]

I am operating windows 98 with updates. Somewhow I managed to delete a file[I think it became attached somehow to some freesoftware I downloaded and since have deleted, along with it a file. I get an error message upon startup that says something like msinfo.exe[the name of the deleted file] is refferd to by WIN.ini or something like that.  Is there someway to rectify this problem. I have searched microsoft updates and help centers but that has proved totally useless. I have an 98 disk but I do not want to delete everything on my computer just to fix this problem. What is the file and what does it do? The error message also says that WIN.ini refers to this file upon everystartup. I am wondering if I just put in the 98 disk will overwrite any missing file without having to totally reformat my harddrive........Also my defrag will not work. I had to download a free defrag program the last time that I wanted to do system maint. This computer has been fixed once and a stick of ram installed. Theoreticlly I should have tons of memory but after this thing has been on for a while I get an message saying [dangerously low resources] So can somebody help me get this model t going. Thanks for the help.

[KarbonHed]

What is the missing file? Might be an easy way to get it.

If it's the fault of an uninstaleld program you may just need to remove references to that

First try going to Start menu in the lower left of the screen - Run - type in msconfig - choose the start up tag.

If you see the name of the offending program in the list, uncheck the box next to it to stop it being refered to on boot up.

Then do the same with the win.ini tag

A little more dangerous still, open up win.ini in notepad and look for the offending file name, dlete the line it's on and resave. Be sure to back up win.ini first though, make a copy and name it win.inx or something.

[sir_modulus]

Ouch no working defrag. Don't copy and paste a new file from the CD. It might scrwe up yoursystem as it is not set up yet (the file that is) Temp fix is to remove from win.ini But it might not work and you'll have to reformat your system sooner or later.

[Yuan Han]

googling for the deleted file works sometimes.  at least it did for me in times of desperation. but make sure its the right version, etc and things like that

[niftydog]

Potential trojan, see this thread, run updated virus software and consider downloading Adaware or Spybot to scan for trojans, malware etc.

Or, it could be that some ill-designed softare has altered the file win.ini. Then, open win.ini in notepad and delete the following line;

Code Select Expand

run=C:\WINDOWS\..\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\MICROS~1\MSINFO\msinfo.exe hpfsched

It's not supposed to be there.

The real file is msinfo32.exe, and that can be found in the archive "win98_46.cab" on your 98 CDROM.  But chances are that file is still on the computer!

micro$oft KB article.

There's some misconception about this file, some beleive it's normal, others say it's part of office, but the reality is that the file they're talking about is in fact msinfo32.exe.

[The Tone God]

Malware, spyware, adware, trojans, viri, worms. I keep reading these stories just wondering have things gotten this bad for windows users.

Anyways you could pop in your install CD and reinstall Win98 on itself thus replacing any files you are missing. Everything else should left alone by the installer. I belive the installer will automaticllly skip over any files that are newer then one it would install thus preserving most of the patches you may have applied. You still may want to apply all your patches afterwards to make sure. I used to do this all the time back in my windoze days.

I just updated my FreeBSD system to the newest version. It took less the half an hour to complete without any probs.

Just a thought.

Andrew

[niftydog]

Anyways you could pop in your install CD and reinstall Win98 on itself thus replacing any files you are missing.

If you use WinRar to search your win98SE cdrom, remembering to include all archives in the search, you'll soon discover that there is no file named msinfo.exe ANYWHERE on the install CD.

Hence, this is NOT a standard windows file!  You'll find msinfo32.exe.  But this should also still be present on your hard drive.

Update and run adaware.

[donald stringer]

Thats funny you mentioned the msinfo thing,before I read your post ,I was reading about that same subject on an website somewhere. I believe your right. Even though I have been running avg free antivirus nad its been detecting viruses [a lot of them] there is a good possibility that this undetectable spyware has been riding on the back of some of my files which would explain why in internet explorer ..just when I get it right I get these strange tool bars additions and some totally useless search engines[spot results is one of them] This is strange microsoft has spent so much time and effort on I E and Web servers just have to change it to suit there own adds. A plain vanilla IE works just fine for me buts its so succeptible to viruses and such.........I also did something really stupid I got and unexpected lesson in ms-dos[dont ever shut your computer down in ms-dos. One more thing about viruse ,when I first downloaded AVG it detected no less than 14 viruses. It seems like windows systems attracts them like the plage.

[gtrmac]

It sounds to me like a reformat would be a good idea. You've probably been spreading viruses to everyone on your email contacts list for a while. Maybe you should consider a firewall and some antivirus software.

The point about viruses and Windows is that the creators of the malware are interested in screwing up as many computers as possible so there is no mileage in writing the stuff for Macintosh. It's a misconception that Macs are immune to it, if they wanted to write malware for Mac I'm sure they could.

Besides, they probably can't afford Macs to write the stuff on! :roll:

[Fret Wire]

Sometimes, depending on software incapatability, some of the main Windows files get damaged during installation or deletion. Many times the master boot files, or those that are related get damaged, hence no defrag or check disc. Other times, a virus or trojan attaches to a main Windows file, and the file gets damaged or deleted during it's repair. Sometimes all is well if you reinstall. Some times a reformat is necessary.

[niftydog]

Anti virus software detects viri. Viri are a small part of the problems you can encounter on a windoze system.

Adaware or Spybot will detect most of the other crap, and allow you to remove it.  They will even scan your registry for malicious alterations.

Reformating should be the absolute last option.  Adaware and Spybot both have free versions, run them both!

Also, if they detect malware, make a note of the name of the application and search your hard drive for folders etc. just to be sure you get it all.

I run adaware at least once a week.

[smoguzbenjamin]

Here's a good program to run any time you think that Windows isn't running right. At least with win95/98. Go to start -> run and type in "sfc". That stands for System File Checker. Set it to check everything or something like that and it will search for anything that is wierd.

[Torchy]

If you've got msinfo.exe then you have a CoolWebSearch variant. You need to downlad this program which will remove (almost) all CWS trojans/hijackers. I run this every day.

http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/CWShredder.exe

[The Tone God]

Warning: Minor rant ahead.

The point about viruses and Windows is that the creators of the malware are interested in screwing up as many computers as possible so there is no mileage in writing the stuff for Macintosh. It's a misconception that Macs are immune to it, if they wanted to write malware for Mac I'm sure they could.

When I used a Mac a long time ago I had anti-virus software on my machine and I needed it. It was in no way immune to viri. Just the bulk of them since they were written for windows. That was back before MacOS X came along. Now that OS X is based on unix (FreeBSD to be more specific) the Mac viri game has changed.

Yes a virus can be written for Mac or *nix  for that matter but the amount of damage and control that can be inflicted is so limited due to the inheart fundimental security features of *nix that have been there for decades and windows has yet to impliment. Couple that with the amount of effort is required to write a virus for *nix is greater unlike the virus toolkits you can get for windows. It should be noted that most viri that are being created today are just variants of other viri and not true original strains so its not like every outbreak you hear about in the news is something amazingly new or dangerous.

IMHO it has become clear that MS has no interest in improving their software in terms of security or other aspects. The only interest is in protecting its illegal monopoly. With that said my advice for windows users is stop using IE. Use Mozilla's Firefox. Firefox is much better and far more advanced the IE. MS has already stated that there will be no more future stand-alone versions of IE so what you got is pretty much it security holes, technical inadeqicies, and all. Some patches will be issued but that will stop eventually. Why wait till then to move on ?

The other piece of advice is stop using Outlook for email. I used to recommend Eudora but now I say use Mozilla's Thunderbird. An excellent email program. If you decide to switch to another OS both Firefox and Thunderbird will be supported.

It not that tough to switch. I recently moved a user over from IE and Outlook to Firefox and Thunderbird in less then a hour and they love it.

Just some thoughts.

Andrew

[smoguzbenjamin]

[mini-rant coming up]

I'd love to not use windows. But to put it this way, every machine is different. No two computers are the same, so any OS you write (or buy for that matter) is gonna have about  10.000 flaws just because it isn't really compatible. It just claims it is. It took me a month to finally get my soundcard running in win98. In the end I gave up on the windows drivers and searched for them on the web. After re-installing windows and all the updates it worked fine....


Besides all my games are made for Windows :mrgreen:

[donald stringer]

 I got that shredder download and it worked great! I recommend it to everyone with this problem. As far as switching browsers I say if its better ,why not. Does that mozzila work on windows 98updated version and or does it use any more memory than what Ie does. Where can I go and read about it. To all users on this forum if I have spread any virus or whatever to anyone I am really sorry. I have done it out of ignorance/now I know why my wife doesnt let me on hers  :cry: There is a couple more things that I want to get shed of and one of them is this spotresults search engine[the most useless thing that I have ever seen. And outlook is def. going.

[The Tone God]

I'd love to not use windows. But to put it this way, every machine is different. No two computers are the same, so any OS you write (or buy for that matter) is gonna have about 10.000 flaws just because it isn't really compatible.

Hardware support is one of the big things when looking at other OSes. If your hardware is on the supported list then things are pretty easy. You don't go around chasing drivers. The drivers are provided by the kernel. You can compile all your drivers into the kernel making things really fast, sleak, and solid. Everything I need is compiled into my kernel.

Besides all my games are made for Windows

Yeah, same thing with me. Thats one of the only reasons I have a copy of windows around. That and some of my special only run under windows. Other then that I spend 98% of my time in BSD land. For people who only surf, email, and word process any of the todays modern *nixes will do the job.

As far as switching browsers I say if its better ,why not. Does that mozzila work on windows 98updated version and or does it use any more memory than what Ie does. Where can I go and read about it. To all users on this forum if I have spread any virus or whatever to anyone I am really sorry. I have done it out of ignorance/now I know why my wife doesnt let me on hers  :cry: There is a couple more things that I want to get shed of and one of them is this spotresults search engine[the most useless thing that I have ever seen. And outlook is def. going.

Yep. I use Firefox and Thunderbird under Win98 (not SE) and it all works fine. Memory and speed seem to not be an issue for me and my machine is not exactly top of the line these days. You can find out about Mozilla, Firefox, and Thunderbird here:

Mozilla

There are some other members that use Firefox with great delight. Oh and enjoy the built in pop-up blocking.

Andrew