Avast WEBforum
Other => General Topics => Topic started by: CoJo on November 13, 2003, 02:18:25 AM
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Hello again...
As much as I hate to admit it, I have messed up my computer again, I think.
I am a bit paranoid about my computer...it is my link to the outside world while I undergo surgeries to help my legs.
I downloaded many programs thinking it would help keep my computer running better...instead they are using up resources ..and I think they may be conflicting with each other.
My SO gave me a big computer book to help me understand more about them. So I guess I will educate myself while I recover from Friday's surgery.
all of you have been so helpful! and I deeply appreciate your willingness, your patience with me, and your kind replies to my ignorant and many questions.
Once I know more about these things, I will be back...
it's terribly embarrassing to be so lacking in knowledge...thank you for not making me feel stupid!
I didn't know where to post my thanks to all of you for your help. I hope I did not do this the wrong way!
My best wishes to all of you!
CoJo
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No I dont think you posted wrong. I hope you set well soon! :)
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thank you, MacL...
I don't know how to use the instant message or I would have responded...
coJo
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I downloaded many programs thinking it would help keep my computer running better... instead they are using up resources... and I think they may be conflicting with each other.
CoJo
Ok, Cojo, could you post what programs are currently running or a list of your instaled software. You can have a inventory list with Belarc Advisor (http://www/belarc/com/Programs/advisor/exe) and e-mail me the results.
You're wellcome to this family... avast! foruns! ;)
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cojo,
It is not unusual for a user to come here without answers....
Why would they then come? We enjoy helping others especially those who cherish Avast the way I do, and others like Technical, Culpeper, Pavel, VLK and Igor from the Avast team.
IM is simple to use. Click on the IM icon under the user name and send your message. It will appear when the user signs on in the upper top edge of the screen next to the Avast logo banner.
Ask what you wish when you need to, or ask for help on whatever.
Try to post your new topic in the correct section.
Take Care and hope your recovery goes well,
Techie
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Techie, thank you!
I used the Belarc Advisor and Technical is going to help me sort things out...
I too love Avast!...it is the best!
thank you for your information on IM...nice!
peace,
CoJo
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Like I allways say: "There are no stupid questions, just stupid answers"
Get well soon!!!
Peter
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thank you, trigger!
but, oh my gosh, I had/have so many of them ;D
and thank you for the good wishes!
CoJo
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I downloaded many programs thinking it would help keep my computer running better... instead they are using up resources... and I think they may be conflicting with each other.
CoJo
Ok, Cojo, could you post what programs are currently running or a list of your instaled software. You can have a inventory list with Belarc Advisor (http://www/belarc/com/Programs/advisor/exe) and e-mail me the results.
You're wellcome to this family... avast! foruns! ;)
Did you succeed with Belarc Advisor? ;D
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yes, I did! it certainly was interesting ;)
so much information!! wOw :)
I have another post about getting different results on the scans...
and I found out how to look at the windows event log 8) and found some error and warning entries there, also.
this has turned into an adventure to discover these things! but I still won't remove anything unless you experts tell me to ;D
CoJo
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could you post the readout please
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could you post the readout please
Cojo, do not post your personal information here...
In your email to me, there are licence keys and other personal stuff.
If you want, delete al least these sections: Software Licenses and Logins
Belarc Advisor reports are quite personal ones...
Of course, I will keep yours in secret ;D
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yes email it to technical that stuff would be jucy to hackers :'(
sorry technical I was not aware it has such personal information
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Mac, we learn together!
Cojo
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indeed :D
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yes email it to technical that stuff would be jucy to hackers :'(
sorry technical I was not aware it has such personal information
Please, could you tell me what is the meaning of 'jucy'. I try to look at the dictionary but I do not found this word... ;)
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technical it means its something hackers would love to get ahold of. Its something valuable to them.
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jucy -> it should be 'juicy' = interesting
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yes i made a typing error
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;D ;D ;D
and I didn't even notice...
CoJo
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welcome on board cojo!... ;D
have a speedy recovery.. :)
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technical it means its something hackers would love to get ahold of. Its something valuable to them.
Hey Mac, I'm definitively not a hacker (Vlk says I'm a 'hacker' in the good meaning of this word... I never understood what he wanted to say...). Of course, I won't share Cojo personal data... ;)
Thanks pk for the explanation.
Cojo, everyone hope your surgery goes fine 8)
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hallo to all!
I am still getting different results on my scans...
through scan shows the virus--which I sent the log to avast!--boot scan shows nothing and I ran the avast! removal tool and it froze the computer the first time and the second time it didn't find anything...
so I am assuming that it's a false alarm...but why would it keep showing?
I await the wisdom of the group :-*
CoJo
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hallo to all!
I am still getting different results on my scans...
through scan shows the virus--which I sent the log to avast!--boot scan shows nothing and I ran the avast! removal tool and it froze the computer the first time and the second time it didn't find anything...
so I am assuming that it's a false alarm...but why would it keep showing?
I await the wisdom of the group :-*
CoJo
Strange, indeed. Sometime in the past I posted that were different results on scannings. I'm waiting for a conclusive answer from avast! team. Igor just kindly said that was different settings on each kind of scan running.
But, strange is that avast! removal tool had frozen your system...
What is the virus name?
You cannot assume it was a false alarm without further inspection... :-\
Can you make an on-line scan? At my (favorite link (http://www.avast.com/forum/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=1509;start=0)) you can see some suggestions for this at section On-line Viruses Tests.
Anyway, take it easy. Maybe it was just a false alarm...
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[
Strange, indeed. Sometime in the past I posted that were different results on scannings. I'm waiting for a conclusive answer from avast! team. Igor just kindly said that was different settings on each kind of scan running.
But, strange is that avast! removal tool had frozen your system...
What is the virus name?
You cannot assume it was a false alarm without further inspection... :-\
Can you make an on-line scan? At my (favorite link (http://www.avast.com/forum/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=1509;start=0)) you can see some suggestions for this at section On-line Viruses Tests.
Anyway, take it easy. Maybe it was just a false alarm...
it says Win32.CTX is the virus and I can't even find any information on it!
that's why I think it's probably a false alarm...
coJo
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Cojo,
Win32.CTX is mentioned at Trend Micro's site http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/virusencyclo/default5.asp?VName=PE_CHOLERA.CTX (http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/virusencyclo/default5.asp?VName=PE_CHOLERA.CTX) and at Kaspersky http://www.viruslist.com/eng/viruslist.html?id=3162 (http://www.viruslist.com/eng/viruslist.html?id=3162)
My virus checkers have come across this one quite a few times and have stopped it from infecting my computer. :)
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Cojo,
Win32.CTX is mentioned at Trend Micro's site http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/virusencyclo/default5.asp?VName=PE_CHOLERA.CTX (http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/virusencyclo/default5.asp?VName=PE_CHOLERA.CTX) and at Kaspersky http://www.viruslist.com/eng/viruslist.html?id=3162 (http://www.viruslist.com/eng/viruslist.html?id=3162)
My virus checkers have come across this one quite a few times and have stopped it from infecting my computer. :)
I could not found any reference to Win32.CTX in avast! virus page (http://www.avast.com/i_kat_61.html) :'(
Thanks bbfi for your information ;)
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Technical,
Any time Technical. ;) I remember the first time I ran into this virus and it took awhile searching various sites that referenced it. It seems that this is an alias and there are different versions of it. But they are all polymorphic Win32 viruses.
I'm still keeping in touch and waiting for that day when I can use Avast again. ;)
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Command has no link to any info it doesnt appear to even have it in its virus database ::)
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cojo have you confirmed the virus with any online scan?
mabye http://housecall.trendmicro.com (http://housecall.trendmicro.com)
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The Cleaner froze the computer? Hmmm, I'm sorry to hear that...
What did you say your computer configuration was?
In what order did you perform the mentioned operation - e.g. first found the virus with avast, didn't take any action(?), scheduled the boottime scan, restarted, the boot-time scan didn't find anything, ran the avast! Virus Cleaner, it froze your computer, didn't find anything either... ?
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[]
The Cleaner froze the computer? Hmmm, I'm sorry to hear that...
What did you say your computer configuration was?
In what order did you perform the mentioned operation - e.g. first found the virus with avast, didn't take any action(?), scheduled the boottime scan, restarted, the boot-time scan didn't find anything, ran the avast! Virus Cleaner, it froze your computer, didn't find anything either... ?
Igor,
I have WinXP...
I ran a through scan and it found it...said access denied for repair so I moved it to the chest then sent the log to avast!
then I set up a bootscan, did it, rebooted and did another through scan...it still found CTX which I again moved to the chest and mailed to avast!
rebooted and ran the avast virus tool...froze the computer and I had to unplug it before I got back on...ran the virus tool again and it worked fine but found no virus.
again, I rebooted and did a through scan and there it was again...CTX.
All of this leads me to believe it is a false alarm??
thank you!
CoJo
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First, there is no point in running the avast! Virus Cleaer - it is able to detect and disifect only the viruses listed on its web page (or in the About box) - and CTX virus is not there.
Second, I'm not completely sure it's a false alarm.
What file is the CTX virus announced in? Is it only one file or more of them? Does the boot-time scan finds anything or is it only the usual scan from Windows?
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Igor, hello
the file shows:
c:\ documents and settings\(my name)\local settings\temp\trz195.temp
although it has given some different numbers after the trz., but all in the same file
BTW...my email of the log was returned to me.
boot time scans windows and finds nothing.
I just ran another through scan and it is showing again so I moved it to the chest again and that is the one that was returned to me. again a boot scan showed nothing
thank you,
CoJo
whoa! have an update...
did the run:%temp%...selected all and deleted
control panel...general tab...deleted temp folders and offline content...rebooted...
emptied the recycle bin which shreds the stuff...
ran a through scan and it was clean :o
nothing...wow!!
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Igor is it me or is this thing somehow generated by windows? or mabe only a through scan detects it? boot scan is more than likely normal? ??? ??? And get this I ran a scan today and found the virus on my computer! but it is in the chest and on reboot it does not come back like cojo's case. I am begining to think this is a false positive. I THINK if it were a virus it WOULD be found by the boot scan.
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First, there is no point in running the avast! Virus Cleaer - it is able to detect and disifect only the viruses listed on its web page (or in the About box) - and CTX virus is not there.
The cleaner is still better than the norton one where you need a diffrent one for each virus. what are the other names for the CTX virus?
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Mac, bbfi posted about it earlier in this thread--page 2--that it is also called Cholera.
thanks bbfi!!
coJo
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[welcome on board cojo!... ;D
have a speedy recovery.. :)
thank you!!
coJo
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More info on this one can be found here: http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=10346
Bye, Fast
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fast that link says cholera INFECTS the system with CTX not is CTX. Im trying to gather information to try to come up with a fix for this problem. It has gone on too long. And I know it has to be driving cojo nuts!
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;D
Mac...too late...I am already crazy...maybe it will make me sane? ;)
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Ok here is what i found: Bullguard is SAID ::) to remove all of the reg entries and immunize the computer aginst reinfection. However I dont think thats possible im looking to see if the have a free removal tool that will do the same now
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thanks bbfi!!
Any time. ;)
More info on this one can be found here: http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=10346
I believe that the link is http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=10347 (http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=10347) which is for the W32/CTX virus. ;)
I am already crazy
Actually the only crazy ones are those who write these viruses, trojans, worms, etc. >:(
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mcafee is no help >:( never liked them
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mcafee is no help >:( never liked them
Me too... So we are here ;D
Igor is sad for the Virus Cleaner freezing the computer because he is the author... ;D (Just a joke, Igor).
Cojo, after a lot of scans, boots, etc. How is your system now?
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thanks for asking, technical!
everything is fine..except...I keep getting either the yahoo privacy alert and am now getting one from lycos...
sounds like a windows problem, doesn't it?
CoJo
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thanks for asking, technical!
everything is fine..except...I keep getting either the yahoo privacy alert and am now getting one from lycos...
sounds like a windows problem, doesn't it?
CoJo
Please, do some cleaning:
Ad-aware (http://ftp://ftpx.download.com/pub/win95/internet/aaw6181.exe)
Spybot (http://ftp://ftp.download.com/pub/win95/internet/spybotsd12.exe)
BeClean (http://boozet.xepher.net/download/beclean120.exe)
IE Privacy Keeper (http://www.unhsolutions.net/downloads/iepk.zip) Very good for cleaning after the last IE windows closes...
Internet Sweeper (http://www.wilders.org/HTMLobj-1481/isfw.exe)
Install some protection:
SpyBlocker (http://ftp.pcworld.com/pub/new/utilities/security/Sb.zip)
SpywareBlaster (http://www.wilders.org/HTMLobj-1626/spywareblastersetup.exe)
SpywareGuard (http://www.wilderssecurity.net/downloads/spywareguardsetup.exe)
WinPatrol (http://www.winpatrol.com/wpsetup.exe)
All of this applications could be installed in the same computer. Anyway, some of them do the same of the others. You can choose after what do you want to keep.
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spyware guard is by far the best
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cojo,
I agree with MacLover. Spyware Guard is an excellent program.
I would also recommend Spyware Blaster as an additional protection.
Both programs work great together. SG runs resident and acts similar to an anti-virus but with spyware preventing a file from being used until the spyware is cleaned.
Spyware Blaster prevents the installation of spyware by setting a "kill bit" to prevent harmful Active X controls from being used on your system.
Another fine resident anti-spyware program is Spyblocker 4.75. However, it is hard to find this freeware version. Spyblocker is a multifunction program that blocks cookies, worms, bugs, ads, scripts (web pages only) and spyware.
These are the basics your system should have for sound protection:
Firewall
Anti-virus
Anti-spyware
Pop-up killer
Technical has taken the time to compile an excellent list of programs.
He can direct you to the page/s upon which you can find the programs you need.
*Since Avast Home does not provide protection against all Scripts, a third party program such as Script Defender or Script Sentry should be on the list.
Once you have these installed, you should be able to go about your internet stuff with some peace of mind.
Good luck,
techie
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My list of links will be updated soon: lots of new protection programs, broken links corrected and, if I could, redirect the user to the homepage and not for the download link.
Wait a litlle, this takes such time ;)
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My list of links will be updated soon: lots of new protection programs, broken links corrected and, if I could, redirect the user to the homepage and not for the download link. Wait a litlle, this takes such time ;)
Your efforts on this forum are well appreciated. Take all the time you need.....
Some things are worth waiting for! A "K" for your efforts.
techie
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Techie, thank you for your advice! I appreciate it so much :)
I have Avast! pro so have the scipt protection...I am now using ZA for my firewall--with XP firewall--SpyGuard and am learning how to use registry tools...some of them are very confusing so I will have to pick one that is easy to use :-[
You and so many others have been so helpful to me!
CoJo
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am learning how to use registry tools...some of them are very confusing so I will have to pick one that is easy to use :-
If you want to get your feet wet using Registry tools, try RegCleaner.
It is very simple and has some nice added features.
You can find it here: www.jv16.org (http://www.jv16.org)
Good luck
techie101
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Cojo,
I am now using ZA for my firewall--with XP firewall
I believe that most people will say that running two or more firewalls together might cause problems or just be counterproductive (using more resources). XP firewall is very basic and does not block anything outgoing. :'(
Zone Alarm free does a good job. Zone Alarm Pro does a great job. I was using Zone Alarm free until I heard about eTrust EZ Armor Security Suite. Computer Associates are offering the eTrust EZ Armor Security Suite http://www.my-etrust.com/microsoft/index.cfm? for FREE for 1 year to Microsoft users. I decided to give it a try since it is free for a year. The firewall appears to be Zone Alarm Pro 3.7.211 but is called EZ Firewall.
The installation for EZ Armor allows you to install both or either the Firewall or Virus Checker. They are separate applications. Since EZ Firewall is the same as Zone Alarm Pro, you'll get to use it for free for one year. Then you can use your favorite Anti Virus such as Avast along with it. I tried quite a few of the sites for port scans, etc. with all perfect results with few modifications to the firewall. ;D
If you want to get your feet wet using Registry tools, try RegCleaner. It is very simple and has some nice added features.
You can find it here: www.jv16.org
jv16.org has gone commercial and charge now for their software. They also discontinued their forum after the software developer linked up with a company who decided not to allow the public any access to previous free versions. After the beta testing (each release lasted only a month or two), the company decided to charge $29.95 without ever mentioning that they would discontinue the freeware version. They even changed the links of every website that had the free version to the new shareware version within a matter of days. See http://www.outpostfirewall.com/forum/showthread.php?s=35566a572d10f2ff31358d54b342b27a&threadid=7918&highlight=jv16 (http://www.outpostfirewall.com/forum/showthread.php?s=35566a572d10f2ff31358d54b342b27a&threadid=7918&highlight=jv16) for what others say about this. >:(
Easy Clean works well and can be found at http://www.toniarts.com/ecleane.htm (http://www.toniarts.com/ecleane.htm) or a beta verion at http://www.toniarts.com/betas.htm (http://www.toniarts.com/betas.htm). ;)
BTW - The people at this forum are really helpful and do their best at helping all. Vlk just released an updated Avast driver for a possible fix for the system resource problem some were having with Avast (I was one of them who started the post at http://www.avast.com/forum/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=1477;start=0 (http://www.avast.com/forum/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=1477;start=0)). My computer would start crashing after 4 to 8 hours with this problem that no one could solve at first. Well, with the replies from people like Technical, Dave50, Taikonaut and others and the hard work of Vlk, it appears that the problem has been solved. I am now going on 16 hours with no signs of crashing or slowing down. Hallelujah! It's great to be able to use Avast again. ;D
So I guess what I am saying is that this Avast community is one of the BEST around. ;D ;D ;D
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thank you, bbfi! I checked and I did have my XP firewall disabled :-[ ...been trying too many things at one time and confused myself! ;)
ZA has been doing good so far, but I will look in to the Easy Clean...it has to be easy for me to use, too ;D ...I have a reputation for installing things I don't know how to set up and messing up my computer :-X (that will be our little secret!)
I agree these forums are the BEST...everyone of my newbie/novice questions were answered quickly and kindly and correctly...what a wonderful and smart group!!
CoJo
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BB,
Thank you for your information regarding jv tools. I was unaware that they were taken over by Macecraft software. My freeware version works fine. There are many other freeware reg tools available. I have not used Easy Clean, but you seem to like it so a user recommendation is great.
However, we do differ on one point. Although XP FW is very basic, as a rule from experience, do not have 2 FWs running at the same time. There is nothing wrong with having a backup scanner (manual), but the statement that you are referring too indicates that 2 RESIDENT scanners don't work well. Maybe today their fine, but not tomorrow. It mainly depends on who the second AV is.
cojo,
You did not disable Windows XP firewall. It is disabled by default.
Although other users have had problems with ZA, I use it and Sygate in different systems without incident. ZA may be simplistic in some respects, but is a stable platform that does the job. When I first started years ago, ZA was easy to learn and install.
Sometime later I started writing rules and switched to Sygate.
I have used earlier Computer Associcate products with great success. (Innoculate anti-virus).
I guess I am revealing my age now. ;D
Good luck
techie
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hello, techie!
thanks for clearing up my confusion on that xp firewall...someone else had told me it was enabled by default ;D...but they are as new about this stuff as I am. Picture, if you will, 2 old ladies learning this together--we started out at work using typewriters :o ...now that does show my age!! but that's cool...at least I'm alive and loving it 8)
now, question please?? my ZA is not acting right...it won't let me into OE...I can, obviously, get here and my mail is at my ISP box, but it won't forward it to OE. Yesterday tech support had to walk me through a bunch of checks before we decided it was an update from ZA...so, I had to uninstall then reinstall, but dont know if the installation was the updated one or my old one.
why would it not forward my mail?? but let me surf?
I'm not doing anything on this machine until someone makes a suggestion--because every time I do, I make it worse :-[
CoJo
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Hi techie101,
However, we do differ on one point. Although XP FW is very basic, as a rule from experience, do not have 2 FWs running at the same time. There is nothing wrong with having a backup scanner (manual), but the statement that you are referring too indicates that 2 RESIDENT scanners don't work well. Maybe today their fine, but not tomorrow. It mainly depends on who the second AV is.
I think we have a slight problem with what we are talking about. I was talking firewalls. According to what you said, you are talking anti virus programs. Here we can agree 100%. Having backup manual anti virus programs is, in my opinon, a necessity now-a-days. Since no anti virus catches everything 100%, it's a good idea to run a manual check with a different one every so often. I myself have ANTIDOTE for PC Viruses - SuperLite, eScan Antivirus Toolkit Utility, and BitDefender Free Edition. And as my resident anti virus program, Avast. :D
Hi Cojo,
...now that does show my age!!
Hey, when I was in high school, we used slide rulers for math. That's just one step above the abacus. And computers used Fortran and were the size of small buildings and my first computer was a Timex Sinclair plugged into a TV! How's that for age? ;D
I had to uninstall then reinstall, but dont know if the installation was the updated one or my old one.
Open ZA, click on Overview and Product Info. Look at the Version Information and let us know what it is. We might be able to tell you if you installed an update or not. ;)
why would it not forward my mail?? but let me surf?
You probably have the email client blocked by ZA and your browser allowed to access the internet. :-\
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BB,
I HAD A TIMEX SINCLAIR !!! Oh Gee Whiz, I'm old. ;D
Cojo,
If your email is not being sent on, Cojo is correct. You may have ZA blocking the provider OR Avast is not set up correctly.
Shut down ZA (I never like doing this but....) and try to access your OE.
If it still fails to download to your computer, then I would suspect that you need to run the Avast Mail Wizard and check the settings.
It is a very simple process which we can discuss if you need to do it.
techie
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;D ...such a relief to know that there is more than one old geezer here 8)
I gave up on ZA! Installed EasyGuard firewall and like it so far...fingers crossed! easy to set up and easy to use...prime considerations for this old bird ;)
I also do a one time scan with another product just in case...
another question!! what about disabling system restore when I do any scan? what exactly is the procedure?
Thanks,
CoJo
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Cojo,
Never heard of EasyGuard firewall. Where did you find that one from? ???
Can't help you with disabling system restore when scanning. I totally disabled it and use a product called Restore It. Microsoft's System Restore was very unreliable on my system. It would not make daily restore points and if I made a restore point myself, it would sometimes disappear after a day or two. Many forums I went to discussed this problem and that's why other software developers have alternate restore programs for Win XP. :o
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go to start menu right cligh my computer slect properties then go to the system restore tab and check the turn off system restore box (in XP) :D if you havent done so. I turned my laptop one off too mac has their own restore function wich is way better ;D :D
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how much is the new firewall you have cojo?
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CoJo,
I recommend against routinely disabling System Restore to perform scans; do so only if necessary to remove some malware. I might even leave infected files in SR. First, 99% of the time they can't do any harm unless you roll your system back to a state wherein they're reinstalled. At that point, you'd be no worse off than at the point where you discovered them in the first place. Second, over time, as older restore points are replaced by newer ones, the files will eventually be removed from your system anyway. Third, it's possible that avast! will intercept their reinstallation during a restore and prevent it, if properly configured. Perhaps someone from the A-team can comment on that.
The reason for not disabling SR: This removes all the restore points potentially leaving you up the proverbial creek without a paddle. I can't verify this point directly since I've never disabled it; but, Microsoft documents this feature as working this way. I've seen plenty of posts in other forums indicating that this is so, some including posts from MVPs at the Microsoft forums. Since I use Windows XP, I don't know whether this is true under other versions of Windlows like Windows 2000 or Windows ME. I've seen posts recommending disabling SR that either vaguely imply restore points aren't lost or fail to mention this consequence, but I can't say whether that is because it's true or because the author had no knowledge of it or didn't consider it a big deal.
Should malware strike that wreaks total havoc on your system, you can save yourself a big headache by having some means of restoring your computer to a previous state. Leave SR running unless you have and regularly use another application, like Drive Image, that allows you to make and save an exact image of your hard drive, or like GoBack mentioned earlier that creates restore points automagically. Otherwise, you could be looking at hours (days?) of work to reinstall your OS and applications from their installation and/or recovery disks and to retrieve your data (documents, music and video files, e-mail, etc.) from a backup. You'd also have to retrieve any downloaded applications from the Internet or P2P networks and reinstall them, unless you backed up their installation files. After that, you're still looking at what could be more hours of reconfiguring Windows and your applications, especially if some of them were difficult to set up the first time. It's posssible that you might never get your system back the way it was.
Regards,
Hornus
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thanks for the info, Mac :)
EZ Guard is free for use for one year...it comes with a AV as well, but you can set it up with only the firewall...which is what I did. But now I can do the "back up" scan once in awhile.
I would have to search for who on the forum recommended it
System restore never seemed to work right for me!
CoJo
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Hornus, thank you so much!
I better understand now :)
which one is the easiest to use--GoBack or DriveImage? most times I have gotten into trouble has been from using something "too smart"--advanced--for me :-[
Peace!
CoJo
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If you want to get your feet wet using Registry tools, try RegCleaner. It is very simple and has some nice added features.
You can find it here: www.jv16.org
jv16.org has gone commercial and charge now for their software. They also discontinued their forum after the software developer linked up with a company who decided not to allow the public any access to previous free versions. After the beta testing (each release lasted only a month or two), the company decided to charge $29.95 without ever mentioning that they would discontinue the freeware version. They even changed the links of every website that had the free version to the new shareware version within a matter of days. See http://www.outpostfirewall.com/forum/showthread.php?s=35566a572d10f2ff31358d54b342b27a&threadid=7918&highlight=jv16 (http://www.outpostfirewall.com/forum/showthread.php?s=35566a572d10f2ff31358d54b342b27a&threadid=7918&highlight=jv16) for what others say about this. >:(
So I guess what I am saying is that this Avast community is one of the BEST around. ;D ;D ;D
Is it legal to 'release' the old free version of jv16PowerTools?
I have it and in the past I send it by email to some avast! users.
Does anybody have a homepage for uploading it (if it's legal of course).
The last freeware version was 1.3.0.19 (today it is on 1.4 RC2).
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BTW - The people at this forum are really helpful and do their best at helping all. Vlk just released an updated Avast driver for a possible fix for the system resource problem some were having with Avast (I was one of them who started the post at http://www.avast.com/forum/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=1477;start=0 (http://www.avast.com/forum/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=1477;start=0)). My computer would start crashing after 4 to 8 hours with this problem that no one could solve at first. Well, with the replies from people like Technical, Dave50, Taikonaut and others and the hard work of Vlk, it appears that the problem has been solved. I am now going on 16 hours with no signs of crashing or slowing down. Hallelujah! It's great to be able to use Avast again. ;D
Like bbfi, I do recommend the download of the system driver of avast! (C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\aswmon2.sys). You have to disable avast!, copy the file, reenable the residents again. Untill next program release (avast! team promise before Christmas), each VPS update will 'turn' the file back and the user must copy it again (so, save the new file in another folder for it). ;)
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BB,
Although XP FW is very basic, as a rule from experience, do not have 2 FWs running at the same time.
Techie, I cannot imagine your age ;D But I used Innoculate too...
I haven't experienced any trouble using XP internal firewall and ZoneAlarm for years... :-\ They work fine togheter for me 8)
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Which one is the easiest to use--GoBack or DriveImage? most times I have gotten into trouble has been from using something "too smart"--advanced--for me :-[
GoBack 3 Personal Edition provides basic hard drive recovery functionality. GoBack 3 Deluxe provides additional features such as file recovery.
It is a system recovery tool (http://www.roxio.com). It's automatic and run in the background. I do recommend (it save my life a lot of times).
With DriveImage you can create or restore an image file, a complete (or partial) backup of the whole system (programs installed, and so on). It manages the whole HDD or its partitions as well (http://www.powerquest.com). It does not run in background, it is a backup utility. ;) (I recommend it too but there are some freeware tools that does the same) ;)
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CoJo,
I can't make a specific recomendation, but I'll tell you what I know (or think I know :D ) about GoBack and give you some guidelines you can use to make a decision. But, I urge you to do some research on the Internet. Look for other rollback utilities. Read some reviews. Visit some some forums and form your own opinions.
About Goback. It runs in the background monitoring disk activity and recording all changes. It's no substitue for a backup utility; mainly it's used to recover from installation of bad drivers, applicatons, software updates, and infections from malware, just like System Restore. When you boot your computer, GB displays a splash screen before Windows loads, giving you the option to disable the program or initiate a recovery. Once Windows has booted, you can access it from the Start Menu or from an icon in the System Tray to configure it.
The good news: GoBack 3.0 Personal Edition comes with Norton SystemWorks 2002, and I installed it on my parents' Windows 98SE-based computer about 3 years ago. It's never caused caused a problem, and I used it once to restore their computer. I've read numerous posts in various forums that it's a great product, superior to System Restore, and has pulled many butts outta the fire. It's easy to install and set up. Unlike SR, which doesn't monitor data files, GB monitors all changes to a hard drive, which means when it restores a hard drive it also restores the data as well. For example, if something corrupts your My Documents directory causing you to lose all your data, GoBack will restore it. I didn't notice any performance impact on their machine, 600 Mhz Celeron with 256 MB of memory (originally 64 MB when GB was installed) and a 20 MB hard drive.
Now the bad news: I also run NSW 2002 on my computer, and the option to install GoBack was disabled when I installed the suite. Apparently it's incompatible with Windows XP. Possibly it's just that the installer recognized that System Restore was running, but I believe I checked the manual at the time (about a year ago) and discovered that it's the former. Newer versions of it may be comatible with XP though. The personal edition only supports one restore point, but I suspect the full version doesn't have this limitation. (I certainly wouldn't pay for the upgrade if it did.)
The flip side of GoBack's ability to restore data is that you also can lose data, and recently installed applications, drivers, and software updates as well. Conceptually, GB makes a snapshot of your drive to use as a baseline and records all subsequent changes to it. When it restores the hard drive, it looks at the drive's current state along with the baseline information and the recorded changes to determine how to do the rollback. As a result, during a recovery new files and the changes to the existing ones are lost. Also, any deleted files will reappear (which can be a good thing if you deleted them accidentally ;) ). Another implication of this is that if you use GB, you should remember to periodically disable and reenable it to minimize the loss should you need to use it to roll back your computer. Like System Restore, if you disable it, you lose the ability to roll back your computer past the point where you reenable it.
Because it monitors and records all changes, you should disable GB before defragmenting the hard drive, for two reasons. One, its continuous recording in its binary file of changes to the drive can interfere with defraggers. The defragger notices the changes to GB's binary file causing it to restart; System Restore doesn't cause this problem because it doesn't record all disk updates. (Norton Speed Disk does seem to be "GoBack-aware," but I noticed that the number of restarts was drastically reduced by disabling GB before defragging the hard drive on my parents' computer.) Second, all the changes made to the hard drive during defragging fills GB's binary store. It's speculation on my part, but presumably this means that when the store is full, older changes are incorporated into the baseline to make room to save the new ones, which limits how far you can go back.
Unlike System Restore, you'll find plenty of posts in forums from people complaining that GoBack crashed or trashed their computer. But as I said, there are a lot of people singing its praises, loudly. The last time I actively monitored this, I remember estimating that sentiments ranged from 60/40 in favor of GB to 40/60 against it, depending upon the forum and time frame. This leads me to conclude that overall it was about six to one and half a dozen to the other.
Based on the above, I don't see a compelling reason to disable System Restore and switch to GoBack.
See my next post for information about drive imaging tools.
Regards,
Hornus
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Now the bad news: I also run NSW 2002 on my computer, and the option to install GoBack was disabled when I installed the suite. Apparently it's incompatible with Windows XP. Possibly it's just that the installer recognized that System Restore was running, but I believe I checked the manual at the time (about a year ago) and discovered that it's the former. Newer versions of it may be comatible with XP though. The personal edition only supports one restore point, but I suspect the full version doesn't have this limitation. (I certainly wouldn't pay for the upgrade if it did.)
The version shipped with Norton SystemWorks 2003 is compatible with XP (although, I have disabled the internal System Recovery of XP, which is a poor monitor compared to GoBack).
The flip side of GoBack's ability to restore data is that you also can lose data, and recently installed applications, drivers, and software updates as well. Conceptually, GB makes a snapshot of your drive to use as a baseline and records all subsequent changes to it. When it restores the hard drive, it looks at the drive's current state along with the baseline information and the recorded changes to determine how to do the rollback. As a result, during a recovery new files and the changes to the existing ones are lost. Also, any deleted files will reappear (which can be a good thing if you deleted them accidentally ;) ). Another implication of this is that if you use GB, you should remember to periodically disable and reenable it to minimize the loss should you need to use it to roll back your computer. Like System Restore, if you disable it, you lose the ability to roll back your computer past the point where you reenable it.
Yes, the user will lost any change after the restoration point. If the user can set a large 'backup' file (gobackio.bin), it will not be necessary to disable and reenable it from time to time.
Because it monitors and records all changes, you should disable GB before defragmenting the hard drive, for two reasons. One, its continuous recording in its binary file of changes to the drive can interfere with defraggers. The defragger notices the changes to GB's binary file causing it to restart; System Restore doesn't cause this problem because it doesn't record all disk updates. (Norton Speed Disk does seem to be "GoBack-aware," but I noticed that the number of restarts was drastically reduced by disabling GB before defragging the hard drive on my parents' computer.) Second, all the changes made to the hard drive during defragging fills GB's binary store. It's speculation on my part, but presumably this means that when the store is full, older changes are incorporated into the baseline to make room to save the new ones, which limits how far you can go back.
Disabling GoBack during defragmentation will speed up the process, but defragmentantion could be run with GoBack enabled (Norton Speed Disk or O&O utility). Anyway, Goback history (ability to roll back) will be lost. In other words, it´s better to disable Goback as Hornus said.
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CoJo,
I can only speak about drive imaging tools in generalities. Two of the most well known and well respected are Norton Ghost and Drive Image. There are other good tools available that will get the job done, but these two usually come out on top in comparisons. Mostly the differences between tools are things like feature set, supported hardware and media, ease of use, speed, and size of image file. Reliabilty is another issue; sometimes a product has an excellent feature set and performance but contains serious bugs or exhibits quirky behavior.
Like the combatants in the perpetual battles for supremacy between AMD and Intel or between nVidia and ATi, each has a fervent following that roots for the other to get the snot kicked out of it in the reviews. Both have gotten good to excellent reviews over the years, with one or the other coming out on top. And like the other opponents, these two tend to leap frog each other. The October 2003 issue of Maximum PC, a magazine I respect and trust, selected Norton Ghost 2003 for its Ultimate PC Toolkit. (They also tested Drive Image 7.0 and Acronis True Image 6.0.) These guys don't do candy-ass reviews. If a product sucks (wind), they say so in very blunt terms. I recently saw a scathing review for a product advertised on the adjacent page.
Drive imaging tools are not substitutes for backup software. It's basically all or nothing. While you can image a drive as a whole or pick a partion on a drive, you can't select which files or directories to save. A drive imaging tool's purpose is to a create an image of a hard drive partition that can be stored and used later for disaster recovery, hardware upgrades, or system cloning. Using a drive imager for disaster recovery or to aid in migrating the contents from an existing drive to a new (read that bigger, faster, better) one are probably the most common uses among typical home users. Power users (read that Technical) can use it to install and test software under different OS's or combinations of software for compatibility with complete confidence that they can return quickly and easily to a preferred system configuration.
These tools create a compressed image that can be stored on some other media and then decompressed to populate a hard drive. For a typical home user this means a second hard drive (or a second partition on the same hard drive) and optical media like DVD's and CD's. Other output options include network drives, tape drives, external hard drives, and removable drives (like those made by Iomega).
Here are some key points to keep in mind when selecting a drive imaging tool. Good product reviews will usually include most of this information, but some of it you'll have to obtain from other users.
Does it support the platform on which you want to use it? Does it work under the operating system(s) that you're currently using or may be using in the future. This isn't a big issue right now, but it was when Windows XP first came out. 64-bit PC's are available now, and the 64-bit Windows is expected in the first quarter of next year. Does the application support the formats of the hard drives you want to image, FAT, FAT32, and NTFS? The upcoming Longhorn release of Windows XP will support a new disk format. Does the application support the devices and media that you want to use for archiving. I don't know if it's still true, but previously it wasn't enough to just check whether the media was supported but also specific optical drives. Although, for example, many products claimed support for CD-R and/or CD-RW media when they became available, they just wouldn't work with some brands and/or models of drives. Users of tape backup systems went through similar headaches as new higher capacity tape drives and cartridges emerged. Does the product's developer have a reputation for quickly delivering reliable updates to support new OS's, backup devices, and media?
If you're archiving to optical, tape, or removable disk drives, the efficiency of the compressor/decompressor becomes very important. One measure is the size of the image file that is produced. You don't want to do more swapping or purchase, store, and manage more media than necessary. Speed is another important measure, how quickly the application can compress and decompress the image file during archive and restore operations respectively. It's bad enough to have to babysit the process to swap out full media, but it's excruciating to sit while the application slowly grinds away at its task. If it takes too long or involves too much disc swapping, you'll be unlikely to create the images as often as you should.
The biggest influence on speed concerns the type of drive and media you use. There's a wide variety of options as noted above. I'll make a simplifying assumption that you have a stand-alone computer (can't use a network drive); therefore, your options are limited to using a hard drive or an optical drive. If you can archive to a hard drive, this will be much faster (HD transfer rates are much greater than OD rates) and easier (no disc swapping). Using an HD, you have few basic ways to go. In the first scenario, you have a single hard drive with a single partition on it with little free space left. Your options are limited to archiving the image file on an optical drive. The second case is that you have a single hard drive with 2 partitions on it, C: drive and D: drive, each with sufficient free space. The third is similar to the first except that you have sufficient free space. You get the additional option to use a partition manager to create another partition using some of that free space, giving you a C: drive and a D: drive, each with sufficient remaining free space. In the final scenario, you have 2 physical hard drives, C: and D:, each with sufficient free space. In the latter 3 cases, you could opt to make a drive image of C: and place it on D: and to make an image of D: and place it on C:. The advantages of using 2 physical drives are that it is faster and that if you use a single hard drive and it craps out, your image files go with it.
If your storage options are limited to optical media, you may have a choice of using either CD or DVD media. Decide based based on your priorites, cost or speed. As for cost, CD media is cheaper than DVD media, all other things being equal. As for speed, this isn't as easy a decision to make. Some DVD burners are faster than some CD burners, and vice-versa. There are other factors that affect how fast a drive can burn a CD or DVD (it's not uncommon for a drive with a lower speed rating to outperform one with a higher rating), but in the absense of any other information, you can use the drive's speed rating as a general indicator. A CD burner that writes at 1X transfers data at 150 KB/sec; a DVD burner that writes at 1X transfers data at 1.38 MB/sec, or approximately 9 times faster.
How much of the operation can you perform in Windows itself, and what's your tolerance for less than optimal ease of use? None of the drive imaging applicatons can work totally within the Windows environment. The OS doesn't provide the low-level disk access required, and the application couldn't handle the simultaneous use of the hard drive even if it did. Just a few years ago, users had to shut down Windows and boot into DOS from a floppy disk and run a utility from the command line using switches and parameters to configure and run a job. Most modern drive imagers are nearly seemless. Users run the app under Windows where they configure a job, but they still have to boot from a floppy containing a DOS program with a Windows shell to complete it. The best are as seemless as it gets; they restart the computer for you from within the application, which then boots into a companion program on the hard drive that runs the job, automatically rebooting into Windows afterward. This works the same as chkdsk or Norton Disk Doctor when you configure them to automatically fix any errors.
Does the tool contain rudimentary partitioning capabilities. For example, you're replacing an old 40 GB hard drive that crapped out with a brand-spankin' new 200 GB monster. If you have more than a handful of brain cells (and I know for a fact that all avast! users do), you can easily see that 160 GB of hard drive space will be left over. Will the utility allow you to deal with this itself, or do you have to take extra steps and run other applications to handle it. Can it let you expand the imaged partition to fill the entire drive, configure multiple partitiions, resize them at will, and so on? Can it handle mult-boot disks? Again, high pain-the-ass factor equals low usage rate.
Are there any unique capabilities that make it a cut above the competition? As stated above, these tools are not backup software. But some permit you to select specific files or directories to recover. This feature can be very handy at times.
Regards,
Hornus
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Hornus, you and techie love long posts ;D
Anyway, you give a k@rma. I have to copy & paste your posts for reading in my leasure time 8)
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Technical,
I have to copy & paste your posts for reading in my leasure time
Sometimes I have to create them in Notepad just so I can see enough at one time to keep my train of thought coherent.
My God, my friends' accusations are true after all: I'm a windbag! Oh well ... I'll have plenty of time with nothing to say when I'm dead. ;D
Regards,
Hornus
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whoa!
my teachers have given their student much to study :)
please...no tests!!
I will research and study, though. There is so much to learn, but I like it.
Thanks!
CoJo
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Technical,
Hornus is now KING of the LONG POST !!!
I wasn't that bad....was I? hahaha
techie
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;D
...and I am still studying ;) so I don't mess up my computer :-*
Hornus? NO TESTS! all right??
this old bird needs more time with her glossary of terms in order to study ;D
Seriously, thank you for the information. You, techie, and especially Technical have helped me tremendously!
I will bake cookies for all of you ;)
CoJo
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Cojo,
Cookies...Yummie!
but you have to drop in a splash of the Southern Comfort!
Take Care of yourself,
I'll be here as will Technical and the rest of the gang if you need us.
techie ;)
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;D ;D ;D...that's the only way southern gals know how to make them!
I'll be posting soon in one of the forums about the trouble I am having with Outlook express...sigh...
CoJo
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what trouble?
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Technical,
Yes, the user will lost any change after the restoration point. If the user can set a large 'backup' file (gobackio.bin), it will not be necessary to disable and reenable it from time to time.
I think you misunderstood my point there. Consider this situation:
You enable GoBack.
You install 5 applications over the next month.
You roll back your system 2 weeks later because of a bad installation.
At this point you've lost all 5 of applications you wanted to keep. If you had disabled and then reenabled GB, say, after installing 4 of them, you'd lose only the last one.
CoJo,
Just let me know about those cookies so I can re-enable them in my firewall. ;D I can guarantee no tests if you make chocolate chip cookies, with a splash of Creme de Cacao. Ummmm! 8)
Here's a link to a pretty decent online dictionary. Besides an English Dictionary, it includes a Computer Dictionary, Thesaurus, Dream Dictionary, and Medical Dictionary.
http://www.hyperdictionary.com (http://www.hyperdictionary.com)
I'll deny using either of the last 2. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. ;)
All,
None of the drive imaging applicatons can work totally within the Windows environment.
I didn't get this quite right. What I should have said is that they cannot make an image of the System Disk, the one containing the operating system, without shutting down Windows. Some (many? most? the best?) can image nonsystem disks completely within Windows.
OK, above and beyond what I just wrote, I read a review of Drive Image 7.0 in the December 2003 issue of Computer Shopper today, and the author states that this utility is the first to be able to image a system disk within the Windows environment, and that you can continue to use the drive while it does it. This contradicts the statement in Maximum PC that DI requires a boot floppy or CD to read from/write to the boot disk. This and the inabilty to reliably resize NTFS partitions were the reasons given for not choosing DI for their toolkit.
Regards,
Hornus
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Mac, hello!
OE is being bad again. >:( or I'm doing something wrong again >:( the font I picked does not "stick", it's not erasing/deleting, etc, I guess the settings I chose are not permanet...I didn't think I had to change them back everytime I opened it. And the screen "bleeds" through when I click off a message...
Nuts!! It works fine for a few days, then it starts over again. the only other mail client my ISP gives tech support on is Netscape, and when I tried that, none of my newsgroups or addies were imported(?) so I had to go back to OE.
Hornus, thanks for the info on the dictionary...I like all of them ;D ...I am a retired nurse so the medical one was ok, too :)
Special chocolate chip cookies will arrive for Christmas!
the rest of the post, I must study!
Peace to All,
CoJo
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font setting must me changed in options not in the email for them to be permanent :D as for the "bleending through I have that trouble too and dont know the cause anyone else know an awnser
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Anyway MacLover since you're already here and this thread is so bloated I'd also like to ask you a question: do you have any experience linking WinXP and MacOS X machines together? I.e. what do I need to do i I have one XP box, one MacOS box and one crossed ethernet cable, and want to put these things together?
Please gimme details - I'm a Mac novice (although I do something about XP already :))
Thanks
Vlk
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Mac...that's just it...I set them in the options but they don't stay the way I set them. And the display of most messages has the top part of many words cut off...not just from one person, but from a variety of email friends. I am really disgusted with it!! >:(
Vlk, I am so sorry this thread got so bloated :(
do you want me to start a different thread?
also, why would my avast! icons suddenly have a disabled mark on them as soon as I start to sign off? they never did that before.
CoJo
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this article explains in far more detail than i can ( and in beginner terms i mean REAL beginner terms)if this does not awnser your question scroll down and it has an related links section that might help. read it all it tells details on what OS i.e. OS X ond win 200, OS X and 98 etc.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=19652 (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=19652)
If you want the AppleShare IP 6 instructions i can give them as well
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cojo the disabled mark means the scanner is not active.
I think when you shut down windows is shutting down avast before itself
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CoJo,
The display problems may be a bad video driver, a hardware device conflict, or a problem with DirectX.
For the first, check Microsoft's, your PC manufacturer's, your PC motherboard manufacturer's, your video card manufacturer's, and/or your video card chipset manufacturer's web site for available updates.
For the second, open Device Manager (right-click on My Computer and select Properties from the Context Menu). When the dialogue box appears click the Device Manager command button on the Hardware tab. When the application window opens, select Devices by type on the View Menu. Search the left-hand pane for Display adapters, expand it (click the '+' symbotl) and look for a warning (yellow) or error (red) icon.
For the last, you can run the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. Type dxdiag in the Run Box (click Start -> Run or simultaneously press the Windows Key and 'R'). When the application window opens, examine the DirectX Files and Display tabs and look for errors in the Notes section at the bottom of the windows. On the Display tab you can also click the Test DirectDraw and Test Direct3D command buttons to test those features. If you run the tests, don't have a heart attack when your monitor snaps and goes black during the tests. It's just the software resetting the display mode for the tests. It's possible that you need to install the latest version of DirectX (9.0b); there were issues with 9.0a.
Regards,
Hornus
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Hornus, thank you...again!
I did the testing and everything was all right but the Network tab...it had yellow warnings but I could not find how to fix it >:( I did go to the help center for diagnostics and it checked things for a long time then stuck at 99% formatting. It gave no other information i.e. reboot...so I don't know if anything was actually corrected.
Now my OE window doesn't fit the screen correctly...most of the bottom half is missing >:( just the very bottom, though.
I don't have the preview pane for security.
and I don't understand why Avast! would be closing before windows would and it never did it before...I have not changed anything. Boot scan and through scan show nothing...so, is it probably windows itself?
sorry for all the questions!! but thank you for all the suggestions...I really like the dictionary site. I'm looking up all the words/terms that I don't understand yet.
CoJo
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Cojo,
Now my OE window doesn't fit the screen correctly...most of the bottom half is missing just the very bottom, though.
I don't have the preview pane for security.
This might be a stupid question to ask, but can you move your OE window around the screen by clicking at the top and dragging it? If so, you can change the size by going to the top and when the cursor changes to a double arrow up and down, drag it down the screen (maybe half way or so). Now click on the top of the OE window and drag the whole window up until the whole window can be seen. I could be wrong with this suggestion and maybe you already tried it, but it's worth a try here anyway. ;)
and I don't understand why Avast! would be closing before windows would and it never did it before...I have not changed anything. Boot scan and through scan show nothing...so, is it probably windows itself?
If I am not mistaken, I believe that this started to happen on my computer when version 4.1 was released. In previous versions, shutting down Windows took a long time and according to posts at this forum, it was due to Avast taking its time in shutting down. When version 4.1 was released, I also noticed the Avast icon changing when shutting down, but the shut down time was decreased quite a bit. :D
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CoJo,
About Your OE Window Size Problem:
I assume what you're describing is a window that's too big to fit on the screen. I've seen this before; it plagued me over a 3-month period. When it first started, overcoming it was easier, and it didn't happen often, perhaps once every other week. As time went on it happened more frequently, sometimes as often as 3-4 times a day, and it got harder to correct. Eventually it stopped on its own. It occurred one more time after that, about 6 months later, then never happened again. It normally occurred in the same application but not always, and I'm afraid I don't remember which one.
The computer was running either Windows NT or Windows 98SE. (I can't remember whether it happened on my desktop or my laptop.) IIRC, and it's hard because it was at least 2 1/2 years ago, at first minimizing/maximizing/restoring the window corrected it. Then that stopped having any effect, and I had to close and restart the application. Occasionally, the only way to deal with it was to shutdown and reboot.
Does it happen to any application besides OE?
About Your Color Bleeding Problem:
Did you recently change any display adaptor or monitor settings like resolution, color depth, refresh rate, DPI, hardware acceleration?
About Your Corrupted Font Problem:
Do the messages that don't display correctly all come from the same people, or is the effect random?
If you receive one new message from a particular person that displays incorrectly, are all the following messages displayed incorrectly? Do that person's older messages still display properly.
If you forward one of the bad messages to someone else, can it be viewed properly? If that person then forwards it back to you, can you view it properly?
Does this happen with a specific font or set of fonts, or is it across the board?
Are you viewing your mail in HTML format or plain text format?
When you changed the font setting in OE, did you change any encoding settings?
Did you recently change any appearance settings like normal vs. large vs extra large font size, any effects like font smoothing or advanced settings changes?
About Your Changing Font Problem:
Do you use a lot of different fonts, I mean some huge number like 20 or 30? The reason I ask is that Windows tries to load the fonts you use most often when it starts, to improve application performance. At least it did at one time. Limiting the number of fonts one used was one recommendation to increase system performance, by reducing the OS's memory footprint and hence and lower the amount of page swapping. I wonder if there's a limit to the number of fonts Windows will keep resident at one time and what happens if it is exceeded?
Did these problems all show up at the same time, one right after the other, or some other pattern you've noticed? Does starting Windows in Safe Mode have any impact?
Regards,
Hornus
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hello, my favorite Hornus :)
the OE window size resolved itself...I got mad and shut it down and when I logged on again, it was fine.
and I had not done anything before--as far as changing anything--or after...'twas magic, I guess.
the color bleeding...it happens randomly and I hate it...makes me think my computer is going kaput!
email...this is random, also! I use one font and plain text.
this is why I don't like OE...it's a little brother to the Big Bill who can't get his OS and security right...sorry, am not a fan of Gates
anyway, OE hasn't worked right from the time I got this dell from hell back in April...
come to think of it...the computer hasn't lived up to my expectations at all...at one point, tech support was trying to help me and I needed to use the set up disk and when I did, Norton flashed up that a malicious script had been detected...when I told the tech, he had me remove the disk and we fixed the problem in safe mode(?)...
dark screen with writing in white and he had me modifying a whole bunch of stuff with different prompts.
cojo
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cojo try the Mozilla email client from http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/ (http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/)
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thank you, Mac...I'll check it after we have Thanksgiving dinner :)
cojo
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CoJo,
Have you resolved your color bleeding and font problems? This quote is from an article at http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article07-004 (http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article07-004).
In fact, most visual problems (flicker, mouse cursor problems, and even errant font behavior) can be attributed to buggy video drivers.
Other than to check for updated drivers, I have these suggestions:
1) Check your display settings. If your monitor doesn't support the display mode you have configured, this can cause problems like some of those you've experienced. Verify that the resolution and refresh rate are supported by your monitor. Resolutions and refresh rates of 800 x 600 at 75 Hz. or lower and 1024 x 768 at 72 Hz. or lower are usually acceptible for 17" CRT monitors. 19" CRT monitors can handle higher settings, 15" monitor's lower. Generally speaking, the higher the resolution, the lower the maximum refresh rate you can use. Check your manual for recommendations and maximum settings.
Contrary to the common advice to use the highest refresh rate supported by your display adapter and monitor, you should use the lowest setting that eliminates flicker, which causes eye strain. A high refresh rate is only important for those who need the maximum performance -- high frame rates -- from their video card, e.g. those playing demanding games. (If you don't know whether you fit in this category, then the odds are 1000:1 that you aren't.) Setting the refresh rate higher than you need, which requires more bandwidth from your monitor, can result in a loss of focus, i.e., a slightly fuzzy display.
2) Do you leave your monitor on for long periods, say a week or more? If so, you may need to degauss your screen. This happens automatically when you turn on most (many, better ?) modern monitors -- that's the buzzing sound you hear), but if you leave it on continuously, residual magnetism builds up around the tube and its coils, eventually creating visual distortions. This can result from your monitor's interaction with the Earth's magnet field and other sources like unshielded speakers or a motor from a nearby appliance -- like the air conditioner sitting in the window behind your desk. (You didn't think I could see that did you? ;) ) Look for a degaussing button on your monitor's front bezel, or check its OSD (On Screen Display) menu for a control. It's only necessary to press the button or active the on-screen control once; repeated use provides no benefit. If your monitor doesn't have a degaussing feature, just cycle its power off and on once in a while.
Neither of these are an issue if you're using an LCD flat panel display.
Regards,
Hornus
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how is thunderbird? It has no installer all you do is create a folder and extract all the files to it and double click on the main app and it loads