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#1
07-09-2006, 11:43 AM
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PC Problem...again...
I know some of you guys/gals have managed to help me out in regards to pc related problems before, so here's another one for anyone game.
My pc doesn't like to start. During the startup process, before winxp opens up and everything...almost as soon as I hit the switch, it tries to detect the slave and master drives, which as I understand it (when it works) it seems to be detecting my dvd burner and dvd player drives, at least that's what it says it's doing...that's when it works. However, MOST of the time, and with increasing frequency, it'll say it's unable to detect these drives, then (if I leave it on long enough) it'll say there's been a boot error and to insert system disk....problem, if that means windows, I have no fucking idea where it is.... So anyways, sometimes I'll have to hit the reset or power button about 10 times before the thing will detect the drives and continue starting up as it should, it's at the point now that I'm wondering if each time I use it will be the last...so, yeah, I'd rather not pay to have a simple problem that's eluding me fixed, so....anyone biting? what do you think the problem is? Also, I don't know if it's related, but to provide full info - When I shut down, it can take up to 2 minutes to actually turn off (something that never happened in the past) and, when the pc DOES start up, and gets into windows, I hear two "error" sounds, and a window appears...I'm not sure how important this information is, but I took a screenshot of the window in question all the same.
__________________
The door opened...you got in..:rolleyes: 
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#2
07-09-2006, 12:07 PM
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The extra info you post is important. mwsbar.dll indicates you have a spyware infection. The MyWebSearch "browser helper". This is probably why it is taking a long time to start up and shut down your computer. I bet if you have one piece of adware/spyware, you have others too.
As for the difficulty in detecting your optical drives - I am not sure if these are related. From what you describe the error with these is occurring in POST, before Windows is even starting up. Does your computer make any unusual beeps when it first starts up? Basically, it is important to work out if the problem with your optical drives is occurring in POST or as Windows loads. The latter could be due to your spyware problem, the former is more likely to be a hardware or BIOS configuration problem.
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#3
07-09-2006, 12:14 PM
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I would say the drive thing is occuring PRE/or AS windows loads, as it's part of the very first thing that appears onscreen as soon as I hit the power switch.
I don't think any settings have changed...I don't generally fuck with anything I don't know about, and well, ...that's a lot of things I don't fuck with. Well, the pc has always beeped once right after I hit the power switch...so that's as normal as it's ever been. As for spyware, I have spybot s&d, which has usually done me well, and avast for my virus stuff...but I acknowledge there's some things certain programs of this nature can miss... What are your reccomendations?
__________________
The door opened...you got in..:rolleyes: Last edited by cheebacheeba; 07-09-2006 at 12:17 PM.
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#4
07-09-2006, 12:43 PM
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For spyware I would suggest a couple of things.
It doesn't hurt to use more than 1 antispyware program. I use Spybot S&D, Adaware Personal SE (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/) and Microsoft Defender (www.microsoft.com/spyware). The problem is, once you get spyware, it is really hard to remove. It can leave bits of itself behind, and can damage system files when you try to remove it. The best thing to do is scan with a number of antispyware programs, try removing it with these programs, but if that doesn't work, google for manual removal tools or instructions. (ie use the antispyware program to identify your spyware, then google the name +removal). Unfortunately, if you have a fair bit of spyware, often the only way to be sure that it is all gone and that your system isn't too damaged by its removal is to reinstall windows. It can take ages to manually remove some of this stuff if you have a number of spyware files on your system. Its a real pain in the arse. Make sure you backup your data before doing this as you will have to reformat your hard drive if you reinstall. Other things - use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer (www.getfirefox.com). A better browser that isn't as open to attacks as IE. That alone will prevent a lot of spyware. And make sure you have automatic updating on for Windows XP - they release security patches every month. As for your optical drives, it is hard to tell - can you boot from the optical drive (is BIOS set to boot from an optical drive before the hard drive)? If BIOS is set like this, put a bootable disc in (eg original Windows XP CDROM or a linux disc) and see if it boots. This will bypass starting Windows and if it works ok, then the problem is in Windows not hardware. Last edited by ManchestrMorgue; 07-09-2006 at 12:54 PM.
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#5
07-09-2006, 12:53 PM
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If it is a hardware problem, it is either the drives (2 drives going bad at once is unlikely) or the IDE interface, or something software has done to the drives - reportedly they can be damaged by poorly written software stepping down the drives.
Last edited by ManchestrMorgue; 07-09-2006 at 01:05 PM.
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#6
07-09-2006, 01:07 PM
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check your hard disk (my computer, right click on your drive, properties, tools, error checking, pick both options then start - it will probably tell you it needs to schedule it for the restart)
during the POST it will detect (assuming the bios is set to auto detect the drives) your drives (flopy/hard/optical) the error - insert system disc - is telling you that it cannot find the files needed to boot from your hard disc
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#7
07-09-2006, 01:51 PM
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You can see if any of your system files are missing or damaged by running the following command:
sfc /scannow
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#8
07-09-2006, 05:05 PM
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Hitman pro 2
..maybe this will help...it takes 1 hour to install and 1 hour to use....if you choose to use it dont do anything while the program runs...what kind of windows do you have and have you found it ?
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#9
07-09-2006, 06:13 PM
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Found the disk under the bed.
I might throw that in next time it demands the boot disk and see what happens. As for virus/spyware type stuff, I downloaded and ran a few programs (I usually use spybot and avast), I got the trial AVG which is always pretty solid, and got something else from the grisoft site called ewido anti-spyware...spent the last few hours doing systemwide scans with all of them, and yeah, found quite a bit of stuff. So, if this doesn't sort out the whole lot, I'm gonna reformat the thing, and reinstall the currently updated anti-virus/spyware stuff BEFORE I go online at all...
__________________
The door opened...you got in..:rolleyes:
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#10
07-09-2006, 09:26 PM
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Quote:
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