1998 Dell Dimension XPS R400
Windows 98
Pentium II

Well, let me give a little background into the problem. I have been having lost of problems with SpyWare lately. All the good stuff, browser hijacking, pop-ups, program installs w/o permission, you name it it's happened. I have been using my AdAware 6.0 to remove most of it but there has been some that I can not remove with the program. I would also try to remove it manually with no luck. It was back everytime I got back on the internet and or turned my computer on. Different programs were doing different things to my computer. Sometimes it would tell me that I could not remove the said program because it was being used by Windows.

Well, in my quest to rid my computer of SpyWare I think I may have removed something Windows related. When I turned my computer back on the Windows display was messed up. The color is only 16-bit and the Window size is too big. 600x800 maybe. I try to go to display in the control panel and change the settings. WHen I do it tells me that I need to restart my computer for the changes to take place. It does it when I clikc ok and it loads fine but nothing has changed. Also, my mouse won't work. I am having to use my keyboard to navigate everything. By the way, it's the origional Microsoft mouse that came with the computer. When I go to the device manager under the control panel and look at the mouse settings it tells me that there is a problem with the mouse because Windows cannot find, or something like that, file "vmouse.XVD". It tells me to run Windows setup with my Win98 CDROM.

Anyone have any ideas? All the programs on my computer seem to be working except the display part of Windows and the mouse. If I run the Windows setup will that solve it? Will I lose my programs and my files that I have on my computer. I have pictures, songs, and other items that I can't lose. I had two different viruses crash my computer over the last 3 years or so before I got Norton AntiVirus last year and kept it going good and updated. I can't go through losing everything on my computer again to fix this problem.

Please tell me that someone has an idea. I don't have any friends that are computer wizzes and it would probably cost a lot of $$$ to have someone work on it. IF I could even find someone in my town to do it. Thanks.

Joey

 

Pardon the gramatical and other errors in the post(s). I am having a hard time reading the text on the screen. Thanks.

 

yea, right, it's really because you go to Auburn.

I use popup stopper which stops nearly all popups and I never hit "ok" when something wants to install itself unless I'm typing so fast that it comes up and I hit a key without realizing it. when that happens, I start getting the same symptoms you described and maybe a few more too. I would just back all your email stuff and files you want to save on a different partition or hard drive if you have another and reinstall.

J.

 

Reinstalling Win 98 without reformatting the drive *shouldn't* touch his other files, but backing up is always a pretty good idea.

Maybe search MS website and see if there are upgraded video drivers you can Dl and install. That might solve your issue.

 

get the exact error messages and see if you can do at search at MS's site.
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;kbhowto

see if that helps any.

 

Err, I should have clarified, clean install. I just never think to say to format because when I say "reinstall" that's what I'm referring to, reformatting and reloading winders. it's just normal for me, I never only reinstall the OS only, never solves any problems for me and just wastes my time.

 

A good method to prevent the ad stuff also is to set Adware or Spybot or any other spyware program to run at startup, before windows loads. That way you get rid of everything that attaches itself to the windows stuff before it loads.

Ever concider upgrading to xp. I was told with my AMD KX2 350 256mb, that it would run slower but I can't tell a difference. In fact I think it runs better. Now would be the time if your 98 is messed up.
Brad

 

Man Joey, that kind of hurts my feelings. I thought I was a friend. I'll be in Mobile for July 4th holidays so I can help you out then. that was my minor you know and I've built all my comps since around '90 so...

 

 

I am going to have to respond to everyone's comments in one reply because this thing is screwed up.

Jay,

I tried sending you an e-mail about this before I even posted it on here b/c I know you know your stuff. I ment that I don't have any friends close that come come help me. I won't be in Mobile during July 4th b/c my folks are coming up here. If not I would come down for the weekend.

Everyone,

I appreciate your help but half of the stuff you are telling me sounds like jibberish to my computer illeterate ears. I am going to call one of the computer repair folks in the phone book and get them to come by and give me the rundown/estimate. That's my only hope because if I tried to do the things y'all have suggested I would do more harm than good. I appreciate the help thogh.


To help clarify things a little. right now my computer looks like it is running in safe mode. That's the way the display and everything looks. And the mouse still doesn't work. I started my computer in safe mode last night and the mouse worked. WTF?

Wish me luck with a repair man. or woman I guess to be politically correct.

Joey

 

I was kidding Joey. I should be back in town in the middle of August then. You'll probably just be starting the fall semester though.

hopefully it's a repair "woman." Maybe you can get her to make another sign for your boat house.

 

I know you were kidding. I may be home in August some. I have two weeks between Summer and Fall semesters so we'll see. I'll have to look at the calendar and see when we start in the Fall. It is usually around August 20th or so.

Unfortunately it is a repair man that is coming. I have one coming Friday morning to look at it. Their price seems to be reasonable to me and they come here to fix it so I should be back going w/o all these problems by lunchtime Friday. Maybe he can teach me a thing or two while he's at it.

I appreciate everyone's help and I will let all of you know what he does to fix it. He said something about reformating and reloading Windows. He said that he can backup stuff so that I don't lose any of my....ahem...music. :~)

Joey

 

It sounds like a simple fix, lost your video and mouse drivers when you were in there whacking files.
I would recomend going to dell and downloading the video and mouse drivers and re-installing them. Should be a easy fix. Worth a try before paying someone else to do it ... then again how would I get mod money

 

If the problem is simply missing drivers from 'whacking' the wrong files, you can easily check this. Right click on the "My Computer" icon, select properties. Click on the "Device Manager" tab, and look for any entries that have a yellow mark next to them (it's an exclamation mark, believe it or not) or a red x next to it. Post here if there are any entries like this.

Simply using AdAware isn't going to solve all spyware problems. You'll be better of if you use AdAware in conjunction with Spybot Search and Destroy. Also, make sure you have antivirus enable with up to date definitions (update them weekly! - also update the anti-spyware programs regularly) and also run ZoneAlarm (a software firewall that will help keep people from hacking your computer). Those things will make your computer very secure (though it is, of course, impossible to be 100% secure).

If you want more security then in your web browser, go to tools->internet options, click on the "Security" tab and bring it up to "High" - then go to the "Privacy" tab and go to "Block all Cookies" - then you'll be even more secure (though at the loss of some web functionality). Personally I don't think it's worth the loss of functions, but it will keep your browser from doing many 'bad' things.

Unfortunately, <ahem> free music collections aren't free - this is how those programs make their money. When you insall Kazaa, you are installing spyware and giving them permission to use your computer (!). This is part of the End Users Licensing Agreement (EULA) that everybody clicks to 'accept' when installing programs, but nobody reads. If you're not using Kazaa, be aware that nearly every form of file sharing program does things like this. Same thing with the "free" pron sites, etc etc. Everybody has to make their money somehow.

Depending on how infected your system is, the best thing may very well be to completely reformat your hard drive and reinstall everything from scratch. The tech out there shouldn't start out with that though - that's kinda like dropping a FAE bomb on your house to get rid of a small flea infestation.

~Bill

 

I looked under the Device Manager tab in the control panel.

Under the subheading of Computer there was an exclamation point beside "Microsoft TV/Video Connection."

Also, under the heading of PCI Bus there was an exclamation point beside "PS/2 Compatible Mouse Port."

Is this something that I can fix easily? Remember, I can't use my mouse except for when I'm in Safe Mode so it is a little hard to navigate certain things. Thanks for the help.

Joey

 

Remember that safe mode, even though it can be AGONIZING to use, is designed to allow you to fix computer problems that may be causing your system to not work properly (ie bad mouse or video driver). So it may be a pain to use, but this is exactly what it is designed for.

The first thing to try is boot up in safe mode, go to the device manager, and click on the first device that has the exclamation point beside it. Click on 'Properties' and then remove the device. Do the same with the other device. Then reboot the system normally.

When the system comes up, the 'found new hardware' wizard should appear, which will then go about installing new drivers for each device. You may need your windows setup disk, though you'd be better off with drivers from whoever made the hardware in question. If the system is still stock, then you should be able to download the drivers from Dell directly (of course, do this before you uninstall the device).

Let me know how that works out, that'll fix most problems out there but sometimes it gets a little more involved.

~Bill

 

I never used Kazaa or Morpheus for any of my "free" music. I had other routes that weren't so intrusive. I let a buddy of mine get the infections and after he'd clean everything up I pilferred the stash. so, that's the way to get the good clean stuff. all this was before it was illegal of course and I deleted everything to stay honest.

Joey, if you no longer have your dell supplied windows 98 cdrom, I can give you one. hehe, I was a sys admin while in school at 'Bama and I was "given" a few copies from the dell systems that pooped out. hehe.

 

I tried doing what you folks suggested but I had a really hard time working Microsoft's site w/o my mouse. I didn't even get to Dell's. I appreciate the help and I owe all of you a beer, or two.

I'm sure the tech tomorrow can fix it in a matter of minutes. I know that y'all have correctly diagonosed the problem so maybe I can explain it to him with your terms and not sound too much like an idiot. Thanks again.

Joey

 

Woo Woo. I'm back and going. $55 poorere but with a computer working like a well-oiled machine. Or at least as best as a 6 year old Pentium II can.

Thanks everyone for the help. Because of you I was able to tell him exactly what was wrong with it and ask him a few questions that helped.

He:

-fixed mouse, replaced vxd files, rebuilt system.ini file.
-replaced video drivers and fixed display.
-cleaned my desktop icons up.
-added a firewall.
-and cleaned out a bunch of things that had been bothering me.

Good man. I feel like my computer just got a tune up. Wish a 4Runner tune up was this cheap.

Joey