Tom AZ

I have two USB external HDDs on my Windows XP SP3 system. From time to time, one of the two drives (always the same one) doesn't display (show up) in "My Computer" even though it seems to have loaded properly at startup and is functioning. Usually after one or two reboots, it finally displays properly.. Any thoughts as to what might be causing this?

Are you saying Powershadow hasn't been developed since Win XP or that the performance of PS isn't as good after XP?

I use light virtualization all the time (e.g., Returnil, ShadowDefender, Time Freeze) to test new software. Does this type of virtualization also provide the same type of "reboot protection" when fiddling with Widows and system related tasks (e.g., registry edits, driver installs/uninstalls, etc.)?

Has anyone had an opporturnity to try the new DNSCrypt from OpenDNS? http://www.opendns.com/technology/dnscrypt/

I hadn't either, Dennis. Saw it mentioned several times over at Wilders.

Just wondering... I use Macrium Reflect Pro and create fairly regular images. So, is a app like Keriver 1-Click Restore also needed, or is this just duplicity?

Actually, I ended up taking Hazel's suggestion. I reluctantly re-installed Zemana and uninstalled it again. Except for the fact that Zemana didn't like the "Safe" mode uninstall idea, the whole thing went reasonably well. I still have a few leftovers, but I can probably get most of those cleaned up. Thanks to everyone for all the help and suggestions.

This has been going on for a couple weeks so I'm not absolutely sure, but I may very well have used Revo which I use a lot. As I understand it, though, Revo always uses the built-in installer, then looks for leftovers. If all of this is true, do you think Hazel's suggestion of reinstalling and then uninstalling in safe mode would help?

Already tried that, Andavari, but that doesn't work either. In looking at this more closely, it appears that the registry item is still there, but the file to which it refers is missing (probably a result of my almost having to "force" uninstall). Even so, it seems like I should be able to simply delete the registry item, but I can't. That's why I thoiught maybe it was somehow linked to the leftover driver and in turn, that was restricting its removal. Even though I'm not receiving any kind of notification(s), could my A/V program or firewall be prohibiting removal from the registry?

I would, Hazel, but I've had so much trouble getting to where I currently am that I'm extremely hesitant to reinstall it.

I'll give it a try, but this one is VERY stubborn.

Not exactly sure what the driver is or what it does, but it's a leftover from Zemana's AntiLogger. I've been having lots of trouble getting rid of a Zemana startup registry item ("Denied Access" -- but not a permissions issue) and wondering if this might be the culprit.

Are any special precautions needed when uninstalling a leftover driver from a prgram that's been uninstalled (with some difficulty)? Not exactly what you would have called a "clean" uninstall.

Good advice, Alan. Actually, I have Macrium Reflect Image backups as well. Fortunately, I've never had to use them, so I don't really know how easy or difficult a restore is in the event that it would become necessary.

Just checked this out, Hazel. It says you can either save the MBR as a file -- or print out a copy, which they seem to think is the best method. What I don't understand is if your MBR goes south, what good is a printout -- what do you do with it?

Just wondering if Returnil 2008 PE offers MBR protection?

I use MBAM Pro and run it resident. However, every time I activate Returnil 2008, for some reason it screws up my MBAM installation after the reboot and I end up having to re-install MBAM. Any ideas on how I might be able to avoid this problem?

By the way, there is another virtualization program out there by the same name (TimeFreeze), but it's from Wondershare. Version 1.0 also seemed to work quite well, but the 2.0 version was a bummer -- at least I thought so. As I remember, this was a hard drive cache only app.

Tried it out real briefly under another virtualization app, but it contained way too many components for my taste. They also have a stand-alone version of TimeFreeze that works quite well. However, as of the current version, it uses only a HDD cached sandbox (as opposed to the RAM option in Returnil 2008). Each time you use the program, it creates about a 4GB cache on the HD, which is supposed to be removed on a reboot -- but it isn't (at least not on my XP system). This appears to be a known problem that is supposed to be corrected in the next version and has already been fixed in the "Care" module (I think). Don't really know much about the "harm" factor of virtualization programs -- sorry..

I've been using Ghostery for quite some time now -- rather impressive.

Great find! Thanks so much, Hazel.

Anyone know where I can find a copy of ShadowDefender 1.1.0.325? I believe this might be the version prior to the most current version,

Probably another question with an obvious answer, but here goes anyway. Once you're done with a remote control session, how do you end the session and also make sure all connections are closed?

Thanks for all the help, Nodles. One last question for tonight . . . does the remote/client computer have have a web browser open or logged onto the internet in some fashion?

Just played with this a little and noticed a little box in the lower right hand corner of the remote monitor. Because the background color is so heavily "grayed," I can hardly read what's in the box. At least this is how it displays on my computer. Is there any way to make it more readable.