mfenech

Me too, jo. Strictly music, however.....I don't understand the need to get hacked software when so much good stuff is free anyway.

http://www.pcstress.net/en/ Questionable, but still interesting. Their forum had zero posts and looks to have been up since January. I'm curious about their cleanup tool. There's also a spyware removal tool called Hitman Pro that I've never heard of. It's a dutch site translated to English. Warning: The Dutch site is a bit 'Euro', where the chick on the homepage is topless.

cool - Thanks for the reply. It didn't work, unfortunately. The applet downloads, but fails when it installs. I don't think it's an active-x issue at that point, but I could be wrong.

Thanks for the tip. I suppose I could go that route as a last resort, but I'd rather get this fixed and working normally if possible. And yes, I use Maxthon most of the time.

dj: That link redirects to the same one I was using already: http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdat...t.aspx?ln=en-us When I right-click on HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, there is no Permissions item listed. (Note on my original post that I use W2k, if that's the reason.)

don - The number I posted is the same number on the failure message. dj - Assuming I didn't need to reboot after runing dial-a-fix, then there was no change. Yes, I'll need a walk-thru on the permissions.

When doing Windows Update, I get prompted to install the Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool (KB892130). After triggering the install, it does its normal thing for 15 seconds or so, and then tells me that the install was unsuccessful. No reason is given, and when I look at my update history, no "failed install" is logged. I have Win 2000. I tried shutting down my anti-virus and firewall programs. Any help is appreciated.

This place seems pretty self-policing. The only issue I've seen here, even though I've only been here a few months, was concerning the editing of sig lines. Not saying there doesn't need to be a mod, but it can survive on cruise for a while.

Hidden files were accounted for. The only difference between hers and mine that might make the difference is the system restore. I don't know what it's called, and if it would be 7 gig worth of files. Doesn't make any sense to me.

Anyone...?

Friend of mine has a 20 gig drive on her XP machine. The drive properties shows her using 17 of 19 gig. To clear out some space, I first had her check what files she could archive to CD and what needed to stay. When she adds up the 15 or so top-level folders in her drive, it totals around 9 gig. This didn't make sense, since everything should be accounted for in those folders plus the additional files in the drive. So I had her download Disk Recon, which is a glorified search tool that also lists size and number of files for folders. The program showed 9 gig used. I ran the same search on my PC (Win2k), and it had the same utilization on both the C drive properties and Disk Recon. Can someone explain this to me?

One of those dumb questions about something eludes me... I run a full system scan with Ad-Aware: 87,000 files scanned I run a scan with Stinger: 18,000 files scanned I run a full scan with Counterspy: 102,000 files scanned I run Panda's online ActiveScan: 164,000 files scanned Why the huge disparities?

I use the free version. http://321download.com/LastFreeware/index.html#jv16

Ok, I thought this would be simple matter. My keyboard is a Dell SK-8100 - a basic keyboard that was standard issue with Dell PC's. The cover appears to be removable and would leave the keys intact if removed. It's attached either by screws or by some locking tabs that aren't obviously visible to me. I had thought most basic keyboards are configured the same and removing the cover was a fairly common practice. I think I'd rather get a new keyboard than remove all the keys.

I flip it and shake it. I blow compressed air between the keys until my finger freeze. I flip it and shake it again. More stuff comes out. I'm a slob. How do I take the cover off to get this sucker cleaned once and for all? I can't figure out how. I see ten or so screws on the bottom, and I don't know which, if any, secure the cover.

Avast Home.