mr don

* Confused! What kind of internet trash do you always see that you want to keep? Just curious!

Try this: Download the drivers for your USB device from: http://www.lacie.com/us/support/support_manifest.htm?id=10216 Then try to access it via USB on your PC. Of course, it would help if you could provide what OS you are using.

That's good to know. I hadn't had time to test it without java. That's actually great to know. Am wondering if there is something hidden in Open Office that demands it? Like spreadsheet calculations? Or if that works as well? Will have to try your suggestion later.

64 bit is nice. Trouble is, most software today is written for 32 bit. Will take time to convert everyone over. Hopefully by then, we will have 128 bit computing. Or even 256 bit. Not that we really need it yet, of course,

Make sure any web browser you have open is closed. Then, checkmark Autocomplete Form History in CCleaner if you used Internet Explorer, & if you used Firefox, checkmark Saved Form information. ____________________________________________________________________ It may be possible to restore back to prior "remembered" states unless you also disable restore points. If you do this, please also re-enable them after erasing them all so Windows will create new ones to protect you if something goes wrong. ____________________________________________________________________ Sometimes, Internet Explorer can still remember your history, even after running CCleaner. For some reason, under IE 8 if you go to search history, it will bring your old "deleted" history items back from the grave. If you run the Internet Explorer cleanup utility the first time, then the next time you run CCleaner it will work like it should. I believe this may have applied across multiple Windows versions, & it is possible it even affects IE 7. I don't if it affects IE9 yet. This is a weird bug, & who knows if they finally fixed it. I will check it soon, but I have to have a fresh install to do it on, since it doesn't do this after the "first time you run IE cleanup utility".

I am unaware of a Yahoo Browser. Do you have a link? Or did you simply set your browser to Yahoo? It would help to know what Windows version + the Browser you used. Since we do not have those to go on, I am making the assumption you use Yahoo as your homepage. ______________________________________________________________________________________ Internet Explorer favorites (under Windows XP): Navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\*Insert your user name here*\Favorites Also, you can download -> http://locate32.net/files/daily/ Get the 2cd zip file from the top & install/run it the first time. Update it with the drive containing your recovered files. Try searching under extensions for URL & also LNK files (the defaults Internet Explorer uses for shortcuts). You do not need to put a dot in front of URL or LNK to search. ______________________________________________________________________________________ Firefox (under Windows XP): Firefox stores it's favorites as bookmarks in the Firefox Profile. C:\Documents and Settings\*Insert your user name here*\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles Move your current user profile & copy the old one to the Firefox Profile directory. Firefox will pick up all your old settings. ______________________________________________________________________________________ Use the old profile if you want, or use Moz Backup to backup the Bookmarks + passwords & then re-import them to your newer user profile. If you have already started a new set of bookmarks, back these up using Moz Backup before beginning, as it will overwrite your current settings with the new ones you import. Let us know if this helped. Don P.S. It may be easier to set Recuva to tree view under options, if you need to rescan a drive to recover entire folder contents such as a favorites folder or Firefox Profile folder.

That's ok, my friend. Glad your working now. I would have suggested to run this -> http://www.thewindowsclub.com/repair-internet-explorer-with-fix-ie-utility And if that did not work, I would have suggested rolling back your current version of IE & doing a repair install of it. IE is a little complicated to simply "uninstall" & remove, so this is why I like something like Firefox. Sorry I got to you a little late to help with your problems, but good to see your working again.

After trying to conceive what he wanted, I think I have the answer. Although technically you can uncheck an item after a scan, then rescan, he must be wanting a "live" checkbox. That is, CCleaner updates the information on the fly. You can uncheck or check items while CCleaner is cleaning instead of wasting the time to do another scan. This might, however, be a little tricky to achieve.

The wording is a bit confusing here, but I think he may be requesting CCleaner to have a built in system backup utility. His main complaint seems to be that making a personal backup is far too complicated. While that would make yet another excellent idea for Piriform (bootable back & restore utility?), I don't really know if this will be added to CCleaner.

I am not experiencing that problem. Defraggler works with update on or off without any problems for me. I primarily use XP SP2. Which OS is it crashing under, & what Defraggler version do you use? Did you try the 2 Beta yet?

There is a much bigger issue here: - Defraggler should not be doing the opposite of what you click. It should obey your command. - Defraggler should not call it "consolidation" if that isn't what it does. Hopefully, version 2 will fix this. Anyone know if 2 is better?

I fail to understand how CCleaner can cause a registry problem if you just admitted that you never even used the registry cleaning in it. Removing temp files from system directories & IE/FF temp internet locations has NOTHING to do with the registry. More than likely, you have updates turned on & something happened to ruin your machine. I am not sure particularly which update it was, but I am going to show you a link: http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/2010/04/22/mcafee-update-kills-windows/1 That one is concerning an update that McAfee released that killed windows a while back. There are also updates for Windows that can kill Windows due to bad drivers/untested patches/machine configuration or software set installed that causes a problem. Personally, I think it may result either from some security software update/setting, or some Windows Update that caused a problem. As always, having a system backup is a very good idea. I may be wrong, & it may be the result of something else, but I certainly don't believe this is the fault of CCleaner since you stated that you had not touched the Registry cleaner part of it. More than likely, some update caused it that installed itself on reboot. Regards, Don

Is there a way to defrag hibernate files? In my testing, it seemed to be the one file(s) that Defraggler had trouble defragging. Or is that possible? Thanks!

Unnecessary remarks removed by moderator. Please keep on topic Mr Don. Have you by chance tried the compatibility mode to test it in? Right click on Defraggler & choose properties. Go to compatibility tab & choose an older OS like Vista or XP & click ok. Also, try running it in safe mode to eliminate the possibility that a program/setting/malware may be causing interferance. Press f8 key on reboot till safe mode option comes up. Post back if it runs in safe mode.

The key here, is to find out IF it is in the system settings, or truly a virus. What browser do you use? If IE, try downloading & installing Firefox. IF Firefox, try IE. This will help locate the source of the problem. Sometimes settings on a PC can change, so by trying an alternate browser, we can see if it might be a settings change or malware. Post back here if you can see images in HTML emails using another browser. Regards, Don

I'd use task scheduler. If you don't want the prompts, then you can turn off UAC (MSCONFIG in the start/Run box). Regards

Dennis, my understanding is that the My Documents folder is exempt from changes during a System Restore. Please put items you do not want restored into this folder. To run System Restore, go to Start/Run & past in restore/rstrui & hit enter. There are advantages to ERUNT, but also to System Restore. - Erunt -> Quick & Easy. Can fix simple problems. - System Restore -> Quick & Easy. Can fix simple problems. Can fix more complex problems that Erunt fails to fix, since it is NOT a complete System Restore. * Erunt can fix problems that stem from the registry. But it is a BAD way to try to recover from a rootkit/malware/corrupted program files or settings. System Restore can help fix these types of problems. It is true that System Restore can fail. Erunt generally works good, but it can also fail if your system gets infected with the right virus. Trojans/viruses that block things from running, or even wipe out the ability to run EXE type files. * Erunt & System Restore can both be run from safe mode as long as they are properly working & Windows actually boots to safe mode. * Since most rescue cd/dvd packs try to preload a portion of the OS to fix a problem, there are many cases they fail in. Sometimes malware related. If you have trouble booting to a normal disk to repair Windows, you may be able to use Ubuntu live to load into Linux to copy things over from Windows. * Please be sure you are hooked to a good UPS with battery backup. I use APC. It saved me tons of times. Spikes, surges, brownouts, whew!

The first link you suggested by Ed Bott suggests that it does no good to clean the prefetch because the entries will be recreated, anyway. This does not happen if you turn it off though! The second entry lists hibernation as a good option to use to resume in seconds. Hibernation seems to work better on laptops than desktops, but it is not without problems. Whether plagued by driver issues, BSOD's on resume, or resumes that take longer than an actual boot... Standby is a little lighter than hibernate, but it rarely causes problems & truly does come on nearly instantly.

If patches have holes, what good are patches?

Here are a few of my recommendations: Lite programs usually load faster & perform better as a result. Less code = less bloat. I recommend a couple programs: - Haihaisoft PDF - Infra Recorder There are many areas that can speed up a PC. Let us address a few of them. - Check your tasks folder. It is starting to be common for programs to abuse that area - Turn off CD/DVD/USB autorun. Viruses LOVE this function. - Startup Run is a great program to disable startup + BHO. The fewer, the better. - Check the Hosts file for hijackers. Redirects are not funny. - Install Firefox with updated Flash + adblock plugin. Using IE with Active-X is a laugh! May as well be using swiss cheese for security! - Turn off indexing service - It wears out the drive faster + slows system performance. I use Locate32 to find files. Much faster/better. - Turn off all visual effects you don't need. In XP, disable all but Smooth Edges of Screen Fonts. Leave Visual Styles if you want it pretty. - In Vista/7 the Aero effects can kill performance. Disable that & items that state slide or fade. - Disable System Restore, then re-enable so you are protected. This can free several GB. - Run CCleaner, then use it's tools section to uninstall toolbars/heavy programs that are no longer needed or have lite freeware counterparts that work better. - Move folders with lots of compressed files to an external drive. This will speed up directory browsing. - Turn off automatic search for network folders & printers if you don't use that. - Check if the machine has malware. Malware slows machines down. - If you use automatic updates, do so with care. Be sure you have a full system backup. Updates are intended to patch things, but there are some possible side-effects to be aware of. Updates have been known to do the following: - Bluescreen 300 + business machines because of a bad update file - Bluescreen a machine because of a bad or buggy driver file - Introduce new holes - Cause certain programs to stop working - Interfere with programs or functionality Keep in mind that the most fully patched machine still does nothing to prevent an "inside" job, or that is to say, if someone locally installs a malware with full user profile permissions, then your machine WILL get infected. Patched or not. Also, updates WILL slow your system tremendously over a several month period of updating. It may make your system more secure... If it doesn't crash or bluescreen it first! Update with caution, & always with a good backup in case something horrible goes wrong so you can recover. Having a good bi-directional firewall helps tremendously as Windows has a unidirectional firewall that still leaves a few ports open such as file & printer sharing. Have Microsoft learned nothing by now? *Shakes head*.

Post edited out by moderator as it had nothing to do with the topic which was bank fraud via a virus

I agree. This does sound kind of spammy. Will be interested in how this goes!

With all the talk about "saving power", wouldn't it also make sense to include a black background with lettering options from white to grey to green etc? Save power! For the "green" user! Might not work too great on backlit LCD screens (since the whole screen is backlighted), but think of the OLED or perhaps CRT screens?

That's weird. Firefox 3.6.11 works fine for me. So did prior versions. I am not sure what causes yours. Too many possible variables such as: - OS / Service Pack / MS conflicting updates? - 3rd party apps such as antivirus/firewalls/registry entry blockers/etc - Firefox has been known to cause problems in profiles such as settings from older versions not properly working if you do a lot of consecutive updates with no clean firefox profile. Over time, as firefox changes the way it works, the settings may get to where they do not work so well. You can use Moz Backup to backup the bookmarks + passwords etc, then reimport them into a new profile. - Windows 7 has a wait to kill hung application timer setting that immediately kills off apps that are considered "hung". There is no warning when 7 decides it is "hung". App just dissappears POW! XP did not do this. You can edit the 7 registry if that is a cause of problems. - Vista & 7 had TCP + DRM + other tech built into the OS that may "helpfully" cause problems with, ahem, certain things you do. Although they can work nice, sometimes they do weird things that drive you bananas. - TCP settings can be changed by programs such as programs that "tune" your TCP settings for "optimal" performance. The shorter time out settings can cause problems. Anyway, it would be very difficult to troubleshoot without seeing your machine. But hopefully, this can give you some ideas that may possibly help such as: - Try backing up your firefox bookmarks + passwords, then do a clean install & reimport the settings - Be sure you are not connecting through a proxy server in the connection settings. Auto usually works. - Be sure you don't have multiple internet "connections" such as dialup. Delete the ones you do not use. 1 is usually best. - If you have to, adjust the Vista/7 wait to kill hung app timer. - Reset your TCP to normal settings instead of shortening the time out & other problematic settings. - If you are on XP, a right click/repair may auto-fix your internet connection (tray, near clock). - Occasionally, a DSL box reset or power off/power on can help. - Verify your Ethernet card is properly working & check the settings that it doesn't auto shut off features when "not in use". Device manager makes it easy to untick the "Allow Windows to shut off power to this device when not in use" box. - If you know everything was working at a certain point, sometimes a system restore can help. - Uninstall/remove things that may be causing problems. For instance, 2 antivirus programs may cause a conflict or crash because of both of them monitoring the boot sector of the harddisk you are using. - Occasionally, old active X & class issues from programs that used to be installed can cause windows to attempt to load items that are no longer there & result in slowdowns or even crashes depending on if the items still exist in the System32 folder. A registry cleaning may do good, just back it up before removal. Be careful what you remove. There are many other potential variables, but be sure to have a backup before proceeding with any of this. That way, you can recover if you do something you wish you didn't. There are many other variables, but maybe these will at least give you some ideas.

Ok, to end all this discussion: What browser: - Still installs on Windows 98/ME? --> Opera is the only one. Firefox 2 is sloowww! - Is the fastest? Tossup. Each week, it seems IE, Opera, Chrome, Safari, The World, Firefox release a "newer, faster, more secure, better" browser. - Is the easiest to use? IE9 seems most basic, so IE9 is easiest. - Is the most secure? IE -> Active-X exploits / Chrome -> Doesn't fully block ads / Safari -> Still trying / Opera -> Seems buggy / Firefox -> Best so far. - Is the most stable? IE -> Crashes on multiple tabs / Chrome -> Getting better, not quite there / Opera -> Buggy, diminishing tabs / Firefox -> Best so far. - Works the best? IE -> Problems rendering certain sites / Opera -> Same as IE / Safari -> Decent / Chrome -> Good / Firefox -> Good What browser should you use? - Older OS -> Opera - Slower system -> Chrome - Fast system, updated windows -> Firefox In conclusion: If you have a fairly fast machine with a fairly up-to-date OS, Firefox seems to have the best overall package as far as stability/layout for usability/most powerful ad blocking plugins/best user experience overall. Firefox runs well if you have the CPU/Ram/OS to support it. The above is from my personal tests. P.S. IE is awful at acid tests, .