Goku

I will try my best to answer your questions: 1. I am a complete novice at networking and do not understand the terms Randy talks of. Therefore, I don't think I am the right person to ask advice from regarding this question. 2. The Recycler folder is usually the folder which contains copy of the files deleted from the hard drive. Some copies may still remain even if the Recycle Bin is emptied. This information might come in handy if you are to check the traces of the files deleted on the system and the user who authorized the action. 3. No, there is no point to uninstall Internet Explorer 7 if you are using it to browse the internet. However, it does seem sensible to install Firefox or any other browser of your choice if you prefer it over Internet Explorer or just want better security. I will review your problem and get back to you as soon as possible. Hope that helps. :) -- Goku

Hello and Welcome to FPCH Stubbo. :) The error is known to be caused if you have an incompatible security suite or program installed on your system. To resolve it, try uninstalling the security suite and see if it resolves the problem or not. Incidentally, are you using a Western Digital hard drive? Many of its users have complained that the hard drive failed when they started receiving the error from Vista. Get back to us with more information and we will try our best to help you out. -- Goku

I generally do not condone the use of internet optimizers but seeing that your problem is limited to browsing the internet, I think you must give it a try. Download TCP Optimizer from here. The program is quite basic but if you still need help using it, then you can use the FAQ available here. Perform the required changes and reboot the computer when prompted. Try again and see if there is any difference or not. Download the latest version of Avira from here and install it over AVG. After you have installed it, reboot the computer and remove AVG. Next, run a full system scan with Avira, after updating it with the latest virus definition files, and post back the results. Hope that helps. :) -- Goku

I definitely think that Avira is better over Avast but then my opinion might be biased. I will just say this; on a recent poll conducted over one of the other boards of the internet for a free Antivirus alternative, Avira topped the poll according to general consensus. Avast came out second and AVG the third. AVG is disreputed because it is highly targeted by Malware writers as is Norton and McAfee. Though, if you choose Avira, I might guide you more easily among the configuration as I more used to it. The choice is yours to make. Dumping Party Poker is a very good idea as it is not appealing to compromise privacy for entertainment. As I said before, we will look up some alternatives for it when we are done through with your problem. There are no preliminary preparations before performing the procedure so you may as well get started on it. Just post back when you are done with it. I will post some tips to configure Avira efficiently, if of course you choose it. If not, then do a full system scan with whatever Antivirus you go with after you are done with the procedure. Thats all you need to know. Good Luck. -- Goku

Hello and Welcome to FPCH Bee. :) Most tech sites frown upon the use of P2P programs because they are mostly used to trade copyrighted materials and are a major source of infection like your case rightly exhibits. For all we know, you might be using the P2P system fairly but I would recommend you not to continue with it or at least have proper protection before downloading a torrent. I personally use Avira AntiVir and think it offers the best free protection out there. If you want to install an Antivirus on your computer, then it better be Avira or Avast than AVG. If you are willing to pay for online security, then Nod32 will offer you the best protection there is. Coming back to your problem, run your computer through the Malware procedure. I am no expert in the Malware removal field but your log does seem to show some infections or rather their remnants. Running the procedure on the affected computer will hopefully fix the problem you face. If not, then it will eliminate the possibility of infection. The loading times might also slow down if there are processes running which make the use of internet, in the background. Does the poker game, you mention, use an active internet connection? If yes, then I would recommend you to uninstall it for the meantime. There might be safe alternatives that we will look for when you have your problem sorted. Hope that clears the confusion. :) -- Goku

Glad you got it resolved. Feel free to ask any more questions or doubts you may have. :) -- Goku

Yes, you are right in thinking that taking the laptop to factory conditions will rid you of the problems if they are caused due to your present configuration. However, if they are due to bad hardware, like you suspect, then even restoring the machine to factory conditions will not help much. I don't think the USB ports have gone bad as the laptop is fairly new. Can you tell us what problems exactly are you having with the ports? We might look up a solution for that too while we are at it. :) As concerning the instructions disabling the port, they are correct but shouldn't have been used. You might have thought of re-enabling them but if you can't boot into Windows anymore, then its not much help, is it? The point I am trying to make is that you should not have disabled the port(s) as most of the devices, especially in laptops and notebook computers, use the USB ports extensively to operate various devices. Thus, disabling them was bound to make Windows unbootable which it did. Just a word of caution I would like to offer; ask someone who is more experienced in computers before you work on a serious procedure such as that. :) -- Goku

If the pictures you dragged, were located on removable media like a flash drive, then I am afraid that you have lost them forever. No file recovery software will display them if you lost them from an external media. Sorry I couldn't be of more assistance. :( -- Goku

Hello and Welcome to FPCH Joss. :) Glad to have you here. Hope you enjoy your stay here. -- Goku

Hello and Welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help Chris. :) If it rebooted fine once, then it should hopefully boot normally from now on. If you installed any new software before the problem first occurred, than that is the most likely cause for your problem. You said, you tried to disable the USB ports to try and enable them? What instructions did you use to achieve that? It might be that you might have disabled some hardware that caused Windows to stall. Let us know as soon as possible. Also, I would recommend you to uninstall uTorrent. It is one of the programs that is classified as a safe file-sharing program but it still risks you on being infected due to the files shared on the P2P network. Hope that helps. -- Goku

I have experimented with few file recovery programs but I got the best results from Recover My Files. Try it and see if it shows your lost photos. The program is not free though, mark you. But then it even claims to recover files before a format of Windows so it might be well worth it. Try the program and see if it shows your files as recoverable or not. Let us know as soon as possible. Good Luck. -- Goku

Hello and Welcome to FPCH Lee. :) If the photos were on the same drive as the Windows installation, then I am afraid that you might have lost all your photos due to the system recovery. However, if they were stored on any other drive that was not formatted, then they might be possibly be intact. In that case, reinstalling the software will not return the photos if they are lost but it should show them if they are on the same location where they were previously restored. Also, a foolish question, but have you tried the Windows search option to look for them? If Windows is unable to locate them, then they are most probably lost and you will need to recover them using a third-party file recovery program. -- Goku

Many many happy returns of the day Jeb. :) Have a good one. -- Goku

Hello and Welcome to FPCH Paul. :) Hope you enjoy your stay here. -- Goku

Hello and Welcome to FPCH Josh. :) Can you tell us what is the last service it tries to load when you attempt to boot in "Safe Mode"? Is it something like Agp440.sys? -- Goku

Hello and Welcome to FPCH Carol. :) Hope you enjoy your stay here. -- Goku

Hello and Welcome to FPCH Jemma. :) Hope you enjoy your stay here. -- Goku

Hello and Welcome to FPCH Archive. :) Hope you enjoy your stay here. -- Goku

Hello and Welcome to FPCH Barry. :) No need to feel guilty as I myself am often unable to answer most questions. Contribute wherever you can and I am sure you will be an asset to us. Hope you enjoy your stay here. -- Goku

Hello and Welcome to FPCH David. :) Hope you enjoy your stay here. -- Goku

I think that the problem is more in the spacing than in the font size. I think that the font size has not changed since the template upgrade but the posts side bar has. I hate to say it but that is what, in my opinion, is causing the readability problems. Shall we experiment with greater font size and our old post bar style to see which suits better? -- Goku

Hello and Welcome to FPCH Rik. :) Glad to have you here mate. Hope you enjoy your stay here. By the way, you do recognize this template, don't you? Seems a little familiar? :p -- Goku

Hello and Welcome to FPCH Matt. :) Hope you enjoy your stay here. -- Goku

I think it is indeed the sound card. I had the issue myself when I installed Service Pack 3 on my machine. I thought it was a compatibility issue so I rolled back to Service Pack 2 and it didn't fix the problem either. The very next day, I re-upgraded my computer and still there was no sound. It was then I realized that the sound card must be probably on its last leg and not Service Pack 3. Fortunately, the sound returned on its own accord after a few days and has been working fine since. Let us know if the new card resolves the problem or not. Good Luck. -- Goku

I would like to give this one last shot. Please read the following article from the Microsoft Knowledge Base and perform the suggested troubleshooting instructions. See if they help or not. How to troubleshoot common problems that occur when a Windows XP-based computer cannot read a CD or a DVD If nothing of the above works, then I agree with Seth that its time to replace the drive. As always, let us know how it goes. Good Luck. -- Goku