BeeCeeBee

I would not give up on bugging HP for a new disc. Locate your model and serial number and carefully copy the Windows OEM number (around 25 figures) from the sticker on the case or on the bottom of a lappy and get on to HP. I am sure you are not the first to mess up a recovery partition and they must have a process for handling it.

Apologies for closing this thread. It was not a question of misreading your post it is was a failure to note the caption. I was, until now, unfamiliar with Eye OS and would appreciate your posting your experience with it in a new thread for the benefit of other members like me who may be similarly unaware.

Hi Alumna, I do not want to get lost in semantics here. My advice to you is based on my understanding that you have 2 legitimate versions of XP and 2 seperate PCs and were unable to determine which set belongs to which machine. If I am wrong you may run into some real difficulties using these discs.

Great Colin, You might want to look around the forums we have quite a bit of information on formatting. If you run into any problems just post a new thread.

Great Judie, Glad you came back.

Hi Colin, Not sure what you mean by blank discs? If you go into your control panel and click on "sytem" it will tell you what version of XP you are running it should also give you the OEM number for your factory pc.

Hello Peter, Are you planning on keeping your old PC? If not I would urge that you follow the advice Tootech has given you regarding an external hard drive. It is always important have your data backed up. In fact I would recommend it even if you are using the easy transfer wizard. If your old PC is going or being used for another purpose its usefulness as backup will be lost. If you truly have that much "stuff" then it may be a long time before you know if a transfer has been 100% successful unless you test every program one by one before you dispose of the old PC. You really have to evaluate what programs need to be saved. Discs that have been purchased can simply be installed again as you need them and downloaded programs that were purchased will have supplied you an activation key of some kind. Freeware is probably not worth transferring anyway. Finally when you do a transfer you not only move all the programs that you use, you are also transferring stuff that you probably forgot you even have and have never used. Why burdon your new PC with any useless junk?

Have you checked your firewall to see if it is blocking MSN?

I have been following this thread and find it very frustrating. When you install XP it does a disc check for errors in advance. Did you receive any warnings during the install? If it turns out that it is a defective hard drive then the entire thread has no meaning although it is "highly unlikely" that your proposed solution will work. What troubles me most is that it does not seem that you have actually followed the advice already given. This solution that you propose is in reply to Wolfey's request for precise information. The better path is to try to eliminate the most probable sources of your problems before you resort to extremes. That means studying what has been proposed and following it. If you have questions along the way, there is no shame in asking. But if you are not going to do that there is no point in keeping this thread open.

Welcome back Judierudie, The activex warning bar is a product of the security settings in your browser. Because activex are basically executables they are easily used to introduce malware. It is always wise to be careful about when you allow activex to install. The lower your security settings the less often you will receive the warning and prompt

Welcome Herostrat, glad to have you as part of our community.:) There are never to many friends.

Ok clearly not enough. There is good possibility that this is a malware infection particularly given the age of the system and its uneventful performance up to now. Please follow the procedure set forth below. Note the reference to the spybot tea timer. There is no point in looking further until we are sure that malware is not the problem. Please get back to us when you are finished. If this solves the problem we will make some recommendations as to what you should use to keep it from happening again. Your computer is probably infected with Malware. Malware is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent. It is a combination of the words malicious and software. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code. Required Cleanup Steps Disable the Spybot Search & Destroy TEA TIMER if you use it and if it is enabled Run a Temporary file and cache cleaner (ATF) Run 2 Anti-Malware scanners (Listed Below) Run an Online Anti-Virus / Anti-Malware Scanner (Listed Below) Clear out old System Restore points If continued Malware type activity is present you may be asked to post a TrendMicro™ HijackThis™ Log file, do not do so unless requested. The reason to run multiple scanners is to ensure that no single scanner is missing something. The time it takes will vary depending on your system and your internet connection speed. Typically the SUPERAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes scanners will take between 10 to 90 minutes. The ESET online scan should take between 1 to 3 hours. In most cases, these scans will suffice to clean and disinfect your computer. Heavily infected systems or slower PCs can take much longer to scan and clean. For best results print the following instructions and bookmark this Web page To keep this guide printer-friendly, use your cursor to highlight the contents below. From your browser select File - Print and in the printer dialog box under "Print range" click the Selection choice to print out these instructions for removal of malware. http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn266/FPCH/Malware%20Guide/printer-selection.gif ____________________________________________ STEP 1 Disable Spybot Search & Destroys' TEA TIMER: (if installed, if not go to Step 2) Run Spybot-S&D in Advanced Mode. If it is not already set to do this Go to the Mode menu select "Advanced Mode" On the left hand side, Click on Tools Then click on the Resident Icon in the List Uncheck "Resident TeaTimer" and OK any prompts. Restart your computer. __________________________________________________ STEP 2 Follow these instructions carefully. Download ATF-Cleaner from Snapfiles.com to remove un-needed temporary files from your computer that may contain malware. You can also download it from Majorgeeks.com When you run ATF-Cleaner, check the items as shown below for Main. For FireFox, be sure to click on the FireFox tab on top and check the items as shown below for FireFox NOTE: If you don't have FireFox or Opera installed then they will be grayed out and can be ignored Then click on "Empty Selected". http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn266/FPCH/Malware%20Guide/atf-cleaner01.gif . http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn266/FPCH/Malware%20Guide/atf-cleaner02.gif __________________________________________________ STEP 3 Install and run the free version (not the Professional version) of SUPERAntiSpyware from SUPERAntiSpyware.com Accept any prompts to allow SUPERAntiSpyware to install the latest rules and infection definition files. You do not have to send them your e-mail address, just click next. You can leave the automated check for updates on. You can uncheck "Send a diagnostic report to research center" if you don't want to send the information. DO NOT allow SUPERAntiSpyware to protect your Home Page settings. On the Top Left select the Scan your computer button. Make sure there is a CHECK MARK on all Fixed Drives. Click "Perform a Complete Scan". Click "Next" to Repair issues found and reboot the computer when prompted to do so. __________________________________________________ STEP 4 Install and run Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware from Malwarebytes - (direct download) Accept all defaults for the installer Allow the program to update the definitions Click on the Quick Scan and click Next. If any items are found allow it to clean them and then Reboot your computer. __________________________________________________ STEP 5 Run an online scan with ESET from Free Virus Scan: Use ESET's Online Antivirus Scanner You must use Internet Explorer for this online scan. FireFox, Opera, etc will not work for this scan. If your computer is running Window's Vista, then you must first start Internet Explorer as an Administrator. To do so, right-click on the Internet Explorer icon in the Start Menu and select "Run as administrator" from the popup context menu. Accept the terms and click "Start". Once the scanner is ready, check "Remove found threats" AND "Scan unwanted applications". Click "Start" to begin the scan. When completed restart your computer __________________________________________________ Make sure your internet firewall security is enabled, and then please return to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help and tell us how the computer seems to be operating. At that time, you will receive instructions to assist you in removing malicious programs from your Add/Remove program list if warranted. If required this is the download link for TrendMicro™ HijackThis™ Unless instructed to by the Technician helping you then do not download this tool. Once you and the Technician agree that your system appears to be clean then you should delete all your System Restore points and recreate a new one. Please follow the instructions here How to turn off and turn on System Restore in Windows XP How to turn off and turn on System Restore in Windows Vista

Hi Shamou and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. I see that you were introduced to our community by Wolfeymole. Rest assured that we will make every effort not the hold that against you.:D

Welocm to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help Jacamo! Building is good :) Enjoy your time with our community.

Hi Jacamo, Have you performed any scans for malware and if so with what programs?

It occurs to me, having reviewed the last 221 posts to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help, that your posts to thread seems to make the most sense. Please come back we need you!!

I believe that the original post expressed concerns regarding malware and specifically the use of Avast and other freeware. You should be aware Aldin that Avast is included within FreePC Help's list of recommended malware protection and some members list it as no. 1 among the free programs. You should not, however, not rely on antivirus alone and would be well served to consider choosing some antimalware programs as well. Take a look at this. http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/malware-removal-av-firewalls-etc/3597-fpch-recommended-security-products.html

Who are you calling an Odd Americanism ??? You talkin to me? You talkin to me? (you will have to add the DiNiro voice on your own.)

Noose with all due respect it is time to close this thread. It is becoming impossible to follow and much too much of the information is second hand. If you have a valid XP license on the bottom of the lappy that should simplify your ability to get your hands on the proper discs for your machine. If not you will have to secure a new OS. Either way you must follow Randy's advice if you hope to ever use this machine again.

Wecome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help DC!! How about this for a first new idea? Look around, post where you have a question. Post an answer if you have one and when all else fails there is the community forums down there at the bottom of the home page where you can share your ideas about anything. enjoy being part of our Community. :):)

Hi Stokie glad to have you be a part of our community. Many welcomes!!!:)

Welcome Richard! Just to let you know that even though are from Louisiana over here we're all Yanks. Take a look around stay with us. We need all the Yanks we can get.

Hi King and welcome!! Turning it on is a good first step. Finding Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help even better. Glad to have you here.

That's great Andrea be sure to come back and let us know how you got on.

Sorry Spike you are right, I did say that. It seems the worst that can happen is that the sound will not reinstall but since you have no sound now there is not much to lose.