Plastic Nev

Hi, yes the i386 folder is the one you want, however there is no way of telling if it is corrupt, damaged or files missing without trying it. However, nothing to stop you copying that folder from the other computer if the first does seem damaged. Nev.

Same question as asked by Norman Kev :D In short, each time you make a clone to the spare hard drive, it automatically reformats the drive and wipes the old clone, it actually asks if it can go ahead and do so as there won't be space for two clones unless there is a large amount of disk space available. I am not sure if Macrium can format a brand new hard drive, so you may have to do that first, however Macrium will ask if it requires to be done and maybe the latest version may actually be able to do it for you. One good thing about doing a clone is that you can reconnect it to the computer at any time and inspect the contents to make sure all is OK, also you can add or remove data from or to it. However Windows updates, and any new program installs to the original drive on the computer can only be copied as a fresh clone. You cannot copy over installed software or updates as they do require the full installation process. Nev.

Thanks Kev for the link to an enclosure, here is a link to a USB to SATA adapter, one end connects to the new or spare hard drive, the other end connects to two USB ports, one is for the data, the other USB port is to provide power to run the hard drive. http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/harddrives-external/harddriveenclosures/zht01.html Also here is a link to a SATA to USB docking station, I have one of these, though a bit more expensive they do have a separate mains power supply which make things a lot more stable. http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/2535-inch-sata-usb-dock-a83hq The good thing about the SATA standard being that connections for both the small 2.5 inch laptop drive, are exactly the same as for the larger 3.5 inch desktop drives. This means that even for a desktop, a small 2.5 inch laptop drive can be fitted with a suitable mounting bracket as the connecting plugs are exactly the same. 2.5 inch to 3.5 inch adapter mounting brackets are quite often supplied by the dealers selling the hard drives. Now for the questions you asked. My first impression of the clone on the external hard drive is that it didn't work properly and may be corrupted. When the clone finished, did you use the "Safe to remove" function on your computer? disconnecting a drive without doing that can even damage the drive if there is still data being transferred. The second question to answer, once you do have either adapter, enclosure, or docking station, each time you create a clone onto the spare drive, it automatically reformats and wipes the previous clone off the spare drive and puts a complete fresh clone onto it. That means any additions since the last clone was made will be included on the fresh clone, that also includes all the latest Windows updates that were installed on the computer as well as any new data you have put on such as pictures, music, video, documents, etc. One good thing about a clone is that being a complete and full copy of everything on the computer, you can connect and access it any time and inspect the contents, and if only a small amount of extra data, that also can be copied over to the same folder on the clone. Though updates or programs cannot be installed, they have to be copied over when a new clone is made. If you wish, you can use the external hard drive as a storage medium for a complete image of your computer as a different form of backup. An image is a lot different from a clone in the fact that it is a compressed format, therefore takes up less space on the external hard drive, though the down side is that you cannot access the content of the image, you can only use Macrium to verify it is OK. To reinstall an image, you need what Macrium calls the "Rescue Disk", this disk should be created when you first make the image and stored safely till it is needed. If wanting to know more about making an image as well as the clone, let me know. Nev.

Hi Norman and a welcome to Free PC help. Sorry to say it will not work that way. I did say in the tutorial that the intended clone drive should be connected via an adapter, an enclosure temporarily, or the slightly more expensive docking station. However, you have made a small mistake in buying the replacement internal drive as a smaller size, it should be as big as or larger than the original drive. Can you get it swapped? Macrium or any other cloning software cannot shrink the unused space to fit that smaller drive, it copies all of the drive including unused space, as unused space is still formatted and allocated for use. Secondly, you will next need to get to the boot options page or the full BIOS and find out if you can select "Boot from USB" if you want to try booting from the external drive. The usual way to get to the boot options page is to keep tapping the F12 key from the minute you press the start button. However, you still will not be able to swap the clone onto the computer from the external, and only be able to boot from the external if the option is available on the BIOS system, a lot it isn't. The only way to do that is to put an image (Not a clone) onto the external and then use the disk you have to create for moving an image to the computer. However whichever way you do it, you still need a drive as big as or larger than the original. Let me know if there is anything else you wish to know. Nev.

As I said, if my warning to others can save a life by persuading someone to go to their doctor early enough, that is all I want to see. Nev.

OK Bringe, there may be a rescue available, first of all you will need to run the "sfc /scannow", (note there must be a space between sfc and the forward slash / ) It may well ask for the XP CD, however there is a way round, which will mean finding the I386 folder within the Windows system files. (Note it is the letter I, not number 1 at the start of I386 ) This article gives a good explanation, however if the I386 folder on your present machine is corrupted, you may be able to copy it from the other computer. as you don't have a disk, worth a try. http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html I know it is a bit long winded, however it does give a lot of useful information and saves me typing it all. If at the end of it all and you still cannot sort the problem, a reputable dealer repairer will most likely still have his own disk for performing full system repairs. You may have a fee to pay for a repair service. A windows repair, if done correctly does not damage or delete any of your data, files, music video, etc. Nev.

I am posting this for all our members, male or female, old or young, please read it and where possible share my story amongst your friends. How many of our older members are finding it either difficult to relieve yourself, finding the frequency of needing to do so is going up with ever shorter times between, at the worst, are you seeing blood? It is definitely not a sign of just growing older if you answer yes to any of the above. I urge you to go and see your doctor and as soon as possible, if you are lucky, it may just be a minor infection quickly cleared up with antibiotics. A little less lucky, it may be a benign growth that can be easily removed with keyhole surgery, even less lucky it may be a cancerous tumour, which if caught early enough can also be easily removed. If you are already under the doctor about these things, then I hope all is well, if not, please, please, please, do go see the doctor. Otherwise you will most certainly finish up in my situation as I did leave it all too late. By the time it had got to needing to go and empty my bladder once an hour, therefore actually restricting my movements to places where I knew there would be a toilet or restroom (for other countries understanding) that is when I finally went to see my doctor as also I had seen blood in what came out too. First off was a course of antibiotics, which in my case did nothing, so My doctor referred me then to the urology department of our local hospital. After a cystoscopy examination a tumour was discovered inside my bladder and quite a large one, I then went for a CT scan so they could determine a bit more. Then the next course of action was keyhole surgery under the knock out drops (I cant spell anaesthetic http://www.annemccaffreyfans.org/forum/images/smilies/th_whistle.gif ) to see if it was possible to remove the tumour, which proved that only a small part could, which was then sent for analysis. It turned out to be an aggressive form of cancer that had grown into and become part of my bladder. It was then decided at that point that it would be best to have chemotherapy, followed by removal of the entire bladder. However from the CT scan, a small anomaly was also discovered in the shape of some fluid at the back and outside my right lung, so a sample of that was taken. The results showed things were a good bit more serious than at first thought, as there was some small amount of the same cancer cells in it. That has changed the ball game considerably, the chemotherapy course was altered, and also extended from the original three cycles to now six cycles, and my bladder will no longer be removed. (Not much point as it is too late) At the very best, the cancer can only be sent into remission and never totally killed off by the present treatments, in turn that can now be a limiting factor on how much longer I will be here to post my usual rubbish on here. There is still hope though, as there is a promising new trial treatment available soon and that will be looked into after the present course of chemotherapy is finished. I am staying positive, I promise to post my brand of oddball humour now and then where appropriate, offer my advice where I can, and try to carry on living for as long as I can. The hopefully good thing about the chemo should be that at least I might get a bit more bladder space back and not be tied down to somewhere I can go empty it at the by now every half hour intervals. Quality of life isn't good when it is like that, so I hope to get at least some of it back. So to conclude, and back to my opening sentences, for all, both male and female, have some serious thoughts about your frequency of bladder emptying needs, if more than twice in the morning or afternoon, think back, when you were younger that it wasn't like that then, so be aware that may be the first warning signs that all is not well. Do not hesitate, please don't finish up with a similar tale to tell as mine above. Nev.

Hi Bringe That is one of the many Windows hidden files, which look like it somehow is one of those that finished up in the bin. Unfortunately now lost for good. The only hope now is do you have a full Windows XP disk, not a manufacturers repair or recovery disk, it must be a Microsoft Windows XP disk, or do you know where you might borrow one? If you do it may be possible to reinstall that now missing file using the system file checker. Let us know if you have the disk first! Nev.

Hi Kev, firstly I have never used Acronis, however cloning a hard drive is basically the same thing whichever program is used to do it. A clone is a complete and full copy of everything on the original drive, that means all partitions, all data, the operating system and including unused space on the original drive if the clone software is set to do so. In most cases complete partitions can be turned off or ignored and will not be copied to the destination drive. That means that a partition that is selected to be cloned will be transferred complete, say for example the partition is 200GB with only 100GB used, the copy on the destination drive will also be 200GB with 100GB used and the spare unused 100GB will also be there, as I said the complete partition. So, whatever the size of the original drive, the destination drive has to be the same size in GB or larger, as far as the sizes of the cloned partitions. It makes it easier if all the original drive is to be cloned, so if the original drive is your 640GB and the destination drive then has to be 640GB or larger. If larger, the extra space on the new destination drive will be unallocated. The unallocated part has to be allocated and formatted for it to be useful, existing partitions can then be expanded into that space at a later time. So to answer your questions now, yes indeed the entire 640GB drive can easily be cloned onto the new 1TB you intend buying. Now for the possible problems, if for example as you asked, the rest of the computer died on you, we still have the problem of the operating system may be reluctant to boot if the drive is put into another computer, unless the other computer is exactly the same make and model. The last question to answer being how long will making the clone take, depends on both the software in use and how quick it is at making the clone, and also how much data it has to make a copy of. A broad example being that I keep regular cloned backups of my system on spare hard drives, that is so I can just install the spare with the clone on it and I am back up and running again. In my case I have a 500GB hard drive and I clone to 500GB spare hard drives. Although I use the free version of Macrium reflect rather than Acronis, it usually takes a little under three hours to clone over around 270GB of data, programs, and operating system, plus the 230GB free space that hasn't been used yet. Any other questions after that please do ask them. However I will recommend that you ignore the so called free Acronis (I have heard of problems with it) and try using the Macrium Reflect. For help in that I wrote a tutorial on making a clone to a spare or other drive using Macrium and it is in the forums magazine pages, here :- http://magazine.freepchelp.uk/making-a-cloned-hard-drive-using-macrium-reflect/ I have no connections with Macrium, I merely suggest using that as I at least know how to use it nearly backwards, therefore I can help easily with any questions before you start. Nev.

I am running the Windows live mail and have never had that question asked by Microsoft. Some other odd websites, perhaps, which I have ignored. So I am puzzled as to what the mesage is from Microsoft regarding that. They can't have a mobile phone number anyway as I don't have a mobile phone! So, can you please let us see the message you got, either copy and paste to your reply or if possible a screen shot, let's see if it is genuine. Nev.

Firewall hasn't been covered, however check in control panel and see if Windows own firewall is turned on, the general recommendation seems to be that it is as good as any other third party firewall these days. Nev.

Hi again, a simple program such as Foxit reader should be easily removed or uninstalled, the fact that it won't makes me suspect some form of malware is on your system or what you think is Foxit reader is a malware. Please follow the instructions on this page :- http://extremetechsupport.com/threads/15547-Before-posting-for-Malware-Removal-help-WinXP-Vista-Win7-Win8-amp-Win8-1#.VVKizJONiSo Then post your resulting logs in the malware removal forum here :- http://extremetechsupport.com/forums/141-Malware-Infection-Removal One of our malware removal experts will be with you soon and help you to remove whatever the problem is. Nev.

Glad to hear it seems to have resolved itself and thanks for letting us know. Computers can sometimes baffle everyone. Nev.

As far as I am aware and I use Windows live mail, it is the password to each account that should be used, I have never had to use a password just for live mail, only the accounts that live mail connects to. I have an account with my ISP, just as you do with Sky, I also have an account with what was hotmail. Each has their own password. So to access your Sky account, Windows Live Mail needs to know the Sky account password. So, to try and explain in a bit more depth, when I first set up the two different E Mails. one of course was with my ISP, the address of which was and still is, (My name)@s****.com which has a password to access it. The second one at that time was still called MSN, it later became Hotmail, then in more recent times Microsoft have now called it "Windows Live" It is for that account that Microsoft have given you a new password, not the E Mail program on your computer. My original Microsoft E Mail account address was (My name)@msn.com For those of us who registered at that time it stayed as that and still is. however when a new account was created after the change to hotmail, it became (My Name) @ hotmail .com Now they have changed it yet again, it would be for a new account, @ windows live .com or it may just be @ live .com (Not sure about that as I don't use that one) So I would check in your own Windows live program that the correct passwords are there, so open the program, select your Sky account, then click on "Accounts" top left, then click on "Properties" in the window that opens click on the "Servers" tab, under incoming Mail Server it should show your normal address and under that in dots, the password for that account. Providing you know the password for your Sky account, if you re-enter it and then click "Apply" Then OK, it should work for that account. Providing you do use also the Microsoft Windows Live service, click on that and then enter the Microsoft provided password in the box for that service, again click apply and then OK. I hope my explanations are understood. :D Nev.

Hi, I assume it is not showing in the normal Programs and Features to be uninstalled. I have never tried Foxit reader so don't know for sure how or where it does install, however I suggest trying the Revo uninstaller, download and install Revo from here :- http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html You should only need the free version. Once you have used Revo and if not wanting to keep it, it will actually uninstall itself, though most of us use it exclusively for making sure everything is uninstalled of an unwanted program. Providing it does find Foxit reader, just double click on the entry in the list to start the process. When presented with the choices of uninstall modes, choose the Moderate as the advanced can be a bit too vicious at removing registry entries, which might damage something else. Nev.

OK, what we want to know though is it back to full speed or still very slow with everything else when not connected to the internet, which is what you haven't answered. Nev.

Hi, it is a matter of elimination really, if VLC is fine then the fault is with the other player, possibly a bad installation of it which might be cured by uninstalling and then a reinstall. If however the noise is still there, we try a different browser, then perhaps look at sound system settings and so on. Hopefully VLC is the answer though. Nev.

Hi, there are quite a few things could be causing that crackling noise, which browser are you using, Internet Explorer, or Chrome or Firefox? Also have you tried a different player? VLC player is highly rated and you can try it from here :- http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.en_GB.html See if you get the same problem with that and let us know. Nev.

Hi, Although that is the resource monitor rather than the task manager, it is showing quite a large amount of internet traffic. Having since looked at running services and processes shown in your previous Speccy report I can't identify what it is that might be causing this high level of activity. I will consult with other staff. Nev.

OK thanks, it does now make me wonder if there is something in the background that is using resources as soon as it sees a browser opening, maybe communicating with some other server, it doesn't necessarily mean malware, it could well be a legitimate program perhaps. Go back to the Windows task manager as shown by Ken, then click the networking tab, lets see the graph and if any heavy network traffic which might give us a clue. You should see something similar to my screen shot, if showing a high continuous use instead of the odd blips as mine shows we may be on to something. http://i19.servimg.com/u/f19/14/68/69/96/networ10.jpg Nev.

Hi, is this all just with Internet Explorer? Have you tried a different browser if only to see what percentage it uses, try Firefox for example and see what the CPU use is with that.. Nev.

Yes indeed please do post what you found as it will be useful for others and a learning point for us too. Nev.

Hi Kris, thanks for the update, best of luck and that it is sorted out for you. Nev.

Can I add briefly that if for any reason you do not wish the "Run" command to show permanently on the start menu and only wish to use it when needed, to bring up the "Run" command box press the Windows flag key and the letter "R" together, that will bring the "Run" command window up for you. Nev.

Hi John, sorry but I am not at all familiar with the various types of RAID set ups so unfortunately can only ask for you to wait till Ken or some else with RAID knowledge can get back to you. Nev.