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General discussion

Computer Boot Problem.

Feb 29, 2004 12:25PM PST

I have a Dell L866r, 866 mhz cpu, 128 mb ram, 20 ghz hdd, running Windows ME.
I have ran ad-aware and spybot and removed several hundred files of adware and spyware. I have also uninstalled several suspicious programs, download accelerator, Kazaa, etc. No virus software loaded. I am unable to load NAV in Safe Mode, because cd-rom drive is unavailable. The computer will boot in safe mode, but when I attempt to boot normally, I get the message board "please wait while Windows updates the hardware information database". The computer will stall in this position for hours without any further progress. Also under system resources in system information, there is no data displayed for any of the hardware. Any clues as to the cause would be greatly appreciated.

Discussion is locked

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Re:Computer Boot Problem. "please wait while Windows updates the hardware information database".
Feb 29, 2004 8:08PM PST

This is a KNOWN issue with Symanctec's software (Windoctor.)

I found the problem in 2000 and Symantec NEVER fixed it. They blamed Microsoft and frankly, caused how many people pain on this.

The issue is SIMPLE. There are thousands of ZERO BYTE .INF files in C:\Windows\Inf Delete the Zero byte files.

Symantec has not fixed their software, so I'd uninstall that.

Bob

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Re:Re:Computer Boot Problem.
Mar 1, 2004 12:46AM PST

Thanks very much for your help. This one had me stumped. I'll delete the files and will post the results later.
Thanks again.

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Re:Re:Re: 9,999 oem files
Mar 1, 2004 4:36AM PST

Found 9,999 oem files in the Inf folder. It would seem that the computer is incapable of numbering any files beyond this point. Is it possible that when it reaches this point that is what creates the other problems? Just a thought.
I deleted the files and this seems to have taken care of the problem.
Thanks again, for your help with this problem.