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General discussion

QuickReg problem

Dec 17, 2003 1:54AM PST

First, Ive had a problem with a page thats been popping up as a home page, insead of Google.com. Changing it at Tools > Internet options > privacy > edit does not help. I did block the address (search-click.com) from coming up. After blocking it, I get an HTTP 404 error saying "The page cannot be found", instead, so its still looking for Searchclick.com. Ive so far run SpyBot - Search and Destroy 1.2. There were 8162 files checked. I wondered if I needed an update, so I also clicked Online > Search for updates. At first, it gave me three checked items, but when I clicked "download updates", nothing happened, and I had to try to close it. I finally had to force windows to close because it was frozen. I decided to come to the Cnet board to ask about that when I saw a note suggesting the use of QuickReg. I downloaded it and didnt immediately see how to 'turn it on', but did find the something called "using QuickReg" and clicked on it. I got an error message saying Quick Reg has caused an error in <unknown> Quickreg will now close. If you continue to have problems, try restarting your computer." So, I attempted to close, but with difficulty. The error box would not go away and Windows wouldnt close. I finally hit control-alt-del to close everything individually, but got another message in blue saying windows had been improperly closed.

I believe the OS is WinMe, though my girlfriend says it might be Win 2000. Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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Brian, We Need Specific Information...
Dec 17, 2003 4:03AM PST

What IS the operating system? RIGHT click on "My Computer" choose "Properties". (Or simply restart the machine and watch the spash screen for the version of Windows that's loading.

Next, after opening Spybot, click on the "Search For Updates" button, then when the downloads section appears, you'll notice a download "mirror" displayed in a little button at the top. Click on the drop down arrow and choose "F/X Clips USA", then click on the "Download Updates".

Hope this helps.

Grif

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Re:Brian, We Need Specific Information...
Dec 18, 2003 1:54AM PST

Hi Grif. This morning the error message was gone, and when I logged on, it went straight to Google.com as we want it to. Yesterday after leaving my note, I ran Panda. The system was clean, but it said there were several messages (forgot how many). I didnt have enough time to find out what that meant. This morning, I followed your instructions on making the download for Spybot, and then ran it.

The OS is WinMe.

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Brian, It Sounds Like You Need To Do a 'Clean Up'
Dec 18, 2003 2:07AM PST

Windows ME can have problems with program conflicts and issues with bloated systems. Click on the link below and follow the steps (Parts 1-4) to clean things up:

http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-6122-0.html?forumID=44&threadID=2966&messageID=35611

After following all of the steps in the posts from the link above, and since the computer is Windows ME, you can also perform the steps below BEFORE running Scandisk and Defrag.

Reduce the size of stored "back up files": Temporarily disable your "System Restore? by RIGHT clicking on ?My Computer?, choose ?Properties?. When that loads, click on the ?Performance? tab, click on the ?File System? button, click the ?Repair/Troubleshooting? button, and then place a CHECK mark in the ?Disable System Restore? button. Click ?Apply? if it?s highlighted, then OK, then restart the computer. This will decrease the ever-increasing size of System Restore. Restart the computer again, then ?re-enable? System Restore.

After doing the above, then you should run Scandisk and Defrag using the instructions in "Part 4" from the earlier post.

Hope this helps, too.

Grif

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Re:Brian, It Sounds Like You Need To Do a 'Clean Up'
Dec 18, 2003 5:00AM PST

Grif,

I think I may have a different version of Scandisk than yours. Where you say:

Display Summary=Always
Log File=Replace Log
Cross-linked File=Delete
Lost File Fragments=Free
Check Valid Files For=Place a check in ALL of the options
Check Host Drive First

It doesnt say "valid" files, but I checked all of them anyway.

And the last part of the advanced area just has boxes for:

Prompt before fixing errors on improper shutdown

and

Report MS-Dos name length errors.

It doesnt say "check host drive first".

Also, in an earlier section, you had an address for a program which would retrieve a list of startup programs. I wasnt sure how to find that list using the program. I typed them out but lost itSad.

Anyway, all other items on the list have beent taken care of.

Brian

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Brian, Here's Some More
Dec 18, 2003 11:55AM PST

Here's a download link for that Start Up list. It's a Zip file so you'll need an "unzipper" program to read the information. This will actually download the alphabetical list to your desktop. Unzip the file and you'll be able to read the list of files at your leisure.

Startups_all.zip Download Link

If you'd like the direct internet link to the list, here it is:

http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php

After you've eliminated all the start up programs, cleaned out the computer, then run Scandisk and Defrag, things should operate better.

Hope this helps.

Grif