PC Glitch revisited

I did what Robert and Pete suggested,,,,,,,,,, SOS. I can open attachments now and found a lot of trash but nothing serious. I restored back to Jan 3, of this year and know I had none of this then. Something is really messed up. In addation to The messsage boxes I had noticed before these popped up and maybe there's a clue here:

Box heading: “SmartBridge Alerts: Mitive SB,exe - Entry Point Not Found”
Message: The procedure entry point GetProcessImageFileNameW couldn’t located in the dynamic link ligraty PSAPI,DLL.
X button and OK button in box

Box heading: “Unload”
Message: The feature you are trying to use is on a CB-ROM or other removable disc that is not available.
Insert “Unload” disc and click OK
Ok, Cancel, and Browse buttons in box. There is also a use source drop-down box with no drop downs. Using Browse takes me to “My Documents” Unload and Installation Package [*.msi] but when I click on open the next box says it can’t be found.

Box heading: “Unload”
Message: Please wait while windows configures unload.
The advance bar stops at about 12%
Cancel button in box

Box heading: “Unload”
Message: Error 1706. No valid source could be found for product Unload. The Windows installer cannot continue.

I'm gonna beat this son-of-a-bitch one way or another.

if you have the system CDs reload them and see if that cleans the system.

No CDs came with the computer. If they had I would have had it fixed by now. I'm about ready to get a Mac.

BFH!

John D. Weimer Wrote:

I've learned how to take it back to the point when I first installed it. You can usually do that only once. I'll have to back up a lot of files before I decide to go that route.

You do have a virus, from what you have said. You can order a re-store disk from most Comp. Manf., they usually cost only $15-25, just call.

If you have a restore drive, bit the bullet and format and partition the drive and restore all data. If you still have data you want to save, copy to a dvd first and save and load later. Make sure you check the disk for viruses before loading!

Most viruses work in your registry and when you boot they remove different things, others work while you are using your comp. as you access different things and even others lie in the background and are on timers and become active after a while.

Once the damage is done there is no recovery!There are some programs that can undelete items, but they work on the principal that nothing is permantly deleted.

If you ran ASQUARE, you saw what you had.

If i can be of any help i will try.

Cheers

well, a macintosh (PLEASE do not capitalize it...Mac is me. mac is the computer<G>) And NEVER EVER M.A.C. because it is not an acronymn.

anyway. they work just enough different to drive you nuts. or not, depending on what you do. You can even run windows programs on there with additional software. and that can become complicated, and you will have to buy a windows OS disc (vista won't install, so you'll have to find another version) if you want to do this. i do not know if the update discs will work.

I've used "macintoshes" since the mac+ (first useful one) came out, what 20 years ago? So I've been there and done that and paid the prices. I've also used other computers (pre windows) much longer. and frankly, the arguments pro and con are usable for Snap On vs Craftsman. Tools. You like one, he likes the other.

Anyway, your guts can get in a twist easily with any computer. When you buy a mac you get a disc with the OS. But often there is nothing to really explain what is going on since mac writers assume you don't want to know., (I just installed Leopard today and there's lots that is mysterious<G>)

My preference for the past 15+ years has been to build my own winbox and buy the OS so I don't have to deal with that "restore disc" crap except on my laptop.

A mac with video and useful ram will cost a bit over a grand+1 (1100-1200). (I can build an equivalent PC for $7-900 but most folks cannot). I use a mini with a Viewsonic 22" and extra ram I installed myself. Saved a couple hundred over the imac at the time. it works fine. I do most internet stuff on it because there's not a lot of nasty stuff written for OSX -- yet. And Apple mail is pretty nice. On Win I use The Bat (recommended...google it. I've had zero virus problems for 5 years using this as my email program.)

when something goes wrong on the mac, it is often more difficult to resolve it. but stuf seems not to get it's undies in a bunch as often (probably because Apple supplies both hardware and software, where MS doesn't have that "advantage").

the easiest way, IMHO, to recover from massive issues (mac or win) is to have (a) a separate Hard drive in the computer or an external one. to the extent possible, keep all created files on this extra non-system drive. (if you are doing accounting or desk top publishing or something, keep there files on the non-system drive--a lesson from the days when computers had 1 (or 2, if you were lucky) floppies!

then (b) buy something like Acronis True Image -- teh Home eidion is fine, for about $40-50. (similar comes with Mac OSX Leopard) once a week or so, or after every software installation, backup your susten drive to this other hard drive once you've determined all works OK.

then if the shit hits the fan and all is mess, you can resore the system drive to what it was last backup.

the process is 20 minutes or so.

external drives are cheap.

I made a separate "C" drive back-up hard drive in a box of it's own as soon as I got this rig set up like I wanted it just in case something like this happened. At the time I was thinking that if the shit hit the fan like it has recently I could back up some files I have on separate discs, format "C", and replace it with the "C on my back-up hard drive and feed the stuff I just saved back in. I'd have to reinstall my scanner/printer that I didn't have when I backed up "C" and maybe a couple of other things but I don't see that as a problem. Will that work? That "C" back-up is totally clean, this thing was in the pink when I made that.

I'm sure it's not a virus, I'm protecteted two ways on that, everything points an error code 1706 which in my case deals with, what I can best make out is, MS Office Word 2003. I once had that, it still shows in "All Programs, but I can't open it. When I click on it that damned Windows Installer box comes up and does nothing but hang there for 30 seconds or sometimes I have to delete it 3 times which takes a minute and a half.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q253768/

This is the page that deals with 1706 and tells how to resolve the problem. It deals with office 2000.

I still believe you have a virus, i hope you did run ASQUARED!

1706 does not deal with your net connections as in the first comment on the thread.

Hope i am wrong-------Good luck!

Cheers

Thanks Robert, ASQUARED found some trash but nothing serious.

I've got a computer savvy friend coming here today. I've got lots of good information from you guys and maybe we'll pin something down with all of us ganging up on it.

Have you tried AVG?

AVG is the first program I put on this computer, did it immediately upon the first start-up and it has kept me clean.