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The "Not Quite Amiga but still computer related category" => Alternative Operating Systems => Topic started by: Will-i-am on January 13, 2006, 01:18:52 PM
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This is a PC question. First: the PC is a Sony Vaio running WinME. I have a cable modem, wireless router and a firewall plus active virus protection. That said the machine has been acting a bit odd lately, not surprising considering it's age and OS, but still it seems to be doing things like being busy when I am not asking it to do anything. Might be I'm over sensitive since the firewall and virus software claim we're clean. But last night when I shut it down I waited just in case, as a few times it has hung up on shutdown and I had to power off and then run scandisk. So last night as I'm watching the screen, seconds before the HD wound down there was a brief message on the screen, white block letters on a black screen. I think the top line was "If you can see this" and the second line I couldn't catch before the monitor went black. I can't say I recall seeing this before and I don't know how to stop the shutdown and freeze the screen if it should happen again. So my question is does anybody have an idea of what this screen message meant, especially is it possible the thing is infected? Is there a virus/worm etc that does this or is it some minor thing that windoze does just to scare folks?
As an aside, can somebody please tell me why so many messages on PCs (and even Amigas) flash on the screen so fast that you can't possibly read them? Does this date from slower computer days? I HATE the guru warnings on my Amiga as they tell me nothing unless I can find the place where the numbers are explained, and often this tells me nothing practical. Likewise I get the occasional system messsage as I am working on one of the machines and the window spends it's brief life behind one or more other windows so that by the time I close them it too has gone. Anybody know why these things are set up to be so arcane? Why not make it easier on the user/owner? I've heard from more techy people that if you can't understand all this you shouldn't own a computer! What BS! Anyway, here's hoping somebody can give me a clue... :-?
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Are you sure it wasn't "You shouldn't see me"?
IIRC it's something to do with ATI drivers but I may be wrong.
I've seen it a couple of times on different machines, it's just a dialogue counting down, I'm assuming it's waiting for something to close before Windows shuts down.
Nothing to be concerned about, it is Windows afterall.
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Check the machine for spyware. Firewalls won't block it, and anti-virus software won't remove it.
Activity when there shouldn't be and weird messages are a sure sign of something installed that shouldn't be. I recommend Adaware and Spybot.
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moto
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I'm amazed you've got this far with WinME... try and upgrade to XP if you can...
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http://www.techspot.com/vb/archive/index/t-781.html
There you go :)
Won't hurt to download AVG and a spyware killer just in case.
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I recommend NOAdware and Spybot
Yip i'd second that but noadware aint free so im sure it has a limit of amount of spyware it will remove. its been that long since i used an unregistered version but it was a good purchase. spybot on the other hand is free and it gives you alot of options from normals mode to advanced modes and is very good for free
well thats my 2 pennys.
@Moto
what no james bond quotes in this topic booooo :-P
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could be the message was misread. Thaks a ton for the info. My wife, the Ultra-Geek, She Who Must Be Obeyed, and the only one here who programs computers and helps maintain networks, knows about and has done some spyware work but since the office let her take her government laptop home this machine has been pretty much mine. I keep suggesting we get XP but she doesn't want to buy a copy but she also doesn't want to 'borrow' one from work. Rock and a hard place. My daughter's PC has XP on it and she says when she goes to school in Europe this month we can use her machine, but since she doesn't maintain the virus/spyware in her machine I'm a tad bit worried I'll get a faster infected PC. Wish the Beast could connect with the router. I keep following the tutorials only to hit a stone wall. Then there's the Java issue even with OS 3.9 onboard.
Come spring I'll be back in my herb/veggie garden where I know what I'm doing. Thanks again! You guys are great!
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If you haven't seen it before and the computer is more busy than it used to be I might wipe it totally and do a full install.
Though... who knows my x86 box just chats on and on with the WAN here. I know because of activity lights on my router. I have no idea what it's doing, but my machine is clean...
Boot up BeOS and the activity light behaves as exspected.
I agree with Bloodline. I don't know how youhave made it this far with windowsME. This was Microsofts crown stinker. Quite possibly the worst OS of all time (arguably worse than Windows 1-3).
Get XP for sure... or better yet ditch it all if you can and go BeOS R5 w/ Gobe Productive and watch the machine you thought was outdated scream. (That is IF you hardware is supported :-) )
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Much agreed, ME is the worst. However, XP also does a damn good job of stagnating performance on older hardware, and will just keep getting worse with usage.
You should also know that M$ programmers just love installing lots of background tasks to run, without letting you know about them, unless you go looking for them. Office has stuff like this built in. It can keep a hard drive active when the machine would otherwise be idle. Word can do this in a loop indefinitely. It can sometimes make sense to use the idle time this way, but M$ go over the top. It can be damned annoying. Some of these tasks can effect performance by running when you don't want them to, and some can also fill up storage space unexpectedly.
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@ Will-I-Am
There is at least one program on Aminet that tells you what the Guru numbers mean. You just type the number in and it will tell you what the problem was. I'm not saying it will always be helpful (in other words give you info that you can act on) but the tools are there on Aminet.
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Are you sure that it didn't just say "It is now safe to switch off your computer"?
Win98 sometimes showed this, although most of the time it would automatically power down itself. Could never figure out why it wasn't consistent...
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nasty wrote:
what no james bond quotes in this topic booooo :-P
Can't think of any yet :-)
BTW, it's AdAware, not NOAdware, unless that's a different piece of software.
AdAware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/)
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moto
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I my self use Spybot-S&D
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html
And I also use AVG
http://www.grisoft.com/doc/289/lng/us/tpl/tpl01
Both are free :)
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AntonioX wrote:
I my self use Spybot-S&D
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html
And I also use AVG
http://www.grisoft.com/doc/289/lng/us/tpl/tpl01
Both are free :)
I use both of them myself and am very happy with both of them.
My housemate uses Avast summat or rather - but its good to have a mix of virus killers on our network :-)
No Mr Bond....I expect you die!
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Chunder wrote:
Are you sure that it didn't just say "It is now safe to switch off your computer"?
Win98 sometimes showed this, although most of the time it would automatically power down itself. Could never figure out why it wasn't consistent...
Nah, I know the "safe..." message. This was ugly white block letters, very thick like 1/2". Don't ever recall seeing it before. And re ME vs XP on this box... this pitiful Sony machine was actually an upgrade from a Compaq. My pal Larry was fixing it for my sister when she bought a newer model and I got the hand me down. It just barely handles ME, I think it's 833mhz with no graphics board, sound card or anything else nice but the ethernet card. I tried installing a $5 game and it locked up every time I started the thing. In fact when trying to reply to your comments it locked up again and I had to ctrl-alt-del and start over. Sad, sad, sad. My daughter says she'll let me have her XP install CD that came with her PC as she has shifted over to Mac.
Here's a funny for you: I took the ancient Compaq, formatted the HD and installed Red Hat Fedora all by my lonesome. It seems to deal with it pretty good! I also have an 8088 bridgecard I'm thinking about putting in one of my A2000s so I can run DOS crap... just because I can. I really do think I must enjoy pain or at least the meds I'm on dull some of the worst of it. crap oh dear now my monitor is chattering away at me. Yikes! Time to boot the Beast and play with Brilliance.
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I would definitely reinstall or even better upgrade to a better OS. WinME is definitely the worst windows release since win3.11 and it does have known problems with shutdown.
I believe i have seen what you saw as well, and i believe it is related to the same bug which is that the system is trying to shutdown before it has managed to close running programs/drivers and so on.
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If you played a sony music cd on your pc, or installed any software provided by sony (soundstage etc.) there's a good chance sony has placed a rootkit on your pc to prevent you from copying their cds. And no spyware or ad aware program is able to detect it at the moment as far as I know. Worse enough, some hackers found a way how to abuse this rootkit and you may have a dozen viruses/trojans exploiting this gap right now. Sony is in deep trouble because of this mess (well deserved). you can read more about it on these pages :
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+will+wipe+Sonys+rootkit/2100-1002_3-5949041.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/01/sony_rootkit_drm/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/02/AR2005110202362.html
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/11/sonys_drm_rootk.html
I wish sony dies a painful death because of this. I'll never buy a sony again anymore (maybe I can make an exception for ps3)
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And no spyware or ad aware program is able to detect it at the moment as far as I know.
F-Secure at least does.
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@Moto
Noadware (http://www.noadware.net/)
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You might actually be better served using 98SE. It doesn't handle everything that XP does, but it's likely to run faster on your hardware. If you can manage it, it's also really a good idea to streamline and customise your installation. Plenty of info about that online.
P.S. also make sure you wipe you hard drive before new install. Sorry if the advice is condescending, as I don't know how advanced a user you are.
Hmm, while I'm off the topic...I was called up to fix someone's computer recently (not my job, but do it sometimes), for which a 'qualified computer technician' had just installed an infernal modem. I booted XP, and tried all the usual things, but couldn't get it to find the modem, not even with manual installation. I opened up the computer, and was actually stunned for some time, not comprehending what I was seeing. The modem card was screwed into the chasis, taking up one of the lowest positions in the case, but it was a micro atx mobo. Damn, I couldn't believe it. The card was just floating, suspended by the case, not even anywhere near a socket. When I realised this, I had a really good laugh. This job was done by a 'PC technician'. I told the owner never to let that techy any where near their posessions ever again. As it happens, it was an ISA card, for which their was no slot, and the 'technician' just told the owners it would be fine. Gee, I never realised those 'computers for dummies' titles were so aptly titled.
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@Will-I-Am
"should not see me". I've seen this quite a few times especially after installing new ATI drivers. It threw me the first time I saw it too.
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=%22should+not+see+me%22+windows&btnG=Search
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yogisumo wrote:
@Will-I-Am
"should not see me". I've seen this quite a few times especially after installing new ATI drivers. It threw me the first time I saw it too.
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=%22should+not+see+me%22+windows&btnG=Search
The more I think about it the more I think that's the message I saw. I got Spybot last night and ran it. About 74 nasty files got tossed out with Adaware and then Spybot found a bunch more. We'll see what happens.
This machine originally had ME on it and my old dead pal Larry had taken it home to fix what my sister had messed up and he did a ghost, then installed '98 in order to do more work on it, then reinstalled ME so she could have it back. By then she had bought her fancier new box and I got her cast off. Larry sent me the ghost program as well as a ghosted copy of the '98 version of the machine, so we could swap to 98 without much problem. Something he had suggested as he didn't think the hardware could handle XP. Larry didn't make mistakes, except with his own health. Hey guys, I have seen a man die from not taking care of his heart. It ain't quick, and it ain't pretty. Cool it on the red meat, no exercise and fatty foods. Just because Larry could fix any piece of electronics or any kind of sports car he thought he could fake it thru a bad lifestyle. Now I'm down one more old buddy and you guys are the only source I have for figuring out computers. 8-((
I'll work on this machine and then go play with my miggies. I need to attach a new floppy drive to the Sister of the Beast and I'm not sure I have a ribbon cable for it. Got two boxes of obscure cables, though. I mean really obscure, with lots of funny ends and multiple heads... if I take pics maybe I can upload them and get them identified. I'm starting to think that all my ribbon cables are for ide drives, but maybe if I'm lucky when I open the Sister she'll have a cable tucked away inside from when I pulled the drive. I just have this nagging memory of a ribbon cable I had to toss because it had several broken wires. geez I hope it was a HD cable. These dang pain meds have the amusing side effect of destroying my.... what? oh yeah, short term memory.