I'm new here,

thought I'd say hello to everyone! I think I need some "Major" help, not comp. savy at all but would like to learn!!! My lap top used as my primary is sick. don't know where to start.It is a toshiba 7200 protege series with windows 98 SE program.It was getting slower by the day, frequently showing illegal ops and shut down. I'd scanned, had 4 trojans, many adware, corupted sys. files, parse errors, illegal ops, dos com. is missing, can't locate winsock32dll to restore, and can't get on line. I quarrentined the trojans, adware and corrupt files and permenetly deleted them, attempted to restore from drive and registry, not found or invalid character. does this make sense to anyone? any help or advice would be appreciated!! Thanks, Amanda {or geekembryo}

 

Thanks, I'm a lost soul whan it comes to comps. I'll try to move it to soft ware. Thanks again!!

 

I've done that, thats where I get message "restore from is missing or has invalid charecter" so I attempted to extract it under other names/charecters. I tried wsock32dll, wsock.32dll, winsock32dll, winsock32.dll,Wsock32dll, Winsock32.dll. No luck. When I restored systems fron backup file, wouldn't it have been in there? Can I locate it any other way? thank you so much!!!

 

I opened my windows systems files and found Win32s16.dll and WI32dll.dll and Wsock32.dll I am going to attempt to restore from
c;\WINDOWS\SYSTEMS file rather than drive which shows empty or missing charecters. I'll let you know results. Thanks!! Amanda

 

It's Amanda again. I have a question, is there a forum listing someone who may be willing to do phone support? I have unlimited local and long distance so location isn't an issue. I'd be glad to make the call for a step by step troubleshooter help. My comp. is really messed up, I've read so many "windows help" it is all starting to read the same, I'm so confused!!!!!!!!!
I live in Inlet, NY. Far, Far away from tech help, nearest city of any size is Utica, about 1 1/2 hrs. away. If not here, any ideas, I really think I need a live person to help me. I currently can't get on line, so I will check my E-mail tomorrow at my neighbors. Any suggestions? Thanks everyone, Maybe some day I'll be a geek but just a geekembryo right now!!! Amanda

 

i may have missed this somewhere along the line, but why are you running 98? it might save you some time to just back up the files you want and get rid of it. seems like your computer is pretty sick. maybe invest in a copy of Windows XP. but of course, there are MANY very helpful people here who can assist in whatever you need, whether you stay with your 98 system or update it with some XPage...or vista...eeew.

 

Cost of replacement, perhaps? Laptop refuses to upgrade? Lack of know-how by owner? All good and possible reasons!

Hi Amanda!

I'm battling a 98SE problem and trying to extract files so I can sympathise greatly!

The Toshiba site is a bit of a pain to find your way around so here is a link that will help you get to the sections you might need if you have to download any new/newer drivers for your laptop:

http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/su/su_sc_home.jsp

Are your and your neighbour's computers both able to use floppy disks or some other kind of disk? If so, you can copy the text from this forum into NotePad and then save it onto a floppy and take it home with you to work on your own if you can't get phone help. Using NotePad has the advantage of giving you something that you can read in dos if you need to. Suppose it was called majorhelp.txt; to read it in dos, you would type edit majorhelp.txt while you're in the disk drive/folder that the file is in, or from somewhere else, such as a different folder, edit a:\majorhelp.txt where the parts that come between edit and majorhelp.txt are the location of the file, and then you would be able to read the file (and edit so be careful about changing things or remember to say 'No' to changes when exiting). You exit using the File menu at the top, just like most Windows programs. The only drawback is that you can't actually do any of the steps suggested while you're reading your file. That's when I read it carefully and then make brief notes on paper. Or can you put the file on the other computer and have the laptop close enough to follow the information from there?

If you don't have a firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware and depending what you use in email, an anti-spam program, make sure that when you get the computer sorted out that you get all the necessary security software on it. Don't let lack of money stop you there because there are some very good programs that are free for personal use and you can follow the links from the bottom of any Major Geeks page to find such software. Also, check out the threads about how to protect and maintain your computer - I think they're in the Malware forum.

 

Chookers, Thanks for the reply and advice. I,m thinking of upgrade to windows XP, have the program disk from my sisters new desk top system. my toshiba protege 7200 series will support the XP but won't upgrade the current program 98SE, and suggests to back up wanted files, then delete current program,windows 98 and proceed to install the Win XP from beginning. It says there are 22 steps to do it!!!!! I read thru the directions,which it suggests to copy and have available to do the install. It is exciting to think I might be able to do this but very overwhelming, too. Some of the things I just don't understand. I think it would be easier to install new program than to continue to try to figure out what's up with the sick system I'm "not running" now. I've fixed or repaired all I can do on my own. redownloaded my providers IExplorer program, High speed DSL, It gets to the end of load, does connection test, http connects, DNS {or DSN} fails,shows message "IEXP has caused error in module "then a bunch of numbers. I called tech support at my provider,they walked me thru removal and renewal of IP address, tested connections, and again same message. They told me it was a problem with my system{REALLY!!!!} because connection is there. I'm so confused!!!! I don't even know where to begin to fix this problem. So attempting the new install of XP is looking like it wins the vote!!! I just have to get up the nerve to try, cause I know I could mess it up!! All you Guy and Gal geeks out there who have done new installs so many times be thinking of me!!! Thanks for the reply Chookers Amanda

 

hey,
best thing about win98 is that you can do a complete reinstall over the top of a faulty operating system & it will not rewrite any info except the operating system files.
id give this a try as it is a quick & easy way with minimal fuss. just boot from your 98 cd, choose to install windows on your existing partition but DO NOT format this partition.
this will install windows again, basically replacing any corrupt OS files in the process while still leaving all your data intact.

hope this helps

 

jimmy iz god, Thanks for the reply! My lap top is a used model, unfortunately didn't come with Windows 98 CD, see my last response to Chookers and wish me luck! I so wish I was a real comp. geek!!!!! Thanks Again! Amanda

 

Thanks to you who offered advice and help!!! My system was to shot for me to fix by myself, even with all the recomendations, so I did a new install of windows XP. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be!!! Loved that I attempted, love even better that I "geeked-out" and succeded. Over-wrote the old, sick Windows 98SE program, partitioned it to same partition space and Ta-Da!!!! I,m writing this from my now new and functioning Windows XP system. Next, I'd like some adivce on a anti-everything to down load. Any advice ? There are so many of them on this site. Thanks again every one. Also, mail can be sent to my own address now that I'm back up and running. mtqueen3@yahoo.com.

 

Hi Amanda,

I just caught up with your thread. You say you got the XP disk from your sister's desktop. Do you have your own CD key? You can't possibly both run machines with the same key code without Microsoft flagging the double-use of that key and putting it on the pirate list. In fact, if it's a retail version of XP, I think you might still have to contact Microsoft to get the number cleared for use by you.

I hope you didn't, I hope you didn't, I hope you didn't.... :eek

 

Here is the best place to start on this site to find the anti-virus and anti-malware (and other cool free and usefull programs) that are best suited to your needs

http://www.majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=20

Oh, and chookers is right (I just saw what he was talking about). You must have your own CD key for XP - each machine running XP must have it's own, unique key . . .

 

You have 30 days on that installation, there are work arounds after that, but it isn't worth the trouble. I wouldn't try Windows Update with an installation from an already registered copy of XP as that could cause problems also. If you shop around you can get a legitimate copy of XP Home for under a ninty dollars. You could also try a Linux distribution, many of which are free, some have a Live CD you can download and try out before you install. If you have a DSL or Broadband connection it is rather easy to get on line, if you go wireless there is some work involved. There are unused 98 SE disks available on ebay cheap. Check out the sellers reputation if you go that route. Might as well go with ME or 2000 for the price. But XP Home is probably the best bet for your dollar due to its ease of use, hardware and software compatibility, and support by the manufacturer.

There’s no accounting for taste.

Bug

 

Oh NO!!! Am I a criminal now? Ididn't know that using my sisters Windows XP disc to put the program on my lap top was the wrong thing to do. We share a home, and our internet access. Hence our address " 2sisters1@frontiernet.net". I'm so embarassed! I really am a geek embryo! Being a very honest person{really!} I am mortified. I don't know how to fix this. My first step after reading the new posts to my thread was to contact microsoft. I browsed around their site and found where I thought I could get some help and advice. They have a piracy reporting page so I sent them a message explaining what I had done and "turned myself in". I guess ignorance is no excuse but it is mine. I must apologize to everyone. It never crosed my mind I was doing something ilegal! Here's hoping microsoft will not void my sisters windows program for my stupidity! Thanks goes to Chookers, Natakel, and Bugballou! I'm going off line with my system until Microsoft responds with a solution. I believe that to be a fair temp. solution. I sure do have egg on my face!!!!!! Amanda