pseudo-xpert + registry = :(

Hullo. Well, I found a way on the web to change the settings in the reg to change the recycle bin icon. Finding it successful, I then bump up my status to 'expert' when dealing with the registry. Well, a fool and his internet connection (and several other things) are soon parted, and I haven't had net access for over a month now due to a bit of scribbling around with some reg-keys with the help of Registry Mechanic, which - unlike some other programs - doesn't specify important keys from non-essential ones (I'm sending this out via the public library). Problems; No internet connection (the service-provider says everything's fine on their end) and the PC tells me there are no drivers installed (using a built-in Phoenix bios D686 on the Sony Vaio motherboard); programs such as Adobe Audition revert to their first-time-running state after they're re-opened, msconfig won't open and prompts an error message (encountered a problem, must close); Dr.Watson runs on startup and hogs PCU til I shut it off in taskmanager; and for a while space on my C drive was starting out at 1.37 gigs (normal), and slowly draining down to zero in the course of a few hours. Too many other minor problems to list right now, but a few of them self-fix (missing taskbar, several auto-reboots in a row, and the latter problem from above). I've run AVG several times both in normal and safe-mode and nothing appears. Also ran 3 different spyware tools and I think it was SpywareGuard that picked up a trojan but deleted it before it did anything, along with about 33 other bad guys, all taken care of. I've run several HJT's, each coming up different with every re-boot. I'm using a Sony Vaio Version 2002 with XP Home, and these didn't (at least mine didn't) come with an XP install-disc. I made a Vaio back-up as suggested, but the PC asks for a second disc (actually 'Part 1') after the one I stick in doesn't do anything, and this disc has worked the 2 times before that I've used it. Anyway my user-time on this is almost used up, so I hope I've provided enough info to get any kind of response. At the moment, I'm frustrated enough to just head out and blow my savings on a custom-built with Linux or MacOS. Thanks in advance!

PC tells me there are no drivers installed

Oh, really?
Do you have the original XP and Sony Driver CD(s)

When you say the PC tells you there are no drivers are you referring to Device Manager.
Go to Device manager and look for yellow or red warning signs
If a device has such a warning, select "Remove" or "uninstall"
and then Reboot, allowing Win XP to "find new hardware" and "install drivers for new hardware"
Do this one-at-a-time for each device in Device manager that shows a warning.

for a while space on my C drive was starting out at 1.37 gigs (normal), and slowly draining down to zero in the course of a few hours.

By this do you mean that you have only 1.37gb "freespace"? Not good.
You should have at least 25% of your Hard Drive as "freespace" in order for your operating system and applications to run. You can't even Defrag effectively with only 1.37gb "free space"

Consider using CCleaner or CleanUp! 4.0 to remove junk files, cookies, .tmp and temporary internet files.
Consider saving any large groups of data and media files that you can back-up to CD.
Consider uninstalling any application programs that you don't use, or that you have the installation CD or installation file, so you can re-install when you want to use it after you get everything else cleaned up.

For your XP operating system, this should get your Internet Connectivity back.

Start>Run>cmd [enter]
netsh winsock reset catalog [enter]

Once you are back on the Internet, update your Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware utilities and then reboot to SAFE Mode to run all of your onboard scans.

Then run your System File Checker
Start - Run - (type) sfc /scannow
Have your Win XP disk handy since SFC may identify missing or corrupt files and need to copy from the installation files.

Post back with your progress.

Best Regards

Hi - thanks for the reply! No, my Vaio came with XP Home ed. pre-installed, and only came with the advice to make a "Vaio Recovery" disc immediately after set-up. It further stated that I'd have to pay a fee for the proper XP disc & have it sent to me if I required it. Hopefully they've changed this practice in the past couple years. In device Manager, several ?-marks and a couple ! there. One for the modem & another for the USB 2.0. Yes, I recently moved/deleted several files from the C drive & the problem involved stopped. OK - I'll give everything a shot & get back tomorrow. Thanks again!

The "price" for the OS disk from manufacturer used to be about $9.00 US. Not a bad deal. But a nuisance to have to ask for and pay for it in the first place, when it should have been supplied with the original purchase (IMHO). Good work, so far! I look forward to seeing your progress. Best Regards

Hello - sorry, delayed because of work/library conflicting hours… Tried all suggestions; Went into dev. manager & tried the uninstall/reboot, but that didn't work. Went in to the dos window for the 'netsh winsock reset catalog' command but that failed as well, and an error message came up saying "winsock reset catalog" could not be found. And I tried the sfc/scannow option from the 'run' box and the pc couldn't find anything to do with it. Any more suggestions would be great (or, let me know if I screwed up anywhere), tho' it looks like I'm going to end up giving Sony/MS a bit more money…

I just purchased a brand new machine from Dell, yesterday… For a friend who specifically wanted a Dell. Even at the time of Purchase, Dell had an option to "purchase" the installation back-up CD….$10.00. Dell could not tell me what is on the disk! For example… is it only a "branded version" of Win XP with all the Dell Bloat? Or does it also include a Driver Backup reinstallation component? Dell doesn't know???!!! Again, not a bad price, except that I think I'm already paying for the Operating System that they sell installed on the machine! Sorry about the rant. Best Regards

I might also add that when I look at my Dr.Watson log after about an hour after turning on the PC (if I forget to disable it at startup), the error-text takes up approximately 5 Gigs (yes gigs) of space….

Your Dr Watson log file is probably an accumulation of logged errors over a period of time greater than your current "on" time. It can get huge! You can delete the content of your Dr. Watson Log to bring it back to 0kb without harm. deleting everything in drwtsn32.log doesn't matter, you can still read about it in the Event Viewer. DrWatson log can be found here: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Dr Watson\ Open the Log - click Edit - Select all - delete Best Regards p.s. I just looked at a DrWatson Log on a laptop I'm working on. It was over 1 gig.

I did a registry back-up & changed the reg key of dr. watson from a value of 1 to 0 (according to advice from several sites) & it doesn't appear at startup any more. The accumulation of log-data (5 gigs) was after only an hour or so, as I deleted the .log file immediately after booting up, then running with watson on. I tested it earlier and it was 348 megs after 6 minutes…. (Geez, there I go screwing with the reg again) Anyway, guess I'll give it up and send M$ some more money, or borrow an XP disc from a relative or something…. Thanks for the time.