I am having a problem with my computer. I haveSony Vaio computer with Win XP Home Edition SP2. It has an Intel Pentium, 4 CPU, 3.00 GHz and 2.0 GB RAM which was just installed about2 weeks ago. Before my friend installed it, it only had 512 MB, I believe.
I was having some spyware issues and the tech in the Malware and HJT forum, oldman960, helped me out a lot and now is sending me to you.
He thinks I have a possible repository corruption because the tools he had me use to remove 88 antivirus entries in Security Center are either still there or were not removed, I believe. I also keep getting low memory warnings and that shouldn't be happenening, nor did it ever happen before I got the new RAM intalled. However, it seems like it actually started after I had to downlod a specific Windows program the other night.
Here is a link to the thread in the Malware section so that you can see what was done.
Hi, I just reviewed your malware thread for possible signs of what might be causing your problem.
Do the system "freeze ups" still occur ocassionally?
First things first, you should test your new memory to make sure it is good.
Please read here: Windows Memory Diagnostic
The above link will give you instructions on how to download the windows memory diagnostic, create a boot floppy or CD, and run the memory diagnostic. Let the diagnostic complete a few passes to determine if there are any memory errors.
If you have any questions about how to use the Windows Memory Diagnostic please post back here.
It looks like you have used Norton Internet Security, Trend Micro, AOL Anti-spyware, Spybot, and Avira. It looks as if though a portion of trend micro may still be active also and other portions of NIS or AOL may still be active also.
I would like to take a look at a bootlog in order to see if any of these "removed" programs still have their slimy little fingers hooked into your system.
How to create and post your bootlog:
Shutdown and restart your computer.
After the initial power on screen and before the Windows XP screen, begin pressing F8 multiple times.
When the Advanced Startup Menu appears, choose "Enable Boot Logging." and press ENTER.
When asked which operating system you want to boot, press ENTER.
After your computer boots up completely, open My Computer.
Navigate to C:\Windows and find the NTBTLOG.TXT file.
Open C:\WINDOWS\NTBTLOG.TXT in your preferred text editor by double-clicking the file.
Scroll all the way to the bottom of the ntbtlog.txt file and begin moving up line by line until you find the first occurence (from the bottom) of, "Service Pack….."
Copy from the "Service Pack…" line to the bottom of the file.
Paste the contents here in the forum.
Also, I have researched your "repository" problem and would like you to run a diagnostic program from Microsoft for me.
How to run the WMIDiag script:
Click the following link to download WMIDiag.exe: WMIDiag.exe
Click Run when prompted.
The WMIDiag.exe file will execute and open a WinZip Self Extractor window and ask you where you want to extract the files. Click Browse and choose to save the files on your Desktop.
Click Start, then click Run, type cmd and click, OK.
In the black command prompt window, type cd desktop and press ENTER.
Type cscript wmidiag.vbs LogFilePath="\" and press ENTER. Note: The WMIDiag script will begin to run and take several minutes to complete, please be patient.
When the script finishes, close the command prompt window by clicking the 'X' in the upper right hand corner.
Open My Computer, open (double-click) your local disk drive (usually C:) and look for a file that starts with this: WMIDIAG-V2.0. There will be a few of them. Please locate the file with the .ZIP extension. It will be identified as a ZIP file. Please upload this file to the forum as an attachment. Note: For more information about WMIDiag please read the following link: WMI Diagnostic Utility
How to upload and attach a file to the forum:
To reply to this message choose the option, "Add Reply."
When the "Replying to…" page comes up scroll down and find the "Attachments" section.
Click Browse and navigate to the file you want to upload, select the file, and click, Open.
Now click, Upload.
Your file has now been attached to your reply. Do not forget to scroll down and click Add Reply when you are finished composing your message.
Please check your virtual memory settings and post what they are currently set at:
Where to find virtual memory settings in Windows XP:
Right click My Computer, click Properties, click Advanced, Click Settings in the Performance section, click the Advanced tab, Click Change under the Virtual Memory section.
Under Paging file size for selected drive please tell me if your pagefile settings are set to Custom Size and the initial and maximum size settings, or if it is set to System Managed size.
Under Total paging file size for all drives, please tell me the Minimum allowed, Recommended, and Currently Allocated values.
Hello…
First thing, this is very embarassing. I don't have a floppy drive and I've never been able to create a CD using the software and hardware that came with this computer. No instuctions came with the computer, nor were there any CDs, including Windows XP that came with it. The Sony website is of no help at all, either. It has been saying for years that they don't have it. I've had the comptuer for about 2-1/2 years. I bought it new in the box off eBay. I went right to the website for updates, realized I didn't have any disks and tried to locate them on there. That's when I found out there were none available. What can I do?
Hi Coolcat. There are a lot of free burning programs available. Some more powerful than others.
For creating the bootable CD from the .ISO file that the Windows Memory Diagnostic installation file creates, you can use a program called Deep Burner. Deep burner is a very small, but useful program for basic burning of CDs and DVDs. It will not create or edit videos, etc.
Please download it and install it. When you run the program the first thing that comes up is a window giving you a few options about what you want to do. I believe one of those options is to burn an image (ISO) to disc. Choose that option and direct it to the windiag.iso file you created with the Memory Diagnostic installation file.
Post back here if you have any questions.
BTW, the only stupd question is the one not asked. Nothing to be embarassed about.
I am having terrible trouble here. I can't get that program to burn the CD. I just keep getting a message to select the FLOPPY drive to burn it to and there is no floppy drive. I have tried this over and over. I have a CD/DVD drive (2 of them in fact) but no floppy drive. I can't create the disk.
I've had a lot of trouble staying online, especially this morning but it might be AOL or it might also be the DSL because my son did get booted off x-box live once this morning.
Things seem to be freezing up worse, now, than ever.
Hi Coolcat, stay calm, I'll help you through this.
When you say the system is freezing up worse than ever, is that a reference to the same problem in your malware thread about how programs would not respond, and you would have to physically power off the machine?
As far as burning the memory diagnostic to disc, we really need to get this done. This could be the root of all your problems and has to be checked first.
Have you downloaded and installed the DeepBurner program?
Please download the Windows Memory Diagnostic software via the link in my previous post. When you click the link, a Microsoft web page will open. Please look near the top for the link to "Download Windows Memory Diagnostic." Click the link, run the software when prompted, and accept the license agreement. Click, "Save CD Image to DIsc." and select a place to save it. Your desktop would be a good idea.
Run DeepBurner, when the program starts a menu opens asking you to select project type, and you can select "Burn ISO Image."
When the "Burn ISO" window opens you need to select the image file, and the drive you want to burn to. Please navigate to where you saved the windiag.iso file (your desktop?) and burn it to whatever drive you want to burn it to.
If you don't see all the options in the burn iso window, you might need to grab the edge and expand the window so that it displays it's entire contents.
I had to power off once this morning. Other than that, I just had to CTRL ALT DELETE AOL or sometimes, it kept throwing me offline which isn't all that unusual, even though I access via DSL. I have a feeling the latter problem is an AOL software problem but I'm not 100% positive either.
I copied your instructions and will try again. Thanks
You can create a recovery DVD, buy one and download drivers from the Sony site. Check out the links I posted. If you have any questions ask away, Appleoddity, myself and others do this because we like it so please don't hesitate.
Hi Coolcat, stay calm, I'll help you through this.
When you say the system is freezing up worse than ever, is that a reference to the same problem in your malware thread about how programs would not respond, and you would have to physically power off the machine?
As far as burning the memory diagnostic to disc, we really need to get this done. This could be the root of all your problems and has to be checked first.
Have you downloaded and installed the DeepBurner program?
Please download the Windows Memory Diagnostic software via the link in my previous post. When you click the link, a Microsoft web page will open. Please look near the top for the link to "Download Windows Memory Diagnostic." Click the link, run the software when prompted, and accept the license agreement. Click, "Save CD Image to DIsc." and select a place to save it. Your desktop would be a good idea.
Run DeepBurner, when the program starts a menu opens asking you to select project type, and you can select "Burn ISO Image."
When the "Burn ISO" window opens you need to select the image file, and the drive you want to burn to. Please navigate to where you saved the windiag.iso file (your desktop?) and burn it to whatever drive you want to burn it to.
If you don't see all the options in the burn iso window, you might need to grab the edge and expand the window so that it displays it's entire contents.
This is what the deepburner window looks like:
OK, this is all done. You were right. I had to stretch that window and it didn't look like something one could grab, nor stretch!!
Now here's the problem. When I reboot and start hitting F8, the comptuer goes straight into the diagnostic mode without letting me choose anything. I have tried this 4-5 times already. I can not see anything regarding the Advanced Startup Menu so I can't choose "Enable Boot Logging."
The first time I just let the diagnostic run. I think it was starting on it's 3rd time so I pressed T to have it do advanced diagnostics as well. Everything passed in the first set of tests. 1 through 6. When I got to the advance tests, everything passed until I got to #7 of 11. The computer just seemed to hang and hang and hang.
That was at the test called MATS+. It said that was OFF and ACTIVE. I cannot find a file called NTBTLOG.TXT, not even using the find feature.
You can create a recovery DVD, buy one and download drivers from the Sony site. Check out the links I posted. If you have any questions ask away, Appleoddity, myself and others do this because we like it so please don't hesitate.
Hey, thanks. I swear I checked those a long time ago and it said the CDs for this model were not available. Maybe they are now?
Anyway, I just got laid off 3 weeks ago so I can't purchase anything at all until the first unemployment check arrives next Friday.
VGC-RB30
When I reboot and start hitting F8, the comptuer goes straight into the diagnostic mode without letting me choose anything. I have tried this 4-5 times already. I can not see anything regarding the Advanced Startup Menu so I can't choose "Enable Boot Logging." 
