Computer Questions Not Worth Their Own Thread

[Abaddon]

yes0123456789

 

[Souron]

Question: Am I stubborn for refusing to turn off the antivirus for installing ANY program? IMO, that's one of the worst things that can be done, who's to say the program's not a virus?

Being a virus is contra purpose to being a usefull program. So if you can establish that something is a ligitimate program (like if it comes on a CD), then it's not a virus. Programs have been known to report usage patterns to the maker, however, which can be simmilar to what spyware does. This functionality is spelled out in the EULA and any accompanying privacy policies. But this is not detected by antivirus software.

 

[Till]

Thanks for trying

I'm looking ATM at the possibility that the processor is running in 64 bit mode with compatibility mode to handle 32 bit Vista (I read about this once a couple of years ago). I'm trying to find out how to check for (or force) legacy 32 bit mode.

I finally managed to extract the call stack last night:

0115fb10 0e34a232 c0000005 00000001 00000000 kernel32!RaiseException+0x58
0115fb30 0e3618f1 000cbffd 00000001 0e36278a ntvdm!DispatchPageFault+0x79
0115fb3c 0e36278a 00000002 02f514c0 7ffde000 ntvdm!EventVdmMemAccess+0x1d
0115fb54 0e32510b 00000000 0115fb9c 0e325086 ntvdm!cpu_simulate+0x17a
0115fb60 0e325086 00000002 02f514c0 dc8264d0 ntvdm!host_main+0x5f
0115fb9c 0e3252bd 00000002 02f514c0 02f51560 ntvdm!main+0x3a
0115fc7c 76954911 7ffde000 0115fcc8 778ce4b6 ntvdm!host_main+0x211
0115fc88 778ce4b6 7ffde000 768a8565 00000000 kernel32!BaseThreadInitThunk+0xe
0115fcc8 778ce489 0e324dc5 7ffde000 00000000 ntdll!__RtlUserThreadStart+0x23
0115fce0 00000000 0e324dc5 7ffde000 00000000 ntdll!_RtlUserThreadStart+0x1b

As you can see, the VDM is running in 32bit emulation mode. This might be perfectly normal, though; i don't know if MS bothered to rewrite VDM for 64bit.
It would be interesting to see what exactly EventVdmMemAccess was trying to access, but unfortunately there is precious little documentation on the VDM, as i found out when i wrote the CPU tool for Civ2.

 

[Padma]

Being a virus is contra purpose to being a usefull program. So if you can establish that something is a ligitimate program (like if it comes on a CD), then it's not a virus. Programs have been known to report usage patterns to the maker, however, which can be simmilar to what spyware does. This functionality is spelled out in the EULA and any accompanying privacy policies. But this is not detected by antivirus software.

I'd just like to point out that coming on a CD is not a guarantee of no malware. Years ago, when I still used Windows, I would buy "useful" programs at the local computer shop, and install them, only to find they installed assorted adware, spyware, and who knows what else, in addition to the supposedly useful program. The program was just the "bait". (Companies that did this did not survive long, I admit.)

Another case I remember well is DOS 5.0. It seems that one of the developers had picked up a virus on his home computer. Being a conscientious worker, he would often take work home, to do in the evenings. Of course, these floppies got infected with the virus, and when he took them back to work, his work computer got infected, too. Finally, the new version of DOS was ready, and MS started shipping it. Within a couple of weeks they did a recall of all DOS 5.0 disks, because they were infected with a virus. This is why you are advised to always virus-check any removable media you insert into your system. Even if it comes shrink-wrapped from a reputable company is no guarantee.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

But most computers today do the virus checking automatically, don't they?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

But most computers today do the virus checking automatically, don't they?

Only if there's antivirus on it.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Well, duh.

 

[salty mud]

I'm encountering major problems with my internet connection.

It will be fine for a length of time, be it 5 minutes or maybe an hour or two, and then just simply cut off for a while. It will eventually reconnect, again a random amount of time later. It's been happening for three days now. If it continues I'll have to contact my ISP. I've tried the usual restart router/reconnect to network, but the problem persists. Note that this 'connection cutting' happens both with a wired and wireless connection.

Any help please?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Does it happen on more than one computer? Have you installed/changed anything recently? If not, I'd suspect ISP.

 

[Cutlass]

I'm encountering major problems with my internet connection.

It will be fine for a length of time, be it 5 minutes or maybe an hour or two, and then just simply cut off for a while. It will eventually reconnect, again a random amount of time later. It's been happening for three days now. If it continues I'll have to contact my ISP. I've tried the usual restart router/reconnect to network, but the problem persists. Note that this 'connection cutting' happens both with a wired and wireless connection.

Any help please?

Do the lights on the router say that there is activity? Does it happen at specific times?

 

[lndm]

I finally managed to extract the call stack last night:........It would be interesting to see what exactly EventVdmMemAccess was trying to access, but unfortunately there is precious little documentation on the VDM, as i found out when i wrote the CPU tool for Civ2.

Thanks again. It would be interesting to know whether this is actually a paging issue. For a wider view, I'd like to post this trace on a dedicated PC forum. I'm considering taking this opportunity to reinstal windows and I'll keep you posted.

As you can see, the VDM is running in 32bit emulation mode. This might be perfectly normal, though; i don't know if MS bothered to rewrite VDM for 64bit.

I found out that legacy 32bit mode is default with 32bit windows and not user selectable. The VDM uses Virtual 8086 mode as always, and this is available only in legacy mode. NTVDM is not ported to x64 as switching to x32 to access Virtual 8086 mode requires a hard boot... ala 286 protected to real modes. I'd have to doubt this will change.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Why is there a load of HP-computer-specific stuff installed on my computer, which is not an HP? I have an HP multifunction printer but .....

 

[lndm]

I've noticed that although a printer driver needn't be more than a MB, if you autorun a printer driver CD it will probably instal hundreds of MB of stuff....driver hand holders with speech, OCR, scan utils, quality assurance and feedback portals etc

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Well, the only things I told it to install was the drivers and the scanner software.

 

[lndm]

I often find that if I choose the 'custom' option, there are things to 'un-tick'.

 

[salty mud]

Does it happen on more than one computer? Have you installed/changed anything recently? If not, I'd suspect ISP.

It happens on more than one computer, which I meant by wired and wireless connections.

Do the lights on the router say that there is activity? Does it happen at specific times?

The lights do not appear to be different from any other time.

 

[Turner]

Definitely sounds like an ISP issue.

 

[lndm]

I'll reinstal windows and keep you posted.

Fresh as a daisy except for graphics drivers but the same error with both DOS and win16.

 

[Cutlass]

It happens on more than one computer, which I meant by wired and wireless connections.



The lights do not appear to be different from any other time.

Seems like the ISP is the problem. If the problem is mostly occurring at specific times of day, like early to mid evenings or close of the workday, then I would be tempted to think it might be network congestion. Many ISP network segments are designed for the average capacity that the segment can be considered likely to carry. That means that when traffic peaks it exceeds capacity and everyone experiences a slowdown.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Question: If you get a bunch of HDDs and a router, can you set up a RAID (for backup purposes) without having a bunch of mobos? Or am I misunderstanding things here....