aussie1

Hi everyone
I am trying to help my Dad with his computer. It is a 450 MHz 64 meg ram and 3
gig HD. He only ever surfs the net and get a few emails. It is so slow and is grinding over all of the time, it is an old one of mine and I remember the days when it was alot faster than it is now.
I have posted in HJT forum, and there is nothing in the way of infections. However I cannot do any of the online scans to double check for viruses as the scan process keeps telling me that I do not have admin rights to download the Active X. I cannot find where to change these rights to allow the scan.
Can anyone help me with this. Also there is one process running MDM.EXE and I think this can be disabled without causing a problem, however, I have disabled it at startup by unchecking the entry, but it returns again when the machine is restarted. When this is stopped by me (Ctrl+Alt+Del) the computer runs much better, but when it is shutdown and restarted it is there again. How can I turn this off permanently please?
Thank you
aussie1

Zazula

Microsoft Office users can opt to avoid loading the Machine Debug Manager (MDM.EXE) at startup, as this component can eventually choke up their system with "junk" that results from its running and piles up more and more the longer their pc runs.

How to turn off Machine Debug Manager in Office

MDM.EXE is installed by the "Microsoft Script Editor" component to provide support for program debugging. The Microsoft Script Editor is included with Microsoft Office 2000 and XP.

If you run Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 or later, you can turn off the Machine Debug Manager by turning off script debugging. To do this, follow these steps:

Start Menu > Settings > Control Panel > Internet Options > Advanced tab
TICK the "Disable script debugging" check box, and then click OK.

DON'T reboot yet. You need to disable it from starting up with Windows.

Start Menu >Run > and type REGEDIT > click OK
In the LEFT Pane locate and select the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices

Look for the entry named [Machine Debug Manager] (MDM.EXE).
Right-Click on that value and select Delete.

Close regedit and reboot.

Zazula

As far as downloading ActiveX files, check the Internet Options in the Tools menu of IE.
Select the Security tab, and check out the settings for the Internet zone.

To confirm the pc has the default folder set as the ActiveX location, look the entries at the following Registry keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion \Internet Settings, value for subkey "ActiveXCache" must be "C:\Windows\Downloaded Program Files" (w/o quotation marks).
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion \Internet Settings\ActiveX Cache, value must be "0" (w/o quotation marks).

aussie1

Thank you for your help, will try everything you suggested next time I go there.

I have triple checked the settings in IE to allow downloading of activeX and it is set correctly.
I am a doofus when it comes to OS, how do I check the 2 registry entries that you have mentioned in your second post?
If they are not the same as you say, should I post back with what I have got?
Is there a way to change admin rights in 98?

Thanks again for your help.
Will be 4 or 5 days before I can post as he lives a fair way away and I only go about once a week.
Regards
aussie1

Zazula

NB: You must know that if you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Always backup your Registry before attempting to edit it.

Read How to back up, edit, and restore the registry in Windows XP.
In above page, you'll even find a guided help tutorial, so no worries... :-)