Vista is making my life hell...pls advise:)

galip83 · 12-25-2007, 10:28 PM

Ok fellas I don't know where to begin, I have been batteling this problem for the last 16 hours and tried everything that I can think of and still nothing, and I can't realy pinpoint the problem (new to Vista and not so tech savy to begin with) to know where I should be looking and what to search for on google.

A couple of months ago I purchased a brand new Laptop, Toshiba Satellite P200-144 ( Link with full specs) runing on Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 32bit (6.0, Build 6000).

I would have posted a DXDIAG Log file to further help you assist me, but for reasons explained below, I can't:(

I didn't have a single problem with it after this morning, now, I'm a heavy torrents user with a slow connection so my Laptop is on almost 24/7, but this morning I decided to reboot it just in case, haven't installed any new software or updates that required a reboot, and after that all the problems started.

First the Sidebar failed to load and gave an error message along the lines of "sidebar.ini file could not be found or is in use by another program" then when I tried launching Firefox (2.0.0.11), it gave me an error message saying that "Firefox is already runing but not responding. to open a new window you must first close the existing Firefox process or restart your system"

so I did that, again, sidebar didn't load and the problem with FFX was still unsolved, so I opened up the Task Manager, no instances of firefox were runing.

I decided to reinstall FFX and that is when I found out that Vista won't let me Delete, Creat, Copy, Paste, Cut,move, drag/drop any files from anywhere to anywhere on my HDD, it would always promt me saying that "you need permission to perform this action", and i'm already logged in with my administrator account, I double checked to see if all administrator previlidges were given, and there was no problem with that. I also can't perform any of these functions on my External HDD either.

I thought maybe it would be explorer acting up, so I killed it in my Task manager and ran it again, this used to solve a lot of similar problems back on XP, but it didn't do anything here.

Also, none of my programs want to even launch, I'll give some examples with the error messages I get for each one, hope it helps:

MS Office: "word has not been installed on this computer, run setup to install this application" and "The command could not be performed because a dialogue box appears to be open, click Ok, and then close dialogue box to continue"

Adobe Photoshop CS2: Loads but gives the following error message "Could not initialize Photoshop because the file is locked, use the properties command in Windows Explorer to unlock the file".

Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger function properly, but display a warning when I close a conversation ( I save all my conversations ) that it cannot add data to the existing conversation file.

Skype says that another instance is using the programme and that I should end the first one before proceeding.

All my Video and audio playing programms function properly and I am able to listen to and watch music and video, but subttitles cannot be loaded for movies for example, again it blocks the operation saying that the files are locked.

My Torrenting software utorrents launces but cannot resume torrents or add new torrents to the queue.

Internet Explorer 7 is working, but I can't delete the cash or the temporary files, also I can't download anything with it "Internet Explorer cannot download ******* from ******.com, unable to open this internet site, it's either unavailable or cannot be found, please try again later".

My games don't run either:
Call of duty 4: "COD4: couldnt write a file, the hard drive is probably full".

Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2, launch but fail to load/unpack the campagne or load any saved games.

Battles for middle Earth 2, runs without any problems and plays without a problem, ironicaly I had the most trouble getting it to run in the first place.

Windows Protection also stoped recognizing that I have any anti virus and anti spyware removal programs running.

I did a couple of checks with Webroot Spysweeper and with that latest signatures of NOD32, both didn't come up with anything, although NOD kept telling me during that scan that various files were locked and innacassible.

I also ran an error check on my HDD that took ages, didn't find a problem and after the reboot, nothing had changed.

I tried creating a new administrative account, same problem on the new account so I guess it is not Account based.

I also tried a system restore to 2 days ago, it restored correctly (that's what it said) but the problems were all still there.

I had a BSD while writting up this post, PC just rebooted and I now recall having my first BSD a couple of weeks ago but I just ignored it and didn't have any problems with my laptop until today.

So, any ideas what might be the cause of all this? tell me if you need more info, I will try supplying you with what I can.

Thanks a lot for reading,

Cheers.

**kodi** · 12-25-2007, 10:44 PM

Forum rules prevent us from helping with Torrent programs.
This said it is probably the cause of your problems, you have downloaded a trojan/virus, please follow the instuctions HERE

Please be patient as the security forum is VERY busy

**koala** · 12-25-2007, 10:48 PM

Hi, welcome to TSF

Quote:

Originally Posted by galip83

Windows Protection also stoped recognizing that I have any anti virus and anti spyware removal programs running.

I did a couple of checks with Webroot Spysweeper and with that latest signatures of NOD32, both didn't come up with anything, although NOD kept telling me during that scan that various files were locked and innacassible.

This, along with the fact that you are downloading potentially infected torrents, could mean that your system is infected.

Please follow the instructions here (5 pages) and then post all the requested logs in a new thread here for the security analysts to look at. If you have any trouble running any of the scans, leave them and move onto the next.

The security forum is always busy, especially at this time of year, so please be patient and you will receive a reply as soon as possible. If you go to Thread Tools > Subscribe at the top of your new thread you will receive an email as soon as a reply is posted.

galip83 · 12-25-2007, 11:30 PM

due to the nature of my problem I cant follow most of the Steps described in the thread you pointed me to, I have created a post there nevertheless.

I have one question: what chances does reinstalling vista or doing a clean format have to fix the problem?

**koala** · 12-25-2007, 11:37 PM

A format and reinstall is the last resort. Have a look in the Event Viewer to see if there has been any unusual activity or problems listed in the last 48 hours. I don't use Vista, so hang on for some more replies from Vista users.

galip83 · 12-26-2007, 02:50 PM

I followed your advice and ran Event viewer, and it was crammed full of errors, it also gave a message that it was unable to acccess some administrator logs.

Question: I don't have a copy of Vista, just the OEM that came with the PC I also have a "Product Recovery" CD that camewith the laptop, what is it for?

Skifer UK · 12-27-2007, 08:20 AM

Go on my computer,

Insert the CD and explore the files inside the CD.

Tell us the names of the folders.

Or even better hover the mouse over the CD icon and see how much memory the CD contains and it could give us a idea whats in the CD.

~~Monty Python~~ · 12-27-2007, 08:50 AM

I agree the most likely culprit is malware, given the heavy torrent usage, however the lag in assistance in Securities is long, so continuing to troubleshoot until definative malware presence is found is advised.

The "file locked & inaccessable" message in NOD32 is normal.\

The inability to manipulate files is normal if UAC is turned on.

I wouldn't jump right into a reformat & reinstall just yet, as that may pose more difficult problems than what you already have.

What were the most serious of the Event Viewer errors ? Sometimes a pattern can be discerned. A screen shot might be helpful.

What was the BSOD message ? Sometimes they point to a specific device driver, such as video ?

Run MSCONFIG and selectively turn off all non-essential programs. The intent is to see if turning things off returns functionality to other things. this will require some good thinking & trial & error.

Check Device Manager, make sure to enable "show hidden devices". Uninstall any flagged items & reinstall. Make note of any flagged items & report them here. Pay close attention to virtual device drivers, like Nero, Daemon Tools, etc....

Also, it might be constructive to run chkdsk /f.

12-25-2007, 10:28 PM	#1 (permalink)
galip83 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: UK Posts: 6 OS: Vista Home Premium x86	Vista is making my life hell...pls advise:) Ok fellas I don't know where to begin, I have been batteling this problem for the last 16 hours and tried everything that I can think of and still nothing, and I can't realy pinpoint the problem (new to Vista and not so tech savy to begin with) to know where I should be looking and what to search for on google. A couple of months ago I purchased a brand new Laptop, Toshiba Satellite P200-144 ( Link with full specs) runing on Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 32bit (6.0, Build 6000). I would have posted a DXDIAG Log file to further help you assist me, but for reasons explained below, I can't:( I didn't have a single problem with it after this morning, now, I'm a heavy torrents user with a slow connection so my Laptop is on almost 24/7, but this morning I decided to reboot it just in case, haven't installed any new software or updates that required a reboot, and after that all the problems started. First the Sidebar failed to load and gave an error message along the lines of "sidebar.ini file could not be found or is in use by another program" then when I tried launching Firefox (2.0.0.11), it gave me an error message saying that "Firefox is already runing but not responding. to open a new window you must first close the existing Firefox process or restart your system" so I did that, again, sidebar didn't load and the problem with FFX was still unsolved, so I opened up the Task Manager, no instances of firefox were runing. I decided to reinstall FFX and that is when I found out that Vista won't let me Delete, Creat, Copy, Paste, Cut,move, drag/drop any files from anywhere to anywhere on my HDD, it would always promt me saying that "you need permission to perform this action", and i'm already logged in with my administrator account, I double checked to see if all administrator previlidges were given, and there was no problem with that. I also can't perform any of these functions on my External HDD either. I thought maybe it would be explorer acting up, so I killed it in my Task manager and ran it again, this used to solve a lot of similar problems back on XP, but it didn't do anything here. Also, none of my programs want to even launch, I'll give some examples with the error messages I get for each one, hope it helps: MS Office: "word has not been installed on this computer, run setup to install this application" and "The command could not be performed because a dialogue box appears to be open, click Ok, and then close dialogue box to continue" Adobe Photoshop CS2: Loads but gives the following error message "Could not initialize Photoshop because the file is locked, use the properties command in Windows Explorer to unlock the file". Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger function properly, but display a warning when I close a conversation ( I save all my conversations ) that it cannot add data to the existing conversation file. Skype says that another instance is using the programme and that I should end the first one before proceeding. All my Video and audio playing programms function properly and I am able to listen to and watch music and video, but subttitles cannot be loaded for movies for example, again it blocks the operation saying that the files are locked. My Torrenting software utorrents launces but cannot resume torrents or add new torrents to the queue. Internet Explorer 7 is working, but I can't delete the cash or the temporary files, also I can't download anything with it "Internet Explorer cannot download ***** from ****.com, unable to open this internet site, it's either unavailable or cannot be found, please try again later". My games don't run either: Call of duty 4: "COD4: couldnt write a file, the hard drive is probably full". Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2, launch but fail to load/unpack the campagne or load any saved games. Battles for middle Earth 2, runs without any problems and plays without a problem, ironicaly I had the most trouble getting it to run in the first place. Windows Protection also stoped recognizing that I have any anti virus and anti spyware removal programs running. I did a couple of checks with Webroot Spysweeper and with that latest signatures of NOD32, both didn't come up with anything, although NOD kept telling me during that scan that various files were locked and innacassible. I also ran an error check on my HDD that took ages, didn't find a problem and after the reboot, nothing had changed. I tried creating a new administrative account, same problem on the new account so I guess it is not Account based. I also tried a system restore to 2 days ago, it restored correctly (that's what it said) but the problems were all still there. I had a BSD while writting up this post, PC just rebooted and I now recall having my first BSD a couple of weeks ago but I just ignored it and didn't have any problems with my laptop until today. So, any ideas what might be the cause of all this? tell me if you need more info, I will try supplying you with what I can. Thanks a lot for reading, Cheers.

12-25-2007, 10:44 PM	#2 (permalink)
kodi Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 6,334 OS: Windows Vista Ultimate, XP Professional My System	Re: Vista is making my life hell...pls advise:) Forum rules prevent us from helping with Torrent programs. This said it is probably the cause of your problems, you have downloaded a trojan/virus, please follow the instuctions HERE Please be patient as the security forum is VERY busy __________________ Brian

12-25-2007, 11:30 PM	#4 (permalink)
galip83 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: UK Posts: 6 OS: Vista Home Premium x86	Re: Vista is making my life hell...pls advise:) due to the nature of my problem I cant follow most of the Steps described in the thread you pointed me to, I have created a post there nevertheless. I have one question: what chances does reinstalling vista or doing a clean format have to fix the problem?

12-25-2007, 11:37 PM	#5 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 8,475 OS: XP/UBUNTU My System	Re: Vista is making my life hell...pls advise:) A format and reinstall is the last resort. Have a look in the Event Viewer to see if there has been any unusual activity or problems listed in the last 48 hours. I don't use Vista, so hang on for some more replies from Vista users. __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here

12-26-2007, 02:50 PM	#6 (permalink)
galip83 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: UK Posts: 6 OS: Vista Home Premium x86	Re: Vista is making my life hell...pls advise:) I followed your advice and ran Event viewer, and it was crammed full of errors, it also gave a message that it was unable to acccess some administrator logs. Question: I don't have a copy of Vista, just the OEM that came with the PC I also have a "Product Recovery" CD that camewith the laptop, what is it for?

12-27-2007, 08:20 AM	#7 (permalink)
Skifer UK Registered User Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 236 OS: Vista 32 bit Ultimate	Re: Vista is making my life hell...pls advise:) Go on my computer, Insert the CD and explore the files inside the CD. Tell us the names of the folders. Or even better hover the mouse over the CD icon and see how much memory the CD contains and it could give us a idea whats in the CD.

12-27-2007, 08:50 AM	#8 (permalink)
~~Monty Python~~ Troubled Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 462 OS: Vista 32-bit Ultimate	Re: Vista is making my life hell...pls advise:) I agree the most likely culprit is malware, given the heavy torrent usage, however the lag in assistance in Securities is long, so continuing to troubleshoot until definative malware presence is found is advised. The "file locked & inaccessable" message in NOD32 is normal.\ The inability to manipulate files is normal if UAC is turned on. I wouldn't jump right into a reformat & reinstall just yet, as that may pose more difficult problems than what you already have. What were the most serious of the Event Viewer errors ? Sometimes a pattern can be discerned. A screen shot might be helpful. What was the BSOD message ? Sometimes they point to a specific device driver, such as video ? Run MSCONFIG and selectively turn off all non-essential programs. The intent is to see if turning things off returns functionality to other things. this will require some good thinking & trial & error. Check Device Manager, make sure to enable "show hidden devices". Uninstall any flagged items & reinstall. Make note of any flagged items & report them here. Pay close attention to virtual device drivers, like Nero, Daemon Tools, etc.... Also, it might be constructive to run chkdsk /f.