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Byteback
Antivirus error
QUESTION: I have a Pentium III, 500MHz and 128MB RAM with Symantec Norton Antivirus (latest version). The problem is that whenever I switch on my computer, I have to terminate “DoScan.exe" from Windows Task Manager because it takes a lot of memory and causes the computer to slow down. After canceling it, the computer speed becomes normal. Please tell me what is "DoScan.exe" and how do I stop it from running when I start my computer?
Also, the light on my CD-ROM keeps blinking and does not read CDs. What could be the problem?
Rafaquat Noman Chaudhry
Karachi
EDITOR’S REPLY: DoScan.exe is a problem in Norton's Antivirus Program. Please visit http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/ent security.nsf/docid/2005042710304248?Open&src=w to find out more about the problem. As for your CD-ROM, you need to get it checked. Most likely, the device has failed and needs to be either repaired or replaced.
Debugging
Often when I open a webpage online, the following message appears: “Runtime Error has occurred. Do you wish to debug?” If I click on “no”, the message keeps appearing every time I scroll up or down. If I click on “yes”, it opens a Script Editor, which I know nothing about. Please tell me why this happens and how I can fix this problem?
Sadaf Farookhi
Karachi
In Internet Explorer, go to Tools/Internet options/Advanced tab. Over here, uncheck disable script debugging (Internet Explorer) and (Other). Also uncheck, display a notification about every script error. That's it.
Hacking pictures
Someone once I told me pictures on the internet can be used by anyone. Does this mean that if I put up a picture as my display image in, say, Yahoo! Messenger, anyone can hack them?
Maham Nauman
maham00nauman@yahoo.co.in
If your pictures are out in the open on sites such as Flickr and available to the public, then yes, people can save and use them for their own purposes. However, if they are on a private server which only you can access, then it isn’t easy to hack the service. To ensure that they remain private, please use a password that is uncommon and at least eight letters or more, containing a combination of numbers and letters, which is not easy to guess. A better option is to have a password phrase, for example, “DawnsScit3chIsaW33klyMagazin3”. Here the letter e is replaced by 3 and the phrase is easy for you to remember but very hard for a hacker to guess or to hack into. As long as you use the latest version of Yahoo! Messenger or any other messenger for that matter, your pictures will be safe.
Joystick vibration
I bought a USB Generic Vibration joystick. Whenever I test my joystick from the control panel, it vibrates but when I play a game, the stick works but does not vibrate. What could be the problem?
Ozair Mustafa Yousfani
Hyderabad
The games you play will have to support this joystick before you can feel the vibration. Not all games support joysticks and many don't support generic versions. Do load and use the software that came with it or ask your vendor about it. For some games, it is unnecessary but others it will correct some annoying problems that you're facing.
Hardware upgrade
I have a Pentium 4, 1.6GHz with 128MB RAM. The hardware is compatible with one other. My motherboard is causing problems and I have decided to upgrade my processor, motherboard and RAM. Can you tell me what would be the most suitable combination in this regard within a budget of Rs11000? Since I have a full-tower casing, please let me know whether or not the upgrades would fit in my casing.
Mohsin Shahzad
Attock
An upgrade depends on what type of work you require from your system. If you are not into gaming or heavy applications like Adobe software and use your system for applications like MS Office, email and the internet, then I recommend you upgrade your RAM only to 512MB with a good Intel Motherboard.
Viruses and malware
My computer shows a running program, "rose.exe", every time I press CTRL + ALT + DEL to shut it down. I have been unable to locate this file in the system. I have tried searching for it through Windows search, McAfee 10, Spybot Search & Destroy, Norton, etc. I have also formatted my hard disk twice but it hasn’t helped and because of this program, my computer has slowed down considerably. Please help.
Shehzaib Durrani
Karachi
Your computer has been infected with the worm “WORM_SETROX.A”. To remove it from your system:
1. Open Windows Task
Manager.
2. In Windows 98 and ME, press CTRL + ALT + DELETE and in Windows NT, 2000, XP and Server 2003, press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC. Then click on the processes tab.
3. In the list of running programs, locate rose.exe.
4. Select the malware process and press either the End Task or the End Process button, depending on the version of Windows on your computer.
5. To check if the malware process has been terminated, close the Task Manager and then open it again.
6. Close the Task Manager.
Now you need to remove the Autostart entry from the registry. Removing it prevents the malware from executing at startup. Here’s how you remove it:
1. Open Registry Editor. Click Start/Run, type REGEDIT and then press Enter.
2. In the left panel, double-click the following: “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>SOFTWARE>Microsoft>Windows>CurrentVersion>Run”.
3. In the right panel, locate and delete the entry: “dll = "C:\system32\rose.exe"”.
4. Close the registry editor.
Finally, you must delete the malware files by carrying out the following steps:
1. Right-click Start then click Search or Find, depending on the version of Windows you are using.
2. In the Named input box, type: “Autorun.inf”.
3. In the “Look in drop-down list”, select the drive that contains Windows and press Enter.
4. Once located, select the file and press Delete.
5. Repeat Steps two-four for (a) NTDETECT.COM, (b) run.reg, (c) systemdate.ini, (d) systemfile.com
After this, run an Online Scanner at
http://housecall.trendmicro.com.
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