HD Problem:

I have a Dell Dimension 8200 with XP, SP3 running Windows Firewall,
Avira antivirus,
Spybot and Hive Cleanup and all the programs work well together and
are up to date.

Recently, while updating Spybot the step for passive Immunization
wouldn’t complete. I tried powering off and using the Task Manager to
close the session but when I did so it can back with

Application failed to initialize properly (0xc000012d). Click ok to
terminate application – I clicked ok and nothing happened.

I clicked for Spybot update and it came back with:

The application or DLL C: Windows\system32\SETUPAPI.dll is not a valid
Windows image. Please check against your installation diskette.

Error – unable to launch restat.exe

I click tried clicking the Recovery button on Spybot and it gave me
the following

Failed to load C: \Program files\Spybot – Search_Destroy\DelZip179.dll

I tried clicking Word to see if other parts of the computer were
acting erratic and it gave me the following

Microsoft Word has not been installed for the current user. Please run
setup to install the application.

I clicked Word again and it gave me this

Word failed to start correctly last time. Starting Word in Safe Mode
will help you correct or isolate a startup problem in order to
successfully start the program. Some functionality may be disabled in
this mode.

Do you wan to start Word in Safe Mode? Yes/No I clicked no

All to no avail as the computer seemed hung up so I pressed the reset
button but nothing happened (perhaps I didn’t press it long enough?).
In any case, I powered off the system and waited a minute before
powering it back up and when I did I received a

“ Stream write error during registry back up message”.

I then uninstalled Spybot thinking it was corrupted and downloaded a
fresh version and installed it.

I ran a Spybot Search and Destroy scan with no threats found then ran
the immunization again but again it failed to complete with 103361
items unprotected. The computer hung up again and I reset it by
pressing the reset button until powered off.

When I brought it back up it went into checking the file system.

Type of file sys is NTFS

One of your disks needs to be checked for consistency etc ,……. And it
didn’t respond it any key to return to a normal boot. I also tried
going into Safe Mode but it just hung up but when hitting the Esc
button it somehow returned me to a normal boot selection.

So my question is this, is my HD fried or is it recoverable and how do
I do it? I do have some spares if it’s necessary to replace it but
I’ll loose all my links as I don’t have a decidcated only the ability
to put folders on disk (Nero). Any thoughts or suggestions would be
appreciated.

Thanks,
Robert

"Navyguy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:7f317eb3-9096-4cc0-a8ba-(E-Mail Removed)...
I have a Dell Dimension 8200 with XP, SP3 running Windows Firewall,
Avira antivirus,
Spybot and Hive Cleanup and all the programs work well together and
are up to date.

Recently, while updating Spybot the step for passive Immunization
wouldn’t complete. I tried powering off and using the Task Manager to
close the session but when I did so it can back with

Application failed to initialize properly (0xc000012d). Click ok to
terminate application – I clicked ok and nothing happened.

I clicked for Spybot update and it came back with:

The application or DLL C: Windows\system32\SETUPAPI.dll is not a valid
Windows image. Please check against your installation diskette.

Error – unable to launch restat.exe

I click tried clicking the Recovery button on Spybot and it gave me
the following

Failed to load C: \Program files\Spybot – Search_Destroy\DelZip179.dll

I tried clicking Word to see if other parts of the computer were
acting erratic and it gave me the following

Microsoft Word has not been installed for the current user. Please run
setup to install the application.

I clicked Word again and it gave me this

Word failed to start correctly last time. Starting Word in Safe Mode
will help you correct or isolate a startup problem in order to
successfully start the program. Some functionality may be disabled in
this mode.

Do you wan to start Word in Safe Mode? Yes/No I clicked no

All to no avail as the computer seemed hung up so I pressed the reset
button but nothing happened (perhaps I didn’t press it long enough?).
In any case, I powered off the system and waited a minute before
powering it back up and when I did I received a

“ Stream write error during registry back up message”.

I then uninstalled Spybot thinking it was corrupted and downloaded a
fresh version and installed it.

I ran a Spybot Search and Destroy scan with no threats found then ran
the immunization again but again it failed to complete with 103361
items unprotected. The computer hung up again and I reset it by
pressing the reset button until powered off.

When I brought it back up it went into checking the file system.

Type of file sys is NTFS

One of your disks needs to be checked for consistency etc ,……. And it
didn’t respond it any key to return to a normal boot. I also tried
going into Safe Mode but it just hung up but when hitting the Esc
button it somehow returned me to a normal boot selection.

So my question is this, is my HD fried or is it recoverable and how do
I do it? I do have some spares if it’s necessary to replace it but
I’ll loose all my links as I don’t have a decidcated only the ability
to put folders on disk (Nero). Any thoughts or suggestions would be
appreciated.

Thanks,
Robert



Hi Robert,

Start by downloading the hdd maker's utility program to test if the disk is
OK.Most hdd makers offer a free diagnostic utility free.
It can be run from a floppy or CD after downloading an ISO and burning it
to disk.

If the disk tests out OK I would run memtest86 to see if the RAM is
contiguous and there are no faults. If the problem turns out to be RAM and
you have two chips installed try removing one of them to see if things
change. If not, then change out one chip for the other and see if there's a
difference in operation.
If the RAM checks out OK then I'd continue to investigate if there is a
viral infection, rootkit, trojan, etc.
I personally use Malwarebytes rather than Spybot, but have heard good
thoughts about Spybot.
Any anti-virus program can miss one or more viruses so you might want to
consider a different anti-virus program. You could also remove the disk and
attach it to another computer and check it with that computer's anti-virus
program while also removing any important data that you want to keep if it
is still accesible.
Additionally, to try to get the disk running back with Windows, if the hdd
and RAM are OK and you found a virus problem you can try running a Repair
install from the XP installation disk.

Good luck,

--
Jan Alter
(E-Mail Removed)

"Navyguy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:7f317eb3-9096-4cc0-a8ba-(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have a Dell Dimension 8200 with XP, SP3 running Windows Firewall,
>Avira antivirus,
>Spybot and Hive Cleanup and all the programs work well together and
>are up to date.
>
>Recently, while updating Spybot the step for passive Immunization
>wouldn’t complete. I tried powering off and using the Task Manager to
>close the session but when I did so it can back with
>
>Application failed to initialize properly (0xc000012d). Click ok to
>terminate application – I clicked ok and nothing happened.
>
>I clicked for Spybot update and it came back with:
>
>The application or DLL C: Windows\system32\SETUPAPI.dll is not a valid
>Windows image. Please check against your installation diskette.
>
>Error – unable to launch restat.exe
>
>I click tried clicking the Recovery button on Spybot and it gave me
>the following
>
>Failed to load C: \Program files\Spybot – Search_Destroy\DelZip179.dll
>
>I tried clicking Word to see if other parts of the computer were
>acting erratic and it gave me the following
>
>Microsoft Word has not been installed for the current user. Please run
>setup to install the application.
>
>I clicked Word again and it gave me this
>
>Word failed to start correctly last time. Starting Word in Safe Mode
>will help you correct or isolate a startup problem in order to
>successfully start the program. Some functionality may be disabled in
>this mode.
>
>Do you wan to start Word in Safe Mode? Yes/No I clicked no
>
>All to no avail as the computer seemed hung up so I pressed the reset
>button but nothing happened (perhaps I didn’t press it long enough?).
>In any case, I powered off the system and waited a minute before
>powering it back up and when I did I received a
>
>“ Stream write error during registry back up message”.
>
>I then uninstalled Spybot thinking it was corrupted and downloaded a
>fresh version and installed it.
>
>I ran a Spybot Search and Destroy scan with no threats found then ran
>the immunization again but again it failed to complete with 103361
>items unprotected. The computer hung up again and I reset it by
>pressing the reset button until powered off.
>
>When I brought it back up it went into checking the file system.
>
>Type of file sys is NTFS
>
>One of your disks needs to be checked for consistency etc ,……. And it
>didn’t respond it any key to return to a normal boot. I also tried
>going into Safe Mode but it just hung up but when hitting the Esc
>button it somehow returned me to a normal boot selection.
>
>So my question is this, is my HD fried or is it recoverable and how do
>I do it? I do have some spares if it’s necessary to replace it but
>I’ll loose all my links as I don’t have a decidcated only the ability
>to put folders on disk (Nero). Any thoughts or suggestions would be
>appreciated.


How much free space do you have on the C: drive (assuming you have
Windows installed on C?

The "Stream Write" error is likely coming from some program that is
starting with Windows, not from Windows itself.

I assume you meant to write "restart.exe", NOT "restat.exe"
Restart.exe is a name used by some legitimate programs, but it is also a
name used by some malware.

--
Glen Ventura
MS MVP Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009
CompTIA A+
http://dts-l.net/

At present,

It seems to boot normally, However when starting Word, an activation
window pops up which of course shouldn't. I checked for updates and
I’ve run an Avira Anti-virus full system scan as well as Spybot Search
and Destroy and both came up clean. However, it failed to complete the
passive immunization once again. In addition, the computer will not
let me do a System Restore. I thought doing a Defrag might help if the
files were corrupted but it said that I didn’t need to so I didn’t do
that. In passing, I normally check for updates every three days, and
make a restore point each time. When last time it let me try, it
showed no restore points!

I did upgrade my RAM awhile ago to its maximum which I forget now what
it is 1072? I do seem to remember having a HD software utility of some
kind. I’ll check these things out and report back with further
developments. I do hope it’s not the RAM however.


Thanks Guys,
Robert

"Navyguy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:0ad02644-d770-451c-a3d9-(E-Mail Removed)...
>At present,
>
>It seems to boot normally, However when starting Word, an activation
>window pops up which of course shouldn't. I checked for updates and
>I’ve run an Avira Anti-virus full system scan as well as Spybot Search
>and Destroy and both came up clean. However, it failed to complete the
>passive immunization once again. In addition, the computer will not
>let me do a System Restore. I thought doing a Defrag might help if the
>files were corrupted but it said that I didn’t need to so I didn’t do
>that. In passing, I normally check for updates every three days, and
>make a restore point each time. When last time it let me try, it
>showed no restore points!
>
>I did upgrade my RAM awhile ago to its maximum which I forget now what
>it is 1072? I do seem to remember having a HD software utility of some
>kind. I’ll check these things out and report back with further
>developments. I do hope it’s not the RAM however.


Asking a second time:
How much free space do you have on the C: drive (assuming you have
Windows installed on C?

--
Glen Ventura
MS MVP Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009
CompTIA A+
http://dts-l.net/

On Nov 26, 10:27*pm, "glee" <gle...@spamindspring.com> wrote:
> "Navyguy" <maginee...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> news:0ad02644-d770-451c-a3d9-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>
>
>
>
> >At present,
>
> >It seems to boot normally, However when starting Word, an activation
> >window pops up which of course shouldn't. I checked for updates and
> >I’ve run an Avira Anti-virus full system scan as well as Spybot Search
> >and Destroy and both came up clean. However, it failed to complete the
> >passive immunization once again. In addition, the computer will not
> >let me do a System Restore. I thought doing a Defrag might help if the
> >files were corrupted but it said that I didn’t need to so I didn’t do
> >that. In passing, I normally check for updates every three days, and
> >make a restore point each time. When last time it let me try, it
> >showed no restore points!
>
> >I did upgrade my RAM awhile ago to its maximum which I forget now what
> >it is 1072? I do seem to remember having a HD software utility of some
> >kind. I’ll check these things out and report back with further
> >developments. I do hope it’s not the RAM however.
>
> Asking a second time:
> How much free space do you have on the C: drive (assuming you have
> Windows installed on C?
>
> --
> Glen Ventura
> MS MVP *Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009
> CompTIA A+http://dts-l.net/- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I apoligize, I meant to include that in my previous message and just
forgot. I have a total of 127 Gb with 109Gb free.

Thanks,
Robert

On Nov 26, 4:12*am, Navyguy <maginee...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I have a Dell Dimension 8200 with XP, SP3 running Windows Firewall,
> Avira antivirus,
> Spybot and Hive Cleanup and all the programs work well together and
> are up to date.
>
> Recently, while updating Spybot the step for passive Immunization
> wouldn’t complete. *I tried powering off and using the Task Manager to
> close the session but when I did so it can back with
>
> Application failed to initialize properly (0xc000012d). Click ok to
> terminate application – I clicked ok and nothing happened.
>
> I clicked for Spybot update and it came back with:
>
> The application or DLL C: Windows\system32\SETUPAPI.dll is not a valid
> Windows image. Please check against your installation diskette.
>
> Error – unable to launch restat.exe
>
> I click tried clicking the Recovery button on Spybot and it gave me
> the following
>
> Failed to load C: \Program files\Spybot – Search_Destroy\DelZip179.dll
>
> I tried clicking Word to see if other parts of the computer were
> acting erratic and it gave me the following
>
> Microsoft Word has not been installed for the current user. Please run
> setup to install the application.
>
> I clicked Word again and it gave me this
>
> Word failed to start correctly last time. Starting Word in Safe Mode
> will help you correct or isolate a startup problem in order to
> successfully start the program. Some functionality may be disabled in
> this mode.
>
> Do you wan to start Word in Safe Mode? Yes/No I clicked no
>
> All to no avail as the computer seemed hung up *so I pressed the reset
> button but nothing happened (perhaps I didn’t press it long enough?).
> In any case, I powered off the system and waited a minute before
> powering it back up and when I did I received a
>
> “ Stream write error during registry back up message”.
>
> I then uninstalled Spybot thinking it was corrupted and downloaded a
> fresh version and installed it.
>
> I ran a Spybot Search and Destroy scan with no threats found then ran
> the immunization again but again it failed to complete with 103361
> items unprotected. *The computer hung up again and I reset it by
> pressing the reset button until powered off.
>
> When I brought it back up it went into checking the file system.
>
> Type of file sys is NTFS
>
> One of your disks needs to be checked for consistency etc ,……. And it
> didn’t respond it any key to return to a normal boot. I also tried
> going into Safe Mode but it just hung up but when hitting the Esc
> button it somehow returned me to a normal boot selection.
>
> So my question is this, is my HD fried or is it recoverable and how do
> I do it? I do have some spares if it’s necessary to replace it but
> I’ll loose all my links as I don’t have a decidcated only the ability
> to put folders on disk (Nero). Any *thoughts or suggestions would be
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Robert

I used Seagtes Seatools utility program to do a long generic scan of
the system and it came back with

PATA/SATA Model # Firmwarmware Revision
Drive Status

5RX9FJY4 ST3160815A
3AA Long Generic - Pass

I then tried to download and run memtest86 but I must be doing
something wrong. I dont get any kind of diagnosic page at all. Is it
dot org ?

Robert

I just wanted to add that it let me make a restore point tonight.

Thanks,
Robert

Navyguy wrote:

>
> I then tried to download and run memtest86 but I must be doing
> something wrong. I dont get any kind of diagnosic page at all. Is it
> dot org ?
>
> Robert

Memtest86+ comes from memtest.org . Actually, there are two development
streams for the program, and memtest.org hosts one of them.

Scroll half way down the memtest.org web page, to find the downloads.

The floppy version, contains a floppy formatter. You *do not* just
copy it to an existing floppy. There is a special install procedure.

http://memtest.org/download/4.10/mem....10.floppy.zip

The install.bat is a short installer script. It uses this command,
to do the actual writing: "rawrite -f memtestp.bin"
It will erase the floppy (as it is just overwriting sectors on it).
So make sure you don't need anything on that floppy, before
running the installer.

The contents of the floppy are now rather unique. There is no
file system on the floppy. You can't "list" the floppy. If
you do that, Windows will ask you if you want to format it.
And that's because Windows can't see a file system.

When you later boot the computer with that floppy, again, it's
a relatively unique situation. The memtest program is loaded,
as if it is the operating system. It takes control of the machine,
but isn't an operating system, because it doesn't offer any services
to other programs. It likely uses some kind of "VESA mode" to operate
the screen. The screen runs 640x480.

The program will run forever, if you don't attempt to stop it. It
has a pass counter, to count how many times all the tests got run.
The program doesn't seem to be that good as a "pure stress test",
and my personal opinion is, running it for hundreds of hours,
wouldn't prove much of anything. One or two passes are plenty.
I feel the main value of the program, is detecting "stuck-at"
faults, where a memory bit refuses to change state. I don't
feel it's quite as good for transient faults. Prime95 or one
of the other available stress testers, might be better for
that.

Press the escape key, to initiate a reboot at the end of testing.
Remove the floppy, before the BIOS POST screen starts to render.
Then, you'll be booting back into Windows.

Naturally, the floppy diskette isn't going to boot, unless
the floppy drive is in the boot order. I leave my BIOS
boot order set to: floppy, CDROM, hard drive so that
as soon as removable media is installed, the computer
will boot from it. If you have different preferences
than that, you may need to enter the BIOS to set up
a boot order that includes the floppy.

Paul

I went to www dot memtest86 dot org and clicked memtest86 download, I
then clicked fix memtest86 download which opened another window, and I
clicked to download the memtest86 download tool, which finally gave me
RegGenie. I ran the scan and it gave me the following.


Application path entries - 4 errors

Application uninstall entries – 61 errors

COM/Active X entries – 422 errors

Empty Key entries – 217 errors

File Association entries – 17 errors

File/Folder paths entries – 3 errors

Invalid class entries – 14 errors

Shared DLL’s – 19 errors

Sound/Audio entries – 3 errors

Type Library entries – 4 errors


Thoughts/Suggestions?

Robert