Thursday, December 22, 2005

The Subject: Windows 98, a machine that has passed through many hands. It’s a CRX brand computer; ancient, dusty and probably really messed up.

The Problem: As vague as, “I think that it can’t get on the Internet?” and “The mouse doesn’t work right.”

I looked down at the back of the machine to see what kind of network connection was there and I noticed something quite peculiar. There wasn’t a modem attached. Oh, there was a space where a modem once rested and functioned properly but apparently the modem got pushed inside the tower and slid around every time someone moved the case.

I sat the computer down in my shop. I moved the red toolbox a bit closer and began to look towards the gray beast of a machine for some sign of how to open it up. I saw a few screw-looking things in the back but noticed that they were not screws. They were more like rivets. In other words, they would not come out with a mere screwdriver.

I began to poke at the top of the case. I looked at the front. I closely examined the sides to try to get some clue as to how it opened. Finally, I pried the front plastic piece off and noticed six screws holding the sides of the tower on. I removed three; slid the metal cover off to see the poor modem lying there in the dust. I picked it up (the modem) and slid it back into place, grabbed a screw from the toolbox, secured it and reassemble the tower.

I booted the machine; it was quiet compared to the one I worked on yesterday. It loaded fine. First thing, ran msconfig. Nothing jumped out at me. I installed Spybot Search & Destroy, updated the definitions file and ran it.

The results are in: 42 problems found in 19:24 minutes – all removed.

Some of the problems found: Advertising.com, Alexa Related, Avenue A, Inc., Bfast, Bluemoutain, ClickAgents, Commission Junction, DoubleClick, Engage, Inc., Enliven, Excite, FastClick, Flycast, HitBox, HitsLink, MediaPlex, PornTracker, SexTracker, TargetNet, ValueClick, and WebTrendsLive.

I ran msconfig and removed some unnecessary startup items. Rebooted. Edited the startup menu - shows a significant decrease in startup time! I will run a defrag too. Just to speed things up. 1% Complete ………..3% Complete……………………..4% Complete……………………………………………………5% Complete……………oh, never mind. I could go on like that for quite a while.

It’s 11:07 and defrag is at 10%