Temp files

I have come across an old dell d400 computer and was attempting to find out why everything on the computer was running so slow, i came to the conclusion that some sort of virus is on the computer so i download the free version of AVAST i install it and it needs to restart my system so i allow it ( this being one of the few times my system shut down without me having to hold down the power key) and upon the OS starting up it prompts me with a few choices to remove some trojans in my temp files i hit the 1 key which says delete it it pop's up again with the same thing so i hit the 1 key again and yet again it pops up again so instead of sitting here and keep hitting the 1 key i hit the 2 key which it delete all, so after hitting it an hour ago it is still in the process of deleting the temp files, My question is how large can a temp file be and why would my OS not delete such files when they are no longer needed instead of letting them keep piling up..??

I hope this is in the right section to post this question,

opticalzoom74 wrote:My question is how large can a temp file be and why would my OS not delete such files when they are no longer needed instead of letting them keep piling up..?

Well the reason you have so much crap cluttering up the computer is that you're on Winblows, simple as that. It's unavoidable in the long run, especially if you don't maintain it properly (regularly defragging, clearing temp files and old programs, etc).

From the stuff you've described, you're probably best off re-installing the OS. Or better yet, use a system that tends to clean up after itself a bit better, if you're not hot on doing it yourself. Try looking into Linux if you're interested.

yea i would agree, Windows is a bit of a head ache when it come to things like this, Well i ran that scan and now when i reboot i lost my start bar and my icons i can get into task manager and go to file and open run new task and find everything but i can't seem to get me start bar back or my icons, i tried running the explorer.exe and it says it can not find it which was kinda weird so i tried to open regedit and that will not open also. So i tried to use a restore point from a month ago when it last make a checkpoint and everything went well but upon re-boot i still can't get it to show start or icons any suggestions would help, I can't do a refresh install because i do not have a recovery or the distribution CD?? i think i need to jus get a new copy and start from the beginning again unless you have any suggestions before trying that?

opticalzoom74 wrote:I can't do a refresh install because i do not have a recovery or the distribution CD?? i think i need to jus get a new copy and start from the beginning again unless you have any suggestions before trying that?

First off, I accept no responsibility should you choose to accept my advice. If you nuke the HD then realise you had years of work you want back...

That said, I recommend a fresh OS installation. Preferably not Windows again, especially if you've lost the CD. Instead, you might try a flavour of Ubuntu Linux, for example.

If you insist on continuing with Windows, then I'm sure there's a way to request another CD from Microsoft tech support by supplying your product key (probably on a label stuck on your computer somewhere if it was installed when you bought it). But if you want it to last more than a few weeks before re-installing again, try to take better care of your system. I won't post a whole list of things to do here, but it's worth googling about some Windows security and maintenance.

Good luck, whatever you choose to do.

Na i could really care less if i "Nuke my HD" But i am just trying to trouble shoot my Windows OS and i want to keep windows on here. i have another question is my explorer.exe same from system to system such as if i copy my explorer.exe from home edition and paste it in a professional edition would it not be able to run that program..??

And thanks again spectre557 i do appreciate the help

by **ReMiiX** on Thu Sep 03, 2009 5:16 pm ([msg=29043]see Re: Temp files[/msg])

opticalzoom74 wrote:Na i could really care less if i "Nuke my HD"

Ahhhh! Couldn't! Sorry. Yeah get Linux. Its way better then windows, although I did like W7. Maybe it was the creepy wallpapers.

opticalzoom74 wrote:Na i could really care less if i "Nuke my HD" But i am just trying to trouble shoot my Windows OS and i want to keep windows on here.

Ok well in that case, you're still going to need a full wipe and re-installation of the operating system as far as I can tell.

opticalzoom74 wrote:i have another question is my explorer.exe same from system to system such as if i copy my explorer.exe from home edition and paste it in a professional edition would it not be able to run that program..??

As far as I know, explorer.exe is just an application for file-managing within Windows, with a pretty GUI. So I'm pretty sure that technically all editions of Windows use exactly the same version.

However, that's not going to solve your problem. If other basic applications like the registry editor are also missing, then it sounds like it's what we technical-minded people call "buggered", to me. Honestly, your best bet is to buy a new boat, not keep trying to patch up the one you're in.

It's fixed now without having to re-install windows

The problem was when i ran the anti-virus on my computer it got rid of the virus but it did not fix the changes that the virus made, So my first problem was to fix the regedit.exe The problem with my registry was the virus that infected my computer made it so i could not get into my regedit, So since i had no icons i used Ctrl+Alt+Del to get into task manager and clicked file and clicked new task and typed GPEDIT.msc to get into group policy then went to user configurations+admin templates+system and clicked prevent access to registry editing tools and clicked disable, that fixed my regedit.exe problem for not being able to open

Next went into registry and messed around and finally found explorer.exe which was HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image Execution Options\ saw something called debugger and deleted it went back into task manager and went into run and ran explorer.exe and it work

Well done, but it still sounds like you're patching up problems as they appear, not treating the cause. Call me a pessimist, but I don't see a bright future for your poor old Dell D400. There's no telling what kind of further damage the virus(es) did, not to mention any unrelated clutter and fragmentation.

But oh well, it's your computer. Good luck with it

Spectre557 wrote:Well done, but it still sounds like you're patching up problems as they appear, not treating the cause. Call me a pessimist, but I don't see a bright future for your poor old Dell D400. There's no telling what kind of further damage the virus(es) did, not to mention any unrelated clutter and fragmentation.

But oh well, it's your computer. Good luck with it

Yes it was a bit of a patch job but it worked for now, You are not a pessimist by far but i now have new problems with it, Seeing how the anti-virus deleted a lot of files i now am getting error messages after a restart saying "Error loading C:\Windows\friza.dll The specified module cold not be found also a C:\Windows\etozawufileufi.dll

Any suggestions on getting rid of these errors..??