Why my system file get deleted ?

[Guest Fadi]

Guys this is becoming grrr... my system file in the config folder get corrupted or deleted and as result my comp do even not boot... I replace it with a new copy, still it dosent want to boot, I reformat my HD(to delet any possible virus with it) reinstall it, then 2 yeeks later it makes the same thing, I do not believe it is a virus, or maybe a BIOS virus ?

 

Could it be that someone is playing with my comp ? Its not the first time my comp get sucked for an unknown reason, now its the 7nt time.

 

Any idea ?

[Sip]

It is very possible. I know there are tons of joksters out there trying to hack into my machines ALL THE TIME. Some of them are dumb as a bag of nails but there are few that are really good. They actually broke into my home firewall but fortunately, I don't have anything to important (or not backedup) there.

 

What kind of internet connection do you have? If you have "always on" like cable or DSL, you have to be VERY careful. If you have simple modem, then you have nothing much to worry about.

 

There are several software packages available now that can protect your computer. Norton is one of the best from what I hear. You should check them out (it is part of their System Works package but I think they also sell it separately)... of course this is assuming you have a windows based PC

[Guest Fadi]

But But But

 

I already have Norton Internet Security 2002 installed, and up to date... I also have a Router with a hardware Firewall with it, other then the Norton software firewall... To this I have Windows XP, that is supposed to be more secure...

 

I installed before Linux and tried it, there was a problem with the video drivers that was making the system crash, and even without this, I had no control with the monitor refreshing rate under Linux etc... then turned again with Windows XP, and the problem is there also... and there is no logical thing between me doing something and the file being deleted...

 

Now I am on my other computer, and will let it that way, untill I find really a good solution for that thing, its really becoming serious.

 

How can I secure my computer more then this ?

 

BTW, yes I have a cable modem, returning with a low speed is out of question for me.

[Guest Fadi]

Would it be more secure if I have a real Harware firewall other then the one in the router ?

[Sip]

Oh then it's probably not hacking. It's pretty tough to get through the router, norton, and XP! I am assuming it's like a Linksys or a D-link router?

 

Anyway, what motherboard do you have? Is it a computer you setup yourself (hardware) or a namebrand thing? I am thinking maybe it's hard drive problems ... more specifically, disk controller driver problems (I am assuming IDE). Do you know if you are using UltraDMA 66 or 100? When you bootup, do you see a message like "Promise Technologies ... " (when you turn on, after video card bios, motherboard bios, and before windows starts)?

 

If you don't have the right drivers, it could be corrupting files on your disk and that's why it fails.

[Guest Fadi]

Actualy its a computer I have set myself... my motherboard is a A7V 133 with a UltraDma 100 controler, my HD is also ULTRADMA 100, Maxtor 40 GB 7200 (do not remember the model).

 

Maybe this could help you, I updated my BIOS times ago, and after this I had restart problems, then few months ago I found a new beta BIOS and have tried it, and it resolved that problem. The drivers of the VIA chipset are up to date with the ULTRADMA controler.

 

Something I do not remember is if this kind of problems started with my first BIOS Upgrade or before... but the Ultradma do load with the BIOS... and what is funny, is that it attack specificaly my system file in the config folder. I am really tired of this, and more I saved all the files in the system, and I have lost informations in my personal folder under Windows XP, that do not want to open in my other system, saying that I have no right to access it.

 

Wierd, but at the same time... Ggggrrrrrrrrrrrr... I know a computer that will be kicked or will land on somebodies head.

[Sip]

Oh just one note ... I am personally using 1007. I had trouble with the 1010 and my RAM. It wouldn't boot up after upgrading. I had to switch RAM modules with some older 256 DIMM I had to get it to boot so I could flash it back to 1007. I still have to specifically set 8ns option for RAM in bios to make it work but at least it lets me get to that screen!

 

With 1010, it starts beeping. I think the default memory speed option is "auto" and it somehow fails to detect mine. Be very "prepared" when messing with that 1010. If I didn't have another RAM module, I would be stuck with a dead motherboard

 

Oh somewhere above I forgot to say that I have the A7V myself so that's how I know about it I also had hard disk problems (XP got corrupted) until I found out that I should install new Promise XP drivers.

[Guest Fadi]

The beeping thing with the ram, what you are saying is very wierd, because I had this problem with my other motherboard, another ASUS(the P3V-4X) with completly a different chipset(Intel), I had the Beep that indentified with no ram on the comp. then changed the places of the modules, then I had the beeps of the no videocards, what I always have done with it was to pull off all the cards and reinstall them on the botherboard one by one and then pull of the ATX cable out of the motherboard and reinsert it(Why ? Well I didnt knew what to do, so I have done everything possible to force it to work , then it worked... after some times this problem was gone, I wonder if it was an upgrade of the BIOS I may have done in the past without remembering etc...

 

You say you had problems with your other module... what was your module ? A 512 MB ? I wonder if it has to do with the size or the type... Any idea ? I don't want to have this problem, I think one at a time is enough, and as I am sure no one on Earth had as much problem with his computers that I had, I do not want to lose my hears and become like Azat.

 

BTW, since you have Windows XP,maybe you can help me on this one, or maybe you realised this problem yourself. When I use it for some times, the system some times stop to response about 20 second or something then after execute all the demand I made during when hàit stoped... it dose this on both of my systems... Have you realised this problem yourself ?

 

I have many other questions... just answer this one LOL... after you will understand that handeling these problems are enough to broke his head with programming.

[Sip]

Yah I have noticed that delay too. I don't know what it is. But I just got it working last week so I haven't had much time to mess with it. My system seems to be VERY stable right now (knock on wood !!!). It was a pain to get it there though.

 

I had 1 256 PC133 DIMM CAS-3 originally bought with the motherboard. Then, I bought 2 512 PC133 CAS-3 dimms (no ECC). I could never get all three dimms to work together. So I ditched the 256 and found out that my 1Gig (2x512) was stable only if I set 8ns delay (as opposed to 7ns or auto). Everything else is on high speed (turbo mode) and AGP is in 4x. Everything works great!

 

Until I upgraded to 1010 bios before I was going to install XP. Then I got the beeps (no ram detected). I tried Everything. I narrowed it down to the 8n/7n delay issue. For some reasons, these new chips don't get detected using default bios 1010... and I had no way to set different settings. I put the old memory in (I still had it thank god!) and after a lot of trial and error, decided it was best to flash back to 1007 since I know for sure it is very stable for me.

 

Other details:

 

[*]A7V motherbaord/1 GIG RAM

[*]ASUS 7700 Deluxe (Geforce2 GTS) 64MB video card

[*]Sound blaster live

[*]Dlink 530Tx+ network card

[*]Firewire card (not sure on the brand but it has standard TI chips on it ... for my scanner)

[*]Promise IDE Channel 1:

Maxtor 80Gig 7200 UDMA 100 (mode 5)

Maxtor 20Gig 7200 UDMA 100 (mode 4)

[*]Promise IDE Channel 2:

Yamaha CD Writer (16x?x40)

Cheap DVD drive (I bought for $35 !!!! works great)

[*]Nothing on standard IDE channels.

[*]3.5" Floppy connected.

That's about it.

Drivers: Latest NVIDIA Detonator drivers, Soundblaster drivers from their site, Promise drivers, I also installed the latest 4-in-1 VIA drivers. I think that's it as far as drivers.

[Sip]

Is your motherboad BIOS 1007 or later? I think 1007 is one of the most stable ones and 1010 just came out ... for that motherboard. Are you using the Promise Ultra DMA connectors or the standard IDE connectors to run the hard disks (and if you are using Promise, are you using 80-pin Ultra DMA 100 cable?) When it boots, do you see the hard disks detected after Promise Tech logo message?

 

You should go to the Promise website and get latest winxp driver. The product you are looking for is Ultra100. The website is HERE. The driver is dated April 2 so you probably don't have it (If you are using Promise IDE controller, the VIA driver does not have anything to do with you ... the VIA IDE driver only updates the standard IDE drivers which are part of the VIA chipset ... Promise has a different chip)

 

By the way, Promis has BIOS upgrades for the UltraDMA chip but you can't use those. They are for the stand-alone Ultra100 boards. Yours is integrated in the motherboard so the BIOS is packaged in the moatherboard BIOS (from Asus). Let me know if something is unclear

[Guest Fadi]

I had installed the 1007, but the beta version I think... I didnt checked the 1010, since you tell it to me I'll do that, and the April 2 driver, Nope didnt installed that one LOL... as the rest Yep, I have already done these things... there is no way I would decide to buy a 7200 for just show off, I bough it for the maximum capacity it could give... so the cable of 80 everything is fine...

 

But I think these things will go for later, I have exams to prepare, and do not want to reinstall all the system... etc...

 

Ah, could it be just possible that Microsoft is playing with my system file because my Windows XP ... you know...

 

[ April 10, 2002, 12:11 PM: Message edited by: Domino ]

[Guest Fadi]

I forgot to say.

 

Thank you for your help.

[Guest Fadi]

Geforce2 GTS ?

 

So you are a gamer ?

 

I just have a Geforce2 MX-32

 

And it creats some instabilities under Windows XP, even with the newer possible drivers... as for games forget about it... they are slow on Windows XP, and many don't work(the same stories as Windows 2000 and NT, as well as Microsoft same lies about games working correctly on them).

 

For the speed, maybe its my formating to NTFS tht made them run more slowly, I realised that they are slower on NTFS then Fat32... I may be mistaken or maybe I am not looking at the good side(Maybe other things may do this).

 

For the stop responsding problem... if you are able to correct this... I want to be the first one to know. Since its like more you use it and more you have this problem, I upgraded XP with the online updates... no change.

 

[ April 11, 2002, 02:16 PM: Message edited by: Domino ]

[Guest Fadi]

Seaphan... I just learned my friend have the exact problem, with the system file in the config folder... and he uses a compleat different chipset...

 

Do you think it could be a problem with Windows XP itself ?

[Guest Fadi]

Seaphan something that may interest you...

 

The same person that also have corruption problems that have left the computer reboot, everytime loging into Windows XP... I finaly realised that when I changed his memory module to an old one the problem was gone... Its like Windows XP is very fragile with memories...

 

Another thing, my BIOS, I told you it was the 1007, finaly not really, I have a bet version of 1008 that I have downloaded from a German site.

[Sip]

Wow pretty interesting ...

 

I also had lots of problems with memory. These VIA-based boards are fairly picky when it comes to mem. I bought mine from a website that claimed it was compatible with the A7V boards ...

 

First thing you should do, is get a stable bios ... for me, 1007 has been very good. Then install XP on a freshly formated drive with all latest drivers. Then, before doing anything else, install 3D Mark from madonion (you can download for free or let me know and I'll give it to you). Let it run it's benchmarks for a day. If it doesn't crash, then you can be sure your hardware and drivers (RAM, Graphics, AGP, and Windows are doing GOOD!).

 

That 3d mark is very good. It always crashes if there is some problem with drivers, ram, instability ... it also lets you know how fast your PC is running.

 

Once you have basic windows with 3D mark running stable, then you can start adding different components and software.

 

For me, I haven't noticed the delay for a few days. The only time it seems to delay now is when it's seaching for drives (and checking CDs) which is not very often.

[Sip]

Forget everything I said ... I am in the process of re-installing ... just bought a new Maxtor 80Gig drive with Promise 133TX2 controller (it comes with the drive). I am going to try this one out ... the Ultra100 on the A7V corrupted everything ... but maybe my drive was bad ... I'll know in a few days.

[Sip]

Ok things seem to be running smoothly now. The 133TX2 card seems to have done the trick. I had bad luck since my last 80GIG drive turned out to be bad and that's why everything crashed.

 

I tried the new bioses from ASUS: 1010A and 1011. They both made the system unstable running the memory at 133 MHZ. So I went back to the 1007 which seems to work great. I have done a lot of stress testing and benchmarking and the system seems to be rock solid.

 

If you are going to mess with things, I'd say stick to the 1007 bios and ditch that on-board Ultra100 controller ... it's just a disaster waiting to happen

[Guest Fadi]

Seaphan, my motherboard is a little different then yours, its a A7V133, it take a bus of 133... IT SUCK GGGGGGGrrrrrrrrrrr... I burned a processor, because I cleaned everything and forgot to plug the stupid fan, now I ended up with an Athlon XP 1800+ and it bugs and gugs and bugs, I changed my memory module of 514 Mb with older two 128 modules and it seem that the bugs stoped... I also tested it on Wondows ME, it seem that the problem only happened on Windows XP, I really am thinking of forgeting Windows XP, the person that will tell me that Windows XO is stable better not be in front of me... Corrumption after corrumption and now that I instaled Athlon XP, it is even worst... GGGGGGGrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........

[wh00t]

Ouch! I think it was Tom's Hardware who did a test and they captured it on video.. I have in on my hard drive somewhere. They took 2 Athlons and 2 Intels, ran Quake III and took off the fan in front of the camera. Both Athlons started smoking, one Intel crashed and the other continued to run Q3, albeit at a very slow framerate.

[Guest Fadi]

You know what angered me ? I always hoped to see how it would smoke directly on the diesize, pulling out the heatsink and taking a look the deformation of the serounding of the die size while smoking. But no... this f... CPU had to be burned without seing how it happens. I was even not near it, when comming near it(I left it open) I smelled something comming from the tower.

 

The orginal athlond or the new ones without the motherboard support, have no temperature security sensors that shut them up, when the temperature is above critic unlike the Pentium series, and they heat more then Intel... this kind of things would not have happened with Pentium processors... but I hate Intel.

[Guest Fadi]

Nope its not the memory modules, it still bug... I really am...

 

A computer with an Athlon XP 1800+ with 512 Mb RAM and one 40 Gb 7200 RPM and another 13 Gb, with a Geforce 2 MX, is given to anyone that want it and lives close to Montreal. Reason ? It suck.

 

So wh00t, do you want it ?

[Sip]

That is pretty strange because I thought all the A7V series had the temperature protection stuff. I know mine shows the temps but I have never tested to see what happens if it overheats!

 

Athlon chips are GREAT in terms of architecture. The main problem has been chipsets and motherboards. ALI, VIA, and even AMDs own chipsets have always sucked with very poor driver support. But AMDs CPUs have really kicked ass in the past few years compared to intels. But as far as system stability and ease of setting up ... there have been many occasions when I wished I had spend the extra money to get an intel system

[Guest Fadi]

No we do not have the temperature protection stuff, we have the bip...bip alarm thing etc... but not the automatic stuff... I know, since my CPU burned. I can not have a better confirmation.

 

Seaphan, I am just wondering if the problem is not with the videa card... we both have Nvidia's, you have the Geforce 2, I have the MX, some times after the Freez problems and corruptions, I have reports that the problem is the videocard... have you such reports yourself ?

[Sip]

My main problem was the case I think. The cards dont really sit properly in the motherboard and the screw holes don't line up. I bent the frame of the case (it's a cheap case) and now things seem to be ok.

 

I had to play a lot with the system to get it to be stable. Just motherboard, CPU, RAM, video card, and hard disk. Tried many different bioses and many different settings. If you don't have a stable system with just these components, there is no reason to go any further! The best way to tell in my opinion are these benchmark programs like 3D Mark. I let it run for a day. Usually when there is a problem, the thing crashes within a few minutes. Now I am sure those components are 100% stable so I started installing everything else. So far so good !!! But it's still too early to tell. But basically, my Geforce2 is VERY stable even running at AGP 4X.

 

By the way, the power supply is a big issue with these boards. Are you sure yours is rated for Athlon or Pentium 4 use? I had to switch power supplys when I first got the Geforce2 card. I think this one is rated at about 30 AMPS on the +5 volt line which is good (anything above 28 AMPS is good)

 

I would say a PS that can provide these is pretty good: +3.3v 28amps, +5v 30amps, +12v 15 amps.

 

Note that the full rating that they provide (like 300W) is not enough to know it it will be good enough. The +3.3 and the +5 lines are what really matter.