The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

Hello all again. Me and my "calls" for help.

First before we get to the point, I remind you that you don't have to help because it has nothing to do with uqm, and even if it was, you still didn't had to. still, I ask (beg if you want) you to help me!
A.Some web site put url icon in my desktop and I CAN'T DELETE IT!!! I have tried anything! Through dos, through my computer through desktop, through "add remove programs". Absolutly nothing!!!
B. 800 mb in c: drive suppose to be full but it isn't true. How do I "free" it. It is extremly important since I have only 3.24 GB in c:(yea yea laugh).

Btw: I asked here because no where else has answers. Even microsoft site. I challenge you nic to prove that I am wrong!(or sage :D) -jk(but you can try if you want)

A) What error do you get when you try to delete it?
B) I don't know what you mean, how do you know its supposed to be full, how do you know it isn't?

A real dodgy way of doing it would be to search the registry for the name of the icon. it might help.
Also, search all directories for the last modified date. And you could get a better antivirus program to check for trojans

Ewww...It sounds like you've gotten Klez. I've gotten that too...my condolences.

Thankfully you're still on the net. When I was infected by Klez, it was disguised as a Starcraft map file (I run a starcraft site by the way, so map submissions are common things). And it killed my internet connection.

If I could've gotten online, I could have used a Virus Scanner (http://housecall.antivirus.com) with up to date virus entries, for free. I suffered a great fate by losing my internet. Don't let the same happen to you.

That is odd, I have the BEST antivirus and security program...

And I can tell by simple way. It tell me lets say, 2.8 GB is full but when I select all files and press "propeties" it says it takes ONLY 1.8 for example.

WHAT?!

A malware.worm_nachi.a has passed a presonal fire wall + norton security 2003 + 3 antivirus full scans!?!?
And it attacked my memory... now that is really odd!

How? who? why? when?

Btw: thanx sage!

Sure its not a parasite? Try http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/.

That's actually normal, and it happens with all hard drives.  The first reason is that hard drive manufacturers usually "cheat" a little bit with the numbers.  For example, a GB contains 1,073,741,824 bytes.  HD manufacturers round that down to 1,000,000,000 bytes when they make their numbers.  So, for example, a drive that contains 21,474,836,480 bytes they call a 21.4 GB drive even though it's really only a 20.0 GB drive.  Your operating system uses the correct number, so it will say that this is 20.0 GB.  Also, most operating systems use a lot of overhead for laying out the file system, and this space gets taken out of the total.  So you could have a "21.4 GB" drive that gets full when your OS says there's only 17 or 18 GB of stuff on it.  It's completely normal and happens with EVERY hard drive.

edit: Right after I posted this, someone showed me this link: http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/030918/tech_computers_suit_1.html

This is a known problem with most file systems, especially Windows FAT. Most file systems allocate file space using blocks of a fixed size  (usually 4, 8, 16 or 32 KB). If the file system contains a lot of small files (UQM is a notorious offender, if you aren't using zipped content (hey, I managed to get this thread on topic :))), you end up wasting a lot of disk space by storing small files in large blocks. A more detailed description can be found here (http://www.storagereview.com/guide2000/ref/hdd/file/partSlack.html).

That has nothing to do with what he's talking about.  The slack space is included when you check the file properties.

FAT... wow I remember it from my first or second computer! ;D

I don't use FAT. Only FAT32 on d:\ and e:\ and NFTS on c:\. And I don't think it is the problem because one day it was ok(meaning maybe 50-100 mb were "missing") and the other day 500 mb were "missing". I thought xp suppose to be a good OS.( In the "good" times I had windows 2000.)

Ok I have found the source of the ultimate "evil". But.......

Justifing his name for ultimate, when you try to delete it it says:

Cannot read file: Cannot read from the source file or disk.

I am about to sue aol.... But I am a man of peace not war. Stop me before something bad will happen.

And for another thing,
Sage, What is BKDR SDBOT.GEN? The housecall can't remove it because it is in c:\winnt\system32\cmst.exe file.

Btw: funny thing. After the housecall found a virus, my norton 2003 "jumped in" and said it removed the virus and took credit for it!

You people takes things seriously here.

According to this page (http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/backdoor.sdbot.p.html) and many others, no cmst.exe is targetted for infection by BKDR SDBOT.GEN. In fact, I can't even find a page on the net with the string "cmst.exe". That being the case, I'd say just outright delete the file. Or you can quarantine it somehow.

Also: If it says a file can't be cleaned, there is a "Delete" button there that you can use to, you guessed it, delete the file. Next time you scan with that, I recommend you delete any files it can't clean. It's safer that way, methinks.

OK, now I am getting nervous...

Another 300 mb disappeared today! I didn't install anything.
I am sure it is a virus or something but I can't find it!
Help!!!

You seem to have a penchant for causing/receiving problems, eh? Despite "knowing a thing or two" about computers, I've never heard of such things happening. Plus you're being a bit vague. Did you lose 300 from your maximum space, or did you lose 300 worth of used space?

If it is the latter, have you emptied the recycle bin lately? (I know I haven't in a long while, and stuff tends to build up there easily). Done any recent uninstalls? I'm kind of at a loss for what it would be if the former is true. *checks google*

The only other possibility I can find (easily), not knowing specifics about what programs you use to virus scan, is this (http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/comphelp/msg0910022023089.html) set of forum posts which points out a bug in McAfee that causes it to not delete temporary files it creates while scanning.

If none of this applies, try Housecall again, and if that fails, post up the virus scanner(s) you use and whatever pertinent info you can.

I'd say back up pertinant data and reinstall the OS from scratch.  When something attacks one's system and hides itself so well that one is confused by it, then the "something" could easily have done more than what's visible.  At least if you reinstall your OS, you'll know that your system is not compromised (until you install your first program, plug into a network, or restore your backup files; make sure you update security patches before you do these things [I know: to update patches, you have to run setup programs, but they're the exception]).

Thanx guys but...

A. Yes I did empty the recylce bin and all unnessecery files.
B. Not the maximux space ofcourse.
C.Checked again. The max for c:\ is 3.4G and ONLY 1.8 G is "taken"(!!!)
D. Norton 2003 + Norton security 2003
E. A friend of mine got a torjan horse(or something like it) and it takes 31 G(!) of his c:\. He just can't get rid of it, and formating c:\ will be a pain in the ass for him... so you are not just helping me(like you want too  ;D).

P.S believe me, updating to XP Pro from windows 2000 + using hebrew is a pain in the ass. It does alot of extra problems. Never do update!!! Fresh install always!

Which file of my 50,000 files in c:\ only?

Like I said, it says only 1.8 gb is taken. the max is 3.4. That means 3.4-1.8 Gb=1.6GB should be free. Instead only 200 mb is free. And yes, when I check it it says there is 19,380 files. ok ok ok, you caught me :D. only 19,380 not 50,000.

Still I need help, my computer now starts to shut down when he wants too!!! (usally when I am doing something really important and about to save/finish[like game on the net]).

Ok Now I reminded why I said 50,000 files.

I have just did a virus scan ( again ) and my virus scanner says there are 50,000 files in c:\. Where did they "go"?

P.S do virus scanners count files in zip?

If your scanner scans inside Zips he does count files in there as well

Yea but still, even if windows doesn't "count" the files inside the zip, he still count the size of the zip. Btw: another 100 mb disappeared.

I'll just format...