Replies

It’s IObit (no r). I find it to be a useful free tool with no disadvantages.

I agree. Just uninstall the free driver program that comes along with it. Too many false positives. Use the free SlimDrivers instead.

I recommend Aiseesoft PDF to Word Converter (http://www.aiseesoft.com/pdf-to-word-converter.html) or PDF Converter Ultimate (http://www.aiseesoft.com/pdf-converter-ultimate.html). Conserves formatting and tables, etc.

Marvelous, isn’t it, how when someone asks whether they can use something they already have and are familiar with (or how to use it), so many people seem to think they should use something else. A good reason for not using the alternatives, quite apart from the inevitable learning curve, is that none of them is fully compatible with even Office 97.

You are absolutely correct! Just for the record, I am using Office 2000 (XP) and it works just fine. Give it a try!

DocFetcher does exactly what I want: Finds all files with the filename and the text I’m looking for, in the folders I select, uses AND/OR and wildcards, and highlights all the hits, and allows you to either open the file or copy the desired text. Beats Google Desktop Search!

I tried entering “Google Desktop” in the search box and all I got was returned to the same window. No help, no search, nothing. I suppose there’s no help for this topic.

I have been using Thunderbird for a year or more and have had the problem of disappearing Inbox messages many times. As described above, the ‘standard’ solution is to delete the Inbox.msf file and open Thunderbird again. However, sometimes that doesn’t work. There are two things to do:

1. Reboot the PC to make sure Thunderbird is not still running. Under some circumstances, if you close Thunderbird it doesn’t actually close but just goes invisible! Rebooting makes sure it really is closed. Then delete the Inbox.msf file again and open Thunderbird again. If that doesn’t solve the problem or if your Inbox file is empty, follow the suggestion below.

2. Open Thunderbird and look for a folder named nstmp or nstmp-1, etc. in the folder list on the the left in the Thunderbird window. I always find one or more of those folders listed there after an Inbox failure and they always contain the missing Inbox messages! If you have more than one of those folders pick the one whose contents looks the best and drag those messages into the Inbox. After the Inbox is working properly again, delete all the nstmp* folders in Thunderbird.

That has always worked for me.

Good Luck!

Bill

Thank you, Bill!

Your solution No. 2 above worked for me, after I tried all the other “fixes” posted in the various help groups. [/url]

I had over 3,000 messages in the Inbox. Now that I know what caused the problem, I’ve archived all my old ones (5 years’ worth), so it shouldn’t happen again.

Frank D

I, for one, can recommend it very highly. I’ve been using it for over a year, since version 5. It’s now up to version 7. I have the Pro version, but I’ve used the Free version and it is excellent also.

I use only these features (but many more are available at your discretion): Malware Removal, Internet Booster, Security Defense, Vulnerability Fix, System Optimization, and Disk Scan. All of these, except the Internet Booster option, are available in the Free version.

It is the most well-behaved of all the “system care” programs I’ve tried.

Frank D

Use a tool such as Space Sniffer to see how your disk space is being used.

I use the free FileMenu Tools (http://www.lopesoft.com/en/filemenutools/download), which adds a “Size of Folders” command (among many others) to the right-click context menu of the selected drive. It gives a very nice tree view and pie chart view of the folders and their size (both in bytes and %) on the drive and allows you to execute a wide variety of commands on them. As an example of its use, I had been unable to remove the the 70-GB contents of a stubborn Recycle Bin ($RECYCLE.bin) folder from my external USB drive, even after disabling its use using the prescribed method. After using the Delete command from the Size of Folder window, the folder immediately showed zero contents. This program has many other useful commands, and I think it is a gem.

Fortunately, many of the larger PC manufacturers do include an AV/AM app by default. If the manufacturer does not, then MS does in the form of Windows Defender in Win 8 and Win 8.1. Even though many here believe this app is less than effective to the 3rd party apps, for these “average users” it very well might be all they have available.

Speaking of free anti-virus and anti-malware applications, just yesterday I had a drive-by infection of the PC Antivirus 2009 type, and both my up-to-date Windows Defender and my up-to-date, running-in-the-background anti-virus program allowed it to do its dirty work.

The thing that saved me was — as soon as I saw the nasty screen pop up with its spurious demands — to turn off my PC using the Power button (i.e., holding it in for 5 seconds) and reboot into Safe Mode (Win7 64-bit) with networking. From there I downloaded and immediately updated Malwarebytes AntiMalware (free) and SuperAntiSpyware (free) and went to the website of the free Trend online anti-virus scanner. I ran all three simultaneously (in Quick Scan mode), and after about 15 minutes ONLY ONE of them picked up 10 assorted Trojans/PUPs, etc. That was Malwarebytes. The other two ran longer but found nothing but tracking cookies. Malwarebytes then quarantined and deleted all of them. When I rebooted my PC all was well again! So much for relying on the anti-virus capabilities of the “usual suspects.”

Thank you, Michael, Dick-Y and Ruirib.

Please note that my situation was unusual. It was complicated by the fact that my system backups (using two different programs) did not work because of complications introduced into the backups by a RAM-drive I had been using — NEVER AGAIN will I use a RAM-drive. Otherwise, I agree that a system image restore using either of the backups would have solved all my problems.

I have since corrected my procedures, and have already performed a full system restore from image that worked!

Frank

satrow,

Thank you!

Frank

satrow,

I’ve tried all those Windows Install disc options and commands with no results. The same BSOD keeps appearing.

At this point, I’m biting the bullet and giving up trying to salvage my precarious Windows installation. I thank you for all your expert help and assistance toward keeping it running, but the repeated failed attempts have grown too unnerving for me.

I’ve already started installing Windows 7 from scratch. I want the pleasure (regardless of how slight) of using a Windows PC without the daily and even momentary assaults from unsuccessful Windows Updates, failed System Restores and backups, BSODs, etc. The fresh install procedure is retaining all my “stuff” in a Windows.old partition, and I have multiple backups, so I can dip into them to reclaim individual files, e-mails, documents, and so on. I’ll of course be losing a number of irreplaceable programs, but . . . that’s life.

It will be a novel experience for me, rebuilding a Windows environment for the first time in over three years.

It was a good job that I would not have attempted without your help. Thank you!

Frank

It didn’t work. BSOD. (I’m typing this on another computer.)

As soon as I can get my PC up and running again I’ll post the picture I took of the blue screen. In brief, it’s 0x0000007B.

I tried System Restore via the Windows Install DVD but it and Repair didn’t work. They have NEVER worked! Why bother?

I’m now restoring from my system image backup and hope it works.

Frank

Done. I’ll now reboot.

Note: Small delay as I run a quick incremental backup.

I’ve done as you advised. However, using Autoruns, I still find the following:
Shield WINNT/2K/XP/2003 Driver Windows (R) Win 7 DDK provider c:windowssystem32driversshield.sys 7/31/2013 6:28 AM
Shieldf WINNT/2K/XP/2003 Driver Windows (R) Win 7 DDK provider c:windowssystem32driversshieldf.sys 7/31/2013 6:28 AM
For one last time before I reboot, shall I disable these two also?

Frank