Huw Posted August 14, 2004 Author Share Posted August 14, 2004 btw, what is a pagefile? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 one quick question about partitioning, i take it on one drive you'd just put the whole windows folder? and then with the others put whatever you want in? Really you need to format your machine then start over. Think about the partitions you will need and then create them first before you start installing loads of things. You can't just drag and drop program folders over to other drives because there will be entries in the registry that won't be updated - in other words it would fuck things up. You can drag and drop data files however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huw Posted August 14, 2004 Author Share Posted August 14, 2004 ahh, fair enough. well, if i get time and some confidence then i will... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 btw, what is a pagefile? Basically, your machine has so much RAM. Say you only have 128MB - If Windows needs more, it uses a section of your hard disc called the page file as "virtual memory". Ideally you don't want this to happen often as using the disc as virtual memory slows things down a lot. Windows is set to manage the page file itself. In other words it can change size to suit how much virtual memory is required. This is bad in the sense that the file can defragment badly and end up spread all over your hard disc. Setting it to a fixed size cuts down on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Deeswift Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 btw, what is a pagefile?<{POST_SNAPBACK}> As Sigma said, this is also called virtual memory. The name makes it obvious what it is. You should set it to a fix min and max of 1.5 times the size of your RAM. To do this, right click the "My Computer" icon and select "Properties". Go to the "Advanced" tab and select "Settings". Click "Advanced", "Virtual Memory". Have a look around and you'll probably understand it. While you're in the Advanced tab, if you want a quick performance boost turn off all the visual effects except "Use visual styles on windows & buttons" and "Smooth edges of screen fonts". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 If the page file is gonna be fixed at 1.5GB why have you got it on a 3GB partition? Haven't you got two HD drives Dee? You would be better putting the page file on the second disc. Reason is because RAXCO PerfectDisk requires twice as much space as the Page File uses to be able to defrag. Your Page File should be fixed at 1.5 times the size of your physical RAM, so if you have 1 GB, you'll need a 1.5 GB Page. A further 1.5 GB is needed so PerfectDisk can move all the data around on the partition and defrag it. PerfectDisk only needs 5% free space to operate mate. My page file is 958MB on a 1.01GB partition (74MB free) and it still defrags it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Deeswift Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 Really? That's weird man, mine won't do it unless it has 2X the space. What build are you using or PerfectDisk? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 V6.0 Build 34. I hadn't used it for a while and I updated it earlier in the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 recommending a full install isn't really something we'd do.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> You obviously haven't come up against any of the nastier dialers around now! Honestly, nuking is the only thing I can genuinely reccomend. I understand your points, but there honestly isn't any way to be truely sure, so if anyone asks me anything along these lines, I consider it ethical to reccomend an absolutely safe option; nuking is the only one. I agree that it sucks ass, but I'd feel irresponsible saying anything but. Anyway, I've said my bit several times now so I'll back out and let you guys get on with it. (Drive image, people!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 PerfectDisk only needs 5% free space to operate mate. This value might depend on the cluster size you are using on your disc. I'm not familiar with the app so I can't say for certain, but strictly speaking it should, anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 recommending a full install isn't really something we'd do. You obviously haven't come up against any of the nastier dialers around now! Honestly, nuking is the only thing I can genuinely reccomend. I understand your points, but there honestly isn't any way to be truely sure, so if anyone asks me anything along these lines, I consider it ethical to reccomend an absolutely safe option; nuking is the only one. I agree that it sucks ass, but I'd feel irresponsible saying anything but. Anyway, I've said my bit several times now so I'll back out and let you guys get on with it. (Drive image, people!) No dialler or other piece of spyware exists that can't be fully removed. I post on other forums helping people to remove them using Hijack This! all the time and I've never come across one that can't be fully shifted. Even the newer Cool Websearch infections that are notoriously tough to remove can be fully killed if you know how to do it. The only way a dialler can reinfect you is if it's in your temporary internet files (empty them), if you don't remove all the associated files or if there's an ActiveX or browser helper object that causes the reinfection. The only other problem that can occur is if you don't remove any run entries from the registry but that will just cause a "file not found" error on bootup. The only time I would ever recommend formatting and reinstalling Windows is if a person has multiple diallers and spyware that would take for too much effort to remove. I'd say I've looked at over 500 of these logs and only once have I recommended that someone do that and they were running no antivirus or firewall software and they were clicking yes to every box that confronted them when browsing the Internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rygon Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 try using ad-aware by lava soft. this helps remove a lot of spyware, dialler etc. also cwsredder for explorer hijacking removal. i also use avg for a free anti virus (and removal of diallers). diallers only work with dial modems (like 56k) if you have broadband dont worry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Deeswift Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 Sometimes they miss what another finds though, we should run Hijack This, Sptbot S&D and Ad-aware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 Hijack This! is the ultimate tool for removing spyware. All the others work like virus scanners and if your spyware isn't in the list of bad shit, it gets passed by. Anyone can figure out how to use Hijack This! just by reading the FAQ and doing a little Google research. If you can't figure it out, there are plenty of forums dedicated to looking at the logs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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