Random Access
August 2005
Bruce Preston, Moderator
Members who are unable to attend the General Meeting may submit questions to "askdacs@dacs.org" by the day prior to the meeting. We will attempt to get an answer for you. Please provide enough detail, as we will not be able to ask for additional information.

Q (AskDACS) I have a USB Flashdrive that lacks password protection. Can you recommend software ( preferably freeware ) that resides on the drive itself?

A. First, check with the manufacturer’s website such as SanDisk. If they don’t have one suitable, then a Google Search such as “USB flash drive encryption freeware Microsoft XP” will find one. Follow-up: the question poser found and installed this software and reports that it works fine:

http://www.richskills.com/support/usbdiskguard_help.html

Q (AskDACS) When I boot my machine I get a message that it is unable to locate GAMEDRVR.EXE. I have since found that it is part of Wild Tangent ( network gaming support) How can I find and remove the reference that is trying to load it?

A. First, we assume that you have gone into Add/Remove Programs to remove Wild Tangent. If that doesn’t do it, then you may have to resort to more drastic measures. First, see if it is referenced in the Windows Registery. The key would be in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/MICROSOFT/WINDOWS/CURRENTVERSION/RUN See if there is a reference there. And if so, delete it from the right window. Or you can do a search within Regedit’s EDIT / FIND and look for GAMEDRVR. Working with the registery can be dangerous, so you might want to make use of a program that specializes in finding applications that load automatically, such a HiJack This! - http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html which will identify the items and how they are launched. Unlike anti-virus and anti-spyware applications, HiJack This! makes absolutely no value judgement as to whether an item is good, bad, or indifferent. If you don’t recognize an item, copy and paste the entire log from the scan into any of the HiJack This! support sites as a request for help posting. Within a short time you will get an analysis. If you need faster turn-around, try doing a Google search on the questionable item - more often than not you will find the item described within the first couple of hits and be able to make a value judgement.

Q. My XP machine won’t boot, it reports that a critical file has been lost or corrupted. If I start in Safe Mode (by pressing F8) it reports a similar error, and then forces me into “Load Last Known Good Configuration” and reports that it has recovered the system. However, that version is also bad. So how do I get to a point where I can boot?

A. You are going to have to boot XP from a CD so that you can run a repair utility. This will require a specially constructed CD known as a PE CD (Preinstalled Environment) such as found and described at http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

A preinstalled environment CD must be assembled by the end user with his licensed copy of Windows available for providing system files, and can only be created on a working machine, of course. So you will need to find a working machine with a CD burner to create your PE CD. In addition to the bootable image, there are also plug-ins available for such utilities as network support, working with profiles, etc.

Q. Follow-up - I have two recovery mechanisms from my computer’s manufacturer (HP) - a set of 6 floppy diskettes, and a CD. Can I use these?

A. We don’t recommend this, as the recovery CDs typically will restore the machine to exactly the configuration as received from the manufacturer. This means that the drive will be wiped clean and your data lost. This process is the “last resort” - you will get your machine back with an operating system, but nothing more. Other CDs from your vendor will have the software packages ( word processor, spreadsheet, etc.) that were bundled with the machine. But your data files will be gone.

Q. My boot device sequence keeps changing. The sequence I want is floppy, CD, then SATA hard disk. But it randomly changes to “No Boot Device”. The motherboard is about a year old, and is by ASUS.

A. It “sounds” like it is looking for an EIDE hard drive, since you have an EIDE controller for the CD drive. Another suggestion was that the SATA drive might be taking time to spin up to speed and hasn’t gotten into the ready-state by the time it is called upon to boot. Lastly, one member reported hearing on a radio program of a similar problem where the BIOS clear memory jumper had to be shorted for several hours to clear out an erroneous setting. The general consensus was to post the problem on ASUS’s site. http://support.asus.com/default.aspx

Q. Establishing a connection on my DSL service takes a long time. It may take a minute or so from the time I provide my logon name and password. I use SBC/Yahoo!

A. Further questioning uncovered that the logon and password were being given not for e-mail, but for the DSL account. However, the configuration is that there is a DSL/Cable Modem router between the PC and the DSL Modem. When this is the case, you do not need (or want) any special software on the PC for establishing the connection. Instead, the parameters for the connection should be entered into the router on a one time basis (in the PPPoE logon screen) and the router will establish and maintain the connection. You will be “always on”. The computer then makes use of the connection already established by the router. In your configuration it appears that you are making the connection request and timing out, falling through, and then inheriting the connection already established. Check your router’s manual for how to set up the router and then disable the connection-specific software on the computer. Some routers come with an installation CD. The typical process is to connect the computer to the modem directly and establish the connection “the old way”. Then run the installation CD which examines the configuration and copies it a temporary installation file. You then put the router between the computer and the modem, and the installation program then copies the configuration to the router and perhaps disables the now unneeded software on the computer.

Q. I need to create a web-site where people can submit information, yet I want to insure that the site is immune to viruses. What operating system should I use to guarantee no viruses?

A. There isn’t any. Most viruses are found spreading via the Windows family of operating systems, but that is only because it is the most prevalent O/S out there. In follow-up questioning you indicated that you are looking to provide a service where people would be submitting files. Let’s suppose that your web-site is hosted on a Linux platform. If so, it would be unaware of a virus in a Windows executable file posted, unless you had a Linux-based A/V package that scanned for Windows viruses. The programs on the host machine wouldn’t be infected, but the infected file would cause problems with any Windows machine that subsequently downloaded the file and allowed it to be executed.

Q. I have a USB printer that I want to share between two Macs. I do not currently have a network.

A. You could work with a USB-based “A/B” switch. Or if you ever implement a network, which would give your other capabilities such as file sharing, you could do so with a router device that has a USB printer port, or a USB print sharing device connected to your router or hub. The “A/B” switch is the simplest and least expensive method.

Bruce Preston is president of West Mountain Systems, a consultancy in Ridgefield, CT specializing in database applications. A DACS director, Bruce also leads the Access SIG. Members may send tech queries to Bruce at askdacs@dacs.org.