Problems after installing NIS

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Hi Barbara,

 

Don't worry about the white free spaces during defragmentation. You may not always get all the blue areas compacted together - on subsequent defragmentations you may get things grouped closer. This can of course change from time to time as information is added or deleted from your hard drive.

 

Blue fonts generally represent compressed files.

 

Prefetch files are small pieces of program information that Windows uses to start programs faster.

 

Now, about the missing items, were they there before you installed NIS? It sounds like you have some type of infection.

 

 

Hi Phil_D, 

Everything was working and was being used prior to defrag, disk cleanup, installation of NIS, and the Norton Scan Now which didn't show any viruses or problems, zero file problems. 

 

 I lost the desktop icon for IE7 which should have the email program Outlook Express imbedded in it.  Now I can still click on my AT&T desktop icon (dialup) which when connected loads the IE7 program but, I can't click on the IE7 menu icon for mail, it won't open.  This is my major concern. This was a very long downloaded update especially with a dial-up connection.

 

I'm missing the calculator under the Start>Programs>Accessories, and the non-internet games, I guess I can probably reload them from the WinXP disk?right?

 

I'm wondering if the compression of the files eliminated some items.  Is it possible to de-compress files?  I really don't know how to read their names, I only know to look for .exe for application files.  I did try clicking on some of them but nothing happens or I get a window that tells it can't locate the program that created it and do I want to look on the internet?.

 

I've been trying to use Live Update but it cuts the connection after a long (very long) time.  I did discover the Windows Firewall was on my AT&T connection and turned it off.  It is still taking super long to try to update the CD I was sent.  I will probably wait until tonight to start it again.  Unfortunately, it doesn't tell me if something is wrong with the download process when it is happening or how much has been downloaded, or whether I have lost any of the previous download.  I believe that I should be able to pick up where the download left off.  I hope so anyway.

 

Thanks for you help,

 

Barbara 

Barbara,

 

Wow! I myself have not heard of NIS causing the problems you mentioned. In order to help I must ask a few questions to clarify things.

 

1) Since you mentioned Outlook Express can I assume you have Windows XP?  Which service pack if you know?

2) Can I assume that you installed NIS 2008?  And can I assume it was from a CD?

3) Did you get any error messages during the installation? Did you remove the CD from the drive after installation?

4) Prior to NIS, did you have any other security / antivirus programs installed?

5) In your first post you mentioned that you "went thru my PC and looked for 'stuff' to get rid of". What did you get rid of?

6) In your latest post what do you mean " It is still taking super long to try to update the CD I was sent" - you can't update a CD. Do you mean the NIS program?

 

Don't worry about the "blue" compressed files you may have seen on your CD; they are for installation only. Leave them alone.

 

Try to get back to me with these answers and I'll try to help - or even another forum member will. And until then, with all due respect, don't try opening .exe files or anything else that you do not clearly recognize.

 

Look forward to hearing from you.

Phil

 

Back in May I had my hard drive 'reformatted'.  Everything was removed and reinstalled with upgraded program.  That's why the Norton Scan Now probably didn't find anything.

 

1.  I have Windows XP with Service Pack 3 and Internet Explorer7 with Outlook Express for mail.

 

2.  I installed NIS 2008 from a CD which wanted me to check for updates immediately which I did until I decided after a couple of hours that I had waited long enough and I stopped the transmission so I could complete the NIS installation, which I did.  I ran the 'Scan Now' which revealed no corrupt files, infections, or viruses.  This is when I noticed desktop shortcut icons for Internet Explorer

  7,  and some Windows card games were missing. I haven't been able to find the program's file that will let me put a shortcut on the desktop. I've looked at and tried the iexplore.exe files and looked for the icon in the program's file, but no luck finding it.

 

3.  No error messages during installation and I did remove the CD and put it away.

 

4.  The only security/antivirus is whatever comes with Windows XP SP3.  I don't believe there is any virus protection, just a firewall, and IE7 has a 'phishing' filter.  Otherwise I have a Popup Blocker with IE7.

 

5.  Okay - I went to Disk Cleanup>More Options>Window Components - I looked at some Accessories but didn't understand whether to check or uncheck so I didn't do anything there.  I looked at Games and I do remember checking or unchecking on all the internet games because we don't use them.  They are the ones that stayed on the Start>Programs>Games so whatever I did there was the opposite of what I wanted.  The windows says 'to ADD or REMOVE a component, click the check box - how do I know if it's going to be added or removed?  That's what I wasn't sure I understood. I KNOW I wouldn't have checked Outlook Express.  I remember checking MSN Explorer.

 

6.  Yes, I am trying to update the program. After installing NIS from the CD I have been attempting to use Live Update.  I believe Windows Firewall was interferring with my first two attempts.  The third time was taking 5-6 hours of Downloading when I finally terminated the connection.  I'll probably let it run all night tonight depending on the weather, Tropical Storm Fay is dwindling as it passes thru here.

 

Thanks Phil

 

Barbara

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.  When I looked at Disk Cleanup, I looked at  

 

 

Thanks for the updated info.

 

I'm surprised that you have been running since May without any antivirus or security program and claim you have not been infected. Of course if your computer did pick up something during that time, it could cause problems with the NIS installation; especially since you were not able to get the updates during the installation process.

 

Now I understand how deep a disk cleanup was performed if you went into the Windows Components tabs - not generally recommended.

 

There are a few possibilities:

 

1) My GUESS is that you may have mistakenly deleted some Windows Components since you mentioned some desktop shortcuts don't work and that you are missing some start menu items.  Can you confirm that you cannot find an Outlook Express entry in "Start" > "All Programs" list? Or is it just the button to open from within IE7?

 

First check to see if the program folder is still intact. Go to "My Computer" > "Local Disk C" > "Program Files".  Look for an Outlook Express folder. Do not open it, just hover the cursor over it to be sure it is not empty. Outlook Express should be a minimum of 4.12MB (I don't use it so my number here may be low). Let us know if this folder is still in place.

 

2) There is a possibility that making changes in "Windows Components" fouled up some application paths.

 

3) There is a possibility that you do have an infection on your computer (I've seen some that wipe items from the start menu).

 

Check the version of NIS 2008 that you are running. Open the main Norton Security Window. In the upper right corner click help and support. Then click "About" (don't worry if you see a message about checking connectivity). In the next window, click the Norton Internet Security tab. The version number will be at the top - the latest version number is 15.5.0.23.

 

Good luck with the overnight updates and try to stay dry!

 

PS: If you were able to successfully download the updates, be sure to run a full NIS scan of your computer as soon as possible.

Message Edited by Phil_D on 08-24-2008 12:38 AM

Phil,

 

Thanks for the help.  I went back to Disk Cleanup>Windows Components and 'checked' the items I want active on the PC.  I believe that is where I went wrong.  So from now on I should maybe do a Disk Cleanup every 6 months instead of every month.  Everything seems to be working fine now.  Live Update downloaded and processed the updates.  So now I just wait and monitor how things are running. 

 

I wanted to get NIS up and running properly before I subscribe to DSL since the PC will always be 'online'.  I have to see if I can find a program with a 'Connect to' and 'Disconnect' button so I'm not constanting 'online'.

 

Thanks for your time and responses.  It helped me walk-through the process and find my errors.

 

Barbara 

Barbara,

 

I'm glad to hear that you had success!

 

You can do a disk cleanup on a regular basis; as a matter of fact it's recommended. However, it is not recommended to go into "Windows Components" - unless you need to uninstall components. Those items are not going to change or build up any "junk".

 

I clean my hard drive on a weekly basis.  You can use what ever schedule you want - just stay on the first "page" of Disk Cleanup. That is all you really need.

 

Why look for a program to connect and disconnect you? As long as the Norton Firewall is in place, you have very good protection. Remember, NIS and Windows updates will want to look for periodic updates; if you are disconnected they will not come through until you reconnect  - and that's probably when you want to do something on your computer.