phazz

Yes, i have to smile about this, as it appears everything is against me. My copy of Win XP Home is OEM too, but has SP2 included, however I suspect the version on the unit is prior to SP2, as there is a entry for SP2 in the 'add and remove programs' tab. Six months ago I found the Unattended install site, associated with this site, that you linked to, and had meant to read more into the topic and have ago, but never got around to it, perhaps I should start again. I do remember that the guide mentions that testing using Virtual machine is possible, so I could try to create a CD from mine and try it out with VM, but it dosn't sound like a strong candidate for success and not something I'm going to be rushing into without some reading up first. So for the short term, I think i'll explore the BartPE option and try and clean the machine as best as possible! Gotta feeling I need to do a bit of registry research aswell first before I delete something i don't really want to be deleting! Many Thanks for the Help phazz

Hi, Once again, thanks for your replies, however i fear they may be in vain. Unfortunatly the only I386 folders on the pc are within the C:\windows\driver cache and C:\windows\ServicePackFiles folders, not in the root, or windows folders. I googled this topic and read through a couple of articles that basically went through the process that you (InTheWayBoy) patiently outlined for me. They do suggest that the relevent I386 folders contain the important file winnt32.exe, which is totally absent too. I'm not sure about the build (dell, hp etc. or home build) of the pc but the windows CD key sticker says the version of Windows is XP Home OEM I'm not sure if this suggestion is possible, or if we're allowed to mention, but can i use my own Win XP Home CD to extract a I386 folder or relevent files to create a CD that would be usable with the CD key on the pc, or does this constitute some form of pirate-ing! Please ignore if thats the case. Alternatively, going back to your first post, I haven't had a chance to explore the BartsPE page too much yet, but i presume I could use my own Win XP Home CD to create a BartPE CD to access and possibly delete some of the folders/spyware on the pc. Perhaps i'll tell my mate he won't be getting his pc back for a couple of weeks!

InTheWayBoy Many thanks for your prompt and detailed response How true! Having dedicated the best of a weekend and more to this machine, and despite achieving a vast improvement in performance, I know that there is still ad/spyware installed on the machine. Not just from the programs that I recognise as adware supported programs with entries in 'add and remove programs' (those that error when uninstall is attempted), but also from software in the 'program files' folder which appear to have no uninstall utillities. The spyware removal programs (Lavasoft Ad-Aware, Search and Destroy) are not picking these up, however experience has taught me that these programs need to be run from each user account to be thorough, so if the rogue programs were installed by the defunct users, which can't be accessed, then inevitably there will be spyware remaining, which makes my prior efforts immaterial!Unfortunatly, the user account folders can not be deleted, and this is Win XP Home, however perhaps you offer a ray of hope, I do have the CD key 'on a sticker somewhere on the unit' and there are I386 folders in the Windows/driver cache and Windows/ServicePackFiles folders (SP2 has been installed). I wasn't aware this was possible, could you elaborate further, either with a link, or if there's a name for this process I can use as a start for some research, would be very helpfull Thanks also for the BartPE link phazz

Hi, hope someone might be able to help out. In a rash moment, i agreed to have look at a friends pc (AMD Duron 1300mhz, 128mb ram, Pcchips m/b with onboard vga hogging 8mb of the memory, running Win XP home!!). I took the pc home to deal with, after initial spyware checks found over 2500 infections! (6 months of 2 teenage offspring using a broadband connection with no firewall or a/v!). Unfortunatly, no Windows disk to re-install with, nothing so easy! Got the machine runnin a bit better - program removal, spyware and a/v scans and some simple registry cleaning using jv power tools. My problem lies with a selection of programs that don't uninstall due to missing files, and i think this stems from the programs being originally installed from user accounts that don't exist anymore. I could be totally wrong here, quite a few of the programs that won't uninstall are asking for missing install logs or dat files, leading me to my above mentioned prognosis, however a few of the errors quote '16 bit windows subsystem' 'not suitable for running MS-DOS and Windows applications' leaving me wondering if this XP installation was a crude upgrade! I decided cleaning up some of these unused accounts might help system performance but your observations or suggestions would be appreciated. From the XP log on screen, there are 2 user accounts (both admistrator), but in the Documents and Settings folder of the system drive, there are 10 accounts (Administrator, All Users, Default User and 7x user named accounts). I'm presuming that the problem ones are the 5 unused user named accounts. Can anyone point me to the right way to get rid of these accounts and their registry entries, as they are not removable from the control panel/user accounts or system properties/advanced/user profiles tab, and just deleting the folders fails also. Sorry if i'm missing something obvious, but I'm not that upto date with XP! thanks, phazz