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The uninstaller doesn't remove everything? Try that first. Otherwise, I have no idea how you can track down and remove everything (regkeys, files, etc.) it installed.

Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor with Hyper-Threading 3.6GHz @ 4.17GHz Generic DDR400 @ 533 2x 80mm fans + large aluminum heatsink (custom) Intel® Celeron® Processor 2.4GHz @ 3.2GHz - stock Intel cooler ^ This one's been making some strange sounds recently... and it's not the fans.

Are you sure your CPU is running at its normal speed, and that the cooling system is working properly? Is the hard drive making any unusual noises? Is its speed set to the fastest it supports (ATA66/100/133) in BIOS?

Is that just downloading their software and running it on your own machine, or are they reading and writing your disk sectors over the Internet? If it's the first, what's the point? Downloading the software and then running it at any time is much more convenient than having to always use internet connection... or you could just save their software as it was being downloaded If it's the second, I wouldn't trust some server far away over the Internet to be rearranging the sectors on my hard drive... especially if 'net connection cuts out halfway through the process!

I don't use firewall nor AV nor antispyware either, and I've had no problems for more than 5 years. I use IE 6.0, but I know how to configure its secure sites zone and internet zone to disable all the features that can be exploited. I'm just careful with what I download and run.

I ran Prime95 for 6 hours - CPU remained at ~60°C and showing no signs of instability, although the sound is now louder and instead of intermittently occurring as before it's now a continuous screeching. Following the priming session I ran BurnCPU for another 3 hours. Again, no instability. I even lowered the clock back down to 2.4GHz but it still made noise. Maybe my mobo is dying... it's screeching continuously in the background as I write this post, and it's now making that sound rather loudly and at idle too. I'll test it continuously for another few days to see what happens.

I'd recommend VMware. Make sure your system is powerful enough though... emulation is much slower than running directly on the hardware.

Unplug your webcam? Most secure way.

Just use an older version if it works fine like you said it did.

This is most interesting... What if you copy those problematic files to somewhere else on the internal hard drive - e.g. the root or some other folder? Are these files large? A filesystem corruption seems to be my current best guess.

It was the stock Intel 'sink, but I swapped it out with another one and it still makes the same sound. The capacitors next to the socket look normal, but one of them feels a bit warmer than the others. Could that be it?

No, they just run like this VB script.

What about copying those files to somewhere else and trying to open them there? The files might be malformed and just happened to exploit a vulnerability in Quicktime that made it crash.

Pure water? Everything should be fine once it dries out completely. Pure water doesn't leave behind any residue when it evaporates.

Two partitions are definitely going to be more difficult to recover than just one... but since you know the sizes it'll be much easier. Automated recovery programs like active partition recovery are just trying to get you to pay money for them... they're basically just a simple scanner program that searches every sector for the "boot sector" which marks the start of each partition. A free disk editor with a search feature can do exactly the same thing, and much more. You may find good disk editor by Googling, here's one of the first results: http://www.geocities.com/thestarman3/tool/de/PTS-DE.htmYou should also read about the structure of the MBR and the boot sector before attempting to use a disk editor.

It's the stock ones that are rather confusing to remove... Pull the two levers in the opposite direction to loosen the clamp. The clamp is still hooked to the mounting frame on the mobo. Pull the clamp outward one side at a time until it's free, then lift the clamp off along with the heatsink itself.

Tried again today. Now in addition to the squealing it's making a rapid fluttering noise like a trapped butterfly. The sound isn't coming from the PSU - it's a 580W so I doubt it'd be near its current limit. I disassembled the whole system so that all the components are sitting on the desktop, and tested. The sound seems to be coming from below the heatsink...Removed, cleaned, and reseated the heatsink with some new thermal compound, then tested again. Now it's not squealing or fluttering anymore, it's buzzing. I've inspected the mobo closely, there appears to be no damage to any components on it. All the case fans weren't on so it's not those either. The sound isn't coming from the PSU so its fans I suppose are fine. The CPU fan isn't the problem either - swapped it with one from another machine and tested, the sound still occurs. What could be beneath the heatsink that's causing this noise? The CPU itself?

...also on most laptops you have to slide the keyb assy. forward or backwards slightly to disengage the retaining clips before it will come out. An upward+forward or upward+backward motion should work. Just don't rip the ribbon cable connecting the keyb to the mobo. Edit: Found it~! Look http://irisvista.com/tech/laptops/ToshibaA...ve_keyboard.htm

Do you know what your proxy settings are? In the Control Panel, under the Internet Options -> Connection, you should be able to see the address and port of the proxy that's being used. In FlashGet, under Proxy configuration option select Add and choose HTTP GET as the proxy type, then enter the address and port in the appropriate editboxes. Choose OK, then make sure that proxy setting is selected as the HTTP default.

Does your system support powering off the monitor and other devices? Some older machines don't have this (ACPI?) support.

Boot to a command prompt and scandisk your boot drive. Some files might've been corrupted.

Possible driver problem? Does it work again if you put the HDD back in? Does the Command Prompt still work?

You need to have a formatted FAT32 partition to install 98se to. Be sure to save your existing C: bootsector as 98se install overwrite it. After installation, restore the bootsector to the original one and edit boot.ini to include an entry for booting from D:\, then reboot. You will have dual-boot system.

AutoRuns from Sysinternals and HiJackThis performs the same purpose...

If it's not in StartUp it'll be in one of the Run keys in the registry. HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices