Tripredacus

Well something is rechecking it. It could be a network security program or antivirus, or something in scheduled tasks. I have heard that even malware can do this. I read maybe 3-4 different ways to get around it on this other site: https://www.daniweb.com/hardware-and-software/microsoft-windows/threads/15558/cant-turn-off-proxy-server-in-my-connections-setting

I agree. Someday I expect to move to Imgur myself, Photobucket gets annoying at times. Either way I see this concept in two ways: 1. Uploading tons of (mainly) 1 time use things to the forum only takes up server space and could make it slower. 2. Uploading images to an image host allows me to use images on other sites if need be. There have been times where I had used a picture here and months or years later I have found a reason to post it on another site too.

There are indeed 2 Desktop.inis. One is in your profile, one is in the public profile. Having them both appear indicates you have set to show hidden system files in Folder Options.

There is a topic in Site & Forum issues for this.

We'll have to wait for someone to take a look-see of your attachments. I just did a test and can attach a 500KB image and it works fine, so it is not a forum issue.

No one complained when I posted Project Shiva.

Is or has this PC been on a domain recently?

Use an external site like Photobucket or Imgur.

There are multiple ways to deal with this. - digging through the registry such as this (see answer) http://superuser.com/questions/762352/how-to-get-rid-of-an-extra-drive-in-my-computer-showing-up-with-question-mark - going into Safe Mode and use Device Manager (showing hidden devices) to remove all disks that are not the HDD, and USB devices and volumes. - possibly using NirSoft's USBDeview to remove non-present USB devices: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html Note any such work should be done without any USB key or disk connected. Also if you use the Nirsoft tool or Device Manager to take care not to remove USB keyboard or mouse if you have those... as then they stop working until a reset! These are my ideas, maybe others will have some ideas too.

OK my mistake. Mountvol shows help AND volumes, so I think you are fine. It shows that those 3 other drives are not actually present. So the error it gives you is being truthful. Can you re-run the mountvol command again, but this time with one of the USB drives plugged in?

A lot of new games are requiring a 64bit OS these days. If Minecraft is involved, I would stick with Windows 7 x64 for now, the edition you choose is up to you... Reason being is there are lots of problems with Windows 8/8.1 video drivers not having the correct WDM version. Basically, I say, take the newest game of the bunch: Skyrim. Here is the recommended requirements: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:System_Requirements Even that is a bit behind the times! So you don't want to lock into the old games recommendation as you will have to upgrade sooner. I'd say take a look-see what a newer game recommends and start there. For example see Call of Duty: Ghosts: http://www.ign.com/wikis/call-of-duty-ghosts/PC_System_Requirements I don't think you really need to get that recommended video card, as in, it might be a bit much. So get Win7 x64 (or do the research on the Win8/WDM/Minecraft issue), quad core CPU, 6-8GB+ RAM and a decent video card.

How long do you want it to last? I think this is a trivial thing. I mean, you can have an HDD last for 10 years or even more! Maybe one lasts for less. Moved from XP forum.

Your output appears to be the "help" message given on a syntax error. My two questions: 1. How long as this been happening? 2. What is the make and model of your USB drives?

Locked. Please use main thread as jaclaz points out.

It is in rule 2.a. I merged your posts as a courtesy. By all means, post your updates. I am not discouraging that at all.

I merged your posts. Edit your post rather than making a new reply to bump the topic.

I'm not certain you will be able to solve this with software alone. You can get internal enclosures that support removing, disconnecting or powering off hard disks but even this may not be enough. The SATA controller would also need to support this function. Some boards do support hot-swap on certain ports, or a backplane/controller may be needed. Without having that part taken care of, Windows may become unstable, throw an error or even lock up. What is the reason you want to be able to do this?

For a period of time... Windows Live Essentials was installed by OEMs on systems that had Office 2010 or the first Office 2013 version pre-installed. It isn't a paid product, so while it may have been installed on the computer when you bought it, it isn't a cost to either you or the OEM who sold the system.

Personally, I don't mind flat or square designs. Regarding Windows 8 UI changes, it should have been an option. Say in XP you could use Luna or use the old themes to make things flat or high contrast if you wanted.

USB debugging sounds interesting... Do you have a specific KB relating to that one?

Patience is wearing thin on posts from users constantly asking to be included in the closed beta and/or complaining about being excluded. See this post if you have any questions: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/163489-startisback-17/?p=1087985

Well it is one example. The one based on filename was around since at least XP and maybe even older. If you run a ProcMon session and then execute something, you can see where Windows checks the registry to see if the program is allowed to run or not. Its interesting as I've NEVER seen Windows reject an application based on those entries, except for when they are utilized by a virus. AppLocker (available in Ultimate and Enterprise SKUs since XP) has the ability to filter/block applications based on the more advanced methods you are thinking about. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee424357%28v=ws.10%29.aspx

I have not heard any evidence that online activation servers for XP have been disabled. Sometimes people have run into activation problems, but not at 100% to indicate it no longer works.

This is something I've run into when combating viruses. Some viruses will use the exclusion list to block antivirus applications from running or installing. The simple ones, at least, do this by adding a path and/or filename of the program into the registry. Sometimes these entries are protected and can only be seen using advanced or third-party registry editors/viewers. Funny enough, renaming the .exe allows the application to run. If you've ever used gmer, you'll notice if you download it, it downloads as a randomly generated filename. This behaviour started once viruses using the block list became more numerous. http://www.gmer.net/