Terry's Computer Tips - Newsletter
December 17, 2006

Volume 2, Number 27 — Sunday, December 17, 2006

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

3.  Dirty Drive

Reader Sean Allan wrote recently to ask about a Windows problem he was having:

My dell computer dame preloaded with Norton Ghost and has a D: (backup) drive.

Now when I boot my computer, I get a D: drive is dirty and it scans some things then boots like normal.

I have tried deleting the Norton Ghost program, deleting all files in the D: drive (all previous back-ups, etc). When I try to reformat the D: drive it says that I can not because there are programs or files using this drive (although 100% of the memory is available).

Any thoughts on how to fix this.

BTW, my explorer occasionally freezes now as well. I'm not sure if this is related.

Thanks, Sean

I wrote back to Sean with the following tips...

Norton Ghost ought to be able to be uninstalled from the Add or Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.

If NG is the problem -- the reason that you can't reformat D: -- you can handle it that way.

You can also go into the Windows Services control dialog box (the easiest way is Start, Run, services.msc ). Then, find Norton Ghost and change it from automatic start or manual start (which is really an "automatic if requested by something else" setting) to "disabled."

Reboot, and then see if that solved the problem.

You might also want to look into the following:

1. make sure that "My Documents" is on C: -- that's changeable by the user
2. make sure that the Windows swap file is on C:. If D: is actually a different physical hard drive, the swap file will work faster if you put it on the drive other than the Windows drive. But, then it will also (and properly) prevent you from formatting D: from within Windows.

Finally, download XP Repair Pro 2006 and see what it finds. Be sure to read my review (under Computer Tips, Software Reviews, XP Repair Pro 2006).

If you like the free scan, you can either repair items using other tools or register XP Repair Pro 2006 to have it do the Registry repairs for you.

If you let it XP Repair Pro "fix" something that shouldn't have been fixed, correcting the problem is easy. XP Repair Pro only makes Windows Registry changes -- it does not install software files. Just use the Restore Point.

XP Repair Pro creates a Restore Point before it makes changes to the Windows Registry. It also has a much nicer interface for finding Restore Points than Windows XP does.

XP Repair Pro 2006
Find and fix Windows Registry errors
Download and scan for free
Read my review


XP Privacy Pro
Erase your Windows and Internet History Files
And, it works with Firefox and Opera, too!
Download and scan for free
Read my review

4.  WalkThru - The Windows XP Security Center

Windows XP added a significant feature that wasn't part of earlier versions of Windows — the Windows Security Center.

In this one place, easily accessible from the Control Panel, we can see that Windows XP monitors the status of our firewall and anti-virus software. We can also change our Automatic Updates settings via the Security Center.

If Windows XP takes exception to any of these settings or the status of these programs, the normally-green labels "On" status will change to a yellow warning "Check Settings" or a red "Off" status. In other words, we get visual clues by color as well as the words shown.

As you can see from the next image, Windows doesn't like my setting for Automatic Updates on this machine. I want to have control of when updates are installed. Therefore, I picked the Automatic Updates setting that notifies me that there are updates to be downloaded and installed.

As you can see in the previous image, Windows XP knows about various firewall programs and anti-virus programs (actually, the firewall and anti-virus program writers modified them to inform Windows XP that they exist and provide a method for Windows XP to confirm that they are working). Windows XP monitors continuously to make sure that these programs are running.

If the firewall program stops or the anti-virus program stops, Windows XP will display a balloon message from the Windows Status Bar to advise that the computer might be at risk. This message actually idenfifies the firewall program or anti-virus program that has been stopped. Of course, if you haven't installed an anti-virus, it will warn you that there is not an anti-virus program.

At the bottom of the Security Center are links to the settings for Automatic Updates, Internet Options (this is the same one you can access via other means) and Windows Firewall.

In the Automatic Updates settings dialog box below, you have the ability to control Windows XP's handling of automatic updates. If you want, you can turn automatic updates completely off. You can also choose to download updates automatically and then inform you before installation. You can choose to be informed that there are updates available (this is the minimum setting that I recommend for anyone -- never choose Off!). You can also choose to automatically download and install updates (most users should choose this option).

Windows XP came with a firewall — a one-way firewall that only monitors attempts of other computers to connect to yours — but this was a major improvement over earlier versions of Windows. Unfortunately, Windows XP was had the firewall turned Off by default.

As of Service Pack 1, the firewall default was On, which began to protect many Internet users. Many people still use the Windows Firewall because they don't know any better. Fortunately, since you read my newsletters and articles, you know that you need a two-way firewall — one that protects against connection attempts from the outside, and also controls which programs on your computer can talk to the Internet. Norton's, McAfee's, Panda's, Zone Alarm's and other commercial firewalls, including the Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall that I use, are two-way firewalls that control both inbound and outbound communications from your computer.

Unless you have another firewall that you have installed, do not even consider turning off the Windows Firewall. If you do have another firewall that you have installed, you should turn off the Windows Firewall. Running two firewalls is a great way to prevent your home network from working properly <grin>.

I have the Windows Firewall turned off because I use the Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall. Again, you should only run one firewall program. Just as I wrote that you should turn off the Windows Firewall if you install another firewall, you should turn off any other firewall if you install another one. Choose any one, but only run one firewall program.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Volume 2, Number 27 — Sunday, December 17, 2006

Copyright © 2006 Terry A. Stockdale.  All rights reserved.