Please Help.... Vista is NOT Vista, Please Read...

[Netlace]

I need help. I have re-installed the OS 4x to try to get rid of whatever is on this computer. All of the operations were successful until the first reboot or first startup. I am very familiar with vista and one of the first things I always do is go to services and disable things I dont want running. This is where I first noticed the problem. Right after a re-install the services are Vista as I am familiar with. When I return to Services it is not Vista. There is at least 3x the services running. Another strange thing is my daughters laptop running W7 (or suppose to be) has the EXACT services and registry. We had a 3rd laptop in this house (till my husband spilled his cereal in it) which was the exact same model as this one and it too had the same services and registry. How can a alternate OS be on these laptops. It is totally in control and really big on sharing, PTP, Virtualization, Etc... The registry is the same on all of them, IDENTICLE! I am not sure what W7 looks like other than my daughters laptop but wonder if that is what it is. I am not sure what anyone can do to help me but please try to help. I want my privacy back. Is there a way to list the services on this laptop to show you how extensive it is? Another strange thing is the only way to disconnect the wifi is to unplug the router. If you use the wifi button on the laptops it appears to be disconnected but it isn't really. The laptops are running hot and the only cool down is to unplug the router. We have had days where the laptops could not connect to the internet but during those days the laptops had tons of updates, even with updates turned off. This is madness...

 

[richc46]

Do a clean install, That will remove everything except for the new OS
If you do not have an install CD use this one.
Be sure you have a valid key number.
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/3...-create-installation-dvd-usb.html#post1394528
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/117366-clean-install-full-version-vista.html
If you are having problems now, after an install, to me it means you left remnanats of problems from the prior install.

 

[Netlace]

Thanks for the information. I have done 4 clean installs using the only disk I have which is dell re-install cd. The install goes perfect. It then switches to what looks like a windows 7 OS, after the first boot. I saved all our pictures from the other W7 laptop today and installed it back to the factory new state and it has logged the changes and still has the original issue. If I download the Vista to a flash drive should it be done by a different computer? Or can I use this laptop.

 

[richc46]

Burn a CD that is available in my first post and try with that one. Be sure that you have the correct key. I do not see how using my CD will cause the same problem.

 

[Netlace]

Thanks, I will attempt this. Is there a way to msg you?

 

[richc46]

You can message me with such things as thanks, etc, but all questions and concerns about the problem, should be in the Forum. In this way many can be helped.
I just realized that you are new to the Forum, so you do not have mgs capabilities yet.

 

[Netlace]

I found a problem. Whatever I have is logging everything. Here is just a few lines of the install. S E Q C o n t r o l  M o d u l e L o a d e r  I n i t i a l i z a t i o n  S c e n a r i o D e t e c t ( S e t u p D e t e c t S c e n a r i o  E n g i n e  S e t u p P h a s e D o n e * R o l l b a c k C l e a n I n s t a l l  C a n c e l S e t u p , I n s p e c t C o m m a n d L i n e A r g  E r r o r  S e t u p S h o w U I  R e s t a r t S e t u p  P r o d u c t K e y  T r a n s f e r I m a g e  W d s C l i e n t  P l u g A n d P l a y  U n a t t e n d  U n a t t e n d P a s s ( P r e p a r e I n s t a l l D r i v e  I n s t a l l D r i v e  C o n f i g u r e D i s k s  T e m p D r i v e  P i c k T e m p D r i v e  C l e a n u p  C o p y S e t u p F i l e s  B o o t P r e p  B o o t P r e p a r e " D r i v e I n f o r m a t i o n  U s e r S e t t i n g s  B o o t I n i  M o d i f y B o o t I n i  C o p y P r i v a t e s $ E v e n t C o p y P r i v a t e s $ W r i t e O f f l i n e H i v e s  C o m p u t e r N a m e  L i c e n s e E U L A D i s k I n f o r m a t i o n  M i g L o a d e r  F i x B B P a t h s  C r e a t e P a g e F i l e  P a g e F i l e  I m a g i n g  S o u r c e M e d i a  I m g S e l  C o m p l e t i o n O f f l i n e S e t t i n g s  M o u n t D e v  C m i  M S D C l e a n u p " F i r s t B o o t C l e a n u p  S y s t e m R e s t o r e E x t e r n a l D r i v e r s  C B S  S k u A s s e m b l y  L a n g u a g e P a c k & U n a t t e n d I m g I n s t a l l > I m a g e I n s t a l l R e s o l v e D i s k P a r t I d s C F G O f f l i n e I m a g e , C o n f i g u r e O f f l i n e I m a g e  C o m p l i a n c e C o m p l i a n c e C h e c k  R o l l b a c k  L o c a l e " R e g i o n a l S e t t i n g s  D y n a m i c U p d a t e U p g C o m p a t R e p o r t " R e g i s t e r P r o g r e s s  T i m e E s t i m a t e  W p e U n t n d B t s t r p 4 B o o t s t r a p U n a t t e n d S e t t i n g s " P a r s e C o m m a n d L i n e  W i n P E U I ( S o u r c e m e d i a m o d u l e  D i s k S p a c e  W i n P E U p g L o a d e r  S y s p r e p E v e n t s  D i a g n o s t i c s

This problem is bigger than I can explain. I know Vista, this is showing W7 on my Vista laptop. How can I do a clean install if something is over-writing it? I was hoping to not put this on here but I am sure it is NSA and AT&T is assisting it. They have the wrong person. I want my privacy back. Can anyone remotely look at my laptop and help me? I am disabled in bed with Heart Failure, I am not a terrorist. If someone could see what I have going on this laptop (ALL laptops in this house), they would be amazed at this. I have been bedbound for years and I know my computer, this is not it! I promise I am sane. There are many logs if you want to see more.

 

[Ex_Brit]

First of all an operating system can't morph into another one without a great deal of human intervention, but you may see similar registry items and services, because those are common to all Windows systems. If you are seeing strange behaviour in your system I would have to ask if your machine is password-protected, how are you connected to the Internet & is that connection secure, are you in a non-secure network (with the rest of the family for instance) which would allow another computer access to your machine? It sounds very much like someone is in control of your computer and it isn't you.

Can you boot into Safe Mode by tapping F8 repeatedly while booting up, and then initiate System Restore and go back to before all this started?

Lastly, please post some details of your machine so we have something to go on. Right-click Computer on your desktop or in your Start Menu and select Properties. It should tell you that you are running Windows Vista Service Pack 2, does it?
I would also like to know which version of Internet Explorer is installed (whether or not you use it) - open it and go to Help/About and post that information.

 

[circe801]

got here looking for some kind of answers to my problems...
an odd problem he has, no doubt. if he has remote access disabled, could it still occur with an unsecured internet connection?
and i noticed something odd in what he posted last--in that logged info. i saw something about 'computer name', and wonder if the first problem with my computer could have anything to do with same--a few years ago, my vista machine, upon starting, a UAC popup comes up asking for permission--'system properties', computer name. i always hit 'cancel', and it always comes up. computer will not function until i respond. i've asked in several forums, but no one seems to have any ideas. and, some UAC popups come up in vista style, some in xp style--unless i'm mistaken. some are clearly the vista style i'm accustomed to (small, blue box), but some are that big, yellow-looking one with 'cancel' and 'allow' one atop the other.
now, it is shutting down during memtest and checkdisk sticks at 95% complete--right at the end of stage 5. now, i'm pretty sure my hd is crapping out because of these, but the startup check memory check shows 'ok' and the startup check hd test shows 'ok', though either the long- or short-test for the hd says 'failure'. i can and do use the machine--mostly everything works fine or close to fine.
below are my specs, if that makes any difference.
any ideas? thanks in advance for ANYTHING at all you all might have to offer...

 

[Ex_Brit]

I would run some independant tests for malware if I were you. Malwarebytes Free for starters but you might want to run Hijackthis and post its log on a specialist forum for specialized help:

Here's a help file I posted over at the McAfee forums with some links (scroll down to see all)

https://community.mcafee.com/docs/DOC-2168

 

[wither 3]

Netlace- since Win 7 is 60% Vista, it's not surprising there are similarities in what you see.

If you want to see what OS is installed, open Control Panel, System.

 

[Netlace]

Ex Brit, I am going to respond to your question in a bit. I keep going in and out of internet access so I will write it offline tonight and post. Thankyou... And your correct about the human intervention.. That's the part I wish was not true..

 

[Netlace]

well, my husband had grabbed the laptop and took it to someone who does this for a living, to have him wipe the laptop and install vista. I called him to tell him it will not wipe the drives for a clean install. I received it back on the evening of the 28th. I did not even bother with it till the next day so I could unplug the router when I turned it on. My daughter needed the wifi, so I waited. So brit this is why I never got back with you. I paid this person good money to recieve it back in worse condition than it left. It looked more like vista but was W7 in the registry and services. I had no admin rights, NONE.... couldnt even open msconfig, or any program. I went to the logs and sure enough, same story. I went to event viewer and there was about 90,000 errors and information events. The timing of the errors started the minute it went through his doors. The wireless grabbed hold of his router and started the usual non-stop events. I also found 7 events for the evening I received it back, and I never even turned it on. I have saved some of these events to a flash drive if anyone wants to see them. He gave me a disk Acronis? or something like that and Tonight I used it to view the partitions and there were four. One was fat16, with 78.41mb, one was called disk 1, with 74.53gb, one was C: with 74.45gb, and one more unallocated with 1.086mb. I used the Acronis disk he gave me to delete all 4 partitions, but It must not have really worked. I then used my dell disk to try the install, it would not let me format so I tried it again after a shut down. I was then able to format, it used 3gb to do that. I then hit next and it said something about the MBR? I then re-started it again and went into command prompt and attempted to format C: but it could not dismount what ever was still running, it was called 76317M. I then put the acronis disk back in and found the partition that had the 74.53gb and It is trying to delete it now. I really don't know what to do. I can't go into the bios to disable the wireless because, even though we purchased this new from dell, my daughter or a hacker has made a password. She doesn't remember doing it. Both of these computers have Phoenix Bios and I wonder if it is wrote to the bios. I am going to try the download given to me here to see if it can help. I really need help. How can these computers have identical issues. One of the things I know are common between the two computers is mountpointmgr and several drivers ending in mgr. TCPIP plays a role too, and we use PPPOE. I can run things sometimes if I open it quickly after boot so if anyone knows of a way to show something that can help, please let me know. I also notices a Korean Desktop something on the vista before I lost my rights. Please help.. One more thing, I reinstalled my daughter W7 Dell mini 1012 using the built in recovery. It also has the same thing in the logs about cancel clean install.... I can show both of these logs if needed.

 

[Ex_Brit]

Well I simply wouldn't let your husband use this person again if that's the case. But I still don't understand how you are seeing Windows 7 in a Vista machine. There is only one place to check what OS is installed and that is by right-clicking the Computer icon on the desktop or in the Start Menu and selecting Properties. It tells you in plain language what the system is and that's what it is. That said, all operating systems by Microsoft have almost identical file structures so look the same underneath but cosmetically and technologically they all change & the younger they get the more sophisticated they become.

I don't understand this statement: "I called him to tell him it will not wipe the drives for a clean install"... what will not wipe the drives?

 

[Netlace]

Perhaps I worded it wrong. It is not possible to do a clean install. Something is not allowing it. I have tried 3 times using the Acronis disk he gave me to uninstall the OS. Now when I try to install from my Dell disk it will not do it. I find it odd that if the battery is in the laptop, it trys to boot to floppy. If I take it out it will boot to the cd/dvd. The MBR is corrupt but I don't understand what that is anyways. There are hidden partitions (I believe) on the laptop but how can I wipe them out? Can I wipe them from a X: command prompt? I am now to a point where I need to install a OS. Any help? And before I tried to wipe the harddrive, it did say the OS was VistaT, whatever that is! I think I need to remove the wireless from it to stand a chance of getting a install. Looking at the logs to my router portal it is still working away. Does having two processors have anything to do with partitions? And regarding the Vista/Windows 7, I am not familier with W7 other than the other corrupt laptop we have. It is suppose to be W7, but it is identicle to the Vista one. Before the takover on the Vista, I only had sp1 installed and I am very familier with it and its services and the registry. The services matched other online sites for tweaking and what could be disabled. The services now have three times the services running. Most about remote, Peer to peer and such. Everything is sharing. Oh, I no longer trust "trusted installer"!
I can

 

[Netlace]

When I go to try to install chrome I get this...

 

[Ex_Brit]

You could organize, format or whatever, the laptop by connecting it via USB with a PC and simply accessing it as you would do with an external drive.

As far as the MBR being messed up that means the boot sector is shot. You might be able to fix that and get rid of it asking for the floppy, by accessing the BIOS and altering the boot devices and the order they boot in.
Does it have a CD/DVD drive and can you get a system installation disk from Dell? That should be the first boot device, not the floppy.

On a Dell machine I'm not totally sure how to do that, you would have to ask Dell but often it is by tapping F1 repeatedly while booting up, either that or the Del button.

Either way, from what you have been telling me, I think it would be wise if you took it yourself to a reputable computer repair shop. There seems to be so many problems that I doubt we'd ever get far posting back and forth here in the forums.

 

[Netlace]

Can't access the Bios, password protected. We bought this new from dell in 07, it was my daughters. She does not recall setting a password. Anyway we can't access it. Would a new harddrive solve the mbr issue?

 

[Ex_Brit]

You could try taking the CMOS battery (it powers the system clock even if the main battery is dead or removed) out for a few minutes, if you can access it, buried somewhere in the motherboard. That would reset the BIOS back to factory and hopefully remove the password requirement. If you replaced the hard drive then it would be a clean slate, but you'd need to reinstall your system from something. I would assume that all you have now is the recovery partition on the current hard drive is that correct? However, this is all guesswork as I can't be sure of any of it.

 

[Netlace]

Recovery partition is long gone, Oh how I wish it was not. A person helping me 2 years ago on smokies forum suggested it. I may try that. I am thinking of getting a harddrive. If I remove it and boot up what should it boot to.? I am not on the vista right now because I am still trying to get a os on it but I remember something that was common to both that I don't recall being there before. It had Windows server 2008 R2, after the Vista. I just looked that up and that is a costly program that is not standard on either Vista or W7. There is hundreds of errors for updates stating it is not applicable to my system.. Could someone have put that under a partition or something? Would it help them hack or get control? When either one of these laptops are booted it is OBVIOUS it changes screens right after you login. On the Vista I have the reinstall disk and I am sure it has been added to. I had it in a while back and it changed from 78,... to 83,... mbs? or whatever it was in size. On the W7 it has the recovery but it too is corrupt it seems. I am on the W7 researching and I was looking at the dell folders and there are some that have odd things. One is Dell DDS and a search tells me it is not for W7.