Lolaptop

delta k · #1 06-27-2007, 07:11 PM

This is my last post of the day, don't worry.

I turned on my laptop that's a couple years old. I hadn't turned it on in 4 months (is this bad?) and I can't run or open anything, I keep getting the message that the windows run32.dll is misplaced (for everything I'm trying to run).

Why would this be? What is going on? Can I do anything about it? it's not a great computer and I'm sort of in the market for a new one, me thinks. Just curious.

thanks

funkyworms · #2 06-27-2007, 08:05 PM

I'm assuming we can ignore this since you are going to reformat?

delta k · #3 06-27-2007, 09:52 PM

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I'm assuming we can ignore this since you are going to reformat?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm reformating my desktop and am going to use that for poker only. I decided I'd use my laptop for daily use stuff but hadn't used it in about 5 months, since I got the desktop basically. Now it turns on, goes to my desktop and looks normal but doesn't run anything for the reasons I stated above.

funkyworms · #4 06-27-2007, 10:03 PM

This link has some possible fixes. My advice is to reformat your laptop as well.

delta k · #5 06-27-2007, 10:15 PM

Son of a bitch, wtf am I doing wrong? I'm running zone alarm, AVG, ad aware and spybot and still getting crushed.

funkyworms · #6 06-27-2007, 10:27 PM

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Son of a bitch, wtf am I doing wrong? I'm running zone alarm, AVG, ad aware and spybot and still getting crushed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Try shutting your computer down properly instead of just yanking the battery out.

And learn how to run your computer as a least privileged user. This goes for the lot of you!

delta k · #7 06-27-2007, 10:31 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Son of a bitch, wtf am I doing wrong? I'm running zone alarm, AVG, ad aware and spybot and still getting crushed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Try shutting your computer down properly instead of just yanking the battery out.

And learn how to run your computer as a least privileged user. This goes for the lot of you!

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow, this doesn't bode well for me...I have no idea what a privileged user is (lol).

Anyway, the laptop is pretty old, it's a Pentium (R) 4 w. 1.9GHz and only 512 MB of RAM. Is a system like that worth using even just for simple things or is it so old it's pointless to invest time into it?

funkyworms · #8 06-27-2007, 11:22 PM

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Wow, this doesn't bode well for me...I have no idea what a privileged user is (lol).

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't worry. A lot of people don't understand this concept. Operating systems have permissions schemes built in that grant certain users rights to the filesystem. Have you ever made multiple accounts on Windows? If so, you'll know that there is something called Administrator accounts. Administrators can do anything on a computer. They can install programs, access kernel, edit the registry, delete any file they choose. Probably 99% of all Windows users run their computers as Administrators. They do so because it is easy. That convenience comes at the price of security. That trojan in BBV is a perfect example of why you should NOT be running your computer as Admin.

The opposite of Admins are accounts with Least User Access (LUA), sometimes called Least Privileged Users or simply Users. These accounts can't do much on a system, but they are perfectly adequate for surfing the web, checking email, and running poker clients. Running with LUA protects you from 99% of the malware on the net today. I'm not the first one to say this, but you are more protected running with LUA with absolutely no anti-virus, anti-spyware, or firewall than you are running as Admin with all 3. I wouldn't recommend doing either.

[ QUOTE ]

Anyway, the laptop is pretty old, it's a Pentium (R) 4 w. 1.9GHz and only 512 MB of RAM. Is a system like that worth using even just for simple things or is it so old it's pointless to invest time into it?

[/ QUOTE ]

That laptop is fine. It will run like a dream once you reformat. You could spend 50 bucks and bump up 1gb more RAM, but that's all you need.

delta k · #9 06-27-2007, 11:31 PM

Wow funky, I'm really appreciative of all your help there and that's something I'm going to look into. But basically, if I'm reading this corretly, I install all my programs as an administrator and that gives me access to them when I log in as a LUA but I'll be unable to make any changes to them (or download/install/change)? That's really incredible.

Thanks

funkyworms · #10 06-27-2007, 11:38 PM

Technically you'll be able to download pictures, videos, and media files just fine. You can even download .exe or .msi files as a User, but you won't be able to run the Windows installer to install them. Full Tilt works fine when run as a User.

I've tried to explain this to people on the forum before but it usually falls on deaf ears. So now I save my breath.

Here is an article at Microsoft that tells you what you can expect and how to run your box with LUA.