Searched posts. Didn't find my problem. Hoping someone can help. I'm reasonably computer literate, but by no means an expert. First, a little history... Bought this computer from Dell as a "New in Box" unit in summer, 2006. It was getting a bit slow recently and I was looking into possibly cleaning up the registry. My daughter's friend was using the computer Saturday night, 10/27. I went to get on Sunday and got an XP window telling me I had a "dirty volume". I was told her friend was knowledgeable about Windows Systems and used to be a phone help tech, so I let him try to figure out and fix what was wrong and left the house to run errands. I came home to find that he took the hard drive from an old computer, put XP Home on it, and "downloaded some programs for it". I went on, for the first time, on Tuesday morning, 10/30. First, I got an error screen during bootup stating it is only running on 256K memory and I have to hit F1 to continue loading or F2 to go to setup. Hitting F1 got XP started, but I have to cancel the disk scanning screen before it starts or it only gets 1% into it and hangs. (And these problems still remain.) Anyway, I open Firefox and realize that there is no antivirus installed. I get AVGFree loaded, run it, and find out that there are 24,000+ (yes, THOUSAND!) hidden DVD, TV and CD rips, all infected with various Trojans and Worms! I managed to track down the folder (cleverly hidden in Fonts) and delete it, then delete Limewire Pro (also infected) and one or two other programs that he "got for us". I also found and deleted fake ID templates. Needless to say, I'm pissed. I cleaned everything out, but had some difficulty removing WinTouch, which I finally managed to do this past weekend (11/4). Now, for my problem (thanks for hanging in there): I still have the "dirty volume" issue and am wondering if there is any way to repair the XP file on the slave drive, hopefully without losing my files and settings. I don't have the XP disk for the original Dell installation (and the key, I think), and I also have Word 2003 (Part of the Dell install. No disk for it and currently unusable). I'd appreciate any help someone could give me to fix this problem so I can get back to where I was a couple of weeks ago. Also, if anyone can recommend a free, but reliable, registry cleaner and/or tune-up program, it would be appreciated. TIA for your help. I'll check back by tomorrow morning. Bill Sometimes, I just wanna kick myself for trusting people.

google for advanced windows care. free download. its the best one button fix for all of the computer

Just remembered. I actually have 1G RAM and don't know why I'm only running on 256K. Any thoughts there are also welcome. Thanks again. Bill Sometimes, I just wanna kick myself for trusting people.

For the RAM I would question your daughter's friend to find out what else she/he did beside swapping the HD & RAM. i_Xp/VistaUser

I agree with XPUser. Your daughters "friend" appears to be no friend at all. The friend probably swapped out your RAM with a 256MB stick. God only knows what else he/ she did. I would recommend you recover your personal files and then wipe the drive and re-install. For all you know this person may have even installed something like a keylogger. I personally wouldn't trust the Windows install anymore. Hopefully, you have learned a lesson about who to allow on your computer. While you are at it I would question your daughter about this behavior. I would guess your daughter was aware of at least some of what was done. If you can't find another way in to Windows you may want to try using Knoppix. Knoppix is a Live verion of Linux that installs to and runs from a bootable CD. Knoppix should be able to find and copy your files to whatever media is available. Google for Knoppix. Be aware it is a 700MB download.

One of two things happened here: 1. your pc was hacked 2. your daughters friend was using your pc to download shareware as in eMule, Kazaa or Bittorrent. It' a way of aquiring pirated/stolen software. Are you behind a router and/or did you have a software firewall on your pc? If you didn't, you most likely were hacked. If you did, what you see is the result of your daughter friend. If you have been hacked the ONLY recourse you have is to wipe the drive and restore to factory defaults. Any attempt to salvage the present OS is a waste of time. Hackers leave back doors so they can come back after you feel safe again. Considering the saga, even if you were not hacked, I would still backup any data I wanted to preserve and then restore to factory defaults. Restoring to factory defaults re-images the system back to the way it was when you got it. Concerning the ram. Make sure it is completely seated. You may have had a partial module failure assuming no foul play on the part of your daughters friend. If not familiar with the insides of a computer take just the cpu box to a local computer repair store and ask them to investigate the ram issue. Imagine the power if you knew how to internet search

After thinking about your situation I would definately speak candidly with your daughter. The scariest part of your post may be the Fake ID stuff. You could possibly be complicent in criminal activity far beyond simply downloading copywrighted materials. BTW, I believe you can purchase replacement CDs from Dell to restore your machine to its original state. You will need to provide the numbers off the case.