Hi, The taskbar has disappeared from some accounts on my PC. I've tried running a patch from "www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm" (specifically, http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/reg... which worked. But the taskbar disappeared again, and now when I run the script I get the error, "Can't find script engine "VBScript" for script...". I've tried several suggestions, including this one (at the top) : http://support.genopro.com/Topic701... This gives me the error, "DllRegisterServer in VBScript failed. Return code was 0x80004005". The vbscript.dll file is present and has never been modified. Any suggestions ? Thanks, Rhysy

Try using your search engine, also go down the infected path. 0x80004005 http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=... Can't find script engine "VBScript" for script http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=... Use HiJackThis to track down or check for possible infections. Here is all the the info needed to empower yourself, anything you are not sure of, put into a search engine like Google. Read this link 1st, it has step by step. http://www.wilderssecurity.com/show... Important: Create a specific folder on your hard drive called HijackThis to keep its backups. You can do this by going to My Computer (Windows key+e) then double click on C: then right click and select New then Folder and name it HijackThis. Download and unzip HijackThis.exe into this folder. http://www.merijn.org/downloads.html Or, http://tomcoyote.com/hjt/ If possible run HJT in Normal mode ( not Safe ) with all your normal startup's working. HijackThis Tutorial - How to Analyse your own log. http://spywarewarrior.com/viewtopic... http://hometown.aol.co.uk/jrmc137/h... http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tut... http://www.malwarehelp.org/understa... HijackThis log file analysis ( online ) http://hijackthis.de/index.php?lang... Or, http://startup.networktechs.com/pag... http://hjt.iamnotageek.com Malware Prevention: Prevent Re-infection http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_...

Right, well, I already tried using a search engine, many many times. I tried the suggestions at wilderssecurity.com, no luck. I'm not at all convinced it's a security issue. It did at least find a Trojan and some adware though. After yet more searching, having discovered that Windows Media Player no longer works (giving an error that led me to the page below), and also Search doesn't do anything, I found this : http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=... As I said, method 1 does not work. I cannot use the XP cd since it didn't come with my computer. Though I'm rather put off by the warning message, I even had a look at method 2, but can't see any 'ThreadingModel' to click on. I'm thinking I should find the vbscript.dll and jscript.dll files on the internet, back up the ones I already have and try registering those instead. But I've no idea if this is a good idea or not.

Actually scratch that last 'error' - I can find the 'ThreadingModel' thing, I just had the wrong registry key. However while I can find the keys listed in steps 5 and 7, that in step 3 doesn't seem to exist.

"I cannot use the XP cd since it didn't come with my computer" If you have i386 ( about 500mb )on your HD, you have XP. Burn it onto a CD or save it onto another media. You can now do the various forms of Repair.

Click Start and then click Run. In the Open box, copy & paste > sfc /scannow, and then click OK. Note that you may be prompted to insert the Windows XP installation CD-ROM. http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc... http://askmaggymae.com/Maintenance/... Description of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 System File Checker (Sfc.exe) http://support.microsoft.com/defaul... Windows System File Checker Tool(MS Q310747) http://sft-cyber.com/File%20Ck.htm If the Dllcache folder becomes damaged or unusable, as an administrator, you can check and repopulate the %Systemroot%\System32\Dllcache folder. 1. Use the Sfc /scanonce to scan all protected system files one time 2. Use sfc.exe to scan all protected system files and replace incorrect version with correct Microsoft versions ======================================= When you run sfc /scannow it restores all of the original Windows files into the %windir%\system32\dllcache folder. You can remove them by running sfc /purgecache http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/winlo... http://www.microsoft.com/resources/... http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc... ====================================== Nothing must be running during CHKDSK, try it this way. Will take at least 2 hrs. Windows XP - Running Checkdisk from a Boot CD http://kb.wisc.edu/helpdesk/page.ph... Good info here as well. http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-11... http://www.updatexp.com/windows-xp-... http://www.schrockinnovations.com/c... CHKDSK /P fixes 95% of all Windows XP boot problems in my experience. It is run from the Recovery Console as described in some of the other steps. Run CHKDSK /P first, then reboot and hope for Windows. If it blue screens again, go back into the Recovery Console and try the "in place upgrade" as described. If you find there is no OS found to "upgrade", reboot, back into the recovery console, and then run BOOTCFG /ADD or /REBUILD, and name the XP install if found. If BOOTCFG /REBUILD wont finish, slave the hard drive in another system and run a full disk check from within Windows. After all 5 tests complete, backup your data just in case, and reinstall HDD in the original PC. Go through the original steps again that I mentioned and oftentimes the XP install will show up for the "in place upgrade". If no luck, well you just backed up, so blow it out and start over. Trust me, this is the way to go. The CHKDSK /P command is diagnostic only...it performs and exhuastive check of the drive, but does not make any changes to the drive. In otherwords, it doesn't fix anything. Now, on the other hand, the CHKDSK /P /R will locate bad sectors and recover readable information. Another possible. Bart's Preinstalled Environment (BartPE) bootable live windows CD/DVD http://www.nu2.nu/bootcd/ http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ http://windowsxp.mvps.org/peboot.htm Boot from the CD and chkdsk your HD manually. =============================================== ReInstalling WindowsXP http://www.onecomputerguy.com/windo... Reinstall WindowsXP and keep all your current installed applications and settings: Put your XP cd in the drive. If " D " is your CD rom drive. D:\I386\winnt32 /unattend ( copy & paste that command into the RUN box, then press ENTER ) Your computer will do the rest. Or, Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt. Copy & paste > D:\I386\winnt32 /unattend Press Enter. If you have i386 ( about 500mb ) on your hard drive, you can replace D: ( if D: is your cd drive ) with the location of it. If you have SP2 installed, you will need to upgrade the XP CD, this is done by slipstreaming. Universal Windows Slipstreaming and Bootable CD Guide http://www.msfn.org/articles.php?ac... http://www.short-media.com/review.p... A service pack is a product-specific collection of updates that fix security, program compatibility and system reliability issues. It also provides enhancements, administration tools, drivers and additional components that have been developed since the product's release. In short, a service pack helps to keep your product current and extends its functionality. This guide will describe the easiest way possible to slipstream (also known as 'Integrate') a Service Pack into Windows 2000, XP or 2003. The days of typing out command switches, and fiddling with boot sectors and ISO settings in Nero are long gone, so none of that will be described here! :-) To do this, we will only need one program - MSFN's very own popular nLite created by one of our members nuhi. While nLite is primarily aimed to remove components to slim down a Windows CD, it has the required tools to do just an automated Service Pack slipstream as well as create a CD image. http://www.nliteos.com/ Prerequisites: A Windows 2000, XP, or 2003 CD The latest "Network Install" Service Pack for one of the above Operating Systems Suitable CD Burning software capable of burning .ISO files (Nero, Alcohol, Easy CD Creator, etc.) nLite Before we start, make sure you are doing this on an NT Operating System (those are Windows 2000, XP or 2003) otherwise the slipstream will not work. nLite also requires the .NET Framework to function. XP's No-Reformat, Nondestructive Total-Rebuild Option http://www.informationweek.com/wind... Scandisk is called Chkdsk in XP http://www.freepctech.com/pc/xp/xp0... http://kb.ultratech-llc.com/?File=S... http://labmice.techtarget.com/windo... Information about the chkdsk command http://www.computerhope.com/chkdskh... How to perform disk error checking in Windows XP http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=... Chkdsk (Chkdsk.exe) is a command-line tool that checks volumes for problems. The tool then tries to repair any that it finds. For example, Chkdsk can repair problems related to bad sectors, lost clusters, cross-linked files, and directory errors. To use Chkdsk, you must log on as an administrator or as a member of the Administrators group. You can also run Chkdsk from My Computer or from Windows Explorer. Windows XP Tips Where has Scan Disk gone? Posted By: Byron Hinson Scandisk is not a part of Windows XP - instead you get the improved CHKDSK. You can use the Error-checking tool to check for file system errors and bad sectors on your hard disk. 1: Open My Computer, and then select the local disk you want to check. 2: On the File menu, click Properties. 3: On the Tools tab, under Error-checking, click Check Now. 4: Under Check disk options, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box. All files must be closed for this process to run. If the volume is currently in use, a message box will appear prompting you to indicate whether or not you want to reschedule the disk checking for the next time you restart your system. Then, the next time you restart your system, disk checking will run. Your volume will not be available to perform other tasks while this process is running. If your volume is formatted as NTFS, Windows automatically logs all file transactions, replaces bad clusters, and stores copies of key information for all files on the NTFS volume. =============================================== Another way. http://www.informationweek.com/wind... Boot off of a clean Windows XP cd ( your bios has to be set to boot from cd rom 1st ) choose Install ( Not > To Repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R ) at the first prompt. It will then search for a previous copy of Windows. When it finds your copy, it will stop at the next prompt and ask if you want to do a repair. Hit R at this screen. If it does'nt mention a repair > DO NOT continue. It will then copy a lot of files and appear to be doing a reinstall ( But its not. All your programs and data are safe, all you will lose, are your Windows updates ) This will allow you to add accounts to the system that will be administrator accounts, it will also fix most problems in XP. You will have to reactivate after the repair, but dont worry it will reactivate cleanly. This should fix your problems. Or, http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_...

Thanks, this sounds promising. I have i386 folders in several places : c:\windows\Driver Cache (92mb) c:\windows\ReinstallBackups\0000,0001\Driver files (only 32kb) c:\program files\Java\j2re1.4.0_04\lib (4kb). I also have a laptop, it has i386 folders in similar, though not exactly the same places and sizes. Which, if any, of these folders should be burned to CD ? Thanks, Rhys