My dilemma is as follows, I have a computer that was infected with spyware. I removed it all and now when I attempt to run a scan using Panda’s ActiveScan I am greeted with an error indicating the ActiveX file could not have been downloaded. This is a generic error message as the actual ActiveX file is showing up in C:\Windows\Downloaded Program Files.
I’ve tried all the suggestions including clearing out all temp files, Temp Internet Files, changing the security default from medium-high to low, to enabling all ActiveX downloads even including unsigned ones (although I changed it back once I realized that it didn’t make a difference). I tried re-registering several .dll files to no avail.
I’m at my wit’s end. I don’t know what else to do. I know there is a fix out there but no one seems to know. I’ve searched Google using all the terms that the error message gives me yet I can’t seem to come across one single page that indicates what to do/how to fix the problem. Most of the results are anti-spyware forums in which people help you to remove spyware that is on your computer. The thread ends up ending without any indication of how to fix the Panda ActiveScan ActiveX problem.
I went to www.pcpitstop.com and ran their ActiveX checker and it all checks out. I put http://www.pandasoftware.com into the Trusted Zone for the time being, no dice. I’m able to run Microsoft Updates without any problems. Norton Internet Security 2005 was on this computer but I removed it with SymNRT.
I even went so far as to remove all the registry entries that have to do with the Panda classID. That did not work either.
The only thing left in my arsenal is to do a data backup and then reinstall Windows. The thing is, I would love to avoid this as I know there is some fix out there that will fix this problem, I just haven’t stumbled upon it yet. Damn it this is one of the most frustrating problems I’ve encountered in such a long time. In the past when I encountered this I don’t believe I ever found a fix and I’ve always just opted for a clean install after backing up the client’s data. No more though, I do not want to go that option, I want to fix the computer without having to resort to that. I know it’s possible, I just know it. I will be searching high and low this evening and tomorrow morning. If I do fix it, of course I will have it up here for everyone else to use. Until then, or wish me some luck because I will need all I can get.
I was able to reset the BIOS password by removing the keyboard and then removing the battery that is placed right below the keyboard. I removed the battery, powered the unit on, turned the unit off and then put the battery back in. Upon turning the unit back on I no longer was prompted to input a BIOS password. I don’t know if this works on all K series notebooks but on the K33 it did work fine.
Currently working on a FRV25 which is experiencing this: Upon turning it on, you see the Sony splash screen, and immediately afterwards it goes to a blank screen. You can see the backlight working. I connected an external monitor and the same issue persisted. I then swapped out the memory for known working modules as well as changed out the processor for a known working CPU. Both things did not help to alleviate the issue.
I tried researching via Google and all I could come up with is a convoluted Hardware Analysis forum which stinks. There were a few posts, that I could find, out of several hundred, that indicated a problem similar to mine. I don’t know the fix but I thought I’d document this for future reference. If I figure it out, I will definitely post it here.
First and foremost, I posted about this quite some time ago in regards to the IntelliPoint 6.01 software causing a repaint of the screen in many different applications. Most notably while using Outlook and Outlook Express. Not only that but Photoshop and many other programs have been reported to be affected by this bug.
Microsoft is trying to pass it off as a video card driver issue when it actually has to deal solely with the IntelliPoint software. Once you kill off ipoint.exe the issue no longer appears. I’ve had this happen to me on computers that were running onboard video by Intel, ATI as well as nVidia. This is not video card specific as Microsoft wants to assert.
Now the reason I’m bringing this back up is due to the lack of discussion going on around the web. I found a thread in the Microsoft.public.mshardware.product newsgroup entitled the same as this blog post. The date of the post started on 12/3/06 and the latest entry is by me, on 2/14/07.
Again, I would like to reiterate that there is a huge bug with the IntelliPoint 6.01 software. What you may experience is basically seeing the screen flash roughly three times. What the flash looks like is as though the screen is refreshing itself over and over again.
You may be wondering why people are complaining about it, well let me tell you why. It’s an extremely annoying bug. Whenever you switch to a certain program, you’ll see the screen refresh for roughly 3-5 seconds. Once you switch away and go back, the same thing happens again. This is the only way I can describe the problem, I’m sure there are others who can define it better than I can. If others can explain it in more detailed text, please do so in the comments and I will update this post to include your information, please include your name and contact info if possible.
I know for a fact that there have been a few people from the mshardware newsgroup in direct talks with MS tech support. They were even supposedly referred to the programmers for the IntelliPoint software. So far the only conclusive thing they can agree on, which again I think is wrong, is that the bug is due to video card drivers. I have not seen any updates as far as this is concerned. This is my main reason to bringing it to the front page again.