Software - September 2007

am hoping to start a discussion about the ntuser.dat file in XP. This would be located in the C:\Documents and Settings\username directory. It's a file that is supposed to maintain the registry settings. However it can grow to tremendous sizes. It continues to grow even if you do not change the registry. Being the curious type, I had to find out what is in this file. I tried opening it using FileAlyzer (from the makers of Spybot) but it would not open as it was being used by another process.

What I had to do was create a new user account for myself with admin privileges. At this point I noticed the ntuser.dat file in the new account is only a few hundred kilobytes in size. Then I began the process of deleting my original user account. During the user account deletion process, you are prompted whether to delete all of the users files or to save them. I chose to save them. The user account was gone, but the subdirectory was still present in the C:\Documents and Settings folder. Directories such as Application Data, Cookies, User Data, WINDOWS, etc were still there. But more importantly, the ntuser.dat file was still present. It had grown to over 5MB. I tried opening the file with FileAlyzer but it wouldn't open. Even though the user account was gone, the file was still locked by another process!!

To take care of this I had to restart my computer and enter "Safe Mode with Command Prompt" in the Administrator account. Using DOS commands I was able to unhide ntuser.dat and then rename it ntuser.txt. After restarting the computer I was able to open the file with FileAlyzer.

I found listings for such things as keys pressed, windows opened, window sizes, resizing of windows, scrolling positions, addresses, files opened, files saved, registry changes made, programs opened, links, etc. I am not sure if all keys pressed are retained in the file (such as typing an email or a notepad document). In FileAlyzer, strings are in a left frame and are very brief. Double-clicking on a string takes you to its location in the right frame, which shows both the hex dump and text. However, a good portion of the text was coded as if you opened an executable in Notepad. But program names and file names were easily read. I have read elsewhere that this file also stores such information as passwords, form data, etc. In essence, the file contains a complete account of what I had done on the computer since I started using Windows XP.

I'm just wondering how others feel about this type of recordkeeping being done by Microsoft without the knowledge of the user, and if anyone has any other information about how this file is used by the operating system.

2007-09-26 21:22:49 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous

7.0 is not compatable with my customers programs so I cant download their documents and print them. Swiftview is a program it is not compatable with.

2007-09-26 19:41:33 · 3 answers · asked by heritage_title 1

Is there a way to auto-update the cells in Excel from a code in VB WITHOUT using (especially infinite) loop?

If yes, Please provide example

Thank you

2007-09-26 19:23:23 · 2 answers · asked by Mr. Math Contributor 4

I have some problem in my xp and i don't want to uninstall my programes is there any factory default

2007-09-26 17:29:37 · 4 answers · asked by nikes 1

I WAS in the middle of writing a 30 page paper. When I decided I was done for the night. I thought it was autosaving- But I guess not? So when it asked me if I wanted to save, I think I might have clicked NO instead of YES! If there is any way to recover this file, I am in need! We get a thirty page paper every tuesday and it is due this friday! I know I know, save save save it next time. But right now I just need to know if there is anything I can do! Otherwise, I will pull an all nighter if I have no choice. Thank you for your help!

2007-09-26 17:23:38 · 4 answers · asked by J A 2

Hi, my story:
As i was saving my Microsoft word... i think in between saving i turned off the power, i immediately returned it on... When i clicked the microsoft word file, as it starts to open i get an error messege saying: The document name or path is not valid. Try These suggestions: blah blah blah, i tried them and not surprising they dont work. A new file got created byside the Word document: ~WRD0217.tmp ... It is the same KB size as the original... I have a win98 (i kno i need to update) any suggestions?
When I click file > open > history all i get are "shortcut" links which lead my to the same damaged filed....
Thank for reading...

P.S. i have saved this file before and it has 5 days old, so is there sumthin i can do in DOS or something to retireve the last succesful file.

2007-09-26 17:20:48 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous

its a new computer and all i'm doing is playing a game and then it crashes out of nowhere. I've had the computer for less than three months and its happened three times. what should I do?

2007-09-26 17:13:23 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous

i have a .iso dvd file. i tried lots of different programs but they always say its too big and my cd is too small (the file is 4.36GB) so is there a program that can split the file in half so i can put it in 2 discs????

2007-09-26 17:02:54 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous

I want to permanently change the style set to Word 2003. Is there some way of doing this?

2007-09-26 16:45:57 · 3 answers · asked by fauxami19 2

freezes up all the time, restarts itself and tells me my computer has recovered from a series error. Seems like as each day goes by its getting worse, HELP?

2007-09-26 16:32:32 · 3 answers · asked by Teresa Lynne... 2

Hi all,
Having a problem with Windows uninstaller.
I hav an old version of Turbotax installed on my machine
and I want to get rid of it, so I can replace it with a newer
version. My uninstaller usually works fine, but
when I try to uninstall this program, it crashes and
ties up the system. How do I get rid of this
unwanted program? Do I need to download
a more up-to-date version of the uninstaller?
Thanks.

2007-09-26 15:55:59 · 9 answers · asked by steiner1745 7

when i got to certain websites, all i see is little squares and stuff, but if i use internet explorer i can see the text. what is happening?

2007-09-26 15:51:49 · 4 answers · asked by badlylit 1

Where can i download a program called 3D Max and plz leave a link to a free tuturail of 3D Maz PLZ!!!!

2007-09-26 15:40:18 · 1 answers · asked by DrL 2

2007-09-26 15:28:53 · 2 answers · asked by kit 1

im 16 and i really want to try pot, but im too paranoid im going to get caught or have no future in college and stuff. is it really worth it???

2007-09-26 14:22:38 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous

i have two of the same song, but one of them does not work. It goes on for lots of songs. I would have to delete it one by one... I cant shift and highlight because i'll also delete the songs that work. is there a way to check the songs we dont want and delete only those??? im looking for something that says "delete checked". or something like that... is there a feature on iTunes like that?? Thanx

2007-09-26 13:05:25 · 10 answers · asked by nonobandits24 1

2007-09-26 13:00:44 · 8 answers · asked by l9poppy 2

just wondering...

2007-09-26 12:25:48 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous

i downloaded a file. it needs adobe acrobat reader which i have on my pc and winrar. however it says there was an error processing the page. a font contains a bad emap /encoding. what does this mean and what do i have to do? please bear in ming i barely know how to switch my computer on! thanbks in advance.

2007-09-26 12:24:53 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous

Ok, I have a SGH-T219 and after I unplugged it, it just froze, like none of the buttons works except the off button. Even if I close the phone, it doesn't go back to the date and time, It just stays where it was. And it turns on and off by itself and vibrates without stopping!!! I can't fix it and don't have the money to get it fixed!!! Please help!!!!!!

2007-09-26 11:35:39 · 12 answers · asked by Kari H 1

is that registering it or is that just a step to install it? I don't want to cause any trouble at my job, but the computer technician told me I can install it but don't register it and now I'm afraid to put in the product key because I don't know if that is registering it or not. Does someone know about this? I hope you can help me. The way he put it, as long as I'm not using it on a company registered computer, I can install it. I don't know what to do and I really need to get these documents off my computer today. Please help out if you can. Thank you.

2007-09-26 11:01:11 · 7 answers · asked by Bianca H 1

I downloaded a program called WinMX for downloading songs off the internet.

It worked fine, and now it doesnt work, it says "connecting" and never does connect.

I guess I need to download it again..however when I look to delete it in my programs, its not there!

when I did a search on my computer, I finally found it, and tried to delete it, and it told me that I couldn't.

SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!

can I rename the file and delete it? I really dont know much about these matters.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

2007-09-26 11:00:42 · 1 answers · asked by blueyedsoul 2

2007-09-26 10:43:38 · 7 answers · asked by no 1

I'm on a website that has the proofs for my school pictures.
Is there a way that I can copy and paste or take a screen shot of the pictures?
I've tried, but no list comes up when I right click, and the screen shot option doesn't seem to be working either.
Is there any way around this?

2007-09-26 10:41:11 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous

i just tried to play half life episode one and it said my video driver is out of date
here are the specs it gives me about my driver

Windows version: windows XP

Description: NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE

version: 6.14.10.8280

its tells me to go to a page to download an update
i dont know what to select on the website for my update
heres the site: http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp

please help me
i have to beat this soon
please guys

2007-09-26 10:11:59 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous

I uploaded a file of songs onto my itunes from a cd. Then I got tired of the songs and threw out the files (since I still have the cd anyway). Every now and then for no reason the files show up again on my desktop- and I throw them away again.... What is the deal???

2007-09-26 09:50:26 · 1 answers · asked by quirky 5

Okay, so I'm looking for a website where I can download the Wendy font FOR FREE. I relize it's a commercial font, but I reallllly need this font! PLEASSE HELLP

2007-09-26 09:38:48 · 3 answers · asked by bbritnii s 1

2007-09-26 07:33:28 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous

is dreamweaver something just like frontpage?

i.e. it can be used by people who do not know HTML to make webpages?

OR is dreamweaver some software used in graphic designing? (like photoshop)

2007-09-26 06:48:55 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous

I downloaded the newest firefox version and whenever I go to the addons window firefox freezes up and won't let me do anything, so now I can't back up firefox with back-up fox to get my setting correct again, it also won't use the selected theme even though it says it will after I restart firefox which I have done several times. The only way to close the addons window is CTRL ALT Delete

2007-09-26 06:35:17 · 1 answers · asked by zombieqeen 2