# Bloody Pc Problems



## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

For some strange reason, my PC has suddenly forgotten it had a CD/DVD drive. It's not showing in my computer. What do you think?

Also, when I boot up, I get a Run DLL error. This is for a program I uninstalled ages ago. I have scanned my drive with all keywords I can think of. However it can't find anything related to this program. I'm stumpted.


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## ESL (Jan 27, 2004)

I always find that sticking the error text into a google search, generally brings a few links, one of which nearly always has enough detail to be able to decide what needs doing.


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

First off, I'd check the connections to the CD/DVD drive. If the cable is loose/disconnected, Windows may have uninstalled the drive for you







Reseat the cables and reboot the machine. If it's a "plug'n'pray" device it should be re-installed automatically. If it's a laptop, pull out and reseat the drive a few times to clean the connectors which may help.

Re. the missing dll error message, you can unregister a dll by typing

regsvr32 /u _dllname_

at the command prompt.

We are talking about Windoze aren't we?


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

rhaythorne said:


> First off, I'd check the connections to the CD/DVD drive. If the cable is loose/disconnected, Windows may have uninstalled the drive for you
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Cheers lads.

Yes Rich - Win XP. It's a laptop so i'll have to remove drive then?

Just got to remember how to get into DOS to the command prompt...............


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

> Just got to remember how to get into DOS to the command prompt...............


Start button, then choose Run and type cmd in the box


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

rhaythorne said:


> > Just got to remember how to get into DOS to the command prompt...............
> 
> 
> Start button, then choose Run and type cmd in the box


 Ta.

Got into it via my start menu.

Anyhoow, it didn't work.

This is the initial error showing.

c:\Program Files\WildTangent\Apps\CDA\cdaEngine0400.dll

Specified module could not be found.

I went into command prompt with that & what you typed.

It said it couldn't find C:\Program files, so removed that. Then it objected to words Wild tangent.

So, could you tell me exactly how to type it?

Ta muchly


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

Oh dear. This is a spyware program









If the dll (cdaEngine0400.dll) is still registered as "part of" the operating system then you should be able to unregister it by typing:

regsvr32 /u cdaEngine0400.dll

Try that.

However, it sounds to me as though the uninstallation of the program you performed some time ago didn't quite work properly (this is a known problem with Wild Tangent) and may have left some orphaned entries in the Registry. It sounds as though the folder (c:\Program Files\WildTangent\Apps\CDA) has probably been deleted, but that entries for the dll still exist somewhere and the system is trying to load them but can't because the files no longer exist.

In that case, you can have a look in Control Panel under Add or Remove Programs and see if there may still be an entry for the program. See if you can perform the uninstallation again. This probably wont work.

Another option is to reinstall the original program as it was before and then try and uninstall it again, although this is proabably futile and not recommended.

The last option is to look through the Registry and remove all the entries for cdaEngine0400.dll, but this needs some care to avoid breaking something important. Click on Start, then Run, and type regedit in the box to load the Registry Editor. Highlight My Computer in the left-hand pane and choose Find from the Edit menu to locate all the entries for that dll.

If you like, you can send me the locations by PM or email and I'll tell you if they're safe to delete or not.


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

OK, I'll look.

Cheers Rich


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

No problem









By the way, the Regsitry entries are probably here:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Don't delete the whole key from the left pane of the editor, just the entries specific to the dll from the right-hand pane.


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

If you can tell me how to take a screen shot i'll email you a pic of my registry.


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

Not the whole Registry in a single screenshot surely! Just the specific entries I presume.

You can dump the screen by pressing Ctrl-Print Screen. Then press Ctrl-V to paste the image.

If you email here [email protected] I may get it sooner


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

rhaythorne said:


> Not the whole Registry in a single screenshot surely! Just the specific entries I presume.
> 
> You can dump the screen by pressing Ctrl-Print Screen. Then press Ctrl-V to paste the image.
> 
> If you email here [email protected] I may get it sooner


 That cntrl print screen thing dont work on mine either









What a shed I have here!


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## odklizec (May 19, 2004)

Paul, go to regedit and search the registry keys (as Rich suggested)...

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Now select the "Run" key (in left pane), right click on it and select the "Export" item from appeared menu. Then export the selected key as "Registration file (*.reg)" file. Do the same for second "Run" key and send both files to Rich or me ([email protected]).

BTW, did you checked if the CD drive is visible (or not) in the Start >> Settings >> Control Panel >> System >> Hardware >> Device Manager? There should be section called "*DVD/CD-ROM drives*". If there is a CD/DVD listed in that section, double click on it and check the "*Device Status*".


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

> What a shed I have here!


If it's Windows I guess that makes it a greenhouse then, and probably just as fragile









I need to be offline for a little while. I'll be back later to see how you're getting on. I'm sure odklizec can show you the entries to delete if I'm not back in time


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

rhaythorne said:


> > What a shed I have here!
> 
> 
> If it's Windows I guess that makes it a greenhouse then, and probably just as fragile
> ...


 Ta Rich.

Re CD drive - gettinng this message in Device Manager.

Windows successfully loaded the device driver for this hardware but cannot find the hardware device. (Code 41)

Click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter for this device.

Pass...................


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## odklizec (May 19, 2004)

It looks bad







But I searched the Internet and it looks, the solution might to delete 2 values from the windows registry.

Try this...Start Registry Editor (regedit).

Locate the UpperFilters value under the following key in the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click OK.

Locate the LowerFilters value under the same key in the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

BTW, I suggest you to export entire registry database before you will delete the above values...just for sure







In regedit press Registry >> Export Registry File >> Export Range = Select All and Save.

A detailed description of similar problem can be found here:

http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/35761/

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...;EN-US;q314060&

http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.ht...ssageID=1683925


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## Garry (Feb 25, 2003)

I know this might sound a bit simple and stupid, but system restore has cured some really strange faults for me in the past.

Maybe try it to a date when the puter was ok........


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## odklizec (May 19, 2004)

This might also help you fix this problem...

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;en-us;320553


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

WAHEY! It's come back!

Many thanks for your help guys. A lot of that was Chinese to me! Much appreciated.

Now to get rid of the DLL problem, but that's a small thing compared to the other.


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## 036 (Feb 27, 2003)

Well done Paul! I'm no expert, but I thought you were heading for a reformat C / full system restore there.

Si


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

Well done









How are you getting on with the dll problem?

Did you manage to get to the two registry locations...

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

...and delete entries for the troublesome dll?


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## odklizec (May 19, 2004)

Nice! What helped? The registry cleaning or the system restore trick? It would be good to know for future reference..









As for DLL problem, I recommend you to check this page (a full solution how to remove WildTangent SW)...

http://www.iamnotageek.com/a/245-p1.php

BTW, I strongly recommend you to install "AdAware" and "Spybot S&D". These apps might help you to remove all adware/spyware applications and registry entries from your computer.


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

odklizec said:


> Nice! What helped? The registry cleaning or the system restore trick? It would be good to know for future reference..
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 The registry cleaning. Tried everything else.

Got Spybot on it. That's why I was baffled when that did not detect the Tangent thing.


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

> The registry cleaning. Tried everything else.
> 
> Got Spybot on it. That's why I was baffled when that did not detect the Tangent thing.


And you're a stronger man for doing it









It just might have been Spybot or another antispyware program that caused the problem in the first place.

Many tools nowadays claim to do "damage cleanup" i.e. remove all possible traces of xyz infection as if it had never happened. Unfortunately they're not really quite _that_ good yet and can often leave remnants of the malware behind which can subsequently cause these sorts of problems.

Now that you've had a delve into the Registry you know where to begin to look for the culprits when (not if







) it happens again


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

rhaythorne said:


> > The registry cleaning. Tried everything else.
> >
> > Got Spybot on it. That's why I was baffled when that did not detect the Tangent thing.
> 
> ...


 Indeedy!


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