Tip: Run a free scan for common Windows errors ad

re: My own solution to 'Stop Windows from Randomly Searching the Floppy Drive' Saturday, March 26, 2005 at 8:09 pm Posted by felix (1 messages posted) None of the above worked for me except the wonderful person who pointed to Zone Alarm as the culprit in his case.So I switched ZA alarm off and puff,the problem is gone.I know I need ZA, I cannot switch it off forever.This free version that's giving me problems have not been updated for quite sometime ( free version 45 594 000).Their website suggested that if you have been having problems with ZA select clean install during the update,if you have not been having problems,then select update.The clean install will reset all settings in ZA,upgrade will preserve them.I selected the clean install free version 5.5.062.011 for my windows xp with no problems so far.A very big thanks to all. Felix. On Sunday, March 13, 2005 at 1:58 pm, bigboy wrote: >Re: Stop >Windows from Randomly Searching the Floppy Drive: > >I tried everything above, and it didn't seem to work. However, I did notice that >when I checked the PATH environment variable on the command line, something was adding >my floppy drive to the path. It wasn't in my Advanced settings in the System control >panel. But I did see it when I ran CMD.EXE and typed "set" to see all the environment >variables. > >However, after doing some searching around, I found that my partition with Win98 >bootfiles had an autoexec.bat file there. And that is what was adding a:\ to my path! >Once I commented it out the set path line, my floppy grinding went away. > >So, for some reason, WinXP was executing that autoexec.bat file that wasn't sitting >on the system partition(!), which added a:\ to my path, and caused all the grinding >noise whenever I ran a program. > >So, if none of the above solutions work, check your PATH environment variable on >the command line to see if your floppy drive is on it. If it is, it could be an autoexec.bat >file sitting somewhere.... [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: My own solution to 'Stop Windows from Randomly Searching the Floppy Drive' Wednesday, April 27, 2005 at 12:40 am Posted by s642w (1 messages posted) I've recently developed this problem. I'm STILL using Win98SE. The problem was resolved with a setting in ZoneAlarm, so I would assume that if you're using ZoneAlarm, I suspect it doesn't matter which OS you're using. Open the ZA Control Center, scroll down to the "Shortcut to MS-DOS Progam -- *.pif", and choose "Allow" in the Quarantine column. This finally shut-up the floppy each time I clicked on anything. But keep in mind that it reduces the protection for the *pif file provided my ZA. I'm using the ZA Pro 4.5. I've been using it for some time, but only recently noticed the constant "floppy drive access" everytime I tried to open a file. I'm fine without that protection. It stopped the clicking noise and I like that. You decided for youself. I hope this helps someone. s642w On Saturday, March 26, 2005 at 8:09 pm, felix wrote: >None of the above worked for me except the wonderful person who pointed to Zone Alarm >as the culprit in his case.So I switched ZA alarm off and puff,the problem is gone.I >know I need ZA, I cannot switch it off forever.This free version that's giving me >problems have not been updated for quite sometime ( free version 45 594 000).Their >website suggested that if you have been having problems with ZA select clean install >during the update,if you have not been having problems,then select update.The clean >install will reset all settings in ZA,upgrade will preserve them.I selected the clean >install free version 5.5.062.011 for my windows xp with no problems so far.A very >big thanks to all. > >Felix. > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: My own solution to 'Stop Windows from Randomly Searching the Floppy Drive' Tuesday, August 2, 2005 at 3:08 am Posted by yv230 (1 messages posted) how did you manage to change your path using set? i have the same problem. On Saturday, March 26, 2005 at 8:09 pm, felix wrote: >None of the above worked for me except the wonderful person who pointed to Zone Alarm >as the culprit in his case.So I switched ZA alarm off and puff,the problem is gone.I >know I need ZA, I cannot switch it off forever.This free version that's giving me >problems have not been updated for quite sometime ( free version 45 594 000).Their >website suggested that if you have been having problems with ZA select clean install >during the update,if you have not been having problems,then select update.The clean >install will reset all settings in ZA,upgrade will preserve them.I selected the clean >install free version 5.5.062.011 for my windows xp with no problems so far.A very >big thanks to all. > >Felix. > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: My own solution to 'Stop Windows from Randomly Searching the Floppy Drive' Wednesday, August 10, 2005 at 8:36 am Posted by imran (1 messages posted) how did you manage to change your path using set? i have the same problem. On Sunday, March 13, 2005 at 1:58 pm, bigboy wrote: >Re: Stop >Windows from Randomly Searching the Floppy Drive: > >I tried everything above, and it didn't seem to work. However, I did notice that >when I checked the PATH environment variable on the command line, something was adding >my floppy drive to the path. It wasn't in my Advanced settings in the System control >panel. But I did see it when I ran CMD.EXE and typed "set" to see all the environment >variables. > >However, after doing some searching around, I found that my partition with Win98 >bootfiles had an autoexec.bat file there. And that is what was adding a:\ to my path! >Once I commented it out the set path line, my floppy grinding went away. > >So, for some reason, WinXP was executing that autoexec.bat file that wasn't sitting >on the system partition(!), which added a:\ to my path, and caused all the grinding >noise whenever I ran a program. > >So, if none of the above solutions work, check your PATH environment variable on >the command line to see if your floppy drive is on it. If it is, it could be an autoexec.bat >file sitting somewhere.... [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: My own solution to 'Stop Windows from Randomly Searching the Floppy Drive' Friday, August 12, 2005 at 6:07 pm Posted by Falcon (13489 messages posted) Control Panel->System->Advanced->Environment Variables. My Malware Removal Instructions Perform the following: Disable System Restore * Perform an online virus scan * * * * . Download, update, and run these tools: Spybot Search & Destroy * Lavasoft Adaware * CWShredder * Repeat as necessary until clean. If you still experience problems after doing these steps, download HijackThis * and post a log to this forum. To protect against reinfection, download and use these: If at all possible, I recommend that you use alternative software, particularly web browsers and email clients: Web Browsers * * * Email Clients * * If this is not a viable option, or for additional protection, use these: Javacool's SpywareBlaster * Javacool's SpywareGuard * Malware-blocking HOSTS file * IE-SPYAD * , Internet Explorer only Optionally Reenable System Restore * . Better alternatives to System Restore. If you encounter any broken links, please inform me of them. Also note that these links direct through my web server to allow me to keep them up-to-date or post additional info. If you are unable to use the links above, click the stars instead, which are a direct link to the page in question. [Reply or follow-up to this message] Tip: Use one of the [Reply or follow-up to this message] links above to add a message to this thread Search this forum Start a new thread on a different subject Report abuse of the forum Return to the Windows XP Discussion Forum