Korean Job Discussion Forums

[scarneck]

Some how, some way extra non-existant drives are showing up on my computer. I only have a a DVD-R, CD-ROM, MMC-SD,Smart Media, COmpact Flash and MS MS Pro. There's other drive letters for drives that don't exist!

How do I get rid of these things? I think I got jacked.

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[ohfamous]

what OS do you have? if you have windows XP, here's what you can do:

1. Right-click on My Computer and click Manage.
(or go to Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management.

2. Go to Storage -> Disk Management. Here you can see all your drives in the right window.

3. Right-click on the drive you want to disappear. i.e. DVD (H:)

4. Click Change Drive Letter and Paths.

5. Click Remove. (make SURE you selected the CORRECT drive) Bye Bye! The drive will no longer appear in Windows Explorer. However, this is just a quick fix. There might be a deeper problem lying underneath, but it can't be diagnosed without more info.

[Demophobe]

Its hard to believe you just turned on the computer one morning and all of these new drives were there.

No drive emulation tools installed? These typically will create "drives".

Look in the control panel - system - device manager - disk drives and see what's there. If the phantoms are listed, then disable them...not remove, but disable. The problem is a deeper one for sure, but this way they will be gone from "My Computer" and will be out of the way.

Also, go into the BIOS and check to see if ther drives and CD-ROMs are all listed correctly.

Try to think of what you did before this happened....no installs, clicking "yes" to any scripts, no fiddling of any kind?

ohfamous has a good idea, but the drives may re-appear on boot, depending on what caused them to appear in the first place. Disabling them will keep them in a dead state continuously...removong them may again, cause them to re-appear on the next boot.

[scarneck]

Drive Emulation? Yes, something like that (I think) got on there. Remember, I have a 12 year old that is the download King of Piracy! He hit something and 980 .exe files were downloaded!

Something "Daemon" was on the desktop and I tried to get rid of it, and I honestly think he tinkered with it..(of course he says he didn't do it)

I'll get on there and try your fixes. I really appreciate the advice.

[Demophobe]

Yes...Daemon tools. Can be a blessing, can be a messing.

Disable the drives....removing them will cause them to come back with every boot.

One must be careful with this software....its really not for the novice user. clubcdfreaks has pages of threads from people who have royally messed up their system with it.

Try removing the program (add/remove programs)...it may well not work. The removal, I mean....do this before disabling. If it doesn't work, disable the drives and don't use it anymore. Just burn the disks...the latest protections (like Starforce) are really tough to get around. Emulation isn't as effective as it once was....not worth it. If the game can't be simply "no-CDed", then buy it.

[redbird]

Geez! There's a possibility that your machine has been compromised and someone is using it as an FTP server, something like that. Most of these compromises are the result of software that does its work automatically. If you have some software that will let you easily check for open ports, that could help you look out for your system but it will take some work figuring out what the open ports mean. Some will be good, some will be evil.

Anti-virus software like Norton or anti-malware software like Adaware could be useful for you on this.

But, the root of your problem is probably the 12 year old. You might be able to get some money for him by selling him to itinerant circus people, but your wife or the grandparents might object to that-- meddlers all, if you ask me.

You should really consider having multiple log-ins on your machine, if you don't already. One log in should have admin privileges and you should keep the password secret from all and sundry. You could give your kid his own log-in, which will help keep him accountable, but even if you just have another log-in to use most of the time, you can help yourself tremendously.

It's as simple as this. If you have a PC and you're not an expert with this stuff, surf with a log-in with no privileges above user. It will cut down what can be installed on the PC accidentally. When you need to install something, you log in as the admin and work with godlike powers. That's how I set up my Dad's computer and he's been ok, knock on wood.

[scarneck]

Thanks all. I did the right click on my computer and got rid of the extra drives; they didn't return on reboot.

Redbird, I'll set up accounts for the minions. the 12 year old is into the Sims 2 thing again. Plus he thinks he's always getting updates for his only games like Half Life 2, brothers in arms or anything that boots up and kills.

Yeah, I was going to post their stats on the forum that said "who wants kids", but it wasn't an advertisement...

Thanks again. I like the tech forum because people genuinely try to help you out regardless of what you do or where your'e from. Great group here.