Strange Changes in My WinXP System

[BobH]

I run CCleaner about once a week. Last night, I left Adaware Pro running overnight. When I checked it this AM it had completed and found no problems.

As expected, I had lost cookies and had to sign in again here and a couple other forums I frequent. (I still haven't mastered the CCleaner do-not-delete-these-cookies feature.) What I didn't expect was for my mouse to freeze and simple not move. I use a Logitech Revolution MX90 optical mouse and have done for years. The mouse was fully charged overnight and the receiver is properly and securely plugged in. In the midst of reading here, the mouse froze in one location and would not move. I could scroll with the scroll keys and change apps using the keyboard, but the mouse would not move. So, I gave a power down and rebooted..

Now, the system tray has gone berserk. I like to park shortcuts to my most used apps to the left of the vertical dots. I keep the desktop, Thunderbird and Firefox visible and click on the dots to reveal the other shortcuts when I need them. I find this faster and easier for me than using Start/All_Programs. The problem is that all my shortcuts have disappeared. Clicking the vertical dots does nothing. I cannot drag them to reveal (perhaps) hidden shortcuts.

Unless CCleaner - run as I've run it hundreds of times - did something new and different (I changed not options) or AdAware did something I'm unaware of, I can think of no other cause for the change.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Oh, BTW, after experiencing this strangeness, I was annoyed by a reminder that there was a new version of FreeFileViewer available. I used CP to uninstall the old version. Now , I cannot close the Add/Remove Programs panel. The system indicated that it had removed the app successfully, but the pre-removal display showing the app persists and clicking the boxes in the upper right has no effect.

I've not knowingly downloaded and installed any software lately. I haven't been to any web sites that I don't normally visit and I haven't opened any email from unknown and trusted sources.

[HansV]

I don't think CCleaner would cause this. Can you perform a system restore to before the problems started?

[Claude]

If Hans' suggestion doesn't work, download, install and run Glary Utilities, see if that fixes the problems.

[BobH]

Thank you, Claude and Hans.

I have resolved the problem. I did another power fail re-boot. The quick launch shortcuts were still missing. I was able to restore them by changing the properties.

I still don't know what happened to make these strange things happen. I was fearful that I might have a rootkit at work things were behaving so strangely; however, those symptoms have gone away for now.

Thank you again.

[ChrisGreaves]

If Hans' suggestion doesn't work, download, install and run Glary Utilities, see if that fixes the problems.

Interesting-looking application, and Claude, thanks for the tip.
I d/l it and am about to explore ...
... but in passing I reflect on its 8.5 MB installation package and think of dear old CED.COM.
My 6/15/1985 version of CED.COM weighs in at 7,012 bytes.
Different program, different problem, different solution, I know, but ...

[Claude]

well, you'll be interested to know that back in 1978 I wrote a full-screen basic editor on an Exidy Sorcerer in Z80 code: Size: 64 bytes.

My smallest program ever was 0 bytes, called @.com, a CP/M program which simply restarted whatever was running before one exited the previous program, because CP/M programs started at hex 100, leaving the sixty four bytes below untouched which is where I put my editor. Mind you, I used a lot of code from the what we would now call BIOS

[ChrisGreaves]

well, you'll be interested to know ...

Hi Claude.
I am prompted to describe my efforts at a program that consumed -200 bytes, negative memory, actually gave back memory whenever it was loaded, but since I've not put any effort it so far, it seems a tad unfair to describe the program.
I can, however, brag about my 5-byte UN.BAT file, which UNinstalled any program which was installed using PushDir and PopDir

Code: Select all

Rem UN.BAT Christopher Greaves Thursday, August 25, 1988
%1 %0

It worked, of course, by using as its only parameter the name of the batch file responsible for installing a utility, so by calling that same batch file with the parameter "UN"(install) ...
... but I Hijack ...

It says a lot for the days when one could write a useful program that solved a real problem by cobbling together a few bytes which drew on the library supplied by BIOS.
Had we known, we could have called it "Organic Programming" or "Green Programming", and retired young and rich, or at the very least, old and rich.