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Thread ID: 46197 2004-06-16 07:16:00 strange thing in WIN.INI ianbon (2532) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
245106 2004-06-16 07:16:00 My computer has been behaving strangely on the internet, often freezing, and while looking at msconfig to spot any gremlins, I saw in win.ini a line starting [setAxxx001]. If i clicked the '+' sign next to it four lines appeared, starting with Desc0, desc1, desc2 and desc3 respectively, followed by '=' and characters like CECGCE and on and on. Is this bad stuff? I haven't been able to find anything anywhere on the internet.
Thanks if you can help!
ianbon (2532)
245107 2004-06-16 07:34:00 do a backup then delete those lines and see what happens...

or try a spyware/virus search - that probably what it is
agent_24 (4330)
245108 2004-06-16 10:26:00 Thanks. It's not spyware, or at least not detected by spybot or adaware, latest versions, fully updated. i have unticked them and nothing bad has happened, so far! I guess I'll leave it like that, but I would like to know what they're there for. ianbon (2532)
245109 2004-06-16 10:37:00 Interesting, now that I have had a look at my Win.ini I can see all sorts of weirdo stuff..... agent_24 (4330)
245110 2004-06-16 11:00:00 My crystal ball suggests you run XP Pro.

Remember that the Win.ini file is only needed for old 16 bit compatability, normal XP 32 bit programs will not need it.

The entries could therefore have relevance to any old legacy software you may have installed.
godfather (25)
245111 2004-06-16 21:07:00 Thanks, yes you're right, I do run XP Pro. And your suggestion that it might refer to legacy software makes sense, and explains why I can't find reference to it on the net. ianbon (2532)
245112 2004-06-16 23:53:00 The other thing you can do with entries in files like win.ini and system.ini that you think may be suspect, is to use an editor like Notepad and put a semi-colon in front of the line. This will tell the system to ignore the instruction on that line. Then you can see if there is any difference to your system when you restart. Terry Porritt (14)
245113 2004-06-17 09:38:00 Good idea. Thanks. ianbon (2532)
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