Me thinks I've been hacked.

My ZoneAlarm started going nuts then suddenly my browser started getting errors something about MCSCAN32(01)something something not responding. Then everytime I try the browser is boot me off. So I re loaded the browser and my whole system went kaput. Had to re-install MS98.

Now its telling me I have a duplicate in my system.ini file. File name is vcd. Question:

how do I get to my system.ini file?
how do I delete the duplicate file?
WTF do you think happened?

Goatboy? any other puter guru's?

If you have a recovery CD, you can do a "Factory Restore," but I'd only do that as a last resort. If you do, save all your uncorrupted stuff onto a CD if you have a burner. I do, and it has saved me a sh*tload of work. By the way, I'm NOT a computer guru, so There probably is a way to fix it much less drastic than this.

I don't think I have that. I have the Windows98 SE CD. the upgrade version. Would that be the same.

Shit I've had to re-boot 3x since starting this thread. That can't be good.

Go to START/SEARCH/FILES &FOLDERS then enter vcd.* and it will find all the vcd files.  If you are looking for the .ini files, if you have duplicats then right click on them and see which was the last to be modified.  Right click on the older file and select RENAME, change the .ini(extension) or what ever file you are looking for to xxxxxx.old.  This will keep windows from reconizing that file.  Change it back if you need to.
Hope this helps

Zone alarm should have stopped it from infecting your system.  Do you have antivirus software installed?  Mcaffee and Norton both have trial versions that you can download.

Use notepad to edit your ini files.  Did you reformat before reloading Win98?  You should have.

Also you may try using some of the repair utilities(Norton, Macafee, etc.)

Black I will give that a shot.

Yes I have an anti virus program. Matter of fact I just updated the DAT files this morning.

Same thing happen to me the other night. i just rebooted from system save. then i had to reinstall IE. mmk

The "recovery CD" is so marked, and should have come with the computer when new. You may try to get one from Best buy. They are useful, since they can either restore your computer to the way it was when it came in the box, or (MUCH better) create a back-up of all the stuff you have loaded into your computer.

I don't have one of those I guess. I bought all the parts for this puter and my friend built for me. All the software in it are software that I have in possesion.

I do back up all my stuff on CD so I am really not worried about losing stuff. Just worried about crashing. I am not an expert on puters but I do know how to crash em.

I kow the feeling, only too f*ckin' well! I spent the entire weekend "restoring" sh*t 'cause I accidently deleted ONE common file.

OK found the duplicated file and got that fixed. However I am still getting MCSCAN32 error. Seem to happen when I try to access search engines.

I had to re-install Win98 SE and MSIE. I use to have IE 5.5 but now working on 5.0 Tried upgrading. but everytime I go to WinUpdate site I get the the error file not updated properly and the the MCSCAN32 error. This bites the big one. That and my browser will lock up every now and again. I can't open more that one browser like I did before this whole crap started.

I got problems here. Anyone got ideas.

Your new internet girlfriend gave you a virus.  [:P]



The problem is you don't give any good information.  Like what version of Windows?  Which browser?  MS98?  What the hell is that?  If Win98 was trashed and you tried a reinstall then the new installation will keep stuff like your registry, win.ini, system.ini, etc., so instead of fixing problems it usually creates more.

When ZA starts going crazy, it's usually an indication that you picked up a worm that's trying to download the parts it needs to do it's job.  I picked up the MaTriX worm and ZA popped up with "Do you want to give MTX.EXE access to the internet?

I can tell you that MCSCAN32 is not part of Windoze.  Sounds like you're running McAfee and it's puking.

The system.ini file is located in C:\Windows and you can edit it directly with Notepad.exe, or you can get to it through Start/Run/sysedit.exe.

When it gave you the "vcd" file error, are you sure is wasn't xxxxx.VXD?  These are virtual system drivers and if one gets corrupted then the system will puke.  Also, many worms work by hijacking .VXDs for their own purpose.

My suggestion - update your virus scanner, get off-line and do a thorough virus scan, then clean up your system.ini and boot to DOS and run scanreg.exe.

I don't think anybody here will be able to help with your 3" puter problem. Best you make do with what functions it still performs.[:D] At least you got a puter, better than your puter being broke completely.[:D]

Steel Rat,

Running Win98 SE and MSIE 5.0 McAfee anti virus. Only have the MCSCAN error everytime I try to access a search engine or my e-mail. I do sometime get a .VXD file error along with the MCSCAN error. I have updated the anti virus and ran it. Came out clean. Did the scanreg.exe like you suggested and the damn puter crapped out 3x on me. Me thinks I just clean out the HD and re-install from scratch.

Troy,

Unfortunately, I can't get to my e-mail cause my puter crashes every freaking time.

Lordtrader,
The MCSCAN32 error has to do with your McAfee Viruscan. Try disabling it with msconfig, or uninstalling it all together. Run your comp again and see if everything works without McAfee running. I don't know why it would cause problems all of a sudden, but MCSCAN32 is definitely McAfee related. Hopefully you can reinstall it and get an update off their site. Hope this helps.

Well, sometimes you gotta just wipe everything out and start over.  Here's a couple of tips -

Partition your Hard Drive -  If you only have one drive in your system, having a second partition can save you during reinstalls.  Even if it's only a Gig or two, you can copy all your important files like email, bookmarks, "My Documents," etc., to D:.  Then after you format C: and reinstall Windoze, complete restoration can be completed by clicking&dragging in Explorer.

Custom Install - I pick through Windoze and deselect Address Book, Outlook, and Windows Scripting Host before installation.  I've found that these three cause 98% of all Windoze problems.  There are many other mailers available for free that work much better.

Good luck!

ok, found this at MS site:

Fatal Exception OE Errors Occur Randomly in Various Locations

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
Microsoft Windows 98

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The third-party products discussed in this article are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability.


SYMPTOMS
During your Windows session, you may receive numerous error messages similar to the following:

A fatal exception 0E has occurred at 0028:C1529458 in VxD
MCSCAN(01) + 00017DB8.


A fatal exception 0E has occurred at 0028:C1528EDB8 in VxD
MCSCAN32(01) + 00017DB8.


A fatal exception 0E has occurred at 0028:C02C8877 in VxD
VTDATI(03) + 0000013F.


A fatal exception 0E has occurred at 0155F:BFF99BDA7.


A fatal exception 0E has occurred at 0028:C1528258 in VxD
MCSCAN32(01) + 00017DB8.


A fatal exception 0E 16BF:013F75D6.





CAUSE
This behavior can occur when McAfee VirusScan is installed on the computer.



RESOLUTION
To work around this issue, use one of the following methods.

Method 1
Disable the Vsstat.exe component (from McAfee's VirusScan). For additional information about how to disable the Vsstat.exe component, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q281965 How to Troubleshoot Using the Msconfig Utility with Windows 98
Method 2
Contact McAfee for an update to the VirusScan program.


Method 3
Remove McAfee VirusScan. To do this, follow these steps:
On the taskbar, click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.


In Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs.


In the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box, click McAfee VirusScan on the Install/Uninstall tab, and then click Add/Remove.


Follow the instructions to completely remove McAfee VirusScan from the computer.





MORE INFORMATION
Additional information and updates for McAfee VirusScan can be obtained from McAfee at the following URL:

http://www.mcafee.com
The third-party contact information included in this article is provided to help you find the technical support you need. This contact information is subject to change without notice. Microsoft in no way guarantees the accuracy of this third-party contact information.


Additional query words:

Keywords : kb3rdparty kberrmsg ocsso kbWin98 kbFatalExErr0E
Issue type : kbprb
Technology : kbWin98search kbWin98SEsearch kbWin98 kbWin98SE

Ahhhh!!! All better. I got rid of McAfee and installed Norton System works. Not only did it fix my MCSCAN problem it also found some other problems that it fixed. Whew!!!! Thanx for all the input guys.

Troy sent you an e-mail back.

lordtrader, sometimes different manufactures call them different things.
It should be sealed in a pack by itself,,,,, one of my emergency recovery CDs from HP is marked "First Aid Kit."
See anything like that?

No. I used Norton's recovery CD instead. I bought the full version of System Works and it pretty got me back to A OK status.

Glad you're back up and running.  I seem to remember having similar problems with Mcaffee products and thats why I switched to Norton.

Oh man, Duffy! I've got a couple, & I need someone to talk me through getting the new one to find the right fr@#$in driver for the modem.
The one I'm using now can't open AR15.com right, or it's the browser or whatever (There's NO text! Everything is black, & I have to highlight the entire page to (barely) read it.
That's not only hard, it hurts after a while.

Would have never figured it out with out you guys' help. Thanx guys.

Did you, by chance, get a hoax email that told you to delete a file called SNFBLNK.exe (or something)?  I made [i]that[/i] mistake once.

No, I decided to be "smart" and clean up some disk space, and accidently "cleaned up" a common file which prevented about 2/3 of my programs from running. Needless to say, I now run a user backup pretty damn often!