My son has contracted a really nasty CWS browser hijack on a PC his father built for him a few years ago. His OS totally is trashed now and I've decided it's best to save his files and do a reformat and clean install of XP. He has a Shuttle AK32 MB (v.2.1) with a Via KT266 chipset. Google has been unable to find a download of the original drivers (yes... he lost the driver CD) and Via's website only offers a zip of something called "4 in one", which appears to be a collection of generic drivers that seem to get poor reviews in the forums I've checked out.
My question to you good people is... anyone know where I might be able to download the original drivers for his MB?
Thanks for your help!
Erika
NooNoo
September 21st, 2005, 03:37 PM
Welcome to Windrivers Avia
4 in 1 drivers poor reviews is standard... but they are what you want here is the shuttle download page for that ak32 (http://global.shuttle.com/Download/Download_File.asp?Item=AK32A)
Get the via drivers from viaarena (http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=2)
People moan, they update them often - so eventually they sort it out.
confus-ed
September 22nd, 2005, 06:48 AM
People moan, they update them often - so eventually they sort it out.
..or make it worse ? (he adds confus-ed-ly) .. the 4-in-1s or hyperion drivers as VIA like to call 'em now, are a standard set of reference drivers for devices which use various VIA chipset combos, & you'll find them refered to on lots of manufacturers sites, as here :- "VIA 4-in-1 V4.36a"
The thing to be aware of is that there are effectively three versions of these 'standard patches' - all found on this page (http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=420&OSID=1&CatID=1070) - but some are better for some systems than others, as they tend to get optomised for more recent chipsets (it explains all of this on the page) - for a machine of this age & chipset, the 'best' version is what it describes as "Retro chipset VIA 4in1 drivers" version 4.43 :).
Aviatrixie
September 23rd, 2005, 10:08 PM
Hi Noo and Confus,
I took your advice Noo, downloaded the 4 in one and Shuttle drivers. Confus-ed... The link you gave me was for the 98 drivers. Not important, as I have full installs of both XP and 98SE.
I've come to realize that the AK32 has no onboard video (or modem?) as the MB has the cards for them installed. My ex-husband was an avid PC builder and I'm starting to think maybe I'm getting in over my head. Somehow my son managed to lose all of the driver disks and now I have to find drivers for his modem, video card, CD burner, and goddess knows what else.
Pardon my rant... He managed to infect MY PC with an earlier CWS, but I was able to cure it with a few hours of research. Now he's infected his own PC. CWS has gotten so nasty the best I could do was CWShredder it a few times, clean the rest up with AVG, Spybot, and AdAware. There is still some central core program that tries to save itself via ipconfig.dll, but I blocked it via ZoneAlarm. I feel like I've cut the trojan's arms and legs off and locked it in a closet... but won't feel safe until I've reformated his HD and done a clean install.
Thanks again for your help. Do you guys have a CWS forum for me to rant on? LOL
Erika
confus-ed
September 24th, 2005, 04:18 AM
..Confus-ed... The link you gave me was for the 98 drivers. .
Err nope I didn't, I am prone to 'mistooks' like that, but the link I gave is for all windozey operating systems :) :-
Supported Operating Systems: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98SE, Windows XP, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows NT
But moving onto your 'real problem'
.. starting to think maybe I'm getting in over my head. Somehow my son managed to lose all of the driver disks and now I have to find drivers for his modem, video card, CD burner, and goddess knows what else...
Well we can fix all of that if you are patient enough & don't mind a bit of work ?
Try this perhaps ? ;- Everest (http://www.lavalys.hu/products/download.php?pid=1%E2%8C%A9=en) ; which is a tool for identifying hardware, use that in conjunction with device manager to figure out what drivers you are short of & either get googling lots, or ask us, about any missing or problematical drivers & I'm confident we can help ;)
Aviatrixie
September 24th, 2005, 12:25 PM
Thanks for the offer to help, Confus. :)
As my son is fresh out of college and needed his PC for doing resumes and networking our number one priority became making his computer functional again, which I accomplished. In the near future I'll open his box up again and get card info for googling (no docs for the cards or burner). I had already googled the video card (an earlier Radeon) but didn't have much success. I'll get back to you soon when I begin that process.
Thanks again!
Erika
NooNoo
September 24th, 2005, 02:55 PM
Radeons have one set of drivers - they can be identified fairly easily by their part no or bios number - go to www.ati.com, at the top click on customer care, on the left click on product information and then product identification. From there you can tell how to find the numbers, what they mean or download a utility to tell you without opening the box by selecting the option " Identifying a Product in a Microsoft Windows® Based System"
Everest is a great utility for finding out what's in the box too. Just post the details and we can help you track down what you need.
Aviatrixie
October 7th, 2005, 10:29 PM
Hi Noo, Confus, everyone,
Well... my son gave me back his PC today so I guess my project this weekend will be doing that clean install of his OS. I have already downloaded the Via Retro drivers that Confus recommended. I also downloaded and ran the Everest Software that you both recommended. Here is the results. (For space' sake I only pasted the system info. If you want the full report let me know and I'll post that too.)
Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name XPTEST
User Name xxxxxxxx
Motherboard:
CPU Type AMD Athlon XP, 1466 MHz (11 x 133) 1700+
Motherboard Name Shuttle AK32L (5 PCI, 1 AGP, 2 SDR DIMM, 2 DDR DIMM, Audio)
Motherboard Chipset VIA VT8366 Apollo KT266
System Memory 256 MB (PC133 SDRAM)
BIOS Type Award Modular (04/12/02)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM2)
Communication Port Printer Port (LPT1)
Display:
Video Adapter RADEON 7200 (32 MB)
3D Accelerator ATI Rage 6 (R100)
Monitor Plug and Play Monitor [NoDB] (GC082O0095)
Multimedia:
Audio Adapter VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller
Storage:
IDE Controller VIA Bus Master IDE Controller
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive Maxtor 53073H4 (30 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)
Optical Drive LITE-ON LTR-24102B (24x/10x/40x CD-RW)
Optical Drive MITSUMI CD-ROM FX54++W (54x CD-ROM)
SMART Hard Disks Status FAIL
Partitions:
C: (FAT32) 29291 MB (17939 MB free)
Input:
Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse PS/2 Compatible Mouse
Network:
Network Adapter Linksys LNE100TX(v5) Fast Ethernet Adapter
Modem Generic 56K HCF Data Fax Modem
Peripherals:
Printer HP DeskJet 682C
Printer KODAK printer dock plus
Printer Lexmark Z25-Z35 (Copy 1)
Printer Lexmark Z25-Z35
Printer WinFax (Photo Quality)
Printer WinFax
USB1 Controller VIA VT83C572 PCI-USB Controller
USB1 Controller VIA VT83C572 PCI-USB Controller
USB1 Controller VIA VT83C572 PCI-USB Controller
I know I'll need the Via chipset drivers, the video drivers, and likely drivers for the CD-rom and the CD-RW. I do have the disk for the ethernet card so we're good to go there, but I can't tell about the dial-up modem. It appears to be a generic driver and the Modem is a Diamond PCI modem. Does that mean it's using a driver that came with Windows XP?
Anyway, I'd appreciate your input on which drivers I'll need to have on CD before I format and reinstall his HD.
Thanks again for your help!
Erika
confus-ed
October 8th, 2005, 03:28 AM
..I know I'll need the Via chipset drivers, the video drivers, and likely drivers for the CD-rom and the CD-RW. I do have the disk for the ethernet card so we're good to go there, but I can't tell about the dial-up modem. It appears to be a generic driver and the Modem is a Diamond PCI modem. Does that mean it's using a driver that came with Windows XP?
Anyway, I'd appreciate your input on which drivers I'll need to have on CD before I format and reinstall his HD...
Given all the why's & wherefores, what I'd do in your position, is 'just go for it' & zap the lot, as long as you've got another working machine available to ask questions via & get any files you might need so that you can transfer them onto your son's machine, should my prediction of 'this one doesn't look tricky' turn out to be false :) ..
Windows has drivers natively for 99.9% of cd drives for reading (the writing bit gets added by any burning software) & if at the minute windows is 'happily' managing to use either 'standard hcf' or 'standard hcl' modem drivers (look in device manager ), it means that your modem is 'generic' (or at least has a 'standard' chipset), & hopefully should just get found as windows has some drivers in it which can work.
The only thing we are likely to have trouble with, is onboard sound, which always seems problematical even when you do have the right drivers & know exactly what it is ! :rolleyes: .. but counting bridges & chickens springs to mind for that, so we'll cross that chicken (I don't know with what ! :D) when we get to it ;)
NooNoo
October 8th, 2005, 06:09 AM
shuttle drivers including sound (http://global.shuttle.com/Download/Download_File.asp?Item=AK32A)
latest radeon drivers (https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&folderID=27) older radeon drivers (https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&folderID=27)
Please note the requirements - XP SP2 must be installed and DirectX 9 before installing the older drivers - .net update is required for the newer ones... in other words - do all windows updates before installing these drivers. Windows will run it good enough to do that before using the drivers.
Crickey Bev that's efficient ! :thumbs: , personally I'd only have invested that much googling for what windows couldn't find 'after' .. but I guess it doesn't harm to be prepared, especially if someone else is gonna do that for you ! :eek2:
NooNoo
October 8th, 2005, 06:22 AM
took me less than 5 minutes while drinking my coffee... it's either that or read 3 books on advanced databases :sad:
confus-ed
October 8th, 2005, 06:32 AM
..it's either that or read 3 books on advanced databases :sad:
Ah, I see now :thumbs2: , you sound like my kid, anything but do her homework ! :p :devil:
.. but having probably read the books you are now avoiding, you have my every sympathy, its just a shame you can't submit your truely excellent googling skills, instead ! ;)
Aviatrixie
October 8th, 2005, 09:59 PM
Just wanted to let you know the clean install is going great. You were right... the audio was a wee bit touchy, but a second install fixed it up just fine. The new SP2 Full Install seems pretty bug-free! I am wondering what that MS.net is about though.... it took me over an hour to DL it! (yes... I'm on dial-up):
I'm still trying to sort out what happened when he got hijacked. I've Googled the heck out of it, but it seems to be a sporadic thing. I'd love to know how one contracts CWS so I could tell him how to avoid it.
Anyway... thanks for your help... his PC works GREAT again!
Erika
NooNoo
October 9th, 2005, 06:45 AM
.net is a framework - or the bit you download is anyway.
You already have a couple - java or jvm and visual basic (vb).
It allows programmes and drivers written with .net to run on your machine. more details here (http://www.download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/v3/static/RTF/en/5986.htm)
CWS is nasty, it has many forms and if he has been trying to access some err shall we say, download sites he may have unknowingly installed it within the download. You may want to load spybot teatimer - it blocks registry activity making sure the user is aware that the registry is being changed. Now if he is installing something legitimately it will still pop up and ask. If he is just browsing and it pops up, you can be its a net nasty and should be denied. The immunise function on spybot is also great - it prevents installation of over 1000 known net nasties.
windrivers.com
Copyright WebMediaBrands Inc., All Rights Reserved.