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Lightscribe

Lightscribe is a DVD/CD burner that is installed on many PCs. Somehow it has gone missing from your computer. Have you installed any new programs or altered the computer recently? There are several things you can try to get your CDs to play again. Let’s try them in order.

Automatic Startup

First, try this fix.

1. Go to Start and then Run. In the dialog field, type in services.msc. Click Ok.
2. Search for Lightscribe Service Direct Disc Labeling Service.
3. In Status, check to see if the service is Started. If it is not, double click on it to open Properties.
4. Make sure Startup is set to Automatic. Click Start. Click Ok to close the window.

Reboot your computer to see if this takes effect and solves the problem. If not, try the next solution.

Diagnostic Utility

You can try to run the automatic Lightscribe Diagnostic Service by clicking on the link. This is a Windows utility that will scan your computer and fix many common problems. If this doesn’t work for you, continue to the next step.

HP Driver Updates

Do you have an HP computer? Lightscribe is installed on many HP computers, and users have been able to cure their problems with this installation by using the HP Driver Firmware Update.

System Restore

If this is something that has just happened recently, you can try to do a System Restore if everything else fails to solve the problem. System Restore is just like a ‘snapshot’ of your computer that is taken automatically at certain times. When you have a computer problem like this, rolling the system back to an earlier time can solve the problem and bring the system back the way it was.

1. Go to Start and then All Programs.
2. Click on Accessories and then choose System Tools.
3. Click on System Restore. You will see a Welcome Screen.
4. Click “Restore my computer to an earlier time”.
5. Click Next. You will select a restore point. You should pick a date just before the problem started. Click Next and then confirm the date.
6. Click Next. The computer will shut down and reboot.
7. When you see “Restoration Complete”, Click Ok.

If you are still having problems and you do have an HP computer, I would contact them directly to find a more specific solution. If not, contact Lightscribe using the above link.

Yes, it is indeed possible to pick up computer viruses when working offline. While you’re less exposed to viruses and spyware when not actively connected to the Internet, your computer is vulnerable to viruses introduced via “old school” methods such as sharing discs with other computer users. Let’s take a look at common virus transmission methods.

Disc Sharing

Sharing discs with other computer users can also lead to the inadvertent sharing of computer viruses and malware. For example, if your friend or coworker has an infected computer and then makes a disc of files, such as vacation photos or Word documents, the disc could be infected, too. Guess what happens when you insert the disc and open the files? A possible virus or spyware infection. This possibility makes it necessary to always scan any media source for viruses, regardless of who gave it to you. In fact, before Internet use became mainstream, computer to computer virus infections from shared floppy discs was extremely common.

USB Flash Drives

Many computer users now use USB flash drives to carry their most important documents for use on multiple computers. Unfortunately, if one computer, such as your work computer, is infected with viruses, it’s probable that your USB stick will soon carry the virus and infect other computers that you use such as your home PC or laptop.

Network Worms

If your computer is on a network, even if the network is not connected to the Internet, it is possible for your computer to pick up viruses, worms, and other malware from other connected computers. For example, let’s say your office has a small network of just two computers, neither of which are connected to the Internet. What if your coworker uses a USB stick to transfer files to and from his personal computer? Once his workstation is infected, it is entirely possible for malware to worm its way to your computer. Now, imagine the threat when the network is large. Next, imagine if most of the networked computers regularly connect to the Internet and engage in unsafe computer habits? Fortunately, larger networks are almost always actively managed by systems administrators and include sophisticated technologies to minimize these threats.  

Infected Retail Software Discs

Software installation discs, even those you buy from legitimate retailers, have been known to contain malware. Be especially wary of compilation discs containing hundreds of “goodies.” For example, some of these discs contain freeware and other freebies bundled into a single resource on CD. Unfortunately, just as on the Internet, freeware often comes with a price: spyware.

Factory-Installed Virus Infections

Believe it or not, your electronic gizmos, such as digital picture frames, music players, and other peripheral devices, often come preinstalled with computer viruses. An Associated Press article recently exposed this threat. For example, if the computer used for testing electronic gadgets at the factory is infected, guess what happens to the gadgets tested with that computer? They become infected. When you connect your gadget to your PC, the virus then infects your computer.

No matter how insulated your computer is to the outside world, viruses and malware can infiltrate it. Your best defense is a strong offense: a good antivirus and anti-spyware solution. We recently reviewed about twenty such solutions for 2009 which are viewable here: Antivirus Reviews.

Items Included in a Virus Scan

Hmm, this is a bit tricky. Without knowing which files you are missing it will be hard to seek or find them. However, it is possible that you aren’t actually missing anything. Sometimes different virus scans, or the same scan at different times, will adjust the number of items on your system that they include in the scan. For example, different scan will select a different number of files to scan, and will return different results.

The Removal of Items by a Virus Scan

It is also possible that the items might not have been files, and have been legitimately deleted by the virus scan. Without knowing what the items were, it is possible that they were cookies or temporary Internet files, and not actual files. In this case, you won’t notice that you are missing anything, except perhaps some stored password and information contents that you might have had saved.

About Windows System Restore

In order to figure out what is going on in your computer, and to find out what happened to your files, you could use System Restore to return your computer to its condition prior to opening the infected attachment. System Restore takes pictures of your computer at regular intervals, and can be used to turn back your computer’s time and memory to earlier settings. It is important to realize that you will lose all of the changes that you have made since the Restore Date that you choose. If you decide to use System Restore, you can turn back your computer’s time, and set it to before the infection got on your system, and to before you used the virus scan that might have deleted your files. After you use System Restore, you might have to re-remove the virus, depending on how it affected your system.

Using Windows System Restore

Using System Restore is easy. Click Start to open the Start Menu, and then choose All Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, and then select System Restore. A Wizard will open and guide you through using the tool, and help you choose a date to return to.

Checking How Many Files are on your Computer

Once you set your computer back, you can check out your system contents, and find out how many files you have. To check how many files you have on your computer, click Start, then Run and then enter cmd in the command line and press Enter. In the next command line, enter dir/s/a-d c:\ This command will scan your computer files and provide you with a total. This is a much more reliable way to take inventory of your systems files.

Antivirus 2009

Stop! Do not click on the link! Antivirus 2009 is a rogue spyware program that presents false virus and spyware results so that you will go to their website and purchase their entire program. It has also been known as XP Antivirus 2008, Vista Antivirus 2008, Ultimate Antivirus 2008 and System Antivirus 2008. Antivirus 2009 has the ability to clone itself and after rebooting you will see more false “System Scan” messages.

Downloading Trojans

So how did you get it? Antivirus 2009 is usually promoted via a Trojan installer that is found in freeware, shareware and certain adult-content websites. If you installed peer-to-peer software you can easily catch and spread this kind of malware. The first thing to remember is to constantly run good (credible) antivirus programs and make sure that you know what you’re downloading when you are using other programs.

Using Malware Removal Tools

The best way to get rid of Antivirus 2009 is to use a quality malware removal program including ParetoLogic Antivirus Plus, Windows Defender and Malwarebytes. These programs should be able to catch this particular program, but it is a good idea to run more than one to make sure that nothing slips by.

Manual Removal of Antivirus 2009

By painstakingly finding and deleting the registry keys that are associated with this program you can delete it manually, but unless you are very tech savvy, I wouldn’t recommend it. Accidentally deleting or altering the wrong key can wreak havoc with your system. If you or someone you know wants more information on deleting this program manually, check out the website 2-Spyware. They have a list of all of the programs and registry keys that you need to look for.

The main thing to remember is not to click on things that look suspicious. Antivirus 2009 is malware masquerading as legitimate software. Remove it with a good, credible antivirus program and you should have no more pop up trouble.

APCmain

APCmain is associated with a program by Ascentive Performance Center which makes products such as BeAware which is PC monitoring software. The error message that is telling you to reinstall APCmain is linked to a rogue program called Spyware Striker. It is most likely malware that has been installed on your computer either through an email link or through a website. Most often, you won’t even know when malware has been introduced until you start getting error messages.

Run Antimalware Programs

Are you running and updating good antimalware programs? I always advise running more than one to make sure you catch as much garbage as you can. If you have good programs on your computer, make sure you have gone to the website and downloaded the most updated version and then run them. If you don’t then you can visit our review of popular antimalware programs here. We have reviewed the top twenty antivirus, Trojan, worm and spyware removal tools that you may need.

Remove APCmain Files Manually

You can try to remove anything associated with this program on your computer manually if you want to, although I would do this in addition to running good programs rather than instead of. Follow these steps to locate files that are associated with APCmain on your machine:

1. Go to Start and choose Programs.
2. Choose Accessories and then Windows Explorer.
3. Click on Search. Then All Files & Folders.
4. In the search box, enter APCmain.
5. Where it says Look In, go to Local Hard Drive (C) and select it.
6. Click on More Advanced Options and make sure the first three boxes are selected.
7. If your machine finds files that are related to APCmain, right click on them and select Delete.

Once you have removed the APCmain files, your computer should no longer get the error message and the machine should run normally.

It depends on whether the csrss.exe file that you have is indeed a virus or if it is part of the Windows operating system. The way you know which exe file you have is by the location on your computer.

Csrss.exe is a legitimate Windows file that manages Windows graphic commands. It is the executable file for Microsoft Client Server/Runtime Server Subsystem. It can also be part of a Trojan or worm that is sent either in an email or through a website to harm your computer.

You need to find the location of the csrss.exe file. If it is in C:\Windows\System 32 or in C:\Windows\$NT ServicePackUninstall$ or C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles\i386 it is a legitimate part of Windows and should not be removed. If it is in any other location it is probably harmful and should be removed.

Because removing the wrong csrss.exe file can harm your computer, I recommend removing any suspicious file by downloading Microsoft Windows Defender as well as running other spyware programs. Windows Defender is a good first stop as it continually updates the program using input from users as well as their own research.

After downloading and running Windows Defender, you should update and run any other antivirus programs you have on your computer. Some good ones to try are Antivirus Plus, McAfee, Ad-Aware and Spybot Search and Destroy.

If you really, really want to do it yourself, you are going to have to go in and modify the registry keys, but only the registry keys that contain csrss.exe that are not associated with System32. You will need to go into regedit and find and delete all suspected files. If you don’t know how to use regedit, then I suggest you get assistance from someone who knows how to modify the registry keys or let the antivirus programs do it for you. Make sure you set a system restore point and make a backup of your system before you attempt to do anything in the registry in case you have a problem.

Find where your csrss.exe file is located to determine whether it is a virus, and then use removal tools if necessary.