Windows XP problems

[mailee]

Help! After booting up my computer (Pentium 4 2gig running Windows XP Pro) It booted up fine but nothing will open?? Each time I click on a program the hour glass comes on for a couple of seconds and then nothing?? I have tried restoring it but it gets as far as accessories and then just comes up with a blank list? It will then just stay like this until I use ALT, CONT, DEL and use this to close or restart it. I have tried it in safe mode and it is just the same. Have I picked up a virus as I haven't updated my AVG to version 8 yet? Any help please before I resort to wiping the drive and reinstalling.

 

[RogerS]

Have you tried restoring to an earlier system point?

 

[chunkolini]

mailee,
there is an easy solution to this problem.
Open up the slot on the front of the computer and tip in a cup of coffee. Easy.

never fails.

Chunko.

 

[Tom K]

mailee,
there is an easy solution to this problem.
Open up the slot on the front of the computer and tip in a cup of coffee. Easy.

never fails.

Chunko.

Of course you must tilt the tower backwards or the coffee just stains your carpet.

Regards Tom

 

[Bodrighy]

Have you tried booting it in safe mode? If that doesn't work then you'll probably have to a wipe. I presume you have access to another machine, hook your disc up to it first and save all the important stuff first

Pete

 

[Tom K]

You could try having a look here there are some very helpful people.

http://www.tek-tips.com/index.cfm

Regards Tom

 

[Argee]

When you say "it boots up fine" I presume that you mean that you can see your desktop? If that's the case, immediately give it a three-fingered salute (Ctrl+Alt+Del) and get Task Manager running. See which process is hogging all the processing power. Sounds like a virus to me, I'm afraid, but you just might find otherwise.

Ray.

 

[mailee]

Well Roger I wish I could restore to an earlier point but it just hangs when i try to get there. I get as far as accessories and thet is all.
Pete I have tried booting into safe mode with the same problems, nothing works. I do have access to another machine too but it is no good hooking it up to this to save my info as I can't get into anything to save it! All the machine will do is go to my desktop and that is it. I have tried Control panel, my computer, restore, and even close but nothing works other than the task manager which shows no programs working?? As for the processes in task manager thare are lots in there but I have no idea which should be running or not?? I will try that site Tom but so far I have tried a few others without success. It is very much looking like it is a virus Ray and that I will have no choice but to re install windows aftger a drive wipe. I do have all of my plans and important stuff on a seperate drive in the machine with Windows on a seperate one but it is such a hassle to re install all of the programsand usually takes around three or four hours through past experience. I will hunt some more before I commit myself to that and re install tomorrow if I have to.

 

[bobscarle]

Mailee

Thinking about the possibility of virus attacks. In a situation like this I would go to another PC and go to the McAfee site and download a stinger http://vil.nai.com/VIL/stinger/. This is a little application that contains fingerprints of around 50 or so of the latest viruses. It will fit on a floppy disk so that it can be taken to the suspect machine.

Run that and see what it finds. If there is an infection it may find it and clean it for you. However it is not a full anti-virus application and will not find all known viruses, but it may help.

Bob

 

[misterfish]

Another option would be to use something like http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ (providing you have access to another computer with a CD rewriter). This type of software will produce a CD that you can then boot the offending machine from and then run a complete virus scan. You should be able to find something more upto date - I haven't time for a detailed search as I now have to go out and am busy for most of this week.

This is just one example that I quickly came across by Googling and I'm sure there are a number of other free virus checking and hardware checking utilities that can be downloaded and burned in the same way to allow scanning of all aspects of the machine.

Misterfish

 

[kityuser]

sounds like a virus to me.

go to pc world, get hold of a norton disc (usually £20 or so) normally a bootable cd, stick it in the machine reboot/scan.

as suggested boot into safe mode. Have a nose around see if you can spot anything suspect (google msconfig and read up)

Steve

 

[cant-weld-wood]

i had the same problem two months ago.
restored the system completely and still kept doing the same
get to desk top and then stop.
and it turned out to be ram memmory had gone up the wall
re placed the ddr ram that was at fault and now all is fine.
had me ripping my hair out for three days.

 

[kmcleod]

Sounds like a Virus,,,but suggest you may end doing some or all of the following,,

Run a virus check - the stinger method suggested above always worked for me when supporting desktops,,,

If its not - have u got the latest Microsoft service pack and patches installed...sometimes of these are input in the wrong order they will cause something to hang,,,check these against the microsoft website using the other computer...

Boot the machine into safe mode,,,usually pressing F8 on startup will do this,,,,connect a USB storage device and copy all of your data you want to save,,,

Re-build the machine,,,,

If the same problem happens,,,then could be a number of things,,,sector on hard disk knackered,,,though usually this is acompanied by noise,,,the chips,,,either RAM or one of the bus chips,,,either way it could get expensive to sort out,,,and if the machine is past a couple of years old,,,,seriously consider whether more sensible to junk it and get a new one,,,,,

The joys of IT,,,,,grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[TonyW]

It is possible that a virus has caused this ( I would be interested to know which particular variant), however from your description my "gut" reaction is that it is caused by something else. Therefore assuming that any virus check you carry out returns negative then you may wish to consider the following:

1. System boards (memory, graphics etc) not seated correctly or faulty
Open computer case and remove an re insert each card. While in there you may also want to give it a gentle clean
EDIT: You can download a memory check utility from MS which will run from a floppy and thoroughly check memory modules.

2 HDD file system corrupted or failure.
It may be possible for you to download a diagnostic utility for your HDD. You should have a look on the disk manufacturers
web site for such an application. Usually you will be required to download a zip file burn to disk then boot your system with
the diagnostic application. By running the test the application will show if you have problems with HDD.

3 Windows has become corrupted.
It is possible that part of Windows installation has become corrupted. In your case you will need to do a full install using
your original Windows CD. You should not loose any of your saved data (but well worth backing up before you start) but you will need to reload all your applications again.

Cheers
Tony

 

[Timmo]

Computers can be a right pain...I just had to fix a neighbours where he had corrupted all his master boot record etc by just switching off instead of shutting down....was pretty hairy for a while as I removed the HDD and plugged it into mine to get his data before I attempted recovery and mine was just picking his up as blank..thats how bad it was...
If you have got a chum locally then get them to plug in your HDD and run their Anti virus on it....some of the smart viruses will stay hidden if you install an AV program after the computer is infected or at least will stop the software from updating to new definitions by blocking the website...
Just make sure that before doing anything inside the box that you are properly grounded as any static on yourself can kill the mobo, memory, video card etc
If, like someone has suggested, your windows system files have become corrupted then you don't need to do a full install from the discs, you can go into the recovery console and do a repair install which fixes and replaces any corrupted files..
Windows has a whole host of its own diagnostic applications so it might be worth giving some of those a go..check disk for example is a very useful one..
I am not sure how computer conversant you are but if you want to PM me then we can go through some stuff and I'll try and get you sorted..
How old is your PC by the way.If you have all your installation disks and can copy off your important data then it can do the computer the world of good to format the drive and start again...although if you do take that route I would just buy a new hard drive (keeping you old one untouched) and start reinstalling everything on that...then if you run into any probs or find you haven't got some data you can just get it off the old one...HDDs are so cheap now that this would be my way of tackling the problem without compromising your current HDD...
It could be your HDD is failing so don't leave it any lobger than you need to...
Cheers
Timmo

 

[mailee]

Thanks for the offer Timmo but I have just re-installed it last night. I haven't finished it yet as I still have lots of my programs to put back but it is up and running fine now. I did try the virus checker from one of the postings here but it didn't detect anything, so I decided to wipe the drive and start fresh. It does seem to be slow booting up but once up it runs fine and pretty quick. I have lost my address book but everything else was on a seperate drive so my files are fine.

 

[Timmo]

No worries...Shame you lost your address book...You can copy that file out if you know where to find it but it is pretty buried in a load of folders...
Glad you got yourself sorted anyway and good work keeping your important stuff on a seperate hard drive to your OS...you wouldn't believe how many people still don't do that....
Cheers
Timmo

 

[devonwoody]

I had a mouse failure this week, and a keyboard stopped working for 12 hours (or the mouse wont do anything) but I use a stylus and wacom pad and at the moment I am working.

Then yesterday the wifes laptop also refused to obey at the finger plate, managed to get to system restore using left click tab or enter key and things came back to working order.

So is there a virus around or just normal PC agro?

 

[Timmo]

Are you running AV on your computers?
You haven't got a wirless mouse have you?

 

[devonwoody]

yes AVs on and the mouse is not wireless.
Going to ask the lady over the road if she would lend me her mouse.

Its odd that the keybopard came back the next day.