Keeper Mallinson on 8/12/2009 at 21:18
Hi guys, I think there's something really wrong with my computer this time. Thanks for all your help in the past, I've had my share of problems, but this one's stumped me.
One morning, I found my computer had completely frozen. I could move my cursor around, but everything else was static. After 5 clicks of the mouse, the cursor froze too, and the harddrive made that "can't do that" beep after each subsequent click.
I rebooted. The startup proceeded as always, but after everything in the startup had loaded, the exact same thing occurred. It now happens every time during startup, except when I enter safe mode.
I found a solution (at first) when I entered safe mode. From safe mode, I started a system restore, to before the problem started. It worked, and I used the computer normally for the rest of the evening.
The next day the computer had reset itself and when I entered setup it happened again. So I did a system restore from safe mode again. This continued for a few days until I looked into why it was resetting: it was the Windows updates. It occurred to me that the Windows updates may be somehow causing the problem, so I turned them off. That worked for three days. Then it happened again. When I tried to do a system restore, even then it wouldn't work; the restore-point still froze on setup.
So I tried turning the updates back on, but that hasn't made any difference. I tried doing another system restore a couple days later, but now the system restore feature is turned off, the option cannot be turned on in safe mode, and even in the 30 seconds I have before the freeze occurs in normal mode it says there's an error turning on system restore.
I can't foresee either the cause or my options here. Windows bug? A virus? Broken software?
My computer:
Microsoft Windows XP
Professional
Version 2002
Service Pack 2
Registered to: Kyle Mallinson
Computer:
AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor
3000+
2.00 GHz, 1.00 GB of RAM
Ladron De La Noche on 9/12/2009 at 09:32
Hello Kyle Mallinson. :p
1. Go to Start/Run and type 'msconfig' w/o quotes and select under General tab select 'Diagnostic Startup' and reboot.
2. Go to Start/Run and type 'sfc /scannow' w/o quotes. See if that will correct some things.
3. Right click 'My Computer' icon on the desktop, select 'Manage' and select 'Event Viewer'. Any error reports? If so, paste the critical ones here.
4. Go to Start/Control Panel/System/Hardware/Device Manager and check if any red or yellow flags are shown.
Keep the Windows automatic updates off for the time being until the system becomes stable. This might be software or it might be hardware or even both. hehe :)
bikerdude on 9/12/2009 at 10:42
its could be something as simple as a bad stick of memory, try unplugging the memory from ist slot and plugging into another slot and see how you go..
Keeper Mallinson on 9/12/2009 at 16:30
Ladron: thanks for the advice so far. I'll take responses in reverse order, except for the first item: I'm in diagnostic mode now.
-Checking the device manager revealed no red or yellow flags of any kind. It's blank, in fact.
[Note: the subsequent problems may be caused by a few missing system files from a virus a few years back. It mimicked some of my system files, including a win32 file, which I had to remove in order to stop it. Ever since, installation programs try to open up when I try to open up a Microsoft Office program, and the only way to open the program is to press cancel and let it open up anyway.]
-When looking at the Event Viewer in the manage section of My Computer, selecting any of the options (ACEEventLog, Application, Internet Explorer, Security, System) brings up the error message "Unable to complete the operation on "[option here]". The interface is unknown."
-After running the scannow process, two boxes open up, one the regular process, and the second an alert box which interrupts the process by saying "Files that are required for Windows to run properly must be copied to the DLL Cache." It asks me to insert my Windows CD, but it's been years, I don't know if I have the thing around.
Bikerdude: that is a possibility, though I don't really have the knowhow to open the thing up and find the right thing to pull. That's an option I can explore with a friend in town, though. Thanks.
Al_B on 9/12/2009 at 22:24
You could always burn a (
http://www.memtest.org/) memtest 86+ image and use that without opening up the computer. I've found it pretty reliable in the past at picking up dodgy memory.
bikerdude on 10/12/2009 at 07:39
Quote Posted by Al_B
I've found it pretty reliable in the past at picking up dodgy memory.
ive run this also, but in some case its diagnosed a bad stick when all it was, was a bad connection. Re-seating the memory costs nothing and can fix issue/s like this.
Al_B on 10/12/2009 at 08:02
Yes, of course it'll obviously only tell you if there's a problem with the memory not the root cause of the problem. I tend to use it as a first step elimination - I've not known it pass memory that was actually faulty (or poorly seated).
Keeper Mallinson on 15/12/2009 at 16:53
I was going to post that it wasn't possible for me to install the program mentioned, as my computer had no net access in diagnostic mode and for some reaosn the USB ports weren't working; but it seems inapplicable now.
The problems were definitely in part the result of computer senility, and perhaps it was time to let the old girl go. My friend suddenly had a hand-me-down he was going to give to charity. It works wonderfully, thus far. So, thanks for all your help guys, but we may never know the problem. At least I've upgraded. Let's see how she can fly. =D
Keeper Mallinson on 15/12/2009 at 17:33
Now my only problem is that audio doesn't work for some reason. All the connections are made, and surely hooked up correctly... I'm not sure what the problem could be.
Al_B on 15/12/2009 at 18:26
Quote Posted by Keeper Mallinson
I was going to post that it wasn't possible for me to install the program mentioned, as my computer had no net access
Just for future reference - you don't normally download and install memtest86+ on the computer with the problem. It's supplied as a CD ISO image that you can burn with infrarecorder, nero or similar on a different computer, e.g. the one you were posting with. You then boot from that CD (changing the boot order in the BIOS if necessary) and it runs automatically. You don't even need a hard drive in the computer for it to work.
Quote Posted by Keeper Mallinson
Now my only problem is that audio doesn't work for some reason
* Is the sound integrated into the motherboard or on a separate soundcard? If it's on the motherboard some chipsets can be flexible about which outputs are active - often there's a system tray icon for configuring it.
* Have you checked the audio mixer to make sure that sound isn't muted or turned down?
* Have you tried it with headphones or another speaker?
* If you go to audio devices in the control panel, does it have a sensible device selected for sound playback?
* Have you checked the device manager to make sure the sound card is disabled?
Just a few things off the top of my head. Some details such as operating system and the sound device you're using would be helpful.
