Problem With My Computer

[Doc Holliday]

Hey guys. Something appears wrong with my windows PC. (Posting from my Ubuntu laptop.) It boots, and slowly gets to windows, but it brings me to a completely blank desktop with no icons/start menu. I can Ctr-Alt-Delete to bring up the task menu, but 99% is on system idle process.

Any ideas about how I can go about getting this fixed, or even figuring out what's wrong? The computer was frozen when I came back to it from earlier today. All I did was look around the internet a bit. I don't think it's hardware cause it at least loads windows.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
-Andrew

[ThoughtAddict]

I've worked in tech support for a few years, servicing mainly Windows. I'm assuming you're running XP?

To troubleshoot, try using the task manager to launch explorer.exe. File -> New Task -> explorer.exe

If your desktop comes up, see if everything works normally. Then run regedit (Start -> Run -> regedit) and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon. Make sure that there is a key there of "shell = explorer.exe"

Have you had any other problems with the computer? Popups, odd things happening on startup, anything?

If you get it running to the point you can get around on it, go to Merijn.org and download HijackThis. Scan and save a log, which will help troubleshoot.

Let me know how it goes.

[Doc Holliday]

I am using XP, and I had an updated version of AVG anti virus running as well

"To troubleshoot, try using the task manager to launch explorer.exe. File -> New Task -> explorer.exe"

I did this, and a blue bar flashes onto the bottom of my desktop before quickly disappearing.

Anything else I can try?

[Niki]

Install ubuntu on that pc too. No just kidding.

Download an install adware free version, from the lavasoft website

When installed run it, and delete everything it finds.

Then

Try to uninstall all the software that is optional. Messengers, toolbars, search engine plugins, promotion kits, freeware, etc. Keep the virusscanner

Maybe this will do it .

Greetings

[Shamou]

Hello Doc Holliday...

Sorry I cannot offer any advice but there is this site that specialize in helping people with PC problem... they are very good and it is free...

You can visit them here...

I am a member there and I can vouch that it is an excellent site...

The best of luck to you...

.

[Ree]

[QUOTE=Doc Holliday;81764 a blue bar flashes onto the bottom of my desktop before quickly disappearing.

[/QUOTE]

Uh-oh. Last time I suffered a hard drive crash, something similar happened to me. My PC guy called it "the blue box of death."

[ThoughtAddict]

Sounds like a program is shutting down explorer.exe. Could be any number of malicious programs (viruses, adware, spyware), a problem with an installed program/programs, or a fault in explorer.exe itself. There are two courses available:

1) Fresh install the OS (which involves wiping all files and then installing everything again)
or
2) Rooting out the problem and fixing it.

If this computer is relatively new, it may be easiest for you to fresh install. However, if you have data you'd prefer not to lose you can probably fix the problem with some help.

The first thing to do would be to eliminate malware. If you run HijackThis, I'll look over the log for ya. Other programs that might help are Lavasoft's Adaware and the independent Spybot. Both are free and can be found easily by doing a web search. You can run the installers from a removable disc using the task manager. I'd recommend using both if you want to go that route, as neither one is 100% effective.

I'll PM ya an e-mail address if you want to use HijackThis and send a log.

If none of that works, I'd verify that the Hard Drive isn't damaged using chkdsk /r (Task manager -> File -> New task, it should start on reboot) and then move on to a repair install using the Windows XP disk. Those instructions can be found various places online.

[aussieNickuss]

I don't have any useful ideas for this but I would recommend a clean re-install of windows would be the trick....that fixes most problems! Another thing to do before you go that far is to put in your XP disc and use the repair option.

If you need to backup your files, assuming you used an Ubuntu Live CD for your laptop, you could use that to boot your PC and backup your files over a network onto your laptop.

[Andrew Brunelle]

It happens on my computer as well. What I do is Cntrl-alt-del, new task in the cntrl-alt-del menu, then I select New Task, then write in Windows Explorer in the box, and it will all appear, although there may be a more serious problem underneath it all. My computer has acted like this for over a year now and it still works fine, other than that.

[Minsc]

Go to the processes tab of task manager and write down all of the names of the processes, and then boot into Ubuntu and google them to find out if any are viruses or something..

Also, try safe mode. When you start your computer, you should see some sort of loading bar(or not?), it depends on the motherboard manufacturer... Anyway, after it, there should be a black screen. Before the Windows logo and loading bar show up, tap F8 repetedly until you get to a screen with a black background and some text on it. If the loading bar shows up, restart and try again. From the new screen you got, up the up and down arrow keys until "safe mode" is highlighted and then hit the enter key.. Log in normally, and answer "yes" to the dialog box that should show up if your computer works from it. You'll need to figure out what's wrong and fix it from safe mode.

I wouldn't repair or reformat since it'll screw a lot of things up, but you might have to...

[ThoughtAddict]

Originally Posted by Minsc

I wouldn't repair or reformat since it'll screw a lot of things up, but you might have to...

A repair install shouldn't screw a lot of things up, should it? There is a chance of that, but more often it just works in my experience. What problems have you seen?

[dcaldwell]

Originally Posted by ThoughtAddict

A repair install shouldn't screw a lot of things up, should it? There is a chance of that, but more often it just works in my experience. What problems have you seen?

Repairs often end up stabalizing Windows, but only in the short-term. Nearly every case I've seen requires a fresh OS install after a few months at most.

Ironcically, I had the same problem Doc Holliday had 1 day ago with a winXP system used by the family. (My own PC already uses Ubuntu.) At this point, I can't be bothered trying to troubleshoot Windows when it gets this bad. I ended up repartitioning the HD and installing Ubuntu 7. If you're worried about reclaiming your "lost" data, use the Ubuntu Live CD to mount the NTFS partition, then fetch and resave that data.

[Minsc]

Originally Posted by ThoughtAddict

A repair install shouldn't screw a lot of things up, should it? There is a chance of that, but more often it just works in my experience. What problems have you seen?

I meant it'd reset a lot of your settings...

But, I've had some trouble with drivers that didn't go away(the trouble) after a repair. That's the only time I've used it...

[Mremedia]

Whoops.. misread the OP.

Are you able to boot into safemode? If so, then it's like a config issue. Run MSCONFIG and disable ALL startup options, and reboot. If it's still not working, you can try running "sfc /scannow" from a command prompt. This will require your Windows CD.

or....

Boot from your WinXP cd, and choose install, then select "R" to repair the installation. This may be the easiest solution for you.

or...

From safemode, try to disable Automatic updates, and then reboot. If it works, run Windows update manually, and then you can re-enable the automatic updates.

[Minsc]

Msconfig will reset all of your manual services to disabled which is pretty annoying, if you have manual services.. And it'll pop some useless dialogs up after you reboot.

I use Start-Up Tool...

And try disabling drivers with Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Device Manager.