Re: problem please help
- From: Malke <notreally@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 01 Dec 2005 15:42:33 -0800
JB wrote:
> Hi.
> Never had problems with my pc until yesterday.
> Firstly, I'm very careful, have McAfee Security Suite 2006 (updated
> last week from McAfee VS9 and FirewallPlus)
> Spydoctor (full scan daily) and Microsoft AntiSpy, as well as my ISP's
> very good Virus and Antispam campaign.
>
> Yesterday when I went on my machine, out of the blue, everything I
> clicked on started to take 1-2 minutes to respond as well as the
> Windows Programs menu and task manager. I rebooted the machine . At
> first it asked if I wanted to go SafeMode, a different screen to the
> F8 when you can choose. it continued as if to start then went back to
> that odd safe mode thing like in
> a loop, It did this 3 times and then started normally. But it took
> over 10 minutes to fully load everything. And again everything I did
> took ages. This is with Start>Programs (but not Start), the menu opens
> but just grey and just hangs for ages, but then ok in spurts. the
> right click on any of the system task icons, particularly Task
> manager. Task manager process didn't show anything with high cpu usage
> except windows Explorer. When it 'wakes up' it is fine for a few
> seconds. IE takes an age. Right clicking on the desktop is fine and
> opening program seems ok.
> Also a few fonts have gone Italic, and the following icons are gone
> and showing generic.
> All Office2003 icons, PaintshopPro10, and Adobe. All other icons are
> ok.
>
> I did a Virus Scan and Spy Doctor and Microsoft AntiSpy, all came up
> with 0. Restarted in safe mode, was just as slow, and ran VirusScan
> while I went to work in safe mode, 7 hours later when I returned,
> McAfee VS stuck on a file.
> c:Windows/$/KB899591/update/update_sp2QFE.inf (the slashes are the
> other way around but cannot find them on my laptop sorry)
> Could minimise it but could not close it except in Task manager.
> So I then did a system restore to Monday when all was well, but there
> is no change at all.
> I deleted a lot of stuff in Add/Remove. A couple of things came up
> with the following error:
> "Windows installer service could not be accessed. This can occur if
> you are in safe mode or if the windows installer is not properly
> installed." but of course I'm not in safe mode. I don't know if this
> is all part of the problem but I thought I'd include everything that's
> different just in case.
>
> PC Packard Bell , Only 1.5 years old.
> XP sp2,
> Office 03.
> 40 Gb only 2/3 free space
> 448 Mb of Ram
>
You've done a good job of determining that the problem isn't
virus/malware. From your description of the problem, I'd lean toward a
hardware issue. The newness of the computer is irrelevant; in fact if
hardware is going to fail it usually does so quite soon - or the day
the warranty runs out :-o
I'll give you general hardware troubleshooting steps, but you probably
should just call tech support, particularly since this is a laptop. You
might want to test the hard drive and memory before you call tech
support so they don't just fob you off with "reinstall Windows". One
other thing - check whether your drives are using PIO Mode instead of
one of the DMA Modes. Here's a link explaining that:
http://www.michna.com/kb/WxDMA.htm
1) Open the computer and run it open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and
observing all fans (overheating will cause system freezing). Obviously
you can't do this with a laptop, but you can hear if the fan is running
and feel if the laptop is getting too hot.
2) Test the RAM - I like Memtest86+ from www.memtest.org. Obviously, you
have to get the program from a working machine. You will either
download the precompiled Windows binary to make a bootable floppy or
the .iso to make a bootable cd. If you want to use the latter, you'll
need to have third-party burning software on the machine where you
download the file - XP's built-in burning capability won't do the job.
In either case, boot with the media you made. The test will run
immediately. Let the test run for an hour or two - unless errors are
seen immediately. If you get any errors, replace the RAM.
3) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr. Download
the file and make a bootable floppy or cd with it. Boot with the media
and do a thorough test. If the drive has physical errors, replace it.
4) The power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for the devices
you have in the system. The adequacy issue doesn't really apply to a
laptop, although of course the power supply can be faulty.
5) Test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com. Sometimes this is useful, and sometimes it isn't.
Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of BigStoreUSA).
Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
.
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