[gylbert]

Hello. I'm running Windows XP SP1 on a Compag Presario SR1130NX

Over the past day or so, things have gone all haywire

Whenever i boot/restart the computer, XP takes a minute or so longer to load. Once it gets past the welcome screen, windows and the taskbar appear with classic style graphics. After a couple of minutes, everything 'blinks' and reappears with XP graphics. At this point, i go from having 'Realtek AC97' as my audio device, to 'No Audio device'. The only sounds i can hear are basic windows alerts (chime, ding, etc.). The problem doesn't seem to driver related, since i hear the Windows welcome music, as well as the goodbye music when i shut it down or log off

The following programs either do not open at all, or crash immediately upon loading: (these are the ones i know about)
• Windows Updater
• System Information
• System Restore
• Windows Media Player
• Real Player (Quicktime player DOES work, however)
• MSN Messenger (process shows for one second)
• Yahoo Messenger (process shows for one second)
• AOL Instant Messenger. With this one, i can log in, but once it shows my buddy list, it crashes
• Google Earth

No programs load on startup which should, such as the 3 messengers above and WeatherBug

Clicking 'Help > Is this copy of Windows legal?' causes whatever window to crash

C:\Windows thinks it's a music folder, and has for several weeks. Under 'View > Arrange files by', the options given are: name, size, type, artist, album title, year, track number, duration. Clicking any of the last five has caused explorer to crash in the past, but now it will just 'responsively hang', meaning i can click Name, for example, and things will work fine again

C:\Windows\temp\~DFD032.tmp cannot be deleted, as it is 'in use by another program'

Windows Search only loads as a white screen. the File tab only contains Close, the Edit tab nothing at all. The Search helper on the left side only contains the X at upper right

Attempting to load a WMP video on the internet, such as at kontraband.com or similar, causes the browser (firefox) to crash. i am typing out most of this post for the second time as a result

Nothing adverse appears in any of my antivirus or malware scans, including Kaspersky, Ad-aware, ewido, SpyBot or Registry Mechanic. I don't recognize anything out of place in a HijackThis scan

I did rearrange my workspace yesterday, but the only thing which was physically disconnected from the computer was my printer, and it works perfectly

So, to summarize: My computer recognizes no sound device nor mixer, though it is capable of playing some sounds. Several various apps will not work, nor will any messenger program. Internet browsers work fine, and the computer appears free of malware


So now what can i do?

Edited by gylbert, 30 June 2006 - 05:52 PM.

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Sort the operating system first then deal with anything else

You can use this guide to repair XP

Possibly, you will need to press the start button and keep tapping the delete key, (possibly F2) until the PC enters set up. Change the boot order to CD ROM Drive then hard drive, press F10 then press enter, load the XP CD then type Y then press enter, as it reboots, look for press any key to load from CD, press enter

You will need the XP product key to complete this

If you have audio / video files which are subject to DRM you should check with the provider for known issues with performing an XP repair install

XP Repair Install

Windows XP repair feature won't delete your data, installed programs, personal information, or settings. It just repairs the operating system

After running XP Repair you will need to install all Windows Updates

Microsoft Update

[Retired Tech]

Sort the operating system first then deal with anything else

You can use this guide to repair XP

Possibly, you will need to press the start button and keep tapping the delete key, (possibly F2) until the PC enters set up. Change the boot order to CD ROM Drive then hard drive, press F10 then press enter, load the XP CD then type Y then press enter, as it reboots, look for press any key to load from CD, press enter

You will need the XP product key to complete this

If you have audio / video files which are subject to DRM you should check with the provider for known issues with performing an XP repair install

XP Repair Install

Windows XP repair feature won't delete your data, installed programs, personal information, or settings. It just repairs the operating system

After running XP Repair you will need to install all Windows Updates

Microsoft Update

[gylbert]

ah, such a simple, yet troublesome, solution. i was hoping to avoid having to run the system recovery. it works, but sets everything back to defaults

now all i have to do is get everything reconfigured how i like it, and sit through bunches of updates and restarts. no wonder they call these long weekends

thanks very much for the help!

[Retired Tech]

The repair was probably the quickest way of sorting it all out

Thank You for letting me know