[Mossstock]

Hi, Ime John. We are experiencing problems with Windows XP and need your help please. To start with, i am not a 'computer minded' person, i love to use the internet and its other facilities, but if things dont go how they should, I have to ask for help. Our PC was purchased 'second hand' last year and has been grand until just recently. There were no 'master discs' with it or anything like that.

Problem number 1/ ; Now, it wont start up properly. when switched on, it does a bit of a check, then stops and tells us to press F1 to continue. once this is done it carries on (very slowly) and eventually loads after about 10 minutes.

No2/; We lose the mouse pointer arrow. either it starts without shoowing the mouse pointer arrow, or it disappears a little while after switching on. The mouse still works, in that you can see it 'highlighting' things like the page close/minimise boxes, but theres no arrow there. If you by chance land in the right place, clicking the mouse controls still works on screen, but trying to use it this was is very frustrating.

Number 3/; The computer just switches off for no reason. Theres no pattern to how it does this, it just goes, and wipes out all the history etc. One restarting the computer,, a message box comes uo telling me that 'your computer has recovered from a serious fault'.

We run AVG (free edition), AVG anti spyware, counterspy and Superantispyware (free edition), updating and scanning every day. Can anyone kindly help please, as its very difficult to use the PC at the moment. Sincere thanks, john.

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Hi Mossstock...

Looks like you've got quite a few things we need to address. At this point, I wouldn't rule out malware, either. Let's see if we can get that rig running a little better, then we'll see if there are any nasties aboard.

Click Start, then All Programs, point to Accessories, then to System Tools, and choose Disk Cleanup. Let that scan the machine, select everything that shows it can be cleaned, and let Disk Cleanup remove the unneeded junk.

Then click Start, then Run, type cmd in the "Open" field, and click "Ok". A command session will open. At the prompt, type chkdsk /r and press "Enter". You will be told the drive is busy and asked if you want this to run on the next boot...type Y and press "Enter". Type exit and press "Enter". Reboot.

This will run a thorough check on the file system and attempt to recover any corrupt data blocks it finds. If may appear to hang, or even to back up a bit...this is normal. This check may take quite a while. Be patient...let it finish.

Once you are back in Windows, click Start, then All Programs, point to Accessories, then to System Tools, and choose Disk Defragmenter. Click on the "Analyze" button. Once the analysis is complete, click on the "Defragment" button. This will also take a while.

Once you have completed these steps, post back an let me know how the machine is running.

wannabe1

[wannabe1]

Hi Mossstock...

Looks like you've got quite a few things we need to address. At this point, I wouldn't rule out malware, either. Let's see if we can get that rig running a little better, then we'll see if there are any nasties aboard.

Click Start, then All Programs, point to Accessories, then to System Tools, and choose Disk Cleanup. Let that scan the machine, select everything that shows it can be cleaned, and let Disk Cleanup remove the unneeded junk.

Then click Start, then Run, type cmd in the "Open" field, and click "Ok". A command session will open. At the prompt, type chkdsk /r and press "Enter". You will be told the drive is busy and asked if you want this to run on the next boot...type Y and press "Enter". Type exit and press "Enter". Reboot.

This will run a thorough check on the file system and attempt to recover any corrupt data blocks it finds. If may appear to hang, or even to back up a bit...this is normal. This check may take quite a while. Be patient...let it finish.

Once you are back in Windows, click Start, then All Programs, point to Accessories, then to System Tools, and choose Disk Defragmenter. Click on the "Analyze" button. Once the analysis is complete, click on the "Defragment" button. This will also take a while.

Once you have completed these steps, post back an let me know how the machine is running.

wannabe1

[Mossstock]

Thanks for your kind help Wanabe, it certainly seems to speed things up a bit. Whats next please?

Thanks very much,

John

[latigid]

Clean the interior of your computer:

http://www.bleepingc...utorial118.html

Basic maintenance (some same as wannabe says):

http://computercleanup.blogspot.com/

[wannabe1]

Faster is good...

Did the last procedures help with the mouse problem?

Click Start, then Run, type prefetch in the open field, and click "Ok'. The Prefetch folder will open. Click "Edit" on the toolbar and choose "Select All"...right click on one of the selected files and choose "Delete". Accept the deletion. It will take 3 or 4 reboots to completely repopulate the prefetch with fresh files...until it is populated, you may see a slight increase in boot time.

Download, install, and run SpeedFan on the machine. This will monitor the temperatures and voltages of key components. Please list the temperatures you see listed under the "Readings" tab...OR, if you can, post a screenshot of the SpeedFan window with the "Readings" tab selected...it's always helpful to us to be able to see this information as reported. Make note of the temperatures right after you start the machine and again after it has run for a while.

[Mossstock]

Hi Wannabe1,

i followed your instructions, loaded prefetch and then speedfan, and a few minutes later the whole system just lost contact with the monitor. Since then i have been unable to get the computer to work. it switches on, powers up the fans and hard drive, but does not make a bleep like it should. the monitor is just dead, no writing or anything at all. is it just a horrible co insidence, or something that i have done? Any suggestions/help sincerely appreciated. Am having to use an old pc from years ago that works when it wants to!

thanks very much,

john.

[wannabe1]

I don't think it was anything you did at all. I would rather believe you have some hardware problems.

Do you have a cd burner on the machine you're using now?

Do you have floppy drives on both machines?

[Mossstock]

Unfortunately this old thing only had a floppy drive, bu he other does not. I have a spare floppy drive though, could it be rigged up to the other machine? Thank very much, John.