it has always had its problems but since there is no customer service and i am not technically a computer geek, i have never done anything about them. they have never interfered with anything important until now.
this is what has happened:
i installed a lexmark printer/scanner recently, and it worked fine. a few days later, after a day of normal computer function, while i was moving an image file to a different folder, suddenly tons of error messages, and even a couple of DOS windows that close by themselves came up. the messages wouldn't go away so i restarted, since then, they are relentless and occur every few minutes repeatedly. also since then, the lexmark software will not work anymore. i am a full time student and classes are starting in a few weeks, so i need to get this taken care of.
when i try to use the printer software, the error message says that some kind of dll file "is not a valid windows image".
here are the error messages. they all come up after bootup, and during shut-down.
the first one always comes up every 15 mins or so, for 6 times.
the most common one that comes up repeatedly:
16 bit MS-DOS subsystem
c:\windows\system32\wuauclt.exe
the NTVCM CPU has encountered an illegal instruction.
(then a long line of numbers and letters)
choose close to terminate application.
AOLDial.exe - bad image
the application or DLL c:\program files\common files\AOL\ACS\xprt5.dll is not a valid windows image. please check against your installation diskette.
16 bit MS-DOS subsystem
c:\progra~1\HP\HPSOFT~1\HPWUSC~1.exe
the NTVDM has encountered an illegal instuction.
(then a long line of numbers and letters)
choose close to terminate application.
keep in mind that although i can work my way around a computer, i in no way consider myself computer savvy. (i just recently found out about the disk defrag.)
things i have tried:
uninstalling and reinstalling the printer software
a virus scan
disk defrag
uninstalling all AOL programs possible since i saw AOL in one of the error messages
system restore - i tried several different restore points, and nothing would stop the error messages or change the situation in any way.
also my system is now taking even longer to shut down (about 20-30 mins)
it stays on the "shutting down" screen for a very long time before it actually turns off.
i don't know what else to do...am hoping one of you know something!!!!
thanks!!!