[sunflyer]

Running Windows xp home on Dell Inspiron. Yesterday I began to get an error message on all icons and programs. No program associated with file....etc. On everything. I can't access system restore for the same reason. Going to Folder Options was of no help. I am using an alternate laptop to send this.

Please help my tired head start going in the right direction to fix this.

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Click start then run, type chkdsk /f /r then press enter, type Y to confirm for next boot, press enter then reboot.

This will take an hour, it will appear to load normally then either the monitor will show progress or the screen will go blank, do not disturb this.

Click start then run, type sfc /scannow then press enter, you need the XP CD and get an onscreen blue progress bar, when the bar goes, reboot.

Click start, all programmes, accessories, system tools to run disc clean up, click more options then clean up restore points, click confirm, click OK. Then from system tools, run disc defragmenter.

Click start then run, type prefetch then press enter, click edit then select all, right click any file then click delete, confirm delete, then reboot

When it gets to the desktop, the system files and the hard drive will be as they should

Download and install Tune Up 2006 Trial

Run disc clean up then registry clean up then click optimize to run reg defrag, which needs a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to optimize the computer, select computer with an internet connection from the drop down menu, this also requires a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to accelerate downloads, select the speed just above your actual connection speed, this requires a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to run system advisor

If no change, the next thing to do would be a repair install, this will leave data and settings intact

XP Repair

If you are unable to run XP Repair

Alternate XP Repair

Use the last one, Windows Installation CD to repair the current installation, which uses a slightly different method


After running the repair it will be necessary to install all Windows Updates

Microsoft Update

Beyond this, it could be a hardware fault

[Retired Tech]

Click start then run, type chkdsk /f /r then press enter, type Y to confirm for next boot, press enter then reboot.

This will take an hour, it will appear to load normally then either the monitor will show progress or the screen will go blank, do not disturb this.

Click start then run, type sfc /scannow then press enter, you need the XP CD and get an onscreen blue progress bar, when the bar goes, reboot.

Click start, all programmes, accessories, system tools to run disc clean up, click more options then clean up restore points, click confirm, click OK. Then from system tools, run disc defragmenter.

Click start then run, type prefetch then press enter, click edit then select all, right click any file then click delete, confirm delete, then reboot

When it gets to the desktop, the system files and the hard drive will be as they should

Download and install Tune Up 2006 Trial

Run disc clean up then registry clean up then click optimize to run reg defrag, which needs a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to optimize the computer, select computer with an internet connection from the drop down menu, this also requires a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to accelerate downloads, select the speed just above your actual connection speed, this requires a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to run system advisor

If no change, the next thing to do would be a repair install, this will leave data and settings intact

XP Repair

If you are unable to run XP Repair

Alternate XP Repair

Use the last one, Windows Installation CD to repair the current installation, which uses a slightly different method


After running the repair it will be necessary to install all Windows Updates

Microsoft Update

Beyond this, it could be a hardware fault

[sunflyer]

Thank you so much, I will start the process now and report back as soon as I complete it.

[sunflyer]

I didn't get very far. A window popped up "Windows Cannot Open this file: File: chkdsk.exe It then asks me to choose a program to open the file, either via the web or selecting from a program list.

This is one of the other windows I have gotten trying to open anything.

[Retired Tech]

Did you include the spaces

chkdsk /f /r

This applies to sfc /scannow also

[sunflyer]

Yes, in fact I dropped the spaces when it didn't work with the spaces. Neither format worked.

[Retired Tech]

Start with XP Repair Install

Or you can try to get to system restore like this

Start the System Restore tool at a command prompt

1. Restart your computer, and keep tapping F8 during the initial start-up until you get options, select Safe Mode with a command prompt then press enter.

2. Log on to your computer with an administrator account or with an account that has administrator credentials.

3. Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to restore your computer to an earlier state.

Look for a recent system checkpoint to restore from

For additional information about the Safe mode with a command prompt, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

http://support.micro....com/kb/315222/


A description of the Safe mode boot options in Windows XP

[sunflyer]

I got to system restore but unfortunately it says there are no restore points and I can't change the month.
Yesterday, I took the disk entitled Reinstallation CD Windows XP Home edition and followed the repair process on this site. I can try that again in case I didn't perform it correctly, but it didn't fix anything yesterday.

[sunflyer]

Suggestions on where I should go from here?

[sunflyer]

Anyone else?