Issue One: The computer will sometimes refuse to open a given program. Firefox, CCleaner, and Windows Media Player are the most common victims, but other programs have had this same problem. If I go into the task manager, I see that the program in question is already "running", albeit using a very small amount of memory (often around 56 or 64 KB). If I try to end the process, it gives me the usual confirmation message, and after confirming that I want to stop the process, does nothing; the process remains on the list. In addition, each time I try to start the program again, another identical entry appears in the task manager, always using the exact same amount of memory. This effectively forces me to restart me computer just to use the program, which, obviously, is very annoying, to say the least. Are there any known solutions to this?
Issue Two: The computer will often not restart, shut down, log off, etc. Logging off works more often than shutting down or restarting - when it doesn't, my computer will just stay at the "Logging Off" screen forever. Shutting down is the same way - if I manage to get past the "Logging Off" screen, I'm faced with the "Shutting Down" screen, which tends to get stuck far more often than "Logging Off". I once shut down my computer at ten PM - twelve hours later, it was still "Shutting Down", and I had to press the reset button (on my case).
Issue Three: Crashed windows. This is the most annoying problem of them all (by a small margin, however). Quite often, a window will lock up - putting my cursor over it yields the "thinking" cursor animation, and nothing within the window responds. I can continue to open, close, and use other windows easily, but when I close the broken window, everything disappears - other windows, icons, the start menu, the task bar, everything, leaving me staring at my wallpaper. I can use Control+Alt+Delete to open the relevant screen, from where I can attempt to shut down, but, due to problem two, I often have to give it a reset, via the case, to get back to work.
I hope I have been descriptive enough to help you help me with my issues. Any help is, of course, welcome. I have some computer experience, enough to find my way around most programs, but I'd still appreciate detailed instruction - I know how finicky computers can be.
Thanks in advance.