[JoeBenyon]

Hello, today I was using my computer and everything was working fine. Then I started up skype and plugged in my microphone and it didn't seem to be working, so I opened up control panel and then went into sound options and I couldn't get my microphone to work, then the sound options crashed and I got this error "Windows shell common DLL is not responding" and I keep getting that error, and when I try and get on system information I get this error "Windows explorer is not responding". Also I noticed that none of my sound is working, this happened yesterday but it was simply because I had iTunes open and it wasn't letting other programs use audio. But today even iTunes isn't working. I saw someone who had a similar problem and they were told to insert the Vista disk, but I do not have one of these. Also I was wondering if it may be my Anti-Virus software causing the problem (Norton 360).

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I shut down my computer and turned it back on and everything seems to be working, strange. If it happens again and won't fix I will come back for help. But does anyone know why this happened in the first place? Was it my microphone that triggered it? Because it's only a cheap £5 one from PC World and I have been having problems with it.

[JoeBenyon]

I shut down my computer and turned it back on and everything seems to be working, strange. If it happens again and won't fix I will come back for help. But does anyone know why this happened in the first place? Was it my microphone that triggered it? Because it's only a cheap £5 one from PC World and I have been having problems with it.

[DonnaB]

Hi JoeBenyon,

There are several reasons why this happens.

Any time that you experience problems such as a degradation in performance or random system and application crashes, the first thing you should do is simply reboot the computer.

The reason this works is that it simply resets everything. As we launch and then close applications, sometimes they don’t shut down completely or release the system resources they were using when they were running. This is especially true when it comes to system memory.

When you reboot your computer, it clears the memory (RAM) and cleans up certain temp files and caches that were being used and basically give the computer a fresh start.

10 Things Rebooting Your Computer Fixes (With Windows)

Norton 360 is a resource hog and slows your computer down. Could it cause problems? Sure it can. Many people have issues with Norton but don't realize that is the cause till they uninstall it. Only way to tell if that is the issue is to uninstall and reinstall an AV software that uses less resources.

If you go that route to verify Norton is the cause I would like to suggest that you install the Microsoft Security Essentials setup file to your desktop then use the Norton Removal Tool to completely uninstall your Norton software due to residual files that may conflict with system functionality. Install Microsoft Security Essentials only after you have used the Norton Removal Tool.

You can always reinstall Norton 360 if you find it is not the problem but make sure you have your product key handy before you begin the process. The link I provided to the removal tool above has information on how to obtain the product key if you do not have it readily available to you.

Personally, I like Avast though it is a bit Hi-Tech for your average user and has a larger "footprint" than MSE.

The choice is truly yours. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to ask.

Hope this helps!

Donna

Edited by DonnaB, 15 April 2012 - 07:34 AM.

[happyrock]

skype phones...mikes...ear pieces need to be plugged in when you boot up or you will not be able to use them...at least that has been my experience with anything skype related