Need some computer advice.

[Acera]

Ok, been having problems in the last couple of days with the desktop I use most of the time.

Got blue screen of death a number of times, some programs just end without any reason and send me back to the desktop.

Manually checked for updates on all drivers and operating system.

Virus scans done, Norton Power Eraser was suggested and completed without any issues. Even un-installed and reinstalled Norton as it suggested, still problems.

Ran CHKDSK /r all afternoon, and it fixed some issues, however the problems still exist.

It's a dual core Intel 2.13GHz system, 2 GB RAM, 1.25+ TB free space on hard drive, XP home edition.

What makes me really fustrated is I have not done anything new to it in months, no programs or hardware installed this year.

Called my brother who does something with computers for a living, says I need to backup all my data, format my drives, reinstall Windows from original disk and then update it. Followed by reinstalling all my programs and redoing all the settings. That sounds extreme, and a total PIA.

Anybody got any other advice on how to proceed?

Thanks,

 

[RstyShcklfrd]

I literally read half of that and immediately knew how to fix whatever problem you're having.

Get a nice set of boots, preferably steel toe. Put them on. Kick the shit out of that computer.

Done.

 

[zembonez]

Safe to assume you have run Malwarebytes and Spybot to make sure you aren't infected by some malware? If not, they can both be downloaded for free and run. You should also be running CCleaner daily to remove junk files and clutter. I'd do all of this prior to formatting and reloading. It's normally not necessary.

It's also possible that your issue is hardware related and not a software issue. It's a process of elimination.

Here's a link to a bunch of good utilities. FREE Computer System Utilities - Truck Mod Central

 

[winchster]

Go here
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

Download the free version
Run it

Clean both your registry and the temp files. Should fix what ails you if you couldn't find a virus. I've been using it for 10+ years.

 

[deemus]

Safe to assume you have run Malwarebytes and Spybot to make sure you aren't infected by some malware? If not, they can both be downloaded for free and run. You should also be running CCleaner daily to remove junk files and clutter. I'd do all of this prior to formatting and reloading. It's normally not necessary.

It's also possible that your issue is hardware related and not a software issue. It's a process of elimination.

Here's a link to a bunch of good utilities. FREE Computer System Utilities - Truck Mod Central

This was my first thought

 

[Greg_TX]

Try this:
Hiren's BootCD 15.2 - All in one Bootable CD » www.hiren.info
Download the boot disk image and burn it to a CD. Boot your machine with it (you may have to hit ESC or F9 or something like that at startup to select the CD as a boot device) and then run some of the memory and disk utilities. Booting from the CD factors out Windows completely - if something still happens, you may have a hardware issue. Try removing a re-seating the memory stick(s), or removing one or another if you have two or more. If the PC is caked with dust inside, blow out the crap, making sure that the CPU fan and heat sink are clean to avoid thermal problems (I've seen CPU and video chips overheat because of blocked fans/sinks and act flaky). If it still acts up, and you're not running Windows at the time, try pulling and re-seating any option cards (video, audio, I/O cards, network adapters, whatever). If your machine runs stable without Windows, get a USB stick or external USB hard drive and use one of the boot CDs to copy your stuff to a safe place and then prepare to reinstall Windows. I'd recommend taking this opportunity to upgrade to Windows 7 since XP is no longer supported, but first make sure that all of your hardware devices have drivers for Win7 and your apps will run on it.

 

[Greg_TX]

Oh yeah, one other thing... Whenever Windows crashes with a bluescreen it will write out a kernel dump file to a directory under the (typically) C:\Windows folder. I forget the name of it, but if you sort the directory listing by date it will be the most recently created or modified - it's named something obvious enough to notice. It will have one or more .dmp files in it. If you have access to another machine (or a geek), install the Windows Debugger (Download and Install Debugging Tools for Windows) and open the dump file with the debugger. Set the debugger to download symbol files online from the Microsoft symbol file repository. Sometimes this will point to a file name or memory address where the failure occurred. It may be that a failing piece of hardware is causing a device driver to misbehave and looking at the kernel dump (no turd jokes here) could lead you to the cause.

 

[fgarcia3441]

I agree with Greg. You can also try googling the error code you get on the Blue Screen of Death. Another option is to look at your application log files under computer management for any clues on your application abrupt stop execute.

If you have been troubleshoot for more than a couple of hour and you still can't get to the bottom I would recommend just upgrading to Win7. I think in the long run you will be happier and you will get a fresh clean computer. You can try doing a ladder upgrade so that you won't have to re-install your software but I will not recommend going that route.

 

[benenglish]

You've already gotten a whole bunch of surprisingly good advice. Who knew gun nuts were also competent computer folk? I'm impressed.

Beyond that, though, I've spent lots of time in the guts of XP and think it's a perfectly usable OS. However, it requires maintenance that's sometimes an obscure PITA, add-on security, and occasionally throws a hissy fit for no obvious reason.

It's a big if, but IF you decide that you need to reinstall with an upgrade (a reasonable course of action, btw), I suggest you take that as an opportunity to critically evaluate your needs. Is there any software you're running or files you must use on XP that absolutely require Windows? If so, fine; stick with Windows.

However, if you just do "normal" stuff (email, web, file sharing, office productivity packages, media organization and playback, etc.) with your computer then do yourself a favor and download a decent Linux distribution and give it a trial run. I'll suggest Mint. You can get it here: Download - Linux Mint ; the 32-bit KDE variant is probably the most generally installable and easiest for a Windows user to transition to. Download and burn it to a DVD or just put it on a flash drive. Then boot that and try working off it for a bit. Pay particular attention to all the free software that's available to do pretty much everything that Windows does.

If it doesn't do all you need, you'll have wasted a little time.

If it does do all you need, having an operating system that's free with all software for free and an infinitesimal (compared to Windows) vulnerability to malware is a wonderful thing. I've been Windows-free on my personal, primary home computer for over a decade now and the savings in money and aggravation have been, respectively, large and priceless.

Just a thought.

 

[deemus]

Dang. All kinds of straight up nerd stuff up in here.

 

[TxDad]

Great advice guys. May I suggest after backing your data up, do a REPAIR of windows before you try a total reinstall. If you havent done a fresh install of the op system in years, then its probably a good idea. You would be amazed how slow it gets with time.

 

[steve-o]

get a mac

 

[winchster]

get a mac

So he can have a messed up system ALL the time?

 

[steve-o]

haha, I had pc's for years and always had frustrating problems like to op's. I've had my mac for 2.5 yrs, and haven't had a single problem, I haven't had to invest any money into anti-virus,geek squad, or anything else, because mac's aren't plagued with the non-stop problems that pc's have. I can also download software updates worry-free, I wouldn't dare do that on a pc.

I guess it depends what you use a computer for, but my mac does everything I need for TGT, email, work programs. And if you absolutely need it you can get windows on your mac if you need to run pc specific programs.

 

[winchster]

Just messing with you. The best anti virus software I've used is free. I also run everything in a virtual machine, so if something bad happens I just rewind to before it happened and go on. Problem free for years that way.

 

[DMC]

haha, I had pc's for years and always had frustrating problems like to op's. I've had my mac for 2.5 yrs, and haven't had a single problem, I haven't had to invest any money into anti-virus,geek squad, or anything else, because mac's aren't plagued with the non-stop problems that pc's have. I can also download software updates worry-free, I wouldn't dare do that on a pc.

I guess it depends what you use a computer for, but my mac does everything I need for TGT, email, work programs. And if you absolutely need it you can get windows on your mac if you need to run pc specific programs.

I started out on apple/mac computers and due to work and school issues was forced it to PC(Pice of Crap) world. I had no idea computers could be such a pain in the ass. Reinstalling the OS every six months to keep performance up, virus software and software/hardware incompatibilities. As soon as I was able I switched back to mac and have had almost no problems. My last macbook lasted me 8 years, I would still use it to day if it had not fallen off the hood of the truck. My new one 2 years old runs just as well as the day I bought it.

 

[RstyShcklfrd]

I'm surprised how many older TGT members are so computer savvy. It would appear I need to get more computer literate.

 

[ROGER4314]

Dump your temporary internet files. When that fills up, the computer gets choked. I had bad luck with Malwarebytes and AVG because they PUT viruses in my computer then dogged me to buy their programs. Another I used was ZoneAlarms firewall. I used it years ago with no problems but when I downloaded it recently, it reassigned my homepages to their site and converted my searches to go through them. ZoneAlarms took total control over my computer. I dumped them immediately.

Many experts in the field say under their breath that the virus control companies are responsible for much of the virus issues we have. From what I've experienced, that is true.

Now, I use AVAST, a free download. My computer kept crashing so I took it offline and ran the Avast boot scan. It took 3 days and nailed a lot of viruses. I'm on that computer right now. For some reason, Mozilla Foxfire bit the dust totally and I've switched to Google Chrome as my browser. OPERA is another standby browser. You can transfer all of your bookmarks to either browser.

Hope that helps!

Flash

 

[UncleSamsMisguidedChild]

Is there any consistency about when it blue screens? As in, does it happen when you open a certain program, or have multiple versions of something open?

Definitely get ahold of the dump files and either send them to me, or post them here, and I (and probably a lot of others) can diagnose and repair this without having to re-install windows.

I know this gets very frustrating, I JUST built my new system after multiple BSOD's (blue screen of deaths), but only because I wanted an excuse to build a new system. The underlying problem of my blue screens were a bad stick of RAM, which I found running memtest95.

I'd be happy to help if you still need it, and the instructions for getting the dump files were posted further up.

 

[UncleSamsMisguidedChild]

P.S. I have some spare computer parts laying around so if it's something hardware related I may be able to get you something for whatever it costs to ship.