Sick machine, don't know what to do

This is a Sony Vaio laptop, bought new with XP installed. All patches,
service packs and upgrades are installed. it's regularly checked for malware.
I have used a registry cleaner (PC Tools Registry Mechanic) recently. Chkdsk
says both internal disks are fine. (They are actually two sectors on one
internal disk.)

The machine has two problems. They seem serious. Otherwise, it works
normally. I stream Netflix on it, no problem. The web browser works fine.

Problem 1 -- The Rhapsody application won't launch. It's installed on the C:
disk. It "encounters a problem and has to quit." I've uninstalled and
re-installed, with no benefit. I have a vague recollection that it works if
installed on the D: drive. I had to remove it, and decided to put it on the
boot drive. I haven't tried that lately.

Problem 2 -- If I search for a file name, or part of a file name, on the C:
drive, "Windows Explorer encounters a problem and has to quit." Searching the
D: drive causes no problems.

I have a feeling the machine is hosed or near-hosed, but I'm not quite ready
to give up on it. It does everything I need it to do, and I sometimes need a
Windows machine. I don't want to buy a new one if I can avoid it, or make
this one last another year or two. Normally, I use my Macintosh.

Before I give up on this machine, are there some standard maintenance and
repair things I should try? Do my problems sound like a familiar syndrome?

Thanks in advance.

Baby E.

"babyeggplant" wrote in message
...
This is a Sony Vaio laptop, bought new with XP installed. All patches,
service packs and upgrades are installed. it's regularly checked for
malware.
I have used a registry cleaner (PC Tools Registry Mechanic) recently.
Chkdsk
says both internal disks are fine. (They are actually two sectors on one
internal disk.)

The machine has two problems. They seem serious. Otherwise, it works
normally. I stream Netflix on it, no problem. The web browser works fine.

Problem 1 -- The Rhapsody application won't launch. It's installed on the
C:
disk. It "encounters a problem and has to quit." I've uninstalled and
re-installed, with no benefit. I have a vague recollection that it works
if
installed on the D: drive. I had to remove it, and decided to put it on
the
boot drive. I haven't tried that lately.

Problem 2 -- If I search for a file name, or part of a file name, on the
C:
drive, "Windows Explorer encounters a problem and has to quit." Searching
the
D: drive causes no problems.

I have a feeling the machine is hosed or near-hosed, but I'm not quite
ready
to give up on it. It does everything I need it to do, and I sometimes need
a
Windows machine. I don't want to buy a new one if I can avoid it, or make
this one last another year or two. Normally, I use my Macintosh.

Before I give up on this machine, are there some standard maintenance and
repair things I should try? Do my problems sound like a familiar syndrome?

Thanks in advance.

Baby E.

The first thing you should consider doing is putting a backup program and
schedule in place.
If System Restore is enabled and functional, you might consider restoring
back to a time before you ran Registry Mechanic, if everything was fine
then. Or if Registry Mechanic has an Undo function, do that.
--
SC Tom

babyeggplant wrote:
This is a Sony Vaio laptop, bought new with XP installed. All patches,
service packs and upgrades are installed. it's regularly checked for malware.
I have used a registry cleaner (PC Tools Registry Mechanic) recently. Chkdsk
says both internal disks are fine. (They are actually two sectors on one
internal disk.)

The machine has two problems. They seem serious. Otherwise, it works
normally. I stream Netflix on it, no problem. The web browser works fine.

Problem 1 -- The Rhapsody application won't launch. It's installed on the C:
disk. It "encounters a problem and has to quit." I've uninstalled and
re-installed, with no benefit. I have a vague recollection that it works if
installed on the D: drive. I had to remove it, and decided to put it on the
boot drive. I haven't tried that lately.

Problem 2 -- If I search for a file name, or part of a file name, on the C:
drive, "Windows Explorer encounters a problem and has to quit." Searching the
D: drive causes no problems.

I have a feeling the machine is hosed or near-hosed, but I'm not quite ready
to give up on it. It does everything I need it to do, and I sometimes need a
Windows machine. I don't want to buy a new one if I can avoid it, or make
this one last another year or two. Normally, I use my Macintosh.

Before I give up on this machine, are there some standard maintenance and
repair things I should try? Do my problems sound like a familiar syndrome?

Thanks in advance.

Baby E.


In all likelihood, it was your use of PC Tools Registry Mechanic that
is the cause of your problems. Registry cleaners are all snake oil:
none provide any benefit, whatsoever, and many of them can cause quite a
bit of damage.

Did you make a backup of your registry before you ran the cleaner? If
so, try restoring the registry from that backup. You can also try using
System Restore to return the PC to the state it was in before you ran
the cleaner.

Sometimes, the only way to fix such damage is to wipe & reinstall
Windows from scratch, but you could also try performing a repair before
doing so.

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

babyeggplant wrote:
This is a Sony Vaio laptop, bought new with XP installed. All
patches, service packs and upgrades are installed. it's regularly
checked for malware. I have used a registry cleaner (PC Tools
Registry Mechanic) recently. Chkdsk says both internal disks are
fine. (They are actually two sectors on one internal disk.)

The machine has two problems. They seem serious. Otherwise, it works
normally. I stream Netflix on it, no problem. The web browser works
fine.

Problem 1 -- The Rhapsody application won't launch. It's installed
on the C: disk. It "encounters a problem and has to quit." I've
uninstalled and re-installed, with no benefit. I have a vague
recollection that it works if installed on the D: drive. I had to
remove it, and decided to put it on the boot drive. I haven't tried
that lately.

Problem 2 -- If I search for a file name, or part of a file name,
on the C: drive, "Windows Explorer encounters a problem and has to
quit." Searching the D: drive causes no problems.

I have a feeling the machine is hosed or near-hosed, but I'm not
quite ready to give up on it. It does everything I need it to do,
and I sometimes need a Windows machine. I don't want to buy a new
one if I can avoid it, or make this one last another year or two.
Normally, I use my Macintosh.

Before I give up on this machine, are there some standard
maintenance and repair things I should try? Do my problems sound
like a familiar syndrome?

Thanks in advance.

Baby E.

The "Rhapsody" issue : have you checked with the manufacturer's of said
product for support?

This explorer problem could be bad memory or a corrupted file or (not so
strangely) some registry entry that has been changed/removed/modified...
More precisely perhaps a improperly registered DLL file. Unfortunately I
cannot tell you which one or exactly what happened.

My suggestions:

**I highly suggest you make sure your backups are in order/up-to-date.**

1) Do not use a registry cleaner to do anything you would not be willing to
do yourself manually. They can do damage if you do not understand what they
are removing - each and every thing.
2) Give the exact edition and service pack level of your Windows XP
installation (in reply to this message.)
3) Give details on what antimalware applications you have ran and when this
problem first started happening (what changed between 'working' to
'non-working'?)
4) Uninstall any/all third party firewall applications and utilize the
built-in WIndows XP firewall with as few exceptions as plausible for you.
5) If you have (or ever had) McAfee or Norton AntiVirus and/or 'protection'
suites installed - remove and/or ensure they are removed by using the
corresponding removal tool provided by said manufacturer after uninstalling
the normal way (Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel.)
6) Use the following protections apps (other than the built-in firewall):
Avira AntiVir *or* eSet NOD32 (AV only) and MalwareBytes (Free for
scanning/cleanup or pay for active protection) and common sense to protect
your computer.
7) Update the following drivers from the manufacturer(s) website(s):
motherboard chipset, video, audio and network.
8) Follow the steps I am about to give you to cleanup your system and ensure
your Windows Update system is intact, updated and working properly.

(Yes - even if you think you have done them all, I suggest doing them
afresh, in the order given, not skipping one - repeating whatever you have
done like you never did it despite any misgivings about repeating work
already performed. I expect it *will* take some time - several hours. I
also highly suggest - again - you make sure your backups are in
order/up-to-date.)

Download, install, run, update and perform a full scan with the following
(freeware version):

SuperAntiSpyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/

Reboot and logon as administrative user.

Download, install, run, update and perform a full scan with the following
(freeware version):

MalwareBytes
http://www.malwarebytes.com/

Reboot and logon as administrative user.

Download and run the MSRT manually:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/ma...e/default.mspx

You may find nothing, you may find only cookies, you may think it is a
waste of time - but if you do all this and report back here with what you
do/don't find as you are doing all of it - you are adding more pieces to
the puzzle and the entire picture just may become clearer and your
problem resolved.

Ignore the title and follow the sub-section under
"Advanced Troubleshooting" titled,
"Method 1: Reset the registry and the file permissions"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949377
*will take time
** Ignore the last step (6) - you either have SP3 or don't - don't care.
You shouldn't concern yourself over that *right now*.

You will likely see errors pass by if you watching, even count up. No
worries *at this time*.

*After* that is done, continue on to the next part where you clean off
some excess (unnecessary) files. It only removes those you definitely
do not need, if you follow the directions *as given* and do not deviate.
So reboot (for each of these steps, it is just best to reboot right
before - but I will continue to point that out) and logon as an user with
administrative priviledges.

Download/install the "Windows Installer CleanUp Utility":
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301

After installing, do the following:

Start button -- RUN
(no "RUN"? Press the "Windows Key" + R on your keyboard)
-- type in:
"%ProgramFiles%\Windows Installer Clean Up\msizap.exe" g!
-- Click OK.
(The quotation marks and percentage signs and spacing should be exact.)

It will flash by *quick*, don't expect much out of this step to get
excited about. But the cleaner your machine is to start with, the
better your luck will be later (not really luck - more like preparedness,
but that's not as fun to think about, eh?)

Reboot and logon as administrative user.

Download/Install the latest Windows Installer (for your OS):
( Windows XP 32-bit : WindowsXP-KB942288-v3-x86.exe )
http://www.microsoft.com/downloadS/d...displaylang=en

Reboot and logon as administrative user.

Download the latest version of the Windows Update agent from here (x86):
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=91237
.... and save it to the root of your C:\ drive. After saving it to the
root of the C:\ drive, do the following:

Close all Internet Explorer windows and other applications.

Start button -- RUN and type in:
%SystemDrive%\windowsupdateagent30-x86.exe /WUFORCE
-- Click OK.

(If asked, select "Run.) -- Click on NEXT -- Select "I agree" and click on
NEXT -- When it finishes installing, click on "Finish"...

Reboot and logon as administrative user.

Repeat this step again, Visit this web page (in Internet Explorer):

How do I reset Windows Update components?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058

.... and click on the "Microsoft Fix it" icon. When asked, select "RUN",
both times. Check the "I agree" box and click on "Next". Check the box
for "Run aggressive options (not recommended)" and click "Next". Let
it finish up and follow the prompts until it is done. Close/exit and
reboot when it is.

After all of that...

If you are comfortable with the stability of your system, you can delete the
uninstall files for the patches that Windows XP has installed...
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm
( Particularly of interest here - #4 )
( Alternative: http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm )

You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but your
latest restore point and cleanup even more "loose files"..

How to use Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312

You can turn off hibernation if it is on and you don't use it..

When you hibernate your computer, Windows saves the contents of the system's
memory to the hiberfil.sys file. As a result, the size of the hiberfil.sys
file will always equal the amount of physical memory in your system. If you
don't use the hibernate feature and want to recapture the space that Windows
uses for the hiberfil.sys file, perform the following steps:

- Start the Control Panel Power Options applet (go to Start, Settings,
Control Panel, and click Power Options).
- Select the Hibernate tab, clear the "Enable hibernation" check box, then
click OK; although you might think otherwise, selecting Never under the
"System hibernates" option on the Power Schemes tab doesn't delete the
hiberfil.sys file.
- Windows will remove the "System hibernates" option from the Power Schemes
tab and delete the hiberfil.sys file.

You can control how much space your System Restore can use...

1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the System Restore tab.
3. Highlight one of your drives (or C: if you only have one) and click on
the "Settings" button.
4. Change the percentage of disk space you wish to allow.. I suggest moving
the slider until you have just about 1GB (1024MB or close to that...)
5. Click OK.. Then Click OK again.

You can control how much space your Temporary Internet Files can utilize...

Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to a
size between 64MB and 128MB..

- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS - Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do the
following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the "Amount of disk space to use:" to
something between 64MB and 128MB. (It may be MUCH larger right
now.)
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to "Delete all offline contents"
(the checkbox) and click OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10
minutes or more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer, re-open Internet
Explorer.

You can use an application that scans your system for log files and
temporary files and use that to get rid of those:

Ccleaner (Free!)
http://www.ccleaner.com/

Other ways to free up space..

JDiskReport
http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/index.html

SequoiaView
http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/

Those can help you visually discover where all the space is being used.

You should now perform a full CHKDSK on your system drive (C...

How to scan your disks for errors
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265
* will take time and a reboot

You should now perform a full Defragment on your system drive (C...

How to Defragment your hard drives
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314848
* will take time

Uninstall any and all third-party firewall applications (ZoneAlarm, etc)
and utilize the built-in Windows Firewall only.

Reboot.

Log on as an user with administrative rights and open Internet Explorer
and visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and select to do a
CUSTOM scan...

Every time you are about to click on something while at these web pages -
first press and hold down the CTRL key while you click on it. You can
release the CTRL key after clicking each time.

Once the scan is done, select just _ONE_ of the high priority updates
(deselect any others) and install it.

Reboot again.

If it did work - try the web page again - selecting no more than 3-5 at a
time. Rebooting as needed.

The Optional Software updates are generally safe - although I recommend
against the "Windows Search" one and any of the "Office Live" ones or
"Windows Live" ones for now. I would completely avoid the
Optional Hardware updates. Also - I do not see any urgent need to
install Internet Explorer 8 at this time.

Seriously - do all that. This is like antibiotics - don't skip a single
step, don't quit because you think things will be okay now - go through
until the end, until you have done everything given in the order given. If
you have a problem with a step come ask and let someone here get you
through that step. If you don't understand how to do a step, come back
and ask here about that step and let someone walk you through it.

Might I suggest also that if you are going to use a Macintosh - use it fully
and install Windows in a virtual machine on it. ;-) VMware Fusion works
great. Eliminates the need to have more than one physical box and gives you
everything you would need.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Thanks everyone.

I'll see if I can find a restore point.

I'm not sure when the machine started malfunctioning. I discovered the
non-searchable C: drive by accident today.

The machine inexplicably failed several weeks ago. It wouldn't boot at all.
Something about a missing "hive" file. The machine didn't ship with an XP
install and restore disk. (I was SO ****ed when I realized that, too late to
return the machine. I will NEVER buy a machine again, if an OS install DVD is
not included!) Instead, it has a partition on the drive for reinstalling XP
on the boot drive. It was quite a hassle and then it seemed like it took days
to download all the service packs and patches and such. No way am I going to
go through that again. I've not been entirely certain it's working right
since then. That was a month ago.

Now I'm investing more time in the machine, with poor results.

I would consider a clean reinstall of XP if I could figure out how to find a
legal and unregistered XP install disk including service packs up to 3...
Assuming they are available... And not too expensive...

Except that wouldn't work, because the gosh darned machine requires all
kinds of proprietary Sony drivers. I don't know how to identify, find and
install them.

If the restore point doesn't work, I think I'll put it in the trash. There
is such a thing as a truly obsolete machine. Maybe the time has come. Too
bad. I would have been content with XP indefinitely.

Or maybe just move the Rhapsody application to the D: drive, leave
everything else alone, and see how long it keeps working.

Objections to registry cleaners noted. It was a "last resort" effort in the
first place.

Shenan Stanley's reply was well-intended, I suppose, but I don't know
whether to laugh or cry. It makes me remember why I'm mostly a Macintosh
user. With a Macintosh, you usually just repair permissions and run
DiskWarrior and everything works right again.

I'm trying to estimate how many hours it would take me to do all that stuff.
If I put a low hourly value on my time, it might be easier to buy a second
hand XP machine on eBay. I'm not so familiar with Windows machines, so some
of that advice seems kinda mysterious. It would take some time and study...

Sherman Stanley is right about Windows on Macintosh. I have Boot Camp and XP
on my MacBook, already installed when I bought it second hand on eBay. XP
"just works" on that machine.

I'm just rambling here. I'm curious to hear replies, but don't feel obligated.

Thanks again to all. I'm giving everyone "helpful" ratings.

Baby E.

When a PC is supplied with a hidden restore partition and no restore disks,
the maker supplies a method of creating the restore disks via this
partition, How its done depends on the maker. Usually the maker will supply
restore disks for a small fee, if for some reason you are unable to create
the disks.
With a large oem PC, eg Dell / Hp / Sony or Laptop drivers are obtained from
the makers site, specific to the model
MS no longer sells winxp, you can scource a disk via various sites, but
buyer beware.

"babyeggplant" wrote in message
...
Thanks everyone.

I'll see if I can find a restore point.

I'm not sure when the machine started malfunctioning. I discovered the
non-searchable C: drive by accident today.

The machine inexplicably failed several weeks ago. It wouldn't boot at
all.
Something about a missing "hive" file. The machine didn't ship with an XP
install and restore disk. (I was SO ****ed when I realized that, too late
to
return the machine. I will NEVER buy a machine again, if an OS install DVD
is
not included!) Instead, it has a partition on the drive for reinstalling
XP
on the boot drive. It was quite a hassle and then it seemed like it took
days
to download all the service packs and patches and such. No way am I going
to
go through that again. I've not been entirely certain it's working right
since then. That was a month ago.

Now I'm investing more time in the machine, with poor results.

I would consider a clean reinstall of XP if I could figure out how to find
a
legal and unregistered XP install disk including service packs up to 3...
Assuming they are available... And not too expensive...

Except that wouldn't work, because the gosh darned machine requires all
kinds of proprietary Sony drivers. I don't know how to identify, find and
install them.

If the restore point doesn't work, I think I'll put it in the trash. There
is such a thing as a truly obsolete machine. Maybe the time has come. Too
bad. I would have been content with XP indefinitely.

Or maybe just move the Rhapsody application to the D: drive, leave
everything else alone, and see how long it keeps working.

Objections to registry cleaners noted. It was a "last resort" effort in
the
first place.

Shenan Stanley's reply was well-intended, I suppose, but I don't know
whether to laugh or cry. It makes me remember why I'm mostly a Macintosh
user. With a Macintosh, you usually just repair permissions and run
DiskWarrior and everything works right again.

I'm trying to estimate how many hours it would take me to do all that
stuff.
If I put a low hourly value on my time, it might be easier to buy a second
hand XP machine on eBay. I'm not so familiar with Windows machines, so
some
of that advice seems kinda mysterious. It would take some time and
study...

Sherman Stanley is right about Windows on Macintosh. I have Boot Camp and
XP
on my MacBook, already installed when I bought it second hand on eBay. XP
"just works" on that machine.

I'm just rambling here. I'm curious to hear replies, but don't feel
obligated.

Thanks again to all. I'm giving everyone "helpful" ratings.

Baby E.

babyeggplant wrote:
Thanks everyone.

I'll see if I can find a restore point.

I'm not sure when the machine started malfunctioning. I discovered the
non-searchable C: drive by accident today.

The machine inexplicably failed several weeks ago. It wouldn't boot at all.
Something about a missing "hive" file. The machine didn't ship with an XP
install and restore disk. (I was SO ****ed when I realized that, too late to
return the machine. I will NEVER buy a machine again, if an OS install DVD is
not included!) Instead, it has a partition on the drive for reinstalling XP
on the boot drive. It was quite a hassle and then it seemed like it took days
to download all the service packs and patches and such. No way am I going to
go through that again. I've not been entirely certain it's working right
since then. That was a month ago.

The missing "hive" refers to the Registry's hive. It looks more and more
like that registry cleaner you ran is the one to blame for your problems.

Most laptops these days don't come with a full copy of Windows XP, but
instead come with a special partition to reinstall XP to the main
partition, so not buying a machine without an OS install CD isn't really
going to be an option for you unfortunately. That's how they get their
special OEM pricing from Microsoft for Windows, and thus keep your
prices low. However, these special partitions might come with the
ability to burn a rescue CD too.

It really doesn't make much difference whether you reinstall from the
special partition or from the rescue CD, as the rescue CD will be based
off of the special partition anyways. In fact, the special partition
might be a bit faster since hard disks are faster than optical disks.

Regarding downloading of the patches, you can save yourself some time by
ignoring most of the early patches and going straight for major updates.
Turn off automatic updates, and do the updates manually (at least
initially). For example, if your machine originally had original Windows
XP SP1 installed, then examine the list of patches that are presented
and one of them will be SP2 or SP3. Just uncheck all of the other
patches, and go straight for the service pack update right away. Same
goes for updates of the Internet Explorer, ignore all security and other
patches and go straight for the updates that will take you from IE6 to
IE7 and IE8. You can then add the final set of patches after you have
downloaded the major service packs and IE's.

Now I'm investing more time in the machine, with poor results.

I would consider a clean reinstall of XP if I could figure out how to find a
legal and unregistered XP install disk including service packs up to 3...
Assuming they are available... And not too expensive...

Actually someone may have already created such a thing. It's called
technique called slipstreaming. They take a basic XP install CD and add
a whole bunch of newer drivers and/or service packs and roll-up patches.
You sometimes see them for download on p2p sites. Their legality might
be questionable, but I guess as long as they don't provide you with
serial numbers to use, these CD's aren't really doing anything illegal.

You can create your own slipstreamed install CD's too.

How To: Slipstream your XP installation - Page 1 | Maximum PC
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/How...ion?page=0%2C0

Except that wouldn't work, because the gosh darned machine requires all
kinds of proprietary Sony drivers. I don't know how to identify, find and
install them.

The proprietary drivers will already be included in the version of the
XP on the special partition, of course. Since you don't want to go that
route, you can download all of the drivers that you need based on your
machine model from the Sony website. If you type your model name on
Sony's Vaio website, they should provide you with a list of all of the
drivers relevant to that particular model. Sometimes all you may need to
do is type in your machine's serial number and it'll automatically
figure out what model you have and present you with the appropriate
driver downloads.

Just download those drivers and put them into the slipstream CD
mentioned above. Also, it may not even matter if you have all of the
drivers, just as long as you have Internet connectivity, once you have
reinstalled, there will be enough basic functionality that you can just
download all of the other drivers.


Yousuf Khan

On Mar 3, 10:46*pm, babyeggplant
wrote:
Thanks everyone.

I'll see if I can find a restore point.

I'm not sure when the machine started malfunctioning. I discovered the
non-searchable C: drive by accident today.

The machine inexplicably failed several weeks ago. It wouldn't boot at all.
Something about a missing "hive" file. The machine didn't ship with an XP
install and restore disk. (I was SO ****ed when I realized that, too late to
return the machine. I will NEVER buy a machine again, if an OS install DVD is
not included!) Instead, it has a partition on the drive for reinstalling XP
on the boot drive. It was quite a hassle and then it seemed like it took days
to download all the service packs and patches and such. No way am I going to
go through that again. I've not been entirely certain it's working right
since then. That was a month ago.

Now I'm investing more time in the machine, with poor results.

I would consider a clean reinstall of XP if I could figure out how to find a
legal and unregistered XP install disk including service packs up to 3...
Assuming they are available... And not too expensive...

Except that wouldn't work, because the gosh darned machine requires all
kinds of proprietary Sony drivers. I don't know how to identify, find and
install them.

If the restore point doesn't work, I think I'll put it in the trash. There
is such a thing as a truly obsolete machine. Maybe the time has come. Too
bad. I would have been content with XP indefinitely.

Or maybe just move the Rhapsody application to the D: drive, leave
everything else alone, and see how long it keeps working.

Objections to registry cleaners noted. It was a "last resort" effort in the
first place.

Shenan Stanley's reply was well-intended, I suppose, but I don't know
whether to laugh or cry. It makes me remember why I'm mostly a Macintosh
user. With a Macintosh, you usually just repair permissions and run
DiskWarrior and everything works right again.

I'm trying to estimate how many hours it would take me to do all that stuff.
If I put a low hourly value on my time, it might be easier to buy a second
hand XP machine on eBay. I'm not so familiar with Windows machines, so some
of that advice seems kinda mysterious. It would take some time and study....

Sherman Stanley is right about Windows on Macintosh. I have Boot Camp and XP
on my MacBook, already installed when I bought it second hand on eBay. XP
"just works" on that machine.

I'm just rambling here. I'm curious to hear replies, but don't feel obligated.

Thanks again to all. I'm giving everyone "helpful" ratings.

Baby E.

Without more information about your system, you will get ramblings
back.

If you want to fix it, perform the following tasks and when you are
done we can fix one problem at a time. We need more information and
some assurance you do not have malicious software running:

To eliminate questions and guessing, please provide additional
information about your system.

Click Start, Run and in the box enter:

msinfo32

Click OK, and when the System Summary info appears, click Edit, Select
All, Copy and then paste the information back here.

There will be some personal information (like System Name and User
Name), and whatever appears to be private information to you, just
delete it from the pasted information.

Perform some scans for malicious software, then fix any remaining
issues:

Download, install, update and do a full scan with these free malware
detection programs:

Malwarebytes (MBAM): http://malwarebytes.org/
SUPERAntiSpywa (SAS): http://www.superantispyware.com/

They can be uninstalled later if desired.

On Mar 3, 10:46*pm, babyeggplant
wrote:
Thanks everyone.

I'll see if I can find a restore point.

I'm not sure when the machine started malfunctioning. I discovered the
non-searchable C: drive by accident today.

The machine inexplicably failed several weeks ago. It wouldn't boot at all.
Something about a missing "hive" file. The machine didn't ship with an XP
install and restore disk. (I was SO ****ed when I realized that, too late to
return the machine. I will NEVER buy a machine again, if an OS install DVD is
not included!) Instead, it has a partition on the drive for reinstalling XP
on the boot drive. It was quite a hassle and then it seemed like it took days
to download all the service packs and patches and such. No way am I going to
go through that again. I've not been entirely certain it's working right
since then. That was a month ago.

Now I'm investing more time in the machine, with poor results.

I would consider a clean reinstall of XP if I could figure out how to find a
legal and unregistered XP install disk including service packs up to 3...
Assuming they are available... And not too expensive...

Except that wouldn't work, because the gosh darned machine requires all
kinds of proprietary Sony drivers. I don't know how to identify, find and
install them.

If the restore point doesn't work, I think I'll put it in the trash. There
is such a thing as a truly obsolete machine. Maybe the time has come. Too
bad. I would have been content with XP indefinitely.

Or maybe just move the Rhapsody application to the D: drive, leave
everything else alone, and see how long it keeps working.

Objections to registry cleaners noted. It was a "last resort" effort in the
first place.

Shenan Stanley's reply was well-intended, I suppose, but I don't know
whether to laugh or cry. It makes me remember why I'm mostly a Macintosh
user. With a Macintosh, you usually just repair permissions and run
DiskWarrior and everything works right again.

I'm trying to estimate how many hours it would take me to do all that stuff.
If I put a low hourly value on my time, it might be easier to buy a second
hand XP machine on eBay. I'm not so familiar with Windows machines, so some
of that advice seems kinda mysterious. It would take some time and study....

Sherman Stanley is right about Windows on Macintosh. I have Boot Camp and XP
on my MacBook, already installed when I bought it second hand on eBay. XP
"just works" on that machine.

I'm just rambling here. I'm curious to hear replies, but don't feel obligated.

Thanks again to all. I'm giving everyone "helpful" ratings.

Baby E.

Don't trash it. Send it to me and I will fix it and return it or fix
it and donate it.

On Wed, 3 Mar 2010 19:46:01 -0800, babyeggplant
wrote:

Thanks everyone.

I'll see if I can find a restore point.

I'm not sure when the machine started malfunctioning. I discovered the
non-searchable C: drive by accident today.

The machine inexplicably failed several weeks ago. It wouldn't boot at all.
Something about a missing "hive" file. The machine didn't ship with an XP
install and restore disk. (I was SO ****ed when I realized that, too late to
return the machine. I will NEVER buy a machine again, if an OS install DVD is
not included!) Instead, it has a partition on the drive for reinstalling XP
on the boot drive. It was quite a hassle and then it seemed like it took days
to download all the service packs and patches and such. No way am I going to
go through that again. I've not been entirely certain it's working right
since then. That was a month ago.

Now I'm investing more time in the machine, with poor results.

I would consider a clean reinstall of XP if I could figure out how to find a
legal and unregistered XP install disk including service packs up to 3...
Assuming they are available... And not too expensive...

Except that wouldn't work, because the gosh darned machine requires all
kinds of proprietary Sony drivers. I don't know how to identify, find and
install them.


You should have had a disk with it that has all the drivers on the
disk .





If the restore point doesn't work, I think I'll put it in the trash. There
is such a thing as a truly obsolete machine. Maybe the time has come. Too
bad. I would have been content with XP indefinitely.

Or maybe just move the Rhapsody application to the D: drive, leave
everything else alone, and see how long it keeps working.

Objections to registry cleaners noted. It was a "last resort" effort in the
first place.

Shenan Stanley's reply was well-intended, I suppose, but I don't know
whether to laugh or cry. It makes me remember why I'm mostly a Macintosh
user. With a Macintosh, you usually just repair permissions and run
DiskWarrior and everything works right again.

I'm trying to estimate how many hours it would take me to do all that stuff.
If I put a low hourly value on my time, it might be easier to buy a second
hand XP machine on eBay. I'm not so familiar with Windows machines, so some
of that advice seems kinda mysterious. It would take some time and study...

Sherman Stanley is right about Windows on Macintosh. I have Boot Camp and XP
on my MacBook, already installed when I bought it second hand on eBay. XP
"just works" on that machine.

I'm just rambling here. I'm curious to hear replies, but don't feel obligated.

Thanks again to all. I'm giving everyone "helpful" ratings.

Baby E.

On Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:20:35 -0500, Yousuf Khan
wrote:

Most laptops these days don't come with a full copy of Windows XP, but
instead come with a special partition to reinstall XP to the main
partition,


Most laptops these days don't come with Windows XP at all. Some still
do, but there are fewer and fewer all the time.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

Lots of generous and expert time and effort has been donated on this thread.
Several excellentsuggestions have been posted.

I tried running msinfo32

"Microsoft Help and Support Center has encountered a problem and needs to
close. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

I think a good restore point probably exists. Unfortunately,

"System restore has encountered a problem and has to quit."

Harsh, huh?

Registry Mechanic is getting blamed unfairly on this thread. The problems on
this machine began long before I ever used a registry repair utility.

I appreciate the availability of free utilities that do the same job as
commercial utilities. I paid for PC Tools Spyware Doctor primarily because I
was paranoid about unwittingly downloading a malware installation application
disguised as a malware detection and repair utility. It's a wicked, wicked
world. If I had made some inquiries here, I might have gotten the same
functionality for free.

I wonder about all the vituperation heaped on registry repair utilities. I'm
not disagreeing. I'm just perplexed. I've seen registry cleaners defended on
this forum. PC Tools appears to be a major software vendor with an
internationally known brand name to protect. PC Tools Spyware Doctor wins
excellent reviews from major computer magazines. I wonder if a registry
cleaner published by the same company could be so harmful. Most registry
cleaners make a restore point anyway. (I can't actually use my restore
points, but that problem was probably not caused by Registry Mechanic.)

I'm a visitor from the Macintosh planet. There's only one comparable
commercially published utility -- DiskWarrior. It scans the hard disk and
builds a new hard disk directory from scratch. It prevents little directory
errors from turning into big ones, and I've never seen a hard drive directory
problem it couldn't fix. It "just works." As far as I know, there's unanimous
support for this product among Macintosh experts. Perhaps naively, I assumed
that such products exist for Windows machines, too.

I have noticed that many little websites sell unnecessary utilities for
Windows machines. Obviously, no one needs to pay for a utility that
defragments the hard drive or does the same thing as the on board chkdsk
utility. I appreciate you folks for warning the public away from that kind of
ripoff.

Macintoshes don't have registries, and I don't understand Windows
registries. Are you folks saying that a Windows registry never, ever needs
maintenance?

Or are you saying that registry maintenance must be done by hand, by highly
qualified experts?

If, the latter, that's hard to understand. I know how most computer repair
shops work. I don't think it's realistic to assume that a computer repair
shop will pay a highly qualified expert to spend hours picking over my
registry. It seems more likely they will hastily run a registry repair
utility, and charge me a lot of money for doing it. I'm just surmising,
though.

I don't know what to think...

Trying to fix this machine has been an exhausting and time-draining
experience. Thank god for this forum, or it would have been much worse.

Final question: Is Windows 7 easier to maintain than XP?

Regarding repair of the sick XP machine, I suppose I will burn a set of
Windows Restore CDs, assuming that function still works, reinstall XP,
reinstall the service packs, etc., and try again. Still, I've got to wonder
why it's failed twice. Maybe an intermittent RAM or motherboard problem. Hard
to know...

Thanks again,

Baby E.

Since you ran a registry cleaner all bets are off. As for Macintosh not
having a registry is simply faulty thinking.
It is about impossible to write an OS without a registry. HOWEVER, it may be
called something else
entirely. If you don't believe that, flow chart (don't bother to write) an
operating system that does nothing more
than sets up the system for six different users with six different
parameters.
"babyeggplant" wrote in message
...
Lots of generous and expert time and effort has been donated on this
thread.
Several excellentsuggestions have been posted.

I tried running msinfo32

"Microsoft Help and Support Center has encountered a problem and needs to
close. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

I think a good restore point probably exists. Unfortunately,

"System restore has encountered a problem and has to quit."

Harsh, huh?

Registry Mechanic is getting blamed unfairly on this thread. The problems
on
this machine began long before I ever used a registry repair utility.

I appreciate the availability of free utilities that do the same job as
commercial utilities. I paid for PC Tools Spyware Doctor primarily because
I
was paranoid about unwittingly downloading a malware installation
application
disguised as a malware detection and repair utility. It's a wicked, wicked
world. If I had made some inquiries here, I might have gotten the same
functionality for free.

I wonder about all the vituperation heaped on registry repair utilities.
I'm
not disagreeing. I'm just perplexed. I've seen registry cleaners defended
on
this forum. PC Tools appears to be a major software vendor with an
internationally known brand name to protect. PC Tools Spyware Doctor wins
excellent reviews from major computer magazines. I wonder if a registry
cleaner published by the same company could be so harmful. Most registry
cleaners make a restore point anyway. (I can't actually use my restore
points, but that problem was probably not caused by Registry Mechanic.)

I'm a visitor from the Macintosh planet. There's only one comparable
commercially published utility -- DiskWarrior. It scans the hard disk and
builds a new hard disk directory from scratch. It prevents little
directory
errors from turning into big ones, and I've never seen a hard drive
directory
problem it couldn't fix. It "just works." As far as I know, there's
unanimous
support for this product among Macintosh experts. Perhaps naively, I
assumed
that such products exist for Windows machines, too.

I have noticed that many little websites sell unnecessary utilities for
Windows machines. Obviously, no one needs to pay for a utility that
defragments the hard drive or does the same thing as the on board chkdsk
utility. I appreciate you folks for warning the public away from that kind
of
ripoff.

Macintoshes don't have registries, and I don't understand Windows
registries. Are you folks saying that a Windows registry never, ever needs
maintenance?

Or are you saying that registry maintenance must be done by hand, by
highly
qualified experts?

If, the latter, that's hard to understand. I know how most computer repair
shops work. I don't think it's realistic to assume that a computer repair
shop will pay a highly qualified expert to spend hours picking over my
registry. It seems more likely they will hastily run a registry repair
utility, and charge me a lot of money for doing it. I'm just surmising,
though.

I don't know what to think...

Trying to fix this machine has been an exhausting and time-draining
experience. Thank god for this forum, or it would have been much worse.

Final question: Is Windows 7 easier to maintain than XP?

Regarding repair of the sick XP machine, I suppose I will burn a set of
Windows Restore CDs, assuming that function still works, reinstall XP,
reinstall the service packs, etc., and try again. Still, I've got to
wonder
why it's failed twice. Maybe an intermittent RAM or motherboard problem.
Hard
to know...

Thanks again,

Baby E.

"Unknown" wrote:

Since you ran a registry cleaner all bets are off. As for Macintosh not
having a registry is simply faulty thinking.
It is about impossible to write an OS without a registry. HOWEVER, it may be
called something else
entirely.

Dear Un,

My thinking is often faulty. As a matter of fact, at this very moment, I am
thinking that 6+6=17.23

No doubt you're right about the Macintosh registry. What IS it called?
There's a disk directory. Is that the same thing?

On the Mac, there are lots of libraries, some for the machine, others for
each user. Preferences. Application support. There are "permissions." Maybe
the thing that the registry does on Windows is done quite differently on
Macintosh, in lots of little pieces, instead of one big database. Whatever
it is, necessary maintenance is just about nil.

I just read the Wkipedia article about Windows registry cleaners. A messy
topic. Controversial and ambiguous.

Baby E.

babyeggplant wrote:


Snipped....



I wonder about all the vituperation heaped on registry repair utilities. I'm
not disagreeing. I'm just perplexed.


Why would you even think you'd ever need to clean your registry?
What specific *problems* were you actually experiencing (not some
program's bogus listing of imaginary problems) that you think can be
fixed by using a registry "cleaner?"

If you do have a problem that is rooted in the registry, it would
be far better to simply edit (after backing up, of course) only the
specific key(s) and/or value(s) that are causing the problem. After
all, why use a chainsaw when a scalpel will do the job? Additionally,
the manually changing of one or two registry entries is far less likely
to have the dire consequences of allowing an automated product to make
multiple changes simultaneously. The only thing needed to safely clean
your registry is knowledge and Regedit.exe.

The registry contains all of the operating system's "knowledge" of
the computer's hardware devices, installed software, the location of the
device drivers, and the computer's configuration. A misstep in the
registry can have severe consequences. One should not even turning
loose a poorly understood automated "cleaner," unless he is fully
confident that he knows *exactly* what is going to happen as a result of
each and every change.

Having repeatedly seen the results of inexperienced people using
automated registry "cleaners," I can only advise all but the most
experienced computer technicians (and/or hobbyists) to avoid them all.
Experience has shown me that such tools simply are not safe in the hands
of the inexperienced user. If you lack the knowledge and experience to
maintain your registry by yourself, then you also lack the knowledge and
experience to safely configure and use any automated registry cleaner,
no matter how safe they claim to be.

More importantly, no one has ever demonstrated that the use of an
automated registry "cleaner," particularly by an untrained,
inexperienced computer user, does any real good, whatsoever. There's
certainly been no empirical evidence offered to demonstrate that the use
of such products to "clean" WinXP's registry improves a computer's
performance or stability. Given the potential for harm, it's just not
worth the risk.

Granted, most registry "cleaners" won't cause problems each and
every time they're used, but the potential for harm is always there.
And, since no registry "cleaner" has ever been demonstrated to do any
good (think of them like treating the flu with chicken soup - there's no
real medicinal value, but it sometimes provides a warming placebo
effect), I always tell people that the risks far out-weigh the
non-existent benefits.

I will concede that a good registry *scanning* tool, in the hands
of an experienced and knowledgeable technician or hobbyist can be a
useful time-saving diagnostic tool, as long as it's not allowed to make
any changes automatically. But I really don't think that there are any
registry "cleaners" that are truly safe for the general public to use.
Experience has proven just the opposite: such tools simply are not safe
in the hands of the inexperienced user.

A little further reading on the subject:

Why I don't use registry cleaners
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=643

AumHa Forums • View topic - AUMHA Discussion: Should I Use a Registry
Cleaner?
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099



I've seen registry cleaners defended on
this forum.


Not by anyone with any real technical knowledge and experience; on.



I wonder if a registry
cleaner published by the same company could be so harmful. Most registry
cleaners make a restore point anyway. (I can't actually use my restore
points, but that problem was probably not caused by Registry Mechanic.)



Why wouldn't it have been? What do you think the Resdtore Points
consist of? They're primarily registry settings.




Or are you saying that registry maintenance must be done by hand, by highly
qualified experts?


Pretty much, yes.


If, the latter, that's hard to understand. I know how most computer repair
shops work. I don't think it's realistic to assume that a computer repair
shop will pay a highly qualified expert to spend hours picking over my
registry. It seems more likely they will hastily run a registry repair
utility, and charge me a lot of money for doing it. I'm just surmising,
though.



The repair shop's above cited unscrupulous practice doesn't mean that
registry cleaners have any value; just that you've been scammed.



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
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