MAJOR computer/XP problems...

I'm having VERY strange computer problems and I'm hoping one of you
experts can at least tell me where to START looking for a solution...

About a week ago I was browsing a website when my computer started to
install something. I quickly tried to cancel out of the website
(didn't work), and then I tried to CTRL+ALT+DEL to shut down the task
(didn't work). In desperation, I turned off my machine.

When I rebooted I noticed that startup was taking a LOOOOOONG time.
It normally takes a minute or two to boot my machine but after five
minutes I didn't even have all my desktop icons up. Finally, the
computer was useable again and I discovered half a dozen new shortcuts
on my desktop, and six FOLDERS worth of new "favorites" in IE. Then I
got popups from hell.

I re-installed my virus checker, ran Hijackthis, installed ZoneAlarm,
ran AVG, ran Adaware, installed a Look2Me killer and CWShredder, as
well as a half a dozen other programs. Most of my problems seemed to
go away (though I was still getting a few popups) -- but it still
takes forever to boot my machine. In fact, the problem seems to have
gotten worse. I keep trying new things but every time I reboot I have
to wait almost half an hour before I can use my machine again. (Once
it's up, everything seems to be fine. My virus checkers show ZERO
problems, and Hijackthis seems to show no issues.)

So in summary, here are my issues:

1) It takes 20 minutes (or more) to reboot my machine.
2) After I reboot my machine my quick launch toolbar gets turned OFF.
(Weird)
3) After it finally boots, IE keeps crashing randomly, but otherwise
I'm not seeing any real problems.
4) I tried to do a System Restore but it says that's impossible.
5) If I boot into SAFE mode and select "Administrator" it only takes
a minute or so to boot my machine. If I select my 'personal' profile
it takes 25 minutes to boot into SAFE mode.
6) Every now and then I get a completely blue screen with a text
message (left justified to the edge of the screen) that says something
like, "Your computer has been stopped to prevent any possible damage.
Then later in the message it points at an ATI file. (I tried to
reinstall my video drivers but that didn't seem to help.)

I recently cleaned my office and now I can NOT find my XP disks.
(Otherwise I would reinstall XP and/or run the REPAIR utility.)

Any other suggestions?

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...tnG%3D Search
(read all 3 articles, later ones add to or correct earlier ones)

"Cybert" wrote in message
om...
I'm having VERY strange computer problems and I'm hoping one of you
experts can at least tell me where to START looking for a solution...

About a week ago I was browsing a website when my computer started to
install something. I quickly tried to cancel out of the website
(didn't work), and then I tried to CTRL+ALT+DEL to shut down the task
(didn't work). In desperation, I turned off my machine.

When I rebooted I noticed that startup was taking a LOOOOOONG time.
It normally takes a minute or two to boot my machine but after five
minutes I didn't even have all my desktop icons up. Finally, the
computer was useable again and I discovered half a dozen new shortcuts
on my desktop, and six FOLDERS worth of new "favorites" in IE. Then I
got popups from hell.

I re-installed my virus checker, ran Hijackthis, installed ZoneAlarm,
ran AVG, ran Adaware, installed a Look2Me killer and CWShredder, as
well as a half a dozen other programs. Most of my problems seemed to
go away (though I was still getting a few popups) -- but it still
takes forever to boot my machine. In fact, the problem seems to have
gotten worse. I keep trying new things but every time I reboot I have
to wait almost half an hour before I can use my machine again. (Once
it's up, everything seems to be fine. My virus checkers show ZERO
problems, and Hijackthis seems to show no issues.)

So in summary, here are my issues:

1) It takes 20 minutes (or more) to reboot my machine.
2) After I reboot my machine my quick launch toolbar gets turned OFF.
(Weird)
3) After it finally boots, IE keeps crashing randomly, but otherwise
I'm not seeing any real problems.
4) I tried to do a System Restore but it says that's impossible.
5) If I boot into SAFE mode and select "Administrator" it only takes
a minute or so to boot my machine. If I select my 'personal' profile
it takes 25 minutes to boot into SAFE mode.
6) Every now and then I get a completely blue screen with a text
message (left justified to the edge of the screen) that says something
like, "Your computer has been stopped to prevent any possible damage.
Then later in the message it points at an ATI file. (I tried to
reinstall my video drivers but that didn't seem to help.)

I recently cleaned my office and now I can NOT find my XP disks.
(Otherwise I would reinstall XP and/or run the REPAIR utility.)

Any other suggestions?

Cybert,

Please see the following instructions.

Spyware/Virus Removal and Prevention:
http://www.fixyourwindows.com/windowsxpsolutions.htm

Startup and Temporary Files Cleanup:
http://www.fixyourwindows.com/optimizewindows.htm

Good Luck!








"Cybert" wrote:

I'm having VERY strange computer problems and I'm hoping one of you
experts can at least tell me where to START looking for a solution...

About a week ago I was browsing a website when my computer started to
install something. I quickly tried to cancel out of the website
(didn't work), and then I tried to CTRL+ALT+DEL to shut down the task
(didn't work). In desperation, I turned off my machine.

When I rebooted I noticed that startup was taking a LOOOOOONG time.
It normally takes a minute or two to boot my machine but after five
minutes I didn't even have all my desktop icons up. Finally, the
computer was useable again and I discovered half a dozen new shortcuts
on my desktop, and six FOLDERS worth of new "favorites" in IE. Then I
got popups from hell.

I re-installed my virus checker, ran Hijackthis, installed ZoneAlarm,
ran AVG, ran Adaware, installed a Look2Me killer and CWShredder, as
well as a half a dozen other programs. Most of my problems seemed to
go away (though I was still getting a few popups) -- but it still
takes forever to boot my machine. In fact, the problem seems to have
gotten worse. I keep trying new things but every time I reboot I have
to wait almost half an hour before I can use my machine again. (Once
it's up, everything seems to be fine. My virus checkers show ZERO
problems, and Hijackthis seems to show no issues.)

So in summary, here are my issues:

1) It takes 20 minutes (or more) to reboot my machine.
2) After I reboot my machine my quick launch toolbar gets turned OFF.
(Weird)
3) After it finally boots, IE keeps crashing randomly, but otherwise
I'm not seeing any real problems.
4) I tried to do a System Restore but it says that's impossible.
5) If I boot into SAFE mode and select "Administrator" it only takes
a minute or so to boot my machine. If I select my 'personal' profile
it takes 25 minutes to boot into SAFE mode.
6) Every now and then I get a completely blue screen with a text
message (left justified to the edge of the screen) that says something
like, "Your computer has been stopped to prevent any possible damage.
Then later in the message it points at an ATI file. (I tried to
reinstall my video drivers but that didn't seem to help.)

I recently cleaned my office and now I can NOT find my XP disks.
(Otherwise I would reinstall XP and/or run the REPAIR utility.)

Any other suggestions?