Ailing Computer - Continued

  • Thread starter Thread starter garyr
  • Start date Start date
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garyr

First, thanks to all who replied to my June 1 post; I learned a few things
but not quite enough. My computer is still ailing: occasional restarts and
hang-ups, BSOD when attempting to start in Safe Mode. Restart with
everything
but the mouse and keyboard connected does not change anything - Safe Mode
still generates a BSOD. Also, now I'm unable to update Norton Antivirus
software; following a download an error message is displayed. I removed the
program and reinstalled it and ran LiveUpdate but the update again failed. I
have done complete scans by Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and
SUPERAntiSpyware which only turned up a few tracking cookies.
No new hardware has been installed in over a year.

I'm thinking of taking the girlish approach (according to Jose) and
reformat the C drive and reinstall XP, as painful as that would be. To
reformat C: I should open the Command Prompt and enter
FORMAT C: /FS:NTFS /X - is that correct?

After XP has been installed will the Windows Update site prompt me to
download SP2 in addition to all the security updates? Should I udpate Norton
AntiVirus before or after updating Windows?

Thanks for your help
GaryR
 
garyr said:
First, thanks to all who replied to my June 1 post; I learned a few
things but not quite enough. My computer is still ailing: occasional
restarts and hang-ups, BSOD when attempting to start in Safe Mode.
Restart with everything
but the mouse and keyboard connected does not change anything - Safe
Mode still generates a BSOD. Also, now I'm unable to update Norton
Antivirus software; following a download an error message is
displayed. I removed the program and reinstalled it and ran
LiveUpdate but the update again failed. I have done complete scans by
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and SUPERAntiSpyware which only turned up a
few tracking cookies.
No new hardware has been installed in over a year.

I'm thinking of taking the girlish approach (according to Jose) and
reformat the C drive and reinstall XP, as painful as that would be. To
reformat C: I should open the Command Prompt and enter
FORMAT C: /FS:NTFS /X - is that correct?

After XP has been installed will the Windows Update site prompt me to
download SP2 in addition to all the security updates? Should I udpate
Norton AntiVirus before or after updating Windows?

Thanks for your help
GaryR
Click to expand...

In the future, if you are referencing an old thread, it would be helpful
to post a link to it because many people will not know what you are
talking about otherwise.

Here's the link:

http://groups.google.com/group/micr...ad/86d01f1d0269c502/e7e66bb6b0feaea1?hl=en&q=

I don't believe you ruled out a hardware problem. If one of your
hardware components is bad, a Clean Install will be of no use.

In the event you do want/need to perform a Clean Install, you must boot
off the XP installation CD and do it that way.

Do you have an XP installation CD? If so, what SP level is it at?
 
I've ordered a CD version of AVG and will dump norton asap.
Are you referring to SP2? That is what I have installed currently. Would a
current copy of SP2 contain all the security updates to date?

get someone to download the SP for you before you format.
this allows you to bypass the updating process.

dump norton and get security essentials or AVG free instead.

mikeyshd



"garyr" <news.microsoft.com> wrote in message
First, thanks to all who replied to my June 1 post; I learned a few things
but not quite enough. My computer is still ailing: occasional restarts and
hang-ups, BSOD when attempting to start in Safe Mode. Restart with
everything
but the mouse and keyboard connected does not change anything - Safe Mode
still generates a BSOD. Also, now I'm unable to update Norton Antivirus
software; following a download an error message is displayed. I removed
the
program and reinstalled it and ran LiveUpdate but the update again failed.
I
have done complete scans by Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and
SUPERAntiSpyware which only turned up a few tracking cookies.
No new hardware has been installed in over a year.

I'm thinking of taking the girlish approach (according to Jose) and
reformat the C drive and reinstall XP, as painful as that would be. To
reformat C: I should open the Command Prompt and enter
FORMAT C: /FS:NTFS /X - is that correct?

After XP has been installed will the Windows Update site prompt me to
download SP2 in addition to all the security updates? Should I udpate
Norton
AntiVirus before or after updating Windows?

Thanks for your help
GaryR
 
Daave said:
In the future, if you are referencing an old thread, it would be helpful
to post a link to it because many people will not know what you are
talking about otherwise.

Here's the link:

http://groups.google.com/group/micr...ad/86d01f1d0269c502/e7e66bb6b0feaea1?hl=en&q=

I don't believe you ruled out a hardware problem. If one of your hardware
components is bad, a Clean Install will be of no use.

In the event you do want/need to perform a Clean Install, you must boot
off the XP installation CD and do it that way.

Do you have an XP installation CD? If so, what SP level is it at?
Click to expand...
My XP installation CD includes service pack 1a. I installed SP2 several
years ago.
 
garyr said:
My XP installation CD includes service pack 1a. I installed SP2
several years ago.
Click to expand...

The good news if you have to perform a Clean Install is you can bypass
SP2 completely and install SP3.
 
there a many causes for system
instability and unfortunately
many people over react and
believe that malware is the
cause but is not always the
case.

perhaps, norton acerbated a
problem and may not have
had anything to do with an
infection.

while on the one hand I think
a clean install will be the easier
way out,

you will likely loose all your
doc's, pic's and emails in the
process.

however, if you did choose a
clean install, then I would use
the disks you have and worry
about the updates later.

also to consider is that if the
system instability is initially
due to faulty hardware,

then reinstalling the o..s will
will not work.

on the other hand you might
be able to repair what you
have now.

for example, if you can boot
up the recovery console,

then perhaps, you can run
a couple of commands and
regain the system.

at the recovery console, you
can also replace the current
registry hive with a basic
one stored in the system folder.

restoring the basic registry
hive is a little tricky but you
may look at the process as
enlightening.

further, if you did choose to
do a clean install of the o.s.,

then it would create a basic
registry hive to start the
operating system.

the above are just some
thoughts to consider.

--
--
db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

DatabaseBen, Retired Professional

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This NNTP newsgroup is evolving to:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx
 
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