Program Files

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Guest

I have WinXP Home Edition.
In the last few weeks, whenever I try to get into the Program Files folder
it takes anything up to 6 minutes to get the directory to come up. Then,
when I try to open a particular programme, it either takes 10 mins or more to
raise it or the screen hangs. It makes no difference which programme I try
to open, the same thing happens.

If I go into another User Account on our computer, there is no problem
whatsoever.

Can anyone tell me what the problem is and how to cure it without having to
set up a completely new User Account. If this latter step is the only way I
can cure things, is there a quick way of swopping everything from my present
User Account to a new one. I have an awful lot of shortcuts on the desk top
and of course have quite a few files in My documents etc.

I have tried Restoring to January (3 different dates) but the same problems
arise.

Many thanks for any help.
 
It may be that the profile is bad.

The user name that you use to log into the PC (that has problems opening the
program files) has a corresponding folder (profile) under documents and
settings.

Log in as admin and rename the folder under documents and settings that
corresponds to the user account with the problem to something like
usernameold.

Then log in again as that same username and a new profile will be created.
Test the function of opening program files and opening applications. If it
works as expected you can log in as admin and copy the contents of the
desktop folder in usernameold, to the desktop folder in the *new* profile.

Do the same for my documents, favorites, and cookies if you want.


If creating a new profile does not solve your problem you can log in as
admin, delete the *new* profile and rename usernameold back to username and
you will be right back where you started.


hth
DDS W 2k MVP MCSE
 
Hii check up the following first: do u have a good antivirus and antispyware
you may be affected by adware or spyware worms too. do a through system scan
check the taskmanager for unusal processes althou many are stealth few can
be spoted thru taskbar or use process explorer [
http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ProcessExplorer.html ] (recommended)
use the following to scan and install for better protection.
http://safety.live.com (online scanner)
www.windowsonecare.com (ms antivirus)
www.freeav.com (avera antivir)
www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx (windows
defender)

if u want to copy everything to a differnt account just cut paste your files
from desktop and my documents to a differnt account ur files location wud be
documents & settings\username\my documents , desktop , etc..
for copying ur settings first scan if ur complete account is clean from any
worms or trojans then copy application data folder form ur account to new
account u create.

Hope this helps...,
Thota Umesh
www.windowsworkshop.com
 
Many thanks for your response. I have an appropriate Firewall and Virus
checker (3) and ran checks with all of them. Only one or two cookies were
found and deleted. Otherwise the system was clear.

It is only one of the User Accounts on my system suffering this problem and
I will try Danny's suggestions next. Renaming may just solve it. I will
return......
 
I haven't created a new User Account quite as you suggested but have managed
to copy most of the things I need into the appropriate Desktop / Start Menu
etc. and so far all is up and running.

How do I get all my old email message folders copied across though? It
keeps coming up with an error message about not having an ATAPI (or
somesuch)file???

Where are the dbx folders hiding?
 
Me again. I am up and running with my new User Account but several times
now I have had multi coloured lines appear across my LG Flat Screen monitor
which then hangs the system and I have to reboot. The system comes up OK
but of course, this never used to happen before my recent problems.

It has just happened for about the third time during the last 2 days. I
had a CDRW disk in the appropriate drive from which I had read and written
data across to my new account and upon pressing to eject, the lines appeared.
Any clues folks???

And there I was last week thinking how good the XP system had been.......
Smithy
 
Me again. I am up and running with my new User Account but several times
now I have had multi coloured lines appear across my LG Flat Screen monitor
which then hangs the system and I have to reboot. The system comes up OK
but of course, this never used to happen before my recent problems.

It has just happened for about the third time during the last 2 days. I
had a CDRW disk in the appropriate drive from which I had read and written
data across to my new account and upon pressing to eject, the lines appeared.
Any clues folks???

And there I was last week thinking how good the XP system had been.......
Smithy
Click to expand...

Sounds like a possible hardware problem:

Video tearing can be poor driver or heat related. If no fan on video card
that can be checked/replaced if necessary, you can insert a video fan in
the PCI slot next to it. Also check the fan on the chipset (smaller fan on
some motherboards - NOT the CPU fan). When this fan fails it can cause an
assortment of small annoyances and in the long run could possibly cause
damage to the motherboard if not replaced.

Odd that this happens only when accessing Eject for a cd drive though. Have
you checked its connections - data and power.

One more thought: If this is not a laptop running on batteries, may want to
try disabling standby on all drives. You can do this in Control Panel>
Power Options. And in Device Manager> properties of any particular device>
Power Management.
 
Thanks for your thoughts Sharon F.

How do I go about checking whether the fans are working? I have only last
week dusted out the insides of the CPU and I must admit it badly needed it.
The 6.1 speakers work much better now! I did gently check that all
connectors were pushed in and none seemed loose.

I have used the system quite extensively this week but not necessarily with
DVDs or CDs. I will try to use the drives a little more than normal just to
see whether the lines re-appear. At least my new User Account seems to be
behaving at present and I now know a lot more about transferring data from
one user set up to another.....

No doubt i will be back to this Forum. Many thanks

Smithy


p.s. anyone know anything about downloading video from a Hitachi camera
using mini DVDRam discs and MovieAlbumSE software. Windows recognises my
camera to pc connection and shows the correct icon in My Computer but Movie
AlbumSE does not "see" the drive within the programme. If it isn't one
things - tis another......
 
Thanks for your thoughts Sharon F.

How do I go about checking whether the fans are working?
Click to expand...

You're welcome! One way to check would be to visually. Leave the cover to
the case off when starting the computer. Once you know what you need to
know about the fans, shut down and replace the case cover.
 
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