babyeggplant said:
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/malwareremove/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/...6F-60B6-4412-95B9-54D056D6F9F4&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.