A Techie Bleg

by Charles

One of my computers is driving me nuts!  Help!

I'm not sure how it happened, but my best guess is that either my wife or son clicked on an attachment they shouldn't have.  I have a Dell 2400 Dimension PC and it runs the home version of Windows XP.   The problem is this.  I can't open Internet Explorer, My Computer or Control Panel.  All other programs that I've tried work fine, including other Microsoft products.  I've run spyware and anti-virus programs to no avail.  I think what I need to do is initiate the system restore wizard and set the date for a week or two prior to the beginning of this sad episode, but I can't do this because I can't open Control Panel.  I think I can accomplish a system restore by clicking on the "run" button, but I can't figure out how to find the file name to make this process happen.  So here I am, at my wit's end, begging for help.  Any suggestions?

Comments

[ken]

I always try a reboot first. Have you done that yet?

[Jake - but not that one]

System Restore is run from the "start" menu. It is a sub listing under "all programs", "accessories", "system tools", "restore".

You MIGHT be able to enter this

%SystemRoot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

into the "run" box and have it work. It works on my computer, but there is no way of knowing if yours is set up identically.

Jake

[Tim]

Try in the run box:

c:\windows\system32\control.exe (for control panel)

c:\windows\system32\restore\rstrui.exe (for system restore)

[Jackmormon]

I wish I could help you, but I'm even more reliant on tricknologists than you are. Here's hoping someone gives you a full how-to! And good luck.

[While this thread has your ear--do you, Charles, wish I kept up more with HoCB? Does it seem useful as an overflow device, fair as feedback, or does it just reinforce the impression of being swarmed? For example: I would have opened up a Hating on CB's version of the Vietnam War thread had I been able to adjudicate even the basic facts about Vietnam. Since people commenting on your posts want to influence the public, rather than you, per se, hashing out the latter days of Vietnam War narrative on HoCB probably wouldn't have appealed to many. So I didn't bother. Any thoughts? Any preferences?]

[bob mcmanus]

1) The "system repair" option on your installation disk might help.

2) On reboot, try the F8 key (at the exactly correct moment) to get to the boot menu. The boot menu has a sysrestore point option.

3) Do you have a desktop? Is windows explorer working? Interesting symptoms.

[Carleton Wu]

Id be strongly inclined to get what I could off of the box and reinstall the OS; if someone was trying to compromise your machine and screwed it up a little bit, that doesn't mean that they haven't rooted it.
Some info and a good tool to use (if the system restore works and you want to keep the OS):
http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/RootkitRevealer.html

[Gary Farber]

"I think what I need to do is initiate the system restore wizard and set the date for a week or two prior to the beginning of this sad episode, but I can't do this because I can't open Control Panel."

"Any suggestions?"

Sure.

Oh, about your computer?

Sure.

Start in Safe mode. You didn't mention not being able to hit the "Start" "button" to do a restart. Do so, if you can. Press F8 as you restart. Move to "Safe Mode" as your choice.

That should do the trick, and you can do a System Restore without a problem, if you're lucky. (If you need more help, try using the "help" menu in Windows" and search for "safe mode.")

"I can't open Internet Explorer, My Computer or Control Panel."

Oh, and for god's sake, quit using IE, and download Firefox 1.5. In December, 2005, you're using IE? No comment.

If all else fails, you can always reload Windows from scratch (um, you do have the original disks, right?), but as that takes upwards of an hour, plus additional inconvenience of tweaking it back to your preferences, although it shouldn't affect any other programs or saved data, that's a sufficient pain as to leave to a last resort.)

Best of luck. Let us know if the above doesn't work. (Just curious: when you wondered about how to get do a System Restore under present circumstances, did you find the "Help" menu in Windows unclear?)

[Gary Farber]

It is a sub listing under "all programs", "accessories", "system tools", "restore".

That is, if your files happen to be set up that way, and you've never moved them or tweaked them. (I gather lots of folks don't.) This is not safe universal advice, otherwise, even just for Windows XP.

[Gary Farber]

General thought, occuring as an offshoot: say, I hope no one around here has been putting Sony music CDs in their CD drive. If so, um, well, good luck with that and getting out the rootkit.

[hilzoy]

Will. Not. Mention. Macs.

[Tim]

Watch out. Don't know about Dells, but the XP Home installation on Hps and Compaqs I've seen does a drive format. Data and programs will not syrvive.

[Charles Bird]

Update: Thanks to Tim and Jake for showing me the obvious, i.e., going to Systems Tools to get to System Restore. Here's what happened: I successfully ran the System Restore wizard, however, it could not restore anything prior to November 5th. The restore on the November 5th date worked, but the problem wasn't solved. Perhaps that was the date when all this trouble really started. BTW, I'm typing from "my" computer, and my son and wife are (or were) the primary users on the one with all the problems.

I didn't mention this earlier, but Dell has a system recovery disk, and that didn't work at all. I can't reload Windows from scratch because of all the updates.

Jack, I like HonCB because we can let our hair down a little and hash out some stuff. I went there last night after week or so hiatus, but I do check for new entries. In a strange and compelling way, I kind of like the site. I don't feel "swarmed" there because there's, like, three or four commenters who go there regularly. It gives me a chance to swear, and it gives others a more complete avenue to vent. Any time you put something up is fine, so bring on the hate!

Gary, I could take or leave IE, but going without Control Panel and My Computer really hurts.

Carleton, I'm gonna give RootkitRevealer a shot. And thanks. I'll let y'all know how it works (I see my weekend slipping away, still gotta put up lights, get a tree and e-mail some numbers to client. Argh!).

[ral]

Charles, here is something that might work, but no promises.

When you boot the Windows install CD on a system that already has Windows installed on the hard drive, it offers the option to "upgrade", "repair", or "re-install". I forget the exact terminology, and I don't have it handy at the moment. There may be two options ("upgrade" or "repair", for example, and you might need to try both).

*Make a full backup before you do this!!!*

I have successfully used this to recover systems, and to transfer a Windows boot drive to new hardware -- I had to do this when upgrading my laptop -- a long, involved, but finally successful story.

Good luck.

[Gary Farber]

"Gary, I could take or leave IE, but going without Control Panel and My Computer really hurts."

Sure, that's not something one can stand for. I was just saying that, by 2005, using IE is, um, not a good idea. That's unrelated to fixing your current problem, of course. It's just something to take care of as soon as your problem is fixed (aside from the fact that even CERT pointed out how crazy a security risk it was to run IE a couple of years ago, Firefox -- or Opera, if you prefer -- is far better in endless ways, whether it's using Extensions, and their specifics, or simply using tabs instead of gack, agh, additional windows; but the idea of using such a security risk as IE by the year 2005, well, like I said, no further comment, because I do not wish to be rude.

"The restore on the November 5th date worked, but the problem wasn't solved. Perhaps that was the date when all this trouble really started."

But the problems you describe didn't erupt until recent days? Curious. And doubtless over the level of my very limited XP knowledge, likely, I'm afraid.

It's true, however, that although I've re-installed Win98 and Win95 a number of times in the past on earlier machines without having any affect upon other programs or data, I'm not sure I've ever done it with this machine and XP since I got them earlier this year. So I can't speak without looking into it as to how dangerous or safe an XP re-install is. But if it requires a reformat, as asserted above, well, gosh, wouldn't that be another reason to never, ever, ever, use Microsoft XP, because how [violates Posting Rules] stupid and intolerable would that be?

Do you happen to have any diagnostic software, such as Symantec/Nortan SystemWorks, Charles? Probably not, or you'd have mentioned.

Complete digression: I've kinda tentatively figured you addressed Hilzoy as "Hil," since, as we know, "Hilzoy" is not the name on her birth certificate, whereas I'm not revealing a state secret such as our strategy in Iraq when I note that her first name is commonly known as "Hilary." How that relates to your addressing the jackmormon as "Jack," though, is something you know (and needn't explain) and I don't. Just noting trivia in passing, because I guess I felt like it.

On your problem, I regret to say that I've rapidly reached the point where my own limited knowledge would require further research to help you, and I've had my own minor computer problems unresolved or explained since I purchased this machine earlier this year, finally upgrading from the Pentium Is I've been working with up to now (and old b&w Macs prior to that). I can only suggest checking on whether or not a reinstallation of Windows XP does or does not require a drive reformatting (can that really be true?), and hope that others are of more help, and offer my sympathies. Computer problems suck for those of us who aren't inclined to devote our lives to understanding the fine details of an OS we'll only live with for a few years anyway. (And Macs aren't magically immune, either, although they are superior, loosely speaking.) I do wish you all possible luck in speedily overcoming your problem as painlessly as possible.

If anyone can tell me why I'm constantly having to do a restart to get most modern games to play without switching into Major Darkness mode, do let me know (beyond the fact that my decent, albeit still 640x 480 sized, monitor, lost a color last year, and the backup is incredibly dim in general, to the point where it's Very Difficult To Use During Daylight, and I simply need a new one, even beyond the fact that it's so small), by the way.

I did at least eventually figure out most of the ins and outs of Win 3.1 and 95 and 98, but I still have a long way to go on XP and, yet, little interest, as opposed to frickin' need. I never was able to work up interest in learning programming the way so many of my friends possess such interest and knowledge, alas.

Well, this was a far longer and far more pointless comment than I intended when I started. Sorry.

[BSR]

ouch, that's hard luck.

I would recommend starting up in safe mode as some suggested above. Reboot normally, hit the F8 key when prompted, and then select "safe mode"

Once your logged in, bring up task manager so you can see the current process list. I am not familiar with XP, I just support servers not desktops, but I believe if oyu hit control-alt-delete you'll have an option for "task manager". If that's not available on XP run "taskmgr.exe"

IN task manager, select the "process" tab. For every process that you do not recognize, (which will be most of them if you have never done this before) enter the exact process name in google and determine if it is a valid process or a peice of malware.

I am willing to bet you'll have at last one nasty suprise in that task list. If you can figure out which one it is you'll probably also find a recommended way to deal with it.

Lastly, when this is all resolved, if you aren't serving up files and stuff on your home network, disable the server service. Install firefox and do not allow your family to use IE. These two steps alone will solve 99% of the typical home users problems, although you still must remain vigilant about email and the internet in general.

Good luck. My actual recomendation is to get all your data off that hog and start over from scratch, but if that's not an option I hope this helps.

[Jackmormon]

CB:In a strange and compelling way, I kind of like the site.[...] Any time you put something up is fine, so bring on the hate!

I'll quote you on that. I'm glad that the stalker site is working out for you; I can only hope that it's working for ObWi. Okay, Hating on CB's views on Vietnam will shorting be open for business. (Again, best wishes for your home computer.)

[Jackmormon]

Argh, "shortly," not "shorting." As in, I'll get a Hating on Charles's version of Vietnam thread up and running tomorrow morning.

[ral]

Gary, FYI, no, re-install (or whatever the heck it is called) does not require reformatting the hard drive. Like I said above, it can be used to recover a trashed system.

Of course, you have to be careful and select the choice that doesn't reformat the drive, and if you make a mistake choosing, reboot before the format starts.

BSR's adivce is good, too, and might help.

[ral]

None of us can tpye.

[ral]

Oh, Charles, BTW. If the re-install works, you will have to re-apply service packs and patches.

[socratic_me]

Charles:

Because it is all too easy to get viruses that make your machine nuts but can be undone with a little patience and ingenuity, I recommend holding off on the format for now. Instead, try this.

Reboot in safe mode, with internet connectivity. I think the way to do this has already been covered. Then pull up Internet Exploder and download two different programs:

1)Ad Aware
2Hijack This

Install both programs fully, but don't worry about running them yet. Instead, go to Trend Micro:

http://housecall60.trendmicro.com/en/start_corp.asp?id=scan

which is a perfectly legitimate group that does free virus scans on your computer. You will have to lossen up some security settings for them, but just write down what it changes and tighten everything back up when you get this fixed.

Once Trend Micro is done doing its thing, run Ad Aware and then Hijack this in that order and run a google search on anything you dont recognize. I recomment this in this way and this order because running the other programs first will cut down on the grunt work you have to do. Also, running Hijack this will actually show you some processes that are hijacking your computer that task manager doesn't always show. Viruses especially tend to get better and better at hiding themselves.

[Jackmormon]

Gary wrote: How that relates to your addressing the jackmormon as "Jack," though, is something you know (and needn't explain) and I don't.

I'm cool with "Jack."

[Gary Farber]

"Gary, FYI, no, re-install (or whatever the heck it is called) does not require reformatting the hard drive. Like I said above, it can be used to recover a trashed system."

Well, it did seem fairly loony to me that Microsoft would have made it otherwise, all cheap ha-ha's aside, but I didn't feel remotely safe in saying anything stronger without checking, and I don't feel like checking just now.

So thanks for that info, particularly since selfishly I may need to know it in the future (although I will, if possible, double-check, of course, because life has been nothing but a constant course in skepticism, in my experience, and playing to that has, overall, always, always, always, been a winning bet -- stressing the "overall" part). It is, alas, a bit of a toss-up when trying to weigh, abstractly, just how stupid MS could be versus, you know, just how stupid MS could be.

But they're generally not, actually, completely stupid (disclosure: various friends of mine have worked in various capacities for Microsfot; also, doing Linux early on; also, in mainframes for decades before minis, let alone desktops; also, as single or double-diget Apple employees; etc., boring etc.; jeez, once I start, I can think of acquaintances working for IBM in the Fifties, and yet more, so I shut up now).

On the Other Fronts realm, since by law as a liberal I am required not just to watch a certain quota of PBS tv, but to make up for the fact that 92.452546% of liberals must, by law, affirm that they watch no tv at all, I will say that the Great Performances Cream concert seems to have hit my bells for Good Stuff this evening.

It must be the drugs I'd just kinda wish I'd have, if I were, you know, on drugs.

I think this Clapton fellow may have a future with his guitar. I'm sure I'm an America-hating loser-defeatist for saying. And these "Baker" and "Bruce" fellows seem okay.

Oddities of the evening: receiving an e-mail full of (knowledgeable, spot-on, and accurate, if that's not redundant) compliments for something I did 27 years ago. Extremely non-objectionable, but something one doesn't have the experience to be used to in, say, one's first 27 years. This whole aging thing is something that I just can't seem to get completely used to.

Not that I prefer the present alternative, to be sure.

[ral]

Gary, somehow I think you and I have similar backgrounds (IBM friends, mainframes, Apple, Unix, Microsoft).

I didn't feel remotely safe in saying anything stronger without checking,

So true.

[Clapton, Baker, ...]

I can't find my way home.

[Gary Farber]

"I'm cool with 'Jack.'"

So I'm cool with that. It's not as if I've ever been terribly worked up about gender issues, or identity issues, and if there's a way I can say that without sounding sarcastic, given how often I sound sarcastic, I'm too lazy just now to think of it.

I'd only be comfortable addressing you as "Jack," though, if you said that was your preference in a given context, in which case no problem. The flip side, for me, of having gotten used to addressing people by whatever their preferred handle is at about the age I turned 15 or so, lo, 32-odd years ago, is that I'm deeply reluctant to act on nomenclature assumptions. "Cool with" not being marked, in my feeble imitation of a mind, as identical to "my preferred form."

But I'm cool with that.

[Jackmormon]

Gary,
If you feel exceptionally patient, could you explain to me trackbacking? Here's what I want to do: both create a link from Hating On Charles Bird and to make a visible from ObWi to HoCB. With the basic permalink, I've never had a problem, even though my link has never shown up on ObWi. With a trackback url embedded into my site's code, I've not seen a trackback on ObWi, anf I've had complaints of non-connecitvity on my own side. (My sites use the cheapest, freest of blogposts; my OS is Microspoft
Me, my browser Firefox)

[Gary Farber]

"I can't find my way home."

I'm faintly relieved that a quick check reveals that I did give a clue on September 5th that this song had been recently obsessing me, else I'd be a tad unnerved.

For some reason, that work caught up on me, and I chased down, a few months ago, several versions, from Alison Krauss's to Widespread Panic's, to a bunch of others. It's still on my current Disturbingly Frequently Replayed list, in many variants.

Those damn earworms. I only have clues as to the math and/or psychology of them, but it's damn fascinating to me how our brains work that, uh, stuff. Not that I know more than clues about clues, maybe, if that much.

"Gary, somehow I think you and I have similar backgrounds (IBM friends, mainframes, Apple, Unix, Microsoft)."

I can only advise not assuming too much; one of the innumerable things I learned about sf (science fiction) fandom (of the last, more towards the middle, century) even before I made personal contact was just how many fascinating (IMO) people it tended to bring one into immediate contact with; I pretty much just can't over-state that, or how it worked for me as well as several hundreds of us (back in the day; it would be somewhat different now).

This doesn't mean I had any personal interest in, for instance, computer programming, or any (large, actually) number of topics I became good friends with Renowned Experts in when I was a teenager, or subsequently. (Bruce Schnier buying me multiple dinners during the Eighties didn't mean I knew squat about, or had a background in, technical computer security issues, for instance, any more than my chatting with Rosalyn Yalow at her home meant that I was up to 10,000th of her Nobel Prize, etc., etc., etc.)

My big Apple pal, FWIW, was/is Allen Baum, who was a close pal of Woz's (Woz let him intro the Grateful Dead at a concert at one point), and a low-number Apple employee.

The list of friends I've had who have worked for Microsoft is fairly long, given Stuff, such as the sf connection, and my having lived in Seattle from 1978-1985, but Eileen Gunn is the only one remotely likely for anyone out of my personal circles to have heard of, and I won't hold my breath waiting to be sure anyone here has heard of her (geez, was that unkind?; I don't mean to let my own attempt at modesty wash over her own significant accomplishments; I doubtless need to go to bed now).

Yes, yawning now. I shall try to take the hint.

[Gary Farber]

"If you feel exceptionally patient, could you explain to me trackbacking?"

Not without research, sorry. It's not a Blogger thing, I'm afraid, but a later development (MT, I think, but amn't sure, which is to say, "Moveable Type"). I am but an egg. (And cracked, naturally.)

[Jackmormon]

Gary,
I do appreciate your care about pseudonyms. There's a picture of me on the HoCB site, and I do not live in meatspace as transgendered. There is an explanation of how I understand the handle Jackmormon on my
Jackmormon.blogspot space. And as someone who get an ahistorical thrill from reading primary texts from the 1790s, I enjoy very much being called Jack. So be easy.

[Gary Farber]

"Bruce Schnier buying me multiple dinners during the Eighties"

Nineties, actually, to factcheck my own ass, because, hey, who else will? A relatively late development, and more due to my friendship with his wife, Karen Cooper, to be clear. (Although since I dropped off Usenet, we've lost touch, alas, as has happened with several folk, sniffle, sniffle, sigh, and yet more such noises.)

(Note to self: work on longterm mental conflict between frequent urge to namedrop and constant frowning/embarrassment at self after doing so; this has been going on without adjustment far too long; note urge to mention other friends I think of as Famous And From Mipple-Stipple, here, for instance, for no apparent reason; engage diagnostic program.)

Secondary note: stop talking to one's self on other people's blogs. If I'm going to embarrass myself, I should at least do it on my own blog. (Query: will that actually achieve maximum embarrassment? -- ed; response: Beats me.)

Tertiary note: believe yourself when you say you should stop with the yawn.

[Gary Farber]

And, as usual, disregarding what I say to myself: "There's a picture of me on the HoCB site, and I do not live in meatspace as transgendered."

Whoa.

And I had so many more compliments yet to give solely upon your mind, and being genuinely unsure of your gender (nah, I certainly am not going to define gender, or what matters about it, tonight, save to note that it's mainly in the etcs., which can be quite complicated).

"There is an explanation of how I understand the handle Jackmormon on my Jackmormon.blogspot space."

I'll check when I'm awake again; I had always assumed the usual usage. (It's not as if I hadn't been deeply involved with an eventually-getting-excommunicated-Mormon back in the Seventies, although I guess she probably wrote me out of the public version, as usual).

[Jackmormon]

And I had so many more compliments yet to give solely upon your mind

I'm even more cool with that.

[Jackmormon]

But, Gary, if you could, may I ask you to attempt to restrain the linkage? I'm already getting the oy-I-should-detroy-the-upload vibes.

[Jackmormon]

And, as I've now deleted the earlier HoCB post, I'd appreciate if hackers-come-lately wouldn't reconstitute proof of my corporality. I already feel silly enough, etc.

[Gary Farber]

"I already feel silly enough, etc."

If this weren't my family's motto -- and I have no reason to think it is, until I just made it so, starting here and now, for me and mine -- it should be (and now it ever-after, until the next Change, is).

I felt a strange but strong reason to point that out here.

Beyond that, all I can say is that my Change Agents are working up and down the timeline, as you read this, to destroy all evidence that this conversation ever took p

[Jackmormon]

Excellen

[Gary Farber]

And yet, considering this: "I'm already getting the oy-I-should-detroy-the-upload vibes."

What I tend to think of immediately is to contemplate the distinctions between an "oi!" and an "oy!," from various British dialects to various Yiddish, then back again, then outward, and then back again.

The trivial and obvious typo is of no interest. But "oy" has all sorts of linguistic questions, for me, at least.

[Jackmormon]

Gary, Are you asking me to talk about the months I worked as the first (and as far as I know) only goy in a Jewish books and gifts store--where I straight-up fooled every single customer with my 1) Mm'm let me guide you towards my sales-ptich and 2) it's been a long time since I did Hewbrew School, but fortunately, here's a guy who's been living in Israel!

For sales purposes, I can do Brooklyn Jewish to fool rabbis, and it delights me (as in happy with no purpose) to deply what little Yidish I know. Other days, I'll deploy the slang of the block I've lived on for the past six years, which is a mix of brooklenese, Spanish, Blsck, snd Arabic.

I've always had a floating accent: my mother's slightly deaf with a highbrow MidWest accent, my father has a seriously yokel Candadian accent, and I grew mostly bilingual in Valley-Girl Land. I can't even control it: I pick up the strands that are dominant around me, while retaining some markers of the past. My five-year roomat has an upper-crush English accent, my lover is Long Island Muslim, my mom's folks are Utahn Mormons, my dad'd Canadian athiests---
And I went to high school in Berkeley, Ca., where it didn't seem so unthinkable for a Mormon girl to be recommending Kabbalah books to people of the faith.

Am I allowed to say or write "oy""

[Charles Bird]

BSR and socratic, thanks. Trend Micro and searching for the bad programs looks like the next steps.

Gary, on the name shortening, I do it with practically everybody, one because we are having casual conversations here (and despite political differences, among friends) and two because I'm lazy and I hate typing more letters than I have to. If anyone has an objection to it, I will of course abide by their wishes, as I did when you asked me to stop calling you Farber (although that wasn't exactly the same situation). By the same token, I'm OK with any shortening, and practically variation, of my name. I even go by Larry, but that was more applicable back when my basketball skills were at their peak.

As for Clapton, I guess I must be a loser-defeatist. I can't remember the name of the CD, but the one with Father's Eyes is outstanding.

[Barry]

Charles: "Carleton, I'm gonna give RootkitRevealer a shot. And thanks. I'll let y'all know how it works (I see my weekend slipping away, still gotta put up lights, get a tree and e-mail some numbers to client. Argh!)."

Charles, at this point, taking it to Best Buy and having the Geek Squad work on it might be a good idea. The service charges might look steep, but they'll look cheaper compared to spending a whole weekend on it. Not to mention the hair transplants needed to replace the ripped-out parts.

[Charles Bird]

Charles, at this point, taking it to Best Buy and having the Geek Squad work on it might be a good idea.

Funny you should mention that, Barry. I didn't take my PC there, but I went to CompUSA and talked to some GeekSquadders about my little problem. They had some suggestions, but as you can tell, they were for naught. If the suggestions here don't work out, I may have to swallow my pride and take the damn machine in. The thing is, it wasn't that expensive of a computer to begin with, so if the estimate is too steep, I might as well just break down and get a new CPU.

[Tim]

One last thing you can try before heading to geekland. Try to run My Computer. Then from control panel, go to system info, to administrative tools, and bring up event viewer. If no control panel available, run c:\windows\system32\eventvwr.msc /s (that's the shortcut on my machine, and almost certainly yours). You'll get three areas. Look at all three for recent errors. If it's a missing or corrupted file it should show up here.

[Mercutio]

Charles:

A lot of people have alreadyg iven you real good advice, but I'd like to throw in my own list of possible fixes, as current help desk technician. First, the non-invasive stuff:

1) You might want to try getting into the control panel by going to 'Start,' then 'run,' then type in 'control panel'. Yeah, I know, simple, but sometimes it WORKS.

2) If you CAN get into the control Panel, try Add/Remove programs, then add/remove windows components. Uncheck IE from the list. Reboot. Go back in there and RE-check IE, then reboot again. This is... it's not really a reinstallation of IE; you can't UNINSTALL IE from a Win XP machine in the first place. It's mroe sort of a re-initialization.

3) Go to Start. Then Run. Type 'cmd'. This will pull up the command line. Type 'netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt'. If you are running service pack 2, also do 'netsh winsock reset catalog'. This repairs TCP/IP and resets your winsock keys. (And thank god for that winsock command, on a personal note; you used to need to edit the registry to do that.) This USUALLY is something you ONLY do if you're having browser trouble that relates to getting websites, but it cannot HURT your PC and it might actually help.

That's the SIMPLE stuff. Now we move on to the more invasive things, the stuff where I reccomend you back up files before trying it, if possible.

1) Pop your WinXP disc into your CD drive, which hopefully is your primary boot device. Reboot the computer. When the option 'press any key to boot from CD' comes up, press a key. Wait for it to load through (this will take a few minutes.) It will eventually bring you to a screen where it asks if you want to do various things; one of those things will be to use the Recovery Console. Choose to do so. (If your PC has an admin password, you'll need to enter it to get in there.)

At the command prompt type 'chkdsk /r'. Leave it there to run. THIS WILL TAKE A WHILE. I've had it take hours and hours on really fucked up PCs; if your comp is even mdoeratly healthy, though, figure along the lines of 90 minutes. When it finished, reboot. The chkdsk command is a disc/OS repair tool; google the command if you want more detailed info about it. It's pretty harmless.

2) A lot of people have mentioned 're-installing' win XP. You DON'T need to do that yet; you may end up doing so, but there's an easier, safer step BEFORE trying that. It's a REPAIR install.

This link: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm#RI

is somewhat dated; it talks about the blaster worm, for example, which hasn't been a serious threat in enarly a YEAR, but has the most concise instructions for doing a repair install I've yet to find, way better explained the support.microsoft.com offers.

To be honest; if I were in your position, I would wipe the drive CLEAN, do a full format of the thing, and reinstall from SCRATCH. This is THE best thing for your PC. In fact, I do this on a yearly basis with my home box just because. Well, sort of. I use a disc image I made, and I back up my save game files first, and export my links and address books to a CD, but the principle is the same!

Anyway, s'what I have to offer. Hope you find it helpful.