Author Topic: PC problem: WinXP, perhaps hardware (Read 8110 times)

madelaide · « **on:** January 23, 2010, 13:43 »

Hi all,

Since yesterday I've been facing a problem in my PC that I can't solve.

First, days ago, I was having problems when loading WinXP, so I ran "msconfig /startup" and disabled some programs that load at initialization. Although none of them were new, it seemed to have solved the problem.

Then yesterday I wanted to log on to my office's network, and that required the Cisco VPN stuff I had disabled. So I ran msconfig again, enabling them. That's when my problems started.

I couldn't have my PC finish loading Windows, it would show the desktop wallpaper, but no icons nor program bar. CTRL+ALT+DEL would bring the Task Manager, I could log off, sometimes it worked, sometimes it only left me with the desktop wallpaper. I tried some restore points, also unsuccessfully, even after disabling the VPN entries again in msconfig.

After several attempts - I can't even tell what I did anymore - I managed to go into Windows, however two things were not working: the sound is bad, when it used to be crystal clear and even had a touch of surround effect (this must be software, as my speakers are two simple ones), and the internet connection is not working. Linksys software says there is no connection between the wifi router and the internet, however I am running the notebook using the wifi connection. That is, Linksys shows connection between PC and the wifi router, as if the problem was in the incoming cable signal, but the signal is coming and therefore the notebook connects. I gave up last night, and now I tried again, the problem persists the same way.

Just in case, yesterday I ran antivirus (AVG) and anti-spyware (Spybot) and nothing was found.

What puzzles me is that there is a constant HD activity, even right now when I am writing this in the notebook and I am doing nothing at the PC. Task manager's process tab only shows virus shield (AVG), Teatimer (Spybot) and Zone Alarm.

Sound and ethernet are inboard in my Intel mobo. Sound uses Realtek drivers - I suppose they are part of the Intel stuff that came with it.

I haven't yet tried to connect the cable modem directly to the PC, but I tried changing the cable connection in the router (it has three connectors for cable links).

Suggestions?

Stu49 · « **Reply #1 on:** January 23, 2010, 13:49 »

Good chance your HD is about to go walkies !!

Back up now ! if you haven't already

madelaide · « **Reply #2 on:** January 23, 2010, 14:20 »

Yes, backups are updated.

However, chkdsk doesn't find anything wrong in the HD. Shouldn't it find something, if these errors were caused by lost data? Or could another problem cause the same symptoms?

Stu49 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 23, 2010, 14:31 »

Quote from: madelaide on January 23, 2010, 14:20

Yes, backups are updated.

However, chkdsk doesn't find anything wrong in the HD. Shouldn't it find something, if these errors were caused by lost data? Or could another problem cause the same symptoms?

Last time I saw this problem, it got more and more difficult to boot and the drive kept hunting, even after loading everything up. Also got more difficult to run anything. Then it DIED !! Hardware failure, not software !! Head actuator problem usually.

Hope I'm wrong, but be prepared

FD · « **Reply #4 on:** January 23, 2010, 15:39 »

Quote from: madelaide on January 23, 2010, 13:43

What puzzles me is that there is a constant HD activity, even right now when I am writing this in the notebook and I am doing nothing at the PC.

There are some pretty bad trojans around that AVG doesn't detect. What I would do is disconnect the PC totally from the net, and see if the disk activity stops then. If not, let it do for a while. XP sometimes runs file system smoothing tasks in the background.

madelaide · « **Reply #5 on:** January 23, 2010, 15:48 »

Quote from: FD-amateur on January 23, 2010, 15:39

There are some pretty bad trojans around that AVG doesn't detect.

And Spybot either?

I am now running chkdsk in both partitions of my HD. Before that, I uninstalled Zone Alarm because I noticed I couldn't get to its console (when clicking its icon, it said something like "protection running, UI initializing"). Then I downloaded the latest version, but installation failed.

(Internet is working again and sound is apparently back to its normal...)

donding · « **Reply #6 on:** January 23, 2010, 15:53 »

madelaide.....FD is correct about AVG. I recently did a search through Google to find out how to make homemade playdo...clicked on a link and Boom trojan...You may not have a virus but one software I use that sure helps is Malwarebytes' Anti Malware. It's free and it sometimes detects what AVG doesn't. I use both. If you can't get on the internet on your main pc, you can download it on a disc from you laptop then install it and run it.
Here's the website to download from.
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

FD · « **Reply #7 on:** January 23, 2010, 16:09 »

Quote from: madelaide on January 23, 2010, 15:48

Quote from: FD-amateur on January 23, 2010, 15:39
There are some pretty bad trojans around that AVG doesn't detect.
And Spybot either?

Trust me, I live in the heartland of the crackers, hackers and virusbreeders. I can get any game here (sorry Fran) hacked and working. Those guys have nothing else to do. I got a nasty bug last December by a USB stick in a netcafé and the hacker left his cellphone number. I contacted him and he apologized, since I actually bought one of his "products". It was one of those rootkits that makes your OS think it's accessing the CD drive. My point is that none of those hacks were recognized by AVG, Malwarebytes or similar stuff.
The only way to be protected is work on a PC with no connection to the net. If you suspect an infection, the first thing to do is disconnect.

LSD72 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 23, 2010, 18:05 »

Since your backed up... try a program called ComboFix. Should be only 2 sites you can dl it from. It's free and its great for getting rid of trojans and other forms of software junk.

Stu49 · « **Reply #9 on:** January 24, 2010, 05:03 »

Quote from: FD-amateur on January 23, 2010, 15:39

There are some pretty bad trojans around that AVG doesn't detect. What I would do is disconnect the PC totally from the net, and see if the disk activity stops then.

Bit late for that !!

If it's infected, which I doubt it is, then the damage is done ! The disk activity is unlikely to stop just like that. Disconnecting would be like, 'locking the stable door after the horse has bolted' !

As soon as a PC behaves badly, people scream Virus, virus....
It's usually something else, AVG is pretty good, as I found out recently

borg · « **Reply #10 on:** January 24, 2010, 05:42 »

My experience is that antivirus, spy searches, registry cleaners do not help, especially free versions...

Windows always work worse and worse after installation. That's why I reinstall it every 3-6 months, sometimes often ... This is the only cure for functionality and speed ...

Kngkyle · « **Reply #11 on:** January 24, 2010, 06:10 »

I wouldn't spend more than a few hours trying to fix it. It only takes about an hour or so to reinstall the operating system and another hour to reinstall all your programs. You will likely need to reinstall some drivers as well, they might have come on a disk when you bought your computer or you can download them online from the manufactures website.

Also I agree with borg. Registry cleaners and virus scanners rarely fix the problem, especially one as complex as yours seems to be. Not saying it isn't worth trying but don't get your hopes up. I certainly wouldn't pay any money for one.

Really though, Windows XP is sort of obsolete now. You should check to see if your PC is capable of running Windows 7 and consider upgrading. If not then maybe you can use this as a reason to buy a new PC.

If you do decide to buy a new computer I recommend purchasing one that has two hard drives. With that you can have the operating system on one and all your important files on the other. So if you ever have any issues like this you can easily reinstall the operating system and not have to worry about losing or backing up your files. (OK it's probably still a good idea to back them up but I don't)

borg · « **Reply #12 on:** January 24, 2010, 08:10 »

Antiviruses, cleaners and other utilities are like chemo- therapy...
Sometime kills disease but also killing system or organism...

Jack Schiffer · « **Reply #13 on:** January 24, 2010, 09:18 »

When was the last time you defraged your drive

Stu49 · « **Reply #14 on:** January 24, 2010, 11:51 »

Quote from: Kngkyle on January 24, 2010, 06:10

If you do decide to buy a new computer I recommend purchasing one that has two hard drives. With that you can have the operating system on one and all your important files on the other. So if you ever have any issues like this you can easily reinstall the operating system and not have to worry about losing or backing up your files. (OK it's probably still a good idea to back them up but I don't)

And if the second drive dies, you've lost ALL your data !! Not a good idea !

1 drive for System + Data (C: + D:) and 1 drive for backup !

If Sys dies u can re-install without disturbing data drive. If First hd dies, u have a backup ! If Backup drive dies, u buy a new one and start backing up again ! HDs DO DIE u know !!!

Simple really !!

donding · « **Reply #15 on:** January 24, 2010, 12:28 »

External hard drives are quite reasonable these days. I have a main computor then a second computor networked into the main computor so if I need it for storage it is there, but I keep all my pictures as well as any important documents on the external hard drive and backup to dvd once a year. I know I should backup more like once a month,,,but it's only once a year.

willie · « **Reply #16 on:** January 24, 2010, 14:09 »

Quote from: FD-amateur on January 23, 2010, 15:39

Quote from: madelaide on January 23, 2010, 13:43
What puzzles me is that there is a constant HD activity, even right now when I am writing this in the notebook and I am doing nothing at the PC.
There are some pretty bad trojans around that AVG doesn't detect. What I would do is disconnect the PC totally from the net, and see if the disk activity stops then. If not, let it do for a while. XP sometimes runs file system smoothing tasks in the background.

I think for that reason it is why my colleagues and I only use a public computer at our coop to
do all these communications and blogging. Our archives are not connected to the internet,
but we make DVD of our images to bring to this common service computer when we need to upload our work.
Even if there is a hacker or intrusion on that computer, and I am sure there is a virus or two here and there.
Whoever hacks that computer which we are using (now even), may also be sending back a virus , and hopefully a worm, rofl, back to themselves.

As for our work, all being on DVD , we don't use them back on our home computers.
Even if we did, DVDs are write once only , and we can't see the possibility of a virus infecting our source machines.

Sometimes it's better to use a communal computer ie. at your coop, at your library, at your university, or best, at your pub or pool salon.

Troublesome, perharps, as you are sharing this computer with 40-50 other ppl in your coop,
but at least if that computer crashes, our work is not threatened. And you can have a pint and chat while watching tennis or formula race on the giant screen sports tv

Something to consider.

madelaide · « **Reply #17 on:** January 24, 2010, 15:11 »

Well, guys, apparently it's solved - at least in part.

As I mentioned, I was not able to get to ZA console repeatedly. I uninstalled, then downloaded the latest version. It failed to install because of some problem in a DLL called vsdata.dll. I renamed it, the installation went through, creating a new vsdata.dll file.

After that, the PC has resumed working normally, even the sound is crystal clear again. So it seems a faulty file was the problem. Still, the faulty file may have been caused by a failure in the HD, perhaps a symptom of future problems, so I will be watching.

I haven't however enabled VPN again. It seems Cisco VPN uses this DLL too. Just in case, I will get the latest VPN at my office tomorrow and replace the current VPN installation I have.

I know no anti-virus or anti-malware is safe enough, but I am very careful with my PC, I don't access suspicious sites nor click on any email link, etc. I only had a virus at home once, and it was my brother's guilt opening email attatchments from people he doesn't know (at least, this is my guess, as he was spending some days with us using my PC every day when this happened, and he opens anything).

Thanks for everyone's help and hints.

Stu49 · « **Reply #18 on:** January 24, 2010, 15:27 »

Just to be on the safe side, go to your HD manufacturers site and download their HD check program. This should check hardware, as well as software, for impending ~~doom~~ problems. I know Seagate, Maxtor, Hitachi and Samsung do provide such software.

madelaide · « **Reply #19 on:** January 24, 2010, 15:30 »

Thanks for the tip, Stu, I didn't know this existed.

Stu49 · « **Reply #20 on:** January 24, 2010, 15:52 »

Quote from: borg on January 24, 2010, 05:42

My experience is that antivirus, spy searches, registry cleaners do not help, especially free versions...

Windows always work worse and worse after installation. That's why I reinstall it every 3-6 months, sometimes often ... This is the only cure for functionality and speed ...

That's a bit extreme !!

I agree they work best when fresh

but even so !? If u keep it tidied, it shouldn't be a problem for years

You could of course make a FULL backup after your fresh install, then u only have to RESTORE when u feel the need ! MUCH faster

eyeCatchLight · « **Reply #21 on:** January 24, 2010, 17:29 »

Quote from: Stu on January 24, 2010, 15:52

Quote from: borg on January 24, 2010, 05:42
My experience is that antivirus, spy searches, registry cleaners do not help, especially free versions...

Windows always work worse and worse after installation. That's why I reinstall it every 3-6 months, sometimes often ... This is the only cure for functionality and speed ...

That's a bit extreme !!

I agree they work best when fresh but even so !? If u keep it tidied, it shouldn't be a problem for years

You could of course make a FULL backup after your fresh install, then u only have to RESTORE when u feel the need ! MUCH faster

I also reinstall very often, 3-6 months. It just becomes horribly slow, especially under Vista this was the case. Win7 seems to be better, but still I needed to reinstall just a few days ago. And no, I don't install tons of useless stuff...It is just microsoft. Same as the fact that it can never run for long at once, you have to reboot to take lots of load from the system. I have Linux as the main OS and there it never happens.

Stu49 · « **Reply #22 on:** January 24, 2010, 17:58 »

Well I don't know what u guys do to your systems, but my XP install has been going for years

I often do a fresh install on one of my test systems, and they're NO faster than my ancient one

If u tidy up on a regular basis there shouldn't be a problem. I use tools on Registry and Drives, followed by a backup and never a problem, apart from the odd virus of course

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Author Topic: PC problem: WinXP, perhaps hardware (Read 8110 times)

madelaide

Stu49

madelaide

Stu49

FD

madelaide

donding

FD

LSD72

Stu49

borg

Kngkyle

borg

Jack Schiffer

Stu49

donding

willie

madelaide

Stu49

madelaide

Stu49

eyeCatchLight

Stu49

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