Microsoft-caused problems on my XP machine

[Anupam]

System restore creates a snapshot of your system at the point of the time, at which the restore point was taken. When you choose to restore the system to a particular restore point... the system will return to the state it was, at that point of time, when the restore point was saved. Any changes made to the system since then, will be lost, even your program installations, which you had done after that restore point. So, if you have restore points earlier than the 3 days, when you know system was working okay... then choose one, and things should be okay I guess.

Its quite likely that the burner problem may be caused because the windows explorer is not working. The hanging of programs when you choose to explore, indicates that.

I am not in favor of the so called registry cleaners. I believe they should be avoided at all costs. They are nothing but trouble. Registry cleaners cause more problems than they solve. Playing with registry is not fun, and it may render a system totally non-bootable. So, it might also be a possibility that things may have actually been worsened by using the registry cleaner.

Originally Posted by tboneman2

Is it possible to temporarily suspend Windows File Protection, long enough to re-copy or re-install Window Explorer, or the entire Accessory package if necessary? If yes to suspend, where would I find the files to reinstall Explorer and/or Accessories? The other thought I had was maybe Active X v 10 was damaged, altho I don't see the connection to Win Explorer.

I don't know what you mean by suspend Windows File Protection. And I don't know how to re-copy or re-install the Windows Explorer.

Two sensible ways are being suggested. First, try sfc /scannow , as it was told to you earlier. Now, the CD that is being talked about is, the original CD with which you installed the fresh OS. You should know which CD it is, if you installed it yourself. Thats the CD you have to use, when it asks for a CD.

If sfc doesn't work, then you should try repair install of the OS. That will also require the OS installation CD.

If that does not work too, then I think it would be better to do a clean reinstall of the system.

If you have another spare hard disk, then you can backup your data on that hard disk. Or, if a friend of yours is willing to help you out, then you can slave your hard disk on his system, and take a backup of the data.

[peter]

You can read about Windows File Protection and other sfc options here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/222193
I'm surprised others place any faith in System Restore; I always disable it as it is simply too unreliable.
Your best long term solution is to invest in a usb drive and employ disk imaging.
I know it's a very bitter pill to swallow, but your chances of getting things working properly again are close to vanishing once WIndows Explorer starts to misfunction badly. If sfc / scanboot doesn't fix things, I think a complete re-install is all you can do. (Obviously you should be able to copy your files to an external drive first.)
Many PC users deliberately plan to re-install Windows every couple-of-months. Once you adopt that mindset, you'll be surprised how smoothly things go ... but you have to plan ahead.

[Anupam]

I also keep the system restore disabled. The primary reason for me is that I am confident of what I install, and I don't feel that I will need system restore. Also, system restore points take up quite a lot of space. Thats another reason to disable it.

System restore is not entirely useless. In some situations, it can actually be a life-saver. Those who have it on, always have the option to revert to an earlier state of the system.

[peter]

What magic method do you use so that you are confident about what you install?
Those who have System Restore turned on, but find it simply fails, will not be comforted by your words.
What do you think about backup?

[Anupam]

LOL, no magic. I am not an expert, but I will consider myself as somewhat experienced, and thats why I told about being confident. I download safe files from trusted sites... no keygens, or anything of that sort. I use safe surfing practices.
System restore is not that much of an unreliable thing, as you put it. It can really be helpful sometimes.

About backup, I haven't yet gone for imaging, but I may try it in the near future. But, I do keep backup of my data on a regular basis. I backup on a spare hard disk, and on DVDs. Having backup of the data is very important, and should be done regularly.

[peter]

So we agree about the importance of backup.
But many people who also practice safe techniques often find their machines completely screwed up after dl'ing files from eg. Microsoft. SP3 for XP is a prominent example, and possibly relevant here.
But I don't think we're actually helping much by continuing our little debate, so I'll leave it there if that's OK with you.

[Anupam]

Yep, I do agree with you about backup. Thats very very important.
And I also agree about systems being screwed up with updates from Microsoft. I myself have experienced such problems earlier in the past. Thats why I am quite wary of updates from Microsoft. I keep the windows updates off. I don't want trouble from that side. The speed of my internet is quite slow anyways.
I also haven't applied SP3 on my PC. And I don't have any wish to apply it also. I have read about people having trouble after applying the SP3 on their system, and I choose to stay away from it.

I have no problem with stopping it here . We weren't having a debate though, just a discussion .

[MidnightCowboy]

I actually reformat something on average twice a day which is why I suggested it in the first place. Admittedly my in depth knowledge does not match some of the other guys here but I have never seen an OS in this state before that was recoverable enough to make it user efficient. Of course if you have the time to spend researching you might find a solution but I doubt it. I would still salvage what was possible, do a clean install and only load back the programs that you really need initially. Regarding Advanced System Care I've seen posts in several other places pointing a finger in this direction especially since the "upgrade" from Advanced Windows Care. I'm not suggesting that it's caused your problems in any way, but it probably hasn't helped. If you really feel the need for this type of application I believe there are others with potentially less harmful side effects available such as Easy Cleaner and others.

[wdhpr]

Paragon just gave away their hard drive backup software on gaotd. Its similar to Acronis true image. I believe Macrium Reflect Free hase been reviewed at this site which is also a option. It sure beats a start from scratch install which nearly takes me a week. Restoring an image takes me 3 hours.

You will need a sizable portion of disk space available. I have a second hard drive installed. Which I retrieved from a pretty good office computer that was tossed. that holds my drive image and nothing else. Another option is a external hard drive.

I have never been able to fully restore my computer with a conventional backup program. Instead I use titan backup for backing up my system files and my desktop settings. Scheduled weekly.

for anything else I use synctoy

Cheers
Wdhpr

[peter]

See:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/cont...today-only.htm