Microsoft-caused problems on my XP machine

[tboneman2]

I'm new so if this is off topic, mods, pleae put it where it belongs.

Two days ago I got four Windows updates from Microsoft. 2 security, one Silverlight, and I forget the other one. I went ahead with the recommendation to install all 4. Almost immediately after installs were completed, an ominous error message from Microsoft--to the effect that there were serious problems with the update installs and that I should uninstall them immediately. Which I did. But the damage had already been done.

There was damage to certain system files. For example, Windows Explorer works sometimes, other times it hangs. The biggest problem I've found is, none of the 3 burner programs I have will work. They all hang about half way thru.

Oddly, Firefox 3.0 and Thunderbird continue to work (Firefox crashes every day. 3 or 4 times a day, but that's another story).

My question is this: I DL'd ASC and CCleaner, and these may help. But I need a utility that will repair system files without causing a loss of programs, files, data, etc. I tried Restore, going back 3 days. So far it appears nothing changed. Now I'm looking at Recover but this may not be the way to go. When Windows XP Pro asks, 'do you REALLY want to do this?', I get very nervous..

Does XP have an on-board utility that can repair system files? Appreciate any help.

tboneman

[kendall]

I would suggest running System File Checker (SFC). There is lots of information on the web about SFC. It might be able to fix the system files. It is built into Windows.

[grimbles]

There are several ways to repair an XP installation....most involve an installation disc. I would start off with kendall's suggestion, i.e. run sfc /scannow.
Go to the Run box in the Start Menu and type in: sfc /scannow (note the space between the 'c' and "/"). Then press OK/enter.
At some time during the process it will ask for the installation disc to be placed in the ROM-drive. Have a read here for more precise instructions:
http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html

If that doesn't do it, the next step would be to perform a (non-destructive) 'repair installation'. This is a fairly complicated procedure (depending on your level of proficiency) but there are a couple of excellent guides available....once again, requires an installation disc.


cheers.....JIM

[tboneman2]

Hey guys, thanks for the comeback. Yeah I found the 'sfc /scannow info via Google.

I've had system file problems in the past with my old Win 2K machine. It's not fun to fix this stuff, even without a reinstall. But there seems to be a major difference this time. Now, the system seems to boot OK, many of the programs I've tried seem to work normally.

There are two major concerns. One, the system used to take 45 seconds to boot up. Now it takes 5 1/2 minutes. And, as I said, none of the burner programs will finish doing what they're supposed to do.

I DL'd and ran the Advanced System Care utility. It found thousands of errors (literally)! and said it fixed them all. Maybe so, but then why does it take 5 1/2 minutes for the system to boot? There's something very wrong there. And yeah, I checked the list of startup programs, and cut one or two, but it made no real difference.

Otherwise, there doesn't seem to be a lot wrong overall. Which makes me wonder if doing a system file repair is necessary. Microsoft is knocking on the door again with those updates that screwed things up in the first place.

I'm kinda gunshy now about reinstalling them. But security updates are almost a requirement, aren't they? (there are 2 of those, and I've never had a problem with those in the past.)

Silverlight...I've completely uninstalled the Microsoft Windows Live package, which that is a part of. I notice it's not included in this batch of updates. The third update is 'removal of maliscious software tool March 2009. Don't know if I should go ahead with that one or n ot.

If I could get my burners to work, and reduce the boot time to something reasonable, I might not have to do a 'repair'. I've tried reinstalling the burners but it makes no difference. I don't know...do I have any other options that are likely to work? Probably not. Appreciate your opinions.

tboneman

[kendall]

2 suggestions:

1. Don't be afraid to run SFC a second time after a reboot. It might find something else.

2. I suggest rebooting into safe mode and trying to run SFC from there (I don't remember if it will run in safe mode or not?) and then try uninstalling any unnecessary programs while in safe mode.

P.S. While in safe mode, you might even want to try a chkdsk. Be aware that it will require a reboot.

[MidnightCowboy]

Forgive someone who's ignorance doesn't extend much beyond firewalls and HIPS but with all this trouble wouldn't it be simpler to just re-format!

[tboneman2]

Hey,

Ran sfc /scannow. The system now boots in 2 minutes. Much better. BUT... Windows Explorer doesn't work at all. It boots up, and goes to My Documents and lists everything there. It will then change to My Computer, but when I click on C drive, it hangs and I get not responding message.

Also, my burner program isn't working right either. It get's further into the program than before, but eventually hangs to a 'not responding'. Firefox continues to work fine.

Maybe I'll take your suggestion and run sfc /scannow again. And, as for the suggestion about reformatting, that's not an option. If you've ever had to do it, you'll know why.

tboneman2

[tboneman2]

I have two disks. One says Gateway Restore, (to reinstall the operating system, programs, and drivers); the other says System Recovery XP Media Center Edition 2005 (to reinstall the operating system, programs and drivers).

When I run sfc /scannow I've been using the Media center disk. The downside to all this is, while it's running, an error message pops up, every two minutes or so. The instructions I have say, press Cancel, then 'yes'. The System File Checker will eventually complete the scan/repair operation.

I have my doubts. It did complete it once, but nothing changed. The same files I was having trouble with before the scan, were/are still a problem now. The same with Restore... I moved back three days, and nothing changed. Still the same problems.

I picked up the following advice on the Internet regarding running the scan:

"Note- If no Windows installation files are available, you may have to cancel the error message many times. In this scenario, you may want to cancel the whole operation. To do this, follow these steps. (it goes on to show how to cancel the scan).

What's the point? If I wanted to cancel, I wouldn't have started it in the first place. This is probably aimed at people who don't have the original System disks. I have both of them but scannow doesn't see them in the DC/DVD drive. Is there a work around that eliminates the constant canceling of the error message?

I'm discouraged. Nothing works as touted. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.
Tbone

[Anupam]

The system restore should have worked. I was surprised that it did not work for you, even taking it to 3 days before. You didn't had any other restore point earlier than that?

Which was the installation disk that you used, when you had installed your OS? I think you need to use that disk when sfc asks for the CD.

Looking at the present situation that your system is in, with so much problems, last measure would be perform a clean reinstall. If you don't want to do that now, then you should try the Windows Repair option. In case you don't know how to carry that out, you can see here:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

From the above site:
A Repair Install will replace the system files with the files on the XP CD used for the Repair Install. It will leave your applications and settings intact, but Windows updates will need to be reapplied.

Windows repair might be a good option for you at this time. You should give it a try. You should also backup the data on your disk, in case something goes wrong.

And don't be afraid to carry out any actions on windows. If in doubt, read about it from the internet. Many help sites are available. Make a backup of your disk, so that if anything goes wrong, at least your data is safe. And that will give you confidence too, to carry out any operations on windows.

And what about Firefox... what version are you using? Did you try uninstalling Firefox, and reinstalling it again?

[tboneman2]

Hey,

>>>>The system restore should have worked. I was surprised that it did not work for you, even taking it to 3 days before. You didn't had any other restore point earlier than that?<<<<

Yes, I have lots of restore points earlier than that, I picked 3 days arbitrarily. I'm not sure what Restore is actually doing. Should I go back and do it again, this time going back maybe a week or ten days?

This is a very strange problem. Boot-up was affected for a while (the system slowed to 5 1/2 minutes to boot). Now, it's 2 1/2 (after running the Advanced System Care utility, which found 1600 problems in the Registry, and 6500 problems in other parts of the system) It supposedly fix them all.

So boot up now seems to be working OK. Most of my other programs seem to be working. The only remaining problem is a biggie...Windows Explorer is very eratic, sometimes it works, most times it hangs (not responding). And none of my burner programs will work.

I suspect the burner problems are connected to the Win Explorer problem. As soon as I try to access the tree to pick files to copy to CD, all three programs hang (not responding).

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 think the problem is very limited and localized to Windows Explorer. Of course I could be wrong about that. But I have 600,000 files on this machine, and hundreds of programs, most of which never get used. Could be another problem will show up when I boot other programs.

But right now, I can get on the Internet, get my email, and access my Websites OK And BTW, my machine has Win XP Pro Media Center SP3. So I DL'd SP3 network version from the Microsoft site. Hope I never have to use it. I also DL'd Autostream. So I have tools ready. But the problem is, I can't burn them to a CD until I get this problem fixed.

Appreciate any more suggestions you might have. Thanks.

Wes N