XP problem

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Hi all, i have a start up problem with my computer and would appreciate some help whilst i have a few starands of hair left, on start up my computer behaves like it has windows 98 installed on it, i have tried last known good , System Restore which doesnt show ant restore points even though i make one at the start of each month, i can only get to safe Mode via F5 and cant find anything amiss, am i missing something obvious? any help would be appreciated. Thanks Gary

 

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Can you give a bit more information on what is actually happening?

 

What you mean it's running faster?

The description of the problem is quite vague but I'll take a wild guess that the appearance of Windows has changed and now looks like Win98 used to. If that is the case is should be fairly easy to fix.

Right click on an empty bit of desktop and pick Properties. Then when you have the Display Properties box on the screen, click on the appearance tab at the top. In the Windows & Buttons section, make sure Windows XP Style is selected as opposed to Windows Classic. Hopefully that should sort you out.

 

OK, it appears as if not everything is loading correctly, i cannot change any of the properties as nothing happens, also my keyboard settings are wrong just noticed i cannot use the ampersand sign. every time i type i get a short cut key coming up

 

go into the keyboard in control panel and see what the settings say, you may have to change them to UK settings.

Have you done anything different lately that may have affected things?

 

Some quick Q's

Do you have "lots" of stuff installed?

Have you checked for spyware and virrii? - this is my hunch here

Have you defragged?

Have you disabled any non essential services?

These are some things you should look at, also open task manager and click on performance, this should show you how much memory is left, and how many handles are running (the less the better).

If you feel confident you could go into the registry, and in "this is from memory"

Go into

Hkey local machine - software - microsoft - windows - current version - run

that will show you what is running, if you dont want to do that, then open msconfig (type msconfig in the run option) and then you can disable stuff in the afe knowedge you can get it back, there is a diagnostic mode which loads the bare minimum, this will tell you whether irs a application issue (ie something thats installed on your pc) or a more underlying issue.

 

I was thinking virus/keylogger type thing too.

 

the keyboard settings are for the UK, i havent altered anything but with 3 children also using the computer its more than possible that they might have.

 

do a full virus scan & look for spyware, if the kids have been using it. Then its probably got something like a virus.

 

Thanks both, Kevicho i do have a lot of stuff,but i defrag regularly there are about 10 000 handles running i am inclined to agree with you both in it looks virus orientated , will scan and let you know how i get on. Gary

 

Better scan mine as there is 15888 handles running...

Why does everyone jump on the Virus bandwagon everytime someones PC goes belly up? I think the OP answered his question with regards to what may have caused an issue: THREE CHILDREN!

But now I've shot myself in the foot as the OP could easily come back and report a virus being picked up...when in reality it was really the kids messing about!

But here's a tip: give your kids local "User" accounts, don't let them on the PC with your admin or the Administrator account!

 

right click my computer, goto properties, advanced tab, performance button and set to "let windows choose..."

ManicD

 

So many folks out there in computer land don't know what account they have let alone their kids

 

that's why I gave the tip - sharing the knowledge and what not.

Here's a question: does the A+ cover user accounts in 2000 and XP? I can't remember it on my 2001 A+ but it was a long time ago since I passed - April 2003 to be exact!

 

Just had a look in me A+ book (Mike Meyers 5th Edition. Not looked in it for years!). On page 739-742 is a little about XP/2000 user accounts. Not a lot, but it points out the Admin account is not really designed to be used for everyday computing.

 

Those A+ Meyers books are great! I learnt so much from his book that it made the A+ exam a doodle!

Did you do the 2003 objectives?

 

I really enjoyed my Meyers A+ book. I must have done the 2003 objectives. I took the exams in about August 2005, before the recent revamp of the A+ exams.

 

His Learnkey CBT A+ and N+ were good too - however, the guy's enthusiasm made me cringe at times...especially the action man combat scene that he did at the start of one of the N+ video chapters! LOL

I used to think that he had the same name as the nut-job from Halloween - until I realised that the nut-job in question was named Michael - no one got to know him well enough to call him Mike - and his surname was spelt Myers...sounds the same though!

 

I never saw much of his CBT stuff (I think there was a few sample modules on the cd that came with the A+ book). To be honest the thought that he had the same name as the dude from Halloween did cross my mind when I got the A+ book

 

Ok, sorry about taking so long to get back, been to work 2 to 10. I ran a virus check the only one that showded up was called Virtumonde, dont know if anyone is familiar with i Googled it and it said it was malware. My virus checker is only a free type and doesnt seem to be able to delete it.I Manic D i have tried your suggestion about "let windows choose" but this is already set. My keyboard has the ampersand and the " in reverse key order if that helps anyone. Still no progress, cant understand it at all, maybe i need a better anti virus program. Gary