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Please Help!!! My Computer is Acting Very Strangely!
Hi,
I have not been able to start my computer is safe mode for about a week. When I try I get a BSOD.
This morning, I turned my computer on (started Windows normally) and got a BSOD. I immediate turned it off, waited 30 seconds and turned it back on. Now, when I start my computer normally, I can only open Firefox, my computer, recycle bin, my documents. When I try to open other things, I get one of several messages: "Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access them." "XXX is not a valid Win32 application." "Not enough quota is available to process this command."
Occasionally, the word 'start' on the start button disappears, but it returns when I move my mouse over it. Also, some of the icons on my desktop, in the start menu, and in my documents show only as the default white square w/ blue top - not their normal icon. When I try to open task manager, I get this message: "The application failed to initialize properly (0xc000012d). Click on OK to terminate the application."
Also, I have been trying to get my computer to play the Sims 3, which means that it has been crashing a lot. Over the summer, it was crashing and forcing a restart, but lately, it has been crashing to the desktop. That may be somehow related.
Here are my system specs: Dell Dimension 9100; Windows XP; Pentium 4; 1GB RAM. If you need any other info, just let me know.
Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be? I am assuming that it is either my hardware or a virus. If it is hardware related, what do I need to replace?
Thanks so much in advance for all of your help!
Hunter7
122 Posts
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January 24th, 2010 15:00
Sound like you have a pretty bad problem. I would say it is a motherboard, harddrive, memory, or a virus causing problems. But i would run that diagnostic tool as the person above me said. Good Luck to you!
Davet50
14.4K Posts
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January 24th, 2010 15:00
What you should do first is run the Dell diagnostics on the system. run the harddrive, ram and video diagnostics. On the harddrive run the extended test which will take a while so I would suggest running it last. Any errors will point to a possible hard driver failure .
JCMTemple
78 Posts
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January 24th, 2010 16:00
So, I just ran the extended test. I looks like the video and RAM both passed, but the test stopped after trying to test the a:\ floppy drive. I do not have a formatted diskette to insert. I think I clicked do not test and the entire test stopped. I am running the extended test again, but the same thing may occur, since I still do not have a formatted diskette to insert.
JCMTemple
78 Posts
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January 24th, 2010 16:00
Thanks so much for the quick replies, I am running the Dell Diagnostic on the system as we speak.
Hunter7
122 Posts
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January 24th, 2010 17:00
I would say now that it is a virus, but i could be wrong. Because a virus will disable everything that can be used to detect and fight against it. So it may have stopped your test, so you could not figure out in which file it was hidding. Im not to good on viruses but try running the test without any internet connection, this may disable the virus. Make sure you disconnect the internet jack from you computer then run the test. Other than that if you can still use the internet there is a thing on dells support site where it will run a test to see if you have a virus. But the virus may be able to stop this. I really can't think of anything else. Viruses are very tricky buggers.
Good Luck, Sorry i couldnt be of much more help than that.
Hunter
robnich
155 Posts
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January 24th, 2010 17:00
I see no reason to suspect a virus. Run the Express test first. If your computer passes, you can then run the Custom tests bypassing the floppy drive test and test the hard disk fully.
Bob N.
Davet50
14.4K Posts
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January 24th, 2010 18:00
I fully agree.this is not a virus issue.
JCMTemple
78 Posts
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January 24th, 2010 19:00
I am still doing the extended test. I already bypassed the floppy disk test and it is now at 89% progress. It looks like I still have a while to go, but I'll update as soon as possible.
JCMTemple
78 Posts
0
January 24th, 2010 19:00
Okay, so I ran the Dell Diagnostic test. It finished and did not show any errors (I would know if id did right? Or do I have to go somewhere else to find a report?). What should I do next?
JCMTemple
78 Posts
0
January 24th, 2010 19:00
Okay, I have started my system again (with the internet disconnected) and it seems to be running fine. I can open any program and the desktop appears normal again.
robnich
155 Posts
0
January 24th, 2010 22:00
Good news -- glad to hear it. Be sure you have a good backup of your data.
Bob N.