No Device Manager

Question

I have a C840.  I cannot access the device manager.  When I click on it, the window appears but nothing is in it.  I have windows 2000.  I have run multiple, up to date virus detection and find nothing.  It will not allow me to add new programs.  Any suggestions.  I have service pack 4 installed.  I cannot add any BIOs upgrades because it says it cannot detect what is currently installed.  It runs AOL 8.0 but will not run 9.0. Advice is welcome and appreciated.

Ed C · Answer

As far as updating the BIOS that should only be done from DOS booted from a floppy disk. Not run from inside windows. Other than that you have some type of virus, Trojan or spyware on your box.

MFLCPO · Answer

I ran the spybot program in safe mode.  After restarting the computer, the same situation exists - no device manager.  Spybot found three problems and fixed them.

Ed C · Answer

Do a online virus scan. Most if not all the new viruses disable the AV programs so they won't detect them. Other than that you may need to save your files/data, wipe the drive and reinstall the OS.

Wolffarmer · Answer

What you have here is a classic case of the Plug and Play service being turned off. Turn that back on and device manager will once again show devices. Device Manager shows the Plug and Play devices. Click start, click run, type in msconfig hit enter, click on the services tab, find the Plug and Play service and put a check in it. Click ok and let machine reboot. On restart if a box pops up, check do not show this message again then click ok. Check Device Manager.

Wolffarmer · Answer

Win 98 and Win ME has msconfig and the Win 98 msconfig.exe works beautifully in 95. XP has a different version and it will work in Win2000 and is a wonderfull thing to have on a general purpose machine. You can probably find directions with a google search and a place to down load the files

MFLCPO · Answer

says it cannot find 'msconfig' or one of its components

MFLCPO · Answer

Got to the right place and it was already active and starts automatically upon startup.   Thanks

Wolffarmer · Answer

Oops, sorry posted that late last night. Win 2000 doesn't have msconfig. That is an XP thing. Right click on mycomputer, left on Manage, click + by Services and Applications, click on Services. You will find the Plug and play there and you can start it. I don't have Win2000 on any of my systems. But this path is almost identical in XP and 2000. Sorry about the wild goose chase but I doubt if it was caused by a virus or spyware. One those 'Who knows?'

Ed C · Answer

The simple fact is you have a corrupt OS in some way. You could try doing a repair install of the OS. This might or might not fix the problem. If it is spyware, virus or Trojan related a repair install will not fix it. At that point it's time to save your files and wipe the HDD and do a complete reinstall.

MFLCPO · Answer

Went ahead and reinstalled the operating system and software and I am off to the races!

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