Major computer problems. Help needed urgently please!?

Question

My computer isn't the best of things, and Im saving for a new laptop but in the mean time, i NEED this one to work. Problems at the moment from first happened to most recent are:
Firefox will not open.
Flashplayer Ie. Youtube video's do not load.
Internet explorer will not let me download anything (To redownload Firefox, flash player)
Frostwire can't find a connection.
Run Chkdsk utility is said whenever i open a program.
(Ran chkdsk utility, nothing happened)
Defragmentation will not work, to do with chkdsk.
Computer will not turn off unless I hold the button on the actual computer
Dont have a recent system restore. (Also says system restore failed)

PLEASE can someone give me some options on how to FIX my computer. If anyone has any ideas or accesories i can run to fix it, i will be very thankful. x

(Just remembered, CANNOT completely restore pc because over 2000songs and files).

PLEASE YAHOO ANSWERERS<3

Bare in mind i cant download anything to those that are saying get this and that fromwww.download.com

Answer 1

Well sound's like you've let your PC go and not maintained it for some time.

I would first of all, delete any/all programs that you don't actually need on it. Your hard drive may be nearing it's capacity and that is an issue too. Defrag is critical so removing lots of stuff will help make room. Try backing up your music to disks and then remove them from your hard drive until after you get it running and optimized again.

Here are my recommendations/tips. Do as many as you can to try to improve and save your PC's resources. I'm including tips for a slow pc and how to do a "repair" install of XP.

A SLOW PC:

A major cause of slow PC's is fragmentation of the hard drive. You need to defragment the HD at least once a week if not more depending on how much you use your computer, and what you do with it.

One way is to use the defragment utility built into Windows XP. It is slow but does the job rather well. Go to:
Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools and then click on System Defrag to run the tool. It may take several hours, so let it run overnight or simply walk away from your PC for a few hours.
A great program for defragging automatically is Diskeeper Home. It costs $30 but is well worth it. Go to http://www.download.com and search for Diskeeper. Read the Publishers Description and the Editor and User reviews. It can be scheduled to run automatically as the program deems necessary, and if you are using your PC and the program launches itself, it will take a backseat to whatever you are doing and give you the priority for CPU usage. I think you'll agree it's a good program to have. It precludes your needing to remember to defrag at regular intervals.

Another major cause of a slow PC is programs that are running in the background. Software manufacturers write ".exe" files that help launch a program faster when you click on the icon. These .exe files are running all the time unless you shut them down, and they eat up your RAM and can leave you with precious little RAM to run your PC. The best thing to do is to shut down all the unnecessary programs that are running unless you specifically NEED them to be running "in the background". If you can wait another 2 or 3 seconds for a program like Word, or Adobe, or whatever to open then don't allow some of these ".exe" files to run. Each one you shut down, saves you RAM to help run your PC more efficiently. The following program, Autoruns, will allow you to control what runs when you boot up your PC.

Here's a really good Microsoft tool. It’s called Autoruns and it was written by SysInternals who were recently bought up by Microsoft. Before you download the program create a folder under program files called Autoruns. Leave Windows Explore open. Launch Internet Explorer and go to the following Microsoft web page. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/autoruns.mspx
Go to the bottom of the page and download the Autoruns program. After it downloads unzip the file (You'll need WinZip or WinRAR to do so). You will see 4 files. Drag and drop those 4 files to the Autoruns folder you created under Program Files.
Once you have the 4 files in the C:\Program Files\Autoruns folder you can double click on the file titled “autoruns.exe” (not the autorunsc.exe) to launch the program.
This will bring up a window with several tabs at the top. Click on the “Logon” tab. It will list the programs that are running on your PC and eating up resources. Look them over carefully and turn off any that don’t absolutely have to be running. Simply click on the “check mark” in the little box beside the program name. Clicking on it will remove the check mark. Look for any program that your are not using at this moment that has a check mark in the box. Look for programs such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, etc. Once you have edited the Startup list, click on Apply and then on OK.
NOTE: Look in the publisher column and leave items that show Windows; System 32; Program Files; etc. alone. Also leave things that mention Audio, video, etc. alone. Shutting them off may cause some things not to work. Once you have exited the window, reboot your PC for the settings to take effect.
WARNING: Don’t go into the other tabs and start deleting/unchecking things. You will probably give yourself major headaches if you do that. Stay focused on the “Logon” List only. If you happen to shut off something that you didn't intend to, you can relaunch the Autoruns program and simply put the check mark back in the appropriate box, and then reboot the PC. The "program" will be reinstated to run at boot up.

Regularly clean up your browsing history, files, cookies, temp files, etc. A good program to use is Ccleaner and it is FREE. Get it here: http://www.download.com

Also, you need a “registry cleaner”. The registry can get “defragmented and clogged” with various data that you simply don’t need. The only effective way to clean this massive list is to use an automated cleaner. Go to http://www.download.com and you can search for Registry Cleaners. There should be several FREE ones there for you to use. One I've found to do a good job is named Registry Distiller.

Another good thing to have is a little program called FreeRAM XP Pro. It is free and is available from http://www.download.com This program puts a little RAM meter on the System Tray and shows how much RAM you have remaining that you are not using at any given time. I think you may be surprised at how little RAM you have to run other programs. Also, once it is installed you can right click on the little meter, then click on RESTORE and it will open the RAM display window. You can tweak the settings so it will display your CPU usage also. Then just click “Minimize” and then “To System Tray” to return it to the Task Bar.

What happens when you run out of or run real low on RAM is that the OS recognizes the low or no RAM situation and starts using a section of your hard drive as memory. This is called virtual memory, or a swap file. The PC is constantly writing and reading from your HD. Comparitively, it is a very slow process. Check your motherboard manual and determine how much RAM each slot can hold. It will also tell you what type of RAM you need. You can also go to http://www.crucial.com or http://www.4allmemory.com and run their analysis utility to determine what kind and how much RAM is installed in your PC. Depend on your MoBo manual to determine the RAM limits of each slot though.


REPAIRING OR REINSTALLING WINDOWS XP

Turn your PC on and insert the Windows XP disk into the CD/DVD drive.

Reboot/restart the PC. This will cause the PC to boot from the XP disk and not the hard drive..

Allow the PC to run the boot up sequence. It will stop at a “black and white” screen and there will be an option to select a “repair” installation or a “full” installation.

NOTE:

If you simply want to repair/fix any and all corrupted and/or problem XP files select the “repair” option. This will only rewrite the XP files and will not affect any of your personal files or software on your PC.

If you want to Format the hard drive and rebuild it completely select the “full” installation option. Be aware that with this option you will “erase” all the files and software on that hard drive.


Select either the “repair” or “full” installation option and simply let the software run. Follow any onscreen prompts that may appear, especially during the “full” installation.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

My friends laptop (hp) had to be restored and it gave him a choice of full restore or partial restore. The partial restore let him
keep his files. It restored only the operating system files. He had to reinstall some of the programs he had in it but his personal files were kept intact. Check the manufactures website or you PC's manual on how your restore works.
Hope this helps.

Answer 3

It sounds like an overheating problem. Make sure you clean/blow ALL the dust out inside the case with an electronic spray can. If this doesn't work, try updating your flash player. If that doesn't work, then the problem could be with the new RAM that you installed (maybe static shock fried it?). Put your old RAM back and see if that works..but use this as a last resort

Answer 4

You don't say what version of Windows you are running, so this is a generic answer.

Get another hard drive - inexpensive, just big enough to hold your windows OS. Install it as the primary drive and move your current hard drive to the slave position. Install a fresh copy of windows on the new hard drive. all your songs and files will be intact on your old drive which will now be "D" and your windows will be a fresh, problem free copy on "C".

Answer 5

Scan computer for suspicious registry, You better hope you didn't delete any programs the Pc requires in order to work.

Such as CHKDSK.

Answer 6

do a repair install not a recovery a repair assuming your OS is XP it will be the second R option doing a repair you will NOT lose any of your files although you might have to re-enter keys for software that you installed but it wont delete your songs

Answer 7

you can buy (cheap) a linux operating system off ebay
this will get you back in shape in a hurry

Answer 8

Shoot me an email.. I can help you.


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