Are software problems ever so serious that they can't be repaired ?

Answer 1

In theory.. NO
In realitly.... YES

Reason: While in theory, every software issue SHOULD be fixable by replacing corrupted files, in reality, the complexity of the software sometimes necessitates reinstallation or completely reinstalling the operating system to get rid of the problem.

This is usually because certain .DLL or INI files have been modified and no longer work correctly, OR a registry setting has been changed.

Sometimes the problem arises not from the software itself, but from a complex interaction of different programs and user actions.
This is why it can be tricky to solve ALL software issues.
Many Techs that I know, rely a lot of uninstalling and reinstalling the troublesome program, rather then truly fixing it.

Answer 2

Rare, but yes. Viruses are sometimes so bad, that they can kill off some pecies of the hard drive. My one computer cannot recognize it's own hard drive, due to a virus. I have reformatted it 4 times.

Answer 3

There is nothing that you can't repair, as far as software. You can always do a reformat to repair your computer.

Answer 4

Yes, Thats why you reinstall.

Answer 5

In most cases, the solution is to uninstall the software, reboot the computer, then reinstall. Now, if the problems persist, then it's most likely another piece of software and/or the operating system that is keeping the software from working normally. For example, malware-infected computers can certainly have a negative effect on the performance of installed software. Even after malware has been removed from the computer, the damage to certain system files, the Registry, and even the Hive files may not have been repaired. This can also affect how software runs.

In those cases, a repair installation of Windows XP would be in order, but as I noted, you should consider reinstalling the problematic software first.