System boots but is basically unavailable

Hello,

I was surfing the web and I had a lot of Chrome tabs open and a number of MS Office files open when the system became totally unresponsive. After waiting for 15 minutes to see if my system would come back I tried Ctrl Alt Delete so that I could manually kill some processes but even then the system didn't respond. Eventually I had to do a hard reboot of the system. The system appeared to boot up just fine (and it still does) but as soon as tried to do anything it again became unresponsive...I'd get the system spinner showing that the system was trying to accomplish my task..but it would never come back...and sometimes the screen that I launched would dim out.

I thought that perhaps I had fallen victim to Malware but I submitted my situation to your Malware forum and after downloading and running all of the utilities they suggested and submitting the subsequent log files they said there was no sign of a Malware or any Virus and suggested that I start a new thread here in the Software forum. So here I am. (Although I'm still dubious that it isn't a malware that is the problem...and not just a corrupted file system caused by a hard reboot....as the malware forum person suggested).

My system is 64 bit Vista Home SP2.

Hoping that you can help me out. I'm only able to run the system in Safe Mode with Networking...that means no antivirus (BitDefender Internet Suite)...and I urgently need to pay my bills online...and I'm concerned about doing that with no AV or Malware app in place.

Thanks,
Jetster

 

Pretty nondescript symptoms you're reporting. Could be a lot of thing (software, hardware or both). First thing to do is check for the common things. Click on the Start Menu, choose "Run" and type the following into the Run box:

sfc /scannnow

Note that theres a space between "sfc" and "/scannow"
Hit [Enter]

This test is done by the System File Checker application. It will scan your system for any corrupt or missing system files and repair/replace them if possible. Should only take a few minutes. If errors were found and fixed, then reboot computer to see if your problem is fixed.

Regardless of what happened with the SFC checkier app, you'll need to check your hard drive for errors. Type the following into the Run box:

chkdsk /r

Note: there is a space between "chkdsk" and "/r"
Hit the [Enter] button.
This test checks your entire hard drive for bad sectors and physical damage, and tries to repair any errors it finds. Depending on the size of your drive, this test may take several hours to complete.

Please check back here when you are finished.

 

Yea like he said, too little information to help too much...

Try disconnecting any external devices.

Right click My Computer, click Manage

Search through the Event Viewer under Application and System to check out any Warnings, Critical or Error types of entrys...

 

I read through your post in the Malware Removal Forum.

Do as rustysavage and rjordan suggest and post the results back here. When doing sfc /scannow, the system will try to use the files already on the hard drive but MAY need the Windows installation disk. It depends on what was corrupted when you did the hard boot.

 

RustySavage, I followed your recommendations and it appears to have fixed my issues. I ran the sfc late yesterday and it appeared to finish without any issues. I ran the chkdsk before I went to bed and when I woke up this morning it was finished and my system had already rebooted so I didn't see the actual results of the chkdsk...so I'm assuming that it must have found some issues and repaired them.

rjordan, as per your suggestion I did review the event logs and found a number of warnings and error messages...I was able to view the Application Event Log and did find a number of Errors and Warnings that may be relevant to my problem (see below) but I was not able to view the System Event Log because it said "Eventviewer cannot open the event log or custom view. Verify that the Event Log service is running. The data is invalid (13)." . Not sure how to "Verify that the Event Log service is running".

Interesting Windows Application Logs item:
1) Warning: wuaueng.dll (1372) SUS20ClientDataStore: A request to read from the file "C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\DataStore\DataStore.edb" at offset 191193088 (0x000000000b656000) for 696320 (0x000aa000) bytes succeeded, but took an abnormally long time (7922 seconds) to be serviced by the OS. This problem is likely due to faulty hardware. Please contact your hardware vendor for further assistance diagnosing the problem.

RustySavage...thank you for your recommendations and help!!! Also thanks to rjordan and mdonah for reviewing my submission and making further suggestions.

I know you guys are very busy so if you have time at some point as a secondary/tertiary priority I'd like to get any input you may have to offer on the following questions.

Questions:

1) In the future if my system were to "hang" as it did is there a recommended approach for getting the system back without having to do a "hard reboot"? Normally I would try to first kill processes of offending app but this time the system wouldn't even allow me to do that?

2) Is there any sort of log that is produced by either of these utilities (chkdsk & sfc) that I could review to see what problems were fixed?

3) Assuming that it was the chkdsk that corrected the issue...is this a sign that my system is becoming unstable or I have hardware issues?

4) mDonah, Luckily I didn't need the Windows installation disk because I don't have one...my system came with Windows preinstalled and no Windows disk...had I needed the Windows disk what could I have done? Or what should I do in the future? (Can I create one from existing system?)

5) Are there any resources that describe best practices systems for managing your system...I will be getting a new system soon and I want to make sure I follow the best practices.

 

I opened this post originally under the Malware forum and then reopened it under the software forum based on the analysis so I wanted to close the loop to my issue in this forum also.

Thanks to everyone that helped!!!!...as it appears that the problem was indeed not a Malware problem as I had suspected but instead it was either a corrupted software issue or a potential hardware issue...after following the suggested steps (noted below) it appears that my system is working as it should...for now.

Thanks again,
Jetster

 

If the computer truly locks up and remains unresponsive than No. Hard reset is all you can do

None that I know of. They are both console apps. Console apps typically only print results to the screen.

Not necessarily. There's more to it than that. Give this freeware a try and see how healthy your HDD is.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/hddscan_for_windows.html

Yes, you should definitely create one ASAP
Here's a couple of links with step by step instructions:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/create-a-windows-system-repair-disc/
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/w...em-repair-disc

There's a whole internet out there. Just start clicking, searching, watching, reading, and learning. Or, follow threads from problem to resolution in these forums. Or check out Amazon.com, they've got warehouses full of computer learning books for every level of user. I just purchased a few myself.

 

On #2, chkdsk writes the log in event viewer, and

SFC is in findstr /c:"[SR]" %windir%\logs\cbs\cbs.log >sfcdetails.txt or :

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928228

 

Hey theefool. Thanks. Nice tip. The question keeps coming up. I put it in my database. Thanks for the link, too. And, WTF is your avatar?

 

Thanks guys....

RustySavage, I downloaded the disk tool you recommended and ran it. Based on the results my disk seems ok.

I'll create that Recovery Disk per your suggestion....I should have done it when I first got my system....but better late than never I guess...or at least before I have another corruption problem.

I was thinking maybe MajorGeeks had put together a System Maintenance Best Practices Guide or you might have one that you typically point people too.

theefool, thanks I'll check out the logs.

Cheers,
Jetster

 

Good, then it was probably a corrupted file or registry entry that was fixed by SFC.

I did the same thing (procrastinated) with my first PC, and all I had to do was write a floppy disk. I learned my lesson. Just don't misplace it!

The closest thing to what you're describing would be the following page:

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=147935

I suspect there will be a more encompassing guide coming out of this site in the near future (so many people keep asking for just such a guide).

 

RustySavage, well I thought I was had survived unscathed but unfortunately I realize now that my MS Office Powerpoint application may be corrupted...Every time I try to launch it up (even without opening a particular PPT file) I get a message saying...couldn't open...looking for solutions...and no solution was found and it shuts down.

So I thought I would try and run the "sfc /scannow" utility again to see if that might correct the problem...however after typing in the command in the "run box"...I get a popup box that pops up on the screen for a split second but then immediately closes and disappears....not sure why...it's as if the system is refusing to run the command...this is not what happened when I ran it the first time...the first time the popup window stayed open and displayed info showing status info indicating that it was running.....Not sure what is going on here. Maybe the utility is already running? Thoughts? I checked the very long list of running processes and didn't see anything running that was obviously associated with "sfc"...Any thoughts on why the system apparently won't let me run the sfc? Should I see an active process running that would obviously be connected to the "sfc" utility?

Should I try running chkdsk again to see if I can repair MS Office PowerPoint application? Btw MS Excel seems to be running just fine.

Thanks,
Jetster

 

1. Click Start Button >> Run to open the Run box
2. Type cmd
3. Hit Enter

This will open a DOS console window. At the prompt type the sfc /scannow command

Unfortunately, the System File Checker (SFC) only checks and repairs native Windows operating system files, not the files of individual programs (unless they share files, which could be the case with MS Office apps). If SFC is running, you will see it listed in the "Processes" tab of Task Manager (sfc.exe). Run Task Manager by right clicking on taskbar and choosing "Stat Task Manager" (it sounds like you already knew this but just in case). Not to spook you but anytime you have multiple programs starting to malfunction simultaneously, one has to think of malware. If you have a dedicated antivirus scanner you should do a full scan of your system now. If you don't have an antivirus scanner you can start on the following page for some suggestions:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/news/story/what_anti_virus_program_should_i_use.html

 

DavidGP, thanks for the quick reply! I have Office2007...the link you provided doesn't reference a solution for Vista with Office2007....and there isn't a a repair option listed in for Office Home&Student...only "Uninstall" and "Change".

Assuming there isn't an option for Repairing Office2007? Short of re-installing Office is there another option..

Also any thoughts why I can't seem to run sfc /scannow?

Cheers,
Jetster

 

RustySavage,

thanks...just saw your reply to sfc issue.

cheers,
Jetster

 

jetster...

If I click on "Change" in Add/Remove in Office 2007, it gives me the option to run the repair tool in Office 2007 Enterprise. Also, if you have the start menu shortcuts for Office 2007 on your start menu, I believe there is a diagnostics tool you can run from there (it's there for Enterprise). Not certain, but I think it's basically the same tool as the Add/Remove one...

 

RustySavage,

Re: Malware....before I brought my issue to the software forum I had submitted the problem to Malware forum and they had me run all of their Malware application detectors and found nothing so that wasn't the problem...but good suggestion. (See note to DavidGP below).

DavidGP, I did a search for diagnostic and repair for MS Office 2007 and found a KB on Microsoft site. I ran the suggested diagnostics and that seemed to repair the problem. I'm now able to run and open PowerPoint slides...thanks for the original reference.

Cheers,
Jetster

 

AltBo, thanks for the suggestion...I do see the Repair option now as a sub-option of change. Out of curiosity I tested your if I could do a repair option per your suggestion...however when I tried clicked on the Repair option I got a message saying that it was collecting files...and then it failed with a message saying "configuration did not complete successfully. An unexpected error occurred".

Luckily the method I used via MS KB article seemed to have solved the problem...so I'm good for now.

thanks,
Jetster

 

jetster...

Glad you got things back to normal...

Not sure about the repair tool issue you have had. Maybe it's related to the Office problem you have experienced but the fix only addresses that problem for Office itself. I have seen Windows updates cause problems across multiple programs and/or drivers and also PC cleaner software cause these kinds of problems (running using default settings even). I guess whatever got your repair tool could have caused the original problem...