Windows XP Instability Issues?

Hopefully someone can help me if this is the right place to post.

My computer has become unstable. I had a virus/malware issue but that has been taken care of and my logs are clean.

Now I get all kinds of weird error messages that usuallly start with "The application failed to initialize properly....". Then the graphics seem to go south and things get "muddy" where you cant get things to come up and the windows that are open are missing the top part of the frame and the menus.

If I come over to the computer after sitting idle for a few hours, the Zone Alarm has a message that it has been terminated and usually that is followed by the same symptoms as above plus no internet access.

CHKDSK has wanted to run a few times lately which has been rare on this computer over the years. Today it crashed in teh middle of a poker game, which crashes have also been rare over the years.

Please help me or direct me to help. It is a Gateway computer running XP fully updated.

 

could be part of the file/dll system may have been corrupted or damaged from the malware episode, I would try the CHKDSK/R first,if that doesn't work try the sfc/ scannow,and if that doesn't help maybe a repair install ?
take a look at these links ,they have helped me in the past when a stability issue was a problem

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/ht/sfc-scannow.htm?p=1
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

 

Do you have the XP disk?
If so, a nondestructive reinstallation could do it.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189500364

This method does not remove any programs or applications already installed.
It compares and refreshes the Operating System files, including the .dll files.

 

And if you don't have an XP CD, does the HD have a recovery partition on it? You can usually use this to perform a repair as well.

Also, I've has some luck, not a lot, with Dialafix program after corruption from viruses.

http://majorgeeks.com/Dial-a-fix_d4899.html

Download, check all boxes, don't worry about error messages, and let it run.

 

So far did the CHKDSK/R. Didnt seem to help.
Tried the sfc /scannow, but it wanted a XP SP3 disk which I only have my original gateway XP Media edition 2005 disk. I tried to use it, but the message said it is not the right disk, so I had to abort that.

Tried Dial a Fix with check all option, it hangs up permanently on "Stopping CRYPTSVC...". Tried twice and always hangs on that step.

So without a current XP disk that will work for the restore option, I dont know what to do. I am not real technical, but can follow instructions well.

 

MNMP2,
Greetings.
As brandypeppy and hrlow2 mentioned, does your hard drive have a recovery partition (normally this is the D drive)?

I or one of the others will provide further guidance if the answer to the above mentioned questions is "Yes"

Ian

 

you can download a bootable xp sp3 cd image file from microsoft here..

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/default.aspx

search for your edition i.e home/pro.

download and create a bootable disc you can do this with this software...

http://infrarecorder.org/?page_id=5

download and use it to create bootable disc.

when you download file from microsoft save it to your desktop so its easy to locate.insert writable cd.close auto run box if it appears.open infrarecorder and click on the write image button.

when finished this disc can be used as a fresh install or as a repair disc.

 

Sorry!!!! please dont take any notice of my last post the image disc from microsoft is just a service pack update. My appologies.

 

Yes, it is the D drive and I also know that Recovery Console is installed as I see the black screen with options comes up just before Windows loads during start up. I am really hoping this can be fixed without wiping out programs and files - I have 4-5 years worth of stuff on this machine.

 

If you have the disk, the nondestructive rebuild the link I posted (in post 3)tells you about, you won't have that problem.
All programs, applications, and files are left intact.
That is what nondestructive means.

 

this pdf will tell you how to do a non destruct recovery(restore system while keeping your files intact)from the D drive(HD)
http://support.gateway.com/s/Manuals/Desktops/8510406.pdf
http://support.gateway.com/s/SOFTWARE/Medialess/MLXPMC0/MLXPMC0su12.shtml

 

I am trying to make this work but it never gives me the option to do a non-destructive install.

hrlow2 - I dont get anything near the descriptions on your link when I put in my disk. It takes me to a Gateway Recovery screen and I dont get the option to do a non-destructive install there. I get only Full System Restore or Full System Restore (Backup).

pistol - I followed the instructions you linked to but no matter what I do, it always asks for the disk. I cant get it to use the partion D drive. WHen I first get to the recovery screen, it does not give me a recovery option. Then it prompts for the disk, then I get the 2 options listed above. No option for non-destructive install.

WHAT SHOULD I DO?

 

you did mention that you have the Gateway System Recovery Windows XP Recovery CD,you can use it for this method,it will instruct you on using the system restore with back up which will also keep your files intact like a destructive recovery does,
http://support.gateway.com/s/SOFTWARE/Medialess/MLXPMC0/MLXPMC0su20.shtml#

 

And, to throw my $.02 worth in:

Looking at your original symptoms, the difficulties with the recovery options, and the fact that you have "4-5 years worth of stuff on this machine", you might consider salvaging some data before its too late.
A live Linux disk may be in order here (I recommend Mint) - from that environment, you should be able to safely transfer any important files to a USB drive or optical media.
An added plus: with the Mint disk, you should be able to tell if any of your symptoms are hardware related.

 

Am I going to have to re-install all applications that didnt come with the computer? It sounds like this is a start from scratch except for files option...

 

Is there any chance that a tool like little registry cleaner coudl have messed something up? I have been using it since August and I know it saves prior versions of the registry. Should I maybe try to restore one of those versions? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

 

You mentioned that CHKDSK didn't seem to help. I think you mean it didn't fix your problem. Well as well as fixing some problems, CHKDSK also helps diagnose some. After CHKDSK runs and you boot into windows it leaves an entry in the Error Logs of the Event Viewer. Go to 'Control Panel', then 'Administrative Tools', then 'Event Viewer'. Open 'Windows Logs', then 'Application', and scroll down to find the entry with the source 'Winlogon' that corresponds to the time that CHKDSK last finished running. Double click it and read through the information. Specifically you want to see if there were any 'bad blocks' (faults on the hard drive). If there are any bad blocks then your hard drive is in the process of failing so it's time to backup your data and get a new hard drive or computer. Iif there aren't any bad blocks then it doesn't necessarily mean the hard drive is fine because it's not a thorough test. If you have any problems with those steps don't worry about it and just keep reading because I'm going to mention a better way to check your hard drive below.

A lot of people have suggested your problem is due to corruption with the Windows file-structure/drivers or a faulty hard drive. Both of those could indeed be the cause, but there's also three other things to consider. Here they are in order I would personally check them.

1. Fans Clogged With Dust
Not necessarily the most likely, but it's one of the easiest things to check, always worth doing, and a distinct possibility given the age of your PC. Turn the computer off, disconnect the power cord and hold the power button for ten seconds - this drains the rather large capacitors on the board to prevent damage from poking around inside your computer. Investigate each of the fans in your computer, especially the one by the processor and the graphics card (if present). If clogged with dust, *carefully* vacuum the dust. Once dust-free, gently try to turn it with your finger - if it spins quite freely then things are good, otherwise it may not be working any more. In that situation, turn the computer on with the case open and see if it Ever spins. You can even gently nudge the fan when the computer is on to see if it tries to move but instantly sticks (some fans may not need to be running at that moment, so if it doesn't try to spin that doesn't mean its not working). If you do do that be very, very careful not to touch anything else inside the computer. Fans are cheap and easy to replace, and cheaper than replacing whichever part gets fried because they've stopped cooling it.

2. Faulty Memory
This is as likely to be the cause as a problem with your hard drive. Download the Ultimate Boot CD, and burn it to a CD as a data disc (ask if you don't know how). Boot from the CD, navigate to Memory, then run Memtest86+ (Memtest86 is fine if that doesn't work for some reason). Allow it to run overnight and see if you get any errors. Conveniently the UBCD also has hard drive diagnostic tools, and you can use whichever one corresponds to your hard drive manufacturer to diagnose faults on your hard drive.

3. Lingering Malware
You mentioned you had malware at one point but the logs are now clear. I don't know which programs you ran or if you had guidance from someone here in the forums. If you've run Malwarebytes and Combofix and they've both said you're clean, then I'd be confident you don't have Malware. It's always possible you still have some of the effects that the malware caused, which would mean problems in your windows file-structure/drivers, which several people have already covered.

 

Number 2 and 3 in 94dgrif's post may be useful and are definitely possible. When you say your logs are clean (in regards to malware), is this verified by MGs Anti-Malware team [Chaslang, Dr. Moriarty etc], or someone else? Also, if you wanted me personal opinion, if none of these fixes suggested by other MG members work, the best option is probably going to be to save all files you want to keep (Documents, photos, E-mails, etc), do a full format and re-install windows. There's nothing like a beautifully running, fresh operating system.

 

You should start a new thread zemskarter, you will get more help and attention that way, remember to include the make and model of your PC, what actually is wrong with it and what may have happened to cause it.

 

Malware was removed and logs verified with the help of Chaslang in the Malware forum. I am sure that things are ok there. I will work on these other suggestions.

 

Yes, I had help and logs checked with Chaslang. I'm sure everything is ok on that end. I will work through the rest of the latest suggestions and see what I can find or do.

 

The CHKDSK logs in the event viewer always say "Cleaning up minor inconsistencies..." They always say 0 KB in bad sectors. And nothing about bad blocks or any such thing. There are lots of other application errors in that viewer though, other than the CHKDSK logs. Dont know how to interpret them. A common one is :

The configuration of the AdminConnection\TCP protocol in the SQL instance ESHA is not valid.

And then on 11/18 there are a ton of these errors all the same time:

svchost (1424) An attempt to open the file "C:\WINDOWS\system32\CatRoot2\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\catdb" for read only access failed with system error 3 (0x00000003): "The system cannot find the path specified. ". The open file operation will fail with error -1023 (0xfffffc01).

 

Also when I tried to view the event log for SYSTEM, it errored out and said the event log was corrupt.

 

Well I'm thinkin then maybe we should start with this idea posted by 94dgrif.

 

OK - I am going to do the fan cleaning and then get working on the memory test. He says to run it overnight - is it a long process?

 

A little, it runs on passes, so when it checks all of your RAM with all its tests, its completed one pass, however some RAM problems are intermittent and some tests test different areas at random therefore its advisable to do at least two passes, with several being the norm, obviously the more the better. Each pass should at least take a few hours. So overnight should be more than enough.

 

Yes sorry I meant 'bad sectors' not 'bad blocks' there. That's a pretty good sign that the hard drive isn't faulty, but CHKDSK it isn't a flawless test.

The errors you are getting strongly indicate a faulty file structure or inconsistencies in Windows. That means when a program or Windows is trying to find a file it might not be there, the file itself might be corrupt, the file attributes are incorrect, and so on. The evidence of that is that you are getting errors in a whole bunch of different unrelated files and situations - the graphics glitches suggest a graphics card driver problem; the catdb error relates to a Windows update; and the TCP protocol error relates to your Internet connection.

What connects all these things together is that these are all things Windows should be keeping in order, but it's getting muddled up with them. That in return means that one of the things that Windows relies on to do it's job is/was failing it. To resolve your problem you need to address two things - you need to fix those inconsistencies, but you also need to find the cause so as to prevent it from happening again.

Drizzles suggestion of reformatting and reinstalling Windows is a good one in that you'd remove all those inconsistencies, but you may still not be addressing the cause. It's still an option to consider and depends on your situation. Ask yourself: do I have plenty of time to diagnose the current problem and want to keep investigating it? Do I have a Windows CD and key I could use to reinstall? How badly do I not want to reinstall and reload all my programs and files? etc?

So that all being said, your main candidates for the cause of the inconsistencies in the order that I'd investigate them are:
1. Fans*
2. Memory
3. Hard drive
* - I think the fans are the least likely of the three, but I'm adamant that an overheated processor is a plausible possibility!

Once you've ruled out those three things then life gets a lot better. Because now your situation is probably just that a one-off situation caused the inconsistencies, and that the errors your seeing are just a side effect of them. Examples of those in the order of likelihood are:
1. Windows crashed or PC turned off during something critical such as installing a service pack
2. The malware you did have made some changes that haven't been changed back.

So anyway, the first thing to do is to determine whether or not your hardware is working correctly, and then go from there.

 

I have thoroughly cleaned the inside of the computer including boards and fans. I am going to wait and see if that helps. If I get the same issues, then I am going to do the memory check.

 

I'd strongly suggest you burn the CD and run the memory check over night anyway. It's not a lot of work and you really want to get to the bottom of it asap. The same goes with the HDD diagnostics too - set it up before you go to bed, then in the morning you'll awake to find the results. The HDD test will take maybe 2-4 hours (varies with hard drive size, speed, and manufacturer), whereas I'd allow the memory test to run for about 5 passes (3-10 hours depending on the same factors).

 

I am going to try and run the memory check tonight but then will be away from this computer until next week. I am not sure what the HDD diagnostics are - is that on the same CD you want me to burn? DO I run that at the same time or is it another test to run after the memory test?

 

Also wanted to add that after cleaning out the computer it is running quieter but it still errors out after being on for awhile. Over all the machine runs well and I get no other problems other than the one described - it even boots up fast and clean. So I will run this program tonight and see what it finds.

 

Yes the HDD diagnostics are on the same CD. To get to them you boot from the CD (just as you do for the memory test you're doing), then go to the hard drive section, and select the program that mentions your hard drive manufacturer's name. If unsure who manufactured it, look for clues on the hard drive itself, and if there's more than one program available for that manufacturer, choose the option that sounds newest. Then just follow the instructions from there, being sure to do both a short and long/extended test if prompted.

Enjoy the week off!

 

The memory test ran overnight and I checked it just before leaving. It said it did 20 passes and 0 errors found. I guess that is good news. I will be attempting to do the HDD test Sunday night when I get back.

 

This article may be helpful:

How to Reinstall Windows Without Losing Your Data

 

Yup, good news so far - it sounds like your RAM is fine. Have a good thanksgiving

 

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving too!

Got home and ran the HDD tests, both the quick and longer (full) version. They both came back no errors - yay!

I can tell you for a fact that this machine never crashed or anything during an update, so that cant be the problem. I would have to guess that it has something to do with the previous malware issue or, I had asked in a prior post whether something like Little Registry Cleaner has been known to cause any such issues.

What next?

 

I dont have the option of doing a non-destructive reinstall based on the options I have described that I ran into. So I am willing to work through other fixes and ideas. Any help?

 

The last thing I can think of, before suggesting a backup of files and a complete re-install, this may or may not work, pop your XP CD in the drive and press CTRL+ALT+DEL then click on FILE in the top left then New Task (RUN) then type in cmd.exe and hit enter.

Now type

sfc /scannow

and let it do its thing, see if that helps if it doesn't it may be easiest to backup all of your personal files and do a format and reinstall. As I always say, theres nothing like a clean, fresh Operating System

 

OK I will try it.

I dont know if this may be a clue, but I notice that IE7 seems to have trouble with sites like Facebook, ESPN and TV Guide. Either the pages take a longer time to load, or graphics will be misaligned (facebook). Mozilla works alot better. I have never had those problems before with IE.

Could that be related to my problem? I know my Java is up to date and old versions uninstalled. I run CCleaner regularly.

 

Yes it could well be related to your problem. To recap (so it's easier to reread!) we've determined so far that:
1. Memory is OK
2. HDD is OK
3. CHKDSK found no problems
4. Fans are clean (no heat issues)
5. You once had malware, but had it fixed with MG

I agree with the others who have mentioned it - it's time to run sfc /scannow. You mentioned that you didn't have the a copy of Windows XP that matches your installation. If you can't borrow one from a friend, then another thing to check is whether your computer came with a backup program to make your own Windows CD. As a general rule of thumb, if your computer came with CDs then such a thing won't exist, but if it didn't then it probably does exist. You'll be looking for some folder in your Start menu which indicates it's a utility made by your manufacturer (Gateway), and that it creates a restore CD. (If that doesn't work for you either, does anyone know if you can change the key in the registry and use the recovery partition for sfc /scannow?)

Beyond that, the only explanation that makes sense to me is that you either have more malware or the previous malware changed something which hasn't been changed back since it was removed. Did the Majorgeek people investigating your malware problem have you run ComboFix at any point?

 

Yes they had me run Combofix. I havent had any malware problems since they declared my logs clean. I ran all the tools in the "read & run me first" post, then they had me run a certain script through combofix.

I have the gateway xp cd, it is just very old and doesnt allow me the option of doing a non-destructive install (see prior posts). I will try the steps that Drizzles posted earlier sometime today.

 

I ran the scannow program the way Drizzles said to. It got nearly to the end and I got this message:

"Files that are required for Windows to run properly must be copied to the DLL Cache. Insert your Windows XP Professional CD2 now"

Of course, I dont have a disk named that - just the Gateway XP disk that I already had in the drive. UGH! I had to hit CANCEL about 7-10 times so that must be about how many files it was wanting to copy.

 

Yep sounds like your missing some files and it needs the CD to copy em, the funny thing is that XP Prof CD2 error is really annoying cuz i dunno about the rest of you guys but I have never come across a CD 2.

 

I recently ran sfc /scannow on my home computer and was faced with a similar error, though for a different reason I won't bore you with! Troubleshooting my problem led me to here:
http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html

In that article, the author tells you where in the registry that Windows looks for the DLL Cache, and what version of Windows you have installed. Either it's not looking in your CD drive (unlikely), or it's correctly identified that your Windows CD is different from the installation CD (very likely). Now there are three situations where this might help you:

1. Is the Gateway CD the same version of Windows as you have (both XP Professional, both XP Home, or both XP Media Center)?
2. Do you have a C:\I386 folder on your computer?
3. Do you have a Restore or Recovery folder or partition on your computer?*

* - The Restore/Recovery partition I mentioned above is often hidden on computers. So even if you don't know of such a partition being there, it might be hidden and we might be able to use it. I don't know how just yet though, so that's a plan B!

Don't change anything about your registry just yet. Though if you answer yes to any of those questions we might be to complete the sfc /scannow attempt.

 

1. Yes - XP Media Center Edition disk and that is what is installed on the machine.

2. I have an I386 folder in C:\Windows, not just in C:\

3. There is a Recovery (D) drive

 

sfc /scannow was asking for your XP professional CD2, but you have XP Media Center installed? Are you sure that's right? Did you upgrade or change the version of Windows installed on your computer?


Edit: I've just done a little research and it looks like the message asking for CD2 of XP Professional is the message people get when running the command with Media Center; it's just a quirk Microsoft didn't fix. Give me a minute to do a little more research on this.

 

Well I haven't found any mention of anyone else trying this, but I'd like you to try running the sfc /scannow referencing your Restore Partition. If you are able to navigate to your D:\ directory, please let me know what folders are in there. If there isn't an I386 folder, then this won't work. If you see nothing in D:\ then you may have to unhide system files and folders by opening an explorer window, selecting Tools, Folder Options, then unchecking the appropriate checkbox.

If you find that I386 is in D:\ (or aren't sure) we can try the following:
1. Read Step 2 of this web page
2. Make a note of what value SourcePath currently has (probably E:\)
3. Change it to: D:\
4. Again try the sfc /scannow command exactly as before.
5. Any luck this time? If not, return SourcePath back to the value it was beforehand.

Can you please look in your Start Menu for any Gateway utilities that seem to suggest they will create Recovery Discs or Reinstallation Discs, or anything like that.

 

to acmz123

Would get a more precise direction to your problem by starting your own thread in Software.
It gets confusing trying to work on more than 1 in a thread.
Plus this is called hijacking. (not a nice thing to do).

And Welcome to Major Geeks.

 

Followed the steps but it still asks for the non-existent disk. The setting for the sourcepath was C:\Windows and I changed it to D:\

When I looked at the D: drive in explorer it had under it "System Restore" and a paddlock icon. It would not let me see the files in there even when I set the folder options to show hidden. It says "protected by PC Angel" and a message saying Recovery Partition! -this contains files used for system recovery. Do not delete or alter files.

Dont see anything in the start menu other than one menu item called System Recovery which has options for:

Application & Driver recovery
Create my drivers - applications CD(s)
System Recovery

That is it.

 

One note. I read through that page and tried the instructions to copy the I386 folder to my C:\ drive. Then I set the source path to just C:\. Interestingly, now the error message was for me to insert the Windows XP Service Pack 3 disk. That is a different error message than before.

So there must be some dll files that are needed that are only found on XP -SP3?