Slow PC after registry recovery

Discussion in 'Software' started by nigh, Sep 15, 2014.

  1. nigh

    nigh Private E-2

    I've managed to get my PC going again after it refused to boot. I used Hirem's boot disk to restore the registry to an earlier version & now it boots OK but runs really slow & keeps displaying messages saying that a script has stopped working (not the same script every time). I've tried running a repair from the OS install disk but it blue screens every time. Before all of this I had to run chkdsk a couple of times so I suspect my problems are due to bad sectors or a failing HDD.

    Can anyone suggest what I might try to get the performance back?

    I'm thinking that, if I can get it to run reasonably well, I need to clone the C drive on to a new HDD. Going forward, I need to upgrade from XP, maybe Win7 as that seems to work OK or possibly Linux although that would be new territory for me.

    Trying to remember the PC spec, trying to get info from the machine is painfully slow.
    WinXP Pro SP3
    1 Gb dual core processor
    4 Gb RAM
    2x 500Gb HDD
     
  2. mdonah

    mdonah Major Geek Extraordinaire

    That "a script has stopped working" is tied to Internet Explorer. Are you running an app that uses the IE engine like Weatherbug or Secunia PSI? Which version of IE are you running? How full is the System drive?
     
  3. nigh

    nigh Private E-2

    mdonah,
    I don't recognise those apps, I use Firefox browser. I'm fairly sure that the C drive is only 1/2 full, I store all of my data on a 2nd drive to try to keep the C drive clean. I'm at work at the moment so can't check the home PC.
     
  4. nigh

    nigh Private E-2

    Just an update to my PC spec as I've managed to access the info now.

    AMD Athlon II X2 245 processor 2.9 GHz
    3Gb RAM
    WinXP SP3
    NVIDIA GeForce 8200

    I had a couple of script errors earlier in the evening but it's been running OK for the past 3 hours.
     
  5. mdonah

    mdonah Major Geek Extraordinaire

    I run XP Pro SP3 32-bit on my Dell. BUT, I've also got Vista Ultimate on a separate drive. I went with Vista because of Device drivers. I couldn't find ones compatible with Win 7. I've also incorporated a special registry entry for XP so, I've gotten updates for it beyond the 4/8/14 end of support.

    I do run Weatherbug which has what I call mini browser pages embedded in the main interface. They use the IE engine and occasionally throw up that "a script has stopped working" error. I, too, run FF 32.0.1 as my default browser but have not gotten that error in FF.

    If you're going to clone what appears to be a failing hard drive, make sure to use smsrt sector copy so you're only copying the sectors that are used and not the free space or bad sectors.

    The bad sectors COULD be part of the issue. But, so could a number of things. So far, there isn't enough information for me to speculate.

    If you decide to go with Linux,someone like plodr or Hedon James will be able to guide you further down that path.
     
  6. nigh

    nigh Private E-2

    Thanks for the advice on cloning. Tonight my PC is showing no script errors so far but is running real slow.
     
  7. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    If those script error are only in the browser, turn off script error reporting.
    Open IE and select Tools then the Advanced tab and do the following
    [​IMG]
     
  8. nigh

    nigh Private E-2

    plodr, thanks for the advice but I don't use IE & have removed it using the Windows add/remove options.
     
  9. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

  10. mdonah

    mdonah Major Geek Extraordinaire

    You removed direct access to IE but not IE itself. You can't. It's an integral part of the OS.

    You can make the changes plodr suggested by going to Control Panel -> Internet Options.

    Sorry about that plodr. I was right on your heels.:)
     
  11. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    No problem. Maybe in stereo it will sink in that IE can't be removed from Windows. ;)
     
  12. nigh

    nigh Private E-2

    OK, if I go to control panel-> Internet options ->Advanced, the 'Display a notification about every script error' is already unticked.
     

    Attached Files:

  13. mdonah

    mdonah Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Did you check plodr's links abou Firefox?
     
  14. nigh

    nigh Private E-2

    I did look at the link, it advises looking at Tools > (Web Development) > Error Console. In tools on my Firefox I have 'Web Developer', then options for 'Web Console' or 'Browser Console'. The output of those gives nothing that I can understand.
     
  15. mdonah

    mdonah Major Geek Extraordinaire

    It does say "depending on what version". But, it also lists some extensions that might be causing the script error and steps to take.

    The second link talks about Webroot Spy Sweeper and YesScript.
     
  16. nigh

    nigh Private E-2

    I don't have Spy Sweeper, YesScript is for script problems on specific web sites but I can't link this to any particular site, in fact, I get script errors when there is no browser open. I've looked at the extensions listed, the only I thing I would have is Adobe Reader which I would be reluctant to remove.
    I've tried their suggestion of increasing the script timeout, I'll have to wait to see if this works.
     
  17. mdonah

    mdonah Major Geek Extraordinaire

    One or more of your apps must be using a browser engine for some reason. I don't know which one. Have you got the latest Adobe Reader? You've increased the script timeout so, as you say you'll have to wait and see.

    BTW, I'm running FF 32.0.1 and my Tools -> Web Developer looks like the att'd.
     

    Attached Files:

  18. nigh

    nigh Private E-2

    I was running FF 32.0.1 when I made my last post. When I went to FF tools, about, to check the release, FF found & applied an update to 32.0.2 but the tools menu is unchanged & is as shown in the attachment.

    Adobe is up to date, I use FileHippo.com update checker which checks for updates to all of my programmes at every start up.

    I guess I'll have to wait a couple of days to see how it goes.
     

    Attached Files:

  19. mdonah

    mdonah Major Geek Extraordinaire

    That FileHippo.com update checker is just like Secunia PSI (Personal Software Inspector) which does the same thing. I'll bet it's the one using the IE engine like Secunia does and that's what's generating the script error message even when a browser isn't open. I'm updated to 32.0.2 as well on FF.
     
  20. Adrynalyne

    Adrynalyne Guest

    Did you use system restore or the manual method?

    IF manual, did you replace all 5 hive files, and get them from a system restore point?

    If you didn't do all 5, you have mismatched hives, and its going to be slow, have errors, etc. You may also find some things do not work.
     
  21. nigh

    nigh Private E-2

    mdonah, maybe FileHippo is the culprit although I've been using it for 2 or 3 years without trouble.

    Adrynalyne, it was a manual restore & I did copy all 5 files. There were a whole list of recovery folders so I looked for the newest ones. I noticed that all of the folder names were in blue text but the latest 3 were in black text. I didn't know if that was significant so I ignored these 3 & used files from the next folder which was only a couple of days older.

    Despite the changes listed earlier I am still getting script errors.
     
  22. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    FileHippo now loads things with some of the downloads. :(
    I now caution anyone if I find a download on FileHippo to look around to be sure you are not downloading something with things you neither want nor need.

    You might want to disable the program and see if the computer seems faster.
     
  23. nigh

    nigh Private E-2

    I spent today uninstalling a whole lot of accumulated software that I never use. This was painfully slow to start with but my PC is now running noticeably faster. I'll still have to wait a bit to see if I have eliminated the rogue programme.
     
  24. nigh

    nigh Private E-2

    2 days later & my PC is still running OK. I guess I won't know for sure which programme was causing all of the problems but it seems to be gone now.

    Thanks to everyone for the guidance.
     

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