3 Persistent Problems (with WinXPHome & DLA)

Hey geeks!

I have had 3 main problems from the dawn of time with this PC that I just can't seem to find the answer to anywhere. I've read the FAQ here, I've searched through a bunch of threads here, as well as various forums through Google. (I like these forums the best)

Important Information

• I am running Windows XP Home SP2
• Latest drivers / Updates are installed and running smoothly
• Very recent cleaning of PC via the Read & Run Me First Guide
• 1 Gig of RAM
• The CD drive I use regularly is a Samsung dvd drive (16x/48x DVD-ROM)
• The core of my computer is a Dell 8300, but alot on the hardware end has been modified
• The machine is NOT overclocked

As a side note: I know just enough about computers to get by, but I am nowhere near an expert like you folks here. There are some topics that just go a bit above my head. (The Off-Topic area is a different story )

I can't think of anything else that I thought would relate to my problems at the moment.

My 3 problems are as follows:

1. The 'Show window contents while dragging' problem

I don't know what it is but everytime I choose the option to Show window contents while dragging, then reboot/turn off/on the computer the setting does NOT save. This happens with the 2 profiles that I currently have. I check the box to enable, it works fine until it is time to reboot or turn off/turn on the computer. I just don't understand this at all.

2. The DLA annoyance problem

This is a more recent problem that only occurs on a select few of games & movies. I've noticed it tends to only happen with DVDs. I've taken screenshots of the problem in action:

Below is the most common when putting in or running a DVD with my main drive (Listed Above). This happens everytime I go to run the program using the disk or anytime I plop a disk in. This only happens on a select few of games & movies that are DVDs.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v193/Raion275/DLAprob1.jpg

Second, and the more rare of the two, is a problem that happens right after the problem shown above. It happens quite a bit less often than the one above, but equally annoying. Take a look below.

Note on the image show below: There was no visible element to my knowledge of any programs on the disc running other than the .exe I initiated to actually run the software each time this has happend.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v193/Raion275/DLAprob2.jpg

I have searched for a solution from high to low, but to no avail.

3. The 'C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\My Documents\My Pictures' Probelm

Every so often, Windows for some reason brings back the default 'demo picture' folders from the dead and places them amongst my current folders in that directory. I cannont link a cause/effect to this behavior.

To explain this better, the demo images are the junk you get on a fresh PC or fresh install; things like 'City Lights' to 'Flowers' and of the like. You go into the folder and there are several picutres corresponding to the title. I have deleted these folders numerous times, but Windows seems to regenerate the buggers every now and then; It is pretty annoying.

There you have it, the 3 problems that have plauged my PC for the last year or so. While these are just minor problems, they are the only ones to actually persist on my system and I cannot seem to solve them for the life of me. Thank you all for your time and support. I hope the information I gave is enough to diagnose these issues.

Cheers!
-Sasquatch7

 

this may be a permission on your computer thats set to not save any settings. please download and install this, if it finds any permissions, delete them.
http://djlizard.net/software/Dial-a-fix-medium.exe

go into DLA and turn off the alert feature.

not sure on this one.
sorry.

may be the same problem as the first one.

hope this helps!
-aAron

 

See if this might apply,

Problem:

"Show window contents while dragging" does not work on my Dell computer running Windows XP.

Solution:

Apparently, this is an intentional software configuration within the "Dell Media Experience" software. It automatically disables the "Show window contents while dragging" option. Having that option enabled has been known to cause video corruption.

Uninstalling the Dell Media Experience from your system will return the "Show window contents while dragging" setting back to user control.

This setting is found here:

Right click an empty area of your desktop.
Select Appearance
Select the Effects button
Place a checkmark in the "Show window contents while dragging" checkbox to enable this setting. Remove the checkmark to disable it.

Steve

 

Ah, thank you! Very helpful information.

The uninstallation of Dell Media Experience fixed one of the problems completely.

I went ahead and ran that software, Aaron, but it was unable to find any permissions at all. The respawn of the picture folders is not that big of a problem but I am still curious as to why it behaves this way.

About DLA, I was not able to find the area to turn off alerts anywhere, although I enabled DLA on my recorder drive, then just went and disabled DLA on my drives as show below - I am not so sure how good of an idea this is, but it did stop the annoying pop up.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v193/Raion275/confused.jpg

EDIT: Aha, it seems that I have spoken too soon about the default picture regeneration problem. While I was browsing around, 2 folders seen below -

C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\My Documents\My Pictures\Big City
C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\My Documents\My Pictures\Scenic

- popped out of thin air after a refresh of the folder. Along with a bunch of pictures without their corresponding folder this time scattering all over the \My Pictures folder. Messy.

-Sasquatch7

 

Hate to reply to myself, but is disabling DLA altogether such a good idea? Also, is there anyway to resolve the spawning of these default Windows picture files?

Thank you!