Can't type in start menu box in Windows 7

Good morning,
I am not sure if I'm posting in the correct spot or not, but here goes!

My 5 year old pc is running Windows 7 professional, 32 bit, 3 Gigs RAM, Intel core i5, with two profiles.

It IS old, but I'd like to keep it around for another year if possible. About 2 months ago, the pc would not let me access my profile. I had to work through the other profile to grab the documents and photos and put them in a new profile. I lost a few things, not much. I'd read that it was a registry error that probably caused the problem?

I do run Malwarebytes, CCleaner and keep AVG up to date, defrag on a regular basis.

Yesterday out of nowhere, my start menu box did not cooperate. I could not type in it, even though I was typing in WORD and online. Could not shut down the machine, click on anything in the start menu. After half an hour of searching online for a solution, it spontaneously started working.

I wonder what is wrong? If there is anything I can do prophylactically, to prevent this from happening again?

Thank you for any insight!

Sue

 

Here's a couple of generic things you can do that you didn't mention having done yet:

Run chkdsk which is a Windows app that checks you hard disk for errors and attempts to fix them:

1. Click on Start Button
2. Choose "Run"
3. Type in chkdsk /r
4. Hit Enter
5. The program will ask you whether you want to run chkdsk the next time Windows boots
6. Click "Yes"

This will check your entire hard drive for faulty sector and attempt to fix them. Given the age of your hard drive you may well have a few bad sectors, especially if you've never run chkdsk before. Bad sectors on a hard drive can manifest with all sorts of strange problems, including problems with the RUN box. It can take several hours to complete the scan on a large hard drive so be patient. You should regularly run chkdsk on your drive, perhaps once per month.

The other thing you can do is check your system for corrupt or missing system files.

1. Click Start Button
2. Choose "Run"
3. Type the following into the Run box: sfc /scannow
4. Hit Enter

This one only takes a few minutes. You should also run sfc (System File Checker) every month or so, and any time you observe strange behavior or error messages in Windows.

It's great that you are regularly scanning your system with antiviral software. Keep that up Post again in this thread if any of the strange behavior recurs.

 

Thank you for the instructions. I did attempt to type in the box as you outlined below. The first time the program came up, for only a second, then disappeared. I retyped it and tried to right click and run as administrator, to no avail.
Now the box is non-functional. I did a search in my computer for the program and it was not found.

My typing in the box somehow prompted it to malfunction again. I hate to shut down the machine by holding the button, but the entire start menu is non responsive.

Is there any work around for me to try to run the System File Checker or scan the disc? Would CCleaner cleaning the registry help?

I appreciate the help!

Sue

 

I managed to scan the disc by going into safe mode and using the cmd prompt there. It scanned after I rebooted, took several hours!

Then I was able to run the sfc with your instructions below, plodr. Thank you!

My run box and the start menu are working again. The sfc said it didn't find any integrity violations, not sure about the chkdsk.

Not sure if there is anything else to be done to make sure there are no errors in this old machine or not?

Thank you!

Sue

 

Sue, any time there exist strange unexplainable anomalies in the functioning of one's computer, you have to rule out malware. I see that you have antiviral software installed on your computer (AVG). When was the last time you scanned your system with a full scan? Since no single antivirus program is infallible, it's always a good idea to run a second scan using a different antiviral program. You can do that without needing to install anything. Just click on the following link to go to the page where you can launch an online antivirus (ESET) scan on your computer.

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=149856

If you find that you are infected, just let us know in this thread and we can direct you in terms of what to do next. If you are clean then great. Make sure you scan your entire system every couple of days with the AVG. Run Malwarebytes Anti-malware on days when you don't use the AVG scanner.

Good luck !

 

Hey rustysavage,
I ran the external scan and it found a trojan in java. I attached the log for you to see, but isn't it quarantined in AVG? Or is it a problem?

While I'm on the subject, it seems that java, or impersonations of java, cause a lot of problems. Do I need java?

Thank you for reading the log and helping me w this!

Sue

 

Sue, it may be overkill but there's a protocol that we use and I'll need you to go to the following page to start the process of making sure that all of the malware on your computer is eradicated:

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407

If you are still having problems after they clear you, post another message in this thread.

Good luck !

 

Just an FYI rustysavage. I followed the README instructions and the pc is clear.

Thank you again for all your help!

Sue