Many problems in Windows ME- Help!

Hello all....

My PC is experiencing a number of problems that I suspect are inter-related but I'm going to tackle them one by one in the hope that solving several small ones separately will, in the process, fix one big one.

If that makes absolutley NO SENSE, please let me know!

Anyway....

I have an HP Pavilion 7920 with a Celeron processor running Windows ME and 512 MB RAM. 27GB hard-drive is half-full but I have a 186GB external drive that holds a back-up of this drive plus 1000's of mp3s. I run Norton SystemWorks 2003 plus Ad-Aware and Spyware Search and Destroy on a regular basis. I've had problems recently with "lost chains" while running "one-button checkup" in Norton that may have led to necessary files being lost.

First among several other problems:

My PC no longer is able to shut down properly. When I click start and select shut-down, I am presented with two options: SHUT DOWN and RESTART.

Selecting RESTART sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. Often the screen goes slightly dim as if in preparation for shutting down, but then just sort of freezes, then nothing. It would stay that way all day if I let it. I usually end up cutting the power and re-booting (which is another whole problem I'll get into in later...).

Selecting SHUT DOWN just plain doesn't work. It shuts down, then immediately restarts on its own.

I do this just to give my system a reset, let it cool down, etc., especially if I'm going to be away for a day or two. I'd much prefer to do it the right way. I haven't seen the "It is now safe to turn off your computer" message in months and I would like to. Instead, I cut power and when I turn it back on, I automatically get the "improper shutdown detected" screen, etc....

This can't possibly be good for my system, can it?

I suspect that I have a whole host of windows-related problems but this was the first one to become apparent.

Any help will be much appreciated!

 

HI, I have read your 3 posts and with the number of problems you have it might be best to start from scratch and reinstall the operationg system. I think in one post you mentioned you had a drive with an image of the system on it. I presume the image is before your present troubles and if so then restore it back to that.

 

Yes,reinstall the operationg system is the best approach.

 

I have contmplated exactly that approach, although my backup drive contains the image of my system with all the errors. I only got it a couple of months ago, for exactly this reason.

Question: Reinstalling the operating system: I have the recovery discs that came with the maching three years ago that woudl put my system back the way it was when I got it. It would then be relatively painless (if not a little tedious) to reinstall various programs, hardware drivers, etc....

BUT: In moving data files from my external drive BACK to my maine machine, do I run the risk of creating the same problem? I don't have all that much, really, and the really important data I have backed up on CDs as well.

Many thanks for your input!

 

I would also consider dumping Norton's. Every time I've had it on my system, I've had to do a reinstall. I believe that Windoctor is the main culprit. It changes the registry, and if you aren't careful, it will screw it up.