My Computer and Add/Remove Software don't work after XP up..

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

I use automatic updates, and a few weeks ago my system installed a series of
updates to SP2. Before the install, everything was working fine. I run
Norton and Zone Alarm Pro all the time, and the update installed with these
programs running and restarted my machine. I've been discovering a few
problems as the weeks proceed, but right away I discovered that if I try to
open My Computer folder, it's blank and the system locks up. I have to use
Task Manager to close My Computer. I can get to my c drive and find my
folders by going through my network places. Other folders for which I
created shortcuts to the desktop open fine. I thought I might try to delete
the latest updates and try again, but Add/Remove programs opens with a blank
screen--nothing comes up at all in the programs list. I had done some
defragging after the update, and I found I can't use system restore to go
back to any dates at all--no system restore dates work, though they show in
the date list.

The rest of my system seems to be working and relatively stable, but I'm a
bit worried about something unusual showing up. If I check for updates right
now, I'm told I have no high priortiy updates required, and what's left
relates to services I don't use so I haven't done anything else to attempt a
fix.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

That should repair,try installing xp cd,exit the info page,then go to
run,type:
VERIFY ON Then type:Sfc /Scannow When its thru type:CHKDSK C: /F
Agree to restart,then type:EXIT Remove cd,restart computer.If Sfc (windows
file protection) doesnt fix,then you have a corrupted user account,create
new,
delete old account.

"Brian Preston" wrote:

> I use automatic updates, and a few weeks ago my system installed a series of
> updates to SP2. Before the install, everything was working fine. I run
> Norton and Zone Alarm Pro all the time, and the update installed with these
> programs running and restarted my machine. I've been discovering a few
> problems as the weeks proceed, but right away I discovered that if I try to
> open My Computer folder, it's blank and the system locks up. I have to use
> Task Manager to close My Computer. I can get to my c drive and find my
> folders by going through my network places. Other folders for which I
> created shortcuts to the desktop open fine. I thought I might try to delete
> the latest updates and try again, but Add/Remove programs opens with a blank
> screen--nothing comes up at all in the programs list. I had done some
> defragging after the update, and I found I can't use system restore to go
> back to any dates at all--no system restore dates work, though they show in
> the date list.
>
> The rest of my system seems to be working and relatively stable, but I'm a
> bit worried about something unusual showing up. If I check for updates right
> now, I'm told I have no high priortiy updates required, and what's left
> relates to services I don't use so I haven't done anything else to attempt a
> fix.
>
> Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Thanks, I'm not an expert at this, but I figured out your directions and
things appear back to normal in both My Computer and Add/Remove programs.


"Andrew E." wrote:

> That should repair,try installing xp cd,exit the info page,then go to
> run,type:
> VERIFY ON Then type:Sfc /Scannow When its thru type:CHKDSK C: /F
> Agree to restart,then type:EXIT Remove cd,restart computer.If Sfc (windows
> file protection) doesnt fix,then you have a corrupted user account,create
> new,
> delete old account.
>
> "Brian Preston" wrote:
>
> > I use automatic updates, and a few weeks ago my system installed a series of
> > updates to SP2. Before the install, everything was working fine. I run
> > Norton and Zone Alarm Pro all the time, and the update installed with these
> > programs running and restarted my machine. I've been discovering a few
> > problems as the weeks proceed, but right away I discovered that if I try to
> > open My Computer folder, it's blank and the system locks up. I have to use
> > Task Manager to close My Computer. I can get to my c drive and find my
> > folders by going through my network places. Other folders for which I
> > created shortcuts to the desktop open fine. I thought I might try to delete
> > the latest updates and try again, but Add/Remove programs opens with a blank
> > screen--nothing comes up at all in the programs list. I had done some
> > defragging after the update, and I found I can't use system restore to go
> > back to any dates at all--no system restore dates work, though they show in
> > the date list.
> >
> > The rest of my system seems to be working and relatively stable, but I'm a
> > bit worried about something unusual showing up. If I check for updates right
> > now, I'm told I have no high priortiy updates required, and what's left
> > relates to services I don't use so I haven't done anything else to attempt a
> > fix.
> >
> > Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

"Brian Preston" <BrianPreston@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:4CFD2644-2EAC-4125-A28E-EE44EBDFB5A9@microsoft.com
> I use automatic updates, and a few weeks ago my system installed a
> series of updates to SP2. Before the install, everything was working
> fine. I run Norton and Zone Alarm Pro all the time, and the update
> installed with these programs running and restarted my machine. I've
> been discovering a few problems as the weeks proceed, but right away
> I discovered that if I try to open My Computer folder, it's blank and
> the system locks up. I have to use Task Manager to close My
> Computer. I can get to my c drive and find my folders by going
> through my network places. Other folders for which I created
> shortcuts to the desktop open fine. I thought I might try to delete
> the latest updates and try again, but Add/Remove programs opens with
> a blank screen--nothing comes up at all in the programs list. I had
> done some defragging after the update, and I found I can't use system
> restore to go back to any dates at all--no system restore dates work,
> though they show in the date list.
>
> The rest of my system seems to be working and relatively stable, but
> I'm a bit worried about something unusual showing up. If I check for
> updates right now, I'm told I have no high priortiy updates required,
> and what's left relates to services I don't use so I haven't done
> anything else to attempt a fix.
>
> Thanks for any suggestions.

First eliminate any spyware.
What You Should Know About Spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/devioussoftware.mspx

CAUTION!!!!! Removing some spyware can damage the Winsock stact. Before
you try to remove spyware using any of these programs , download a copy of
LSP-Fix - a free program to repair damaged Winsock 2 stacks (all Windows
versions)
http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm
Winsockfix for W95, W98, ME, NT, 2000, XP
http://www.tacktech.com/pub/winsockfix/WinsockFix.zip
Directions here: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=257
WinXP:
Get WinSockxpFix
http://www.spychecker.com/program/winsockxpfix.html
How to Reset Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299357
In WinXP SP2: You can fix Winsock by going to Start | Run and typing
CMD
In the command window type
netsh winsock reset

See
Dealing with Unwanted Malware, Parasites, Toolbars and Search Engines
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

Note that AdAware and SpyBot S & D will each catch some things the other
won't. Also, each needs to be updated with the program's update function
before every use, even when just downloaded. There's also a lot more to do
than just those two programs. CWShredder is also available here:
http://www.intermute.com/products/cwshredder
**Post your HijackThis log to
http://forums.spywareinfo.com/
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/ or the Spyware forum at
http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30 for expert analysis, not here.**
Alternative download pages for Ad-Aware, Spybot, HijackThis and CWShredder
may be found on this page:
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm.

See this link for information about malware:
http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/malware.ars

If nothing there helps, please post back to this thread.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/