Programs won't start

[Guest]

Have EU's pc with XP home installed. Windows will start OK, but when you try
to start any program, the hourglass comes on for a few seconds then
disappears, and the program won't start. This includes shutting down the pc.
In safe mode it seems ok, I ran several antivirus and spyware programs and
nothing was picked up. There are many updates waiting to be installed, but of
course they won't run either.. I can't run the Task Manager to see whats
running.. Any ideas ?

 

[Rock]

Have EU's pc with XP home installed. Windows will start OK, but when you
try
to start any program, the hourglass comes on for a few seconds then
disappears, and the program won't start. This includes shutting down the
pc.
In safe mode it seems ok, I ran several antivirus and spyware programs and
nothing was picked up. There are many updates waiting to be installed, but
of
course they won't run either.. I can't run the Task Manager to see whats
running.. Any ideas ?

Is the system clean of malware? How do you check? If the system is clean
and if the problems don't seem to persist in safe mode, do some clean boot
troubleshooting to determine what's loading in normal mode that is causing
the problem.

Clean Boot Troubleshooting:

How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310560

How to perform advanced clean-boot troubleshooting in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=316434

How to perform a clean boot in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310353