registry and/or dll corruption

[Guest]

Hi Everyone,

A couple days ago while visiting distant family, I attempted a good deed -
to install HP printer software for a new all-in-one printer. What happened
was the install procedure stalled and after a very long wait, the computer
became unresponsive and I was obligated to press RESET. After this, several
curious symptoms appeared, including two much needed applications caused the
machine to hang during launch: Picasa2 and PhotoShop Elements 3.0 (after
selecting the option for organizing photos). Picasa2 hangs immediately after
the banner appeared. PhotoShop hangs during the banner display when the
message "Initializing Threads..." appeared. Don't know if these hints are
meaningful, but there they are. By "hang", I mean that the computer becomes
unresponsive, i.e., cursor frozen, no response to keyboard, task manager
performance display stalled, etc. I do not know of a way to determine what
state the CPU is in (running or halted or ????.

Although extensive testing has not been performed, many other functions of
the computer work fine, at least superficially. Booting seems fine, as does
running other ordinary desktop functions such as web browsing and email
reading. The machine passes its BIOS POST and extended memory tests.
However, I suspect there may be other problems lurking.

In attempt to diagnose and repair the problem, several steps were taken,
including:

1. uninstall the remnant HP software
2. reinstall the HP software (which worked 2nd time around)
3. reinstall Picasa2
4. reinstall PhotoShop Elements 3.0
5. Perform a system restore from a point before the initial install attempt
6. chkdsk on c:
7. Checked the FAQs for HP printer s/w installs, Picasa2 and PhotoShop
Elements
8. Turned of the various media detection services of both Picasa2 and
PhotoShop
9. Attempted repair install from original XP Home Edition disc (this failed
because it claimed the version of Windows I was running was different than
that on the disc. Hmmm...maybe the various network-based updates over the
past few years, notably SP2, has triggered this unfriendly response?)

Some of these steps were taken multiple times (e.g., with and without the HP
software installed).

My hunch is that some bit of common code got corrupted. Don't think it is
the registry because the restore did not change the symptoms. But how to
diagnose this further? Is there a way to discover what .dll files are used
by 3rd party applications? Even if I had a list, is there a way to determine
whether one might have gotten corrupted? And if I did discover a corrupted
..dll, how would I go about getting a replacement? Or am I barking up the
wrong tree?

While I am an exerienced Windows user, but (by the standards of this group's
very impressive respondents) a novice admin, I am perplexed at how to
proceed. I am afraid that the last resort is to attempt keeping personal
information, then wiping the disk and starting from scratch with a fresh
install of WinXP. Ack!

On the lighter side, I am now hundreds of miles away from that computer and,
more importantly, its owner! It will be weeks before I can return on a
mission of mercy, so have a little time to plot a strategy.

Just for reference, this is an ASUS A7V266-E based machine with 1GB mem, and
is up-to-date on all known s/w security patches. It runs behind a
sensibly-configured netgear firewall, so I am not (yet) suspecting virus
activity.

I am collecting suggestions so would appreciate any contributions from the
kind souls out there.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Guest]

Simply open event viewer,chk for errors/warnings,get the details to whats
going on in the OS.

 

[Guest]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the suggestion. I did not mention that I had previously taken
a look in the event viewer (System, Security and Application categories) and,
while I do not understand all of the entries, found nothing out of the
ordinary. That is, I found nothing either in content or frequency that had
not been present for the past couple of years.

- Tom

 

[Ron Martell]

9. Attempted repair install from original XP Home Edition disc (this failed
because it claimed the version of Windows I was running was different than
that on the disc. Hmmm...maybe the various network-based updates over the
past few years, notably SP2, has triggered this unfriendly response?)

You will need to create a new XP installation CD with Service Pack 2
slipstreamed into it:

XP Slipstream:
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp
http://www.helpwithwindows.com/WindowsXP/winxp-sp2-bootcd.html
http://www.msfn.org/articles.php?action=show&showarticle=49

Windows XP Service Pack 2 complete download:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...BE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en

I am collecting suggestions so would appreciate any contributions from the
kind souls out there.

Before attempting a Repair Install try opening an Command Prompt
window and entering the following command:

SFC /SCANNOW

This will require a reboot and may require the Windows XP installation
CD.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Guest]

Hi Ron,

Many thanks for two concrete suggestions that I will definitely try. Not
only have you given me a new tool to try (sfc), but also the means to attempt
a repair install should that be necessary. Much appreciated!!

Gratefully,
- Tom