Repost: System freezes during theme change

[Mike Donnelly]

XP folks,

Any help out there for this problem?

Windows XP, with SP2.
I always used the classic theme, but recently decided to try
the Windows XP theme. The theme is present among the
available choices. The theme service is running. During the
change I get a popup window that says "Please wait." Then the
system freezes so bad that ALT+F4 doesn't work,
CTRL+ALT+DELETE doesn't bring up the task manager, and the
power switch on the PC doesn't work either! My only recourse
is to unplug the PC from the wall.

I checked KB 823768, but all the files indicated are where
they should be. I have run the system file checker (SFC
/scannow) also, but still no joy.

Thanks for listening.

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP\)]

Have you checked for the latest XP Compatible drivers at your graphics card
manufacturer's website?

 

[Mike Donnelly]

Have you checked for the latest XP Compatible drivers at
your graphics card manufacturer's website?

Thanks for the idea.

Yes, I have now downloaded and installed the latest driver
from Nvidia. Didn't help at all. I was wondering about some
system file that might be corrupted, but I thought SFC would
have found that. My next try will be to shut off my anti-virus
program (AVG) and firewall and see what happens.

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP\)]

Before you shut down AV, if you haven't already done so, I'd run a virus
scan.

Also, make sure your system is clear of any malware, download, install and
run Ad Aware:
www.lavasoftusa.com

If your system is clear of viruses and any malware, open Control Panel, open
System, go to
the Advanced tab, click Settings under Startup and Recovery, remove the
check from "Automatically Restart" under System Failure. This will cause
the system to blue screen instead of restarting on errors and the
information on the blue screen may give a clue as to the source of the
issue.

Open Control Panel, open Administrative Tools, open Event Viewer, look for
errors corresponding to the crash, double click the error, the information
contained within may give a clue as to the
source of the problem.

Assuming you have an XP CD and not a recovery CD, place the XP CD in the
drive, when the setup screen appears, select "Check System Compatibility,"
the report it generates may point to problem hardware or software on your
system. If you do not have an XP CD, you can download this application
known as the Upgrade Advisor from the following site:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/advisor.asp
Note: If you have access to a broadband connection it might be best to
download using that as this is a rather large download.

If all of the above come up negative, then I think it would be time to run
SFC /scannow.

 

[Mike Donnelly]

Sir,

Hope you don't mind, but you have made so many good
suggestions, I will put my comments in between the lines.

Before you shut down AV, if you haven't already done so,
I'd run a virus scan.

Yes. I had updated my AVG programand run it several times
recently.

Also, make sure your system is clear of any malware,
download, install and run Ad Aware:
www.lavasoftusa.com

I routinely run Ad Aware, Spybot search and destroy, and I use
Spyware Blaster too. Been using Mozilla as my browser for a
while too.

If your system is clear of viruses and any malware, open
Control Panel, open System, go to
the Advanced tab, click Settings under Startup and
Recovery, remove the check from "Automatically Restart"
under System Failure. This will cause the system to blue
screen instead of restarting on errors and the information
on the blue screen may give a clue as to the source of the
issue.

Yes, this is the setting I have always used. However, with
this problem, the system never shuts down, so it doesn't get
the chance to restart.

Open Control Panel, open Administrative Tools, open Event
Viewer, look for errors corresponding to the crash, double
click the error, the information contained within may give
a clue as to the source of the problem.

I have tried this a couple of times too, but I don't see
anything that looks useful.

Assuming you have an XP CD and not a recovery CD, place the
XP CD in the drive, when the setup screen appears, select
"Check System Compatibility," the report it generates may
point to problem hardware or software on your system. If
you do not have an XP CD, you can download this application
known as the Upgrade Advisor from the following site:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/ad
visor.asp Note: If you have access to a broadband
connection it might be best to download using that as this
is a rather large download.

Haven't had a chance to try this yet. Unfortunately, I do have
the Dell recovery disk and not a real system disk. Also using
a dialup connection.

If all of the above come up negative, then I think it would
be time to run SFC /scannow.

I had already run this before I originally reported the
problem. Nothing changed.

Two questions, if I may bother you a little more:
1.) Are there any services other than the theme service that
might affect changing themes?

2.) What files need to be in place for the windows XP and
classic themes?

Thanks again for listening.

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP\)]

First, you're welcome and thank you for the kind words.

Second, I don't know the answer to either of your new questions. With
regard to the second, however, even if you knew the specific files
necessary, I would ordinarily suggest a repair install as this would likely
restore all dependencies and remove corruptions.

Here's something else you might try, if you have access to a different
graphics card, you might try swapping it with your nVidia card, you may need
to update the drivers of the card you swap but do this to be sure the
problem isn't the card itself. nVidia cards and drivers are notorious for
wreaking havoc on otherwise stable systems. Often they do quite well but
there have been a lot of problems with these cards and their drivers over
the years.