Should I Reinstall XP? Seems Kind of Drastic

[Mikey]

I've been running Windows XP on a new Dell system for the
past 2 months now without any issues.

I keep my Spyware, and Anti virus programs up to date and
scan regularly and ran scans of both day, which came up
negative.

Everything has been working fine until this morning.

I've had my XP machine networked with an old Win98 SE
machine. Up till now, I've had no problem. Been able to
share files back and forth between the machines.

This morning I attempted to get my Win98 SE machine to
recognize the printer on my XP machine so that I could
print to it. This is things started to fall apart.

I was not able to get the Win98 SE machine to recognize
the printer, and then I started having problems on my XP
System. Namely, VERY slow performance, programs locking
up, half of my wallpaper is missing, can't access Outlook
2003 -- the list goes on and on.

Here's what I've tried so far, none which has seemed to
help:

1. Reboot several times, both warm and cold.

2. Reboot in "Safe Mode".

3. System Restore to several different points

4. Turn off all startup programs within MSCONFIG

5. Contacted Dell Tech support.

Regarding issue 5, they are telling me that it sounds
like my XP OS is corrupted and the ONLY solution is to
reformat the disc and reinstall XP.

I has asked if there was a way to attempt to locate the
currpet file and they said no.

This sounds VERY extreme to me and I want a "second
opinion" before I go through the
reformatting/reinstallation process.

Please let me know if there are ANY other steps that I
should try. I'm in a really sticky situation and would
appreciate any assistance you can offer.

Thanks in advance --
Mikey




..

 

[sgopus]

What they are suggesting sounds drastic, I think dell
leans towards the restore as it's easier for them, no
lengthy phone conversations.

It does sound like malware/spyware Have you tried
Hijackthis??? I would try this first, before the restore.

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?francis=A0g=E9rard?=]

[...]

This morning I attempted to get my Win98 SE machine to
recognize the printer on my XP machine so that I could
print to it. This is things started to fall apart.

I was not able to get the Win98 SE machine to recognize
the printer, and then I started having problems on my XP
System. Namely, VERY slow performance, programs locking
up, half of my wallpaper is missing, can't access Outlook
2003 -- the list goes on and on.


5. Contacted Dell Tech support.

Regarding issue 5, they are telling me that it sounds
like my XP OS is corrupted and the ONLY solution is to
reformat the disc and reinstall XP.

that's typical canned response from so-called tech support goons, and
disgusting

it's difficult to make a diagnosis, given the information you've provided so
far, but since you're in a panic, i'll give it a shot. you seem to have
suggested that things 'fell apart' when you attempted a network print job
from the Win98 machine to the WinXP machine, correct? the problems (which
you'll need to describe in more detail) may not have anything to do with the
failed printjob, but let's start there.

ok, first thing you can try... shutdown (or disable) the print spooler
service on the XP machine and see if things settle down, if so, then we
figure out what went wrong and fix it. if not, then we re-enable print
spooler service and diagnose further. you'll need to provide clearer
details though, "can't access Outlook, etc" is kinda vague. you say the
machine is experiencing "very slow performance', so my first guess would be
an errant process (perhaps the print spooler) is hogging the cpu, which
would cause the rest of the system to become unresponsive and almost
impossible to use, hence programs locking up, half-drawn wallpaper, etc.

so, to shutdown the print spooler service, Start menu, Settings, Control
Panel, Administrative Tools, Services console. look for 'Print Spooler' in
the list of services, right-click on that entry and select Stop from the
context (popup) menu. Windows should display a service control dialogue
'stopping print spooler...' then disappear. does that help? NO, then
continue reading...

are you familiar with the Windows Task Manager, if not, you need to learn.
CtrlAltDel (press those 3 keys simultaneously) which will either bring-up
the Task Manager or the Security Dialogue, if it brings up the latter, press
T for Task Manager. assuming you see the Task Manager on your screen, click
on the Performance tab, is the CPU Usage sitting at or near %100? if yes,
then there is a process hogging the cpu. click on the Processes tab, then
click twice on the CPU column header (sorts processes based on their current
cpu usage), near the top you will see the processes using the most cpu time,
look for the one process whose CPU usage is really high (don't count System
Idle Process, that's irrelevant), but the offending process should be
immediately below that one. if you find such a process, make note of the
Image Name (write it down), then kill the process by right-clicking on the
process, and choose End Process from the context menu (confirm Yes to the
Termination Dialogue that will popup).

then get back to us with further details...

 

[Mikey]

Francis I LOVE YOU!!!!

Even with my limited description, you nailed the problem.
When I Task Manager and sort by CPU usage, SPOOLSV.EXE is
running at 99 percent, which has my CPU maxed out.

Things definately settled down when I shut down the Print
Spooler Service in the Control Panel. Outlook opened
find, as well as all my other programs.

However, when I rebooted, this went back to the way they
were, SPOLLSV.EXE using 99% CPU, sluggish response time,
and half wall paper.

At this point, I could care less about getting the
printer from the 98 machine to fuction with the XP
machine -- just need the XP machine to work normally.

Any additional suggestions that you can off would GREATLY
appreciated. I owe you a beer!

Thanks a bunch--

MIkey

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?francis=A0g=E9rard?=]

Francis I LOVE YOU!!!!

gheee... ummm ok, you're an easy guy to please, i like that! ;-)

Even with my limited description, you nailed the problem.
When I Task Manager and sort by CPU usage, SPOOLSV.EXE is
running at 99 percent, which has my CPU maxed out.

Things definately settled down when I shut down the Print
Spooler Service in the Control Panel. Outlook opened
find, as well as all my other programs.

However, when I rebooted, this went back to the way they
were, SPOLLSV.EXE using 99% CPU, sluggish response time,
and half wall paper.

yes, that makes sense, the spool service is set to Automatic, meaning it
will start during Windows startup. for now, disable the the print spooler
service, right-click on it as you did before, select Properties, change
startup type from Automatic to Disabled. your printer will be out of
commission until we get to the source of the problem.

At this point, I could care less about getting the
printer from the 98 machine to fuction with the XP
machine -- just need the XP machine to work normally.

ok, well now for the next part, we have to figure-out what's causing the
spooler service to hang like that, so more investigative work to do. start
by checking the print queue to see if there are pending documents (Printers
folder, double-click on the Printer, assuming you've only got the one) if
there are documents in the queue, select Cancel All Documents from the
Printer menu. something tells me though that this is not simply a queue
problem. it may or may not be related to the printer itself even, some
virii the use spool service to do their dirty work. but we'll start with
the printer itself, what is the exact model printer you have? what we'll do
is completely remove the printer drivers, re-enable the spool service and if
things are normal, then we'll go from there, and attempt to reinstall the
printer drivers (download the latest drivers from the printer vendor's
website). anyway, for now, disable the spool service so that you can at
least use the machine, clear the print queue if applicable, then get back to
us about your printer model, etc. oh, and as someone else suggested, it
wouldn't hurt to do a comprehensive scan for malware, virii, and other
nasties that may be lurking about. first though, it's important to disable
the spool service, then do the spy/malware and virus scans, but make sure
that Adaware, Spybot, Antivirus, et al are updated with the latest signature
files. i assume you know how to do that.

Any additional suggestions that you can off would GREATLY
appreciated. I owe you a beer!

i just might take you up on that offer... be careful! ;->

 

[David Candy]

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone.

Lord, we don't need another mountain,
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross,
Enough to last till the end of time.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone.

Lord, we don't need another meadow
There are cornfields and wheat fields enough to grow
There are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine
Oh listen, lord, if you want to know.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone.

No, not just for some, oh, but just for everyone

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?francis=A0g=E9rard?=]

LMAO! You sing it brother!

if only burt bacharach could hear you now, i think he's still alive, right?
i think i prefer dionne warwick's version instead though.

hmmm... time to fire-up the mp3 player! ;-)
--
francis

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone.

Lord, we don't need another mountain,
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross,
Enough to last till the end of time.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone.

Lord, we don't need another meadow
There are cornfields and wheat fields enough to grow
There are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine
Oh listen, lord, if you want to know.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone.

No, not just for some, oh, but just for everyone

 

[David Candy]

If I WAS singing it you'd be running away with hands over ears.

--
----------------------------------------------------------
'Not happy John! Defending our democracy',
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/29/1088392635123.html

LMAO! You sing it brother!

if only burt bacharach could hear you now, i think he's still alive, right?
i think i prefer dionne warwick's version instead though.

hmmm... time to fire-up the mp3 player! ;-)
--
francis

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone.

Lord, we don't need another mountain,
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross,
Enough to last till the end of time.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone.

Lord, we don't need another meadow
There are cornfields and wheat fields enough to grow
There are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine
Oh listen, lord, if you want to know.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone.

No, not just for some, oh, but just for everyone

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?francis=A0g=E9rard?=]

Any additional suggestions that you can off would GREATLY
appreciated.

oh, i forgot, after you've disabled the spooler service, check to see if
there are any files in this directory:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS

if there are, wipe them out, select all the files in the PRINTERS directory,
then Shift-Delete them (bypasses the recycle bin). the spooler service may
return to normal after that actually. to test this, set the Startup Type
for spool service to Manual, then Start it (press the Start button on the
Print Spooler Properties dialogue or if you've closed the dialogue already,
right-click on Print Spooler and select Start). monitor system activity for
a while... does the spool service behave itself or does the problem come
back?

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?francis=A0g=E9rard?=]

If I WAS singing it you'd be running away with hands over ears.

perhaps... but i appreciate the sentiment, i mean, what the world needs now
really is more love, cheesy as it sounds, there's still no denying it.

PLH

 

[David Candy]

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/04/1091557896134.html

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?francis=A0g=E9rard?=]

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/04/1091557896134.html

--
----------------------------------------------------------
'Not happy John! Defending our democracy',
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/29/1088392635123.html

well, thanks for the link, yeah i remember that case, been 7yrs already,
didn't seem that long ago. anyway, love takes many forms, who are we to
judge?

besides, i think burt bacharach had something else in mind when he wrote
that song you quoted, and it was to those sentiments which i was referring,
about the *world* needing love, not necessarily the intergenerational type
(as per the link you provided).

that said, i'd choose love (over hate) in a heartbeat, no matter the source,
it just makes life easier and the world a better place to be

i think we've strayed from the topic of Mikey's spooler problem...

 

[David Candy]

Printing is a black art. And ritual works well in printing.

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?francis=A0g=E9rard?=]

Printing is a black art. And ritual works well in printing.

it took a few seconds for that one to sink-in