Crashes

  • Thread starter Thread starter Payton Cunningham
  • Start date Start date
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Payton Cunningham

I bought a Gateway in 2001, before XP. It came with the
Me operating system with an XP upgrade as soon as it was
avialable. I have had problems with the computer since it
was new and was wondering if it was the Me/update that is
the problem. Would I be better off to buy a XP OS (Full
Version) and start over?
 
Why not tell us what your problems are? That's why the intrepid volunteers
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Rocky
 
-----Original Message-----
Why not tell us what your problems are? That's why the intrepid volunteers
of this group are here.

To help you get the best from this group, read this first:

"Making Good Newsgroup Posts"
http://dts-l.org/goodpoge



.
I thought that the word "CRASHES" would be a dead
Click to expand...
giveaway to the problem. Another word could be "LOCKUP".
What I wanted to know was if there is a direct link with
problems and upgrades or do upgrades work as well as full
version installations. Thanks
 
You see a car overturned in a ditch on the main highway.. does this mean
that:

1.. the driver was driving beyond his capabilities
2.. that make of car is well known for just leaving the road
3.. one of the tires failed and rolled off of the rim
4.. previously undetected damage to the steering during an earlier parking
manoeuvre caused something to break
5.. the driver suffered a medical problem and just lost control
6.. a moose jumped out in front causing the driver to steer away quickly
7.. kids in the back of the car were fighting and distracted the driver
8.. the driver dropped a cigarette into his lap
9.. an armed robber shot the driver of the vehicle that he had hijacked
10.. it was a stolen car that had just been dumped there
11.. police had forced the driver of the car off the road during a high
speed chase

To deflect bad publicity, a car maker will need to know why the car crashed
so that they can fix any inherent problem to prevent it happening again,
especially in the event of reason #2 and #4.. just to say 'oh well, it
crashed' is not enough..
 
June 29, 2004
windows Message Board:

"Crashes" is the complete description of the problem!
There are some real dummies out there in message board
land.

I have experienced this problem since the days of windows
3.1 through 3.11, 85, 98, ME, and XP home. Computers
included ALR, Gateway, Compaq Contura 400C Laptop,
Toshiba Libretto Palmtop, Sony PCG-F590 Laptop, and two
Sony PCG-FX215 Laptops. I fairness, the Libretto
software under windows 95 was fairly stable. I vowed to
never buy another wintel (windows / Intel) computer and
purchased an Apple MAC for my daughter to use at school
(the Sony PCG-FX215 with windows ME and windows XP Home
crashed often).

I don't work for microsoft, I am a customer. Microsoft
should be working for me. Every falt in their system
turns that around and they ask me to work for them for
free! They should pay me to discover their faults!

I just downloaded the beta test version of Windows XP
Home Version 5.1 (Build 2600.xpsp_sp2_rrc2.046610 :
Service Pack 2, v.2: So far it appears to be vastly more
stable than the previous version. It hasn't crashed
during 2 days of operation (note caps for this version of
Windows).

It may be that the crashing is due to programs that have
been added. Some may replace windows system files with
older or newer versions, or versions for other operating
systems. Merely reinstalling windows fails to fix the
problem because the settings in the registry are retained

The surest solution is to format the hard disk and start
again as windows help recommends. Of course, you bought
the computer and the windows software with the intent of
running real world programs. The windows software should
protect itself against software that tries to change it.
There is no excuse for windows help suggesting that you
install only windows software.

There appears to be a technical fault in the design of
the windows software file system. The file system uses
SF (Short Filename). The LF (Long Filenames) are text
keys (index table) pointing to the SF (Short Filenames).
The SF is assigned as the first few characters of the LF
with the remaining characters assigned in numerical
sequence. The extension and directory names are
similar. To this point, the LF / SF feature is a unique
and rugged operation.

A problem occurs because applications are permitted to
access the LF by using a SF that was acquired when the
application was installed. If a file deleted, a new file
having the same first few characters may be assigned the
same SF as the deleted file even though it may be a
totally different file. So, if an update is made to the
installed program and the update doesn't delete all old
files, it is possible that a new group of files with
similar first characters will end up with different SF
associations. The initialization file for the
application or the registry entry may not be updated to
reflect the new association. Even worse, some
applications may use it's SF to delete some files then
replace them with a new file. The association on your
computer is probably different than on the computer that
was used to set up the application. Those deleted files
may end up being for an existing application having the
same SF, but a different function. The existing
application now fails or is unstable.

Having said that, I found that discussing the problem at
length with windows tech net help line often leads to
fixing the problem. The resolution occurs after doing a
windows update without doing anything else. Apparently a
fix comes unannounced via the update process. A fix like
this for a PCG-F15 fixed the crashing with 128MB of
memory, but crashed often with 256MB memory. (windows
runs really slowly with 128MB because it is constantly
swapping to disk).

By the way, the new version of XP Home has a powerful and
useful firewall, but currently it prevents access to my
print server.
 
Hi, Payton.

The Upgrade from WinME to WinXP SHOULD have worked perfectly. Especially if
you got the upgrade from Gateway, who installed WinME on your computer.
But, since WinME was built on the MS-DOS platform, and WinXP was built using
WinNT architecture, there are some fundamental differences, especially in
the way they deal with hardware. Chances are almost 100% that hardware
drivers that worked with WinME will NOT work with WinXP. Some software
configurations need changing too.

Original Equipment Manufacturers modify Windows to fit their own hardware.
Microsoft can't control these modifications, so OEM versions of Windows are
not standardized. I've never had a Gateway, so I have no idea how the OEM
changed WinXP or whether you got a full WinXP CD-ROM with it. Or if there
may be a hidden partition on your HD with all or some of the files that you
may need.

All that aside, the upgrade should have worked. Since it didn't, in your
case, your best option might be the "in-place upgrade", as described in this
KB article:
How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q315341

This will reinstall WinXP completely, but will preserve your installed
applications and data - and most of your tweaks. As soon as the in-place
upgrade is completed, you should get your firewall and antivirus back in
place, then visit Windows Update to be sure you have the latest Service Pack
and later fixes to protect you from viruses and other malware from the
Internet. All this is not a trivial project; you'd better set aside half a
day for it.

This assumes that you have a "retail" copy of the WinXP CD-ROM, either Home
or Professional, and either Full or Upgrade version. The only difference
between Full and Upgrade is that Upgrade will ask for proof that you own a
qualifying product. If WinME is no longer installed on your computer, you
will need to insert your WinME CD-ROM when WinXP Setup asks to see it.

On the other hand, if you tell us just what kind of "problems" you are
having, we may be able to suggest a simpler solution.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP

PS: "Crash" comes from the early days of hard drives, which were quite
delicate compared to today's models. A slight bump could cause the
read/write head to crash into the surface of the spinning disk, often
damaging both the head and the disk itself and, of course, bringing the
computer to a screeching halt. These "crashes" seldom happen nowadays. So,
we often use the word generically to mean just about any kind of computer
problem, often no more than an abortive program that dumps us back to the
Desktop with Windows still running fine. "Lockup" is an easily understood
description of some kinds of problems, but techs use the word "hang". It
usually indicates a software loop that never finds an place to exit, so the
computer just sits there, apparently doing nothing, but with the CPU working
hard at doing the same useless task over and over, like Sisyphus.
 
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