easy repair question

[J Lunis]

I have been to MS support and reviewed how to repair XP. I have already
backed up my data. Anything else I should know before I attempt this?
Bonus question. I get frequent 'Windows has recovered from a serious
problem.' I get a popup abouthow to view the data. When I try to access
this, I am given 2 files names - one xml, the other dmp. What app do I
use to read these? Double-clicking the files just tells me to select an
app and none seem to work.

 

[Malke]

I have been to MS support and reviewed how to repair XP. I have
already
backed up my data. Anything else I should know before I attempt this?
Bonus question. I get frequent 'Windows has recovered from a serious
problem.' I get a popup abouthow to view the data. When I try to
access
this, I am given 2 files names - one xml, the other dmp. What app do
I
use to read these? Double-clicking the files just tells me to select
an app and none seem to work.

Things to check:

1. What is the virus/malware status of the computer? Be sure it is
clean:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

2. Look in Event Viewer to see if there are clues about what is failing:
Start>Run>eventvwr.msc [enter]

3. What changed between the time things worked and the time they didn't?

4. This may be a hardware problem. Have you done any hardware
troubleshooting such as testing the RAM and/or hard drive?

5. Here is a link to information about a Repair Install:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Without knowing more about your computer, I can't tell you if you should
be doing the Repair Install at this point or not.

Malke

 

[J Lunis]

J Lunis wrote:

I have been to MS support and reviewed how to repair XP. I have
already
backed up my data. Anything else I should know before I attempt this?
Bonus question. I get frequent 'Windows has recovered from a serious
problem.' I get a popup abouthow to view the data. When I try to
access
this, I am given 2 files names - one xml, the other dmp. What app do
I
use to read these? Double-clicking the files just tells me to select
an app and none seem to work.

Things to check:

1. What is the virus/malware status of the computer? Be sure it is
clean:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

2. Look in Event Viewer to see if there are clues about what is failing:
Start>Run>eventvwr.msc [enter]

3. What changed between the time things worked and the time they didn't?

4. This may be a hardware problem. Have you done any hardware
troubleshooting such as testing the RAM and/or hard drive?

5. Here is a link to information about a Repair Install:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Without knowing more about your computer, I can't tell you if you should
be doing the Repair Install at this point or not.

Malke

Thanks for the reply. My goal was to get some easy help without
cluttering this ng with what I view as a complex problem. However, I
have a little info now from eventvwr that, I hope, will help solve my
problem(s) with less drastic efforts.
I appear to have two problems.
1) For a loooonnngg time, my USB devices sporadically quit working. My
USB mouse stopped working. Dell said it was defective and sent a new
one. Helped for a while but now it does it again. USB PDA cradle quit
working. Same drill. Dell said it was defective and sent a new one.
Plugged in a USB hub. quit working. At this point I started getting a
BSOD on startup telling me I had a driver problem. No other hints what
to do. I found that removing all USB devices would eliminate the error.
However, on pugging some devices in, often XP would not even recognize
they existed, sometimes they would load as 'Unknown Device' and
sometimes would work. Currently, no USB device will work on any PC USB
port but all work on my laptop.
On eventvwr/system, I see
- Adapter Intel/PRO 100VE Network connection: adapter link down
- Norton Ghost service faile to start. (I suspect this is because I
have Ghost pointed to my USB HD which is not plugged in)
- Your computer was not able to renew its address from the network (from
DHCP server) for the network card at network address xxxxxxxxx.

2) Last few days, XP crashes with a half-second BSOD (too fast to read).
Crashes occured as follows;

rolled back following drivers
82801EB Ultra ATA storage
2nd instance not rolled back - failed XP logo testing
Intel Pentium - 4CPU 3.00 GHz - failed XP logo testing
Game Port
Creative SB live
82801EB LPC controller
82801EB memory controller hub
82801EB processor to AGP
82801EB USB universal host controller 24D2
82801EB USB universal host controller 24D4
82801EB USB universal host controller 24D7
rebooted
plugged in mouse - XP didn't respond - didn't know it was plugged in
plugged in Iomega - worked well
plugged in WD - didn't respond
plugged in hub - didn't respond
crash while opening Mozilla Firefox
on reboot - IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
error repeated until I unplugged Iomega

 

[Yves Leclerc]

In my opinion, with all the problems you have listed, I would not do a
"repair" of the current XP. It sounds like you would be better off by doing
a complete re-install of XP. A repair re-install will replace files but may
not truly solve the underlying problems of USB devices and other drivers.

Steps you should take to re-install

1) Backup and save all documents / emails / address books.

2) Disconnect the PC from the Internet. Disconnect all additional devices
(printer, hubs, modems etc..)

3) Since it is a Dell PC, do the System Recovery process with the System
Recovery CD.

4) Install Anti-Virus

5) Activate XP firewall (temporary if pre Sevice Pack 2).

6) Install base drivers for network adapter (if not already done with XP).

7) Connect the PC back onto the Internet.

8) Proecess all Windows Updates (except: Downlond full network
installation of Service Pack 2, if you equire it.)

9) Update Anti-Virus definitions

10) Locate and download any/all updated drivers for your PC. DO NOT RELY on
Window Updates web site!!!!
-- Look especially for
Video card drivers
Motherboard chipset drivers -- www.intel.com
-- You may need Intel Application
Acelerator software -- speeds up hard drvie access
Network adapter drivers

11) Reinstall all your other applications and restore you data. Reconnect
all your other devices (one by one).

12) Locate and install anti-spyware/malware utilities
AD Aware SE
Spybot: Search and Destroy
CWShredder
Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta

J Lunis wrote:

I have been to MS support and reviewed how to repair XP. I have
already
backed up my data. Anything else I should know before I attempt this?
Bonus question. I get frequent 'Windows has recovered from a serious
problem.' I get a popup abouthow to view the data. When I try to
access
this, I am given 2 files names - one xml, the other dmp. What app do
I
use to read these? Double-clicking the files just tells me to select
an app and none seem to work.

Things to check:

1. What is the virus/malware status of the computer? Be sure it is
clean:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

2. Look in Event Viewer to see if there are clues about what is failing:
Start>Run>eventvwr.msc [enter]

3. What changed between the time things worked and the time they didn't?

4. This may be a hardware problem. Have you done any hardware
troubleshooting such as testing the RAM and/or hard drive?

5. Here is a link to information about a Repair Install:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Without knowing more about your computer, I can't tell you if you should
be doing the Repair Install at this point or not.

Malke

Thanks for the reply. My goal was to get some easy help without
cluttering this ng with what I view as a complex problem. However, I
have a little info now from eventvwr that, I hope, will help solve my
problem(s) with less drastic efforts.
I appear to have two problems.
1) For a loooonnngg time, my USB devices sporadically quit working. My
USB mouse stopped working. Dell said it was defective and sent a new
one. Helped for a while but now it does it again. USB PDA cradle quit
working. Same drill. Dell said it was defective and sent a new one.
Plugged in a USB hub. quit working. At this point I started getting a
BSOD on startup telling me I had a driver problem. No other hints what
to do. I found that removing all USB devices would eliminate the error.
However, on pugging some devices in, often XP would not even recognize
they existed, sometimes they would load as 'Unknown Device' and
sometimes would work. Currently, no USB device will work on any PC USB
port but all work on my laptop.
On eventvwr/system, I see
- Adapter Intel/PRO 100VE Network connection: adapter link down
- Norton Ghost service faile to start. (I suspect this is because I
have Ghost pointed to my USB HD which is not plugged in)
- Your computer was not able to renew its address from the network (from
DHCP server) for the network card at network address xxxxxxxxx.

2) Last few days, XP crashes with a half-second BSOD (too fast to read).
Crashes occured as follows;

rolled back following drivers
82801EB Ultra ATA storage
2nd instance not rolled back - failed XP logo testing
Intel Pentium - 4CPU 3.00 GHz - failed XP logo testing
Game Port
Creative SB live
82801EB LPC controller
82801EB memory controller hub
82801EB processor to AGP
82801EB USB universal host controller 24D2
82801EB USB universal host controller 24D4
82801EB USB universal host controller 24D7
rebooted
plugged in mouse - XP didn't respond - didn't know it was plugged in
plugged in Iomega - worked well
plugged in WD - didn't respond
plugged in hub - didn't respond
crash while opening Mozilla Firefox
on reboot - IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
error repeated until I unplugged Iomega

 

[Malke]

J Lunis wrote:

I have been to MS support and reviewed how to repair XP. I have
already
backed up my data. Anything else I should know before I attempt
this?
Bonus question. I get frequent 'Windows has recovered from a serious
problem.' I get a popup abouthow to view the data. When I try to
access
this, I am given 2 files names - one xml, the other dmp. What app do
I
use to read these? Double-clicking the files just tells me to select
an app and none seem to work.

Things to check:

1. What is the virus/malware status of the computer? Be sure it is
clean:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

2. Look in Event Viewer to see if there are clues about what is
failing: Start>Run>eventvwr.msc [enter]

3. What changed between the time things worked and the time they
didn't?

4. This may be a hardware problem. Have you done any hardware
troubleshooting such as testing the RAM and/or hard drive?

5. Here is a link to information about a Repair Install:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Without knowing more about your computer, I can't tell you if you
should be doing the Repair Install at this point or not.

Malke

Thanks for the reply. My goal was to get some easy help without
cluttering this ng with what I view as a complex problem. However, I
have a little info now from eventvwr that, I hope, will help solve my
problem(s) with less drastic efforts.
I appear to have two problems.
1) For a loooonnngg time, my USB devices sporadically quit working.
My
USB mouse stopped working. Dell said it was defective and sent a new
one. Helped for a while but now it does it again. USB PDA cradle
quit
working. Same drill. Dell said it was defective and sent a new one.
Plugged in a USB hub. quit working. At this point I started getting
a
BSOD on startup telling me I had a driver problem. No other hints
what
to do. I found that removing all USB devices would eliminate the
error.
However, on pugging some devices in, often XP would not even
recognize
they existed, sometimes they would load as 'Unknown Device' and
sometimes would work. Currently, no USB device will work on any PC
USB port but all work on my laptop.
On eventvwr/system, I see
- Adapter Intel/PRO 100VE Network connection: adapter link down
- Norton Ghost service faile to start. (I suspect this is because I
have Ghost pointed to my USB HD which is not plugged in)
- Your computer was not able to renew its address from the network
(from DHCP server) for the network card at network address xxxxxxxxx.

2) Last few days, XP crashes with a half-second BSOD (too fast to
read). Crashes occured as follows;

rolled back following drivers
82801EB Ultra ATA storage
2nd instance not rolled back - failed XP logo testing
Intel Pentium - 4CPU 3.00 GHz - failed XP logo testing
Game Port
Creative SB live
82801EB LPC controller
82801EB memory controller hub
82801EB processor to AGP
82801EB USB universal host controller 24D2
82801EB USB universal host controller 24D4
82801EB USB universal host controller 24D7
rebooted
plugged in mouse - XP didn't respond - didn't know it was plugged in
plugged in Iomega - worked well
plugged in WD - didn't respond
plugged in hub - didn't respond
crash while opening Mozilla Firefox
on reboot - IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
error repeated until I unplugged Iomega

Sounds like bad hardware to me. My gut feel is that the motherboard is
the culprit, but you might want to check the RAM and hard drive just to
be sure.

1) Test the RAM - I like Memtest86+ from www.memtest.org. Obviously, you
have to get the program from a working machine. You will either
download the precompiled Windows binary to make a bootable floppy or
the .iso to make a bootable cd. If you want to use the latter, you'll
need to have third-party burning software on the machine where you
download the file - XP's built-in burning capability won't do the job.
In either case, boot with the media you made. The test will run
immediately. Let the test run for an hour or two - unless errors are
seen immediately. If you get any errors, replace the RAM.

2) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr. Download
the file and make a bootable floppy or cd with it. Boot with the media
and do a thorough test. If the drive has physical errors, replace it.

Overheating and/or a bad power supply could be at fault, too.

Malke