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[Guest]

I have been having troubles with my computer. I have ran my virus scanner
and I have done the PC doctor thing and still when I go to open any document
it does the little flashlight thing like it is looking for something and
sometimes it will bring my files up and sometimes it willnot and if it does
bring my files up sometimes it will let me open them and sometimes it will
say not responding. It is with my word ducments as well as when I try to go
to my computer or my documents. Any help would be so appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Unfortunately, we don't know what "the PC doctor thing" is.

When you ran your virus scanner, what were the results?

What were you trying to do on the computer before the problems started?

What messages do you see in Event Viewer that might shed some light?

 

[Guest]

Sounds like your system is running really slow. I would do a clean up, get
rid of all the junk offline files etc etc and then do a defrag, that should
speed it up.

 

[Guest]

I actually did all this but still doing the same thing...

 

[Guest]

ok the pc doctor this is a pc repair program... came up with over 311 things
that needed repair and it repaired them. ran a little faster butnot much and
still came up with the same message of not responding. I have the panda
inernet security system and I run that every day as well. both say i have no
virus etc. what i was doing when it started was going into word trying to
find a document i had already saved. i try to pull up the menu of files that
are in any drive and it takes for ever. I have tried to get to these files
via my computer just to see if it works any faster and when I go to my "my
computer" it comes up with the flash light like it is searching and then it
finally comes up. I have checked my memory and i have plenty of memory space
available disk space whatever it is called. i have rebooted. what else do
you need to know? i will try to tell you.

thanks

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Software like PC Doctor can and does damage a computer, which is why you
shouldn't use 'fixup' software.

Your antivirus software needs to start with Windows and stay running in the
background at all times.

You didn't say whether Event Viewer showed any problems.

The first step toward solving a computer problem is to try to understand the
cause. If you cannot identify a cause or a set of possible causes, your next
step is to reinstall Windows.

Sometimes, restoring your system to a point in time before the problems
started will help, but only if the restore point is no more than a few days
old (depending on how many changes you made to your computer over that
time.)

 

[Guest]

also I just checked and it looks like i have some extra drives that seems to
me were not there before. all of them say removable disk and they are all
full. no more capacity. if it files F, G, H, I and J..also drive Z: memory
card says it is full and no more room? maybe that could be it? Thank you so
much for being patient with me as I know I sound like an idiot.

 

[Tim Lapin]

also I just checked and it looks like i have some extra drives that seems to
me were not there before. all of them say removable disk and they are all
full. no more capacity. if it files F, G, H, I and J..also drive Z: memory
card says it is full and no more room? maybe that could be it? Thank you so
much for being patient with me as I know I sound like an idiot.

Sounds like you are on to something here. Are these drives "RAM drives"
(actual chunks of your system memory)? If so, I would undo those first.
Make sure that you remove any important info from them before deleting
the drives. What, exactly do these drives contain?

Are they perhaps "ghosts" of USB keys or ZIP drives? I've never seen a
system that would do that but there is always a first time.

Are they networked drives? Do you regularly access other PCs on your
network (if any)?

Also, check your Task Manager and look at CPU usage by process. See if
there is any one or two processes that are hogging resources. If they
can be identified you are in a better position to decide if you need them.

 

[Guest]

ok....stupid question RAM drives....how do i tell? they say they are
"removable disks and when i try to read them they say please insert disk into
drive H. which is a removable disk and I dont think i have removable drives.
what are ghosts of USB keys or zip drives. we do have my husband and mine
connected to DSL but everything was working just fine for like 8 months and
now this..... also explain to me how to check my task manager please. thanks

 

[Tim Lapin]

ok....stupid question RAM drives....how do i tell? they say they are
"removable disks and when i try to read them they say please insert disk into
drive H. which is a removable disk and I dont think i have removable drives.
what are ghosts of USB keys or zip drives. we do have my husband and mine
connected to DSL but everything was working just fine for like 8 months and
now this..... also explain to me how to check my task manager please. thanks

First things first: What files are on those drives? You did not answer
that question from my original post. Also, when you look at the drives'
properties, are there any clues as to their origins?

I'm not sure how a RAM drive would announce itself on Windows; I've only
played with them on Macintosh systems. I mention them because once
you've assigned system memory (RAM) to act as a drive, it is no longer
available to act as general memory for the rest of your computer. As a
result, things slow down. You would have to release the memory first.

When you add a storage device, be it a USB key, ZIP drive, external CD
burner, etc.., you see an icon and associated drive letter. When you
remove these drives, the image should either disappear or go grey or
have some other clear indicator that they are no longer there.

What I meant by "ghost" was a situation where the device is clearly not
attached to the computer but the icon remains in an active state, as if
the device is still there.

The same thing goes for network drives. If they cannot be found on the
network, some indicator (a big X or greyed out) will show itself.

 

[Tim Lapin]

also explain to me how to check my task manager please. thanks

Sorry, forgot this point. To access the Task Manager, hold down
CTRL-ALT-DEL (control alt delete) while logged in. A dialog box with
several options will appear. One of those options is the Task Manager.
Select it and explore the processes tab.

 

[Guest]

ok i think we are on to something here. Did the task manager and system
idle process is taking up 99 cpu and alllllllllllll the others are 0. also
in the memory usage the largest one is called avengine.exe..... i dont know
if this means anything at all but i hope it can be fixed. also I tried to
go into those drives tos ee what was in them and it wont let me. it says
insert disk but i do not have any removable drives to insert a disk to as far
as i know... i only have my cd which is drive D and E Thanks againf or your
patience here.

 

[Tim Lapin]

ok i think we are on to something here. Did the task manager and system
idle process is taking up 99 cpu and alllllllllllll the others are 0. also

That's OK. In fact, that is what you want to see if you know you are
not running anything. System idle is just that: an idle system. It
means that 99% of CPU processing is available to be used.

That leaves removing the drives. If you right-click on them, can you
select delete or disconnect or something like that? Other than that or
possibly playing with the registry (can be dangerous), I'm out of ideas.
:-(

 

[Guest]

ok thank you soooooo much for all your help.

That's OK. In fact, that is what you want to see if you know you are
not running anything. System idle is just that: an idle system. It
means that 99% of CPU processing is available to be used.

That leaves removing the drives. If you right-click on them, can you
select delete or disconnect or something like that? Other than that or
possibly playing with the registry (can be dangerous), I'm out of ideas.
:-(

 

[Guest]

Here, I believe, is your trouble: " ...and I have done the PC doctor thing...".
If this PC Doctor includes a Registry Cleaner, you need to start the
"Doctor" and
read the Help file on "UnDo" or reverse or recover or whatever it calls
putting back the things it took out. (It may be a file under Start>All
Programs>PC Doctor on your Start Menu, or you may have to start the PC Doctor
program.) Undo ALL the things you've done, and ReStart the computer.
Let us know if this doesn't work, or does.