program won't open

[Karl]

After booting up, then using several programs, and closing
them, I find that at least two programs (Outlook and Roxio
CD Creater 5) sometimes will not open when I go to run
them. The hourglass will show for a few seconds, then
nothing. If I log out, the "welcome" screen for the
program will flash briefly as the log out proceeds. If I
open the program immediately after logging back in, all is
fine till I have used a number of programs, then attempt
to open again.

Any ideas?

Karl Galstad

 

[Malke]

After booting up, then using several programs, and closing
them, I find that at least two programs (Outlook and Roxio
CD Creater 5) sometimes will not open when I go to run
them. The hourglass will show for a few seconds, then
nothing. If I log out, the "welcome" screen for the
program will flash briefly as the log out proceeds. If I
open the program immediately after logging back in, all is
fine till I have used a number of programs, then attempt
to open again.

It sounds like you are running out of resources, which can be because
you have 1) too little physical RAM - you want at least 256MB for XP;
2) or you have too many processes and/or programs running; 3) or you
have viruses and/or spyware running; 4) a combination of all of the
above. Because you give no system specs, it is impossible to give you a
detailed answer. Here are generic troubleshooting steps:

1) Scan with current antivirus ("current" means a version not later than
2002 but using updated virus definitions); 2) remove spyware with
Spybot Search & Destroy (www.security.kolla.de) and Ad-aware
(www.lavasoftusa.com) - note that it is a good idea to do virus/spyware
scans in Safe Mode; 3) delete temporary and Temporary Internet Files;
4) stop unnecessary services/programs from starting with Windows - see
www.blackviper.com for services info and www.pacs-portal.co.uk
startup_index.htm for programs info - 5) look in Event Viewer for
clues.

Post back if you need more help, including better details and what
troubleshooting steps you took.

Malke