Programs won't open.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jonne Lindberg
  • Start date Start date
J

Jonne Lindberg

I have encountered a sudden problem:
Programs doesn't open! A Dos-prompt window flashes up for
a second or so, and then closes down. This are programs
that have run flawlessly until the other day. also,
programs like Photoshop nad Illustrator runs perfectly
well, while e.g. Win Media player or Palm Desktop doesn't
(!)

I am clueless!

Oh, Im running W2k sp4 on a Toshiba with 256MB ram...

/jonne in Malmoe of Sweden.
 
- What is the difference in the Properties of the icons that
run, and those that don't?
- Can you run applications via the Start button?
(e.g. Start / Run / cmd {OK})?
- Can you reach the machine via the network?
- What's changed recently?
- Do you have an up-to-date virus scanner? A firewall?
 
I have some more information as follows:

No, I can´t run via the start button.

I have this machine at home -> no network.


I have been informed by spouse that yes some undefined
fiddeling has been going on, e.g. failure of installing
Visual Studio by mistake.. et caetera... Now, I have been
able to read, in the Dos-window, a message that tell me
that this or that application "is not a valid win32
application". or "not enough memory". I do recall some
option of setting an ability to run Visual C++ from dos
prompt, or something like that when performing the
mentioned installation. Can it be that something is messed
up in e.g. the register? I don't know much about this
settings, or for what that matters, not much about the
intestenies of the platform in general. I am thankful for
every suggestion or pointer in the right direction.

/jonne
 
Thanks for answering my posting!

I have some more information as follows:

No, I can´t run via the start button.

I have this machine at home -> no network.


I have been informed by spouse that yes some undefined
fiddeling has been going on, e.g. failure of installing
Visual Studio by mistake.. et caetera... Now, I have been
able to read, in the Dos-window, a message that tell me
that this or that application "is not a valid win32
application". or "not enough memory". I do recall some
option of setting an ability to run Visual C++ from dos
prompt, or something like that when performing the
mentioned installation. Can it be that something is messed
up in e.g. the register? I don't know much about this
settings, or for what that matters, not much about the
intestenies of the platform in general. I am thankful for
every suggestion or pointer in the right direction.

/jonne
 
Se nedan.



I have some more information as follows:

No, I can´t run via the start button.
*** Try this:
- In Start / Run, type c:\winnt\system32\cmd.exe, or
- Right-click Start, then Explorer, then navigate to c:\winnt\system32,
then double-click cmd.exe

I have this machine at home -> no network.

I have been informed by spouse that yes some undefined
fiddeling has been going on, e.g. failure of installing
Visual Studio by mistake.. et caetera... Now, I have been
able to read, in the Dos-window, a message that tell me
that this or that application "is not a valid win32
application". or "not enough memory". I do recall some
option of setting an ability to run Visual C++ from dos
prompt, or something like that when performing the
mentioned installation. Can it be that something is messed
up in e.g. the register? I don't know much about this
settings, or for what that matters, not much about the
intestenies of the platform in general. I am thankful for
every suggestion or pointer in the right direction.

*** I'm trying to open a Command Prompt (the thing that
you believe is a "DOS" prompt", in order to find out
what exactly is going on.

*** What about your virus scanner? Firewall?


/jonne
 
Hi!
Yes I can open the cmd.exe the ways you described!

Yes it's a command prompt Im talking about, not DOS.
(Sorry, I grew up with Macs, so this is really not my
neighbourhood :)).

One command promt window that pops up under the startup
procedure tells me that "the system32/launcher is to big
for memory" (I translate these messages directly from
swedish, this means the strings that I report here may not
occur to be exactly what they are in the english version
of the system)

No virus scanner, no firewall. (I haven't been out on the
internet on this machine more than for getting/sending e-
mail (not very frequently). The use has mostly been
typewriting, and some graphics manipulation. (However, an
installation of a virusscanner is planned..., and I think
that my ISP is providing with an firewall for a small fee,
haven't checked it out though).

Thanks again for answering my posting!

/jonne
 
Now we're getting somewhere!

I would now do this:
- Start a Command Prompt
- Check the path. It must start like so:
PATH=C:\WINNT\system32;C:\WINNT
- Check the path extensions:
PATHEXT=.COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH
- See what you get when you invoke programs from the Command Prompt:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Winword.exe"
- Scan the machine with an on-line virus scanner, e.g. from
www.antivirus.com
- Run sfc.exe (System File Checker)

Note that ISP-provided virus checkers will NOT protect you against
viruses that you download from the Internet!


Hi!
Yes I can open the cmd.exe the ways you described!

Yes it's a command prompt Im talking about, not DOS.
(Sorry, I grew up with Macs, so this is really not my
neighbourhood :)).

One command promt window that pops up under the startup
procedure tells me that "the system32/launcher is to big
for memory" (I translate these messages directly from
swedish, this means the strings that I report here may not
occur to be exactly what they are in the english version
of the system)

No virus scanner, no firewall. (I haven't been out on the
internet on this machine more than for getting/sending e-
mail (not very frequently). The use has mostly been
typewriting, and some graphics manipulation. (However, an
installation of a virusscanner is planned..., and I think
that my ISP is providing with an firewall for a small fee,
haven't checked it out though).

Thanks again for answering my posting!

/jonne
 
OK!

The path is ok!

The path extensions are what you suggest.

I get a message that tells me that the "program is to big
for memory" when trying to run programs, that doesn't
open, from the command prompt.

I performed a virus-scan: over 300 virii detected (!) of
wich not all are possible to wipe out or even put in
quarantine... there seems too be some major problems with
files like e.g. system32.exe that aren't possible to
correct as the infected files are in use...
I also run the System File Checker that found out that
some dll's are missing (!), and promted for a Win2k
installation disc. What I have is a restore-CD for Toshiba
computers, that isn't accepted as a installation disc by
SFC.

My conclusion here is that a clean install is necessary, I
have a backup with my most important files, so why not.
A freshly groomed computer is never wrong :-)

Btw: thank you for pointing the direction to
www.antivirus.com, I'm thinking about purchasing their
product, but will perform a more deep research before
making the decision here.

Thank's a LOT for spending your time on this banality.

I wish you a happy christmas and a successful 2004!

/jonne
 
I'm glad you found the cause for your problems. My
personal opinion is that nobody can afford to be without
a virus scanner. You now need to ask yourself how you
could acquire so many viruses, seeing that you used
the machine mainly for word processing and nothing
else . . .

If this was my machine then I would wipe the hard disk
and start with a clean installation.


OK!

The path is ok!

The path extensions are what you suggest.

I get a message that tells me that the "program is to big
for memory" when trying to run programs, that doesn't
open, from the command prompt.

I performed a virus-scan: over 300 virii detected (!) of
wich not all are possible to wipe out or even put in
quarantine... there seems too be some major problems with
files like e.g. system32.exe that aren't possible to
correct as the infected files are in use...
I also run the System File Checker that found out that
some dll's are missing (!), and promted for a Win2k
installation disc. What I have is a restore-CD for Toshiba
computers, that isn't accepted as a installation disc by
SFC.

My conclusion here is that a clean install is necessary, I
have a backup with my most important files, so why not.
A freshly groomed computer is never wrong :-)

Btw: thank you for pointing the direction to
www.antivirus.com, I'm thinking about purchasing their
product, but will perform a more deep research before
making the decision here.

Thank's a LOT for spending your time on this banality.

I wish you a happy christmas and a successful 2004!

/jonne
 
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