Why do my applications refuse to launch sometimes?
June 1, 2008 2:22 PM Subscribe
What is causing applications to not launch on my computer?
I've been plagued by an issue for quite a while where any application will not launch/start after, say, quitting either the same app or a different one. This is on a fairly new AMD system, WIN XP SP2. Here's what I know so far:
1) When trying to launch, the hourglass pops up for a few seconds, then nothing happens. I have to reboot the system manually, because it will not shut down or restart from Windows. After rebooting, anything will run as normal, but as soon as you exit something, nothing will launch after that.
2) Sometimes I get disk boot failure warnings on startup, if the system is rebooted it will start/launch Windows ok after that usually.
3) Even though nothing will launch, I can navigate to any folder/directory just fine within Windows.
4) Thinking that some hardware might have been bad, I replaced the RAM and power supply within the last 6 months.
5) There is an older PCI pro audio/recording sound card installed in it (carried over from past systems), that sometimes the driver craps out....might it be this older piece of hardware?
5) I've reformatted and reinstalled WIN XP several times but the problem usually comes back.
6) Sometimes the computer does not recognize the USB keyboard, I have to replug it in.
So is it some other piece of hardware that might be bad? The fresh RAM and power supply (620w Corsair) are practically new, so I don't think the memory is bad or the system is starved for power. It's getting enough ventilation, and not overheating. Other than this problem, the computer runs great....when it runs.
I've been plagued by an issue for quite a while where any application will not launch/start after, say, quitting either the same app or a different one. This is on a fairly new AMD system, WIN XP SP2. Here's what I know so far:
1) When trying to launch, the hourglass pops up for a few seconds, then nothing happens. I have to reboot the system manually, because it will not shut down or restart from Windows. After rebooting, anything will run as normal, but as soon as you exit something, nothing will launch after that.
2) Sometimes I get disk boot failure warnings on startup, if the system is rebooted it will start/launch Windows ok after that usually.
3) Even though nothing will launch, I can navigate to any folder/directory just fine within Windows.
4) Thinking that some hardware might have been bad, I replaced the RAM and power supply within the last 6 months.
5) There is an older PCI pro audio/recording sound card installed in it (carried over from past systems), that sometimes the driver craps out....might it be this older piece of hardware?
5) I've reformatted and reinstalled WIN XP several times but the problem usually comes back.
6) Sometimes the computer does not recognize the USB keyboard, I have to replug it in.
So is it some other piece of hardware that might be bad? The fresh RAM and power supply (620w Corsair) are practically new, so I don't think the memory is bad or the system is starved for power. It's getting enough ventilation, and not overheating. Other than this problem, the computer runs great....when it runs.
There could be 10,000 reasons for this -- one I have recently experienced is that Windows runs out of "handles". There are a preset number of these, and the more apps you run, the more handles you use, until you suddenly can't even open another Explorer window. (this has been a "feature" of Windows since 3.1)
One possibly remedy is to quit other apps, or change the registry to add new handles .. but if the problem still occurs with no apps open, it's likely something else besides handles.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 3:45 PM on June 1, 2008
One possibly remedy is to quit other apps, or change the registry to add new handles .. but if the problem still occurs with no apps open, it's likely something else besides handles.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 3:45 PM on June 1, 2008
Re: #1 - Microsoft Outlook will do this from time to time. It won't apparently open, but it will show up in Task Manager. I kill it with the following command: taskkill /im outlook.exe /f /t
Outlook then will usually open up normally the next time I try to open it. Replace outlook.exe with the name of the executable of your offending app and give it a try. It could save you a reboot.
There's this other app I've had to stop using - MusicMatch 7.5. It'll work normally the first few times I run it after installing it on a fresh box, but then it'll just stop working. I've written it off as being too old to run reliably with the latest XP patches and I've started using MediaMonkey instead. Are the apps giving you trouble very old?
USB issues can sometimes be cleared up with a motherboard BIOS flash. Update yours if an update is available.
Also, open msconfig, set it to Selective Startup, and uncheck Load Startup items. Reboot the computer and see if the problem persists. If it does, you've at least ruled out startup items being the cause of the problem.
posted by eratus at 4:27 PM on June 1, 2008
Outlook then will usually open up normally the next time I try to open it. Replace outlook.exe with the name of the executable of your offending app and give it a try. It could save you a reboot.
There's this other app I've had to stop using - MusicMatch 7.5. It'll work normally the first few times I run it after installing it on a fresh box, but then it'll just stop working. I've written it off as being too old to run reliably with the latest XP patches and I've started using MediaMonkey instead. Are the apps giving you trouble very old?
USB issues can sometimes be cleared up with a motherboard BIOS flash. Update yours if an update is available.
Also, open msconfig, set it to Selective Startup, and uncheck Load Startup items. Reboot the computer and see if the problem persists. If it does, you've at least ruled out startup items being the cause of the problem.
posted by eratus at 4:27 PM on June 1, 2008
If you get disk boot failure warnings, something is wrong with your disk.
posted by gjc at 4:45 PM on June 1, 2008
posted by gjc at 4:45 PM on June 1, 2008
I've reformatted and reinstalled WIN XP several times but the problem usually comes back
It would be helpful to have more details about this point. When you say "usually comes back", do you mean that you have sometimes managed to cure this for some time after a reinstall? If so, for how long? Also, are you doing full reinstalls, or repair installs?
Aside from gross hardware faults (and a failing hard disk is something you should probably be testing for, especially given the boot error thing) most Windows problems are due to malware of one sort or another (viruses, trojans, adware, spyware, Norton Antivirus, other manufacturer-supplied bloatware) or bad drivers. XP in and of itself is pretty stable.
So, what's your general computing hygiene like? Do you log on with a Computer Administrator account for day-to-day work? Are you using Internet Explorer to surf porn sites?
If none of the above is you, it's definitely worth trying it without the driver that "craps out".
posted by flabdablet at 4:46 PM on June 1, 2008
It would be helpful to have more details about this point. When you say "usually comes back", do you mean that you have sometimes managed to cure this for some time after a reinstall? If so, for how long? Also, are you doing full reinstalls, or repair installs?
Aside from gross hardware faults (and a failing hard disk is something you should probably be testing for, especially given the boot error thing) most Windows problems are due to malware of one sort or another (viruses, trojans, adware, spyware, Norton Antivirus, other manufacturer-supplied bloatware) or bad drivers. XP in and of itself is pretty stable.
So, what's your general computing hygiene like? Do you log on with a Computer Administrator account for day-to-day work? Are you using Internet Explorer to surf porn sites?
If none of the above is you, it's definitely worth trying it without the driver that "craps out".
posted by flabdablet at 4:46 PM on June 1, 2008
Watch your browser memory. These days, most majors will have tabbed browsing. Just because your browser is only showing one window on the taskbar, doesn't mean it isn't using up a ron of RAM to support your 20 tabs. I've had similar experiences to yours, only to find that going into Task Manager and killing the iexplorer or firefox process that's taking up nearly a Gig of RAM clears everything right up.
posted by thanotopsis at 4:47 PM on June 1, 2008
posted by thanotopsis at 4:47 PM on June 1, 2008
Response by poster: Thanks for the replies. I did reflash the BIOS a while back the last time I reformatted/fully reinstalled XP and that seems fine. Hygiene wise, I am clean, I don't have bad or risque browsing habits.
I've checked out the disk checkup program, and from what I understand, my drive may be on the way out - most of the 'Value' numbers are the same as the numbers in the 'Worst' column.....so is the drive toast, or am I interpreting this data wrong?
posted by kilohertz at 5:22 PM on June 1, 2008
I've checked out the disk checkup program, and from what I understand, my drive may be on the way out - most of the 'Value' numbers are the same as the numbers in the 'Worst' column.....so is the drive toast, or am I interpreting this data wrong?
posted by kilohertz at 5:22 PM on June 1, 2008
Response by poster: nevermind....looks like my values check out OK in DiskCheckup..........ahhhgggg what else? keep them ideas coming....
posted by kilohertz at 6:46 PM on June 1, 2008
posted by kilohertz at 6:46 PM on June 1, 2008
Find out the manufacturer of your hard drive and go to their website and download their error checking tool.
posted by gjc at 6:47 PM on June 1, 2008
posted by gjc at 6:47 PM on June 1, 2008
most of the 'Value' numbers are the same as the numbers in the 'Worst' column
That's OK. The Value column shows you what that value is now, and the Worst column shows you the worst that the value has ever been in the past. As long as Worst is comfortably greater than Threshold for a given parameter, the parameter is OK.
Some SMART reporting utilities (can't remember about DiskCheckup) also give you an "Old age" or "Pre-fail" reading for each parameter. That's a classification, not a status. Every single parameter will be classified as an old-age or a pre-fail type. If a pre-fail parameter's Worst goes below its Threshold, it's time to replace the drive because it's doing something abnormal; if the same thing happens with an old-age parameter, replace the drive because it's simply wearing out.
Two of the most interesting SMART parameters are the Reallocated Event count and the Sectors Pending Reallocation count. If the Raw value for Pending Reallocation is over zero, it means that that many blocks, somewhere on your drive, have become unreadable and the drive is waiting for you to rewrite them so that it can put the new contents on a different spot on the disk surface. That's not necessarily an immediate cause for alarm, unless the Reallocated Event counter is also showing that it's already done this more than a handful of times already, in which case the drive is probably going to run out of good spots to put things soon and should be replaced.
If you have only a few Reallocated Events and a few Pending Reallocation, you can fix your drive pretty much good as new by forcing it to rewrite the pending sectors. That's most easily done by using something like SeaTools from Seagate, which will rewrite the sectors concerned with zeroes and lose you a small chunk of data by doing so, or with Spinrite which will go to great lengths to attempt to rebuild the unreadable sectors' original contents by reading them over and over and over and over again before finally doing the rewrite.
posted by flabdablet at 10:23 PM on June 1, 2008
That's OK. The Value column shows you what that value is now, and the Worst column shows you the worst that the value has ever been in the past. As long as Worst is comfortably greater than Threshold for a given parameter, the parameter is OK.
Some SMART reporting utilities (can't remember about DiskCheckup) also give you an "Old age" or "Pre-fail" reading for each parameter. That's a classification, not a status. Every single parameter will be classified as an old-age or a pre-fail type. If a pre-fail parameter's Worst goes below its Threshold, it's time to replace the drive because it's doing something abnormal; if the same thing happens with an old-age parameter, replace the drive because it's simply wearing out.
Two of the most interesting SMART parameters are the Reallocated Event count and the Sectors Pending Reallocation count. If the Raw value for Pending Reallocation is over zero, it means that that many blocks, somewhere on your drive, have become unreadable and the drive is waiting for you to rewrite them so that it can put the new contents on a different spot on the disk surface. That's not necessarily an immediate cause for alarm, unless the Reallocated Event counter is also showing that it's already done this more than a handful of times already, in which case the drive is probably going to run out of good spots to put things soon and should be replaced.
If you have only a few Reallocated Events and a few Pending Reallocation, you can fix your drive pretty much good as new by forcing it to rewrite the pending sectors. That's most easily done by using something like SeaTools from Seagate, which will rewrite the sectors concerned with zeroes and lose you a small chunk of data by doing so, or with Spinrite which will go to great lengths to attempt to rebuild the unreadable sectors' original contents by reading them over and over and over and over again before finally doing the rewrite.
posted by flabdablet at 10:23 PM on June 1, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
7) Sometimes turning on the printer (USB connection) or connecting/disconnecting a USB flash drive will cause the problem
8) This problem sometimes happens when a program is already up and running, when trying to launch another it does the hourglass thing and then....nothing.
posted by kilohertz at 2:26 PM on June 1, 2008