Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with WindowsXP and computers

Please Stand By... or not.

digitaldraco — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 13:46:33 -0800

My home-built computer running Windows XP will not enter Stand By or Hibernate mode. Why? I have been having this issue for a while now, and it persists even after I have completely formatted and reinstalled Windows.

I have "Enable hibernation" checked in the Power Options control panel.

When I click "Turn Off Computer" and then click the "Stand By"/"Hibernate" button, the "Turn off computer" window goes away, and nothing happens. The computer continues running normally.

I have been previously able to use both Stand By and Hibernate, and I don't know or recall what might have triggered this switch in behavior from the system.

I am running XP with service pack 2, and most of the current updates. The computer is one I built myself. The reformat was a last-ditch solution to a random rebooting problem (which became compounded by other problems) that I was experiencing.

The last time I ran Windows Update (last night), it installed all the recommended patches but said the following would/could not be installed:

Security Update for Windows XP (KB890859)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB914389)
Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Service Pack 1

It also failed to reboot the computer completely after installing the updates, such that when I pushed the power button on the computer this morning, it first came up with a "Windows is shutting down" dialog box and then restarted.

ComputerFilter: Where did my option to hibernate go?

thelastpolarbear — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:17:55 -0800

My computer used to have the ability to hibernate and sleep... now it is as if those options never existed. What happened and how do I fix it? I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop, that is getting quite old - it's almost seven. My OS is Windows XP. I have 256 MB of RAM, 19 GB of space on my C: drive, and an Intel Pentium 4 1.6 GHz processor.

I used to have normal power settings - when I brought up the Shut Down menu, I had the option to Log off, Restart, Shut down, Sleep, or Hibernate. Suddenly, the Sleep and Hibernate options have disappeared from the dropdown menu.

I also have a program called Toshiba PowerSaver, where I could set my power settings. The last time I used my computer (about a month ago), I had it set to Sleep after 15 minutes of inactivity, and I think to hibernate after an hour of inactivity. I also had it set to Hibernate when I close the lid.

These days, the only option in the "When I close the lid..." dropdown menu is "No action." The only options under "When I press the power button" are "Turn off" or "No action."

I haven't thrown my computer around. I took it home on the plane with me on break from school, and turned it on only once when I was at home, for a few minutes - there weren't any big events that happened while it was on. I then brought it back to school, and suddenly encountered these problems.

Windows updated yesterday, and I'm not sure what the nature of the update was. I can't tell if these problems were happening before the update or not.

Has anyone ever heard of this happening? It's not a critical problem, but it is becoming extremely irritating to shut down and reboot my computer every time I want to leave for an hour, just because I don't have powersave options.

MacBooks and Windows, still duking it out!

ijoyner — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 14:02:43 -0800

MacBook running XP has major "SYSTEM" issues. Why? I work in corporate environment and we have a few MacBooks. A particular MacBook that was purchased less than a year ago that has Boot Camp with Windows XP loaded onto it is having severe issues.
It has the standard Windows, Office, anti-virus stuff that all the other macbooks have, however this laptop will log into windows and then consume itself on the "SYSTEM" process. The fans will start kicking up to full bore and the "SYSTEM" process with user "SYSTEM" will consume 25% and up of the processor steadily, without retreat. I have reinstalled both from driveimage xml disk images and freshly installed windows on the system numerous times, so it is not an issue with the windows install instance.
The last time I experienced the issue, I changed what port the computer was connecting to back at the switch and it seemed to fix the issue.

The problem came back up today and now it does not matter if it is plugged into the network or not, it will go crazy crunching numbers for nothing! Firefox will not open up, the system will not shut down and turn itself off when you choose 'shut down' from windows.
I'm going to run an Avast BartCD virus scan on it in the morning, but want some ideas of what could be causing it. None of the other MacBooks have this issue and this one is really pushing my last nerve. Any ideas?

Fully Automated XP Restore?

TheSlate — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:58:30 -0800

How do I fully automate restoring my Windows XP test machines to a clean state on a daily basis? My requirements are:
1. Partition images cannot be larger than the used space of the partiton
2. Reimaging can't take more than 4 hours for partitions with about 8 gigs used with a 20 gig capacity, preferably a lot faster
3. Software used must be Acronis True Image 9.1, included with Windows, and/or free
4. The process must be fully automated or pretty close and run unattended, i.e. no booting from a LiveCD or clicking lots of buttons

Currently, I use Acronis True Image 9.1 to create the images, but it only seems to support automated backups and not restores. Acronis supports scripts, but I can't find any documentation on it. I've looked into using dd, but it takes forever and the image sizes are too big. I've looked into other free software, but anything interesting only works on Linux. I've looked into other non-free software, but I barely have the budget for Acronis.

Ideally, I'd like to have scheduled tasks on a remote machine kick off the reimaging process on each of my test machines, then (optionally) have each machine download/install updates and backup again.

Thanks!

Stop-Start Computing

SansPoint — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 19:39:16 -0800

What would make an old Windows computer stop accepting input for short periods of time (2-3 minutes)? My housemate has an old Compaq PC running Windows XP. Lately, it's started pausing for 2-3 minute intervals, not accepting any input. The keyboard buffer isn't overflowing: it's even mouse input that stops dead. It also seems to just seize up.

I'm going to run Memtest86+ on it, but I can't imagine anything that would cause it to exhibit these symptoms. He has Antivirus and Spyware software, though any Windows worms would hit my Mac mini first, which is the DMZ host.

I'm a bit out of practice with Windows. Help?

Where's the rest of my task manager?

Verdandi — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 16:31:13 -0800

In the rare times I've needed to hit ctrl-alt-delete within the past few months, the task manager window pops up, but it lacks the little tabs at the top and the useful little X in the upper right that actually allows me to CLOSE the task manager. What happened? I haven't been able to pinpoint the problem, and I'm getting frustrated. I've scanned the drive for viruses, spyware and the like (I use Avast!, Spybot and Ad-Aware), but no luck. I haven't installed anything else weird. I'm running Windows XP. I've never had a problem with it before this.

I have a screeenshot, if a visual is necessary.

I'd really hate to format/reinstall since it's such a pain, so I thought I'd ask here before I did. TIA!

Please, no OS wars. I'm fully aware of Linux.

Remote access to grandparents' computer

punishinglemur — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 10:20:52 -0800

A few months ago my grandparents bought a computer. To help them fix problems without us driving all the way out to their house every time something comes up, I'd like to install something that would allow us to view their screen and control their mouse and keyboard from home. Both systems involved would be running Windows XP Home Edition, and we both have broadband connections. What is the best, preferably free, way to do this?

Help me re-install XP

jeffmshaw — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 19:58:30 -0800

My mom's computer won't re-install an older version of Windows XP. This is actually a timely, pressing problem. When we split, I purchased a Sony VAIO laptop from my ex. We agreed that she'd wipe the hard drive for various reasons. Instead, she ended up replacing the hard drive entirely -- which is fine, except she installed a temporary copy of XP. (Evidently, we/she lost the original install discs from Sony -- we legally purchased the computer and copy of XP.)

I tried re-installing a version of XP from an older, defunct desktop my mom no longer uses, but it won't let me re-install an older version over a newer one.

The XP trial installed now expires tomorrow. It wouldn't be a big issue, except I am overseas and Skype is how my mom and I communicate via video chat.

What are my options for legally getting a working copy of XP? Contact Sony? Is there a way to get around the "can't re-install an old version" barrier? Please do not suggest hitting the ex up to buy a new copy of XP. It's really not an option.

Registry woes - what is causing it?

Leud — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 07:03:08 -0800

Windows XP Registry - What tools can be used to analyse ntuser.dat hives? Specifically to find out what in the hive is taking up space?

I've been tasked with trying to identify what is causing a large number of roaming users ntuser.dat files to gradually swell in size over the course of 4-8 weeks till their profiles reach the limit on a network I support. The limit is 10mb, ntuser.dat files tend to be an issue once they hit 3.5-5mb. (Majority of users sit around 2-3mb and don't swell)

GPO locks down users desktops heavily, no desktop icons/files and My Documents folders are redirected to a server location.

Current theories are:
One or more badly packaged apps filling the registry with junk. (There are a few identified which fill the application data folder with cached files.)

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\BagMRU filling with junk (after a month or so of use 50%+ of subkeys seem to be in this area - yet clearing that doesn't reduce the ntuser.dat size by a significant amount)

There is no single software package which links all the users experiecing this problem. Number of subkeys doesn't seem to be a good way of analysing where the size in the user hive is being used up - I've not found a tool which will show the 'size' of key structures of the registry yet.

Not had any luck comparing snapshots to identify a cause either - any suggestions at this point would be welcome as this has wasted two days for me already.

Can you help me update my video driver?

kdern — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 19:34:01 -0800

I can't get my ATI Radeon video driver update to install... can anyone help? I have a Compaq Presario X1000 with a Radeon 9200 video driver. In order to play the new game I bought (first one in years!) The game company's tech service line says I need to update my video driver. I'm running WinXP Professional.

When I try to run the game software, it goes through the first few screens and then shuts down every time.

I've downloaded and tried to install the software on this site
http://tinyurl.com/qah7t

But when I run the installation for the second piece of software (going in order), it says no driver is present and installation cannot continue. When I run dxdiag, it still says that my display software is from 2004. The new version is 2006.

I've spent hours on this... can anyone help?

Why is my life like a Dilbert punchline?

saysthis — Sat, 20 Aug 2005 03:51:27 -0800

My computer has magically disappeared my user profile. I miss my bookmarks. I'm using Windows XP. This is the error I get:

Windows cannot load the locally stored profile. Possible causes of this error include insufficient security rights or a corrupt profile. If this program persists, contact your network administrator.

Okay, so how is that supposed to be helpful? I mean, I'm my own network administrator. The first sentence is the only one that has anything not vague to say. I'll stop whining. Anyway, there's more:

DETAIL - An I/O operation initiated by the registry failed unrecoverably. The registry could not read in, or write out, or flush, one of the files that contain the image of the registry.

Does anyone know how I can restore my settings? I'd be happy to reimport my start list and bookmarks to a new profile, but I don't know how to do that. My browser is Firefox and I can't reinstall because the version of Windows I'm operating off of is from 2003. I'm using a "temporary profile" right now, and I'm actually having to TYPE MY OWN PASSWORDS. How am I supposed to read the NYT like this?

what is the 5v standby alert when booting windows?

salmacis — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 02:21:53 -0800

When I'm booted into Windows, the motherboard sensors always flash up an alert: the 5v Standby is below it's threshold at 4.2v. All I can do is kill PC Alert. I presume this isn't serious, since my PC has happily worked for years, but what is going on? What is the 5v Standby?

XP install: how do I find my sound card's drivers? And what programs do I really need?

twine42 — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 15:23:50 -0800

Laptop Clean XP Install:
1] My (on board?) sound card is unrecognised. How do I find out what drivers to use?

2] What programs do you really think I need? I already have VNC, VLC, Firefox, Thunderbird and AVG installed. What else should I add? (Freeware/OS appriciated but not needed.) VNC = Remote access program
VLC = DVD player type thing
AVG = AntiVirus

Can I dock MSN Messenger on the side of my (Windows XP) screen?

sanitycheck — Fri, 26 Nov 2004 13:11:40 -0800

Can I dock MSN Messenger on the side of my (Windows XP) screen? [mi] Please don't tell me to switch clients. I've recently switched to using Messenger regularly after using Trillian for years. I like Trillian a LOT better, but it doesn't support MSN audio/video. Pretty much all of my contacts are on MSN, and having recently moved across the country I find myself using the audio and video connections fairly regularly to chat with friends and family back home.

Anyhow, all I want to do is dock my messenger window on the side of my screen, and I have yet to be able to find a good solution via Google. I installed something called Messenger Plus which claimed it would let me do it, but they seem to have a different definition of "docking" than what I am looking for (their solution doesn't keep the docked window always-on-top).

Advantages to partitioning Windows XP?

tranquileye — Mon, 15 Nov 2004 12:45:32 -0800

Are there any real advantages to running Windows XP on a partitioned hard drive, with a different partition each for Windows, programs, and files?

Accessing email and address book over my home network?

Sfving — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 18:55:41 -0800

EmailFilter: I have a Windows XP Pro laptop and an OS X iMac. I need to store my email and contacts on the iMac but access them over my home network from the laptop. How can I do this? [mi] I used to share my email and contacts between two Windows boxes running Outlook. (I shared the .pst file and accessed it from either.) Now I need to do the same thing between my mac and pc. Simply downloading messages twice is not a good solution. I'm willing to use a different email client.

Can I use Thunderbird to share a profile from the iMac to the laptop? I tried that, but can't get it to work. What are some other solutions?

Minimizing MS-DOS

ajr — Thu, 22 Jul 2004 17:19:22 -0800

Is there a way to hide a DOS window when it is minimized on a Windows XP toolbar? [more inside] I have been using Instiki for a while now, but it requires the Ruby Web Server application to be running in order to access the application. This is all good and well, but it keeps a DOS window open on the task bar, which I don't like, and keep closing. As the wiki content increases, however, it takes a lot longer to load the server application and associated files. Ideally, I'd like to be able to load the server application in my startup file and hide the command window. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

My laptop has developed a serious issue during startup, and I have no idea how to fix it.

Yelling At Nothing — Sun, 23 May 2004 17:32:24 -0800

My laptop has developed a serious issue during startup, and I have no idea how to fix it. [MI] In a nutshell, the problem is that the thing locks up during the boot process. It starts, brings up the (WinXP) loading screen, seems to load BIOS, then the screen goes blank (black) and it hangs.

I am able to access BIOS setup and boot options, but nothing I can do there seems to help. I was able to get windows to load properly once in safe mode (using F8), after which I ran adaware, spybot, and norton and disabled most of the non-critical startup programs. When I restarted the computer, same problem.

At this point I'm at a loss, and the computer is now refusing to boot in safe mode (hitting F8 during startup produces no effect.)

I don't think I've acquired a virus, or that I am the victim of anything else malicious: I'm the only one that uses the computer, and I haven't done anything recently that might get me infected (no suspicious email attachments, no suspicious file downloads, etc.) The problem started this morning.

I'm running a Gateway laptop with a P4M 2.0; it's about two years old. WinXP is all updated and everything. Don't have the motherboard and HD make and model in front of me at the moment, but I'll track them down and post them in a couple minutes here.

Should I replace my hard drive or buy a new computer?

kirkaracha — Tue, 27 Jan 2004 11:40:53 -0800

I have a PC that I use to test web sites on Windows browsers (my main computer's a Mac). I tried to upgrade to Windows XP, and the XP installer seems to have wrecked the hard drive. Should I replace my hard drive or buy a new computer? [sketchy details inside] I had the Windows XP installer erase and format the drive. I get paging errors (or something like that) during installation. The PC's an old Compaq Presario I got for free. Does it make sense to replace the hard drive, or should I just get a cheap Dell? (And if I want Windows XP, should I buy it with the computer or install it myself?)

Will upgrading my Vaio to XP wreck my settings?

Vidiot — Fri, 02 Jan 2004 14:04:10 -0800

I'm about to upgrade my beloved Sony Vaio laptop from Windows Me (blecch) to XP. Will this screw up my previously installed drivers, software, documents, etc? Anything I should know before I start?

Problem with XP recognizing a USB connexion

vito90 — Sat, 27 Dec 2003 08:34:23 -0800

My computer (Windows XP) will not recognize the USB connection I've added to it. [more...] I got a kind of cheap MP3 player for Christmas (RCA Lyra 1080). It came with installation software for the USB connection. The back of my PC has two USB slots. I've tried both, I've tried installing the software with and without connections in place, and every iteration of rebooting, installing, and plugging to no avail. I have also tried "Add New Hardware" from the Control Panel. I know barely enough about computers to be dangerous, so if any solutions can border on the non-technical that would be great. Thank you all for your help.