Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with WindowsXP and troubleshooting

Windows XP no longer resumes from standby

bbranden1 — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 09:49:55 -0800

Suddenly my Gateway notebook computer won't come out of standby (that is, sleep mode or hibernate mode). In the past I was able to press the power button to make it resume from standby. This problem started after I reinstalled Windows XP.

Now, whenever the computer is in standby, if I press the power button, I hear the usual reassuring gurgle from the hard drive, but nothing happens after that, and I'm forced to press the power button for 4-5 seconds till the computer shuts down completely, and then do a cold boot.

I'm using an Admistrator account and the computer is currently up to date with all Microsoft patches including XP SP2 and all model specific drivers via the manufacturer (the problem occured both before and after the installation of the model specific driver updates). Since the problem appeared immediately after the Windows XP re-installation, I wouldn't expect a BIOS problem to be causing it.

Any suggestions?

Where do I find occasional computer help?

Ms. Next — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 03:25:22 -0800

What is a good website for computer (and related hardware) help? I know there are several websites that allow people to post questions about software, hardware, drivers, but which one would you recommend?

I'm not very knowledgable about computers and software, but am not a total newbie either. I sporadically (once, twice a year?) have computer questions that even with Google and the likes I can't figure out myself.

(For example, the kind of questions I'd be searching help for: In this case it's about installing a "plug and play" Lexmark printer on Windows XP where I can't properly install the drivers: not from the cd rom that came with it, nor from the Lexmark website. Calling the manufacturers (printer and laptop) hasn't helped so far).

PEBKAC

EatTheWeak — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 20:41:58 -0800

Just a couple weeks ago, my computer was so cooperative. Now I'm getting freeze-ups at the strangest times. I'm the definition of an End User, but with AskMe's help, I might just get XP tamed! About a week ago, my computer started freezing for reasons I can't explain. At first, this only took place when we shut off the screen saver, then forgot to reactivate it. It would go into a sleep mode that turned out to be a coma. It took a press of the reset button to regain control.

We reengaged the screen savers, but then she started locking up during simple operations. Web browsing, moving files, simple stuff that shouldn't even be a trickle to my gig of RAM.

I've eyed the process list, but there doesn't seem to be anything there that shouldn't be. There's about half a dozen SVC host shells running, but these were there before the problems began. I realize this is a bit vague, and that Windows XP can freeze up for a lot of reasons - but I'm hoping that, if nothing else, the suggestions of MeFites more knowledgeable than I can at least get my computer and I on the road to recovery.

Messed up Windows "open folder" behaviour

bering — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 02:46:59 -0800

I've messed up Windows "open folder" behaviour. Help! I've used these instructions to try an produce a filelisting, but in the process I've messed up Windows "open folder" behaviour. Now all folder links open in a new explorer window. Other people have had the same problem, but I can't find quite the right solution in the comments. It must be possible to fix it... Any help?

I know, I know, get a Mac...

Heminator — Tue, 23 May 2006 07:38:18 -0800

Computer Won't Boot -- needless to say [MI]: I apologize up front if this question is a bit redundant w/r/t other AskMeFi questions I saw, but I'm greatly in need of advice/reassurance.

My Win XP PC worked fine as of last evening; it was shut down properly. This morning my Fiance tried to turn it on I was in the bathroom, I came out and saw a Blue Disc repair screen checking the disk for errors (This is not the first time this has happened; at the time I was concerned though not especially worried). I walked out of the room and came back. It wasn't loading. I saw that my Fiance had turned on my computer without unplugging my iPod and this halted the OS from loading.

I unplugged the iPod and it started to load. It got as far as the win logo screen with the progress bar-- then the screen went black and my monitor flashed an "INPUT MODE NOT SUPPORTED" message I had never seen before. It starts the booting process over at this point and will do so indefinitely unless I turn it off/uplug.

I tried starting in safe mode, debugging mode and last known good configuration. XP still won't load.

What can I do? My computer was buit for me and I do not have the installation XP discs, assuming that's the problem... Will Geek Squad have the necessary repair discs if I shell out a hundred bucks for them to show up at my apartment?

For bonus points, if I burn a linux live CD will that allow me to plug-in an an external hard drive via USB and rescue my files that way? (I have around 100 GB of stuff to recover).

Thanks in advance...

Where'd everything go?

Kololo — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 22:00:58 -0800

Why have all the contents of one of my Windows XP user accounts vanished? The account is still there, but the password is gone (or i should say that the password is 'blank' now), all the settings in the account are gone, all the documents are gone, and whenever I click on any program icon, I get the 'introductory page' thingy (you know, Welcome to Media Player! etc). Basically, that one user account is back to the computer's "fresh out of the box" state. WHAT THE ????

Whats going on? Why did this happen, and is this going to happen to the other account (the one that I actually use more often)?

I used my computer a few weeks ago (when it was fine), and then just turned it on for the first time yesterday (when the above problems revealed themselves.) The only thing out of the ordinary that happened in the intervening time is that the computer (a laptop) was put through an airport x-ray machine. Its a new computer (less than 6 months old) and didn't have any previous problems.

Com1 Port Boondoogle

fenriq — Fri, 06 May 2005 10:27:41 -0800

My wife's Windows XP box refuses to go into standby mode saying there's some conflict with the Com1 port. Can someone help steer me in the right direction to fix this annoyance? My wife's computer cannot go into StandBy mode anymore. Everytime I try to put it to sleep, it goes down for a moment and then comes right back up with an error message about something on Com1 not allowing the machine to rest. I've tried adjusting the BIOS, unplugging everything from the back and still nothing will solve this.

I've run Spyware killers and found a bunch of malware but the problem persists. I need to get her some virus protection but this doesn't seem to viral.

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.

CDRW worked in Win98SE, inoperable in XP

precocious — Sun, 11 Jan 2004 15:12:18 -0800

I have a MITSUMI CR-4804TE CDRW drive. While it's slow, it worked perfectly fine for me while I was running Win98SE. Now that I've got XP, it's all gone to pot [more]. I've done a google search, and other people have this problem, but I've yet to find a definite solution. Thus far, I've tried:

* searching the mitsumi site (and driversguide, and just about everywhere else)-- they only have drivers for this CDRW for DOS on up to NT-- nothing for 2000 or XP. I tried the NT version, and it didn't work. Literally. I get that program crash dialogue. (I did find a driver that claimed it was for XP also. Didn't work.)

* reinstalling the hardware. After removing it from the device manager and rebooting, XP automatically installs a driver for a CD-R drive. I have a CDRW.

* manually removing the driver and installing the mitsumi driver that came with Windows. (Nope.)

* using other software. I've tried Nero and Roxio (Easy CD Creator.)

When I used to load a blank CD (in 98), I'd get a prompt asking what I wanted to do (burn a CD in Nero, in Real Media, etcetera.) Now, nothing happens. I'm about 100% there's nothing wrong with the drive, as my cousin just finished trying it on a win98 box, and it works.

Is there anything else I can do?

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.