Can anybody help?

I'm running a fairly fast computer but 4 years old.
AMD Athlon 1.0 gig 750+memory XP Professional

Recent History
For the last few days I've had problems booting up.
The blue scan disk screen appears and I let it run but I still have the same problem next time I boot up.
Other than that the computer was more or less running OK... using Broadband connection.

Yesterday I travelled to visit with my Father, my computer came too :-)
This is a fairly regular occurance and I don't usually have any problems moving my computer.

When I set the system up here yesterday I could not boot up at all... not even into safe mode.
Eventually I did get it into safe mode and did a system restore to the previous day.
Bare in mind I already had problems booting up.

I used Norton utilites which didn't really find any problems.
I then tried Partition Magic and tried their check disc facility.
It wouldn't work because other programs were running so it
said to use the windows check disc which I did.
Problems were found... I don't know what they were...
doesn't mean much to me because I don't understand it.

SO now my computer WILL boot up BUT.... I CANNOT get on the internet for
more than a couple of minutes at most, often just a couple of seconds.
The computer just freezes up.

I'm using a dial up connection here, the modem 56K. was last used successfully
just a few days ago.(I'm on Broadband at home but use dial up now and again)

I've checked out the modem settings and although I'm no
expert there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it.

I ran Norton Antivrus overnight and it did NOT show any viruses.
Definitions were last updated last week sometime but I can't
get on the internet to update them again!!

I'm hoping that this is a common problem and you'll say
"do this this and this" and it'll solve your problem... fingers crossed!!

BTW, I've forgotten to bring my Windows CD with me,
so I hope this can be fixed without the need for it cos I'm over 200 miles from home :-(

I'm sending this e-mail from a different SO SLOW!!! computer.

Hope you can help me soon.
This is quite urgent as I work at home from my computer and
everything I need reference to is on MY computer and I can
only get on the web using my father's dinasour!


I'll be very grateful if someone can throw some light on this. Thanks

Barbara

Do you just "power off" when it freezes? Is that your only option?

Any error messages? Any rebooting?

Check the Event Viewer for red X errors that correspond to a freeze or system failure.

start/ run/ eventvwr.msc

Post back as complete error messages as possible.

Thanks Jephree

Do you just "power off" when it freezes? Is that your only option?Yes only option. Then scan disc kicks in each time when I reboot.

start/ run/ eventvwr.mscNo red X errors here.

It has been suggested that I try the following.. (copied below)
unfortunately this did not work either. I'm at my witts end and thinking about reinstalling windows!!

Any other suggestions??

Thanks Barb

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Repair Boot Sector

Insert your Windows XP Professional installation CD into your CD-Rom.
Restart your computer to boot from the CD. You may see a prompt at the bottom of the screen that says “Press any key to boot from CD”. If you see this prompt, please press a key on the keyboard to boot from the CD. Windows XP Professional Setup should automatically run. If it does not, please enable booting from CD in your system BIOS. Refer to your system manual for instructions on how to enable booting from CD.
After Windows XP Professional Setup loads the initial files, you will be prompted to either press Enter to continue setup or press R to enter the Recovery Console. At this screen please press R to enter the Recovery Console.
You will be prompted to choose which Windows XP installation to log on to. Please select your installation (usually the 1st and only one listed) by typing in the appropriate number and pressing Enter.
Enter your Administrator password. If you do not know your Administrator password or were never given one, try pressing Enter without entering any password. You will only be given three chances at guessing your password. If an incorrect password is entered three times the system will halt and you will need to restart your computer and start again from step 2.
After successfully entering the Administrator password, you should be at a C:\WINDOWS\> prompt. Enter the commands below and verify by pressing Y and Enter if prompted.
chkdsk /p

fixboot

exit

The computer will restart after entering the exit command. You may remove the Windows XP Professional installation CD from your CD-Rom at this time.



Repair WinSock

Download WinSockXPFix: http://www.spychecker.com/program/winsockxpfix.html You can save this file to a floppy disk from another computer if needed.
Launch the application and click Fix
Click Yes to apply the VB_Winsock fix.
Click Yes to reboot the computer.


System File Checker

You may need your Windows XP Professional installation disc for this operation. Please insert the disc at this time.
Click Start > Run...
Type sfc /scannow in the Open: field and click OK.
Follow on-screen instructions if prompted.

"start/ run/ eventvwr.msc No red X errors here."

Hmm.... Did you open the tabs? Application? System?

just by the way do you happen to use a Hewlett Packard ScanJet 5100c scanner?

to stop check disc from starting at boot:

Disable or Enable CheckDisk Upon Boot (Line 82), download and apply patch:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

or manualy:

Go to Start/Run/Regedit and navigate to this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Highlight the Winlogon file.

In the list look for "SFCScan", this should be set to (0) if it is set to
(1) the scan will happen at every boot.

Like altering system files, modifying the registry can be risky and D-A-L.com and its members cannot accept liability for any adverse effects caused by following advice freely given on this site.

I think one thing you must concider is your hdd might be failing i.e. finding faults in disk check, your MBR(this tells the computer how to boot) might be following, so I'd backup data wipe the system fdisk the hdd and see if any errors come up, your probably looking at replacing it though!

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