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View Full Version : Laptop wont open programs or windows


Joelacrane
08-19-2006, 04:24 AM
I've got a fairly fresh install of XP Home on my laptop. I can't get programs to open when I boot it up. No t even the task manager. Yhe only workaroud is to hard shut off the computer and reboot. Then, I can open programs and everything works fine... Until I reboot again!

Any ideas?

Cybrid
08-20-2006, 06:29 AM
I've got a fairly fresh install of XP Home on my laptop. I can't get programs to open when I boot it up. No t even the task manager. Yhe only workaroud is to hard shut off the computer and reboot. Then, I can open programs and everything works fine... Until I reboot again!

Any ideas?Any error messages? additional symptoms? Have you looked into the device manager to see if there are any hardware icons showing errors?

Following example shows what I'm talking about...Is there any device with an exclamation mark, etc?

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/J_HELMIG/wxpdevmg.htm

Have you looked into the startup ?

Remove Autostart Programs
The next step in restoring your computer's performance is to identify any unnecessary programs that start automatically. Often, programs configure themselves to run in the background so that they appear to start quickly when needed. Some of these programs show an icon on your taskbar to let you know that they're running, while others are completely hidden. These autostart programs probably won't noticeably slow down your computer as it starts up, but they will steal away trace amounts of memory and processing time as your computer runs.

Windows XP comes with the System Configurationtool (Msconfig.exe), an excellent way to manage the startup process. To start it:

1.
Click Start, click Run, type Msconfig, and then press Enter.

2.
On the Startup tab, you'll see a list of all the programs and processes that are set to run when Windows XP loads.

3.
Speed up your overall start time by clearing the check box next to any item you think you don't need.

4.
Click Apply, and then restart your computer for the changes to take effect.


My favorite way to examine autostart programs is to use the Autoruns freeware tool from Sysinternals. Autoruns lists every program that will automatically start and allows you to quickly delete the link to the program. Many autostart entries are important parts of Windows XP, including Userinit.exe and Explorer.exe. So you should not simply delete everything that you don't recognize. Instead, you should look up each entry at Paul Collins' Startup Applications List to determine whether you want it to start automatically.

For example, Figure 5 shows Autoruns revealing a file called nwiz.exe that is set to start automatically. I visited The Startup Applications List, typed in nwiz and discovered that it's used to set my desktop layout preferences. I'd like to keep this functionality, so I won't delete it.



Figure 5: The Autoruns freeware tool.


I also found a file named Wzqkpick.exe. After reading the description at The Startup Applications List, I decided I don't need to load that file automatically. I deleted the link using Autoruns by right-clicking it and then clicking Delete. This procedure works best for advanced users of Windows XP. If you aren't sure a program is unneeded—leave it!

The Startup Applications List may provide instructions for removing the startup program. If available, you should follow those instructions instead of deleting the link by using Autoruns.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/northrup_restoreperf.mspx

Joelacrane
08-20-2006, 09:04 PM
Nope, no error messages or symptoms. It just shows a cursor with an hourglass for 3 or four seconds and the cursor returns to normal. This is a fresh install, and ive only installed programs that i know should work fine (Winamp, Trillian, Firefox, Office '97, Windows Media Player 10...). No hardware problems.

I'm also have difficulty connecting to secured AP's. My network at home is open, because i live in the middle of nowhere, but I took it to town to let it run automatic updates (My network has shared dialup) to see if that would fix my problems, but Xp's Zero Config utility would stop responding after typing in the WEP key for my friends network. I wonder if the two problems are related?

Anyways, im going to let automatic updates run at night for a few days to see if that fixes the problem.

This is beyond aggriviating.