Re: serious severe problems

From: Malke (noreply_at_invalid.com)
Date: 01/25/05 

Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 08:19:05 -0800

ryan wrote:

> i am running xp home with sp2 and all of a sudden all the text
> everywhere can only be seen partially and when i try to do anything an
> error message comes up but i cant read it then after i do anything it
> freezes also when loading my personal settings it takes a long time. i
> deleted my user profile and created new one but it didnt help. it runs
> just fine in safe modes and also i scanned for viruses and spyware etc
> and it is clean. please help me

Hi, Ryan. If you are sure your computer is 100% clean, then you may be
experiencing hardware failure. I'd suspect the video card first from
your description of the symptoms. Here are some general hardware
troubleshooting steps. I'd start by looking at the fan on the video
card and possibly swapping it out for a known-good one.

1) Open the computer and run it open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and
observing all fans (overheating will cause system freezing). Obviously
you can't do this with a laptop, but you can hear if the fan is running
and feel if the laptop is getting too hot.

2) Test the RAM - I like Memtest86+ from www.memtest.org - let the test
run for an extended (like overnight) period of time - unless errors are
seen immediately.

3) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr.

4) The power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for the devices
you have in the system - this isn't applicable to a laptop, of course.

5) Test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com.

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a good local
computer repair shop (not a CompUSA or Best Buy type of store).

Malke 

-- 
MS MVP - Windows Shell/User
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"

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