I'll try to make a long story short here. Running Windows XP Home, AVG Free anitvirus. Sequence of events starting about a week and a half ago:

1) did a custom Windows update it downloaded some software upgrades including Windows Media player 11
2) after restart PC worked fine
3) after a few days, went to play something on the Media Player - after opening the player, it shut PC down
4) tried again and same result - ran disk clean-up and defrag
5) uninstalled Windows Media Player 11 and tried to download again - same result upon opening
6) downloaded Lavasoft Adaware and Spybot Search and destroy and run - a couple of minor findings and repaired through those
7) tried Media Player again - shut down PC same results
8) uninstalled and ran Update again with download of Player 11 upgrade
9) opened player 11 - shuts down PC with same result
10) uninstalled the Player 11
11) searched on the net for problem info, downloaded a free registry fix program (can't remember the name) and ran - it found 96x errors, hit fix, and it wanted money, so nevertheless not free, closed and uninstalled
12) tried another PC registry fix program (PC Doc), it found errors, hit fix, it fixed 50 then wanted money, so I closed and uninstalled & shut PC down and went out for poker night
13) this morning ran AVG antivirus scan with no infections found
14) downloaded AVG anitspyware, ran, found results and removed - uninstalled Lavasoft Adaware and Spybot Search and destroy and restarted PC
15) downloaded AVG anti-root kit, restart puter, ran program, found one result, removed, and restart PC
16) type in password on start-up - it went directly from logging on to shutting down and sat on the password page
17) shut down PC, did and hard start, type in password and same result
18) shut down PC, fire up laptop and post here on the DTR for HELP!!!!

Help! What do I do now?

 

When things start to get that frustrating with windows I go find the Windows install disk. Just format and reinstall windows xp, with all the effort you just went through you could've had a fresh install of windows and all of your updates installed. I reinstall windows once a year just to keep things running smooth. I wouldn't even listen to those registry programs, most of the free trials just tell you somethings wrong to get you to buy their software. Just my .02

 

Worth a shot...........Try System Restore.......

Start........Programs...Accessories...System tools....System restore.....

Allows you to revert back to a point in time previous....ideally before you 1st installed the media upgrade...

No Guarantees....but worth a try............

 

Just finished that before reading your post. Followed the instructions and did the repair install so as to not lose personal info.

Result: when finished and after restart, tried logging on - went right from "Logging in, windows is loading personal settings" to "Logging off, windows is saving personal settings" in about 1 second.

I'm no further ahead than I was before and took over an hour of life.

Any other ideas??

 

I'd love to try.............but, cannot even get to the start menu.

 

are you able to access your system in safe mode? Try running a scan on your harddrive from your bios menu. This will tell you about bad clusters in your hard drive. If there are only a certain amount of bad clusters your harddrive will still operate however some of the information stored throughout those clusters could be unuseable, ie your windows registry, key windows applications, etc. Also, updating this bios itself sometimes can solve numerous problems that seem unsolveable. The rule is, never install a new bios if nothing is broken, in your case, something is definitely not working. A bad flash of your bios can totally screw up your day, so before doing this research your motherboard and the process involved.

 

Access in safe mode and ya....the other stuff? Instructions please - detailed ones. You're talking to a guy that's not so puter savvy in my own opinion. I know just about enough about these things to get me into trouble.

Needless to say, the issues it's currently experiencing.

 

haha, sorry kind of got carried away. Well, lets start with gettin your computer booted first. When you start your computer up, repeatedly tap the F8 key until it takes you to the windows advanced startup menu, select boot in safe mode and press enter. Basically anything not needed for the basic windows operating system to run will be disabled, including the internet. If you can't get your computer running in safe mode than you could have a serious problem with your hard drive, or your bios. Let me know what you find out and we will go from there because after this, it gets a little complicated,lol.

 

PM me and i will PM you with my number...Ill get it fixed for you over the phone.

Its a very easy fix, just can be time consuming

 

Got it to boot in safe mode to the password screen. Typed in password and same result - started logging on, then less than a second later, went to logging off.

 

PM sent....

 

First thing you need to do after you get it to restart, is to Right click on My Documents and Left Click Properties and then move your My Document folder to the C: drive and out of the Documents and Settings.

This way if you ever need to reinstall the operating system it will not delete your documents.

I use Second Copy to back up data to several different drives so I will never loose more than 1 hours worth of data.

See if you can get it to start in Safe Mode, move your personal data and then reinstall the OS.
Jim

 

Fix it the redneck way, 12 pack of beer and a shotgun and 2 of your closest friends. Puter won't work again, but you'll feel better.

 

I plan on trying to call Dean on Wednesday and walk through some guru stuff over the phone - I'd like to as soon as tomorrow, but too much crap going on.

If that fails, I do have a new 20" Fabarm 12 gauge that requires me to let a few rounds through it.

 

I'm thinking that what one needs is an external hard drive and save all personal work / documents to it. Then if puter fails walk away with the drive to something else.

The only thing I have on my desk top that isn't contained on my laptop is a Powerpoint presentation I was working on for a meeting next week. Thankfully, I emailed a lot of the info for it from work, so redoing it wouldn't be so bad even if I had to go in for a half a day on Sat.