posted
Hiya 'Heads, Something appears to be taking a dump on my PC. The windows explorer is crashing when I browse for a file and when I try to open a file, it crashes the program that I'm using. It started about a week ago and it's been steadily getting worse. Now I have memory errors like "The instruction at 0x7c... referenced memory at 0x20d. The memory could not be read". If I use the "system restore" that comes with XP, will it delete the files that I have created since my last resore point or will it just attempt to fix and/or the programs? I have several files that I've created since my last restore and I would hate to loose them.
Not having fun at the moment
Checkers
-------------------- a.k.a. Brian Born www.CheckersCustom.com Harrisburg, Pa Work Smart, Play Hard Posts: 3775 | From: Harrisburg, Pa. U.S.A. | Registered: Nov 1998
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Brian..I've used restore a few times and have not lost any user files created after the restore point.
It restores the system files not the user files.
[ November 28, 2005, 09:59 AM: Message edited by: Dave Grundy ]
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
-------------------- a.k.a. Brian Born www.CheckersCustom.com Harrisburg, Pa Work Smart, Play Hard Posts: 3775 | From: Harrisburg, Pa. U.S.A. | Registered: Nov 1998
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Well, it looks like it didn't work. I'll try going back further and if that doesn't work, plan "B" is to back up about 80 gigs <YUCK> of info and reformat.
Havin' fun,
Checkers
-------------------- a.k.a. Brian Born www.CheckersCustom.com Harrisburg, Pa Work Smart, Play Hard Posts: 3775 | From: Harrisburg, Pa. U.S.A. | Registered: Nov 1998
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When you reboot the system, hit the F10 key to bring up the "Windows System Recovery" option. You have the choice of doing a default or "destructive" mode.
The regular mode will reinstall all of the original programs and OS to the day you bought it without destroying any of the files you have created since then. The down side is that you will have to reinstall your programs to restore the needed .dll files that Windows will lose. Make sure you have all the discs you'll need before doing this.
The destructive mode is basicly a system wipe out, similar to a good old fashioned fdisk command, but the onboard Windows disk will kick in and restore the system to factory original. All the programs you've installed, updates and data will be lost. If you have a CD burner, back up the data files and copy them back onto the system when you're done.
Hope this helps... Rapid
-------------------- Ray Rheaume Rapidfire Design 543 Brushwood Road North Haverhill, NH 03774 rapidfiredesign@hotmail.com 603-787-6803
I like my paint shaken, not stirred. Posts: 5648 | From: North Haverhill, New Hampshire | Registered: Apr 2003
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Where were you yesterday Ray !?!?!?! OK, I'm not freaked out yet, but I do have some issues I did a complete back up of the hard drive and reformatted everything, partially because the preloaded software that came with the PC didn't give me the option to just reinstall XP (or I at least didn't see that option). Anyway, when I restored the old files, I lost a few and I could live with that. But, when I went to access the restored files, I get an error message that I do not have permission to access the files Any suggestions? I also have an email into microsoft. I hate to think that 40 gigs of my sign life is in the crapper.
Cheers,
Checkers
-------------------- a.k.a. Brian Born www.CheckersCustom.com Harrisburg, Pa Work Smart, Play Hard Posts: 3775 | From: Harrisburg, Pa. U.S.A. | Registered: Nov 1998
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Get spybot and adaware. Search zdnet.com for these programs, download them, install them, update them, and then run them.
These programs will remove adware and spybot programs from your system.
Hopefully, you have a good virus software - After years of computer work I have settled on McAfee Virus Scan. It's not perfect but it's not as intrusive on the OS as Symantec.
Once you've cleaned your system update your OS security via the Microsoft Update facility.
My kids are continuously running programs like LimeWire (limeware is an open server to the internet). If you have it get rid of it. Viruses and spy software usually install via media software and email attachments (if you open them).
You might then want to install a firewall or use the one that comes with XP.
I just finished removing the Winfixer/Vundo virus from my kids XP computer. It was the nastiest of any of the viruses that they have gotten on their computer to date. It took me two days to find the right software to combat the problem. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it's gone.
Your blue screens (that's what the crash screens are called) are either being caused by software conflicts in the OS (low level stuff) or a virus that you've contracted. If it's OS related then you may have corrupted your operating system. In which case one of four things may/may not help.
- Update the OS via Microsoft update - Find/remove the offending software that has recently been installed. - Go to a previous restore point - Reinstall the operating system (do not do this on XP without professional help).
The easist thing is to restore from an earlier date and if that doesn't work try the software that I've suggested. You should load the other software anyway to protect your system.
Hope I helped more than confused. There's no easy answer with this stuff.
Regards, Denis
-------------------- Denis de Leon Creative Signcrafters 125 Railroad Avenue, suite 4 Hightstown, NJ 08520 Posts: 128 | From: New Jersey | Registered: Jul 2005
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Don't panic. And quit using the restore.. Quit trying to reinstall ,,, And do not format. These are all LAST resort fixes.
And, you are running XP SP2,, yes???
Instruction at OcxXXX errors are memory problems. Trace out the error code and it will tell you what is causing the problem. If its a memory stack error then the memory chip has a bad bit on it. Or, some software could have a memory leak. Does your IE have the problem when you visit some webpage? IT could be soem bad coding on that page..
Does the error come up with this format?
IKernel.exe - Application error The Instruction at "0x771c741a" referenced memory at "0x0... The memory could not be read. Click on OK to terminate the program
Gotta figure out what caused the error. If the memory address is on the Video area then you could have a messed up video driver. Spend that time used doing all those restore gyrations that do not work and figure out how to use those error codes. If you are getting blue screens then that for sure %99 can trace into a memory problem..
Learn the other methods of tracing out your error codes and you will become a guru who hardly ever reformats or reinstalls. Are you using outlook? and do you have all your updates? Or did this problem start after you got an update? Does it happen when you open IE from a shortcut on the desktop?
But then again , your dealing with windows..
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
I've been out all day, but thanks again for the replies. I figured (assume) the problem to be something with windows and the VPN software I was using. Apparently, it corrupted something in a bad way when I uninstalled it. I used system restore to return to before installing the software, but I still had the memory errors and program crashes. So, I backed up the hard drive on to a removable hard drive using Sonic Back up MyPC. Then I reformatted the hard drive yesterday. When I tried to restore the Administrators "My Documents" folder, There were a few corrupted/lost files, but everything else seemed to copy over without any issues. Now that everything seems to be restored is where I'm having more issues. When I try to access the restored files, I now get the "access denied" error. So, for kicks and giggles, I tried moving the folder to the "Shared Documents" folder, but I still get the same message. I have still to hear back from microsoft and my next call is to the removable hard drive manufacturer. but I don't feel like dealing with very bad accents from the outsourced overseas help at the moment.
Cheers,
Checkers
-------------------- a.k.a. Brian Born www.CheckersCustom.com Harrisburg, Pa Work Smart, Play Hard Posts: 3775 | From: Harrisburg, Pa. U.S.A. | Registered: Nov 1998
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Thanks for the flowchart lesson approach, Curtis, touch-wood I don't need it yet!
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7014 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
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