OK, I have a Dell computer with Windows XP installed on it. A pop-up blocker bought from a local OfficeMax for $19.95 was installed on the system, in fact it somehow may have been incorrectly installed on the system. Ever since the pop-blocker program was installed on the computer it freezes up in the middle of actions. Before the software was installed it worked fine and the software was uninstalled but it was unsuccessful at solving the problem. Now, every problem I have had before with a system freezing up required the hard drive to be reformatted, or that's what the computer experts at the places I went to told me and it ended up costing me over $100.00 ($50.00 per hour plus tax). So I learned to reformat the hard drive myself, pretty simple and nowhere near the two hours they said it took each time but this time I do not want to do it and lose all the information I have on the system. Any ideas on what the problem might be and how to fix it without destroying the information already on the drive ad without destroying the computer itself?
uninstall the popup blocker from the Add/Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel( you remember where that is right?) and then download and use Firefox since it blocks popups out of the box....
Do I detect a bit of sarcasm on your part R2K? So this should stop the computer from freezing up as well? Why would it be freezing up at all?
Next time you reinstall windows, format your hardrive into two partitions. Keep all your applications installed on C: and all your data on D:. Then, if you have to reinstall Windows, your data is safe. Also, you probably have support on that Dell. You might want to call them up, or run their diagnostic software to make sure the problem isn't hardware.
See, I've always wanted to do that but how exactly do you do that? Do you have to install your OS on both partitions? How do you access programs and files from one partition to the other? How does it work? PS: If uninstalling the program doesn't work and the PC is still freezing up, what then?
correct....during installation of XP, you have the option of creating all the partitions you need....just create two of them...half and half of your available drive space. (no sarcasm...I just recall that at one point in the past, you had to go and uninstall, I was mearly asking if you remembered how to do that) alot of times, a program will install its own version of files that may conflict with versions already in use....and then when other apps try to use the files(normally linking libraries)...crashes occur since sometimes the coding leaves much to be desired.. try not to install just any app....if you want to install a utility, go online and google it and see if others have had problems with it...normally, if it is a piece of crap..others will have had problems wiht it. uninstall the program....we will go from there if that doesnt work.
You can use the Windows XP System Restore feature to restore back to a point PRIOR to your installation of the pop-up blocker. You should give that a try to see if the freezes quit occurring. If you are unfamilar with System Restore, go into the Windows XP Help feature and search for system restore. It is relatively painless and takes about 5 minutes. If you have not uninstalled the pop-up blocker, do so prior to executing the system restore. System restore will NOT wipe out any of the data you have saved or programs you have loaded betweent the day you choose to restore to and now.
REALLY need help on this guys. I finally took a a peek at the computer and it's a mess. It runs real slow, by that I mean when you click on something to open it it takes 15 seconds before it opens up. Programs, processes, and operations run very slow. When I click to open Help and Support function nothing happens as well when I click the Search function. They won't open up. The worse part: System Restore does not work. When I click to open it a blank white window open up that says System Restore in the title bar. System Restore NEVER starts! I'm thinking the only thing now is a reinstallation or XP or reformat. Is that the only option left? I really need your help on this on guys! Thanks!
It reads like you have looked at the Task Manager..........what seems to be soaking up the <b>CPU</b> in the Processes Window?
Just programs that are running but the thing is it ran fine before the store bought pop-up blocker was installed. The owner of the computer told me that they deleted a lot of things off their computer. My thought, because the system is running slow and certain functions are inaccessible, is that there are either damaged, corrupted, missing system files but I could be very wrong. That's why I'm trying to avoid reinstalling/reformatting before I know what's really wrong.
Time consumption, I'm not sure if the owner has all data backed up, never reformatted a hard drive with XP then reinstall XP (I've heard it's different from earlier Windows versions), it's a Dell and I'm not sure if they set their hard drives up like HP's where you cannot really reformat because the hard drive is partitioned into two sections one where you have system utility files and the other is the main partition, overall just don't want to reformat i but will if all else fails.
I don't have a Dell, but some manufacturers (most that I know of) have an auto-setup that automatically formats the hard drive into one partition and installs XP. All you have to do is pop in the cd and an hour or two later (not considering setup input).
No R2K I haven't tried that either but why would it be any different? Let's say that that I do start the OS in Safe Mode and that still doesn't work, what options are next? Oh yeah, what could have done this anyway?
I realize the processes that are running will be using the <b>CPU</b>, but which processes have the highest amount of <b>CPU</b> usage?
Safe mode only starts programs and services that are needed. Usually, system restore can be run from safe mode when other programs are conflicting with it in normal mode.
The programs that the system is using and not the user are the ones taking up the most space but on this computer that I'm talking about, Task Manager stays up for about 10-15 seconds then closes by itself so I really can't read the entire list but the system functions I did notice.
