XP problem,

[david65]

My XP operating system has crashed twice now. The first time they said I would have to reformat, This time I had a special cnfiguration to put on a console so that maybe the problem can be worked thru if it happens again. I have not worked thru it yet and don't know if i can keep from losing some files. Is there a better operating system. Is windows 2003 have all these problems.

[~Patrick~]

Are you on Home or pro? I have XP Pro that was put in about a month ago, with the updates, and havent had any probs. I also have a virus shield that updates every friday.

[krajaxa]

We have been operating XP Pro for 11 months now with no real problems...
Actually, we definitely like it better than the old windows 98.

k
http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

[jimnms]

What exactly is the problem?

_____
Learn from the mistakes of others, you won't live long enough to make all of them yourself.

[david65]

I have the home version. The feedback that I am getting from the people that make hp computers is that some downloaded programs or shutting down is what is jacking the configuration or whatever. Upon restarting, it will just show the logo xp. The only was out is reformatting unless a special console line is added to the configuration. I done this the first time it crashed. I am going to call hp and ask them what to do now with the console and if I will be able to revive it. Safe mode does not work on xp in this case. I have noticed that frontpage 2000 may be causing this. What are some alternative operating systems.

[~Patrick~]

When did you do the last windows update from MS? If you can use another pc, download a package update to disk. Start your pc with the boot disk in. Run the update disk. You should have a good virus shield also. Maybe you could talk HP into sending you the updated disks, or order them from ms.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/default.asp

[Steven Edwards]

Can you try booting by selectively loading drivers? I know it was possible in prior versions of Windows, but haven't tried in XP. Sometimes programs load drivers at startup and their initialization code hangs the system... it's happened to me a few times.

-Steven

[mattblan]

Linux! Linux! Linux!

[airart1]

tell us exactly what its doing, not enough info..........xp is a great program.......very stable compared to other windows......do a restore first and go back to before it started messing up........make sure u keep it updated at microsoft also, let us know exactly what its doing, xp also has a repair utility that works pretty good.......

Koran Verse 9 : 11

-- For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome
Eagle. The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of
Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair, still more
rejoiced; for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah; and
there was peace.

[PN]

Hewlett-Packard still has good tech support to my knowledge, unlike Dell who has now exported their tech support to India. I know that Hewlett-Packard does not have an 800 toll-free number so I would ask to have this problem escalated to a tech engineer. By the way, how old is this PC? Also, Windows XP is a very stable operating system.

PN

[david65]

There is no way to get around after it crashed. I don't know the exact reasons for it to crash, except hp says some configuration can get looped from improper shut downs or from some programs shutting down weird (not sure what that is) It seems to happen during frontpage 2000. The first time it crashed - I had no choice but to reformat from disks. They gave me a startup recovery command to add to the configuration after the computer got going again. Now that I have this recovery option, I have about 20 lines of code I have to redo. Safe mode or bootup or anything would nt stop the buggy loop that somehow got stuck in the shut down, no access available whatsoever. The xp program does not have the recovery option for this problem and probably any other problem for that matter.

[david65]

It wasn't a virus. I had all the updates. It's some kind of glitch. The laptop is a hp pavilion ze4200 with xp home, only 4 months old. It will not boot up and when it crashes, there does not seem to be anything that can be done except I had to reformat. The code didn't work. I guess if any of you guys or gals ever get an xp crash, you probably better get ready to overwrite everything. I am going to contact MSN and see if a patch or update can be done. On the Linux OS - what is that like. Can windows be run too. I am thinking of getting partition magic so this can have two OS's. Maybe then, i might not lose my programs and files, plus the backup work too. Safe mode is no good on this one.

[This message was edited by david65 on 11-05-03 at 05:12 PM.]

[mattblan]

Linux would never do this to you. You dont need partition magic if you use fdisk. Divide up your disk and make the first half ntfs, 1gb for linux swap, and then some for a linux partition (3-4gb+). When XP dies on you again you can transfer all of your stuff off of the ntfs partition, reinstall windows and move everything back. Did i mention that Linux would never do this to you?

[jimnms]

Originally posted by mattblan:

Linux would never do this to you. You dont need partition magic if you use fdisk. Divide up your disk and make the first half ntfs, 1gb for linux swap, and then some for a linux partition (3-4gb+). When XP dies on you again you can transfer all of your stuff off of the ntfs partition, reinstall windows and move everything back. Did i mention that Linux would never do this to you?

Linux is not immune to problems. I've used Linux and other flavors of Unix for years. I've seen alot of file system errors crop up. Granted it's quite rare, but when something goes wrong, the shit really hits the fan. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/eek.gif

_____
Learn from the mistakes of others, you won't live long enough to make all of them yourself.

[PN]

If you really are considering having two operating systems on your PC, you should take a look at System Commander 7.

PN

http://www.v-com.com/product/sc7_ind.html

[mattblan]

I'm not saying Linux doesn't have problems. It is just that there are so many ways to deal with them unlike a Microsoft crash where it's either restore or reformat. Do you agree that having a Linux system on there for backup is a good idea?

[jimnms]

Originally posted by mattblan:

I'm not saying Linux doesn't have problems. It is just that there are so many ways to deal with them unlike a Microsoft crash where it's either restore or reformat. Do you agree that having a Linux system on there for backup is a good idea?

Thats quite a complicated way of doing it though. David hasn't really given us much detail on the problem, but based on the severity and frequency of his problem I don't think XP is the cause. I think he may have hardware problems.

On my old computer I started crashing after I installed XP on it. It was starting to have frequent crashes before when I was running WinME, and thought it was time to format.

Instead I bought XP and installed it fresh, but the crashes continued. It turned out to be a bad stick of memory. After I removed that, it quit crashing.

I have not had any crashes since I built my new computer.

_____
Learn from the mistakes of others, you won't live long enough to make all of them yourself.

[Steven Edwards]

I think that having a data partition seperate from your OS partition [and possibly a third specifically for swap space at the beginning of the drive] is a good choice. That way if you have to reformat and reinstall the OS, you keep your data files.

What do you guys think?

-Steven

[david65]

According to hp, it is caused by an improper default in shutting down or in some software. Now my computer cannot run MSN on the internet without a gray box with a red x saying the NT Administrator is shutting off my computer. It happened once in AOL so far. In the box it says "Remote Procedure Call" RPC - I have not adsdressed Microsoft yet with the safe mode not working thru any conflicts of a crash. I could alwaYS WORK thru safe mode in the ME edition and 98 and 95. I will try to find any specific information from HP or Microsoft. L8R

[jimnms]

Steven, yes it's a good idea to create separate partitions for data and Windows. I've been doing it that way since Win95.

Although With XP, you can do a "reformat" and there is an option not to delete the "Documents and Settings" directory, so it really is not necessary. I still do it out of habit though.

David, do you run Windows Update regularly? There was a serious security flaw in the RPC code, and it sounds like you may have been hacked. If your computer has been compromised through the RPC hole, you should just reformat, reinstall, turn on the firewall, and run Windows Update and install ALL critical updates. Then leave the firewall enabled.

That line HP is giving you about improper shutting down sounds like BS. The NTFS file system XP uses is alot less prone to becoming corrupt due to not properly shutting it down (ie start, shutdown, etc.).

My UPS (uninteruptable power supply) went crazy and every time there was a little power flicker, instead of switching to battery for a few seconds like it should, it would just turn off. Because the plug was behind my desk, I couldn't get to it, and I had to have help to unplug my computer from it. It was a while before I got someone to help me with it, so my system was powered off several times without going through the proper shutdown procedure. XP is great about recovering from an improper shutdown, and I never lost one bit of data.

If some software is doing this, you should find out which one and quit using it. I've never heard of software that would do this to an OS, unless it was written to intentionally to do it (like a virus or trojan).

_____
Learn from the mistakes of others, you won't live long enough to make all of them yourself.

[scott7065]

I agree with jimnms, It sounds like the RPC exploit symptoms. A reformat as jimnms mentioned would be a good idea. Then once you are up and running again, follow the steps at http://www.microsoft.com/protect. If you do not want to reformat your hd, try searching microsoft, I think they have a fix or patch or something.


-Scott

[Bondo]

Spam - probably malware link - don't click on it.

[mingo]

Hewlett-Packard still has good tech support to my knowledge, unlike Dell who has now exported their tech support to India. I know that Hewlett-Packard does not have an 800 toll-free number so I would ask to have this problem escalated to a tech engineer. By the way, how old is this PC? Also, Windows XP is a very stable operating system.
PN

Not so fast on the escalation.

When I have a weird problem with XP and some glitch, I use the chat system at HP. There goes your day...

On my last chat back in October I was having trouble with Word 97. The fan would kick in once I started cut and pasting. It didn't used to do this.

I'm guessing as the file has grown to over 100 pages it just demands more from the system. Word and some video editing programs do not unload right. They hang the system and require closing manually and a reboot.

During this last chat it was suggested I put more ram in, so to hurry this thing up I said, "Sure, have your guy call me."

The guy tried to sell me 4 GB of ram to max out the memory. I already had 1.5 GB and that's plenty for Word even if it's an old version. These guys will sell you something that does and not address the root cause.

I find it easier to just spend the day recovering the OS, getting all the updates and then turn the updates off. My sister had a hard drive fail due to an incomplete Windows update which corrupted the NTFS file structure.

So, mine gets a manual update if at all. Keeping all the security up otherwise. Some will say this is not a good idea and I'd normally agree. My computer, my time.

I save my data to an external HD and tweak this system for speed. Cnet had some tweaks I was unaware of and the OS is noticeablely faster. Look at Cnet's online courses and sign up for "Optomising XP."

No one here can tell you will 100% assurance, but dont just throw money at it.

[CapnGimp]

LOL!
Wonder if he waited 4 years for your suggestion??

[Patonb]

hehe that was my thought too!

[mingo]

Well hell. It came as a new post...so I replied.