Hi,
Below is a question that I sent on April 15, 2007. No reply has been sent.
Please advise. The same problem is there.
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Original Message--
From: Gerald Gillman <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2007 15:23:34 EDT
Subject: My Gateway computer does not shut down properly
My Gateway computer, Intel 3, Windows 2000 Professional, Microsoft Office XP
Professional with Front Page does not shut down properly for the last 3 or
more weeks and I am forced to close it by pushing the power button to close
it. I use Ace Utilities, a registry program and have anti-virus & spyware
programs along with firewall. Please advise.
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Good Afternoon Gerald,
One or several things could have 'happened' to to cause the behavior you
having been seeing for the past three weeks. It is, unfortunately, difficult
to pinpoint exactly the source of the problem you've described given the
information you've provided. As I'm sure you realize, performing a hard
shutdown of your PC after each session is not recommended and may actually
be the souce of other problems that may develop develop over time.
My recommendation for the short term is to leave your PC up and running
except when performing necessary restarts for troubleshooting purposes. If
you choose this course, you may adjust your monitor and hard power settings
in 'Display Properties' to conserve energy. Failing that, you can simply
leave your computer on and manually turn off your monitor.
These things in mind, I would suspect you have a software issue or issues
that at the root of your troubles rather than a hardware problem.
Given it's a software issue, have you done one or more of the following
things:
1) Have you attempted to restore your PC's registry to its last known
acceptable working state before the problem began? If yes, the result?;
2) Attempted to boot into W2K in Safe Mode and shutdown in Safe Mode? If
yes, the result?;
3) Tried to selectively disable applications that may launch automatically
at startup? If yes, the result?
4) Manually shutdown applications running in the system tray to isolate a
possible offending program? If yes, the result?
5) Used any Gateway Computer diagnostic utility to help identify and isolate
the problem? If yes, the result?
6) Have you fully updated your copy of W2K Pro and Microsoft Office Products
with all the latest patches and updates? If yes, the result?
7) Run anti-virus, pest and malware scans using Lavasoft's Ad-Aware, Spybot
Search & Destroy, AVG/Ewido Anti-Spyware, MS Windows Malicious Software
Removal Tool, and a known good anti-virus program (not all AV software are
created equal)? If yes, the result?
It would also be helpful to know if you are running under Windows 2000
Professional SP4: if not, you should be.
As regards Ace Utilities (with which I'm not familiar), does it perhaps
create registry backups which could possibly be used to help resolve this
issue? You also mention that you use a registry program: just what program
is it and what are it's capabilities? Could it have perhaps archived a known
good registry backup that could be used to help fix this problem?
Finally, do you perchance use Lar Hederer's ERUNT Emergency Recovery Utility
for NT systems? If not, after your problem is resolved I would recommend you
do as it can be a lifesaver in the Windows NT operating environment (which
includes W2K Pro).
Here are some valuble URL links that you may need to access:
Windows Update:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
Microsoft Office Update
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/maincatalog.aspx
Lavasoft Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition 1.06
http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5
Spybot Search & Destroy 1.4
http://www.filehippo.com/download_spybot_search_destroy/
MS Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx
AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5.0.50
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ewido/
ERUNT Emergency Recovery Utility for NT
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/
Okay my friend, that's it for now: please give us a comprehensive report so
we help you identify, isolate, and fix your problem; and with that done,
give you some tools to avoid a similar situation in the future. BTW, thare
are many other heads on this list that are far wiser and more experienced
than mine so please be open to any and all reasonable advice.
As a sidebar, if you were running Windows XP, you could have set out a
'Remote Assistance' invitation to Gateway Tech Support or to another other
qualified individual which would have allowed them to inspect (and possibly
fix) your system in real time. This is a path I would have recommended up
front if you were running under XP.
Relatedly, please let me know which model Gateway computer you use, which
Pentium III processor it incorporates, and your system's total amount of
physical RAM: WinXP runs fine on older P3 CPUs with 512MB of memory, and you
might wish to consider updating your OS somewhere down the road.
Very truly yours,
Jeffrey Ottie
eom
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