My friend has a computer problem.

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sp74Supra

sp74Supra

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Ok heres his problem. He started his computer normally and when he goes to the account selection screen and types in his password the computer freezes. So he said he called the technical support number, by the way he has a compaq thats about 4 years old, and they told him to do the following.... Restart it and press F8, select 'safe mode' and then network. He then got asked to click "automated account" So it worked got into his desktop but he just has four icons and his files arent there such as games, songs..... When he tries to go in internet explorer it says "program not responding", so the poor guy has no internet, and no games...... basically just a desktop to look at. He is going to try to find out more and make some calls. He doesn't want to format like i told him because of the songs, games, important stuff. So if you guys have any suggestions or help, i'll tell my friend right away. Thanks 👍
 
His files are still there.

When you log onto another account (in this case, the Administrator) any of his shortcuts or files will not be shown because he didn't log into his account.

Sounds like he has a bunch of junk clogging up the start up routine. Go to Start > Run and type in MSCONFIG. Go to the startup tab and clear out the junk and then restart normally.
 
ok so when he types that, does he erase junk like programs he doesnt need? How come his internet doesnt work and how can he recover his games and songs from his "original" account. I just did it on my computer and just worried that he might be confused with all the words and what to keep and what to erase. Thanks for your help.
 
In safe mode, you will never have any of your files, internet access or games. It doesn't matter who he logs on as. Safe Mode is just a mode to modify settings so your computer run's correctly. He will get his files back when he restarts in normal mode. BTW, he doesn't have to hit F8 to start in normal mode, after restarting form safe mode it will automatically start in normal mode.
 
Your friend can just go into Safe Mode, backup his files, and then format the drive.
 
This sound new to me because I havent had any problems and he said he called "windows" lol so hes new to computers and might need a lot of help on backing up his files and formating the drive. So is there any simple way to do it so he doesnt make any more problems to what he already has? Thanks.
 
He could maybe find a registry scanner and scan it to see if anything is in it that is causing the computer to freeze. Has he run an anti-virus to see if his PC has a virus causing it to freeze.
 
I asked him about his anti virus software and he told me he erased it!!! I dont know why. but that was my guess maybe some virus thats causing all the freezing and no access to his old file. How would he backup his files if hes not on his own file? And probably cant format because he doesnt have the xp cd that came with the compaq. I have an hp pavilion and a built gaming rig but the hp didnt come with an xp cd either :rolleyes: , hes in safe mode right now.So with no internet access he cant download any registry scanner (if its downloadable). He does have access to his cousins comp if he can get something from that.
 
Even if he doesn't have an XP cd, his computer should have come with some software to reload the machine. We have Sony's and they don't come with the XP cd, but they have CD's for reloading. He could put something on a CD that he downloaded to install it. He should try to download a free virus scanner and install and run it at least.
 
I guess i'll download one for him then. He staying away from formating because of all his games and songs ha, so I dont know what to say. We'll try that and see what happens, but I really suggest he formats I mean having a working computer is better than just looking at the desktop right? Who cares about all the songs their still suing so i'll tell him about formating but he'll say i dont want to ha, oh well. We'll see with that virus scanner and see the results. Dont know why he uninstalled the anti virus software in the first place though :confused:. Thanks for the feedback guys.
 
Be sure to put it on a CD to give to him, then again, I don't know how else you could give it to him. Has he run adaware, or any spyware removal tool, to see if any spyware has changed his registry. I had a problem where spyware wouldn't allow me to connect to the internet, but never where spyware would stop me from logging in. I don't know of any registry scanner's you could download.

What operating system is he using?
If he uses XP, did he download SP2, and it is causing conflicts.

He could also try going to start - run - and then type in MSCONFIG and looking at his startup settings.

I don't know how this works, because I found it on the internet, but if he has the XP cd he can go to Start - Run - and then type sfc /scannow and it will scan and replace corrupted Windows Files. As I say, I don't know how well this works if it works at all.

What happens if he starts in Safe Mode and doesn't log on as the Administrator. Instead he logs on to his username/account. Does it still freeze on him. Or he could create a new user in Safe Mode, and then restart in normal mode and try to log on as that new user and see if it works. If it works he could then transfer the files from one user to the next and delete the old user that froze the machine. Or he could remove the password from his account and see if it works.

Here is somebody with the same problem running a XP machine - http://forums.techguy.org/archive/index.php/t-211613.html

When he goes into MSCONFIG he should look at these two tab's as the most important probably, but he can also look at the others. He should try to start using the diagnostic startup and then after booting with that switch back to normal.

msconfig.jpg


msconfig1.jpg


If none of this helps here are some Google Searches you can look at -

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%2Bxp+%2Bcomputer+freezes+on+logon

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%2Bxp+%2Bcomputer+freezes+on+login&spell=1

Microsoft might have some other stuff on the MSCONFIG settings, or you could do a search.
 
he has xp-home edition, knowing that the comp is 4 years old he probably has sp1. What should I download like meaning a good virus scanner, can he reinstall norton since i have to clue why he uninstalled it in the first place n see if it helps? And if he goes in run and type cmd, formatc, then im sure it will go away and will have a new computer, like I said who cares about songs n games just at least have a working computer. So have to wait n see what his decision is when he calls tonight maybe.
 
He can install a virus scanner if he owns one, or you could even like download a trial version of a virus scanner. All you are trying to do is see if he has a virus right now. He can get a new one in the future. You are trying to see if a virus is what is causing his computer to freeze.

Here are some trial versions of anti-virus software - http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/viruses/default.mspx

Otherwise, I would backup my data to a CD and reformat. It would restore his machine to its new condition and he could install XP SP2, a needed patch without it conflicting with his programs, as he won't have any installed.
 
Yeah, we think its a virus hes in safe mode now so how can he backup his original files to a cd? Thanks for your time and help! Well he should be thankful ha :)
 
When you reformat your comp just leave the files in the Local disk drive. They wont be deleted. Well it worked for me. All windows doesn it just copy over all the files.

Your files wont be touched
 
haha, sucks for him because some guy came to his house and reformated his computer. he told me he had 900 songs!!!! So yeah sucks for him :) , so everything is working now since he reformated, he should come here n say thanks to you guys 👍 . So thanks for your time and feedback!
 
Tell him to install the SP2 patch for XP before he starts to install his programs. If he installs it after installing his programs, he will have to reinstall his programs because it might change some file locations.
 
Thanks for the tip, I dont care what he does anymore haha. But if he calls then i'll tell him 👍 . Oh and thanks cardude2004, you've posted a lot on this thread and have helped a lot :) .
 

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