[Resolved] Windows won't boot on old XP machine

[Hoov]

Get Mike Lin''s Startup Control Panel and install it. Don't get the standalone version. Install it, and then go to the windows control panel and start the Startup Control Panel.

Now you can go thru all the tabs and uncheck whatever you don't want running. If you have a question about a program, ask me. Once you have gone thru and unchecked what you don't want, reboot the computer and see how that goes.

We can deal with uninstalling other stuff when we have this down to what is acceptable.

[Corsair]

Completed last instructions, boot up was probably 50% quicker. There were only two tabs with choices to uncheck or check. They were HKCU/Run tab and HKLM/Run tab. On the HKLM/Run tab, I unchecked everything except one item that I wasn't sure of. Here is what that said: Name: DLCFCATS  Path:  rundll 32 C:\WINDOWS\System32\Spool\DRIV.....
On the HKCU/Run tab, I unchecked three out of four choices and wasn't sure of one, It said: Name: ctfmon.exe  Path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe

WE seem to be making good progress! More recommendations?

[Hoov]

DLCFCATS is part of your printer software. To be able to print on the fly you will need to leave that alone. ctfmon.exe is part of Microsoft office. You need to leave it running.

If you don't mind, can you tell me what options you unchecked? Also right click on the taskbar and select Taskmanager. Then on the bottom of the Taskmanager there are two numbers after commit charge. Tell me what those numbers are.

[Corsair]

Commit Charge:  336M / 2167M

HKCU / Run      Unchecked items (3)

Name:     Mobilink3             Path:   C:\Program Files\Novatel Wireless\Virgin Mobile
              ModemonHold                C:\Program Files\NetWaiting\netwaiting.exe
              MSMSGS                       C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe "/ba..


HKLM /Run    Unchecked items    (6)

Name:    ATICCC                Path:    C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE   
             AVFX Engine                    C:\Program Files\Creative\Creative Live Cam\
            Broadcomm Wireless M..      C:\WINDOWS\system32\WLTRAY.exe
            DellSupportCenter              C:\Program Files\Dell Support Center\bin\
            SigmatelSysTrayApp            stsystra.exe
            ULead AutoDetector          C:\Program Files\Ulead Systems\ULead Photo E..

[Hoov]

Download Windows Installer Cleanup and install it. The run it and see if the Ulead Photo Explorer is listed. If it is, select it and then click on the Remove button. You can also uninstall any other program that is not needed.

Any problems left? Can you get into all the system area's with no problems? Any problems with the shutdown?

If everything is working good, I would run a defrag on the drive, even if it says its not needed. That will tighten it all up and overwrite the pieces left behind.

[Corsair]

I think that I'm on to something, but first this. Went to run the installer cleaner and webpage said that it was no longer supported but Suggested a link to Microsoft Fixit program that does the same thing. I downloaded that and ran it. It never found a ULead program to uninstall, so that came up empty as far as fixing anything. Here is the interesting thing, about two months ago, when I first noticed that my daughters machine was booting and running very slowly, I started the disk defragmenter in Windows and then I had to leave her residence before it was finished running. She said it took many hours of running but finally finished. Like I said, I wasn't there. Well, I thought that I would run disk cleanup and then defrag the drive before i posted back to you. The defrag operation showed that the drive was mostly fragmented and said that it should be defraged. I started the defrag operation and after a few minutes a window opened and said thare was only 10% disk space left on the drive and a normal defrag could not be done. It asked if I wanted to continue anyway, which is what I did. After a couple of minutes running the defrag operation stopped and a report was generated. I saved the report to notepad and copy and pasted it here for you.
Volume (C:)
    Volume size                                = 52.25 GB
    Cluster size                               = 4 KB
    Used space                                 = 47.01 GB
    Free space                                 = 5.25 GB
    Percent free space                         = 10 %

Volume fragmentation
    Total fragmentation                        = 53 %
    File fragmentation                         = 86 %
    Free space fragmentation                   = 21 %

File fragmentation
    Total files                                = 116,589
    Average file size                          = 727 KB
    Total fragmented files                     = 14,028
    Total excess fragments                     = 818,298
    Average fragments per file                 = 8.01

Pagefile fragmentation
    Pagefile size                              = 1.31 GB
    Total fragments                            = 50,269

Folder fragmentation
    Total folders                              = 13,570
    Fragmented folders                         = 7
    Excess folder fragments                    = 221

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
    Total MFT size                             = 719 MB
    MFT record count                           = 139,271
    Percent MFT in use                         = 18 %
    Total MFT fragments                        = 943

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments       File Size       Files that cannot be defragmented
1,732           8 MB            \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty.D30R69C1\Local Settings\Temp\Norton Internet Security 2006 12-18-2011 11h57m44s.log
2,008           73 MB           \System Volume Information\_restore{202550A8-7A33-4BCA-9586-051D24DDBF8F}\RP527\A0217821.exe
1,693           85 MB           \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty.D30R69C1\Local Settings\Temp\WER903e.dir00\firefox.exe.hdmp
1,737           85 MB           \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty.D30R69C1\Local Settings\Temp\WER9005.dir00\firefox.exe.hdmp
1,770           90 MB           \WINDOWS\Temp\slu5224.tmp\VIRSCAN7.DAT
1,628           90 MB           \WINDOWS\Temp\slu17a6.tmp\VIRSCAN7.DAT
2,273           91 MB           \WINDOWS\Temp\slu3473.tmp\VIRSCAN7.DAT
1,895           91 MB           \WINDOWS\Temp\slu547.tmp\VIRSCAN7.DAT
2,165           91 MB           \WINDOWS\Temp\slu2c3b.tmp\VIRSCAN7.DAT
1,755           91 MB           \WINDOWS\Temp\slu7cba.tmp\VIRSCAN7.DAT
2,082           91 MB           \WINDOWS\Temp\slu2bfe.tmp\VIRSCAN7.DAT
1,613           93 MB           \WINDOWS\Temp\slu6efc.tmp
1,606           93 MB           \WINDOWS\Temp\slu5bc8.tmp\VIRSCAN7.DAT
1,687           93 MB           \WINDOWS\Temp\slu707c.tmp\VIRSCAN7.DAT
1,616           93 MB           \Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\VirusDefs\tmp707c.tmp\VIRSCAN7.DAT
2,019           94 MB           \WINDOWS\Temp\slu408.tmp\VIRSCAN7.DAT
1,754           94 MB           \WINDOWS\Temp\slu74b8.tmp\VIRSCAN7.DAT
1,874           95 MB           \WINDOWS\Temp\slu5938.tmp\VIRSCAN7.DAT
1,628           97 MB           \Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\VirusDefs\tmp7d63.tmp\VIRSCAN7.DAT
2,023           148 MB          \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\Application Data\gemsweeperextractedgfx\resources-processed.frc\Resources
9,606           149 MB          \Program Files\WildGames\Haunted Past Realm of Ghosts Collectors Edition\HauntedPast.dcr
2,509           185 MB          \Program Files\WildGames\Season Match 3 Curse of the Witch Crow\sm3_Data\sharedassets1.assets
2,841           186 MB          \Program Files\WildGames\Jewel Keepers Easter Island\VFS\DataDX.P00
3,211           206 MB          \Program Files\WildGames\Season Match 3 Curse of the Witch Crow\sm3_Data\sharedassets0.assets
3,483           224 MB          \Program Files\WildGames\Janes Hotel Mania\dump0.0.1.dmp
5,779           366 MB          \Program Files\WildGames\Janes Hotel Mania\dump0.0.0.dmp
11,828          410 MB          \System Volume Information\_restore{202550A8-7A33-4BCA-9586-051D24DDBF8F}\RP519\A0211643.exe
8,189           561 MB          \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Deadtime Stories\resources.dat
8,911           586 MB          \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Buried In Time\DATA00\trd.pak
7,850           640 MB          \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Artist Colony\DATA00\trd.pak

[Hoov]

For that file, did you click on the link in my post? It should have take you to a Mojorgeeks page not a Microsoft page.

About the defrag, try running it again (after running the instructions below) and see how much it says it is fragmented. A 50 gig harddrive that is mostly fragmented will take more than a couple of minutes to defrag.

Also it appears that Norton is still at least partially on the computer. To clean it up, I would like you to download and run the Norton Removal Tool and get rid of the rest of Norton.

Also I would like you to run ccleaner to get rid of some of the temporary files on the computer.
1.Download and scan with CCleaner
When you get to the website, there is a dark grey box on the left side with two tabs along the top. Inside this Dark Grey box is a light grey box. Below that light grey box is where the download links are at. The pay amount is for paid support.
2. Before first use, select Options > Advanced and UNCHECK "Only delete files in Windows Temp folder older than 48 hours"
3. Then select the items you wish to clean up.
In the Windows Tab:

• Clean all entries in the "Internet Explorer" section except Cookies if you want to keep those.
• Clean all the entries in the "Windows Explorer" section.
• Clean all entries in the "System" section.
• Clean all entries in the "Advanced" section.
• Clean any others that you choose.

In the Applications Tab: 

• Clean all except cookies in the Firefox/Mozilla section if you use it.
• Clean all in the Opera section if you use it.
• Clean Sun Java in the Internet Section.
• Clean any others that you choose.

4. Click the "Run Cleaner" button.
5. A pop up box will appear advising this process will permanently delete files from your system.
6. Click "OK" and it will scan and clean your system.
7. Click "exit" when done.

[Corsair]

I did run the Windows Installer Cleanup from the Majorgeeks site. There was no listing of anything ULead. I deleted nothing using that tool. I had great success using the CCcleaner program. It freed up over 23 gigs of space! I then ran disk defrag in Windows. It took forever. When it finally stopped, there was another message saying there were many files that couldn't be defragged. I am pasting a copy of the report here. Definetly different from the first report! System is definetly responding much better but still not 100% I think.
Volume (C:)
    Volume size                                = 52.25 GB
    Cluster size                               = 4 KB
    Used space                                 = 23.92 GB
    Free space                                 = 28.33 GB
    Percent free space                         = 54 %

Volume fragmentation
    Total fragmentation                        = 16 %
    File fragmentation                         = 32 %
    Free space fragmentation                   = 1 %

File fragmentation
    Total files                                = 99,102
    Average file size                          = 462 KB
    Total fragmented files                     = 102
    Total excess fragments                     = 169,625
    Average fragments per file                 = 2.71

Pagefile fragmentation
    Pagefile size                              = 1.31 GB
    Total fragments                            = 50,269

Folder fragmentation
    Total folders                              = 12,566
    Fragmented folders                         = 1
    Excess folder fragments                    = 0

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
    Total MFT size                             = 719 MB
    MFT record count                           = 114,655
    Percent MFT in use                         = 15 %
    Total MFT fragments                        = 944

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments       File Size       Files that cannot be defragmented
764             41 MB           \System Volume Information\_restore{202550A8-7A33-4BCA-9586-051D24DDBF8F}\RP547\snapshot\_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
1,214           44 MB           \System Volume Information\_restore{202550A8-7A33-4BCA-9586-051D24DDBF8F}\RP541\A0233013.exe
755             47 MB           \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\Application Data\TimeQuest\3
775             49 MB           \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\Local Settings\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\zry7d1ro.default\urlclassifier3.sqlite
799             50 MB           \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\Application Data\TimeQuest\4
804             50 MB           \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\Application Data\TimeQuest\0
810             51 MB           \System Volume Information\_restore{202550A8-7A33-4BCA-9586-051D24DDBF8F}\RP518\A0211553.exe
1,227           66 MB           \System Volume Information\_restore{202550A8-7A33-4BCA-9586-051D24DDBF8F}\RP515\A0209227.exe
2,008           73 MB           \System Volume Information\_restore{202550A8-7A33-4BCA-9586-051D24DDBF8F}\RP527\A0217821.exe
976             79 MB           \Program Files\Common Files\Windows Live\.cache\wlc28.tmp
1,378           86 MB           \System Volume Information\catalog.wci\00010006.ci
961             93 MB           \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\My Documents\Downloads\romance_of_rome-setup.exe
1,316           95 MB           \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\My Documents\Downloads\farm_ frenzy_3-setup.exe
897             101 MB          \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\MumboJumbo\7 Wonders - Treasures of Seven\1.04\Cache\resources.sfs
1,039           107 MB          \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\My Documents\Downloads\ghost_town_mysteries-setup.exe
980             125 MB          \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\My Documents\Downloads\magic_academy_2-setup.exe
1,138           147 MB          \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\My Documents\Downloads\midnight_mysteries_poe-setup.exe
2,023           148 MB          \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\Application Data\gemsweeperextractedgfx\resources-processed.frc\Resources
9,606           149 MB          \Program Files\WildGames\Haunted Past Realm of Ghosts Collectors Edition\HauntedPast.dcr
2,509           185 MB          \Program Files\WildGames\Season Match 3 Curse of the Witch Crow\sm3_Data\sharedassets1.assets
2,841           186 MB          \Program Files\WildGames\Jewel Keepers Easter Island\VFS\DataDX.P00
991             188 MB          \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\My Documents\Downloads\righteous_kill_2-setup.exe
3,211           206 MB          \Program Files\WildGames\Season Match 3 Curse of the Witch Crow\sm3_Data\sharedassets0.assets
3,483           224 MB          \Program Files\WildGames\Janes Hotel Mania\dump0.0.1.dmp
1,274           224 MB          \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\MumboJumbo\Samantha Swift and the Hidden Roses of Athena\1.00\Cache\Resources.sfs
5,779           366 MB          \Program Files\WildGames\Janes Hotel Mania\dump0.0.0.dmp
11,828          410 MB          \System Volume Information\_restore{202550A8-7A33-4BCA-9586-051D24DDBF8F}\RP519\A0211643.exe
8,189           561 MB          \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Deadtime Stories\resources.dat
8,911           586 MB          \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Buried In Time\DATA00\trd.pak
7,850           640 MB          \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Artist Colony\DATA00\trd.pak

[Hoov]

Some of those files will be gotten rid of when we do the cleanup after all is well. There is a way to get the others defragmented. Start windows cleanly using msconfig just as you did before. Then run defrag again. If that still does not do it, there is one other way that it can be run.

[Corsair]

Performed a clean boot just as directed earlier. Then ran defrag. It only ran about 30 minutes. Looks like about the same result as before. Copy of report follows:
Volume (C:)
    Volume size                                = 52.25 GB
    Cluster size                               = 4 KB
    Used space                                 = 23.28 GB
    Free space                                 = 28.97 GB
    Percent free space                         = 55 %

Volume fragmentation
    Total fragmentation                        = 17 %
    File fragmentation                         = 33 %
    Free space fragmentation                   = 1 %

File fragmentation
    Total files                                = 97,949
    Average file size                          = 452 KB
    Total fragmented files                     = 96
    Total excess fragments                     = 165,959
    Average fragments per file                 = 2.69

Pagefile fragmentation
    Pagefile size                              = 1.31 GB
    Total fragments                            = 50,269

Folder fragmentation
    Total folders                              = 12,540
    Fragmented folders                         = 1
    Excess folder fragments                    = 0

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
    Total MFT size                             = 719 MB
    MFT record count                           = 113,340
    Percent MFT in use                         = 15 %
    Total MFT fragments                        = 944

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments       File Size       Files that cannot be defragmented
764             41 MB           \System Volume Information\_restore{202550A8-7A33-4BCA-9586-051D24DDBF8F}\RP547\snapshot\_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
1,214           44 MB           \System Volume Information\_restore{202550A8-7A33-4BCA-9586-051D24DDBF8F}\RP541\A0233013.exe
755             47 MB           \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\Application Data\TimeQuest\3
775             49 MB           \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\Local Settings\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\zry7d1ro.default\urlclassifier3.sqlite
799             50 MB           \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\Application Data\TimeQuest\4
804             50 MB           \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\Application Data\TimeQuest\0
810             51 MB           \System Volume Information\_restore{202550A8-7A33-4BCA-9586-051D24DDBF8F}\RP518\A0211553.exe
1,227           66 MB           \System Volume Information\_restore{202550A8-7A33-4BCA-9586-051D24DDBF8F}\RP515\A0209227.exe
2,008           73 MB           \System Volume Information\_restore{202550A8-7A33-4BCA-9586-051D24DDBF8F}\RP527\A0217821.exe
976             79 MB           \Program Files\Common Files\Windows Live\.cache\wlc28.tmp
1,378           86 MB           \System Volume Information\catalog.wci\00010006.ci
961             93 MB           \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\My Documents\Downloads\romance_of_rome-setup.exe
1,316           95 MB           \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\My Documents\Downloads\farm_ frenzy_3-setup.exe
897             101 MB          \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\MumboJumbo\7 Wonders - Treasures of Seven\1.04\Cache\resources.sfs
1,039           107 MB          \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\My Documents\Downloads\ghost_town_mysteries-setup.exe
980             125 MB          \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\My Documents\Downloads\magic_academy_2-setup.exe
1,138           147 MB          \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\My Documents\Downloads\midnight_mysteries_poe-setup.exe
2,023           148 MB          \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\Application Data\gemsweeperextractedgfx\resources-processed.frc\Resources
9,606           149 MB          \Program Files\WildGames\Haunted Past Realm of Ghosts Collectors Edition\HauntedPast.dcr
2,509           185 MB          \Program Files\WildGames\Season Match 3 Curse of the Witch Crow\sm3_Data\sharedassets1.assets
2,841           186 MB          \Program Files\WildGames\Jewel Keepers Easter Island\VFS\DataDX.P00
991             188 MB          \Documents and Settings\Colleen Doherty\My Documents\Downloads\righteous_kill_2-setup.exe
3,211           206 MB          \Program Files\WildGames\Season Match 3 Curse of the Witch Crow\sm3_Data\sharedassets0.assets
3,483           224 MB          \Program Files\WildGames\Janes Hotel Mania\dump0.0.1.dmp
1,274           224 MB          \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\MumboJumbo\Samantha Swift and the Hidden Roses of Athena\1.00\Cache\Resources.sfs
5,779           366 MB          \Program Files\WildGames\Janes Hotel Mania\dump0.0.0.dmp
11,828          410 MB          \System Volume Information\_restore{202550A8-7A33-4BCA-9586-051D24DDBF8F}\RP519\A0211643.exe
8,189           561 MB          \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Deadtime Stories\resources.dat
8,911           586 MB          \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Buried In Time\DATA00\trd.pak
7,850           640 MB          \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Artist Colony\DATA00\trd.pak

[Hoov]

I need you to reboot to safe mode with command prompt.

Once the command prompt is running type in defrag c: -v >c:\defrag.txt then hit enter. Once it is done, reboot the computer.

Now go to C: and open defrag.txt. Copy the log and paste the result back here.

While it is running the defrag, the computer is going to look like it is just sitting there. There will be no indication that it is doing anything, just let it run. If it ran for a half hour last time, let it go for at least an hour this time. It probably won't take that long. Once you see the command prompt come back after hitting enter, the defrag is done and you can reboot and send me the results.

[Corsair]

Followed instructions, defrag took about 2hours 30 minutes. Report looks like almost a gigabyte of additional space. Boot up speed about the same, still not what it should be in my opinion. AS always, once the "Windows XP" screen appears and then disappears after fifteen seconds or so, the screen goes totally dark for a good 50 to 60 seconds before windows password log-in screen appears and then from that point, boot speed would be pretty good. Not trying to be picky, just trying to pass on what I see. It's 1000% better than what it was a couple days ago when it wouldn't even boot!!   Follows the defrag report:
Windows Disk Defragmenter
Copyright (c) 2001 Microsoft Corp. and Executive Software International, Inc.

Analysis Report                      

    Volume size                        = 52.25 GB
    Cluster size                       = 4 KB
    Used space                         = 22.42 GB
    Free space                         = 29.84 GB
    Percent free space                 = 57 %

Volume fragmentation                 
    Total fragmentation                = 17 %
    File fragmentation                 = 34 %
    Free space fragmentation           = 1 %

File fragmentation                   
    Total files                        = 98,135
    Average file size                  = 441 KB
    Total fragmented files             = 220
    Total excess fragments             = 166,173
    Average fragments per file         = 2.69

Pagefile fragmentation               
    Pagefile size                      = 1.31 GB
    Total fragments                    = 50,269

Folder fragmentation                 
    Total folders                      = 12,550
    Fragmented folders                 = 2
    Excess folder fragments            = 8

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation    
    Total MFT size                     = 719 MB
    MFT record count                   = 113,536
    Percent MFT in use                 = 15
    Total MFT fragments                = 944



Defragmentation Report               

    Volume size                        = 52.25 GB
    Cluster size                       = 4 KB
    Used space                         = 22.42 GB
    Free space                         = 29.84 GB
    Percent free space                 = 57 %

Volume fragmentation                 
    Total fragmentation                = 16 %
    File fragmentation                 = 32 %
    Free space fragmentation           = 1 %

File fragmentation                   
    Total files                        = 98,135
    Average file size                  = 441 KB
    Total fragmented files             = 71
    Total excess fragments             = 151,777
    Average fragments per file         = 2.54

Pagefile fragmentation               
    Pagefile size                      = 1.31 GB
    Total fragments                    = 50,269

Folder fragmentation                 
    Total folders                      = 12,550
    Fragmented folders                 = 1
    Excess folder fragments            = 0

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation    
    Total MFT size                     = 719 MB
    MFT record count                   = 113,536
    Percent MFT in use                 = 15
    Total MFT fragments                = 944

[Hoov]

Don't worry about being picky, you are sitting in front of the computer and I only know what you tell me. So the more you tell me the better.

Lets see if it is something installed causing the problem.

I need you to reboot windows cleanly. To do that please go to the run command and type in msconfig . Once that starts, select selective startup, and then uncheck the load startup items. Now click on the services tab, and down near the bottom of the window, check the box that says Hide all Microsoft Services now go up and uncheck all the services still listed, make sure you scroll down the list if need to unselect all the non Microsoft services. Now click apply, then click OK and reboot the computer.

Once you have decided how the computer started, run msconfig and select normal startup then click apply then OK and reboot the computer.

Let me know how it went. Was the first reboot better, worse, or the same.

[Corsair]

Did what you asked. My opinion, very little if any difference in boot-up speeds.

[Hoov]

Before we go further, could you run DDS again? copy and paste both logs into a reply. Once the computer is running, how does it seem to do?