Hi there,

wonder if any of u computer savvy folk can help:

My PC, not 6 months old (Athlon 1800 256 meg) seems to have f**ked it. When I turn it on it often doesnt get past the screen of system info that flashes up (you know, with a box around it), just sticks here. Other times, it gets past the bit where it says "windows XP" with a loadup bar underneath, but then just sticks on a black screen. About 1 in 5 times I get "Windows XP did not launch successfully. Please start in last known config that worked, safe mode or normal. Any of these modes work, but most of my apps throw up problems, especially if there is a disc in either of my drives.
Everything will start up ok, but then not shut down. media player apps in particular seem to be having this problem, and often trying to log off results in my pointer showing either hd or disc access, although neither of these are going on. When I try to use nero, it sticks right after I click 'copy disc/burn' or whatever. Shutting down the system it says Norton Antivirus was unable to shut down, and wkscal exe wa unable to shut down - no idea what this is. My most recent development upon actually getting in is "Norton antivirus was unable to start email protection"

I dont understand it because I havent recently downloaded, installed anything etc

Can anyone help, or will I have to spend about £100 getting someone out? Any suggestions would be highly appreciated

thanks in advance

Well, do the obivious first. Run spybot, If you can check for viruses and worms, download any patches from microsoft. Download regclean in case the registry is hosed.

http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger

Go to the link above and download this worm removal tool, its been going around.

Originally posted by keir
.....When I turn it on it often doesnt get past the screen of system info that flashes up (you know, with a box around it), just sticks here. Other times, it gets past the bit where it says "windows XP" with a loadup bar underneath, but then just sticks on a black screen.......

This sounds like hardware and quite likely RAM. The fact that it hangs at the post screen, before it even gets to the point where software begins to install is the reason I say this.

Is the system still under warranty? If so you should consult with your vendor. If not and you know your way around the inside of the box then turn off the system. Remove your RAM stick and then reinsert it. Hopefully this will re-seat the RAM. If this doesn't help then you might very well need to have it serviced.

Oh dear, my mate made the PC so I dont think I get a warranty... will try that though, dont think its a worm cos I had that and the symptoms are different - plus my virus finder should pck it up anyway right? anyway cheers all will try re inserting the RAM

Even a home built system should still have warranty on the components if they are new. Ask your M8 if he has receipts.