Hello. This is my first time posting. Last night I ran ccleaner 1.26 on Windows XP. I can only boot up in safe mode now. I have restored the registry backups about 10 times now, and there isn't any change. If I boot in Normal Mode it takes about 15 minutes to bootup. After that opening anything takes about 10 minutes, and every times out. I don't have internet access anymore in Normal mode (I have a cable connection). Windows cannot start the Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) Service. In addition Services (Under System Tools) has stopped almost every service. When I manually try to start a service an error message appears stating that 'The plug and play service is not available'.

Can someone please help me? I'm using my roommates computer to post the message. I can't receive emails at this time, but I will keep the forum open. I've been trying to fix this for 10 hours now.

I know that ccleaner is a good program because everyone (Microsoft, etc...) reports that it is awesome. I must have done something wrong on my end. What can I do?

Thanks in advance for your help.

K-

That's a new one and probably not cc. If you haven't made any major changes (hard drive, video,etc.) you should be able to boot in safe mode and go to last known good configuration, or restore the system to a time when all was well.

Hi gunner, thank you for your quick reply. First, as soon as ccleaner finished I rebooted my computer; my problems honestly began at that moment. My computer was almost running perfectly before that, I was testing to see if all of the hype was true, and I gave it a try. Is it possible that I didn't uncheck something that I should have?

In addition I have rebooted in safe mode, chose last time windows worked, and it says that no changes have been made. I've done this 5 times now. As for the system restore, I can't get it to turn on.

Thanks in advance for any further suggestions.

K

Okay, so I'm still not sure about something. Is it possible that I didn't use ccleaner properly? Could I have not done something correctly while operating the program?

So I have a new question now.

In Registry Editor
Folder HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
System (folder)
Setup (folder)
Allow Start (Within in here is DcomLaunch, PlugPlay, etc...) The data column for everything in the Allow Start folder shows 'value not set'. Is this right?

Thanks.

K

Dear newcomer, welcome to the Internet!
This is a discussion board, also commonly called a forum.
When you start a thread on a forum, try to put an informal and useful text in the subject line so people know what the post is about, rather than "HELP!!" or in this case "Help Me Please".

Have a great time, and welcome to the Internet!

Although you make a very valid point my twisted sense of humor has been enabled.

[enable twisted sense of humor]
Imagine crashing your vehicle that is on fire and about to explode. You yell "help." Just a few feet away another motorist with a fire extinguisher available suggests that you must be more specific as to what sort of help you need and suggests in the future when you crash and your vehicle is on fire and about to explode that you say exactly that so other motorist can promptly provide the correct type of assistance.
[/disable twisted sense of humor]

[attachmentid=435]AMEN! Help is a valid request, especially for those of us that are only mere mortals. Pay no attention to the peanut gallery. It is our cross to bear. Now to your question: I don't have a clue other than you may have a virus and some parts were removed. If you can run a scan disk and click attempt to repair it might help. Anyone else have any ideas? Enclosed is a picture of our resident expert.

One last thought: Go to your device manager and see if you have any yellow question marks. If so, try to reinstall the drivers. Plug and play errors can at times be corrected that way.

Guys be nice to the newbies!

What was your suggestion to my problem???

Thanks in advance
K

Good one!

I just noticed your quote. I will never forget again.



You understand!!! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!!! COMPUTER DOWN!!! THIS IS MY 911 CALL!!!

Many Thanks
K

Yeah, I wasn't poking fun at you, it was just my warped attempt using another type of situation as an example. Having a PC go kaput is no fun.

How true. Is it fixed now? let us know.

Hi guys. From what I can tell I am not any closer. I'm not sure if I should cry or throw it out of the window.

Here is the update (I was hoping to post the solution).

All of my drivers are fine.
T
he solution from Microsoft is to manually enter each registry key. I honestly don't think that I have the patience to do that.

If I boot in Normal Mode I only have control through Task Manager. But I can't even open anything.

All of the downloads that I've tried to run from a disk says that I need to be in Normal Mode, but it isn't possible. I can't even use my printer.

I'm seeing an unistall coming on. I can't live too much longer without a PC.

Thanks so much for your support and concern!!

You all are awesome!!
K



I'll keep you all informed. Hopefully I find the cure!!

: )

I PROMISE FROM HERE ON THAT I'LL BACK UP ON A REGULAR BASIS..



I knew what you meant. When I read it I was laughing so hard that I was crying.

Between your comment and gunner's picture my friends and I were thoroughly amused.

Many Thanks
K

Sorry about the late reply, krit86lr. I feel your pain; I've had to wipe hard drives (although not always my own) of irreplaceable files and such. Hopefully, you won't have to do that.

You said that you tried to run System Restore, and it didn't work. Here is something else to try:

1. Hit F8 (over and over) whilst your computer is starting up, right after the BIOS has finished with the POST. If you aren't sure what I'm referring to, just start hitting F8 (maybe twice per second) as soon as you start up your computer.

2. If you do this correctly, a list should come up. This list will have options such as Safe Mode and Normal Mode.

3. Choose the option titled "Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked)" and hit Enter.

Hopefully, this will work for you. Sorry once again for not getting this to you sooner. I hope that you haven't already formatted your hard drive!

Unfortunately I don't know what it means to format the hard drive. I'll look that up in a minute.

I have chosed "Last Known Good..." a few times. Everytime that I've chosen that a message is displayed that says "There Haven't Been Any Changes".

I'm at a loss. That message can't be possible. About 20X now I think that I've found the solution, and then it doesn't work. So now that you've mentioned it, I am going to research formatting the hard drive.

Thank you for your concern. Over 40 hours without PC is very very bad.

I'll take any further suggestions. I'll keep plugging along for another 24 hours. Then drastic measures will come into play.

Does anyone know about the Human Interface Device Access Service. When I try to start it I get this:

Error 126: The specified module could not be found.

I found the files hidserv.dll, mouhid.sys, and mouclass.sys on my computer. What else could cause the module to not be found?

Many Thanks,
K

Before you go about formatting make sure you have available and know where it is either the Windows installation CD, or Windows Restore CD hence without it you'll really be in a mess. Note: Depending upon your computer manufacturer you may have received a Windows install CD, Windows Restore CD, or you may just have a Recovery Partition such as hard disk D:\. If you have a Recovery Partition DO NOT format it!

Okay, first off, formatting (as by now, you probably already know) is when you give your hard drive a file system. By doing this, you "erase" all of the information from your HD, including the OS and files. I say "erase" because most of the information is still technically there, but your computer just treats it like free space and writes over top of it. It is the same thing when you "delete" something from your computer; your OS just acts like the file isn't there, and writes over top of it later.

Most people (myself included) format their HD before installing an OS, even if the file system is already there, to make it a fresh clean install. That way, if your current FS contains any errors, they will be fixed when your reformat it. One thing you can try is putting in your Windows installation disk and just choosing to reinstall without erasing everything; I think you choose the Upgrade option, but I don't remember, since I usually just do full installs.

But if that doesn't work, it very well may be time that you do a clean install and start from scratch. Go into safe mode first and back up all of your important files. You can either do it manually, or use some sort of backup utility, such as the one included with WinXP (Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Backup). Burn your stuff to disks, or hook up an external HD and pop it onto that.

Then, put in your Windows install disk, and restart your computer. Hopefully, your BIOS is set to boot from your optical drive, in which case the installation will begin automatically. If Windows tries to boot from the HD, restart again and do the F8 thing I mentioned in my previous post. Select Boot From CD (or whatever the option is called; don't have a WinXP disk on hand right now to test it out). After the installation has started, just follow the instructions given on the screen; for the most part, they're pretty self explanatory.

Thank you! Those are very good instructions. I'll be giving it a shot.

I'll keep you all updated!!
K

YEA!!! I have a computer again!! I'm so excited I wish that we all could go out for Happy Hour and celebrate.

To make a long story short: I couldn't retreive my XP installation disks from ex-boyfriend; had to reinstall my old ME program; going to buy new XP cd next week; then a friend of a friend (IT guy) is going to format for me, and show me how to make backups of everything (including regedit).

So, the solution to my problem has been found. Hope to see you all on the discussion board under better circumstances.

Good Times!! Great program!!
K



Thanks again to you all for your help and support. Much appreciated.

Hasta Luego!
K

Awesome! Glad to hear it; although I'm sorry you're stuck with WinME.

Try not to faint when you have to pay for WinXP; I just built a new PC for a friend, and when I got WinXP Home for her at Staples, it cost $200! Ouch. But it sure beats ME!

If you have Win ME, you're eligible for the upgrade version of Win XP which should not cost more than $100 (and is often on sale). Note: If you want to do a clean install with the upgrade version, you supposedly need a retail Win ME CD (not just an OEM restore disk) during the install but I found this isn't always the case, e.g., Dell's restore disk seems to be accepted in lieu of a retail disk.

If you upgrade from ME to XP, aren't you stuck with the FAT32 file system? Or is the option to upgrade to NTFS given? I never use the upgrade option; I like to do a clean install. But you can save alot of money that way.

The upgrade version allows either an upgrade or a clean install. For the latter you have to insert the old OS CD at one point to prove you qualify. If you opt for the clean install, you can format to NTFS.

I just did one last week.

Dude, you got ripped off. I see that you're from Illinois. I'm in Missouri. I go to University of Missouri (UMSL). In the student bookstore it's $100 total for everything for Windows XP.

I would like to point this out to everyone. University bookstores have great discount prices for everything. They don't care if you're a student or not. They don't even check. FYI.


K

P.S. I am so sad with ME, BUT "MY COMPUTER IS WORKING"!!! Happy Dance! Good Times!



Thank you. Did you come across any problems/glitches that you didn't forsee?

K

$100 for the full version? That's a good deal. How much for XP Pro? Here in Illinois, it's close to $300! That's why I stuck with Home for my friend's computer. She wouldn't use Pro to its potential anyway.

No (except for booting up twice before remembering to change the BIOS to move the CD up the boot sequence ... D'oh!).

I'll let you know on Friday. I'll be on campus that day. You may even be able to look on the website (www.umsl.edu).


K

Once you're on UMSL's website do a search for 'bookstore'. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.



Thank you. I'll keep that in mind.

K

I thought you said Windows XP Home was only $100. I just went on your website, and they have it listed for $209.95. That's more than I paid!

However, they do have the WinXP Pro Upgrade for $99.95, which is pretty good. That is about what you'd pay for the WinXP Home Upgrade in my hood.

Another good buy I saw was Photoshop CS2 for $299; it's closer to $600 here.

Oh, I didn't mean to say XP Home. I thought that I said XP. I'm not familiar with Home. I've only used Professional SP2. For the most part software is 50% discounted from retail prices.

It's odd that you saw Home listed for $209.95. A Tech Support guy from UMSL told me that it would be a total of $100.00.

Sorry.
K

I don't think you did say Home. But the two retail versions of Windows are Home and Professional, Home being the cheaper and less feature-full version of the two. I just assumed it was Home, because that would be the only one which is close in price to what you wrote. In my previous post, I included a link to the site with the listed prices, including the one I saw for WinXP Home.

But you are right, there is a lot of discounted software on that site. I usually stick with freeware and open source, but to each their pwn.

You were correct XP Home $209. I did get the XP Professional SP2 & XP Professional x64 Edition for a total of $63. A week with ME was a week too long. Unfortunately I can't install Professional x64 Edition, not sure why.

I'm a fan of freeware myself.

K

Do you have a computer with a 64 bit processor, such as an AMD Athlon 64? The x64 is in reference to 64 bits, and any computer with a 32 proc will not run the 64 bit version of Windows.

Also, beware that if you do end up using XP Pro 64 Bit Edition, your drivers and 64 bit app choices are fairly limited right now. More 64 bit software and drivers come out every day, but compatibility is still no where near what it is for someone using a 32 bit OS.

I should note, however, that most of your old 32 bit apps should work on WinXP 64. Some might not, but the compatibility with old apps is supposed to be fairly decent, so I wouldn't worry about that anyway.

I have a fairly old computer with a 32-bit processor. According to Microsoft's website I need a 64-bit platform that required a specific driver that I (of course) do not have. I won't be doing any drastic changes soon because school just started. Although, my long term plan is to figure out how to change my processor. Is that even possible?

FROM HERE ON OUT I WILL BACK UP ON A REGULAR BASIS!!!

K

It certainly is, but you will also have to change your motherboard, so it won't be very cheap. If I was you, for now I would stick with just WinXP Pro.

But, back to the proc and mobo, you need a mobo that supports 64 bit processors. I would suggest getting a board that supports AMD processors, since you can't put an Intel processor in an AMD motherboard, and visa versa; the motherboard you get determines the processor you get.

The reason I like AMDs is because they run cooler than Intels and get more accomplished per cycle (Hertz). Not to mention they are usually cheaper to buy, although that is by no means the main reason I like them.

If you know any hardware gurus at your college, you may want to tell them your dilemma and see if they can find you a reasonably priced mobo and proc and install it for you. Expect to spend around $250-300. I know, not what you wanted to hear!