My brother is having some issues with his operating system, and I was trying to help him troubleshoot it from a distance. Problem is, I don't run XP and am not really familiar with the ins and outs, so if anyone else can help, please let me know.
He told me that he cannot open program files from his desktop, or his start menu. When he does, nothing happens. He also cannot use his CD/DVD drives. He thought he had a v*rus, and he cannot even find his AV software (along with other programs), but I think that he installed some software and it messed with some of his files, due to his drives not working. (I found an issue concerning Nero and CD/DVD drives, but he doesn't have the software on his system, so I ruled that out.) I tried to get him to run a program to find his XP product key, but the program wouldn't run. When I tried to get him to see if sfc /scannow would run, he hit enter, and the window disappeared. So it looks like any time he tries to run a program, most of them don't respond. He can get to the internet using IE most of the time, and he can use IM just fine. Unfortunately, he is sort of new to computers, and didn't know about the Restore feature (Go Back or whatever it is called in XP), so I don't know if XP automatically takes snapshots every so often that would help him, even if he *could* run the feature now. (I tried to get him to run it, but it looks like it also did not respond.) I tried to look for some link that would show him how to create a boot diskette, and from what I could find, it doesn't look like XP has the same method of creating repair/boot diskettes like all the other versions of Windows, which seems kind of strange. Every link provided mentioned copying three files manually, but I'm sure there has got to be a method of doing this using the RUN command. (I will have him do this on a friends machine since he cannot use the ones from his own machine obviously) Being that he bought a Compaq from a electronics chain, he did not get an actual copy of the XP CD, and apparently did not even get a driver/re-install CD. <rant>When and why did this start happening with brands when selling computers? Does it really save that much money to not have the security around when you really need it? To me, it seems like buying a gun for security, but not purchasing the ammo to use in it. it looks good, but when you need to use it, it basically is worthless.</rant> Anyone a little more XP savvy than myself give me a few pointers or links that would prove helpful for this? TIA, Thomas ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Protected by GIANT Company's Spam Inspector The most powerful anti-spam software available. http://www.giantcompany.com <http://www.giantcompany.com/> ============= PCWorks Mailing List ================= Don't see your post? Check our posting guidelines & make sure you've followed proper posting procedures, http://pcworkers.com/rules.htm Contact list owner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Unsubscribing and other changes: http://pcworkers.com =====================================================
