BAD PC problem HELP

Good advice to be had here. Go to the XP support section and post your woes there.They've a sticky up telling members not to recommend registry cleaners..Edited by iano, : No reason given.

Hi Mike,You could give the following simple procedure a try.XP has a handy facility whereby (in effect) regular snapshots are taken of key computer settings (such a your registry file). These are stored as "restore points". The idea is that if you get into difficulties (as you seem to have done) then you can always return your computer to the state it was in before you started spannering on it - simply by restoring it to the state it was in at some past dateTo do this just follow the following instructions (I'm assuming your displaying XP in normal mode and not classic mode)Click on 'Start'Pick "Control panel" from the pop up menuPick "Performance and maintenance" from the list of optionsUp near the top left of the screen under the title "See also" is the option "system restore". Click on to open this utility. You can read as you go to understand what's happening.On the righthand side of this new window will be a number of options:- restore my computer to an earlier time
- create a restore point
- undo my last restoration (this option will only appear in the case that you've restored before - which you probably haven't)If the "restore my computer to an earlier time" option is ticked then click 'next'. Otherwise highlight this option and click 'next'A calender will appear showing bolded dates for those times when restore points have been made by your pc. Click on so as to hightlight the first bolded date that lies before the day you began messing with your pc. Click next.The next screen to open will give you some information about what's going on. Click next and your PC will go through the process of restoring key files to that restore point condition. It might take a minute or two, then it will shut down and restart by itself.On restart a screen will advise you what has happened. Exit from this and see if the problem has gone. If not you can try another restore point from before the time you were fiddling with the pc.Final note: if you've recently installed any software aside from XP sp2 or the registry cleaner then don't pick a restore point from before the time of that installation - otherwise any registry changes enabled by that installation will be lost and the software likely won't function.After that you can give SP2 another go (if not able to upgrade directly to SP3)God bless!
Edited by iano, : No reason given.Edited by iano, : No reason given.

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In motoring terminology, my PC is an old banger, but beggars can't be choosers.

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A bit like my car. It threw a cambelt recently and bent some valves. 100 + 6 hours later and she's as good as ever. Don't knock old bangers!Perhaps you could post details so that folk could better guess as to your problem. Assuming you can;click Startclick Runtype dxdiag into the textbox and type okif asked "would you like" ...in relation to WHQL signatures say no thanks.Your computer spec will come up as a multipage list which you can "save all information" as a text file. Post the first section of it (it'll look like the quoted bit below). It might be that your computer spec isn't the problem

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System Information
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Time of this report: 9/22/2008, 23:29:21
Machine name: YOUR-447023AE6B
Operating System: Windows XP Z Edition (6.1, Build Z2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpzsp.080413-2111)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Compaq Presario 061
System Model: EG762AA-ABU SR1629UK GB540
BIOS: BIOS Date: 10/27/05 10:42:48 Ver: 08.00.12
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.06GHz
Memory: 1024MB RAM
Page File: 409MB used, 2051MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

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From the wiki article

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System requirements for Windows XP Home and Professional editions as follows:[29]

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Minimum: Processor 233 MHz Recommended: 300 MHz or higher
Minimum: Memory 64 MB RAM Recommended: 128 MB RAM or higher

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Video adapter and monitor Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution

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Hard drive disk free space 1.5 GB or higher

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Note 1: Using 64 MB of RAM allows the user to complete simple tasks, such as browsing the web or reading email. The user's experience would be "equivalent or superior to that of Windows Me running on the same hardware."

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In addition to the Windows XP system requirements, Service Pack 2 requires an additional 1.8 GB of free hard disk space during installation.[31] Service Pack 3 requires an additional 900 MB of free hard disk space during installation.

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On a plain reading it would appear that Mikes computer should be up to the task. Supposing that XP ran well at some point and doesn't now - because of registry cleaner issues, then a re-install might be the way to go.You got discs for a reinstall Mike?Edited by iano, : No reason given.