[mommyoffive]

A little history about my computer.......I have a Micron PC.....pretty old. I've wiped and reloaded Windows XP at least 3-4 times since I've had it! Usually it's due to a virus that my kids have gotten on it by clicking on those stupid little pop-ups that they see! Anyway....I've always had good luck with it until this time around. I've wiped and loaded XP three times just in the past two days. I keep getting Fatal errors, shutdowns, plus multiple other problems. Here's some of the error messages I get before I finally get into Windows.

*Digital signature catalog D:/I386/NTPRINTER.CAT could not be installed....fffffc06

* The system cannot find message text for message number 0xfffffc06 in the message file for syssetup.dll.

* The signature for Windows XP Professional upgrade is invalid. The error code is 6ba.

* The RPC server is unavailable.

* Setup failed to install the product catalogs. This is a fatal error.

Then, if I should have to shut down, I sometimes get a message that says something like "Had to shutdown....unexpected error in terminal....f0xc0000096. Also, I can't get Windows Updates....keeps giving me this error code 0xC80003FA. I've already gone through the help processes I was given as far as emptying the internet cache, renaming my Software Distribution folder, stopping and restarting the files Automatic Updates, Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), and Event Log.

Once I get into Windows, I have no problems getting online or anything.....but, it takes me several tries to get to that point. I also can't install any programs (MSN Messenger, AVG, etc.)....gives me error codes on those too! Can someone please help? Thanks!!

P.S. Forgot to add that I tried to do a Repair a couple times first, but it said my cabinet files were missing or something like that. So, I had to wipe and reload.

[bonk]

How old is the Hard drive and how much memory does the PC have installed??

[mommyoffive]

I'm not really sure.....I've had the computer for at least 4 years myself....and I bought it from someone. Is there a way I can tell? Also, I have very low memory....I think this is what you're looking for 128 MB of Ram. That's another issue that I've had many times is that I run low on memory, so I end up deleting a bunch of stuff.

[bonk]

Could be the memory is faulty.....or the Hard drive is damage........can you get hold of any memory from somewhere to test that theory?

And 128MB is way,way to low...I'm surprised it run on that.

[mommyoffive]

Not right now......I just moved back home to NJ, and haven't found a job yet. But, I had planned to add more memory as soon as I can. I'll try that first. Another question.....I deleted everything when I did my re-install......does that wipe everything off the hard drive, so that I have full use of the 128mb of memory that I have in the system? Or would there still be files there that could be using the memory?

[bonk]

The memory has nothing to do with Hard drive.......I assume that is what you meant

and yes it has wipe the Hard drive of all existing files if you did a re-install.

How much memory does the PC have?

To see press Windows Logo key + Pause Break key together
At the bottom of the new screen you will see amount of Ram.

[Soundy]

On a machine that old, you're probably better off getting a new computer - any sort of usable RAM upgrade will cost almost as much as a complete new system.

[mommyoffive]

Sorry.....I don't know what I'm talking about. LOL I do have 128mb of Ram though. I know short of getting a new computer, is there anything else I can do? I ran a chkdsk and so far each time I've shut down the computer, I've been able to get back on. But, I still can't run Automatic Updates or download any programs.

[bonk]

When you say download programs do you mean from the Internet.....and are you using that PC to post here??

[ozrom1e]

With that many errors after installing the only thing I can see is a problem with the hard drive. If you have to find out the make and model number of the hard drive and go to the hard drive manufacturers web site and download the hard drive diagnostics and then follow the instructions for checking out the hard drive, this will tell you all about the hard drive.

[mommyoffive]

Yep....from the internet. I'm trying to download and install Windows Live messenger, AVGfree, some paint.net program, as well as do Windows Updates. I still can't do any of them....keeps giving me error codes when it starts to install. Windows Updates won't even let me get past the Express Install. And now, my internet keeps shutting down whether I'm using Internet Explorer or MSN Explorer.

And yes, this is the only computer I have right now till my other one gets shipped to me.

[mommyoffive]

Okay, thanks! I'll try that. How do I find out what the make and model number is?

Originally Posted by ozrom1e

With that many errors after installing the only thing I can see is a problem with the hard drive. If you have to find out the make and model number of the hard drive and go to the hard drive manufacturers web site and download the hard drive diagnostics and then follow the instructions for checking out the hard drive, this will tell you all about the hard drive.

[ozrom1e]

You have to look at the hard drive label on top of the drive or a program like

Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit = key code for Windows
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Belarc Advisor Security Definitions Update
http://www.belarc.com/advisor_update.html

If you are worried about this being the only computer - there is the library, a friends, etc.

[mommyoffive]

Thanks! I downloaded and ran the Belarc Advisor and this is what it said under Drives....

13.66 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
12.05 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

_NEC DVD_RW ND-1300A [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

WDC WD136BA [Hard drive] (13.67 GB) -- drive 0, s/n WD-WMA041038093, rev 16.13M16, SMART Status: Healthy


It says my hard drive is "healthy", so would that be pretty accurate in saying that my hard drive is okay and I shouldn't need to replace it? It also said that I have a ton of Hotfix security issues that are critical and/or important....probably because I can't get into Windows Update to download SP2. Do you know of a reliable place to get that service pack without having to go through Windows Update? I really think that's where alot of my problems are stemming from. I could be wrong though. LOL

[mommyoffive]

Well, so far I've had good luck with staying connected to the internet, and also have shut my computer down several times and it restarted fine. I still can't do the Windows Updates though. Any suggestions on places I can download the SP2?