attilathepun
Thread Starter
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2005
- Messages
- 12
I have Win xp sp2 running on an old custom build (1400 Athlon w/ 512 Mb RAM on a Shuttle mobo). It's been incredibly stable, except for the occasions when I completely botch something up by attempting something stupid (although this time I didn't do anything, I swear).
Now, though, it won't load any except a few simple (think notepad or abiword) programs; when I try I always get an error message (I don't remember ad verbatim, I'll copy it and repost tomorrow, but it's something about Windows program manager not being able to load the program).
I thought a defrag and a scan of the boot disk might help, but they won't run, either. My kid brother has been using the computer (I've been at work, haven't used that machine in a couple of weeks), and insists he hasn't done anything, either, that it randomly started and he rebooted and it quit, but rebooting doesn't help -- I suspect a corrupt system file. Does anyone know what's wrong and how to fix it?
Oh, btw, data recovery isn't a concern. I have a couple fully functioning Linux distros installed. My goal is to fix the Windows install instead of having to reinstall everything.
Now, though, it won't load any except a few simple (think notepad or abiword) programs; when I try I always get an error message (I don't remember ad verbatim, I'll copy it and repost tomorrow, but it's something about Windows program manager not being able to load the program).
I thought a defrag and a scan of the boot disk might help, but they won't run, either. My kid brother has been using the computer (I've been at work, haven't used that machine in a couple of weeks), and insists he hasn't done anything, either, that it randomly started and he rebooted and it quit, but rebooting doesn't help -- I suspect a corrupt system file. Does anyone know what's wrong and how to fix it?
Oh, btw, data recovery isn't a concern. I have a couple fully functioning Linux distros installed. My goal is to fix the Windows install instead of having to reinstall everything.