I had win98se on drive c and winxp on drive e and used dual booting (although hadn't really had a chance to use xp yet)

After performing "optimize registry" in norton utilities the system wouldnt reboot at all and I could not even install/copy or perform any other actions on any drive even though they were all recognised and directories listed in dos. This seemed to be due to corruption of master boot record and after 4 hours frantically trying to rescue the situation to no avail I decided the only way out was to reformat c and reinstall windows.

This seemed to be successful but as i am gradually adding back on the progs I used to have (and updating drivers wherever possible) I am beginning to get probs again...

Drop down boxes take about 10 secs to drop
Progs stop working or become very slow
Windows explorer (which I use all the time for file management) stops responding for up to 3 mins when deleting, moving or renaming files (only after system has been up for a while)
blue screen with statement "KEBUG CHECKEX - system halted" appeared when trying to run power dvd (not seen this warning before)

and now I am not able to switch the system off.... pressing shutdown closes the system down and then it immediately restarts and this is also happening with the power button on the pc, even if I hold it down for some time. Having to shutdown by pulling power supply from rear of pc when windows first disappears.

Appart from wiping my whole system and starting again (not) what else could i do?

Any ideas would bebgratefully received.

I mainly use my pc for copying DVDs, downloading music from newsgroups and burning cds/vcds

Alad

If you scan your disk(s) and find no virus (make sure it is a current version as this virus was released late 2001), then you may consider the battery as the culprit. However, it usually takes a few years before the battery goes bad.

You do not need to go to NTFS. I was merely indicating the if Norton Untilities were to scan over multiple partition types, it may be confused and cause damage to the file structure or windows files. However, it should be mentioned that you do NOT have to reinstall XP to convert to NTFS. You can do this in the disk manager without reinstall, just a reboot.

The Magistr virus has a few other fun things it likes to do. It has QUITE a payload. Check out www.symantec.com/avcenter and run a search for the virus. You will get a full bio on the program and see if the symtoms are simlar to what you are experiencing. It also gives detailed instructions on how to fix the damage.

I am VERY meticulous about any infections on my pc and use AVG anti virus which I update weekly and which scans all emails as they arrive - I also use "The Cleaner" to detect trojans and once a month go onto pccillins House Call for an off the pc check - in addition i check for and install windows updates about once a month so I would be very surprised if a virus was the problem. However I went to the symantec site and downloaded the Magistr test/cleaner which proved negative although of course I have formatted and reinstalled the registry since the main problems happened so it is likely to have been cleaned off at that point if I was infected.

Am going to replace the battery to see if that cures the prob. Otherwise I think I may have to resign myself to the fact that, as an avid pc user (about 18 hours a day on and off - one of the beauties of working from home), I am going to get problems like this from time to time that being the nature of the beast!! :-)

Alan

You've given me plenty of info to digest - am going through the detail - will let you know how it goes.

feedback so far...

I do have both operating systems on different partitions but on the same disc. XP is in fat32 - will I need to reformat the partition to reinstall in NTFS - I don't actually use XP to be honest as i just haven't had the time to play around with it since installing it! I must try and find the time.

I have been having some problems with the clock, which has been reseting the date to August 2000 for some reason - has done it twice in the past few months both times to the same date, which I assume is the date the clock was originally set - could this be a battery problem? and could this cause a total system crash?

I generally use Norton utilities because the defrag prog is far superior to the old norton prog that windows uses and also to check for lost links etc in the registry via windoctor, which i find useful. I never let it run itself nor contantly run in the background. Have also used Disk Keeper to defrag but it does it so quickly that I'm sure it is not doing a thorough job so have stopped using it. Actually, thinking about it, I defragged with disk keeper then immediately ran Norton just before I lost the system - I expect this may have been the cause somehow.

Have run system checkup (didnt know it existed - thanks) only file found corrupted was setupx.dll and I would be surprised if this is causing a prob.

Have broadband connection and use Zonealarm as a filewall

Although I've checked for physical memory which seems to be fine I am sure that virtual memory is not working well. I have tried all sorts of configurations after reading various articles but none seem to make the memory any better - after running my pc for some time (intensively used I might add!) everything slows to a grind and I get loads of white boxes where progs should be.

Anyway thanks for your help - I'll try some of the changes you suggested and will let you know if there are any improvements - thanks again
Alad (alan)

ps I have built one of my other pcs (I have 3) but not this one although I've replaced half of the parts:-)

Also, did you use a NTFS partition for your Win XP install? I always recommend this as NTFS is a far superior file system. This might benefit you as you can have larger file sizes with the NTFS (comes in handy for those large AVI files) and considering you are a video/audio extraordinaire, you might find this benificial.

This brings me to the problem at hand. REMOVE NORTON UTILTIES as soon as possible! This will probably fix your problem. Find yourself a nice version of just the antivirus (NO PREMIUM) and you should be happy. Unless you have a high speed internet connection, then you might consider a firewall.

I say this not in opininion, but more as a fact. If you have Norton searching to optimize numerous partitions (could be both FAT32 and NTFS) AND other operating system files, you could find your system slowing to a crawl. I am not even sure that the utilty did not already change system files on both operating systems already, creating permanant damage! If this is the case, there is still a remedy without reinstall.

You can run an SFC (system file check) on the Windows 98 install. Windows XP will automatically detect problems with its system files and replace corrupt or missing files.

Go to Start, Programs, Accesories, System Tools, System Information, and select System File Checker on the Tools menu. Choose Scan for Altered Files.

If this does not help, check some more obvious things. Check the clock speed of your processor to be sure that it is running properly and at the right voltage. Also, be sure that all your RAM is showing up during bootup or in the System Tools (windows XP and 98).

This should get you started on your problem. It sounds like you have a knowledge of computers and probabbly built your own computer. Therefore, I think you probably have enough knowledge to 'tweak' your system and take proper care of it than with Norton Utilities. It is more for the novice user that probably does not know what defraging a hard drive really is.

Good luck and feel free to post back. I might be able to give you more advice if this does not work.