Old machine patch up

The_Goose

Hey lads,
Have a 900 MHZ P4 running XP home.
My friend asked me to fix it as it was blue screening so luckily it came back after a chkdsk /r in recovery console.

But once in noticed that there is no service packs at all on it and task manager flashes and closes.
Its appearant the OS needs a repair but I was wondering is there need to install SP1 and then 2 or will 2 just do it.
And if I was not ot run the repair will installing service pack 2 fix the general issue's?

Spear

The_Goose wrote:

But once in noticed that there is no service packs at all on it and task manager flashes and closes.

This one's also symptomatic of various worm/virus infections.

Gilgamesh

surely you mean a Pentium 3 not a P4?

personally I would tip a memory problems, but give it a try with the update

irlrobins

You can install SP2 without SP1. Althought sounds like it's well dicked. Better off doing a fresh clean install tbh.

The_Goose

irlrobins wrote:

You can install SP2 without SP1. Althought sounds like it's well dicked. Better off doing a fresh clean install tbh.

Problem is I cant, load of crap on it that I m going nowhere near.
I think I ll repair the OS install SP2 and run al the AV I can.

I ll check again when I get home but I m almost sure Iits a P4.
Machine was built in 2001.

Spear

The_Goose wrote:

Problem is I cant, load of crap on it that I m going nowhere near.
I think I ll repair the OS install SP2 and run al the AV I can.

I ll check again when I get home but I m almost sure Iits a P4.
Machine was built in 2001.

P4's started at 1.3GHz, unless it's running with Speedstep or similar.

TempestSabre

The_Goose wrote:

Hey lads,
Have a 900 MHZ P4 running XP home.
My friend asked me to fix it as it was blue screening so luckily it came back after a chkdsk /r in recovery console.

But once in noticed that there is no service packs at all on it and task manager flashes and closes.
Its appearant the OS needs a repair but I was wondering is there need to install SP1 and then 2 or will 2 just do it.
And if I was not ot run the repair will installing service pack 2 fix the general issue's?

Theres no 900mhz P4's. Though we did have some very rare preproduction Dells that were P4-1Ghz once. But as Spear 1.3ghz is the starting point for P4's.

Uninstall all the software thats not used, and remove as many memory resident applications as you can. Install SP2 (it includes SP1) then ZoneAlarm, AVG, Spyblaster, Spybot, Adaware, X-Cleaner. Run a proper boot defrag and optimiser, and perhaps a registry repair tool. Turn off all the XP visual crud, disk indexing and it will run faster.

But personally I'd get them to sort out their data, make a backup of it, get all the bookmarks, passwords, network and drivers settings, put it all on the backup then wipe the machine and start with a fresh copy of XP. If its got Norton on it, a wipe and restall of XP is the best and fastest way to do it. Then break the Norton CD so they can't reinstall it ever.

But tbh you know this, and are trying to take the easy way out. :cool:

stevenmu

Personally I'd run all the AV/spyware stuff before the update too, just in case something gets a bit screwy half way through it.

tjsniper

yea thats a virus when it flashes look for an alternative task manager in google and find a wierd file then search it in google and itll tell you how to get rid of it
i had this one before thats how i got rid of it

TempestSabre

tjsniper wrote:

yea thats a virus when it flashes look for an alternative task manager in google and find a wierd file then search it in google and itll tell you how to get rid of it
i had this one before thats how i got rid of it

Theres lots of possible causes of a bluescreen, a virus IMO wouldn't be first thing I'd suspect. Though if its unpatched I'm sure theres a rake of nasty stuff on it.

Ruu_Old

Would it be possible if you can post up some screenshots or message that the bluescreen shows up? It'll help narrow things down.

mr_disc

The_Goose wrote:

load of crap on it that I m going nowhere near.

You should really make a back up of the important files pretty soon ... especially as it looks like it could be on the way out ......

Cuddlesworth

Ruu wrote:

Would it be possible if you can post up some screenshots or message that the bluescreen shows up? It'll help narrow things down.

Screenshot of a bluescreen?

TempestSabre

krazy_8s wrote:

Screenshot of a bluescreen?

Digital camera...?

Ruu_Old

krazy_8s wrote:

Screenshot of a bluescreen?

What TempestSabre said.;)