Member Avatar for p3te844

Hi,
I started my computer up today and went to click on an ICON on my task bar, cause I put my icon on the taskbar to clear up desktop space, and I clicked on an Icon and nothing happen! The only Icon that really works is Internet Explorer and thats when I put the shortcut on the desktop and if I click into anything else the window to whatever is open freezes. I tried Last Good Know Configuration......didnt work. I can't click into System Restore it won't let me. I click on it and nothing happens! When there windows freeze my mouse is still working, i can LogOff and what not from the Task Manager though not Start Menu. I think its either a virus or bad memory, what do you guys think? Help please!

Specs:
P4 3.0GHz HT
ASUS P4800SE Mobo HT
2GB DDR-RAM (4 sticks of 512MB 'Rosewill')
80GB Seagate HD
ATI 9600se 128MB AGP

-pete-

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by paradox814

Dani AI

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Given the facts reported by — Task Manager and the mouse remain responsive, Internet Explorer launched from the desktop works, but most Start/menu/shortcut clicks freeze windows — the problem most commonly points at the Windows shell (explorer.exe), a third‑party shell extension or startup program, or a corrupted user profile. Malware and failing RAM remain possibilities raised by and , so both software and hardware checks are worth doing.

Because Task Manager is usable, try non‑destructive, diagnostic actions first. Restart the shell (End Process on explorer.exe then File → New Task and run explorer.exe). Launch System Restore from Task Manager (File → New Task and run rstrui.exe). Boot to Safe Mode (F8 at boot) and test whether clicks work there — if Safe Mode is fine, the cause is almost certainly software loaded at normal startup (drivers, shell extensions, or startup apps).

Next-level narrowing: open a command prompt from Task Manager and run sfc /scannow (may request the XP CD), schedule chkdsk /f for the next reboot only after backing up important files, and review Event Viewer for repeated explorer/Application errors that give module names or faulting DLLs. Use msconfig to perform a clean boot (disable non‑Microsoft services and startup items) to find a third‑party culprit. If a newly created user account behaves normally, the original profile is likely damaged and data migration to a fresh profile is safer than trying to patch it.

If hardware is suspected, run a bootable memory tester (memtest86/+) and test one RAM stick at a time; swap or remove sticks to isolate bad modules. For likely malware that resists in‑Windows scanners, use an offline/bootable rescue scanner or attach the drive to a second PC for a full scan. Always back up data before running disk repairs or reinstallation. If Event Viewer shows specific error strings or faulting DLL names, capture those details for a focused follow‑up.

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Member Avatar for paradox814

if its bad memory then the next time you start your computer, enter into the CMOS settings (before windows starts) and under advanced options have it scan your entire memory this will take some time (prolbably 10-50 seconds) which is why it's not set to that be default.

But i would defintely check for viruses

click on Go and do a free virus scan of your computer, if you have an viruses it will not remove them (you have to pay for this), but at least you will know what the source is so you can act on it. If that fails to yield something i would try AdAware and Spybot the links are listed below.


http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
Make sure to run BOTH of these programs and to download the update before scanning your computer

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