Vista - Windows programs not functioning normaly

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thatisit1

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# 18885 28-Jan-2008 13:18

I just got my acer aspire laptop and after a month the windows software stopped working and a window appeard saying windows movie maker has stopped working. This is happening with heaps of other programs like windows media player windows DVD maker and the preveiw bar in windows explorer. Does anyone know how i can fix this???

freitasm

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# 107172 28-Jan-2008 13:21

The first questions are the standard ones... Have you scanned with an antivirus and with an antispyware?

Otherwise this could be memory problems.

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thatisit1

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# 107175 28-Jan-2008 13:46

Yes i have done a scan.

freitasm

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# 107176 28-Jan-2008 13:55

It could be a hardware problem then. When you start Windows Vista there's an option to run a memory test. Try running that. If you can't find it, download the Windows Memory Diagnostics program. Run it to create an ISO file and burn this file to a CD. Boot from this CD and let it test the memory overnight.

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thatisit1

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# 107185 28-Jan-2008 15:19

I ran the test when my computer started up and it did not find any problems. The error is still appearing when I use some of the windows programs.

freitasm

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# 107377 29-Jan-2008 13:06

I recommend you make sure there is a backup for your content, and use the restore disc to get the computer back in order...

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Fossie

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# 107392 29-Jan-2008 13:59

[Troll]
Shouldn't this be expected?
[/Troll]

The easiest way of dealing with problems like that is a complete format/restore. You'll lose any un-backed up data, but you will be left with a fast bug free system.

freitasm

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# 107399 29-Jan-2008 14:27

Fossie: [Troll]
Shouldn't this be expected?
[/Troll]

This is to a certain point expected. Not everyone knows how to debug a program or ho to identify the root cause of a problem with their system. In such cases it is hard to try and train the person "over the board" and certainly the quickest way is to restore the system to a working condition by a reformat and reinstall.

Hopefully this solves the problem and if not at least you know what symptoms to look for and pay attention to see if it happens after one program or another is installed.

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thatisit1

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# 107813 31-Jan-2008 18:01

Now even more programs are not working my whole computer seems to be crashing. I can restore the computer to what it was when i first got it with the Acer E-recovery management but i cant back up my files because the backup file would take up around 50 discs to get only my files alone. I am trying to get a external hard drive to back up my files. If i used software to back up my computer would that work or would it reinstall software that did something strange to my system???

freitasm

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# 107851 31-Jan-2008 20:54

You can just copy the whole Documents folder (and other folders) with Copy and Paste to your external drive.

If you use a backup program you will need to install it. Also if you use a backup program make sure to use Verify to make sure the backup is readable.

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thatisit1

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# 108334 3-Feb-2008 18:22

I don't yet have an external hdd but I will try to get one. I’ve finally backed up most of my files but there's still one folder that’s 22GB I may have to lose it to get my system back to the way it was when I got it. I have tried using another account and it appears to work fine so I created a new account called 'jamie1' because there was already one called 'Jamie' and then deleted the original account but now I can’t get rid of the 1 completely even though I have renamed it to Jamie.

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# 108342 3-Feb-2008 18:45

User folders DO NOT change their names, even if you change your user name, to ensure hard links are not broken.
Therefore a new user will need to be created.

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