Major problems with computers

I have not a clue where to list this.
One of my computer will shut down with different errors. One I remember is BAD_POOL_CALLER. I can't do a virus scan with MCafee, it will shut it down. When it restarts sometimes it says it has a fatal error. Other times it says that if this is the first time this has happen restart the computer. It talkes about something with the bios. Many times it says error because of a devise driver.

The computer will shut down right in the middles of my viewing. I better send this before I loose it.

The second computer won't let me type in my username or passwords in my online security accounts. It always comes up with an error.

My third one has been down for almost 2 monthes. When I installed the trial spyware from the giantcompany, I lost the use of the internet. They are not answering my emails. We called the cable company they were no help. The computer is some how disconnected from the internet and we would like to have use of it.

Please place these where they can be answered. If you can't help me, please refer me to another message board.
Thanks

 

MRSCT,

It does sound like you have your hands full...

This is many times hardware driver related. Was any hardware component changed out just prior to the problem appearing? Do you recall any of the other errors?

Do you recall the specific error? Is this a laptop or desktop machine? In normal typing, does the keyboard respond as expected?

See the original thread, there is some additional info there and another user has pointed to a simple manual reset of winsock in that thread

Let's see if we can help get at least one of the machines working. However, other options include the forums at Broadband Reports

Blue

 

I don't think that we have had other hardware installed. I was going to set up my HP printer, but I didn't realize I needed software.(I need computers for dummies . My son attached a jump drive.
I have on the computer I am on now Dell desktop pentium 3 XP professional service pack 1, 128 ram 730 MHz. Sometimes when I type the security areas (passwords, Username) I type and it take a while to catch up.
My husband reformated the computer and reinstalled XP. The computer usually fails when we try to install service pack 2.
Please keep asking questions and I will try to reply. I do try to do a virus scan, it stops and fails. I always try to update the virus and antispyware when it pops up.

 

MRSCT,

Does it really only have 128 MB RAM? That could be a problem right there, that's the absolute minimum for XP Pro. Add a few constantly running processes, and you basically start to overwhelm the system. What's the size of the hard drive and how much free space is available on it.

Also, have you recently cleaned out the IE temporary flotsam? From the browser it will be Tool>Internet Options, Select Clear History, Yes; also in the section Temporary Internet Files, Press Delete Files, check Delete All Offline Content, press OK; also Delete Cookies unless there are a bunch you know you want to retain.

Blue

 

It worked!
The computer at first didn't start up. My husband tweeked it. Then he hit the favorites and there it was.

The hard drive is 7.13 MB. I always try to delete the things you listed.
I have more confidence in message boards than my husband. All my entire family is computer literate but me. I barely understand most of the jargon. I had to ask my family how to transfer that Windsock to a disk. Then how to load it. I just let them do it. .

I am so happy, this is my favorite computer with all my bookmarks.
1 down 2 to go.

Thank You

 

That's great MRSCT!

Just to verify that I know where things stand here - the 2 PC's to go are the ones where you can't logon to sites requiring your password information and the one that yields a BAD_POOL_CALLER error message, correct?

For the first case, I'd check out this link at Microsoft's website. Just guessing on this one. If you unsure of the cipher strength of Internet Explorer, simply select Help then About Internet Explorer from the main menu bar. The box that pops up will have all the pertinent information. Also, under Tools>Internet Options>Advanced - scroll down to the Security section and make sure the entries labeled Use SSL 2.0 and Use SSL 3.0 are checked. There might be some other issues - the link listed above should have all of this info.

Because it is often simple, I'd check that the BAD_POOL_CALLER is not connected with the video subsystem. I'd probably try a complete reinstall of the video drivers, using the most updated ones I could get my hands on.

Blue

 

Yes, that is correct. The computer with the BAD_POOL_CALLER is the one that I can't do the virus check with Mcafee and is contantly crashing. I have seen other phases on it but can't remember them. I start the check and it crashes. I'd like to try to get that one fixed now.

 

I would try and boot into safemode to do the virus scan. If its really the actions of a virus, it will probably be best to do it in safe mode.

To get into safe mode:
Tap the F8 key after the slapsh screen (The splash screen is the screen you see before you see the windows booting up screen. For example, if its a Dell, start tapping the F8 key after the Dell Logo goes away. ) Then just select safe mode and log in. Open up McAfee (you will have to start the program as nothing will launch on its own. Then do a scan. See if it locks up or shuts down then.

Do you have any USB devices plugged into the the machine that is getting this error? If so, try unplugging them. Just have your keyboard, mouse, and moniter plugged it. I would probably even disconnect this computer from the internet for a while, till you get all its issues resolved.

Good Luck!

 

The computer I have been working on has been crashing and has given me a variety of errors.
1 WRITE TO READ ONLY MEMORY
2 IROL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
3 Running the safe mode? Profile 1
4. running the virua check PFN_LIST_CORRUPT
5 NT OnAccess Scanner service has encountered a problem and needs to close.

I think this is going to be a tough one.

 

MRSCT,

What type of video card is on this system? A couple of the messages can be related to video driver issues, see here.

Before you do anything, what video card is installed and what's the driver version level. - you can find this out using Start>Settings>Control Panel>System. Select the Hardware tab, click Device Manager. Typically the third entry or so down is the Display Adapters, double click Display Adapters to expand the entries. Select the first entry shown, right click on it, select Properties. Select the driver tab. All the information should be there.

Ronjor could be right, it may be a pure hardware problem, but let's see if there's some other explanation first.

Blue

 

Intel built into the mother board 82810E graphics controler

 

Note exactly what I was hoping for. I would probably try the following:

1. It's possible that the video driver has been corrupted. I would look for updated/fresh drivers. Here's one place to look, there are plenty of others, and update the driver. If you don't have enough time to do this in one step, you should be able to uninstall the existing driver and go with a standard vga driver - things may look weird when you do this. If you have a CD with the original driver, that could also be a starting place.

2. Go to generic system approach and run sfc /scannow (Start>Run and type in sfc /scannow into the box). You should have you OS install disk handy. sfc is the System File Checker. It will check the fidelity of the OS files. Sometimes resolves difficult to troubleshoot problems.

3. If the system has an IOMEGA zip drive installed or attached, see what happens when this device is removed from the system and IOMEGAWARE is removed from the system.

4. Cleanout the Windows Prefetch queue - delete all files contained in the directory C:\WINDOWS\Prefetch and reboot. The next launch first of each program will be a tad slower - you might not notice the difference and it is temporary as prefetch entries are created.

These suggestions are all somewhat shots in the dark. On the hardware end of things - it could be a genuine hardware problem or loose connection. I'd pop open the PC case and make sure all cables, memory sticks, and dip seated chips are fully in their connectors. The other thing to check while the case is open is that the fan on the CPU and the PC case is working. Slight overheating of the CPU can sometimes result in very vague symptoms. One sign that this could be a problem is that the time to failure from a physically cold start is a lot longer than seen on a reboot and the problem is less frequent on cold days.

Blue

 

Ran the Mcafee antivirus and an Online Crash Analysis came up that wants me to install SP2. At one time we tried to install it but it would always fail. I have heard many things about SP2. Would installing the SP2 help or cause problems?

Don't think I will be opening up the case. It seems more than I am ready for.
Let's just stick to the outer case

 

That computer is getting frustrating. I'm changing machines
My computer that now has the internet starts out with no paging file. I have gone through all the steps to fix it, but it doesn't change it. Also when one logs out, they can't switch users, they have to totally log off and then someone else can log in under their name. Please move this where needed but let me know where it is, my last one I had to go looking

 

MRSCT,

This is probably the most appropriate section of Wilders for this to be in, so we'll keep it here.

If you ever lose track of things that you've posted are, simply find any post you made, simply click on your logon name at the top right of the page. That takes you to your profile and there is an entry to "Find all posts by MRSCT" on the left hand side of the page. Press that and you should be able to find what you need.

On the paging file - could you list the steps that you tried?

On user switching - Is fast user switching enabled? Go to Start>Control Panel>Users - click on "Change the way users log on and off". If fast user switching isn't checked, check it.

Blue

 

I tried to fix the user switching. The choice I make is only temporary.
The computer virus protection pops up and says" Suspicious Script Stopped
file: mshta.exe Status: The script execution has been stopped. The script is attempting to call the RegRead method within the IWshShell3 object.

 

Sounds like a case of this, i.e. McAfee script stopper is enabled and stopping everything unless explicitly approved. McAfee is the AV in use, correct? When the script is initiated by user action, and you have no other reason to suspect a compromised system, it should be fine to allow.

Blue

 

I clicked allow and when I tried to switch users, it hung up, it went back to the welcome screen and would not say logging on by the new user. It use to let us switch users, maybe that is an added problem from giantcompany.

On the paging file: system>control panel>advanced tab>performance>settings>advanceed tab>change>custom size>then type in the initial or maximun paging file. We tried different numbers, but the paging remains 0.

 

Could be. I do have Giant Antispyware on all my PC's with no ill effects, but that doesn't mean some combination of factors could create problems in another configuration. The only other place that I can think of any setting which would directly impact this is Start>Settings>Control Panel>Adminstrative Tools>Services>Fast User Switching Compatibility. It should be set to Manual.

Forgive the obvious question, but after you enter the number (or set to system managed), you did hit the SET button, correct? It won't take unless that is set and depending on the state of the system, there may be some followup dialog.


Blue

 

Yes, I hit the set button.
It is already set to manual.

 

This could be one of those cases where someone has to be sitting in front of the PC to get a feel for what's going on.

I have seen bad SP2 installs lead to this behavior. You could also verify that the disk is in good working order (Start>Setting>Control Panel>Adminstrative Tools>Computer Management>Disk Management. Select the disk, right click, choose Properties>Tools>Check Now. Can't image a highly fragmented volume leads to this, but defragmentation the other operation you can run from this screen).

I'm more or less at a loss on this one - of course I didn't have a whole lot of expertise to go through either, so..., someone closer to the hardware may pick the necessary issues up in short order.

Blue

 

It started up without asking for paging file for the first time. I typed in another number for the C drive. It said it was too high and so I put in a lower one and restarted my computer, which in it's self is another problem.
I bet I'm the queen of all the computer problems.

When I restart this computer I see rows of white numbers then Windows XP home and then it goes red and doesn't start up for 15-30 minutes I just go make something in the kitchen, when I'm done I see the welcome screen and I can start .
It says healthy, didn't want to dig too deep.