Possible virus?
 

My daughter's confuser, a Dell running Vista. A couple of days ago it developed a problem. I tried system restore but it did not help.
It runs normally and not too slow, but when I try to open Word or Windows Media Player or virtually any program, the page opens normally but only stays on the screen for half a second then closes. if I try to open a document nothing happens; Word does not respond.
Has anyone seen this? Any suggestions?

I had endless problems with a machine running Vista and eventually cured most of them by reloading Service Pack 2.

Safe Mode?
Virus scan?
Any AV at all?
Advanced methods to troubleshoot a program that does not run as expected after it is installed on Windows Vista ?

Weigh up the value of time expended attempting to troubleshoot such a problem with the minimal effort of backing up important files and then wiping and starting afresh. In the majority of cases where there's evidently a fairly hefty problem with the computer, the latter option is always the most time effective.

Note that if you do go for the latter option DO NOT attempt to backup any software (and I mean NONE, not even installers !). Only backup actual files you know (images, word processing documents etc.).

Oh, and perhaps take the opportunity to step up to Windows 7 whilst you're at it. :cool:

The PC seems to run OK, no slowdowns, everything where it should be, except for this one problem with the programs not remaining open. I wish for once I could get a simple problem that is easy to fix, instead of these things that nobody seems to have heard about.

I am about to give her a laptop that belonged to her bro, that had a bad HDD. After diagnostics (to see if any data was recoverable), new HDD and Sony's exorbitant charge for replacement software, she now wants to have a full version of the Office Suite. Totalling all this, can I also afford to give her W7 on her PC?
All this stuff is expensive, even though it is cheaper than it used to be.
Actually I was considering giving her Windows XP. That runs pretty well now, and has less problems.

- line 4 post 3?

Windows XP was killed off in June 2008, last computer with it sold in 2010, mainstream support ended 2009, and Microsoft will fire the final shot on the 8th of April 2014.

So basically, you're wasting your time with XP. Particularly if you're not running XP Professional, as only the "business" editions are eligible for extended support..... XP Home, XP Media Centre etc. are already dead as far as Microsoft is concerned and you really should NOT be running them on any computer with an internet connection (even an intermittent connection).

Vista mainstream support ends 10th April 2012 and extended support until 2017.

Same note about non "business" editions applies to Vista... if you're only running Home etc.

Don't even think about running any version of Windows outside of its support period.... unless your computer is PERMANENTLY disconnected from the internet. I don't want spam from your zombie, thank you very much.

Not quite right mixture - seems MS bent the rules for XP. XP Home & Media Editions gets the same extended support as Pro:
XP Home
XP Media 2003 Edition

The master list: Support Lifecycle Index

Looks like they've done the same with Vista too - everything aggregated under the SP level (click on Ultimate & you'll see the same support level as Home, so SP it is).

Definitely agree about not running Windows outside the extended support period. Time to start planning people - XP is a dead duck.

If your daughter is a student, mature or otherwise, software4students sell genuine student editions of Office at very competitive prices. They also sell W7, upgrade version, also at a good price.

le Pingouin,

Interesting.... I was on a different part of the MS website earlier and it said something else.

However, the link you provided is also linked to as a reference from the partner website, therefore I'll go with the dates provided on your link.

I've certainly read generic information that says what you thought - "professional" versions were to have more support than "home". I suspect, given it's really all the same OS, the pain & confusion that would result from cutting off "home" users early wasn't worth it. To users they have XP, Vista or Win7 - "home" or "pro" just means less or more features (assuming they perceive any difference).

le Pingouin,

The other thing that occurred to me is that whilst Microsoft may well be extending support for XP a little longer, one should not forget about third party software developers and hardware manufacturers.

You may find that they increasingly fail to support Microsoft's ageing versions, either by not compiling software/drivers for the old versions at all, or putting the bugs for the old versions on the back-burner to be sorted out at leisure.

Overall you're right though, the incremental cost to Microsoft of pushing updates for Home versions is probably minimal as 90% of the code is shared and 10% is features, the code for which is probably pretty stable anyway as it's to do with important business stuff like AD etc.... so most bugs there have probably already been ironed out by now. Its the main codebase that's the ongoing worry.

Gosh. Well, for a very very very simple setup maybe.

When I get a new machine it takes about a week of work before it's usable, and about a year before it's doing everything I want it to (there are all sorts of rarely used applications etc that I forget about when initially copying stuff from the old box to the new ones, some of which I might still have the original floppy disks for if I look hard enough). Not "minimal effort" in my case.

Gertrude the Wombat,

By the same token, a non-technically inclined person could spend weeks or months stabbing away at a problem.... hacking away at the registry, installing and uninstalling various bits of "repair" software they found on the internet, perusing through logs etc.....

All of which is, in 80% of cases likely to lead nowhere in solving the problem if you don't know what you're looking at in the first place. In which case you'll find yourself months down the line reformatting the thing anyway.

Hard drives are also dirt cheap these days.... so there's nothing stopping you installing fresh on a new one and mounting the old one internally/externally so you can still pull the stuff you forgot off it.

Finally, as I've already said above, when you're dealing with a potentially virus infected system, pulling executables over from the old on to the new is a bad move !

mixture, I suspect the number of people who will cling to XP until the death will be sufficient to ensure drivers & software will mostly still be available.

Also of interest is what will MS do about activation? A patch to permanently activate XP? Leave the activation servers running? Turn them off & tough luck, it's no longer supported?

I think you misunderstand the nature of the IT industry Sir. :E

You have to remember, at heart, it's a box-shifting sales-led industry where post-sales support always comes second.

I suspect they will probably turn off the automated activation, and leave manual telephone activation in place, during the course of the phone call you will no doubt be prompted by a nice chap in a far away country that you should perhaps think about upgrading to something newer before reluctantly giving you the activation key.

But what company is going to sacrifice even 10% of their market because they no longer provide a WinXP driver? I'm definitely not saying they'll provide any further support!

That comment, le Pingouin, implies that they give a monkeys about us customers. That would be a novel thought in the business part of the IT world.
My current hatred is for HP, who only guarantee printer software upgrades for 5 years after the launch of a model. So if you buy an integrated printer etc gadget that was launched, say, 3 years ago, you've got two years of support. My printer will work with 7/64, - as 7/64 found drivers for it, but the scanner won't.
I asked HP, and they have not updated the software for 7/64. Tough. Get out there and buy a new one, they said.

At least your printer manufacturer is likely to be in existence for a while.

I just recently made the mistake of replacing my aged home AIO HP unit with a Kodak one .... :\

Nor mine, GtW, and I'm relieved to read that you have the same problem. Sometimes I felt that everyone but me had a magic solution to a dodgy disk, since they so lightly advise reinstalling everything. Add (to what you described) the odd applet I downloaded as a workaround to avoid another £100 spend on (largely) bloatware, and it soon mounts up to a good deal of unproductive time.

Still'n'all, a retired chap has nothing better to do with his time. :rolleyes: So who am I to complain about it being unproductive?