Recent Problems: Should I be worried for my PC?

[wormy]

It's been a long while since I've frequented Ray's blog and forums but I hope that I could find some help.

Recently (within the past couple of weeks recently), when I turn on my computer, I'll get a message stating that Windows detected one of my (system?) files exceeding its parameters, warns me that it may or not be a problem with my hard drive, reminds me to make backups of my files, then gives me the option to continue as normal (F1) or go to my setup options (F2). When I press F1 the computer will load as normal (if not taking an especially long time to do so). I don't think I'm experienced enough to play with my setup options, so I haven't messed with F2.

Today I turned on my computer and am now having trouble with my audio. At times it plays just fine, but other times it sounds very scratchy and even lags. I thought for a moment that it may just be my speakers, but I experienced the same problem when listening through my headphones.

I've run a virus scan, disc cleanup, disc defragmentation, and a disc error-check. So far nothing bad seems to have come up.



My computer is at least 3 years old (I actually can't remember exactly when I got it). Are these signs that it's nearing the end? ;___; Any suggestions and/or help is appreciated.


Basic model info if it helps (frankly I wouldn't really know):

System: Microsoft Windows XP, Home Edition Version 2002, Service pack 3

Dell Dimension, Intel(R), Celeron(R) CPU 2.53GHz, 512MB of RAM

File system: NTFS

Using 50.7GB of 108GB capacity

[mhike]

could be conflict on applications if you recently installed one, otherwise, you might want to try to restore it from a previous state. and use a good scanner also. Try to clean the peripherals also, like the memory or video card.

[Raymond]

Could you give more information on what do you see when you get the message to press F1 and F2? Is it a Dell utility? What do you see when you press F2?

[wormy]

Nope, no recently installed applications (the last one was a few months ago I think and it was an update for Spybot - S&D). As for restore, I'm actually not sure how to do that. <edit> I also wouldn't know how to go about cleaning peripherals.

@ Ray - I'm running a spybot scan, but once that's done, I'll restart and write it down. And I'm not sure what you mean by Dell utility.

[smalldog]

I think you should find in volume control where you can choice music in room, rap, theatre ,... I think maybe some problems miss in that. I have been gotten problem like that. I adjust some things and problem is disappear . I remember i didn't adjust anythings why the problem is appear . But when i adjust somethings it's ok! Maybe help you ideas!

[wormy]

Well, I made backups of my files and ran a Spybot scan. That all finished last night, so I finally got to restart. Apparently this message doesn't pop-up every time I boot up the PC. :/ I've shut it down (then air dusted everything) and turned it back on a few times now and nothing's happened. I'll be sure to post what it says the next time I get it.

I'm still having the problem with the audio though.

My spybot scan did come up with something. I'm not sure if it's of any importance and/or is safe to remove (I always freak out when there's talk of registry keys), but here's a cap:



And thank you, Haison. That's not the problem though unfortunately. It doesn't seem like a problem with my volume and speaker controls, it seems like a problem with how my computer's registering audio in general.

[heart reaper]

It is safe to remove that.

Did u try un-installing the audio drivers, and re-installing again?

[wormy]

I'm not sure how I would go about that, heart reaper, but I'd certainly be willing to give it try with a few directions.



I also got a new message when booting up this morning:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

<Windows root>\system32\HAL.DLL.

Please re-install a copy of the above file.

I know when things happen to system32, it's supposed to be bad. I turned off the computer (because what's the worst that could happen if there was already the possibility of it not turning on again) then turned it back on, and it booted as normal. I went into my system32 file. The HAL file is still there, I ran a scan on it with Kaspersky (not up to date), which came out fine. And perhaps that's the file that was causing the initial message about exceeded parameters?

[mischief_ash]

I think you're infected with a malware. I once had SuperAntiSpyware detect a trojan and it had asked to reboot to delete the malware. On rebooting i got the message that Hal.dll is missing and i had to format and install windows again.

So be careful when deleting anything that turns up as malware. And take a backup when your computer is running. Stay safe. And keep the XP/Vista cd nearby

And in the meantime, use MBAM (download and install from www.malwarebytes.org) and see if anything turns up. Pls update the any scanner before you scan the system.

[wormy]

The thing is, I'm not sure how to go about making backups for my PC (aside from saving personal files to discs). I'm also not sure how to reformat the system or re-install anything system-wise. I'm not even sure if I have all the necessary equipment. The only disc I have for the computer that isn't program-oriented (ie; WordPerfect) is this:

Drivers and User Documentation

Dell E156FP LCD Monitor User Documentation

Contents: HTML User Documentation; Drivers (INF, ICM, and CAT files)

And I don't know what any of that means. :\


<edit> Running MBAM scan now.

Here's what the Malwarebytes scan came up with. I'm assuming these are all safe to remove? However, it still doesn't solve the problem of what may be wrong with my system32 file.