Computer acting strange?

[booboobubber]

My 70 year old father has an old Pentium 3 which up until a few days ago has been working well for him. His main use for the computer is to upload digital photo's from his camera and play his hoyle casino game. He does not have an internet connection. In the last few days every time he starts his computer when it gets to the log on screen a message appears saying it is unable to load his profile because something may be currupt. This message also has a timer ticking down from 30seconds. When he hits ok the same message appears a second time. His also found that shortcuts have disappeared from his screen and when he replaces them they disappear when he restarts again. I'm not sure if this is a software problem or a failing hardrive. Can anyone help me?

[redwudz]

What OS is he running in it? If you are absolutely sure no outside files have been added, then it sounds like a virus or trojan is not likely.

It may be as simple as a power glitch when the OS was writing to the hard drive as the computer was shutting down and it corrupted the OS. I would think that more likely than a failing hard drive. I would back up important files in either case.

Depending on the OS, you might be able to repair it or just re-install the OS.

I would run Error Checking on the drive, along with defragging it afterwards and see if that shows anything or helps. You may find some drive utilities if the drive is a Maxtor or other main brand that has that type of program on their website.

But if the drive isn't it, the OS being corrupted is my best guess.

[hech54]

upload digital photo's from his camera

If you mean use the computer as storage for his digital photos....get those pics off of that computer first thing!!!
Burn them to a CD-R.....buy a memory stick of some sort....do something....but if he really enjoys digital photography....save those pics first.
If the O/S won't load at all....think about a recovery service IF he is serious about keeping data/photos.

[CrayonEater]

Yes, backup everything valuable immediately. Buy some good, Made-in-Japan CDs or DVDs and do not run the machine until you are ready to take some time and get it all done.

You may be able to get away with a disc error check as Redwudz said and then simply create a new account for your dad, copying evreything from his old account to his new one. However, if you have the knowledge and patience to reformat, reinstall the OS, and then patch and reinstall his programs, I'd do that. I never miss a chance for a reformat if I can; in your case, it sounds like you have to reinstall all the programs regardless of whether you keep the current user account or add a new one, so it's only a little extra work to do a fresh installation and do the job right.