Computer Issues! Start Menu, Audio, etc.

[Bearbegr]

Okay, in the last 3 days somthing happened to my PC... Only thing that changed is Windows Automatic updates wanted to instal an update, but when i would click the baloon and lauch the window, it would dissappear before I could click install. Basically my computer turns on, but after a minute or two, the start menu reverts back to windows 98 look... somtimes completly, or somtimes it leave the word start Windows XP style, but still turns the rest to oldschool. Also, the sould has issues... When I go to play an MP3, or adjust the valume with the control at the bottom next to the clock it says it cant becuase their are not audio devices installed... funnily enough, when the window pops up to tell me this is plays the little warning noise... When I restart my pc, it plays all the normal shutting down sounds... And when it comes back on it plays the starting up noise... If I click an MP3 within the first two minutes it will play, but eventually somthing happens and its stops working... I have run Ad-Aware, AVG Spyware, AVG Free Virus Scan, and nothing is found except a few cookies to be deleted. So if anyone could help it would be great. I know all the info I provided is confusing, but I was trying to give all the details possible. The exact error I get when clicking on the speaker icon at the bottom corner says:

Their are no active audio devices available, to install click on control panel .... The program will now close...

Thanks

Chris

[AlecWest]

It sounds like some vital area has been corrupted somehow. Have you tried a "System Restore" to a prior restore point? If not, you might try that. Also, you might try to run the disk defragmenter. Sometimes, it can find (and correct) corrupted files and/or sectors. Outside of those two options, I'm uncertain how you should proceed. Beyond that, hopefully someone else will help.

[redwudz]

I hope you have a OS install disc handy. If it's not a problem with the OS, you may have a hard drive, motherboard or other major parts failure. As mentioned, try a restore if you are running XP.

[Bjs]

What sound device is in use ?

Watch out for ms update related to realtek ac97 device , it installs cmi audio config in the control panel , which can cause this issue .

Go to....Start....Control Panel....System...HardWare(tab)...Device Manager(Button).
Open...Sound, Video and Games Controlers, right click on anything relating to CMI and select Uninstall.

Reboot and the control panel icon , and related drivers should be gone , but not forgotten .

BEWARE : they still reside in system restore points , so remember this info should you ever need to use system restore , ms should have warnings .

In this case , your device use's the realtek drivers , and was not meant to have this update from ms .

Of course thats a guess simply because no other information about the system involved has been supplied .

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Some updates conflict , so I would uninstall any updates that fall around the time of the issue appearing , and those just prior to this point , and reboot 3 times , an annoying habit of ms , sometimes it dose it first time , other times , you have to do it a few times .

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Check in Add/remove , for any program recently installed around the same time , these can cause issues .
Especially interactual player (from commercial dvds) , known to cause conflicts , especially with vista .

Reboot after , and check system .

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System restore point , if available , still may not resolve issue , and ms still has not listed the associated issues with using this feature .

Any program installed , after the restore point date used , will be nulled , nolonger work , it is advised any program installed after such date , be uninstalled first prior to using the restore point , so as to clear information from the registry , related to these programs , as ms dose not guarantee , that even if those programs are reinstalled afterwoods will work and function as expected .

Leading to registry bloat and eventually , registry coruption , and a pc that may become unstable or unable to bootup completely .

You are being warned about this , so beware of it .

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System reinstall , may be a complete and utter waste of end users time , if indeed , it is an actual hardware failure .

Not to forget , the data the end user may have , and neglect to backup that they do not wish to lose .
Online account , mail , web favorites , and other data being either related to private or bussiness activities .

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A slight possible issue could be related to a task (program) , running in background , that should not be there .

Hijackthis

http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/programs.php
http://www.merijn.org/files/HiJackThis_v2.exe (I advise visiting the above link rather than using this dirrect link)

Download , run , click " do system scan and save log " .

Best of the forums for help , should an item appear to be suspect :

http://www.tomcoyote.org/ , join up , then post log .
Direct link - http://forums.tomcoyote.org/HijackThis_Logs_Spyware_Malware_Removal_f27.html

Be patient , help will come , remember , this is for trojans and alike help .

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You want to get ugly , and learn something ?

Getting dirty with the hands on approach - Hardware side .

If you handy with a scewdriver , and depending on case style .

Shut down system , and remove power cord first .

1: If desktop , remove cover - refer to doumentation supplied .
2: If tower style , from behind (looking at connections on back of pc) , remove right side cover .

Take note of motherboard , most have the model and make printed on them .

First , take note of any addon cards , both pci , and if it has agp video card installed .
Some mistake the positioning of addons without taking the precuation of sharing between agp and pci's .

My advise would be to :

A: Remove all pci addons first (power cord removed) .
B: Restart pc , use manual for motherboard to check on how to enter bios (not all are the same) .
C: Follow manual instrutions , most list panel related to onboard audio .
D: Check it is enabled .
E: Remove all none essential connected devices , camera's , printers , scanners , ect .

It's basically back to a "plain jane" system for hardware troubleshooting .

Save bios , and let pc restart .

For those with mini format motherboards , you might have only 2 or 3 pci slots available , and might have no onboard sound , which is why you would have an addon pc card for this .

For those with only 2 , the card should be inserted in the lowest pci slot available (pci2).
For those with 3 , choose between pci 2 or pci 3 .

Pci 1 (near agp slot) , shares resources with onboard video and agp slot , do not insert pci cards here as it can , and most likely will , cause system conflicts . It is very rare that you can get away with this .

Pci 2 and pci 3 share resources , and only one should have a card installed .

Pci 4 and pci 5 , for those lucky enough to have a full sized motherboard , both share resources , and only one can be used .

There are very rare instances where it is possible to mix and match slots with installed devices , but it is best to avoid this situation .

Once that's sorted , and bios is checked , we can move onto os side of the system , if any pci cards remain , which had previously been installed , leave them out for now .

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Visit motherboard manufacture website , check and download updated driver packages .
Visit those for audio chipset , and video chipset ( a priority item) .
Visit all other hardware manufacturers websites for devices normally connected to pc , esspecially to those pci cards not installed for testing .

For those with old systems requiring pci video card , and the modem was also pci , then of course , these should be the only two pci cards installed , during the "fetch" of updated drivers . Once thats done , repeat the power down , remove power cord , remove modem , insert pci audio , restart system .

If all is well upon entering os , then a hardware device was in conflict .
This could be related to a pci card , which was removed for the test , conflicting with another device , or simply , in the incorrect pci slot (shared resources conflict) .

I have seen failed pci network cards take out pci sound cards before , though onboard is different , it can still be affected in the same manner .

Problem remains :

System is still in "plain jane" mode , hardware speaking .

Enter control panel , system , hardware tab , device manager .
Check for any device listed in question .
Uninstall questionable devices , restart pc .
Should os discover device , stop it .
Install updated motherboard drivers first , then restart system .
The wizard should reappear having discovered hardware , give it the new drivers you recently downloaded .
(you might need to unpack them , prior to this , then point the wizard to the folder where they were unpacked)
Restart pc , and check once more if issue remains .

If resolved , driver conflict issue / shared resource issue .

If no conflict is shown , but remains .
Click on the very first item in list , then "action" , "scan for hardware changes"
If conflict now shows , repeat steps above as previously explained .

If error still remains after reboot , then the hardware involved is suspect .
If onboard , enter bios , disable the particular hardware , save and reboot .

In this case , an addon card is advised , but remember , motherboard restrictions with pci slots may limit your choices .

You could try , disable onboard audio in bios , and purchase a usb audio device , which would save the hassle of fiddling inside the case , but then again , take caution with these devices , some a just plain garbage , some have reported issues with sound quality recorded via mic .

Slightly , off the ball , the chances of the psu (power supply unit) having caused this issue is minimal , but still worth checking out , but then , thats going to start costing you money for something that may or may not have been related .

And if it's onboard audio , its more likely to be "replace" motherboard" anyway , but remember you could still get by , using a usb or a pci unit , which when you look at it , could add up to the cost of simply replacing the motherboard in the first place .

As you can see , not all pc layouts are designed the same , ony the basic "functions" are the same which is why the "plain jane" approach to hardware trouble shooting is used .

Updates from ms tend to be a more haphazard if one dose not take or seek , an active part in the decision , to apply or not to apply , well , make a choice , do you want to be a guinea pig or not ?

Remember , ms guarantees nothing .

[Bearbegr]

Thanks a lot for the tips! When you said u may need to reboot several times, somthing clicked... I notices 2 nights ago with that update... Cant remember the update number except the last 3 numbers were 902 I think... Said secuirity update... I did uninstall it before posting this post, but problem reoccured. Today I get on and it has now been 15 minutes and no problems seem to be happening (knock on wood). I am listening to an mp3 right now so... I also installed AVG and have it running. Is their somthing better then this or is it the best (free of course)... Thanks agaoin for help!