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descriptionPrograms Slow to/Wont Open, Freezes EmptyPrograms Slow to/Wont Open, Freezes

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First I'll start off by apologizing if you believe this is in the wrong section of the forum, a number of people have suggested a number of different opinions on what this problem might be and I'm honestly stumped as to what the problem is myself.

A week ago my old computer died quite suddenly and I went and bought a new one asap. This computer is ridiculously fast and way more space that my previous one and seemed to be working fine initially. After everything was installed and ready to go I noticed that on start up and reaching my desktop I couldn't open any programs.

I was patient and waited for everything to load up first before trying to open anything and it being a new pc there is hardly anything on it. Strangely, while the program (say Firefox, a videogame etc) would not appear to open on my screen or show up in Applications under task manager they ARE showing up in the processes tab.

Additionally opening things like My Computer works, but if I attempt to do anything like move files etc. the computer freezes. Sometimes the programs do eventually open, but at one time it opened two hours after trying to open it the first time.

At times when I turn on my pc its like the problem vanishes, I can open programs no problem and everything is running smoothly. Im typing this from a laptop because currently it is in one of its unusable states.

Any thoughts on what this might be? I don't even know where to begin at this point.

descriptionPrograms Slow to/Wont Open, Freezes EmptyRe: Programs Slow to/Wont Open, Freezes

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Hello and welcome.

Seems this problem is not there all the time. That makes it difficult to pin point the source of the problem. Let me just throw out some thoughts.

After everything was installed and ready to go I noticed that on start up and reaching my desktop I couldn't open any programs.

- Do you think it was one of the programs you installed that caused the problem? If the new computer is Windows 7, it may not be compatible with older appliations. Here are directions for booting to Safe Mode:

* If the computer is running, shut down Windows, and then turn off the power.
* Wait 30 seconds, and then turn the computer on.
* Start tapping the F8 key. The Windows Advanced Options Menu should appear. If you begin tapping the F8 key too soon, some computers display a "keyboard error" message. To resolve this, restart the computer and try again. If F8 doesn't work try F5.
* Use the Up and Down arrow keys to find and highlight Safe Mode.
* Press Enter. The computer then begins to start in Safe Mode.
* Log on with an account that has administrator privileges, usually your own account (NOT the account named Administrator).

- This could be a memory problem. If you have more than one memory module, try removing one to see if the problem goes away. If you're not comfortable with removing memory modules and knowledgable of the electro-static discharge issues, you should not do this on your own.

- Try booting to Safe Mode to rule out driver issues. When booting in Safe Mode, some things will not work. You won't be able to print, you won't be able to get onto the Internet and your screen will look rather large.

- Since this is a new PC, can you take it back to where you purchased it?




descriptionPrograms Slow to/Wont Open, Freezes EmptyRe: Programs Slow to/Wont Open, Freezes

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Thanks for your reply.

By programs I simply meant the OS and the antivirus, firewall and browser. I'm actually using xp pro on my new machine because its what I'm comfortable with.

I do indeed only have one memory module so that rules that out I suppose.

As for drivers I don't know... I know I have some for my graphics card but that's about it.

And the computer was actually put together from scratch not purchased as is. Every piece is new (and compatible) with the exception of the older graphics card.

As for the problem itself it always appears without fail on startup. I have to manually power it down and start it up again and it usually starts working on the third try. But I'd rather not have to do that every time I want to use my computer.

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