I am looking for a PC with this spec or better and cheaper

CC, is your virius software stopping exe files from running. Try turning it off

well i'm getting as a typical example : "choose the program you want to use to open the file rundll32.exe
most annoying one is the "choose the program you want to use to open the file rstrui.exe" which is the system restore option.


No virus software on my pc.

Just done a windows reload on the repair option but it hasn't worked so going for the install another one next.

CC

Assuming that you are using Outlook and not Outlook Express, then everything should be in a *.pst file which you can copy using Windows Explorer or even from a safe mode command prompt.

What caused it to stop working? Are you sure that it is not virus related?

Whatever caused it, using system restore in safe mode should get you going again, but if it was caused by a virus then it will still be there.

It could just be a coincidence but it happenned straight after I tried to load sp2 for xp.

CC

Do you mean SP2 or SP3?

sorry SP3.

I've loaded a second version of xp now. It advised me to be partion the disk to do so then refused to let me. ahh windows - don't you just love it.

PC working fine now but I can't find a recent *.pst file. Going to worry about it later. Trying to set my computer up enough now to do some trading

CC

That makes sense, I've been running an early RC version of SP3 since December and allthough generally I'm pleased with it, I have had some issues with some programs not running under some user accounts.

I haven't reasearched it yet, but I'm beginning to think that SP3 causes problems with some permissions.

Huffed and puffed and finally loaded SP3. Not easy and now I'm not sure of the benefits, if any.

I've never had any trouble loading a MS service pack, but I allways download the full file, which is normally 100's of MB, and run it from the hard disk.

I wonder if the people who are having problems are using the small download file which fetches the remainder of the SP once you start the installation. IMO this method is far more likely to create problems.

Totally agree Optimist, here's a direct link to all 316.5 megs -

http://download.microsoft.com/download/d/3/0/d30e32d8-418a-469d-b600-f32ce3edf42d/WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe

well i finally managed to get outlook back.

It appears that if you do a search for *.pst using the search tool in explorer it just won't find it no matter whether hidden or system files are turned on or not.

good old msdos prompt did the job though. don't you just love windows ?

CC, looks like you're not the only one having problems with SP3. I think I'll leave updating mine until later...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/09/windows_xp_sp3_reboots_crashes/

my laptop got SP3 all done in 45 mins with no probs,

richgit, sometimes the cheaper parts are not allways the best way to go,
i am not saying that MESH systems are no good,i did supply 3 family members with mesh duel core 3800 biy they only look at web,MSN and emails,all still going strong and no problems,
if you want a good gamiming rig and a pc for heavy programs running at same time and want 3ghz,
the OC's i would go for,

Interesing scussy cos I think my problem started before sp3 update but only became serious when it ran. before the update task manager was running about 10 processes called winupdate and it was in my start up menu.

It was killing the performance of my pc so I removed it from my start up menu and then ran went and got sp3.

hmm

lappy ok here,got to do another 3 yet,i dont think i do my dads pc yet,
before a major update i run all security software and defrag,restart so a restore point is made jsut in case,
AVG 8 does slow the pc down with the scanners running,i have turned them off,
i do still have the anti-virus and firwall running behind a router too,should be ok,

Morning all,

I am currently on my lap top as my desktop will not boot, I wonder if anyone can assist, it comes up with the message that file corrupt or not there, the file is system 32, it simply will not boot although it has done this before i have a feeling this time is a major problem.

I have windows XP and it says I can repair it by inserting the set up disk which may have come with the PC, when I bought it there was no disks as everything was pre loaded.

I wondered what set up disk I need for XP and indeed where can I get one, i might be able to get it to boot if I can repair it.

TIA

Stewart

The first thing to consider is what caused the file to be corrupted. It could be a virus, a one off occurence or most likely, the disk is on the way out.

If you put any value on the data that is on that disk then you have to assume the latter and recover thedata first.

Don't try to boot from that disk, as Windows creates a lot of disk activity which could push it over the edge.

Remove the drive from the computer, and mount it as a secondary on another machine and try to copy any files that you want to keep.

Open a command prompt, and change to the damaged drive (: Enter)

Type chkdsk /f followed by enter. This will attempt to repair the disk which will with any luck be bootable again.

You can't trust the disk so once you get it going, install a trial copy of Paragon Partition Manager, buy a new disk and mount it as a secondary then use Partition manager to copy everything to the new disk.

Also Stewart, as long as your machine has a valid XP certificate on it a friendly computer repair man should be able to sort you out with a re-install of XP on the new hard disc. Don't know how to do it yourself as I always pay someone to do this for me - much less frustrating!

Microsoft is now prompting me to download SP3 to upgrade my SP2.
Having reread all the above posts, I am just holding off doing this, but inevitably it will ask me every time I access windows updates. Is the consensus now that SP3 is worth having or is it still full of problems? My SP2 is working well at the moment, so it seems a shame to spoil it!