Yet Another Messed Up Computer

Toldo

My computer is acting up. No surprises there. Here are the symptoms:

- locks up whenever I view a video/flash file. The video plays, but I can't do anything to stop it, close the window or surf to another site. I can CTRL + ALT + DEL to bring up that little window, but seeing as I can't click anything or use the keyboard, I am left powerless. Once the video stops, all the things I pressed/clicked and so on happens at once.

- In World of Warcraft, I can't ALT + TAB out. The keys both work fine, but I simply can't tab out.

Somebody suggested updating my display drivers. Simple thing, yeah, if it wasn't for ATI's site. I try to download the latest drivers, and I get this:


Unauthorized download

We're sorry, but this download request cannot be authorized. As an option, you may visit any of the pages below for information about our services and products:


I've tried all the options they list, nothing works. Are there any other sites I can download the drivers from? Or, more importantly, what the hell is up with my computer?

jclast

Are you running XP? If so, Windows Update might have an updated driver for your video card you could try.

Toldo

I got the drivers, plus I did a Windows Update for good measure. Still nothing.

Toldo

Apparently, my computer is fine for the first few seconds while playing a YouTube video. Once it's played for a while, the stuff I described happens.

redimpulse

Right click "My Computer" and select Manage. From there open the Event Viewer tree.

Check your Application event logs and your System event logs for any red icon'd Error messages. If there are any, post them here and it'll help a lot in the troubleshooting process.

zhen_rogue

Did you uninstall the previous video drivers before installing the new ones?

Overwriting drivers can sometimes lead to mild corruption issues.

Uncle Long

Is something that has been happening for a long while now, as in, even with a fresh start-up?

Also, what kind of system are you running?

In the CTRL ALT DEL menu, can you tab around or are you completely stuck?

Toldo

I'm running XP home, SP2. The problems popped up today for no apparent reason (funny how that happens). However, it may have been right around the corner. Something strange happened the other day. When I press CTRL ALT DEL, the little application window pops up, but for some reason, the frames are gone (upper and lower part of the window). Because of this, I can't switch between running applications and running processes. It's weird. So yeah, I'm completely stuck in this window. Is this something you've heard of?

Also, I've checked the events log, and there aren't any errors apart from one describing how the DHCP-something deactivated itself because of some IP address. I can't copy paste it since I'm not using an English language version of Windows.

ElectricTurtle

Usually when task manager appears without all its proper window components it means you have a virus that's trying to mess with it. Viruses are frequently designed to mess up task manager so you can't close them. What you should try instead is going to the cmd prompt via Start > Run > cmd or windows key + R > cmd. Then type tasklist, hit enter, and see if you think anything shouldn't be there, take the PID (process ID) of the potential malware and type taskkill /PID:number. This how I would do it, however, if you don't think you can figure out what you need to taskkill, try using sysinternals.com's autoruns and process explorer to perform selective startup (more comprehensively than is possible with standard msconfig) and/or end running processes in a GUI that's not affected by the virus.

It somewhat goes without saying that if you have any antivirus software, update whatever signatures/heuristics it uses and scan everything, although personally I think antivirus software is largely useless as it's usually the first point of attack for viruses and just takes up a ton of system resources.

redimpulse

Kinda sounds to me like your video card is crapping out.

Toldo

I'm trying to access the tasklist, but it says it doesn't recognize the command. The directory I'm in when I open that command window is <C:\Documents and Settings\MyUser>. Should it be something else? If so, how do I get there?

ElectricTurtle

Oh god, it's windows xp HOME isn't it? Sorry for not noticing you said that. Tasklist only works on PRO. *Flips Toldo a nickel* Get yerself a decent operating system, kid!

Only joking, but seriously, in XP Home you're SOL on the cmd line options. Go to sysinternals.com and get autoruns and process explorer (both under process utilities). Process explorer is like task manager on steroids, and the virus probably won't affect it. Autoruns will tell you EVERYTHING that auto starts on startup and you can remove them from that state.

Toldo

Problem solved!

It turns it out was one of those problems that solve themselves after a while. You know, that kind.