computer will not shut down

[botbrig]

i am running windows xp pro. when i try to shut down the computer it won't. kazaa corrupted the registry.

i tried removing all the kazaa files and a fresh install of xp pro but the computer will not restart.

how can i correct these problems.

any help would be welcome thank you.

[glc]

If a fresh install over the top didn't fix it, quickest way is save the files you need to an external drive or CD/DVD and wipe the hard drive and load it back up from scratch. You burned your system restore bridge when you reinstalled XP.

[botbrig]

every time i manually shut down and restart the set up window opens.

how do i wipe the hard drive?

will that delete the adminstrator password?

what happens if i remove the cmos battery?

[Marke522]

The easiest way to wipe the harddrive is to change your boot sequence to boot from disc first, then make sure you have the Windows XP disc in the computer. When you turn it on, press the button to go into setup, then follow the instructions on formatting. I just did it last month ( twice :P ) but I can't remember the sequence right now.

It might be able to do a repair, but I would do a clean install if it were my computer. You do have all important files backed, right ?

You won't need the password.

Don't worry about resetting the CMOS.

[HyperTF]

Hrrm Kazaa, that memory hogging, system festering program...eh hem!

The setup screen appears because it detected that the system was not correctly shut down, not that you could help that much.

As GLC said...DON'T FORGET TO BACKUP DATA!

If you remove the CMOS battery it will reset all your BIOS settings, it wont remedy the problems you are having. In fact I suggest you leave that alone.

Something tells me you will be leaving Kazaa alone from now on good luck with it.

[glc]

Wiping the hard drive will delete EVERYTHING.

[botbrig]

i went into the bios and reset them to default and turned on the virus protection.

then tried a fresh install with new formatting and that worked partially. the install was successful, but did not wipe the hard drive completely.

when i tried to install norton it failed.

then i tried to intall trend micro and it took but i got locked out the internet.

when i tried system restore it failed.

the computer will shut down properly now. so i guess i will try a system wipe with an outside app. what do you think?

[HyperTF]

It sounds like you didn't reformat your hard drive, don't forget if there is some ingrained problems in there, no matter how many OS re-installs you do you will be lucky to rectify it. Can you explain what you meant by "but did not wipe the hard drive completely"

Personally it sounds like you are having TOO many problems. I would back up your data, format the hard drive and start from scratch, could be saving yourself a number of headaches in the long run.

I would also double check your BIOS settings now to make sure it is all set up right.

I am pretty sure system restore will have no history to work with anyway yet. When you have the thing running well, get system restore to save a snapshot, and back up your registry while you are at it, then you can rollback if you need to.

Install one major aplication at a time, and test. if it doesn't work, uninstall it to be sure, you could be re-creating your problem. Don't forget to disable virus protection when you are installing some software, as sometimes it can hinder the install.

Good luck... I am going out for a few hours.

[botbrig]

thanks for your help so far.

i will start again tommorrow.

i believe i messed up at the partition stage of the install, because all the old files were still in the program folder.

now i have hakf the hard drive in fat32 and the other half in nstc.

should i leave the virus protection off for the bios when installing new programs?

[glc]

You MUST turn off the bios virus protection to install an operating system.

You need to delete all partitions during Setup, when you are offered that option. When all you have left is unallocated space, then install XP on that.

[botbrig]

thank you everybody. wiping the hard drive worked.