System Does Not Respond From Screensaver

[jldodge]

My system does not respond after the screensaver launches. I cannot use
CTL_ALT_DEL or any other key to get a response. When I disable screensaver
(it automatically selects Windows XP), the wallpaper is displayed. I have no
taskbar or any other desktop feature to "click" on. The only thing I can do
is restart the machine.

Not sure but the problem seems to have started when I uninstalled IE7Beta2 and went back to IE6. The process of installing and going back to IE6 worked fine, i.e. no errors. However, since that time, my system has not been "behaving" as before.

Don't know what to do here ... the only thing that seems to work is to delay
the screensaver so that it never kicks in ...

Help please ... and thanks in advance ...

[rjfvillarosa]

What type of machine is this, brand name or custom built?
What type of XP installation CD do you have, original Windows CD or a recovery CD?

[jldodge]

This is a custom built machine ... Intel, Dual Processor ... Windows XP Pro Installation CD.

[rjfvillarosa]

Are you familiar with the repair install procedure available with XP?

[jldodge]

Generally, yes ...

I have a RAID 0 setup for my C drive. When I boot from the CD, I cannot seem to get to the screen where the repair query is offered. At one point I was asked to put the auto recovery disk in my A drive but I received an error message. Is there a way to force the repair feature or go directly into it from the CD (assume I have to boot from the CD)?

[rjfvillarosa]

Can you get to the setup screen that allows you to select "install" not repair but actual install?
This is from booting with the XP CD in the drive, after changing the boot order to boot from CD first.

[jldodge]

Yes I can ... it's after that where I run into the problems noted in my previous e-mail. I select install at that point ...

I hate to be so dense but what would you suggest from that point?

[rjfvillarosa]

After you select install press enter to accept Windows to format and install a new copy of Windows on your harddrive, before Windows formats your harddrive it will do a configuration check and discover that you already have an installation of Windows on the harddrive, you will now be offered the option to repair that installation.
If you select yes to the repair, Windows will delete all your old system files and replace them with the originals, this will not damage any of your documents and even your desktop will probably remain the same.
After doing this you will have to reinstall all of the Windows updates and it would be better to reinstall one or two of your programs including your antivirus, I usually find with AVG that it is still functioning ok but it is way out of date.
Efectively your programs are OK but all the updates if any will have been lost, if any of the programs are downloads and are old it is sometimes better to just download the new updated version than go through the bother of downloading all the updates.

[jldodge]

I have a lot of programs loaded ... will they be okay or will I have to re-install (not sure I understood your comment about the upgrades)?

What about my other settings? My fear is that the repair will introduce a lot of reconfiguring and reloading of programs. I use dropped Norton because their answer to a problem was always unintstall then re-install, meaning they had bugs they weren't able to fix.

In other words, does the repair leave me where I am today or take me back to the beginning of my WinXP installation? Again, sorry to be so dense on this ... I'm usually pretty good at these things but this one has me stumped.

[rjfvillarosa]

This procedure will take you right back to the begining "except" you will not have to reinstall your programs as they will not be lost, only the "updates" will be affected, you will lose a little of your current configuration but not much.
There is another thread around here somewhere about this subject, I will see if I can find it and see if that can help explain it a little clearer for you.



Found it....have a read of this post from Gary Routh. http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=151522

[glc]

Use power management to shut the monitor off instead of a screensaver. Screensavers are not necessary with today's monitors, all they are is entertainment.