Windows is really screwing up.

Jman13

Senior member
Apr 9, 2001
811
0
76
Ok, so I have no friggin clue what is wrong with my computer. I recently did a full wipe and reinstall, and things were running pretty well on the reinstalled system...then all of a sudden, yesterday afternoon, Windows Explorer began crashing at EVERY program open. Open Firefox? Explorer crash. AntiVirus? Explorer crash. My Computer? Explorer crash. EVERY THING.

So, I restored a restore point from the previous day, when things were good. No dice....still crashes all the time (Explorer also crashed during the restore point console boot, but I still managed to complete it.).

BTW, the explorer crashes happen in Safe Mode too.

So, I tried a repair install of Windows. Well, now, the repair install is caught in a loop...it gets to "Installing Devices," goes about 70% through, then reboots and resumes the Installing Devices from the beginning. It looped about 3 times before I just shut the computer off.

What the heck is going on here? Does anyone have experience with this kind of oddity?
 

vaylon

Senior member
Oct 22, 2000
219
0
71
It would help to know what os you are using.
But most likely you have a hardware failure.

Try installing the system with only the hard drive attached and cd/dvd rom drive. No sound card or any other devices.
If it doesn't work. then it most likely is the motherboard. Or could be your memory has gone bad(very rare unless you overclock)
If you think it might be the motherboard, try flashing an older bios and see if that helps.

If everything works fine then slowly reattach other cards and devices(eg: attach sound card and let it run a while to see if it works ok, then go to another device).

A little detective work on your part and you should be able to find out the culprit.
Good Luck
 

Shawn

Lifer
Apr 20, 2003
32,236
53
91
Maybe your mobo has bad capacitors. Check inside to see if any of them are bulging or have burst open. If so then you will either need to solder new ones on or replace the mobo.
 

RebateMonger

Elite Member
Dec 24, 2005
11,586
0
0
I'd start with the basics:

1) Run Memtest86+ for several hours
2) Scan the hard drive with the manufacturer's diagnostics program.

As vaylon notes, if all is OK, then remove all unnecessary add-in devices and try re-installing Windows again. All you need is a CPU, memory, keyboard, video of some sort, and CDROM. Remove everything else.

If Windows now installs, then start adding devices one at a time until everything works, or the device crashes your PC.