I think it's time to find a qualified repair facility, or someone by your side that can help. Without diagnostic abilities such as the XP recovery console, or a CD that can be booted to read your HDD, not much more I can offer here. Sorry for the bind. I will check back later this afternoon when I get home. IF...you can find something to use to help us here, then possibly this can get figured out, but right now, I would say the operating system is shot. Hopefully you have some sort of data backup, then I would run the restore CD to bring the unit back to it's out of box, experience. IOW, starting from scratch as if you just started the machine up for the first time, meaning adding all the security updates etc. Sorry.....

Mark

I'll see what I can do. Thanks Mark.

  I was the first to respond to your request for help.  I have been following and assisting since.  I did not insult you or rub your face in anything,  I stated that you were new to this and that advanced techniques might be outside your scope.

I will continue to assist as best I can despite your rudeness.  It can't hurt me but might be an good example to others.  While we wait for the next step, it may behoove you to contemplate how poorly text can convey tone and mood and how a misunderstanding can be resolved with an apology.

Welcome....

Good luck. Will be back later to day....approx. 7-8 hours.

Mark

I think you have a hardware problem not a software one, your describtion of the problem has the symtems of a hardrive crash. I agree with BoXXi a new drive would be the answer but take your laptop to a computer shop and get advice from an expert before you start spending money.

I have to chime in here, I am seeing somewhat similar behavior. Just uninstalled WB5 restarted, then installed WB6, and restarted. Upon coming back into Windows and when applying a theme (Molten) my system locked. Finally able to get up task manager and attempted to reboot system. System hung on attempted reboot, so I held the power button down after about 20min of waiting. Restarted and tried to promptly uninstall WB6, no dice, system froze. So, I tried restarting again, froze on restart again. Went into safe mode and deleted three wbxxx.dll files (sorry didn't get the names)from c:\windows\system32, but it would not let me delete wbsys.dll (v.5.5.0.0), but I was able to rename that file. And now my system is running much better.

So if you can get your system into safe mode (f8 after bios flash screen)and can log in as administrator, you need to open windows explorer (double click "My Computer") then go to the menu at the top and select "Tools" then "Folder Options". When the Folder Options windows appears, select the second tab "View" and look in the middle of that windows under "Hidden files and folders" and select "Show hidden files and folders" then use the slider to the right and unselect "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended), click apply and ok. Then go to c:\windows\system32 and look for wbsys.dll and right click and rename to something like wbsys.old. You might also want to change the view to "details" instead of icons or thumbnails, then in the little bar above the files that has name, size, type, etc, right click and select "More" you can then include company in the listings. Sort by company and find all files that belong to Stardock and delete or rename them......Good Luck and hope your machine is not lost.

He posted back already that the system will NOT boot to safe mode. My first post to him gave a method to simply boot to safe mode command prompt, run the command ""rstrui"" which starts the system restore point process to pick an earlier point in time to reboot, PRIOR to installing WB, which would have done the same thing you did. Basically restart the system with windows\system 32 files in a state before he installed any Stardock software.

The posts are conflicting pointing to both software and possibly hardware issues with his system. He doesn't have an XP CD to run any Windows repair functions, and he doesn't have any CD such as a Bart PE disk to simply boot to a setup and run commands to look at his root C: drive to see if he can even read files, on the HDD.

Everyone here his spinning wheels at this point, with out the ability to run any basic tests with a simple boot disk that can read NTFS, IMHO.

Mark

FYI...OEM=Original Equiptment Machine

Mark

eMachines units also have notorious fan/dust problems. You will want to use an air can to blow dust out of any open fan vent. If left unattended, an eMachines unit will overheat to the point of damaging the components.

Regardless, my earlier advice still stands. Given your notes about what you do and do not know about managing your system, how you haven't been updating your system with windows updates, and the fact that eMachines units are known to croak (mine is still standing...barely), I really think you should get some professional help in your area.

Windowblinds didn't kill your machine and if recovering your data is critical, you really need to get someone who knows what they are doing to help you. It's not rocket science, but if you used the eMachines restore disks, for example, that restoration will wipe EVERYTHING from your drive. These are things someone who really knows what they are doing will know right from the get go.

With all the time and energy you have spent in this forum, a professional could have had your data recovered in a few hours.

Just trying to help...even if it means saying things people don't want to hear.

I agree with you Zubaz. I thought it was kind of weird that he took offense to your suggestions. I think everyone here has attempted to assist the user. Unfortunately for the user, a lot of times problems can't be solved without having all the information or being present to see what the extent of the problem is. Hopefully, the user will get his pc problem resolved.

noob

A simple innocuous term denoting someone who's new to something.

Yet, it's can be considered name calling. How many times have people who consider themselves technically proficient gotten upset if they were referred to as a noob?

Ever had a stranger call you something, using a term you're not familiar with?
Unfamiliar terms by those we don't know can generate a plethora of emotions to choose from. Put yourself in a stressful situation as the one here. It was mentioned earlier about forgetting what you know and trying to fix the situation... Put yourself in the situation here but in the context of not knowing enough about what you need to do. You come here and ask for help. Help is given, but in terms and instructions you don't have a firm grasp of the basics on. Then some one calls you a name using a term you're not familiar with. You're already stressed, how do you react?

I can't even count the posts where someone unfamiliar with terms got pissed because some kind soul 'bump'ed their post for them.

Netiquette - post whore that I am, I never bothered trying find those rules. Most of ya'll would know more about it than me. Here's the gist of what I know.... all caps is considered yelling.

As for bold, color change, italics, underline.... depends on the context of what's being said I guess.

Same goes for font size I figure.

I can use to 'highlight' something. Bring attention to it as it were.

I can blow up letters, words, sentences, etc to signify a point.

Hell, If I wanted to:

I could even use a bigger voice to let you know that quite possibly I might (stress on the might) now be talking down to because maybe I don't feel that you are quite fully appreciating that which I'm trying to tell you.

It has been mentioned before about the inability to convey true tone/demeanor in written words.

Maybe if WC would hurry up and push the considering of some new Winky Smilies....


machnicki

Bottom line is everyone was trying to help. Somethings can't be fully explained or posted as a 'how to' in a forum. Somethings need to be seen in order to determine the correct course of action. Unless you have some technical knowledge to either utilize or sift through the information given, trying to follow it could cause more harm than good. Quite often the best course of action is to find somebody... anybody.. that knows more than you do. Most of us have done that more than once.. ask Yrag.




I need a nap.

Small wonder.......trollin's a bitch.  


machnicki -- you have mail.

Since you have some sort of branded computer check your operating manual for recovery options assuming it will boot into the recovery partition this is the reason why you don't have a cd as they have made a partition on the hdd for this option,there are 3 recovery options
1-system roll back-pffft good luck with that
2-non destructive recovery-keeps data files intact no data lost but all 3rd party software will need re-installing
3-full reformat -destructive-everything is wiped

your best option is remove hdd and put it into an external hdd case to recover any recoverable files


Your problem is NOT related to windowblinds since widows needs to boot before wb can even be loaded

There is possably another way to get to any recoverable files without hdd removal and that's by using a linux live cd,it may mean installing linux on a seperate partition in any free space after C drive where windows is installed,the live cd wil be a good test for your hardware because if it runs it means the mobo etc are ok inc cdrom drive.

PS: Would'nt hurt to leave linux installed on it's own partition after windows as it's a good way of having a running operating system if windows gets corrupted,unless hardware is an issue

EDIT: Linux is free and can be downloaded vis torrent as an iso or a cd,dvd can be purchsed for a small sum
UBUNTU
KUBUNTU
fedora
knoppix
morphix
etc etc etc

i have been useing stardock products for about 4 years now i have heart of a lot of complaints including a couple of my own i am vary doubtful that it is stardocks software these ppl have there crap together or billy wouldnt have them on board as a gold member partner

I had a similar problem with my friend's computer running XP Pro and it turned out to be an overheating hard drive...not XP and certainly not WB. The drive was old and, aside from a few times starting it, it was simply no longer going to work. It had to be replaced. I hope that you don't end up losing all your files but, as suggested above, you might take the hard drive to a data recovery service. Good luck!

Punctuation is your friend.   

I would just like to take a moment to thank everyone here at WC. Object Desktop and Window Blinds are great. And.... as a bonus the forums have once again educated me in safer computing. I now have a Bart-PE bootable CD. Thanks guys!  

It's well known that Windowblinds likes to fuck your computer. Looks like WB6 is going to cause disaster like WB5 did...

Best thing to do is shut Windows down, and access your files using a live CD. Back them up, and format. Also, in future, keep all your work on a separate partition or hard drive, and make sure you back it up often.

Tut tut, this company needs to sort it's software out.

By whom?

Member since: Today
The voice of wisdom 

I think you'll find that it is well known and more likely that people install WindowBlinds on computers which are already (as you so delightfully put it) f****d.
In such a situation I don't see this as a WindowBlinds problem although the good and learned people here will always try to help where they can.  

I believe that was I who made the Bart PE references. Many tools out there, but this once is really cool, which basically gives you a Windows Lite system to boot to. Then you cab simply diagnose disk crash or Operating System issue, and 95% of the posts here would be uneeded in this thread, IMHO

Mark

I find it really amazing that a person with so much invested in his files would ignore simple updates for his computer. Microsoft updates all it's screw-up for our protection and to keep out the stuff we are vunderable too. I have alot of updates in my XP and am more than willing to install whatever I need on this old machine to keep her running including a new bunch of fans every year to keep it in good condition. Backing up everything on a regular basis is important, so just in case you can role back to a good date when the machine was running fine. My advise is to back-up your computer before you ever install anything then if something goes wrong you can go back with ease. Good Luck.

I believe you are correct. I was able to test my bootable BartPE CD and it works. Thanks Mark. WC is cool!  

Agreed. I switch off between Acronis Home for full imaging on another HDD and the latest Ghost 12 which is Vista compatible. Ghost 12 actually was quicker on my system, FWIW. Both recognize external USB HDD's which is simple enough for anyone to have for backups. Having built my own desktop that has 6 various HDD's, multiple flavors, RAID setup, etc. I have no reason to really ever worry about a crash or errant software. Everyone really needs to learn new habits...meaning daily backups. The Forum posts would go way down

Mark