Ray writes in with a troubleshooting question:
Q. After downloading wallpaper my computer does not want to respond or let me access any programs. When I restart my computer it will go through a system scan(fat32)? after a little while the desktop will come up but I am unable to open any program, i am able to access or open a program for the first thirty seconds or so, but then it freezes up. do i have a virus? How can i clean my system, I tried to restore to a previous date but unable to do so. Thank you.
A. If you can get your computer to load into Safe Mode you can go into your msconfig startup settings and disable anything that looks out of place.
It may be something that is set to start with your computer and wont let it load all the way. Also if you can get into safe mode you can run your AdAware or Spybot.
Another thing you can try is to boot like you were going into safe mode (F8) but when you get to the menu pick last known good configuration instead of safe mode. That is meant to start the computer with the last settings that worked. But if it thinks it started up completely before it froze then it most likely won’t work.
If all else fails you can do a repair install of Windows. You will need the actual XP CD and not the recovery CD if that's what your computer came with. If you don't get a repair option that means it’s too corrupt to fix. I don't think that's the case here though. Here is an article on how to do it.
Be sure to read it carefully so you don't accidentally wipe everything out.
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