OT- computer help PLEASE!

[formerlurker]

As much as it may surprise some of you, I know more about football than I do computers.

Having a huge issue with my PC. I have Windows XP and Internet Explorer 7 (I think).

I've restarted computer and run a full virus scan but my computer won't allow my icons to open when I click from my laptop desktop. FYI- that's about as technical as I get.

Any ideas? It took everything I have to log on to the BY from my phone!

Thanks in advance for any help!

PS: lville and cincy look beatable. Then again, so do we.

 

[BG79]

Might be a dumb question but do you have any cds/dvd's in the drive? My computer did that one day with some install cd that I burned and left in the drive and when I went to open up any programs or browsers I'd get the notification that the program was opening and then it would just abruptly stop.

 

[B1GEast]

right click your program or link and choose "Run as". In the dialog, uncheck "Protect...". Click ok and everything should work. If not it may be a bigger problem, try the link below

http://www.dougknox.com/

n the left hand column, click WinXP fixes
Then in the list that comes up, click File Association fixes
Then in the next list that appears, click EXE File Association Fix

Good luck, may be time for a new pc or upgrade to windows 7

 

[formerlurker]

Run as is not an option when I right click and Explorer doesn't open to get to the website. No CD in drive.

 

[huskypantz]

I would check the following:
1. do programs launch from the tray icons at the bottom of your screen?
2. do programs launch from their actual location? example, navigate to "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\" then doubleclick icon iexplore.exe.
3. If that works, you should rightclick iexplore.exe, select "send to" and then "Desktop (create shortcut")
4. Find the new icon on your desktop (probably has a (2) after the name if it's a copy of your existing explorer browser) and then doubleclick to launch or right click, then Open.
5. If that worked, you can probably manually reestablish your desktop icons.

Or you can just try the microsoft automated fix below
Microsoft has an automated desktop icon fix that may or may not work.
http://support.microsoft.com/mats/system_maintenance_for_windows/en-us

If neither of those work, you could potentially do a system restore to your last good backup.

 

[HuskyNan]

I refuse to use IE. I've had so many problems that I just stopped using it. Once the techies get you online again, download another web browser - I'm not sure what the current vogue is but we use Google's Chrome without any problems.

 

[temery]

Just a thought - try rebooting in safe mode. If you are able to get programs to run, do a system restore to a date before you had the problem.

I think you'll need to use safe mode with networking to get to the Internet.

As much as it may surprise some of you, I know more about football than I do computers.

Having a huge issue with my PC. I have Windows XP and Internet Explorer 7 (I think).

I've restarted computer and run a full virus scan but my computer won't allow my icons to open when I click from my laptop desktop. FYI- that's about as technical as I get.

Any ideas? It took everything I have to log on to the BY from my phone!

Thanks in advance for any help!

PS: lville and cincy look beatable. Then again, so do we.

 

[BG79]

I refuse to use IE. I've had so many problems that I just stopped using it. Once the techies get you online again, download another web browser - I'm not sure what the current vogue is but we use Google's Chrome without any problems.

I've always preferred Firefox.

 

[J187Money]

Chrome is less buggy than Firefox.

 

[Jimdish255]

Always start with system restore. Don't know if you can get there right-clicking "My Computer" or have to start with F8 safemode and just use last known config that worked. If it's still buggy or suspect a virus you may want to get a usb with malwarebytes installed or even combofix. Run in MB in safe mode. Reboot. Combofix logged in. If you don't have a full copy of XP pm me. Advanced System Care 6 (Iobit Software) is a nice free program that seems to do no harm as an optimizer/cleanup utility.

You also said pc then laptop. If its a lappy try unplugging from AC power block and pulling the battery. Push the power button with the chord in only on the lappy end. Hold. Let it sit for a minute. Put it back then try to start. Some type of reset for certain problems.

 

[jostar1]

Run as is not an option when I right click and Explorer doesn't open to get to the website. No CD in drive.

It sounds like you can't get Internet Explorer to open so you can't get to the internet. That happened to me when my computer got a virus. I had a friend download Firefox onto a disk and then I was able to get it onto my computer. Once I was able to get on the internet with Firefox, I called McAfee which I use for anti-virus and they cleaned my computer of the virus remotely.

Note for the future, always have more than one browser downloaded on your computer. You need to be able to get on the internet in order to have a company fix it remotely.

 

[formerlurker]

Thanks everyone. I was at the Microsoft Store the minute they opened this morning to buy a new laptop.. Got a touchscreen with Windows 8 and have no clue how to use it!