100% Weird Problem

[eastyuyi]

hey guys, i really need your help on this particular problems!!

hardware: Dell E1505, 1G DDR, 100GB

software: xp pro w/ sp2, symantec anti-virus installed

problem:

after the xp is loaded for a while, the taskbar will act in a weird way. it disappears and immediately come back again. it seems to refresh itself and some icons in the notification (hook) area will be missing. the taskbar keeps doing this and never ends. especially when you place the mouse over it and click on it, the taskbar immediately disappear and then shows up again. so you never have a chance to work on the taskbar.

meanwhile, things like "task manager", display property window, and whatever windows explorer window (e.g., when you have a folder open) may disappear w/o any reason. you can invoke the "task manager" at any time you like, but it will disappear at the next second. I have Acrobat and Word running and their windows will stay; i dont know why.

besides, "active desktop recovery" information shows up on my desk. even if you click and try to restore the active desktop, it does not work. the desktop refreshes and everything is still there. FYI: i do not have a webpage in my active desktop settings. my wallpage is set to "none".

lastly, my "microsoft key" will not work during this weird time. the right click of my mouse may also not work at all.

my user account is in "user" group. i tried logon as administrator but this wont stop such things to happen again.

i checked google and failed to find any related information. as i told you, the application window still stays during this weird situation, i guess something is wrong with the explorer itself.

Any idea of how to solve this?!?!?!?!?! thanks alot!!!!

 

[RGarcia87]

Are you using 'auto-hide' on the taskbar? That's the only think I can think of?

 

[eastyuyi]

no, i am not using that.

also, i guess this is not a overheat problem. if you logoff and logon again, this problem may be gone.

keep thinking and helping me, thanks!

 

[linney]

lastly, my "microsoft key" will not work during this weird time."

What does the above mean, are you trying a re-install, if so see the later links?


How does it work from Safe Mode?

Are there any clues in the Event Viewer?

Removing adware & spyware
faq608-4650

Try the free version of "Ewido"

http://www.ewido.net/

310353 - How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310353&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

316434 - HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316434&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

310560 - How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310560&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

Some general things to try.

See if System Restore will get you back to a restore point before your problem with Explorer.

Try running ChkDsk to check your drive for errors. Right-click your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error Checking. Select both boxes.

Run the System File Checker program from the Run Box by typing.....Sfc /Scannow in it and have your XP CD handy.

HOW TO: Verify Unsigned Device Drivers in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q308/5/14.asp

If they don't work you could try repairing windows by running it over itself. You will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q315/3/41.asp

 

[linney]

You could also look at the possibility of updating any Video Card drivers.

 

[mileskc]

Hi, try right clicking on taskbar and locking it. Maybe this will help.

 

[eastyuyi]

thank you linney.

i checked the system events and found tons of errors caused by winlogon.exe saying unknown system error and explorer is restarted.

i checked with microsoft knowledgebase and found nothing tightly related.

since this problem follows no clear pattern and it may not occur for sometimes, it is hard to do the set of tests suggested (safe mode, disabling shells, etc).

i never has this problem before! therefore, i attributed this problem to the hardware changes(my new laptop Dell E1505). since the problem is sort of well related to OS problems (taskbar, active desktop, explorer) and since no other software systems crash so far, i think the problem is more likely a software-oriented one.

 

[dglienna]

Might be time to reload. Windows doesn't handle hardware changes well, I've found.

-David
2006 Microsoft Most Valueable Professional (MVP)
2006 Dell Certified System Professional (CSP)

 

[eastyuyi]

thats the last option :-(

 

[linney]

http://www.eventid.net/events.asp

The above link is a good place to look for Event Errors.

 

[G0AOZ]

Check against a known good system that you have the correct and legitimate version of WINLOGON.EXE and not a rogue one.

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[eastyuyi]

alright, let me copy one from other healthy machine. hope replacing the file wont crash my machine.

 

[eastyuyi]

hey guys!

i eventually found out the reason!!!

i noticed that this only happens when i run a specific 3-party program. i tested and found it is true. the system event log captures winlogon.exe exception as soon as i run that program. of course, i experience the weird problems immediately when that program is invoked.

thanks guys for all your help!

 

[linney]

And the name of the offending program is..................?

This will add completion to the thread.

 

[eastyuyi]

hi linney, thanks for reminding me of this.

i was going to put the name of that program yesterday but i thought nobody may be interested because it is a program to translate chinese into english. anyway, the name of it is powerword v2003.

i've been using this program for two years. i only observed this problem after i installed it on my new laptop Dell E1505. however, i think the problem may come from the patches that recently issued by Microsoft. it may explain why i dont have such problems untill now.

again, thank you all for help!