Hey all

I don't really know much about this problem and I am hoping some of you may help me. I will try and explain it as BEST as I can.

I was running WinXP with SP2 and was having no problems with it and then something strange started to happen; I would be able to open some things on my computer and not other things. For example, I couldn't open even simpliest things. Like my display options through right-clicking my mouse on the desktop and going to properties. Also I couldn't Ctrl+Alt+Del and bring up a Task Manager. All that was happening was a hourglass would pop up (the icon where the hourglass is next to the pointer) and then a few seconds later it would disappear without anything happening.

So I decided to do a format and installed WinXP Pro with SP2 on it. Everything with the format went well and then the problem began happening again. Same deal.

I formatted one more time and it is still happening. The strange thing is about all 3 times though is that after about 10 minutes, everything I tried to do opens up and then for a while I can do everything normally. Then it occurs again whenever I restart my computer.

I really have no idea what it could be. I am running a PIII 733 with 256 megs of RAM. So it shouldn't be going that bad.

So do any of you have any idea what it could be. Anything you can tell me would be great. Thanks in advance.

--Colin Anderson
1) Check how much free space you have on that HDD.

2) DLoad and run the diagnostics from the drive maker's site.

3) Consider another 256 stick of RAM...that machine will run much smoother.

4) Run all your cleanup/defrag tools.

5) Run all your anti-malware apps.

Good Luck and let us know.

patio.   8-)Don't forget the speed of your harddrive is important too!Thanks for the quick reply guys.

The hard drive is a Western Digital 7200 RPM 120 gig hard drive.

Also, the drive was just formatted so would I really need to run defrag or cleanup tools?

And what are some anti-malware apps, do you mean like Ad-aware and stuff?

Thanks again.Do you still get the problem in safe mode?If you right CLICK on My Computer and select Properties, what do you see under Computer on the General tab?  

Is this a legitimate Microsoft Windows XP CD you're using to install Win XP?

Does Device Manager report a clean bill of health?  Run dxdiag, and run the various tests.  All successful? Quote

And what are some anti-malware apps, do you mean like Ad-aware and stuff?