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PC Help

Discussion in 'Computers & Modding' started by grimsim1, Dec 17, 2008.

  1. grimsim1

    grimsim1 Well-Known Member

    My PC has been running really strangely lately. My Windows seems to not be running as it should. At times I get strange error messages. I want to re-install windows but I really don't feel like reformatting. What I want to know is if it is possible to "repair" windows or reinstall without having to format the drives?

    Furthermore, is there any software that can repair your system files and help make your PC run more smoothly?

    I also have a problem with my anti-virus software. It was working yesterday but later that day I noticed it wasn't running and when I clicked on the application I got the following message:

    "C:\Program Files\BitDefender\BitDefender 2008\bdagent.exe
    This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem."

    Now I understand that I need to reinstall it but why is it giving me this message? Is there any way to fix it without having to reinstall?

    Anyone that knows anything about PC's please answer my questions (especially Loony, I know you probably know hehe). This thing is driving me insane. :-\
     
    grimsim1, Dec 17, 2008
    #1
  2. Datanotfound

    Datanotfound Well-Known Member

    My suggestion is to run Spybot Search and destroy which can be obtained at http://www.spybot.com/index2.html.

    It can track down most malware, spyware, and trojans that would be comprising your computer. It worked for me in the past =p

    About repairing the system files, I really wouldnt trust it to a third party app. =/

    If all else fails, back up your important files and reformat.
     
    Datanotfound, Dec 17, 2008
    #2
  3. grimsim1

    grimsim1 Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the suggestion man. I ran Spybot but found nothing out of the ordinary, just the odd tracking cookie. It didn't help solve my issue unfortunately and looks like I will have to reformat...I hate doing that...
     
    grimsim1, Dec 18, 2008
    #3
  4. Loonylion

    Loonylion Administrator Staff Member

    you failed to mention what version of windows it is, so I'll assume it is XP. Put the XP CD in the drive and boot from it, and go through setup as usual. About half way through text mode setup (from memory immediately after you press F8 to accept the EULA) it will scan your disks and tell you it has found a version of windows, and give you the option of pressing 'r' to repair it. This option effectively deletes the windows folder and reinstalls. Once you have done that, you will need to reinstall some software (microsoft office is one culprit) but a lot of it should work.

    Note: the very first screen of text mode setup will offer to repair a windows install, don't choose this because it requires a special recovery floppy that I'm willing to bet you don't have. Just proceed with a new installation at that point, it will give you a working repair option later.

    Edit: I strongly suggest you unplug/disable all hard drives except the system one until windows is finished installing, as it can mix them up.
     
    Loonylion, Dec 18, 2008
    #4
  5. grimsim1

    grimsim1 Well-Known Member

    Hey, thanks for the tips. I tried to repair it but it corrupted my current copy. So what I did was to install a fresh copy, back all my things up and reformat. Everything is new and fresh now and running smoothly. Heck, even Mozilla works again (From one of my previous topics when I had troubles with it). Thanks for the help guys :)
     
    grimsim1, Dec 19, 2008
    #5