Troubleshooting Windows XP Common Problems

Windows XP is one of the most popular Windows Operating System till Date. Still there are many people who use Windows XP as there Primary Operating System.

In this Post I will try to cover some of the most common problems faced by XP users. Apart from the Problems covered, feel free to ask more in the Comments Section provided below.

Problem: My Windows XP takes too long to get Shut Down or never Shut Down on it’s own, I have to manually Shut it down. What should I do?

Solution: There can be a whole lot of causes for this problem. I will try to mention the most common ones:

1. Sometimes your Anti-Virus starts scanning your floppy drive while Shutting down the system. This may take a lot of time. If your Floppy Drive is corrupt, than forget about getting the computer Shut Down as your Anti-Virus will search for the Floppy Drive to get scanned forever. In order to resolve this problem, change your Anti-Virus Scan Settings.

2. If you have lot of Programs installed which gets start during system Start Up than the best way is to disable unnecessary programs during Start Up. For this follow these simple steps:

Start|Run
Type msconfig and click OK.
Now click on Selective Startup, uncheck the Load System Services box and click OK.
Now restart your computer.

Repeat the above steps for check boxes having name as Startup Items, BOOT.INI, WIN.INI and System.INI

3. You can also disable various services from services.msc for best performance of Windows XP.

Problem: I am getting an error message Insufficient Hard Disk Space or Hard Disk Full. I can’t install new softwares and also cant copy files from external storage devices. What should I do?

Solution: Remember Windows XP requires a certain minimum amount of Hard Disk Space to operate. When any partition on your Hard Drive has allotted maximum possible space to your data and still you try to install software/copy files than you will get the above error message. In order to free up disk space you can try the following steps:

Use CCleaner to wipe out junk files from your computer. Also make sure your Recycle Bin is empty, although CCleaner will wipe out files from Recycle Bin also.
Defrag your Hard Drive using various available Defrag Utilities like Auslogics Disk Defrag etc. You can also Defrag Pagefile.sys for boosting PC performance.
Remove Unwanted Programs. For this Go to Start|Control Panel|Add or Remove Programs. Else you can try Revo Uninstaller.
Turn off Hibernation. For this go to Start|Control Panel|Power Options. Select the Hibernation Tab and uncheck the Box which says Enable Hibernation (See Screenshot Below):

You can also Turn Off System Restore on all or some partitions of your Hard Drive. For this:

Right Click on My Computer|Select Properties|Select System Restore Tab.

Now simply check the Box which says Turn Off System Restore on all Drives or you can click on the Drive Letters of the Partition and than click Settings in order to Turn Off System Restore for Specific Drives (See Screenshot Below):

A partition which has got some free space can be used as Windows Temporary Storage area.
If still you have less space than you must remove Heavy Files like Movies, Videos etc. from your Hard Drive Completely.

Problem: Whenever some program crashes, I get a Error Reporting Message. Is it necessary to report these errors to Microsoft always? How to disable Error Reporting Service?

Solution: In order to help Microsoft improve it’s products and also enhancing user experience, Error Reporting feature is present. It’s optional to report these errors to Microsoft always. In order to disable it completely follow these simple steps (Also see a Screenshot Below):

Right Click on My Computer
Select Properties and select Advanced Tab
Under Advanced Tab select Error Reporting
Select Disable Error Reporting. But make sure to check the Box which says But notify me when critical error occur.
Click OK

Problem: My monitor is flickering too much. It’s really hard for me to run applications as well as to play games. What should I do?

Solution: Whenever this type of Problem occurs we go to vendor and ask to troubleshoot this problem. Vendor also fools us and make some bucks out of it. Before going to the Vendor make sure you adjust the Screen Refresh Rate properly.

Monitor flickering occurs when the Screen Refresh Rate is too low. In order to increase the Refresh Rate follow these simple steps:

Right Click anywhere in the empty area of your Desktop and select Properties.
Select the Settings Tab and under it click Advanced Button.
Now select the Monitor Tab in the immediate next Window.
Now from the Drop Down Menu select the Refresh Rate to the Maximum allowed value.
Click OK and Windows will now consider your changed Refresh Rate. Click OK again to close all the opened Dialog Boxes.

Problem: I lost my Driver CD or my Driver CD is corrupt, unable to find proper drivers on the manufacturer’s site. What I must do?

Solution: If you don’t have your Driver CD than you can backup all essential drivers present in your PC. Check out this post for more information.

Problem: How to remove Windows Script Host Error problem?

Solution: Windows Script Host Error problem occurs when an Anti-Virus Software manipulates your computer’s registry. Check out this post for more information.

Problem: How I can remove Shared Documents folder in Windows XP?

Solution: Some folks are concerned about their Data Privacy and Security. Make use of this post in order to disable Sharing of Documents completely.

Problem: How I can Disable Caps Lock Key on my Computer?

Solution: For some people Caps Lock key is very annoying. A simple software can disable this key completely. Read more about the software here

Problem: Balloon Tips are annoying for me, they Pop-up when I don’t need them or when I know what I am actually doing. How to disable them?

Solution: Balloon Tips are easy to disable via Registry. Read this post to disable them completely.

Problem: How I can slipstream latest service packs to my Windows XP installation disk?

Solution: In order to slipstream latest service pack onto your Windows XP disk, nLite is used. Make use of this post to do it. The steps mentioned in this post are for Vista (vLite) but it is same for nLite too.

Problem: How I can bypass Windows XP login Screen?

Solution: If Login Screen is very annoying for you than the best way is to bypass it. Read this post for further details.

Feel free to ask more questions, if any, in the comments box provided just below this post. I will try my level best to solve your problem.

Sharing is Caring

Andrew Johnson on March 4, 2009 at 6:18 am

Hey Mrinmay,

Nice bit of info in this post, good job. You should include info about spyware as well and recommend something like spybot search & destroy — usually when people call me about problems with their computers it’s due to a bunch of spyware slowing things down.

Cheers!
mrintech on March 5, 2009 at 11:27 am

You can use SuperAntiSpyware which is a great product.

Also for testing the Effectiveness of your security proucts you can make use of this POST or else opt for Online Virus Scanners.
Ameya Gupte on August 15, 2009 at 2:33 am

Thanks for Information. This post is going to help out many folks

Comments are closed.

MrinTech

Troubleshooting Windows XP Common Problems

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