I MIGHT have to replace a hard disk.. I do not know.. Yesterday for the 1st and only time i had a failure to boot error.. after that.. ok... BUT.. there are screen freezes which ctr alt del will not work.. have to shut off power... SO I bought norton system works a while back .. and have now run most of the tests.. there are 4 problems that it will not fix.. THEY are labeld shared dll error Here is what Norton says" the key "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SharedDLLs," referes to a missing file, C:\program Files\Activision." There are 4 dll problems like this that norton will not fix.. QUESTION How do I fix them and Could they be the culprit causing the screen freeze up..?? thanks, in advance.. mike

hello sounds like a soft ware problem only to be sure reboot with m.e bootdisk in drive and at the a:scandisk click enter and go through the checks to let it test your hard drive for bad sectors. if only a few or none are found your hard drive most likely ok. try doing system restore befor you had norton system works mess with your system. and make sure your systems free of spyware. ••• Resistance is invigorating! •••kill spyware

You haven't said anything that indicates you would need to replace the hard drive. Did this failure to boot error happen once, many times, or what? "Here is what Norton says" the key "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SharedDLLs," referes to a missing file, C:\program Files\Activision." There are 4 dll problems like this that norton will not fix.. " It it is saying the shareddlls directory is where the file is missing, not that it is a shared dll error. Messages like these can be due to messy uninstalls, or deleting files instead of uninstalling the programs properly. Did you delete any files recently?? Did you uninstall anything recently?? If all the messages are to do with missing files, Norton can't restore a file that isn't there - these are caused by registry entries that are no longer valid - copy down the names of the files, and let Norton delete those entries. If any of those files were system files, it's possible that that could cause the computer to not boot in windows. By the way - what do you mean by it won't boot - when you first try to start the computer, or while windows is trying to load, or it freezes while windows is trying to load? If the former, unplug your computer, open the case, and make sure everything is seated properly, all connectors are snug, etc. Then plug it in, try booting and using the computer for a while to see if the problem is still there. If the latter, boot the computer, press F8 repeatedly after the memory is counted, before windows starts to load - a menu will appear - chose Safe mode - if the computer gets all the way to the desktop in Safe mode you have a software caused error that is not letting the computer boot all the way into windows in normal mode. ........ If the former, it only happens when you first when you first try to start the computer - This could also be the beginnings of power supply problems - make sure the power supply fan is working well. Make sure your cpu fan is working well. ........... Zillions of things can cause freeze ups, and most of them are because of software problems.

wawadave and Mike Response #'s 1 & 2 Thanks .. I am printing your responses and going to, today, review them and apply the applicable suggestions.. Then, get back here,, today ,, with results and my comments.. However,, in answer to your questions that I CAN answer.. Dave.. I will run Search and Destroy to eliminate ad ware.. I do that occasionally anyway.. as a result of previous suggestions from this forum.. Mike Response #2 The boot failure happend two times in succession,, on the third.. BUT after I jogged (bumped) the hard drives a bit.. it started.. No troubles since.. Course that was just few days ago.. The files,, yes I have deleted programs, and files and a lot of stuff and the ones I see (the 4) are all reecognizable as programs I deleted.. Used computer,, trying to get rid of stuff I do not need... They are NOT system files.. (well, one might be ,, I will check on that).. run norton agian and look at them.. NOT boot when cold starting.. and windows TRYING to load.. on my computer there appears an F1 button need to push during the load sequence.. after that... it showed. a falure to boot error.. welll heck ,, do not remember if it was during mem check or after the F1 prompt appeard.. sorry.. CPU fan could be a thing to look at.. I know last summer it would scream and get hot.. and freeze.. It is not too warm in the room where it sits now.. and still pretty cool here.. course the thing is full of dust.. DU""HHH.. and the side is off of the case .. that does not do any good for air flow.. I think the entire case and structure of it does not lend ittself to cooling.. and may remount another fan to blow directly upon the cpu... Guess I could buy another computer.. but STILL would like to have this one as a spare... later,,i will report back..

"...The boot failure happend two times in succession,, on the third.. BUT after I jogged (bumped) the hard drives a bit.. it started.. No troubles since.." "....NOT boot when cold starting.. and windows TRYING to load...." If that's the only time it happens, unplug your computer, open the case, and make sure everything is seated properly, all connectors are snug, etc. "...CPU fan could be a thing to look at.. I know last summer it would scream and get hot.. and freeze.. " Replace the fan, NOW. An overheated cpu can definately cause freezes. Your cpu can burn out in a few minutes if the fan does not spin. Sounds like you should add a case fan as well - the best place is at the back, up high. Also make sure your PS fan is working well. "...course the thing is full of dust.. " Blow it off with air or canned air or inert gas, or unplug the computer and brush off what you can, using e.g. an artists paintbrush, preferably one with animal hair or natural bristles. It is also a good idea to make sure the case is plugged in at the time, but the power is off (e.g. plugged into a power bar, or the PS switch is off if it has one), so that the case and mboard are grounded. You can use a hose connected to the exhaust side of a vacuum cleaner, but don't touch the mboard with the hose - vacuum cleaners can generate large amounts of static electricity. Especially important is the cpu heat sink and fan - clean those even if you clean nothing else. The PS may need a blow out as well. "...on my computer there appears an F1 button need to push during the load sequence.. after that... it showed. a falure to boot error." Assuming that is the key you press to go to the bios Setup, if you press that too early, you can interfere with the drive detection, and you get that message only because the boot sequence was interrupted. This can occur on any computer if you press that key at the wrong time, and this is nothing to be concerned about. Give the bios a chance to detect the drives before you press that key.

Wheww... Ok.. Cleaned the heck out of it.. Unplugged took apart. Blew with air.. Found the PS fan NOT working at all.. Had a case fan on it and i mved it to the power supply fan... as I live in a small town and do not have access to parts.. THEN,.. THAT fan, the one I moved, to ps and WAS working.. is not coming on.. so whatever powers it must be faulty.. gee.. so in reading your last post, Mike,, sounds like I need ,, 1) to find out what is not powering my PS fan and fix it and 2) find a powerfull fan for the case.. Whoever built this thing put a case fan at bottom.. and frankly ,, i see no way for air to get IN the case and help with air flow.. Actually ,, right now I have the side of the case off.. as last summer I had a regular oscillationg floor fan blowing on it.. I deleted the bad links.. as suggested and optimized my hard drive.. and did the scanreg from a: .. BEFORE the scan started there were 6 places on hard drive marked with SOME bad clusters.. No new ones were detected during the scan.. DO I NEED TO REPLACE IT?? Been thinking about getting another hard drive and "learning how to CLONE".. so I can have a spare.. with operating system and all my programs sitting on a hard drive in my closet so IF this one goes down.. it is just a short fix and back up again.. (i run a bsn .. web site bsn.) and can not afford to be down for a week...day yes two ok.. three no hurts me.. \ QUES: is cloning.. or copying drive to drive using DOS and ok thing?

"THEN,.. THAT fan, the one I moved, to ps and WAS working.. is not coming on.. so whatever powers it must be faulty.. gee.. so in reading your last post, Mike,, sounds like I need ,, 1) to find out what is not powering my PS fan and fix it and....." The fan should work no problem, IF the PS hasn't already started to burn out - it is directly connected to its power, the same source as goes to your drives. Did you solder the wires - that's the best way to go. Is it possible you touched the bare wires to the fan together, or touched a bare fan wire to something else in the PS with the power on? If you did, it doesn't take much to fry a fan motor. The only way to tell for sure is to connect the wires temporarily to another power source - black and yellow on one of your drive connectors - if the fan then works, you could connect the fan there permanently. The fan should blow air out of the case - there is usually an arrow on the narrow side, or install it the same as the old one. If it doesn't work, you need another fan as soon as possible before you burn out your PS - that oscillating fan you mention will do in a pinch if you have it close to the case. You didn't say, but it sounds like the PS is still working. If it isn't: Did you unplug the PS from the mboard when you replaced the fan, especially the main connector with all the wires? If you did, make sure all your PS connections are good, especially the main connector - unplug that one, plug it back in if needed, make sure the wires do not make a sharp bend at the connector. If you unplugged any of your cards or data cables, check those connections too. ...... "....2) find a powerfull fan for the case.. Whoever built this thing put a case fan at bottom.. and frankly ,, i see no way for air to get IN the case and help with air flow.." Put the case fan wherever you can - my case doesn't even have any cutouts for a fan on the back, but my PS has two fans. The air is usually drawn into the case at the front bottom, or sometimes from holes all over. "...right now I have the side of the case off.. as last summer I had a regular oscillationg floor fan blowing on it.." Anything goes, as long as you can stand the sight of it. "BEFORE the scan started there were 6 places on hard drive marked with SOME bad clusters.. No new ones were detected during the scan.. DO I NEED TO REPLACE IT??" If you don't find new bad clusters, or you do but not very many at a time, no, there is no rush. Some hard drives have a few visible bad clusters, but as long as the above applies you may be able to use it for years. I have one that has been stable - no new bad - for at least five years. If the number of bad clusters starts to increase drastically, get another hard drive as soon as you can. "QUES: is cloning.. or copying drive to drive using DOS and ok thing?" It depends what you mean by that. You are better off using software meant for copying the contents of a drive, and that often uses Windows, though some have a Dos subcomponent that actually does the work (e.g. Partition Magic, Drive Copy, Norton Ghost, etc.) Using Dos (Win 9x/ME's Dos)on its own, you need to take special steps - e.g. you can't copy hidden files - you must unhide them all, copy, then hide them again.