last night I decided to tidy up my new PC by getting rid of all the 'entertainment' stuff that Win XP always installs, such as the games, Media Player and all that.
However, once I'd done this and rebooted, the PC stalled on the 'Welcome' screen and only got to the desktop after about 5 minutes and I'd done Ctrl-Alt-Delete (I don't know if it was this that got me to the desktop or it was sheer coincidence).
It did this several times and then a box came up saying there was a problem with the paging file and I should go into Control panel and manually enter a custom size. I did this, restarted, the same thing happened and when I went back into System it said my paging file was 0Mb?????

Now when I shut it down I get a blue screen with all sorts of code on it and an error message telling me I have a file error, and that I should restart if this is the first time it's happened and if it persists to uninstall programs, go into BIOS and all sorts of other technical stuff.

So although my PC still works, I'm paranoid that if I'm getting consistent problems on start-up and shutdown, sooner or later it's going to pack in altogether.

Any help or advice would be welcome, but keep it simple – I don't even know what a 'paging file' is???!!!!

Sounds like you've deleted something you shouldn't have.

Run the recovery disk through, using the first option of leaving everything as is. It will reinstall most of the programs you've deleted, but you can remove then again later.

How were you removing the programs?

The following advice isn't necessarily personal to you, as you have probably gone the correct route, but to anyone who might be thinking of doing what you have tried to do: Never go into the Program folder and delete from there; always use Add/Remove Programs.

A tool called the System File Checker (SFC) is hidden inside most computers, can automatically detect and replace corrupt or missing files that sometimes cause a variety of headaches.

Click the Windows Start Button, and select Run. In the "Open" box type: "sfc /scannow" (without the quotation marks) and click OK. Remember to put a space between sfc and /

Hope this helps

All hail the Mighty Astrella!

It did this several times and then a box came up saying there was a problem with the paging file and I should go into Control panel and manually enter a custom size. I did this, restarted, the same thing happened and when I went back into System it said my paging file was 0Mb?????

One of the few annoyances in XP is that when you go into the system control panel to alter the size of the page file, it displays the value that you have entered and you think you are okay to press "OK". But you aren't. You have to click the "set" button before clicking okay to leave that screen.

The plot thickens.....

"A tool called the System File Checker (SFC) is hidden inside most computers, can automatically detect and replace corrupt or missing files that sometimes cause a variety of headaches.

Click the Windows Start Button, and select Run. In the "Open" box type: "sfc /scannow" (without the quotation marks) and click OK. Remember to put a space between sfc and /"

The "sfc/ scannow" idea didn't work because it keeps prompting me to insert the Windows XP CD, but as i bought the PC 2nd hand off a fellow forum user with XP already installed I don't have an installation CD.

"One of the few annoyances in XP is that when you go into the system control panel to alter the size of the page file, it displays the value that you have entered and you think you are okay to press "OK". But you aren't. You have to click the "set" button before clicking okay to leave that screen."

When I enter values for the paging file and click on "set" it then prompts me to restart, but of course as soon as the PC tries to shutdown it crashes again. When I switch it off and back on again the paging file again reads 0mb.

So the problem persists....
If it's any clue, the error message on the blue screen at shutdown says "DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE" and, at the bottom,

STOP: 0X0000009F (0X00000500, 0X00000002, 0X823989B8, 0X8238FC00)

The plot thickens.....

"A tool called the System File Checker (SFC) is hidden inside most computers, can automatically detect and replace corrupt or missing files that sometimes cause a variety of headaches.

Click the Windows Start Button, and select Run. In the "Open" box type: "sfc /scannow" (without the quotation marks) and click OK. Remember to put a space between sfc and /"

The "sfc/ scannow" idea didn't work because it keeps prompting me to insert the Windows XP CD, but as i bought the PC 2nd hand off a fellow forum user with XP already installed I don't have an installation CD.

"One of the few annoyances in XP is that when you go into the system control panel to alter the size of the page file, it displays the value that you have entered and you think you are okay to press "OK". But you aren't. You have to click the "set" button before clicking okay to leave that screen."

When I enter values for the paging file and click on "set" it then prompts me to restart, but of course as soon as the PC tries to shutdown it crashes again. When I switch it off and back on again the paging file again reads 0mb.

So the problem persists....
If it's any clue, the error message on the blue screen at shutdown says "DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE" and, at the bottom,

STOP: 0X0000009F (0X00000500, 0X00000002, 0X823989B8, 0X8238FC00)


I was bought a book for xmas "troubleshoot your pc" which gives the following advice for the error STOP message above............... "uninstall newly added software,devices and device drivers. If neccessary disable standby mode and hibernation mode.
How to do the above I haven't a clue.

When I tried the scannow instruction I got a messge telling me to insert the WXP Pro disc. I have the home edition dsc which it wouldn't accept!!!!
HTH
Dave

If it's any clue, the error message on the blue screen at shutdown says "DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE" and, at the bottom,

STOP: 0X0000009F (0X00000500, 0X00000002, 0X823989B8, 0X8238FC00)

I'm going to hazard a guess at this but I think its something ie: hardware thats plugged into your system which windows does not like on startup.

The reason I say this is that my ipod video sometimes throws a fit with windows xp when booting up, but if I unplug it and then turn the pc on - windows works fine, and then plug in the ipod - no problems :)

Give it a try with each bit of hardware thats plugged in using a usb connector, do them in order one by one and try rebooting and retrying.
One of them will be the dodgy one- all you will have to do is remove the one thats causing the problem - let windows boot and then plug the usb cable for the problem hardware back in when windows has fully booted.

Hope this helps :thumbsup:

PS: Also when you've got back into windows- download if you can a decent bit of kit called Tuneup Utilites- I think the latest version is 2006.
Give it a bash on your pc with its system cleaner- it will detect any bugs and sort them out for you in under 5 mins.

Have you tried to the use the RUN box, available from the start button menu? If you type in MSCONFIG. It will allow you to do a diagnostic start up. A selective start up. Or normal start up. Try the first two, and see if it helps you on shut down, as it selects only minimum drivers & services. It may just give you a clue as to whats giving you the problems.

PS......You could try windows own disk check. Double click MY COMPUTER. Left click once over your main Hard drive icon. Probably marked "C". Go to the FILE menu box. left click once. Go down the menus list, and select PROPERTIES. This will give another choice of menus. Select TOOLS. Then select error checking. CHECK NOW. Hope this helps too.

Problem solved!

A quick search of several music forums revealed that one of the plug-ins I'd installed sneakily puts a very dodgy copy-protection file called tpkd.sys into your system file, which screws up your start up and shutdown processes.
The advice I was given was to remove the offending plug-in, disable tpkd.sys in device manager and then reboot and check all my programs still worked. Once I'd confirmed this I deleted tpkd.sys and all was well again!

Thanks to all for their suggestions - much appreciated.

But that's not quite the end of my PC problems – have a look at my "Nero CD burning woes" thread...... :-(