Lady Jedi Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 All righty, a friend called today with some computer problems. He really doesn't know much (if anything) about computers, so I'm working with what I've got. I'll explain his problems and you guys let me know what you think the deal is. I gave him some suggestions on what to try and I'm going to talk to him tomorrow and see if it's fixed. If not, I'd like a few more ideas on what to have him do. He's got a Dell laptop (I know, I know!) that's only about two months old; the OS is WindowsXP. When he's shutting it down, he gets about 10 (?) of the 'Unresponsive Program ; End Now ; Cancel ' messages. To me it sounds as if he's got too many programs running, so he's overloading his resources causing them to not shut down properly. I told him to open task manager and manually shut down whatever programs that are running before he shuts down the system, but he'll probably still get the same message, but (for him) it'll be more manageable. I also gave him a few other tips, but he couldn't try any at the time, as he had just gotten off the phone from Dell (bleh) and was performing a system restore. So do any of you know what else might be done about this? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCanr2d2 Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 Not usual for XP to go to lunch when shutting down. Unresponsive programs are more that those programs can't handle being shut down. If he's shutting down with open programs, then it's epxected. If he's shutting down with icons in the system tray then it's badly written programs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTV2 Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 just close all programs before shutting down... dont close them in task manager, just click the Big Red "X" Button (top-right corner of window) thne shut down... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Knight of Keno Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 If it continues after those helpful tips, return the Dell and get a Mac/Apple brand laptop OR Reinstall Windows XP OR Install Linux. One easy and very simple decision of Linux is Ubuntu... I take it that the laptop won't be a 'gamer's machine', Linux or Mac would be are the safer options. I myself got rid of the annoying messages on my PC by reinstalling Windows, allthought I use 98, not XP, so it might not be so easy on that one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Truthful Liar Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 His initial problem is that it's from dell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manoman81 Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 If you can get your hands on the computer, 1)go to run>msconfig>startup tab I'm going to assume that you might know a little about computers. When you get to that tab, uncheck anything that is not windows, antivirus, firewall, or laptop mouse related. This will stop some uneeded programs from loading at boot. I try my hardest to make sure that any random media players, like quicktime, will not be running in the background this way. 2)If he only got it a few months ago, I suggest going through the hard drive and removing any unneeded programs as well. You know, the random internet provider programs that he doesn't use. 3)Since he isn't too good with computers yet, I recommend that you at least teach him how to use an alternate shell for windows like litestep. I know when I installed it, I had less problems with those errors. It runs lighter than the windows shell and frees up a lot of memory. I really don't know linux, so I can't say go install that. If you do at least steps 1 and 2, it should be a little bit better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET Warrior Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 Another thing you should do (aside from ignoring all the calls to change operating system, that's the last thing a person who's just learning computers needs to deal with) install some spyware detection and removal programs. Some spyware will refuse to relenquish the CPU, and will cause that problem. That, and monoman's suggestion to run msconfig and remove things from the startup tab should help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Knight of Keno Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 ET, I don't really know about changing to Mac as a starter, but even a child could install Ubuntu onto a computer(As long as it knows a bit of English terms, that is) I myself don't use Linux nowadays just because I now have a computer that actually RUNS most of the games I have and runs them smoothly too, but my father(Age 55) is a user of Ubuntu and Debian(Debian only now and then, as it's his work-computer) and he had no troube installing it. And if you get the Ubuntu CD, it can be run straight from the CD, so no need to install it if you're not sure about if you should install Ubuntu. (Listen to me... I should get paid for this... >.> ) But I think you should first try the tips and hints pointed above this post before checking out other operating systems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET Warrior Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 I'm not saying it's difficult to install a new operating system, but it's going to be a pain for a new computer user to switch to linux, and have to deal with getting software specifically for linux, when most things available are default windows applications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Sitherino Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 I'm not saying it's difficult to install a new operating system, but it's going to be a pain for a new computer user to switch to linux, and have to deal with getting software specifically for linux, when most things available are default windows applications. ^ Seriously, you guys need to stop telling people to switch. If they want to, they will. Stop acting like dicks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Jedi Posted December 6, 2005 Author Share Posted December 6, 2005 First off, his OS is the same as mine so helping him out long distance, it's a lot easier for me if we've got the same thing. Second, he can't 'click the big red 'X' ' if the programs are running 'behind the scenes' so to speak. Third, thanks ET, Sithy, manoman, and any others who didn't suck. I'm gonna give him a call and walk him through some steps, and see if we can get it figured out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTV2 Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 Third, thanks ET, Sithy, manoman, and any others who didn't suck. ull pay for this...just wait... wtf u mean "behind scenes"? when the unresponsive comes up, u can still open programs...and every can hit the "X" button...unless they have dyslexia... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Jedi Posted December 6, 2005 Author Share Posted December 6, 2005 I mean programs that have already been exited, therefore disappeared from the screen, taskbar, everything, yet the compy still thinks that it's running or it didn't properly shut down. Also the programs that are going constantly while the compy is on (behind the scenes) could freeze up and give the same message. That's what I mean.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manoman81 Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 Glad I could help. Hope it all works out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Jedi Posted December 6, 2005 Author Share Posted December 6, 2005 Glad I could help. Hope it all works out. Heh, me too. As much as I'd like to get a hold of his computer and really get it running right, I can't, so I'm gonna do my best explaining these suggestions to him. We'll see how it goes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TiE23 Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 Ah, I get those on my computer. They don't bother me much though, but it can be annoying. For me, I just shut down and it asks if I want to stop certain programs, its kinda crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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