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    Windows XP issue?

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by Arla, Mar 7, 2006.

  1. Arla

    Arla Notebook Deity

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    Anyone else ever encountered this...

    On my new PC sometimes the Start menu seems to stop working, either completely (can click on start but nothing happens) or somewhat (can click on start, the initial menu shows up, but then I can't get into any of the sub-menu's).

    Any ideas?
     
    Arla, Mar 7, 2006
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  2. Tim

    Tim Notebook Virtuoso

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    When does this happen? How much ram do you have installed?

    I have this problem when I am starting up windows but I believe it is only because I have too much crap loading on startup. Use ccleaner to remove some of these startup programs. Go into the sofware thread and click on the freeware topic and install it. I also have 2GB of ram so once my computer fires up I am good.
    Hope this helps,
    Tim
     
    Tim, Mar 7, 2006
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  3. Arla

    Arla Notebook Deity

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    That's the main problem so far, I'm not 100% when it happens, so far the main times SEEMS to be when I install new software, for example last night I installed the AverTV software for my CardBus tv tuner and it happened, last time I recall it happening was when I installed EverCrack II, but on a day to day basis I don't appear to see it.

    Should probably note, this is on my Acer Travelmate 8204, 2GB ram, running XP Pro (with all updates). The other thing I noticed is it loses the quick launch bar once I reboot after I see this issue.
     
    Arla, Mar 7, 2006
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  4. LazloInSF

    LazloInSF Notebook Enthusiast

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    Could also be a symptom of a too small Icon Cache due to a large number of installed apps (I have upped mine many times) -- an article on how to increase its size can be found here (registry edit and reboot required after increasing size) and you can download the M$ TweakUI Powertoy to "repair" (rebuild) the cache...

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------
    "I'll take a good plan today rather than a perfect plan some tomorrow..."
     
    LazloInSF, Mar 7, 2006
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  5. Arla

    Arla Notebook Deity

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    Well I've done as suggested in that article, we'll see, it would see odd because I don't have THAT many programs installed, and never had this issue with my old computer (and I have about 15 items at most on the desktop) but we'll see. Thanks for the possible fix.
     
    Arla, Mar 7, 2006
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  6. mgippa

    mgippa Newbie

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    Hi !
    I am facing same problem now and then with the start menu. The only way is to open Task Manager and stop and start again explorer.exe .Never happen to me before. Any new about the modifications you made ?
     
    mgippa, Mar 30, 2006
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  7. Shampoo

    Shampoo Notebook Deity

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    This happens a lot because of software conflicts either driver or just new programs installed.

    Trace your steps back to see what you've recently installed and try reinstalling them.

    Also sometimes windows just likes to mess with you and it does happen out of nowhere. Has happened to me on my desktop and laptop.

    It could be a startup program that is messing with it and no it does not have to do with having too many applications installed.

    I'm thinking it's a startup program that's the culprit.

    Does the whole taskbar disappear as well sometimes?
     
    Shampoo, Mar 30, 2006
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  8. mgippa

    mgippa Newbie

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    the problem is that even if I change the Max Cached Icons value to 8192 or any other lower one, after restarting the system the value of it is back again to 2000 ! How can I block the system to change this value ?
     
    mgippa, Apr 6, 2006
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  9. Arla

    Arla Notebook Deity

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    After the fix I've not had the issue again, then again I've installed all the programs that I'm going to, so haven't been running installers either.
     
    Arla, Apr 6, 2006
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  10. mgippa

    mgippa Newbie

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    I discover that the change back to 2000 is happening when opening file explorer. Any idea how to block this change back ?
     
    mgippa, Apr 6, 2006
    #10