Multiple Desktop Icons Highlighed Can Not Shut Down.

[selftaopath]

Dear skilled and learned computer people. Can you advise? I have concerns about my Sony laptop. Frequently if I click on one icon on my laptop practically all of them get highlighted. I an not activate a particular on i.e. CCleaner. I go to Start and click restart computer, but the screensaver appears and the computer will NOT respond to anything. I remove the battery of a few seconds, restart the laptop and it functions normally. Please advise with your expertise. My fear is I'm being hacked etc.

Much thanks for your assistance and time to respond.

Keoki

[BB1950]

Huh???

Sounds like you really need a professional to check the computer... you didn't mention a lot of things like the operating system being used, whether or not you have a good anti-virus program or firewall. This phrase "I an not activate a particular on i.e. CCleaner." is not at all understandable. So I can only assume you have no real technical computer skills to fix the problem on your own. I suspect you haven't been 'hacked'. I suspect the problem is the idiot behind the wheel!

My suggestion to you is for you to take the laptop to someone who knows what they are doing. You didn't mention where you are located... if you are in Bangkok, then Pantip Plaza has several computer repair shops that can help you. If you are in Pattaya or Sri Racha, go to Tuk Comm in the respective cities. They can get you fixed up for about 300 baht.

With all the versions of Windows, you can always shut a computer down with the Task Manager. Usually pressing the ctr-alt-delete keys simultaneously will either open the Task Manager or provide you a menu to select the Task Manager (depends on the Operating System). sounds like in your case the operating system might be functional enough to open the Task Manager by right clicking the mouse on a blank area of the Task Bar (the bar at the bottom of the screen) and selecting Task Manager from the menu the pops up. Have them show you how.

Of course there are some malware that can prevent the Task Manager from being accessed. Usually they are very rare. But if this is the case, you can search 'Task Manager' with Google, to get instructions on how to re-enable the Task Manager. Be very careful when you use the Registry Editor! You can make your Windows completely unusable!

Not a good idea to remove the batteries or remove power from a desktop computer without a proper shut down. You can corrupt the file system. Which is probably the state you are in now. You may be able to repair the file system by right clicking on the C: drive icon in My Computer or Computer (depends on the operating system), select Properties-Tools-Repair Disk(or Error Checking). Make sure the the top check-box is ticked in the window that opens. Usually it's labeled something along the line of "Automatic Fix File system errors" (again varies with the operating system). Click check now. You will be prompted that a disk check has been scheduled on the next restart. Use the Task Manager to restart Windows. Worst case, the hard drive will have to be reformatted the operating system will have to be reloaded and all programs reinstalled. You data may or may not be recoverable.

Most likely the easiest fix is to restore your computer back to a state before the problem occurred by using system restore. The method varies with different versions of Windows. You can search with Google for "system restore" to obtain instructions how to access and use system restore. But since you already shut the computer down improperly, make sure you check and repair the file system before restoring! Otherwise you will only compound the problem.

If you have the Windows Product key (it may be on a sticker on the lap top), take it with you when you go to a shop. Otherwise they may have to load a copy of Windows that is not legal. You might have other problems in the future, especially if you have Vista or Windows 7. If you don't have the product key and want a legal version of Windows, expect to pay 3500 to 8000 baht, in Thailand, for a new legal copy of Windows.

Edited June 13, 2010 by BB1950

[nickbkk]

How old is the laptop? Sounds like you have a sticking key on the keyboard. In particular, check your shift and ctrl keys. If a key is sticking, when you click on things with the mouse, you can get strange results.

[selftaopath]

Huh???

Sounds like you really need a professional to check the computer... you didn't mention a lot of things like the operating system being used, whether or not you have a good anti-virus program or firewall. This phrase "I an not activate a particular on i.e. CCleaner." is not at all understandable. So I can only assume you have no real technical computer skills to fix the problem on your own. I suspect you haven't been 'hacked'. I suspect the problem is the idiot behind the wheel!

My suggestion to you is for you to take the laptop to someone who knows what they are doing. You didn't mention where you are located... if you are in Bangkok, then Pantip Plaza has several computer repair shops that can help you. If you are in Pattaya or Sri Racha, go to Tuk Comm in the respective cities. They can get you fixed up for about 300 baht.

With all the versions of Windows, you can always shut a computer down with the Task Manager. Usually pressing the ctr-alt-delete keys simultaneously will either open the Task Manager or provide you a menu to select the Task Manager (depends on the Operating System). sounds like in your case the operating system might be functional enough to open the Task Manager by right clicking the mouse on a blank area of the Task Bar (the bar at the bottom of the screen) and selecting Task Manager from the menu the pops up. Have them show you how.

Of course there are some malware that can prevent the Task Manager from being accessed. Usually they are very rare. But if this is the case, you can search 'Task Manager' with Google, to get instructions on how to re-enable the Task Manager. Be very careful when you use the Registry Editor! You can make your Windows completely unusable!

Not a good idea to remove the batteries or remove power from a desktop computer without a proper shut down. You can corrupt the file system. Which is probably the state you are in now. You may be able to repair the file system by right clicking on the C: drive icon in My Computer or Computer (depends on the operating system), select Properties-Tools-Repair Disk(or Error Checking). Make sure the the top check-box is ticked in the window that opens. Usually it's labeled something along the line of "Automatic Fix File system errors" (again varies with the operating system). Click check now. You will be prompted that a disk check has been scheduled on the next restart. Use the Task Manager to restart Windows. Worst case, the hard drive will have to be reformatted the operating system will have to be reloaded and all programs reinstalled. You data may or may not be recoverable.

Most likely the easiest fix is to restore your computer back to a state before the problem occurred by using system restore. The method varies with different versions of Windows. You can search with Google for "system restore" to obtain instructions how to access and use system restore. But since you already shut the computer down improperly, make sure you check and repair the file system before restoring! Otherwise you will only compound the problem.

If you have the Windows Product key (it may be on a sticker on the lap top), take it with you when you go to a shop. Otherwise they may have to load a copy of Windows that is not legal. You might have other problems in the future, especially if you have Vista or Windows 7. If you don't have the product key and want a legal version of Windows, expect to pay 3500 to 8000 baht, in Thailand, for a new legal copy of Windows.

Hi BB1950 thanks for your experience and suggestions. I’m using a legal XP system and AVG virus software which is updated regularly and automatically monitored/ with and threats removed.

Re: using CCleaner

My meaning was that when the icons are highlighted I can not open my CCleaner software to check my system. Nothing can be opened. There was NO response when I pressed Ctrl+Alt+Delete. Nothing happened. Then the screen went to a screen saver background w/out any icons or toolbar; no Start icon.

I took your suggestion a/b going to “my computer” etc. Thanks. And I do realize removing the battery is not advisable. However under the circumstances I don’t know what any other options could have been. Hope it doesn’t happen again.

I am located in BKK and a few years ago took my Sony to Pantip Plaza. I was not happy with the results. I have found a Sony shop on New Petchburi road and I think they are very knowledgeable and professional minded. They did find one of my keys sticking and cleaned it making it functional with no cost to me.

I appreciate your and other TV members help. Currently my system is functioning optimally.

Kind regards,

Keoki

[selftaopath]

How old is the laptop? Sounds like you have a sticking key on the keyboard. In particular, check your shift and ctrl keys. If a key is sticking, when you click on things with the mouse, you can get strange results.

Hi nickbkk,

thanks for your post. My laptop is 4+ years old however I did upgrade a/b 8 months ago. And yes Sony found one - perhaps more- keys which needed cleaning. I took it there a/b 3 weeks ago. When one key stopped working entirely. They manually tested all other keys and no problems were found. If I have more "guts" I'd pop the buggers myself and make sure everything is clean, but........:-)

Cheers,

Keoki

[Daewoo]

Instead of taking the battery out, can't you just hold down the 'power' or 'on' button until it turns off...

Pulling the battery is a sure way to f^(k your hard drive...

[welo]

Just try this:

Left-click on an icon on the desktop once. Then left-click somewhere on the desktop background. Then hold the shift key and click on any other desktop icon. You will see that all icons between the one you had clicked before and the current one will be highlighted. Does this match the behavior you observed?

My point: Might be the SHIFT key that got stuck.

However, a stuck key should not crash your PC or make it unresponsive - but who can tell for sure?

A stuck key can sometimes be 'unstuck' by pressing it repeatedly - remember that there are two shift keys, actually three if you include the 'caps lock' - if the caps lock gets stuck you should see the caps LED light up.

Does the harddisk LED still light up? That would indicate that the system is still working.

Your PC switching to screensaver mode after some time actually shows that the PC has not completely crashed. Can you check your screensaver settings, just curious if it is enabled and what is the activation time setting and the screensaver type. (Right-click the desktop background, Properties, switch to the Screensaver tab).

Might also be that the keyboard controller is damaged.

The easiest way to clean a keyboard without opening anything up is using compressed air. Might be not that easy and cost effective to get by in Thailand, but wanted to mention it anyway.

welo

[selftaopath]

Instead of taking the battery out, can't you just hold down the 'power' or 'on' button until it turns off...

Pulling the battery is a sure way to f^(k your hard drive...

LOL oh man thanks. I feel like I should have "dumb ass" written on my far-head. I didn't even think a/b that. So accustomed to going to the Start in lower left corner to shut off. Geeze.... I guess my "practice" of thinking out of the box failed. :-) duhhh

[welo]

Instead of taking the battery out, can't you just hold down the 'power' or 'on' button until it turns off...

Pulling the battery is a sure way to f^(k your hard drive...

LOL oh man thanks. I feel like I should have "dumb ass" written on my far-head. I didn't even think a/b that. So accustomed to going to the Start in lower left corner to shut off. Geeze.... I guess my "practice" of thinking out of the box failed. :-) duhhh

Btw, next time you run into this problem try just pressing the power button once. If your system is still responsive and just the keyboard messed up, it might as well trigger the shutdown process. Try it once and give it a minute or two. Go to Control Panel -> power options, Advanced tab and configure Windows to shutdown when pressing the Power Button.

welo