Launchpad not Working!!!

Hi I need help with my computer, When I boot it up, It gets about halfway there and then it stops. The start menu doesn't appear and the little Icons in the right hand corner of the screen aren't there either. I tried to see what exactly the problem was and the Ctrl-Alt-Del. said that the Launchpad was not responding.

What the heck does that mean???
what's going on???
I need to know what's going on before my computer dies on me.
please help, I know very little about computers, sorry

Padmapani

 

When you see Starting Windows 98, press the F8 key repeatedly so you get to the screen where you can choose Safe Mode. In Safe Mode go to Start\Run type in Msconfig and press Enter. Click on Startup tab and uncheck everything except for Systray and scanregw. Reboot and post back what happens.

 

thanks

that really helped me out a lot.

the computer actually follows through when she is setting up and faster than usual.

I still have dozens of annoying problems. certain programs work at times while others do not.This has been going on for a while now.

some people have told me that since my machine is 3+ years old I should simply cut my losses and reformat her.


I defragmented and that helped a bit but I really think that starting over would be the wisest course of action.
what would you recommend?

 

You definitely know that one of the items was creating the problem starting up. I have seen systems run for years on the same install of windows, but these were maintained over the course of time.
Instead of formatting you can try this program.
SpyBot Search & Destroy
You may have some sort of malware affecting the machine, caused by a drive by install. Launchpad is not a valid windows process, 3rd party maybe.
For an unknown machine to me, I would go with a format and install. Before you do, ask yourself if you have all the drivers needed. Video, Sound, Modem, Motherboard drivers. You could use WinDriversBackup for free. It should dig up the drivers that you are currently using.
After the install, the very first driver to install would be the Motherboard drivers. Aida32 will identify the motherboard, get the Enterprise Edition, free, the above download may not identify it.

 

Also make sure you don't have lots of extra **** running at startup. I only allow my antivirus program, firewall and USB cam detector (as this is needed to run the webcam properly) to run at startup. Everything else is started manually.