xp giving me a headache

I have recently got a new system and have encountered many problems with xp. Hopefully someone can help me with some of them.
1. everytime I start I get an error msg telling me "explorer has caused a critical error" with the option to send in the report. Of course I have done this over & over and have done all updates but it still happens each time. Anyone else having this error?
2. With the new system I am using my older monitor, Phillips 107e, and I am still getting a "flicker" had this prob with win98 also when using older cpu.
3. Have a HP Scanjet 5p scanner which I have to re-associate in the device manager every time I want to use it. When the system shuts down the info is lost everytime. Any ideas?
4. When I dial up my connection to my ISP the speaker is obviously muted, but does not show this. How can I get it back on? I've looked under volume properties - pc speaker is not muted, nor is the modem speaker muted. Lost me.
5. There is a long "hang" if I right click on any icons etc before I finally get a drop down menu.

I appreciate your assistance with any of these little quirks! OS is Windows XP, 20 gb HDD, 1600+ 256 mb

 

I don't have any answers, but I am very interested in any replies that you may get. I also have a HP 5P and have just bought a new computer with XP. I understand the newer computers don't have SCSI slots available, so was wondering how you connected. I haven't actually gotten my new computer yet, it is being assembled by a local tech and I should get it this week. I'll keep watching this thread hoping for some answers also.

 

XP seems to endlessly whine about having recovered from something. I decided to ignore it and see what happened. That was a year and a half ago and everything's been fine. To turn off XP's whining, right click on My Computer, go to Properties, Advanced tab, then the "Error Reporting" button (lower right). Click on "Disable Error Reporting," click OK and OK to save the change and close the windows.

For the monitor flicker. What you're seeing is the monitor refreshing itself but it's doing it slowly enough that your eye registers it as a "flicker. "

Right click on an empty space on the desktop, go to Properties. Go to the Settings tab, then the Advanced button, then Monitor tab. Set the refresh rate up one setting, click Apply. If the flicker doesn't disappear, keep upping the refresh rate until it does. Once you have it set the way you like it, click OK to close all the Display Properties windows.

For the printer, the first thing to try is to uninstall and reinstall it. Do that through Control Panel>Printers and Other Hardware>View Installed Printers or Fax Printers, click once on the printer to select it, click Delete this printer in the left-hand column. Check Add/Remove Programs for any entries for the printer software and, if found, uninstall it. Then reinstall the printer and hope for the best.

Can't help you with the modem. Never messed with a dialup modem on XP, sorry.

Finally, if you haven't taken the time to turn off XP's unnecessary services, use the chart on Black Viper's site to do so. The effort is well worth it in terms of better system performance and online security.

 

For the modem speaker volume..........control panel>network and internet connections. On the left under 'see also' pick phone and modem options, click modems tab, highlight the modem in the list, select properties, then modem tab. Make sure speaker volume is set to on.