Shutdown

[cathyuk]

I have a problem with my Vaio FE28H. It was working fine to a few days ago to I tried to shut down the system and it would keep restarting. A blue error screen would appear then disappear as quickly. I have tried to do a system restore but it does not work. It says the system shut down unexpectedly before it could restore. Now I have turned of automatic restart but I still get a blue error message screen which stays up to I shut down manually. Anyone got any ideas to fix the problem? I use windows xp with norton. Apart from the with shutdown problem my Vaio works fine.

Thanks for your help

Cathy

[Blencogo]

Hi Cathy and welcome.

You can try to run System Restore in 'Safe Mode'.
Start up your Vaio
At the first VAIO Logo screen, tap F8 repeatedly. This should open the 'Startup Options' screen.
With the Up/Down arrow keys, select 'Safe Mode' and press Enter.
Your screen will look odd at VGA resolution (640 X 480) but you should be able to run a System Restore.

The other thing to eliminate is Norton which has a history of causing these problems. Before you try to shut down, manually close the Norton program and see if it then closes down OK.

Have you updated any drivers or other software recently?

[cathyuk]

Hi Blencogo

Sorry not to reply to your post earlier not been online. Thanks for your advice my computer is working fine now. Not sure what went wrong in the first place as I have not updated any drivers or other software recently. Anyway thanks again for your help

One more thing which is better McAfee or Norton?

Thanks

Cathy

[Blencogo]

Difficult question Cathy - it is often a matter of opinion.

Personally your question is a bit like "Do you want to be run over by a bus or a lorry?". I think they are both awful having poor detection rates and using up far too many of your system's resources and are overpriced.

I would have a look at a free Firewall like ZoneAlarm Free Firewall - which is probably the best software firewall available at any price for Windows XP.

I would look at the Free AntiVirus and AntiSpyware offerings from AVG. The detection rates of the free version are as good as Norton and McAfee: -

http://free.grisoft.com/

If you want top AV protection with an astounding 98% detection rate, then buy Kaspersky AntiVirus 7.

[cathyuk]

Thanks for your advice and the link. I have heard of ZoneAlarm and AVG but not Kaspersky AntiVirus 7. I have only ever used Norton or McAfee but with a 98% detection rate, Kaspersky AntiVirus 7 sounds quite good.

Thanks for you help.

Cathy

[Blencogo]

Cathy - you may find this Labs Test by PC Pro interesting!!!

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/155/antivirus-software/products.html

Click on each product in the table for a full review.

Norton scores a paltry 68% and has other disadvantages.

[cathyuk]

Thanks for the link, never knew Norton was so bad! Is Kaspersky AntiVirus 7 easy to use?

[Thalamus.]

Is Kaspersky AntiVirus 7 easy to use?

Hi cathyuk,

There is a 30 day trial of Kaspersky AV available HERE , so you can try before you buy..

[cathyuk]

Hi Thalamus

Thanks for the link, I will give it a go.

Cathy