Weird Problem On Startup with XP

[illram]

I have a strange problem.

When I boot my computer, after about5 or 10 minutes I get a dialog box pop-up from the task bar saying my firewall is turned off, click here to fix the problem. The firewall is turned on, however.

The issue is, before I get this dialog box, firefox won't work, and sometimes google chrome or internet explorer will work UNTIL the dialog box comes up, at which point they will hang. Also, sometimes the entire system just hangs, such as if I try and open my documents or something prior to this dialog box. So it seems something is causing this dialog box to open and is affecting the functionality of other things system wide, but not all the time, and only firefox consistently. (???)

This started happening roughly at the same time as 3 things: 1) installation of cable internet instead of DSL; 2) changed automatic updates to "check with me first" setting (whatever that was called; and 3) a flash upgrade pop up that started happening. I don't want to bet on it being related to one of these, however, as I may be missing something else.

Originally I thought this was a firefox only problem, as I first noticed this happening when firefox would simply refuse to open for 10 minutes, regardless of when I tried opening it (e.g., after the pc had been on for a while it still wouldn't open). I disabled a substantial number of plugins and that sped it up but it still won't start when I boot until this firewall pop up comes on. So that's really my only 100% clue.

Disabled some non-essential stuff I didn't need/want in msconfig, didn't make a difference. There is one entry which is blank... just shows the path as being form the windows/system/run folder.... not sure what it is but don't want to turn it off without knowing. Ran a bevy of malware scans, nothing.

I have googled this extensively and found others with similar issues but no solution. Any ideas?

 

[Cutlass]

Possibly a file in there got corrupted someplace. But hard to tell where. Maybe you could try backing up your files, putting the Windows disk in, and see if the repair option is of any help. Or you could try a different firewall if you are now using the windows firewall. If you are already using a different one, delete and reinstall it.

 

[illram]

The repair option may work, if I could only find my OEM copy of XP.... how do system files get corrupted? I have not had a virus or any malware in a long, long time, like years.

This is still occurring and it's driving me nuts. For 15 minutes, nothing works other than Task Manager. Some programs open, but if you do anything with them they hang. Even, say, msconfig.

When I watch task manager, once the following processes start, everything is fine:

ALG.exe and wuauclt. wuauclt opens then disappears real quick, and so does some other stuff that I cannot catch. Also other processes begin once this does such as ituneshelper and my printer, as well as the windows firewall and, if there are updates, the windows update shield. Tried disabling everything that is not necessary at startup, no joy.

Still baffled.

 

[Cutlass]

Files can be corrupted for any number of reasons. It's just something that happens on occasion. Not that that is absolutely your problem, but just one of the first things to check.

 

[Zelig]

how do system files get corrupted?

Bunch of reasons.

One possible cause is the error rate in memory chips caused by cosmic rays.

From wiki:

Recent tests give widely varying error rates with over 7 orders of magnitude difference, ranging from 10−10−10−17 error/bit·h, roughly one bit error, per hour, per gigabyte of memory to one bit error, per century, per gigabyte of memory.

Hence why important computers use ECC memory.