Need help for friend's laptop, visual c++ error on startup

[rditto48801]

A friend has been wanting me to help with his girlfriends Toshiba Satellite Laptop (305 iirc), which runs Windows 7 Home (Premium version iirc).


On startup, it often gives multiple Visual C++ Runtime errors on startup, before getting to user login.
Sometimes it takes only a few clicks to get it to go away and get to the user login, other times you have to click on it dozens of times. On rare occasion, it starts up without the error.
It does not specify any particular program, the error message is basically blank where it should be showing what program is having the problems with the runtime library stuff.

I have tried reinstalling the redistributable version of C++ 2010, but that did not help at all.

The computer has apparently had no trouble with viruses, and the HDD has been recently defragmented.

One thing the owner has done is have an 'addiction' with hibernation mode, due to not liking the amount of time it takes for the laptop to startup, and apparently has gone for months at a time without actually shutting the laptop down, including never shutting down/restarting after updates that state they need to restart the laptop to complete the update installation. Worse yet, she has admitted to ignoring some updates and not installing them.

She apparently often just used system restore when the errors popped previously, because that is what the Toshiba customer support apparently told her to do.
In my opinion, that is more avoiding a problem them fixing it. Then things go back to updates again not being installed, including ones that may have been undone due to using system restore.

On a side note, my trouble shooting included installing all important updates for Windows 7, which surprisingly, included Service Pack 1.

I have tried doing chkdks /r /f (found that out on the microsoft social/tech/whatever they are called forums via google search) but the computer spits out errors of the drive being in use by something else, with similar errors given even when it tries to do the scan after restart.

Since my knowledge of Windows 7 is very limited, there is not much else I can think of other than trying to find some sort of trustworthy program that can scan the registry to look for errors that might be causing the problem.

Do you have any suggestions or advice of how I can try to fix the problem?
Would it be an option to use the laptop disk to do a sort of repair install or something of Windows 7?
She does have an external HDD and has fully backed up stuff on her HDD, so a complete format and reinstall, while something I would like to avoid if possible, is an option if all else fails.

[Blín D'ñero]

Point is you don't know what has caused it but based on your description the pc, almost always in hybernation (which is not very reliable) instead of off, ignoring updates, multiple use of system restore by user who does not want to know (i don't blame her!) is already a mess.
Well i'd first try (exactly!):

1. uninstall ALL Microsoft Visual C++ versions from Add Remove Programs and Features > Uninstall.
2. THEN install exactly as in this post (step 3), and then wait till Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 reappears via WindowsUpdate.

That's where i would start.

[Blín D'ñero]

Sorry rditto48801 I had to restore the forum but the backup was just before your reply.
I saved your reply, so i could paste it here as a quote... that's all i could do.

» Sat Jun 11, 2011 3:13 pm

Ok, I will try that the next time I get a chance to look at the laptop. I hope that stuff fixes the problem.

[rditto48801]

Ok, no problem.

I got to look at the laptop some more, got additional info.

When uninstalling c++, I noticed 2005 was installed, and 2010, but not 2008.

When reinstalling the ones you mentioned, I only installed the x86 versions.
It gave an error that something (the CPU?) was not compatible with 64 bit programs.

2010 did not show up in updates, I had to manually install it.

The problem still persists. Despite doing the full uninstall/reinstall.


Info I took note of.
Laptop: Toshiba L305-S5946 with Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T6400, 250 GB HDD (which reports it is only 224GB), 3GB RAM.
OS is reported to be 32bit.
Windows 7 was not the original OS, it is from a Toshiba based Windows 7 upgrade disk, the laptop originally had Vista.
It was apparently bought at someplace called Costco.

Other info I found out.
She is having trouble with Photoshop that might be related.
Photoshop not saving in proper format (e.g., saves as JPG when PNG was selected), not always accessing all photos on an SD Card when using something called Photo Kiosk.
Another my friend mentioned that was need to know information. His girlfriend shutting down her laptop at one time when it was in the middle of doing a major/long update of Photoshop (if I heard right)
The problems with C++ errors apparently started up at same times as problems with Photoshop started popping up, after the incident of the laptop being shutdown while Photoshop was downloading/installing updates.

The C++ error during, one startup after a restart, occurred several dozen times before I got to the user login. The C++ reinstall and updating (until it found no more updates, only restarting where needed) seems to have possibly made the problem slightly worse.

Does it sound like a complete uninstall and reinstall of Photoshop might be the next logical step for troubleshooting the problem?




On a side note, she did say she was interested in possibly getting a new laptop.
What she would use it for is limited. Photoshop, looking at pictures/photos.
Document stuff (Microsoft Office stuff, such as Excel)
Web Surfing.
Doesn't use it for listening to music, watching movies, but I know she has some video games, so something with a reliable graphics card might also be a factor.
No real budget was given, so I guess it is something she would save up for.

Any suggestions for a few good laptops to take a look at or to otherwise recommend?

[Blín D'ñero]

The CPU supports x64 It's just that the OS is x86 so indeed you dont need those x64 C++ versions.
Those Photoshop corruptions could indicate minor issues like heavily fragmentation of hdd (solution: defragment), or far too little free RAM (Photoshop is hungry!), plus laptop's hdd runs at merely 5400 RPM, so as scratchdisk not very useful either... in fact Photoshop is easily too heavy for non-powerhouse laptops. But it could also indicate serious corruption in the OS that has deteriorated too far. A simple format and reinstall is usually the easiest and quickest cure, and for that it's good she already has backed up her documents.

[rditto48801]

So the fact the computer was shut off while it was in the middle of a big/long update for Photoshop right before the errors started might not itself be a factor of all the visual C++ errors on startup?

The HDD was defragmented recently from what I was told when I first looked at it, so fragmented files should not be an issue.

A side question. Is it wise to have an anti-virus set to automatically do a scan on a daily basis on a laptop? The anti-virus in question is AVG, iirc.

[Blín D'ñero]

So the fact the computer was shut off while it was in the middle of a big/long update for Photoshop right before the errors started might not itself be a factor of all the visual C++ errors on startup?

Oh yes of course, i should have mentioned that seperately. That seems to me the direct cause of the corruption. Part of the cause, as i sense somewhat sloppy user habits (which is absolutely normal, i'm not judging here!) as you described paint a larger picture.

[...]

A side question. Is it wise to have an anti-virus set to automatically do a scan on a daily basis on a laptop? The anti-virus in question is AVG, iirc.

A full scan? Why??? No, once a week should be enough. When there is a good suspicion, you order it manually and watch the results.