Computer Wouldn't Startup?

[Modern_Philistine]

Okay, hello.

I run Avast!(free), Malwarebytes (free), Spybot S&D, and use no-script on firefox, so I am confused to find that today I came home to a computer that wouldn't start-up and needed to run system repair. It ran it on its own and once it was finished it returned to running just fine, but I just want to know why the heck it couldn't start-up suddenly.

I haven't posted anything in the forum dealing with viruses because I have no idea if this was caused by one. Is it possible this was some sort of glitch on start-up? I have never done something like defragment the harddrive, so I have no idea if my system is just prone to glitches of this magnitude or if there is indeed something that requires my attention. Any help is appreciated.

[Firefox]

Hello and

There are so many variables to this....

Start by doing some diagnostics on your computer...

Test memory

Hard Drive

Clean temp files

Run scans for viruses...

Like you said it could have just been a fluke too....

[Modern_Philistine]

Hello and

There are so many variables to this....

Start by doing some diagnostics on your computer...

Test memory

Hard Drive

Clean temp files

Run scans for viruses...

Like you said it could have just been a fluke too....

How would I test memory and my hard drive. And how do I clean my temp files? Also I have scanned for viruses like mad since it happened.

[Firefox]

For you Memory you can use a program called MemTest86 (look for it on google)

For your hard drive go to the manufacturer's web site and download their testing too...

Please use TFC to clear temporary files:

Run TFC by OldTimer to clear temporary files:

• Please download TFC from here or here and save it to your desktop.
  
• Close any open programs and Internet browsers.
  
• Double click TFC.exe to run it and once it opens click on the Start button on the lower left of the program to allow it to begin cleaning.
  
• Please be patient as clearing out temp files may take a while.
  
• Once it completes you may be prompted to restart your computer, please do so.
  
• Once it's finished you may delete TFC.exe from your desktop or save it for later use for the cleaning of temporary files.
  

After it's done and you've restarted your PC run another scan with Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware.

Please let us know how it goes.

[Modern_Philistine]

I haven't done the memory test or the hard drive diagnostics (though I did run iolo System Mechanic which did fix some "hard drive problems.")

I ran TFC as soon as I read this and did a full scan with both Malwarebytes and Avast! and neither brought up any results. Then it happened again.

I caught what exactly happened. a BSOD came up and I believe mentioned something about data execution prevention and then a system 32 executable file. At least I believe that's what it said, I didn't get a very good look.

[Firefox]

You really need to run some diagnostics on both the ram and the hard drive....

You may have corrupted files on your disk. Please try running the following.

First close ALL Applications as this routine will automatically restart your computer.

Click on START - RUN and copy / paste the following entry into the box and click OK

CMD /C ECHO Y|CHKDSK C: /R | SHUTDOWN /R /T 30