Windows still refuses to shut down and reboot... Requires a reset butt

What you could do is, suggest a new video card I can look into purchasing… I'd like one with about, if not more, than the card I had. Any suggestions? -Rappy

Thats not good. If you were really, really resourceful, you could come up with a way to replace that fan. However, the means of getting the fan and rigging it up on the card is probably beyond the scope of this forum and certainly something I couldn't talk you through over the internet. That doesn't mean that your video card isn't already having problems. Although, the restarting problem could be caused from a hot video card that would not act up if it were otherwise cooler.

I know it doesn't compare to your 8500GT, but you could certainly buy a cheap $30-$40 card to replace that one for now.

NewEgg PCI-Ex 2.0 Cards

I'd want to find one that would equal if not beat the performance of that card. And I can't really tell by the cards on that site what would be better or worse. -Rappy

Your motherboard only supports PCI 1.0, but from what I read 2.0 cards are backwards compatible. So, if you are plannin on upgrading the motherboard in the future and using the new card you could probably buy 2.0 without any problems.

Here is a list of PCI 1.0 cards comparable to yours. You'll notice that the most popular few all are built without fans.

PCI 1.0 8500GT Cards - Notice the three top NO FAN models.

Here are some good PCI 2.0 Cards that are high end. You'll notice because these are high performance cards you can't find them without fans. But, you'll also notice most of these use large fans that will last A LOT longer.

PCI Ex 2.0 Cards

Good luck on your endeavor. You might want to consult the hardware forum for further advice on what graphics cards are good. Using the NewEgg website you can pretty much determine what card to buy and what card not to buy just by looking at reviews. The most reviewed items are usually the most popular, and likely some of the best available.

Well I got a cheap on ordered, 3 days shipping, should have it by Thursday… If this thread is still open, I guess we can continue then. -Rappy

Question: will I be able to safely run that video card in the computer until Thursday with worrying about it affecting the mobo at all? At this point I don't care if it burns up the video card… -Rappy

If the card has a catastrophic failure its hard to say what else it could damage. I really don't feel comfortable with that question. Thats an "at your own risk," type of thing.

I am back on with the computer in question with an antique video card (2mb PCI S3 Virge, ouch) and can continue when ready… BTW: At this moment… OE -> FF is the same as it was before, extremely slow. I think I have narrowed it down to being an OE error because OE will hang until FF opens the page. Edit: that's not right as it's any program sending a hook to FF with a URL… links from MSN chat do the same thing, but MSN doesn't send the link through and locks up completely. -Rappy

Why don't you contact me after you get the new video card installed. Post back here and I'll wrap up. You should use your computer for a little while just to make sure nothing important was disabled. Try out some programs. Everything should be fine, because quite honestly most of these programs don't require services and extra startup items running to function properly. Its nothing more than junk that you didn't ask for, and weren't given a choice to install or not. I do this often and I usually delete just about everything and haven't had any significant complaints from anyone yet. However, they do praise me how well their computers run. I'm confused about the OE -> FF thing because you were saying it was running fine. Nothing has change but the video card, and now it is not running ok again?

It's sporadic. Sometimes there's a LONG wait, other times it's immediate. I haven't narrowed anything else down as far as that goes. -Rappy

Back, new video card, a few of the same problems… Still on selective start-up with basically no startup programs. All services are running. Somehow, I ended up getting another Vundo virus (those things are everywhere now it seems) in the last few days, but with the knowledge of what I gained here, it's gone. MWB + AVG + Symantec all declare no threats. OE -> FF lags more often than not lags up to 2 mins before opening. MSN -> FF is the same. I have tried setting IE as default browser (I really hate IE) to narrow it down to FF or something totally different. I would like to do what you said in a previous post and items in MSCONFIG removed from registry altogether and be back on a 'normal' boot-up. Drop me a line here when you get a chance, and lets get this show on the road. -Rappy

I will assist you again shortly. I have been really tied up, and this has proven to be a time consuming thread. I'm concerned now that you are infected with malware again. You sure know how to create a mess. So, tell me, what did you learn from your previous malware removal experience? What did you do this time?

Well, I can tell the exact moment I got hit with it and immediately rebooted, running ATF Cleaner and MWB directly after, virus was completely gone in two reboots… I am clean, nothing suspicious in HJT Log (that I can see)… and if I can find out what's causing the slowdown on web link hooks, I'd be doing fine OE and MSN both have AVG set up to scan attachments/links/etc not sure if that's part of the problem or not. I will wait for you in the meantime. -Rappy

I was thinking about this previously, and yes, I think AVG is a prime suspect for the delay between OE links and your web browser. Have you performed a full system scan with AVG now, and had no more detections? If you would like to try a different product, try Avast Home Edition. Its free, and I prefer it over AVG 8.0. AVG 8.0 seems to have regular problems now. www.avast.com It would be a good way to test if it is AVG or not. After you uninstall AVG it will require a reboot. When the system comes back up check the links in OE. Then install Avast. However, seems how you are virus prone, I would strongly suggest you do very little before installing Avast!

Virus prone, lol… I have been running my own computer for 10+ years and never gotten any viruses like I have in the past few weeks. I am very careful about what I click on, or pages I navigate to… but I been reading on this particular virus… and it's a sneaky one. Is there any programs that detect this virus before clicking a link? Because even links that SHOULD be safe have landed me with it. -Rappy