my pc wont boot up, ''UxTheme.dll'' error

Nodferatu

i have a problem with my pc, its a dell desktop 6 years old. it runs windows xp home edition sp2.
when i turn it on its now not rebooting (starting up)
it goes to a blue screen with an error box popping up saying
"The application has failed to start because UxTheme.dll was not found. re-installing the application may fix this problem"

i do not have any disc or discs to re install any software as its a dell everthing was pre installed factory wise.

when i click enter it loads up after 10 minutes i can see my screensaver but no desktop, no icons or shortcut icon/logos no start up menu just the background screensaver.
i have tried rebooting up in safe mode and also safe mode with command prompt and still nothing, same problem, safe mode gets as far as a black screen with"safe mode" text showing in the 4 corners of the screen. the same message pops up.

i cant see any option to restart from a restore point.
can someone PLEASE help!

my pc is a dell dimension 5150 desktop 1gb ram pentium 4, windows xp home edition sp2 if any of that info is of any help!!

yoyo

Have you used any tool to change the default windows theme? It may have modified/corrupted the uxtheme.dll file, I'm thinking a repair install should fix it, no need to wipe it. If the Dell never came with recovery discs it probably has a recovery partition, that will allow you to run a repair install, this can generally be invoked pressing F9, F11 or similar key at boot (when the Dell logo appears), it may be a different key, look for something saying system recovery on the screen

Nick

Nodferatu

yoyo wrote: »

Have you used any tool to change the default windows theme? It may have modified/corrupted the uxtheme.dll file, I'm thinking a repair install should fix it, no need to wipe it. If the Dell never came with recovery discs it probably has a recovery partition, that will allow you to run a repair install, this can generally be invoked pressing F9, F11 or similar key at boot (when the Dell logo appears), it may be a different key, look for something saying system recovery on the screen

Nick

hey nick, i havent used any tool or anything to change the theme. i did turn off my pc last time it worked by a force shut down, i held the power button until it shut down. i was in a hurry out the door. maybe that corrupted something.
i can press f2 for 'setup
or f12 for 'boot device menu'
i cant see anything abiout system restore. and i cant reboot safe mode with command prompt. sorry im not computer illeterate, im not very knowledgable with this technical end of things. is my hard drive corrupted? is the best option to get a computer repair person to fix this? thanks for the help!

yoyo

Nodferatu wrote: »

hey nick, i havent used any tool or anything to change the theme. i did turn off my pc last time it worked by a force shut down, i held the power button until it shut down. i was in a hurry out the door. maybe that corrupted something.
i can press f2 for 'setup
or f12 for 'boot device menu'
i cant see anything abiout system restore. and i cant reboot safe mode with command prompt. sorry im not computer illeterate, im not very knowledgable with this technical end of things. is my hard drive corrupted? is the best option to get a computer repair person to fix this? thanks for the help!

Could well be the hard drive, do you hear any strange noises like clicking that would indicate a hard drive problem, windows being unable to load files will show such a message, I think pressing CTRL & F11 will open the Dell recovery console at boot, it may not be informing you of this feature but according to google its available to your system. It could be hard disk failing, though and a restore may not work/only be a temporary fix I would not reccomend doing. You can run a hard disk diagnostics scan which will inform you if the hard drive contains errors. The easiest way to perform this scan would be:
1.) Download the Ultimate Boot CD iso from here
2.) Burn the Ultimate Boot CD iso to a blank CD R/RW using a recording tool, I reccomend the free ImgBurn on another machine
3.) Boot off this CD on the Dell by hitting the F12 key at startup, and choosing CD/DVD drive from the menu
4.) Navigate to Hard Drive>Diagnostics>Seatools using the arrow keys (Even if your hard drive isnt made by seagate the one will work quite well)
5.) Run a quick and long scan, if errors appear the hard drive needs replacing, simple enough job if you can get your hand on recovery cds for the machine

Let me know if you want me to explain further, if you just got the error without knowingly modifying anything it is likely hard drive failure so I wouldnt go down the repair route yet

Nick

ricman

see here , or press f11 or f12 when dell logo appears. wait for restore menu,click,restore,use arrows,enter key to select,
http://en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-196557-dell-restore,
or try reboot cntrl plus f11 ,ie press 2 keys simultaenously after reboot .
this will reformat drive c: ,all mp3,pics data is erased, windows is reinstalled.

Nodferatu

no there is no clicking noises or anything when its booting up. its actually running very quiet, quieter than it usually would it has a sort of repeated patter of noise like its trying to load something but cant and repeats. i tried the ctrl + f11 and yes it brings up a new menu to restore (to factory settings all data will be lost) i dont want to restore as i will lose all my data on pc, i have most of it backed up, but i have not backed up my photos lately and i really dont want to lose them. so i will try this scan as you pointed out, downloading the ultimate boot cd at the moment. i will reply and let you know how i get on! fingers crossed.

hearny

When the pc boots as far as the desktop background can you press ctrl+alt+del at the same time.

If this brings up task manager click file -> run type explorer and click run

If it loads your start menu and desktop icons try to change the theme to windows classic.

http://www.helpwithpcs.com/tipsandtricks/changing-theme-win-xp.htm

Nodferatu

ok i copied that boot file to a disc does it matter its a dvd+rw disc? put it into the pc, it wouldnt run, some message like selected boot device not available. i have also called up task manager clicked file -> run -> typed in field 'explorer' -> run and nothing happened there neither.

ricman

get a linux livecd, eg mint linux x86 fits on 1cdr.google linux mint download.
IT boots from cd ,allows you to copy data,mp3s from drive c to a usb drive,if you click install it,lll be installed on drive c if theres 5gig free space.You may need to go to bios and set 1st boot to cd,cd=drive 0.You,ll need acess to a pc with cdwriter and 1 blank cdr 700meg.download mint iso,use free program imgburn to burn image of the iso file, this creates a bootable linux disc.
see http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/G/Burning+ISO+Images+with+ImgBurn
if you install linux you can burn cds of your data or even dvdrs if you have a dvdwriter.

yoyo

Nodferatu wrote: »

ok i copied that boot file to a disc does it matter its a dvd+rw disc? put it into the pc, it wouldnt run, some message like selected boot device not available. i have also called up task manager clicked file -> run -> typed in field 'explorer' -> run and nothing happened there neither.

This could be an easier fix, I mis read your origional post does your wallpaper show? Its not a BSOD (Blue screen) error? If so type cmd into the run box and type the following "sfc /scannow" without quotes followed by enter, this should find the file is bad and replace it, also you should use a CD-R/RW disc, not a DVD RW one, some drives prefare write once media also

Nick

Nodferatu

yoyo wrote: »

This could be an easier fix, I mis read your origional post does your wallpaper show? Its not a BSOD (Blue screen) error? If so type cmd into the run box and type the following "sfc /scannow" without quotes followed by enter, this should find the file is bad and replace it, also you should use a CD-R/RW disc, not a DVD RW one, some drives prefare write once media also

Nick

no it is a blue background screen pops up with the error message. i have no access to the computer or the desktop or the start menu. after i click off the error message about 10 minutes later it gets to the screensaver background i have on pc. still no start menu or desktop shortcuts nothing is available to me. even calling up task manager freezes up sometimes.


i will have to go buy a cd-rw and retry imgburn again. but yesterday when i tried this it said the boot device was not available, i am using the dvd rw disc tray i have. the upper disc tray is broken and doesnt work.

ricman

If making a boot disk, use a cdr ,burn at 2x or 4x max,cdrs are cheaper anyway.ITs possible to boot linux from a usb key ,if you cant boot any cd at all.burning a boot disk at ten x speed is not reliable.
does the pc have a 3.5inch drive, its possible to boot from a win98 bootdisk 3.5inch ,see www.bootdisk.com, then copy data from drive c ,using a dos program with a gui front end and dos mouse support.
i have done it before.http://bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm
try the win98 se ,ie boot from a 3.5inch disc ,not a cd.
that has a built in cdrom driver too.

yoyo

Nodferatu wrote: »

no it is a blue background screen pops up with the error message. i have no access to the computer or the desktop or the start menu. after i click off the error message about 10 minutes later it gets to the screensaver background i have on pc. still no start menu or desktop shortcuts nothing is available to me. even calling up task manager freezes up sometimes.


i will have to go buy a cd-rw and retry imgburn again. but yesterday when i tried this it said the boot device was not available, i am using the dvd rw disc tray i have. the upper disc tray is broken and doesnt work.

If you hold down ALT CTRL DEL does the task manager open? If so click file>run and type cmd

Nick

Snowbat

In task manager, File > Run > explorer might even get you a desktop.

Softpedia has a version of uxtheme.dll if you can get in (or boot with a Linux CD or pendrive and overwrite the bad uxtheme.dll in WINDOWS\System32)

TheBoffin

Hi,

Can you boot into safe mode? If so the issue was possibly caused by a desktop theme which you installed. From safe mode you should be able to restore your computer to an earlier time using system restore which will undo the change (hopefully)

ricman

see here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058
you,ll need a windows cd ,same version as is installed on the pc ,eg winxp home, or winxp pro i think.

Nodferatu

thanks everyone, though i decided in the end to format my computer and restore to factory settings. everything i tried didnt work. i dont know where id been able to get my hands on one of them specific windows cd's i dont know anyone who could help. i lost a bit of data but nothing too important. had 95% of files etc backed up on external hard drive. my computer is running alot faster and smoother since. thanks anyways to everyone who helped me. appreciated.