A few sudden problems with my R61e

[Me2]

I have an R61e running Windows Xp Service pack 3. Over the past week or so I have noticed a few problems.

1)The fan will get extremely loud especially right when I connect to the internet.
2)If I try to start Firefox or Windows Live Messenger right after getting into windows the program will freeze and I will have to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to close the program and then restart it.
3) The keyboard customizer utility deleted itself and I had to reinstall it.

[A31]

2)If I try to start Firefox or Windows Live Messenger right after getting into windows the program will freeze and I will have to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to close the program and then restart it.
3) The keyboard customizer utility deleted itself and I had to reinstall it

My suggestion is to reinstall Windows XP if you have the CD, you may have some dodgy malware or spyware on your computer... Or you can use the recovery CDs of you have those??
If you don't have the XP CD or recovery CDs, do what I did to my R40 (before it died), just go into BIOS (or 'access IBM' button on your keyboard), erase the hard drvie and then reset to factory settings (which will be XP) and that should work fine. If nothing still works, it's not XP that's the problem.

1)The fan will get extremely loud especially right when I connect to the internet.

Is that Wi fi or wired internet? If it is wired internet, then you have a problem with your internet port that needs sorting out.

good luck!

[Me2]

It's Wifi. If I have a restore point saved to a portable hdd could i just use that?

[A31]

It's Wifi. If I have a restore point saved to a portable hdd could i just use that?

You could do, though I recommend just reinstalling XP by either CD or BIOS > Erase hard drvie > Back to factory settings.

Is that Wi Fi done via PCMCIA, USB or an internal card?? If it is PCMCIA, you may have a problem with either your card or the slot that the cards plugs into...

[RealBlackStuff]

Before wiping your installation, check your CPU fan for dust bunnies.
Remove the keyboard and have a look. If dirty, get a can of compressed air, then hold the fan itself in place with e.g. a toothpick, before you start spraying.

Also, you may have an antivirus program, that's busy checking right after startup, which may eat a lot of RAM.
Especially bloatware like Norton comes to mind. If that's the case, boot it out and get something decent, like Eset NOD.

If you haven't done so yet, (re)install System Update 3.14 and run that to get all your drivers up to the latest level.

[A31]

Especially bloatware like Norton comes to mind. If that's the case, boot it out and get something decent, like Eset NOD.

I can recommend Kasperksy Intent Security 2010. It is worth purchasing the 1 year licesne as it's a brilliant AV program!!

then hold the fan itself in place with e.g. a toothpick, before you start spraying.

It is very important you do this otherwise you can destory your fan by making it spin too fast and wrecking it... and that woud mean you'd then have to buy a new fan, and they're not cheap!!