can ya access the system restore threw your BIOS?
OR do you have a OS disk?

I dunno what any of that is, im using window's XP and this suddenly happened.

if I tried reinstalling system restore it said that I would lose my restore points, thus making it futile

Ahahah that guy has no idea what he's talking about. xD

ughh shit man i wish i could literally be there to work ya computer for ya....okie ya know the FIRST screen that come sup when ya turn on your comp.....its usually the brand name of the comp itself and says something like "f2" for setup
and OS is an Oporating System usually for your case it would be a windows disk

im using a dell inspiron 1501 running on windows XP

yea man restart your comp and pay attention to the "dell' screen there should be an option to select a button to open up "settings' or "setup"
it literally should be the first screen to come up when you start up your computer

I did but when I tried to use safe mode it froze

you need to re-install your windows bud.....I'm sorry that's sucks >.<

before ya do it see if you can save any important files to a flash drive or back-up hard drive

yer

have you tried using system restore?

is at
win menu > accesories > system tools

back up your files first

execute it and follow instructions

"even system restore keeps closing on me before I can use it...ughg"

oh forgot that part ugh...

back up every file and reinstall then

Have you tried installing Avast and make a full scan?

I second this. Grab a copy of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware if you can as well and update + scan scan scan. Some nasty (albeit rare) viruses like win32.licum can snap and corrupt almost any EXE file and basically land you in the same situation you're in now.

*to both

Ive already done a scan of my computer and it found 0 malware

Unusual, it's common to discover even a few mild occurrences. Either way, a system restore sounds like the way to go. If it's warning you about losing system restore points, it may be referring to the loss of any system restore point created on a date after the point you restore to.

system restore isnt working either. it has the same message everything else is giving about an error ocurring before it can even open.

Hmm sounds like a bit of a worry to me, if I were you, I would begin backing up anything important (ie all your artwork etc), pop it on a spare hard disk or upload it somewhere. Sounds like a rebuild might be needed.

yeah I have a terabyte external hard drive I can put it on

aw mann and i was gonna ask ya if u gotta skype. that's sad man D:

sorry i don't have any tips, just wish you luck on gettin it fixed dude o7

I head that windows XP was being retired and there will be no more patches for it...my dad read something about it in an article

I heard, but that was supposed to be in 2014!

may not help but i had this issue before or a similar one a while back, i helped to fix it but seeing if i needed a java update, use a browser that wont crash to download install most recent java that your OS can support and see if that fixes anything. If not see if its something in the flash, firefox had this issue for a good while for quite a few people I know, hope this helps somehow.

I'd go through your Processes on Task Manager one-by-one and see if something stands out. Research the hell out of each process. If it says it's run by anyone other than SYSTEM, that could be a red flag.

Restart computer, go to safe mode. You're going to have to do this the hard way. Either scan the computer while in safe mode, and if that doesn't find anything, then you're going to need to go through the ENTIRE registry listing looking for anything out of the ordinary, because it means you most likely got something forced into the registry from a download.

how am I gonna know whats out of the ordinary though?

Like I said...doing it the hard way. It's hard to tell what's supposed to be there and what isn't. If there's a computer expert who lives near you that you can ask, I would suggest having them help.

my dad is an IT manager I usually have him look at stuff. its just I wont see him till friday and I need my machine working ASAP XP

Unfortunately, you can easily screw it up if you get rid of the wrong thing in the registry. I'd personally just wait until Friday to make sure it's done right.

alrighty. best case scenario I dump my harddrive onto an external and wait for a new laptop

I';m sorry dude but i think schism is right, you were hit with probably a massive malware virus. Windows XP is pretty much outdated at this point, if you can get a working copy of windows 7 from someone i think you might be able to save your data. Im very very sorry dude.

no no, I appreciate you being as accurate as possible I did try defragmenting this computer but it wouldnt do it for whatever reason. Ill try all of this after getting a new laptop, I want it to be as secure as possible. I also deleted a bunch of files, I hope it helps

Try running a rootkit scanner and removing skype. I tried installing skype and it installed a rootkit that borked my computer for nearly a week till I found it and removed it.