Computer expert [Can i have it?]

[Macht]

Re: Computer expert [Can i have it?]

ok, small words please O_O i have NO idea what you just said lol D:

Hmm, layman's term huh?

Well sounds like he deleted all of the stuff on the computer and started from the beginning. Older systems used what's called a boot disk, tells it what to do once it's finished starting up. Needs this since the computer's storage, the harddrive, will be blank and have no instructions on what to do. With newer computers just having the Windows CD in the drive when you start it is enough to replace the boot disk.

Though if I'm having to explain this down to this level, I really don't recommend you doing it.

[I'm just a guy]

Re: Computer expert [Can i have it?]

hehe, thanks :p i agree lol ^_^; ill just live with it till i get a new comp, ty for responding.. gonna go passout now ~_~ havnt slept in two days


~Just a guy

[Feba]

Re: Computer expert [Can i have it?]

Really, in cases like this, if you don't know anything about PCs, the best thing to do is to take it to a shop.

I highly advise against allowing a relative or friend to work on your PC because they seem to be 'good with it' unless you don't mind having the PC FUBARd. Or, if they work in tech support or similar, and even then be cautious if they haven't been doing it a loong time.

[Sabaron]

Re: Computer expert [Can i have it?]

Well, for most people, especially those that download things from "file sharing networks", there is usually malware involved. OP said he scanned it, and I have a tendency to believe that most people are relatively competent when it comes to software, but only because online, it's difficult to tell what they're doing exactly. If spy/virus scan comes up neg and you're having "ghosts" in all applications (e.g. skips, random loss of network bandwidth, unusual blinking of lights that shouldn't be blinking etc.), it's usually because somebody who lives in your PC's memory is being naughty and needs to be excised.

Thinking about access rights is usually not the case with the average home pc. Normal people do not modify access rights and security settings and 90% of casual home users log in under an administrator account (or don't log in at all). , thus I discard the issue when dealing with home pcs. Most home pc uninstall problems stem from a corrupted or missing Uninstall file. I did, however, skip the "Nuke App and reinstall" phase--most users try this one on their own before they ask for help, but it's not as assumable as the rights/permissions thing.

Failing ones ability to deftly remove an unidentified piece of software or in the case that removal of said software causes major system problems (for instance the inability to use/reinstall MSIE), the fix is BOOM! With the casual user, it is difficult to discern what is causing the problem without actually having a tech look at it. Techs (if you don't know one) are expensive. Software exists on disc. Newly installed PCs run better than old ones. I ascribe to the Nuke It! theory of troubleshooting rather than the "if all else fails nuke" theory. Most casual users keeps their documents in a centralized location and don't really have too many applications that they actually use (they do, however, tend to collect useless ones). When it gets right down to it, you're reinstalling maybe 3-5 core applications, the operating system, and some software updates/downloaded apps. This process takes about 1 afternoon of rather easy computer work and can be performed by just about any user. A Tech (esp one who does tech for a living) will charge at least $20/hour if not $40 or more and it'll take him at least a couple hours to find and eliminate the problem with the system if it cannot be solved by your existing scanning software. Why spend $80?

Just Nuke It!

If you're not a techie, don't try to remove a piece of malware manually--sometimes they'll take over weird system files and inject themselves into hard-to-reach places (or vital software organs) and then resurface to cause you problems later.

Sabaron maintains the following procedure:

1. If you know that you know how to use your programs (which you most likely do), don't worry about the "User Error" things.

2. If you can't uninstall a program, you can try manually eliminating it by zapping its directory. Leaving an orphaned registry key could cause problems, but most of the time it just sits around and does nothing. If it bothers you, and you're qualified, delete it. "Run" type registry keys can be annoying, make sure you tell the program not to run at startup before you delete it if it behaves in this way or delete the run key (again registry qualified user only). Manual deletion does result in loose ends, but most of them are invisible or a minor nuisance when starting up. If this doesn't work see step 5.

3. If you have an application that doesn't work, remove it and reinstall. If that doesn't work, see step 5.

4. Make sure you've got all your scanning software and operating system up-to-date before you scan and then scan the pc, fix all problems and look up anything that the scanners flag on the Internet to see if there might be problems involved in the removal of said programs. If your scanner cannot remove a particular item and you can't find a removal tool/procedure online, refer to step 5.

5. NOOOOOOOK!

[Lunaryn]

Re: Computer expert [Can i have it?]

Given my recent experiences with flakey hardware, I feel the need to emphasize that malware is not necessarily even the most likely cause. The symptom list is vague, and there are many problems that can cause those problems.

Yes, the nuke from orbit approach is nice in that it 1) fixes all software-based problems, and 2) minimizes diagnostic steps involved. But if the problem is not software related then it's a complete waste of time and may leave him without a usable system at all if a problem pops up during reinstall.

Before assuming malware, I would recommend installing ClamWin and doing a full scan of memory and disk. Yes, an infected system can hide from such a scan, but many of them don't, and a clean bill of health from an AV program makes malware a considerably less likely explanation. On the other hand, a report of what's infected and with what would offer a good deal of insight on the problem, whether it's possible or even worth trying to clean out vs. reinstall, and conclusively put the issue in the realm of software.

If the problem is not malware, it still might be solved by a reinstall, but there's no certainty. A filesystem scan is a good idea to look for possible signs of drive failure, and a memory scan is easy if you have a spare floppy. (grab the .zip, expand it, run install.bat and tell it your floppy drive letter (A or B, almost always A). Then boot to the floppy)

The power supply is kind of difficult; you need special equipment to see if it's working, and even if it's working, different computers need different amounts of power. If you want to pursue this, the best thing is to tell us more about the computer (you may have to open it up and look). We would need to know:

1) Processor speed and branding (Intel Pentium/Celeron, AMD Athlon, etc... Don't try to look at the processor for this, it's covered up; the System Properties control under Control Panel should tell you this)

2) Type of video card (brand and model if you know it, otherwise how many video ports, does it do TV capture or other fancy features, what does it score in Vana'diel Bench 3, etc.)

3) Number of disk drives (most computers have 1 hard disk, 1 floppy disk, 1 CD- or DVD-ROM, note if there looks to be more; if you can't tell by looking, there's another Windows utility that can tell you, but would require a more detailed explanation of how to use.)

4) Power output of the power supply (this is a big metal box lodged in the case where the power plug goes in. On the inside of the comp this box should have a sticker with this information on it. You're looking for a 3-digit number followed by the letter W.)

If you do nothing else recommended here, though, install an antivirus program such as ClamWin and do a full scan, memory and all drives. Many known malware programs have known solutions for getting rid of them, and if an outside program's taken over your system it's best to know about it.

(And yes, I'm a computer tech. Even have A+ Certification. LOL, useless card, no one cares about it anymore.)

[Feba]

Re: Computer expert [Can i have it?]

no one cares about it anymore.

except the people hiring.

[Mhurron]

Re: Computer expert [Can i have it?]

except the people hiring.

Only the most menial jobs actually care about the A+; Geek Squad, for instance.

[Macht]

Re: Computer expert [Can i have it?]

Only the most menial jobs actually care about the A+; Geek Squad, for instance.

Pfft, Geek Squad in my area must not be that bright. They couldn't solve an issue with my WiFi, they wanted me to spend another $500+ buying new equipment when the equipment I had already wasn't even 1 year old. Even then when they found out the equipment was fairly new the resorted to spew off some BS that there is just to much interfference in my area for a WiFi network to work and suggested I should go wired. Obvious it was their way of saying "We don't know what f*** is wrong and don't really care".

Serves my brother and Mother right for the money they wasted paying them to come out. They should of just waited till I had the time to work on it.

[Mhurron]

Re: Computer expert [Can i have it?]

Pfft, Geek Squad in my area must not be that bright.

They're not bright in any area, hence the A+ requirement.

[Macht]

Re: Computer expert [Can i have it?]

They're not bright in any area, hence the A+ requirement.

Lol, well that's good to know. I had always felt something wasn't quite right there.

[Sabaron]

Re: Computer expert [Can i have it?]

Pfft, Geek Squad in my area must not be that bright. They couldn't solve an issue with my WiFi, they wanted me to spend another $500+ buying new equipment when the equipment I had already wasn't even 1 year old...

Well, you have to envision that the "Geek Squad" is also another sales vehicle for Best Buy. Therefore, it is in Best Buy's interests if all/most problems are solved through the purchase of new equipment.


As for the hardware issues and malware, I'm not necessarily assuming there's something lurking on the drive, but I have had experiences with pc's who behave in inappropriate ways after "automated removal" of infected files. Sometimes stuff in the software just gets jinked up (lost file here or there). Reinstallation of the app usually fixes it. Most of the time with pc's that are having trouble, I'll install a second copy of the OS on the primary partition and run that to see if everything clicks.

Power supply problems can be hell. I've had two go bad and the irrational behavior of the machine (random shutdowns mostly) can look like software when they aren't. I've seen a couple of bad memory sticks--iirc you end up with application crashes especially during heavy usage (e.g. games) depending on what's going on with the stick. Never done a processor failure, but hard drive failure appears to be ever increasingly common among the cheapo line of hard drives (refer to my previous rant against the Western Digital "Caviar" drive I used to have). Most hard drive problems show as "slowness" especially at ROM check and during boot sequences (occasional failure to boot). S.M.A.R.T. errors at startup are common, and, of course, the ubiquitous random crashes that seem to accompany most hardware problems.

Just my impressions. I don't have A+ certification or Twelve-Gamma Black Belts or other useless certifications, but I do computers professionally (I'm not a "tech" as it were, since my primary focus is programming, administration, and database). Professionally, I never fuss with "debugging" software because I want the damn thing working 2 hours ago, so I just re-image the machine (another form of nuking) and put it's backup online until it's done.

[Macht]

Re: Computer expert [Can i have it?]

Ehh, you know with all the errors I've seen my computer do a lot of them that people could classify as the same thing I've come to learn are not always the case. For example the restarting, I've had it be a result of power supply, RAM, and Video. Determing more on which it is depends on the nature of the restart.

If something graphic intensive (or pushes the GPUs) is likely to cause a restart then I target the video. If the system starts bogging up and slowing badly just before a restart I target the RAM. If the system just straight up restarts like it experienced a power surge or blackout then I target the power. It's often very small detail but it's enough to tell you were to look.

Then I've also had those memory sticks that are like trying hard to stay in there, they in large result in the strange anomalies in a program. For example with these type of memory sticks a program like excel will take about 5-10 min. just to access the file menu or take that long or longer to when you are in open file window and it's trying to load the contents of a folder. It's the similar behavior you get when your system is trying to run with memory far lower then it needs to effectively work.

Then there is also slowing you'll get that looks like the Memory but only occurs when you do stuff that has some sort of relation to a network. This could be a bad network setup, the network is being heavily used, or the NIC in your computer is going bad. Again the smaller details that give clues to were to look.

Yeah, I do understand the deal with the Geek Squad. It's the reason I didn't let them configure my system when I had purchased one from bestbuy. Then also for HDs Western Digital has usually been the best for me, every once in a while though I've gotten those bad ones. The good ones though generally last much longer then most other drives. Then also for the HD I put as my main storage I never go cheap with anyways, if it's going to be something to store stuff temporarily or that I wouldn't care if it gets lost then I'll use a cheapy for those.

[Sabaron]

Re: Computer expert [Can i have it?]

I bought a Seagate with the 5 year warranty last time instead of the WD with the 1 year. I figure if the company's betting free drives that it'll last 5 years, it'll last 5 years.

[Lunaryn]

Re: Computer expert [Can i have it?]

I've actually never had one of my own drives fail, fortunately, but I've seen a lot of hard drives fail on others' systems. Western Digital is largely the brand I trust, though I've run across a few people who have problems with them. On the other hand, I will never ever buy a Seagate IDE drive, and many of the Maxtor drives I've come across have been a little on the flakey side. Western Digital drives are known for being fairly durable (I actually had a 10.1GB WD 3.5" IDE drive in a removable cage for one of my schools, which I lugged around in my backpack every day for about 2 years before 'retiring' it into a desktop case, and was still working fine when I retired said desktop some years later; actually, I think that drive's in the computer I fired up to retrieve files from a few weeks ago, so it's still working fine after a good 7 years, if only about 4 of active use).

And I got my A+ Certification in Ohio in 2001, if that gives some idea of why I refer to it as useless. I've never gotten a job on the strength of it, at any rate. Maybe if I'd had it in the 90s... *shrug*

[Macht]

Re: Computer expert [Can i have it?]

I've actually never had one of my own drives fail, fortunately, but I've seen a lot of hard drives fail on others' systems. Western Digital is largely the brand I trust, though I've run across a few people who have problems with them. On the other hand, I will never ever buy a Seagate IDE drive, and many of the Maxtor drives I've come across have been a little on the flakey side. Western Digital drives are known for being fairly durable (I actually had a 10.1GB WD 3.5" IDE drive in a removable cage for one of my schools, which I lugged around in my backpack every day for about 2 years before 'retiring' it into a desktop case, and was still working fine when I retired said desktop some years later; actually, I think that drive's in the computer I fired up to retrieve files from a few weeks ago, so it's still working fine after a good 7 years, if only about 4 of active use).
And I got my A+ Certification in Ohio in 2001, if that gives some idea of why I refer to it as useless. I've never gotten a job on the strength of it, at any rate. Maybe if I'd had it in the 90s... *shrug*

Yeah, all my computers are all WD drives. I still have some REALLY old WD drives with only like 500MB space and they still work, don't use them for anything now. They are kind of just a nostalgia thing hooked up to a 486 computer with a Lantastic NIC. Like my 2nd or 3rd computer I had after a Commador.

The Drive still has what I've left on it there, run scans on it and still works fine. As for Seagate and Maxtor those are mass producers for HDs. Together they got like 80%-90% of premade computers loaded with them. They can pretty much give out HDs like free candy if they wanted to anyways, still I've rarely seen a Seagate last longer then 3 years and a Maxtor reaches 2 if your lucky (That's been my experience anyway).

I've a pile of about 4 Seagate HDs and 2 Maxtor's sitting in my electronic junk pile that no longer work. All of them stopped working around 2-3 years.