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Window's Update

downbeach

downbeach

My system went through an update last night, and when it restarted, almost all my shortcuts and many programs, have disappeared and my desktop wallpaper is now back to the original Vista background. All my bookmarks/favorites have disappeared. I have a "restore" utility in my control panel, but when I try to "restore to an earlier date" it just disappears from the screen when I hit "next".
I tried the "restore" at start up (F11), which seemed like it was working, but after 8 hours of watching it scrolling on a blue screen, I figured it had locked up.

??Any Idea's???
 
Edwardw771

Edwardw771

NJRC Member
Vista Blows. You need to get that drive out of the computer and copy your files someone else then reformat it with Windows 7. Or buy a new computer and copy your stuff. Best Buy's geek swad should be able to hook you up. If you not in a rush and can bring the computer to me in Robbinsville I'd help get the files off.

I had an issue this weekend with Comcast's Constant Guard. The free Norton av and other tools. Are you using that? It made my friends pc blue screen over and over again even after a reformat. Look close at the error on the blue screen for the .exe crashing on.

http://forums.comcast.com/t5/Securi...creen-on-Reboot-after-install-on/td-p/1499445
 
TanksNStuff

TanksNStuff

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Jim, did the update include an update to your video drivers? That could be the issue with the desktop wallpaper and the icons. Do the icons that you still see appear to be larger than usual?

If you can't figure it out Jim, I can stop by to take a look at it. Let me know.
 
downbeach

downbeach

It has become worse. I went to HP's site to get an answer as to why their restore utility wasn't working. They gave me an alternate method of going through All Program's, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore, which I did, and now the only restore date was last night, which was the beginning of the problem. I tried it anyway, and the system told me I had to run a scan disk to repair errors first, which I did. After running the scan disk, I ran the restore, and now I can't even get into the computer. It keeps telling me, "A group policy client failed to log on, access denied".

I'm on Lynn's computer now.
 
downbeach

downbeach

If I were to buy a version of Win 7, could I just install it? If so, should I get the home or professional version? Would it wipe the disc?
 
Chrisgarrick

Chrisgarrick

It could be any number of issues. How old is the system? It might be a good time for a new drive. If you don't get anywhere I can help. I have extra drives and such. I'm in Howell. Chris
 
myrjon

myrjon

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Get linux . i used to be all (windows) got fed up and tried linux and wont go back . im using pear linux now //
 
MadReefer

MadReefer

Staff member
NJRC Member
Moderator
mynd said:
I prefer people who are windows users to try this first.. http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=2216, make a bootable usb drive http://www.majorgeeks.com/Universal_USB_Installer_d7180.html and then just boot to the usb drive for a test run.. you might like it.. :) When you get really good you can play with Backtrack5 http://www.backtrack-linux.org/downloads/ and start cracking wpa networks ;) not that I suggest doing it!
Click to expand...

How does this differ from Unbuntu? I was going o try and install Unbuntu on a flash drive and boot off an old IBM Think Pad I can't access anymore.
 
myrjon

myrjon

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
ive tryed a lot of distros of linux .Linux mint is more like windows enviroment to make switch to linux.i just bought a new laptop and put linux pear on it . You can make a live dvd which will run on boot up . Doesn't install this way you can try it out. http://pearlinux.fr/
 
downbeach

downbeach

After much consternation, I was able to do a restore to the point when the computer was new. Although I had lost all my stored information, at least I still had a working PC. Now to add insult to injury, I got up early this morning to start rebuilding my system, I find it unable to power up. So, I guess its been trying to tell me something....It's about 5 years old, so I guess its time for a new PC. Any suggestions?
 
myrjon

myrjon

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
if it is a power supply for a desktop . i have one . if its a laptop ime for a new one ,and if you want i have a sony viao tower old but works good .
 
AJ1080

AJ1080

I doubt you actually lost all of your information. What you described sounded more like a corrupted profile. By browing the drive, theres a good chance we could find your profile and recover your favorites, documents, pictures, etc....

System restores in windows does not affect these files.

When you turn the computer on do you see anything on the screen? Does the bios load? If not its probably the power supply so the hard drive should be good. If you have pictures, documents, etc, that you need to get off of there I do have a driver reader that we can use and I can help point you to the places where all of the stuff may be installed.

Just judging from the symptoms you've posted I think youll be in a good position to recover your data, but your computer......anything with Vista has to go. Toss me a pm if ya have any questions.
 
downbeach

downbeach

myrjon said:
if it is a power supply for a desktop . i have one . if its a laptop ime for a new one ,and if you want i have a sony viao tower old but works good .
Click to expand...

It's a 350W PS. I have an old Vaio too, that I was thinking I could use its PS(appears to be about half the size), or put it back in service.
 
downbeach

downbeach

AJ1080 said:
I doubt you actually lost all of your information. What you described sounded more like a corrupted profile. By browing the drive, theres a good chance we could find your profile and recover your favorites, documents, pictures, etc....

System restores in windows does not affect these files.

When you turn the computer on do you see anything on the screen? Does the bios load? If not its probably the power supply so the hard drive should be good. If you have pictures, documents, etc, that you need to get off of there I do have a driver reader that we can use and I can help point you to the places where all of the stuff may be installed.

Just judging from the symptoms you've posted I think youll be in a good position to recover your data, but your computer......anything with Vista has to go. Toss me a pm if ya have any questions.
Click to expand...

I have to assume at this point that I have a bad PS, since it's not powering up at all. I have a green light on the back of the PS, that is lit, but nothing is turning on, i.e. fans, etc.
 
TanksNStuff

TanksNStuff

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
That's a great suggestion Ryan. Testing the PS should be the first step with his current situation. If it works after doing what's shown in that video, then it's likely the hard drive or the mobo causing the fail to power up.

Jim, at this point, regardless of what is going wrong there seems to be a hardware problem. 5 yrs old isn't horrible for a PC, but it's probably not a bad idea to just consider replacing it now. As far as all your personal data, as long as that last restore didn't format the hd, you should be able to get all that off. Just add that hd to your next computer as a 2nd drive and you should be able to access all the files/folders.

As to everyone suggesting to use a different OS, I don't think the OS is the problem here. HP (and most every other "commercial" pc maker) tends to use inferior quality hardware (usually cheap mobos, PS's, memory, etc) and con people with the fancy new cpu and RAM it's using. When you have cheap hardware, you inevitably have problems no matter what OS you're using. Besides, I don't think Jim is interested in learning a whole new OS at this point.

By the way, Vista works fine. I've been running it since Beta and I never had a problem with it. The only issue I ever had was when my cpu was getting too hot and it was shutting my rig down. Once I upgraded from the stock fan to a water cooling system, I was back to normal. Did I pay a few more bucks to build my own PC with quality hardware? Sure did! Will it last me twice as long as a cheap commercial PC? You bet!

Do yourself a favor Jim. Get a bare bones case/mobo/cpu combo. Then get quality (certified) RAM that's compatible with that mobo, a decent video card, and then get the biggest/fastest hd your budget will allow. Then we can put it all together and put whatever OS on it you want. I can help build it if you need it, just let me know.
 
downbeach

downbeach

Thanks George, and everyone for your input. Right now I've put my old Vaio back in service, and it's reminding me why I upgraded it in the first place. I did have to replace the video board on the PC not long ago, so that may have been an indication that it was near its "planned obsolescence".:disturbed:
 
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