Strange Computer problems

Some of you may appreciate this..For the last week I have had problems connecting to the internet. As a verizon customer I utilized their support line 4 times. First time indicated a bad LAN cable..reasoning since my computer had no trouble skipping router(after the changed DHCP). After powering off computer problem comes back. Second time associate says I have a registry problem...they can ping router with either cable. Third time I have second computer on hand it cannot connect to internet via the router... a new router is sent. I get the new router..guess what same problem. This time they point at the memory/processes running..I agree those were high..but how did computer work fine skipping router? They convince me to do a system restore. Just prior to ending that a dialog box pops up before I can read it..then I hear a kerplunk sound from the diskdrive...Now I have a dark blue screen of death. It won't bootup even in safe mode..The last verizon associate suspected a virus..Anyone else had similar troubles? Computer is 4 years old..tiem for another? Or just get a new drive and some more memory?

Sounds like a dead hard disk to me. Better make plans on taking the PC to a tech shop.

Instead of safe mode, give "last known good configuration" a try.



Have you googled the stop error on the blue screen?

Thanks..I tried last know good configuration also.. My blue screen is not like that one ...darker and nothing is there..no HD action or anything
It does start to boot..as I see the Win Xp screen then nothing

Do you get to WinXp "loading" and then it simply flashes the blue screen and reboots?

Sounds like at the very least, your operating system is currupted (needs to be reloaded)

It also sounds like your harddrive took a dump-failed.

The way to check that is to put that harddrive in another computer and see if you can access the files on it-you won't boot to it, just look at it like a data storage drive.

You will do this to "try" and recover any data-music/video's/documents.......
Understand, you can not recover programs- they will have to be reinstalled.

If your harddrive is still good, when you reload it, do a "low level" format to remove any virus's you may have had.

Thanks everyone for helpfull comments. There doesn't appear to be any rebooting. I am thinking of a new computer. I don't have another HD to try. I understand about the data issues and re-installs ect. I had recently backed up some photos..Not sure what all is on there that is now lost...

Well if it gets to the WinXp screen then it May not be a lost cause.

Do you have your XP install disk?

It may be a dollars and cent's issue.

The cheapest thing to do would be to get a new hard drive-certainly the cheapest thing to do.

If money is not an issue, a new computer might be nice.

"JUST REMEMBER, DON'T GET VISTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Originally posted by mrmonsoon

"JUST REMEMBER, DON'T GET VISTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Amen!

A bit off-topic:
I'm building a new Q6600 rig this week and one thing you will not find on it is Wishta.
(wished I had a good OS)

For me, it's XP Pro until they drag me kicking and screaming... THAT or Mandrake's lookin' pretty good.

 

[edit on 9-2-2008 by 12m8keall2c]

Since Vista is multi-threaded (at least 4) quads and vista work well togather.

You will need at least 2 gig's of ram as well as a good video card-as in vista it DOES effect the running of the operating system.

on my q6600 with Nvidia 7800gt and 2 gig rams, vista (sp1) runs just about as well as XP with dual cores.

thE ABOVE being off topic-

NO VISTA IN A NEW COMPUTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you get a new HD, save the old one. Once you're up and running you may be able to recover the data from it. Make sure you have plenty of backup space because sometimes when they fail, they'll be 'recognized' as a slave or a remote (if you use a HD enclosure, that's the best way - it's a USB connection).

I had one do this and after a couple tries (initially it could not find it) I got it to mount about three times before it gave up the ghost permanently.

Now, I'm not talking about booting with it, mind you. Just mentioning about a HD enclosure (sort of an external HD holder, with cable connection and power connector - often only $50 bucks), and that if you have data on there it's not necessarily lost.

Try a new HD and see if you can install XP on it before you go for the new PC.

Good luck!

PS, the cool thing about the HD enclosure (get the right kind there's two types), is once you have it you'll find other uses. I'm planning on connecting up a spare DVD writer - it's the same connections.

PPS: btw, having said that, I would suggest that around 4-5 years old is getting to the point where it's not a bad idea to get the new PC. Make sure you get lots of extra USB connections. I got about 4 extra and am glad I did.



[edit on 9-2-2008 by Badge01]

reply to post by BlackProjects


They should bring a laptop and a router that is working fine with the connection and then bring it to your place and connect it. If it fails, the connection at their end which connects to your computer is faulty. They should try to repair it. This is the fastest way to troubleshoot rather than tinker with the registry or system restore.

For the black screen, I think this has nothing to do with the connection at all. Your system restore at that point is corrupted and you can't boot the computer anymore. The "kerplunk" sound you hear is just the noise of the hardisk parking the "head". I hear it all the time when I turn off my computer. A real hardisk failure wouldn't be recognize in the BIOS or it just would not get recognized in the install mode of XP. For a real Hardisk crash, you have to subject it to shock like ramming it accidentally on a hard surface. The hardisk will boot, but your system will just freeze. After reboot your hardisk is a goner and it will display funny characters on boot up or in the BIOS.

If you want to free yourself from troubleshooting which could take hours, just install a fresh copy of XP. The only problem you are going to face is installing all device drivers and softwares all over again.

But, I find this much simplier and it will save you from troubleshooting headaches.

Try to keep a copy of your XP install disk handy after the machine is built. I can't tell you how many times simply repairing the XP installation has fixed a lot of issues I was having.

Yep, it always comes in handy. This is the magic pill for most computer problems. Got virus? Reinstall. Got stubborn spyware? Reinstall. Corrupted system files? Reinstall. Always works for the novice. Though you have to go through the hassles of reinstalling everything. I made a DVD disk just for this, every device drivers, softwares rolled into 1 DVD.

This will work effectively where the operating system has it's own partition. No data will be saved on that partition.

reply to post by amitheone


I'm not talking reformat though. I mean just a repair of the OS. All programs stay installed, and most things remain as they were before. It is a n00b fix for most things, but if it works, and it's quick, why not right?

reply to post by BlackProjects


Dude, not to be the bearer of bad news but I had similar issues with my old PC back in October.

Everything was working OK until I came home from work one day and I had a blue screen. When I tried rebooting, I got the XP screen to come up, but after that, I got some funky errors and heard the said clunking coming from both of my hard drives. After speaking with some indian tech support for almost 2 hours, they had exhausted all of their efforts and told me to take my PC to the geek squad. When it was all said and done with the geek squad, they informed me that both of my drives had catastrophic failure and couldnt even be booted by their computers. I had to spend an ungodly amount of money to get my 120gb of music back, but it was worth it.

Hope you have all your data backed up as if you didnt, you might be kicking yourself in the near future. Keep us posted man.

I'm not talking reformat though. I mean just a repair of the OS. All programs stay installed, and most things remain as they were before. It is a n00b fix for most things, but if it works, and it's quick, why not right?

Actually, there is a much easier way to do this. Get a software to save the image of the hardisk on another hardisk. It will duplicate everything from your disk. If disaster strikes, just restore it. No hassle.

[edit on 2/12/2008 by amitheone]

Yeah, but ghosting a machine always leaves the problem of data recovery. If I have files that I've created after the image I lose them when I restore from the image. The repair takes a little work (uninstalling the spyware, cleaning up system restore items) but once that's gone, and you repair windows, you're just where you were when you left off.

Yeah..thanks again..computer is now with old buddy who has worked with them in spare time since the 90s. I am not optimistic but am hoping for the best. As for lost stuff. At least I backed up pictures. Worst thing I may lose is a Sci Fi novel I was writing. Resume is also on there. I think he is looking at it tonight.