Okay, my sis totaly just knocked off our computer. It won't system restore, her background can't change, some programs are missing some files, and her computer randomly turns off and on. I need a good restore program now, or some better help, cause I can't figure it out...

Ugh. I wish I could help you. Try googling it or something on another computer. You REALLY need to talk some sense into your sister.

She's seventeen, she has MySpace, and she's stubborn. Thats the only thing wrong with that computer.

Googling now...

:rolleyes: I hate teenagers, even though I am one.

I'm thinking about a reformat, but I don't have the disks (XP came pre-installed) and I don't think I can backup all the programs I need to keep on that PC.

Does anyone know a free, online chat where I can get problems solved?

Gomen Nasei.* The only help I can suggest is Geek Squad, but even then, I can't suggest it because they put pirated versions of XP in peoples computers.


*--I'm so sorry

BTW after reading your last topic, I suggest you burn your sister at the stake. (Kidding!)

How and why the heck did the problem happen? What exactly did she do?

I mean, I use myspace and I'm a silly guy but my computer is fit as a bantha.

what anti malware programs are running?

The geek squad chat told me nothing, they wanted to call the computer and remote the problem, or send a guy to my house to fix it. Theres not suposed to be a problem at all, so my dad would get real angry if he had to pay it.

I have, scratch that, had Webroot SpySweeper and Symantec AntiVirus, but the Symantec didn't work very well, even after update, and the SpySweeper got touched by something and died the day after I thought I cleaned it the last time...

IF I could get a chat room with a good techie, live and fast...I could fix this problem. The only problem is my problem got sent to the back of the Tech Support Forums with 0 posts, while the guy that came an hour after me, got answered instantly. Does anyone here know a good tech support chat room, or if you think you could fix the problem, a chat room to go to?

How she did it. she hangs around myspace for 5 hours in one sitting, doesn't know how to run scans, doesn't look where shes going, and downloads something 47 times after she deletes it.

Well, that shouldn't necessarily cause the problems you are describing. Would you mind telling me what kind of a system you have?

XP Media Center Edition. She started to ask for my computer, the problem got so bad. I can't find any thing aparently wrong with it, so I told her if I ever get this straightened out...she will never get on the net again.

You tell her! :approve:

Hmm. Amazing. A guy on a tech support forums gave me two programs, and already the major problems are fixed.

That's great! Out of interest, what were the two programs?

HiJack This. He used the log to determine my problem , then recomended comboFix. Both of these he said required use with moderation. HiJack This thinks almost everything that runs just a bit off pace is a bad thing, and might even destroy a needed system process. comboFix he said is very tempermental, and might freeze if you click during the process, and will destroy any antivirus or antispyware program if it is running. If you have a problem, go to google and type in 'tech support guy', and find one with the domain 'forum.techsupport' or something. Create an account, ask a question, monitor the site for some days, and someone will get back to you. It may take them up to three days or more to respond, but some come back in miniutes. its a large place, so don't get lost!

You can also try the Lavasoft support forums. They'll walk you step by step through the process of fixing your computer and are very kind. I actually had to get their help to eradicate a particularly stubborn piece of spyware that was going around a month back.

OH FRAGGIN' NO!!! MY COMP JUST GOT ALMOST COMPLETELY DESTROYED!!!

Not the one this thread is origanaly about, my personal laptop. I was experimenting with Risen3d, and my comp could handle it, although shakily. I was showing it off to my friends, when the DooM e1m1 came on. :huh: I had added on a patch that had earlier fixxed DooM to be chex quest. Now the rock was playing, and it was LOUD! My speaker had been turned up to play music, then it played the wrong music at the wrong time, during a speech being made. I was very shy feeling, so I tried to stop it. By pulling the battery. After every thing cooled off, I popped back the battery, and got a blue screen (not of death) saying a process had to be stopped, and windows had to be stopped to do so. Now, Windows won't load. And every single project I ever had (other peoples projects, my projects, my school projects, my first projects, other school peoples projects...) was on there, allong with everything I need for CQ. I'm in the worst jam ever, and a wiser person said to let it rest for a while. I want to beat it up, cause my grandfather uses it to tune his cars, and he gave it to me for safe keeping. (I let him down) now I'm feeling about to be sick, and I'm crying, cause all my work is currently, well, gone. any suggestions?!?!

First off, Never EVER remove the battery from an activated laptop. That's just asking for trouble. You're lucky you didn't get the fun blue smoke.

Can you boot windows in Safe Mode? [Directions Here]

You should be able to access all files on the machine via that, though it will load only with default drivers. From there, you can go about attempting to recover the comp.

If you CAN'T access that, well... you'll need professional help. Make certain you tell them you want to preserve the data on the hard drive though.

Well, I've tried to load safe mode each time, I've tried every time...but it won't load, Its like the boot process got bugged.

Then you need to seek a professional. I do know some tricks to access the files, but I'm not going to try to help you over the internet. Things can happen in real time that would need an expert present, and I'm not going to tell you how to do something that, if something goes wrong, would just make your problems worse.

Take it in to a repair shop, tell 'em what happened and that you want to keep or recover the files on the machine.

well, I tried something, and I think its good news.

I had a small msdos boot disk made on our desktop, then I coppied the files to a cd, then put the cd in my laptop. I booted from the cd, and though it said all drivers were disabled (my sony and a dell laptop are completely different), I used my limited dos command knowledge, and found that most of the files were still there. C:\Windows looked a bit empty though...maybe the hidden files aren't shown in dos?

At church, I found a man that I know that used to work for a tech shop like what you said, Lore. He said that it might not be to serious, just a small error that got ground in. He said he was going to get me some tools he still has. Among his memory list:

Bootleg copy of XP service pack 1 install (he said his company gave it to him, and the only problem is that microsoft won't give you any support)

recovery software (just in case)

laptop useable floppy drive

and a few others. My dad said that waiting till someone could get to it professionally was a test of patience, but my mom said its testing her patience more! (I bug everyone about it)

I'm guilty of this. I removed a battery from a laptop that was on once because it locked up and I couldn't shut it down. The only was to force a shutdown was to remove the AC power connection and remove the battery itself while the laptop was on. There were no negative side effects so far as I could tell.

yeah! I've done it 5 times on several laptops with no effects other than errors the first time restart. Plus, what happens to people that have a freak accident? (bad battery connection, then power goes out?) Would this frag their computer? I really think it was my cpu (too slow for the uber 3d) and risen3d (very demanding, and just too powerful for my comp). I'm using risen3d no problem on my other laptop. But its XP Pro, Vista Premium, so the graphics and cpu are top notch. but that little dell...150$ from a pawn shop, the previous owner's account still on there, with a bunch of viruses, malware, and a few *cough, cough* umm, how do I put this...THE CONTENT WOULD BREAK FORUM RULE #3. And I mean 3 to the third. Wow, this lady (it was a lady) was an addict. and her frequented sites were questionable, shady, and very virus infected. But strangely, I downloaded something, unzipped it, did a scan (w\o the fix option) and found a trojan with a uber high risk level. I let it run free while I found the fix options, and that was 4 days. Not a file touched, not a process interupted, nothing! Nothing damaged that pc.

Well, tomorow my dad calls the computer guy. I found a copy of xp (SP2) for real in our church. Only problem, it was behind a locked door, and everyone that had a key either forgot it, were sick, or wern't there. O well. (I told my mom that it had my school project's files on there, and she told my dad to hurry and get it done ;) )

Actually, removing the battery from a laptop who's got no other power source can, every once in a great while, cause a power surge, which will literally fry and pop all electronic components in the system.

You can say that the computer was chock full of porn, so long as you don't go into detail about it [and I'd personally prefer you didn't. Something tells me it would be rather unorthodox and that it would give me a sick stomach].

Well, good luck with the fixxer.

Well, the news has come back. Totaly fragged. He recovered some word documents, but thats all. out of 12 gigs worth of stuff, only 1.7 was recovered. *sigh* I know where the stuff came from, but it'll take a while to redownload it all. He offered to fix everything, and we accepted. Wow, did we get a good deal! XP Pro SP2, new keyboard, reformatted hardrive without the annoying dell partitions, office 2003 full (with all office programs) or office 2007 (he said he couldn't decide), and tons of free tools for viruses and stuff
:D