HELP me with my computer!

[kid]

I have no idea what is wrong with it. It just keeps switching itself off. I have tried system restore but it switched off and wouldn't come back on again. I used the recovery disk and lost all of my photos stored on the computer It has been switched on now for 41 minutes and hasn't gone off yet but I don't know if its ok or not. I also seem to have lost blueyonder too, when I go onto the internet, Wanadoo is the homepage. So can someone please help me?

[hub2dee]

Hi kid, sounds like either a software problem - virus / spyware or nasty corruption in key Windows files telling computer to switch off (in which case update virus signature, run scan, update spyware signatures, run scan, if no change, reinstall Windows). OR... hardware fault: Power Supply on way out, or (only teensy chance) loose connection from Power Supply to motherboard internally (they are usually VERY stiff connections).

I suspect it will just be a virus / corrupt Windows file.

Your photos may well no longer correctly be indexed / viewable, but I imagine they are hiding on your hard drive somewhere. Try searching for *.jpg and see if you have any luck finding a pile of odd numbered images....

HTH

[Spacecadet]

do you norton anti virus installed/ if so run a full syetem scan, then restart your computer, depending on what version of windows you are using, go to internet connections to change your homepage setting, you type in the http address of blueyonder and reset it as your default homepage, if you cant do that, you should still be able to get to it, just type the adress intot he search bar on your internet search engine.

[SaintGeorge]

Hey MAC man, you giving out advice to windows users again?

Agree with H2D's possible diagnosis - virus more likely if it is actually shutting down windows first, power supply problem if it is just switching off with no warning.

[kid]

I did have norton anti virus installed but I seem to have wiped that during the recovery disk installation. I can't find the disk either.
The computer seems ok(ish) now, but the internet keeps shutting down but not the whole computer. I also keep getting a message saying 'network cable unplugged' and there is a little icon at the bottom of the screen thats displays -12% when the I put the cursor there. I don't like computers at the moment! I have unplugged all the conections at the back of computer and plugged them all in again, made no difference though.

[kid]

Also just got a pop up message saying I should download something from www.regcleanpro.com
should I or is that just asking for trouble???

[SaintGeorge]

Asking for trouble - reputable products don't normally rely on pop-up ads.

[hub2dee]

St. G - well you were just too slow. Were you rebooting again or sommit ?

I'm not going to do another link to Lavasoftusa.com - AdAware and SpyBot Search and Destroy - but those two products are kosher spyware cleaners and worth running.

If you have a dial up modem in your PC, and it is connected to the Net by phone (or was) or runs as a fax machine, you may want to unplug it from the phone line tonight until you have done your cleaning.

[kid]

thats what I thought too. It said if I didn't download it now, then the computer would suffer system breakdown (or something like that anyway)
Done a search for the photos and they have all gone, really gutted about that, kids birthdays, christmas bet I never make the same mistake again of storing them all on the computer.

[kid]

We are on broadband.

[bubble99]

Kid. You have well and truly rattled hub's cage now.

[hub2dee]

erm... bubble's being hasty methinks... kid hasn't done anything !

(Except maybe buy a Windows puter)



It is not the right time to say this, but I will: Macs, for all intents and purposes, do not get viruses or spyware. For this reason alone they are worth looking at if you get a chance.

All these 'download this now or else' or 'your computer is brok, install this to fix it' type stuff is to be REGULARLY IGNORED.

[hub2dee]

Check your trash.... c:\windows\recycled or sommit ?

Also, if you are not a PC super whizz, get a person who is to look for your photos for you. It would be rare that a whole directory gets deleted. It may well have been moved / renamed (by accident or on purpose)...

[bubble99]

hubster, no offence intended.

[hub2dee]

No worries, bubblicious.

kid, you sorted ?

[justmummy]

Could be a faulty fan. If they overheat they will switch themselves off.

[hub2dee]

v. good point, justmummy.

I've had a CPU with crapped out fan just boil and reboot, usually only to crash again very quickly, but that's worth checking to....

Open PC, find processor blob. Touch to see if you burn your finger or chop it off in the fan. It will be very hot to the touch, but it shouldn't be boiling, and then fan should be spinning nicely with free movement at anything above lukewarm.

[Spacecadet]

kid once you get comp sorted, itsa good idea to get norton instal;led, also ignoreall pop ups, if you download the stuff, it can havespyware attached, also never click on links in unsolicited emails, norton had a pop up blocker on it, be careful too downloading innocent things like msn as they often have spyware attached.

[kid]

Thanks for you help, the computer is back to working order, but..... I still haven't found my photos

There is a computer shop near me that can look at it on Friday, they are going to charge me £10 if they can't find the photos and £30 if they do!

hub2dee- maybe you can help me before Friday and save me some money?
I'm sure when I ran the recovery CD, it wiped everything and went back to the factory settings. I have installed the printer, camera etc again now and would be so so so happy if I could get the photos back, I have no other copies of them. I think I am just coming to terms with loosing them all now. Also lost all of DH's music but that can be replaced.

Just off to walk the dog.

[hub2dee]

Can you elaborate on the recovery cd ? I guess in my head it was a backup of your Windows registry, or something like that, which you then did a recovery from....

If you did a recovery and reformat reinstall EVERYTHING type of thing from scratch, then I fear the photos have had it.

Last ditch save suggestion: google data recovery applications. If your hard drive was not reformatted, the deleted files might still be available to one of these clever progs... they work because data is usually not deleted, but just the 'pointer' to it IYSWIM... Sorry, I've given up Windows a few years ago and have no apps to suggest in this space. If you want to avoid similar repeated events, get a Mac. They can still break down, and the software can still go wrong... but they are MUCH easier to keep in fine fettle.

[kid]

I honestly don't know if it was a reformat reinstall but am guessing it probably was. I thought I had no choice but to do that as the computer wouldn't even switch on so I couldn't save the photos before I run the CD. I am searching the data recovery applications on google now. Fingers crossed!

[kid]

How do I know if a data recovery application is safe to download? I'm very weary now!

[hub2dee]

V. hard to tell these days if anything is safe....

But... you should have installed an anti virus program, updated the signatures, scanned.

And the same with preferably two anti spyware progs.

If you run XP update to the latest service pack and enable firewalls, else install black ice or something similar.

With all these precautions in place, any 'bad' program you downloaded would be obvious because you would have system messages saying it was trying to access the Net etc.

Yeah, Windows is great.

[kid]

Have made a decision about the photos. I have given up on recovering them and had a look on my camera. I found over 80 photos stored on a spare xD-picture card and my dad emailed me some he had on his computer. I will now be saving all these photos to a CD, just as soon as I get round to it

Thank you to those that offered me help but especially to hub2dee, I will alert you imediately of any future problems!

[hub2dee]

Hi kid, really pleased you have a pile of photos on your SD card !

If you haven't run several virus and spyware scans, I'd be wary of connecting it up to your PC... in theory a virus could attack a mounted SD card visible on your desktop were you to connect it via an SD card reader... I have never heard of this, but it's a data storage device so in theory it could be writable / erasable by a malicious program.

Deffo install your protective bitsies I mentioned. And deffo consider a Mac. And deffo don't call me when you run into trouble (just kidding... well, kind of ) ... I left the world of Windows for a reason. Your experience is a text book case of the sort of grief and hassle it causes - frequently to casual users and occasionally to the pros... IMO, life's too short, but there are plenty who disagree !

Here's a helpful link to the Apple Store where you can see what a real computer looks like and you can click around and learn about OS X and how it is so nice to use.