copmom
Member
I went through that phony virus pop up thing a long time ago, and after poking around online found it was a scam. Here's one reference to it:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic166128.html
and I think I found the answer on how to get rid of it on Kim Komandos site:
http://www.komando.com/columns/index.aspx?id=3143
she's always got good advice! Good luck!
penneddragonone
Member
Thanks for the info. I asked my teacher what was going on with RosnSC's computer and he said I need a lot more information. Was the old hard drive the one that came with the computer? Because the fact that recovery only goes so far and stops indicates to him that it is looking for a hidden recovery partition it is not finding on the hard drive. It would act the same way with the new hard drive because there is not a Compac recovery partition on it either. RosnSC needs to call Compaq and tell them you have a blank new hard drive you want to install and need the FULL version of the reinstallation/recovery disk not just the one that works in conjunction with the restore partition. It might cost $20. I really HATE that company's don't include these CD's with the computer purchase package. It's like selling you a car without giving you the key. You can download most of the drivers from your manufacturer's website, but I've had problems with that. My Dell depends on a Sound Blaster 24 bit sound driver that originally came on its own CD with the system. It is not available from Dell. I installed a PCI sound card to get sound back on my Dell after reinstalling the system. Three of the hardware devices showed up on device manager as "unknown"
XP couldn't tell me what kind of hardware it was so that I could look for the driver online. Had to use 3rd party hardware to find out what was on the system. I don't know how much they charge for the other CDs that come with the new computer, but it is probably a good idea to ask for all of the original CDs.
But it is next to impossible to diagnose anything without seeing it. Men always say that. Then they ask you what's it doing? What's the last thing you were doing when it started doing that? What was it doing before it started doing that? etc.
I don't know if PC Doctor has a trial version, but you can boot up from CD with PC Doctor and test your motherboard, RAM Memory, and Processor.
There is a free utility CD called Trinity Boot CD that is Linnux based, but works on Windows systems too....http://trinityhome.org/Home/index.php?wpid=1&front_id=12. I haven't used it, but it is supposed to have some hardware diagnostics tools on it. There are other free Rescue Boot CDs on the internet worth checking out.
http://www.tucows.com/article/2256. Some are full of utilities and others are just bootable anti-virus/anti-malware disks.
Belarc (free from Download.com) will tell you what kind of memory, motherboard, etc you have on your system. You should print up the report and tape it inside your machine case.
RosnSC Do you have XP or Vista? Which version? What computer make and model? Is the old drive the original drive? Did someone format your restore partition? Did you recently have a vicious virus like Anti-Virus XP 2009? What kind of hard drives do you have? (Serial or ATA, Western Digital, Maxtor?)
penneddragonone
Member
There's something called a Time Bank that the Brits started where you perform some service for someone in the bank and earn Time Bank dollars which you can then spend on having someone perform a service for you. Maybe you can get a computer technician to fix your computer for you if you have a service to exchange. http://www.timebanks.org/
Craigslist.org has a FREE section where you can get free computers to play with or refurbish. People give way everything imaginable. I've seen RVs, boats, not to mention the daily free dirt, horse poo, cars, computer desks, entertainment centers and TVs. They also have a BARTER section for trading stuff, like gift cards computers, etc.
Copmom, Bleepingcomputers is a cool site. I like Raymond.cc and techsupportalert. Raymond never answered my email proposing marriage... or was that Morgan Freeman I sent it to... Wouldn't it be nice if there was a pick-it-yourself man garden you could go to for a good man where you could return the product if it wasn't quite ripe or turned out to be rotten... Used to be you could count on a guy to fix your car, your house and your life nowadaze they're as clueless as us girls used to be. Someone needs to start a Save the Geeks Movement. You can still find them in the wild, but they're hiding under bigger and bigger rocks....
copmom
Member
PENNEDDRAGON..... There is something here in the US like that Time Bank. People build up credits for things they do, and can 'buy' from others with their credits, etc.
Oh.. I found me a guy on a blind date.. wouldn't kiss him goodnight on the 1st date, he said, "why not, you're going to marry me someday." Guess it worked, we'll have 51 years on 4/18!!
You've finally answered one question I had .. I've been wondering if you were a guy or a gal.. now I know! You actually proposed to Raymond?? rofl And girls are NOT clueless anymore, as they say, 'we've come a long way, baby'!
As for computers, never took any classes, learned everything by trial and error and learning the hard way and asking questions, like here on the forum, and Googling. Once I realized a computer was nothing more than a fancy calculator, it was no big deal anymore. The key is not being intimidated. Something funny - when the internet first started we went to a computer store just to see WHAT the internet was...what did it do?? That was all totally foreign to us. To my way of thinking, I'll try anything myself, and then if I mess up really bad, then I can have it fixed by some expert. Same thing goes for changing faucets, or whatever else happens around the house.. I love tinkering. Can tell you what's wrong with a car by listening to it, but can't do the fixing on those.
Will end this now by advising you to start digging around some boulders instead of rocks.
RosnSC
Member
Pennedragonone, my responses are in ( ). BTW, based on what you said, previously, I returned the new drive to Best Buy, so I am back to just the original drive.
RosnSC Do you have XP or Vista? Which version? (XP SP3 Home) What computer make and model? (HP Compaq Presario) Is the old drive the original drive? (Yes) Did someone format your restore partition? (No) Did you recently have a vicious virus like Anti-Virus XP 2009? (No, not recently) What kind of hard drives do you have? (Serial or ATA, Western Digital, Maxtor?) (Seagate SATA)
I have this CD that (I think) I got from 'somewhere' on my computer. It's Partition Recovery Bootable CD, and it's for Compaq Presario PC. I tried that, but wasn't sure what to do, so I just exited out of it. It did show one drive as being 'empty', but the other not. The one that has something on it has a red X to the left. I figured maybe I was supposed to choose that one, and let the computer do its thing, but was concerned that I might do further damage.
"Once I realized a computer was nothing more than a fancy calculator, it was no big deal anymore."
Well, (copmom) one is a 'bit' more expensive, and thus harder to replace than the other...LOL.
There is one guy I know, in my younger son's fledgling band, who knows computers - don't know how well he knows them - but doesn't do anything for free/favors. I thought about the bartering system, but thought what in the world could *I* do for a 20-ish year old young man.? I am a good cook, though not gourmet, and can sew, somewhat. I guess I could cook him up a nice meal, and make him something to wear - I know....I am good at making tiered skirts...I could make him one of those...LMBO.
Sue
penneddragonone
Member
Copmom, No I didn't propose, but I thought about it....:) I had a blind date once...he showed up on my doorstep and he was really blind! but nice. I've worked on computers, typing and accounting-type stuff, for years but didn't determine to become computer savy until I noticed an acquaintance's child looking at a picture of a woman riding under a horse instead of on it. Learned about parental controls, etc. Good thing too, my neighbor's kid tried to kill herself because of a cyber bully. I tell you you look out the front door for bad guys and they come in the back windows (Microsoft Windows, that is). I like to tinker too. 'bout killed myself trying to fix the tuner on a little TV. Your hair really does stick out a little when you nearly get electrocuted. I took a class on automotive repair, too.
penneddragonone
Member
RosnSC,
That's the beauty of cloning your drive. You can try out new things without being afraid of messing something up. You try it out on the clone. If it doesn't work out, clone again, and try something else. The process is a pain for laptop PCs where you have to use an external USB hard drive setup, but it is not so bad for desktop computers where you can connect the drive to be cloned directly to your motherboard. It took 14 hours to clone my laptop drive to the external drive and just over an hour using my desktop. My desktop has Vista basic. I tried the recovery cd "repair" function booting from the CD drive but it didn't work. I noticed a small note that I had to start the cd from within the open Windows operating system to upgrade, but I discounted that option thinking they were just trying to get me to buy Vista Ultimate or Premium. But since nothing else worked and my programs were all safe on the original drive, I tried the "upgrade" option. Low and behold it worked! It reinstalled my basic system and left all my programs and data intact--except I lost my sound driver. But I had backed that up with Driver Magician and thanks to that and some advice from GOTD member, Simple Minded, I was able to get my sound back. You could also use the drive as a spare backup drive when you actually get your system up and running again. You don't have to go through all the reinstallation, looking up drivers, reinstalling programs problems then. You just clone the backup over the messed up drive and keep on surfing the internet.
What is the model number of your computer so I can look up the manual on it? That might help tell what the difference is between the recovery CD and the partition recovery bootable CD. Maybe you don't need anything else. Compaq used to make good computers. If any of the manufacturers would give you everything you need to restore your system, I'd think it would be them.
penneddragonone
Member
It's a good thing you made up the CD before you got a problem. Most people don't. Some even throw the CDs away with the box after a couple of years. I forgot Compaq is part of HP now. If your young acquaintance doesn't do anything for free, he's not going to build up much treasure in heaven. It's bad enough having to spend the before-death poor without having to spend the after-life that way too. IMO.
Anyway, let me know the model number and I'll check with my teacher again about Compaqs. Most of the problems we see in class, even though they manifest themselves as hardware problems are usually just the result of some software glitch or post-malware infection.
RosnSC
Member
Pennedragonone, this is what I have - Compaq Presario Media Center SR1923WM Desktop PC. I agree with you about the young man I mentioned. Heck, I do all my own/family's computer tech and maintenance, plus my family's friends as requested.
One person, a friend/co-worker of my younger son's, voluntarily compensated me for computer work I did for him, although I didn't do it for that purpose. On the other hand, another family member's boyfriend had computer problems which I volunteered to take care of (or at least try to), and did...successfully. Unlike the first guy who actually handed me money, which I gratefully accepted (hey, I don't turn down a God-given blessing! lol), but the second guy just asked me how much he owed me. I had spent the entire night he handed over his tower/software repairing it, and taking care of updates, etc., and then the whole next day at his house getting it all set up and getting his internet service up and running on that computer as well as his laptop (which is older than Moses, and has such a small hard drive/RAM that he can't even run security software on it - not enough room/memory.
I did it with the understanding, from the beginning, that it was a voluntary job (although it turned out to be a WHOLE lot more work than I had bargained for), and he pretty much handled it that way. When he asked me what he owed me, I told him nothing, but I was thinking 'if you have to ask, after all the work I have put into this whole thing for you, then never mind'. Oh, and did I mention it is a nice, little drive out to his house (in the country) from mine? I think I would have liked it better if he either hadn't asked about a charge, or just simply (willingly and cheerfully) handed me some money, and say 'this is a little something for your time and trouble/effort'. I'm over it, though...lol. Haven't lost a night's sleep over it, since that first one...(chuckle).
Thank you for all you're doing to try and help me, Pennedragonone - I really appreciate it...:D.
Sue
penneddragonone
Member
I was looking at HP's website. They have some interesting free online classes on a variety of subjects including photoshop! http://h30240.www3.hp.com/index.jsp.
Compaq made several dozen models of Presarios.
I found this article on Compaq recovery CDs. http://www.epinions.com/content_1474011268. He echos Copmom's advice to demand the full restore CDs while your computer is still under warranty. He also supported my opinion and experience that using Partition Magic can mess up your hard drive. He said if you use it to resize your restore partition, it makes your restore CD not work anymore. You want to ask for the QuickRestore CD pack of 2 CDs. He said the agent he talked to didn't know anything about it and he had to demand to talk to a supervisor before he found someone who knew what he was talking about.
Found this info about making a set of recovery disks from your PC--http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=&cc=us&product=94350&docname=bph08097#N876.
You can only make one set of CDs per computer. They seem to be useful only for setting the computer back to factory condition--causing you to lose programs and data.
Did you have your computer connected to a surge protector? Could a recent storm have impacted your PC? Someone told me the less expensive surge protectors are only good once because the fuse in them gets blown. Wish I could remember the source to know whether it was reliable or not.
Troubleshooting power supply problems: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=bph06788&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&product=94350.
Compaq documentation indicates that restore cds are only available for a few years after the machine was built due to licensing agreements with Microsoft. One more reason to demand the full CDs from the manufacturer as soon as you get the machine.
This is a story on youtube about some CA local computer repair places: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxqx4hgeKgQ&NR=1. Sometimes you can't even pay for good service. And one store didn't even charge for the repair. Which goes to show that sometimes the best things in computers are free!
penneddragonone
Member
RosnSC, I never got paid in anything but cigarettes, but the Lord and my daughter put an end to that. Now I can't even get cigarettes! I went to an Auto Zone and was replacing my spark plugs in the parking lot (which you're not supposed to do) when a young rock star looking guy offered to help me out. I asked him if I could pay him and he said no he hoped someone would help his mother if she needed it and besides his mom told him something about treasure in heaven stuff. Sometimes you just want to stuff the good ones in a sack and take 'em home to your daughter. But my daughter insists on finding her own guy. Kids can be so unreasonable sometimes. I think he's a real rock star now. Some other guy is playing plants to make music--a barrel cactus, some kind of spider plant looking thing and some kind of bushy plant--by magnifying the noise he makes by stoking, shaking or plucking the needles of the plant! I prefer my instruments made out of dead plants, I'd never be able to remember to water the living kind.
Sometimes you can buy the CDs on Amazon.com or ebay.
Servicing and Upgrade Manual http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00707939&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&os=228&product=3208974
All manuals on this page: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/manualCategory?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&os=228&product=3208974&;
Wasn't much useful info there. The literature says you can upgrade to a better version of Windows and still keep your programs. If you know any college kids you can get the full academic version of XP Professional for about $90. It includes unlimited installs and as a full version would come with the Repair function you could use later if your system gets corrupted again. And you can delete your restore partition and recoup the space. Just a thought. I'll see what my teacher says tomorrow.
copmom
Member
Doesn't have to be any storm! What if a car hits a pole and power goes down or there's a power surge or a transformer blows .. these things happen.
Even with surge protectors, whenever there's a lightening storm, I also shut down and unplug. Another thing.. a few years back I had the fax phone line hooked to a computer, had a storm, shut all down and unplugged. FORGOT to unplug the phone line! Everything fried in that machine! Luckily our homeowners insurance covered it.
RosnSC
Member
Copmom, as far as I know of, none of that has happened around here since I've had my electronics hooked up to my battery backup. 'Course, like you, when a storm does brew up, and things get hairy with lightening and such, I turn off everything, and even disconnect some of the peripherals.
Sue - still trying to get that darned machine up and running!
RosnSC
Member
That's interesting that you mention that, Robert, giving how things are currently with that computer. I got everything reinstalled on there, but the XP screen doesn't fully load up. Also, I've noticed that even Safe Mode doesn't fully load up. It's like the whole thing working again is so close, yet so far away. If I can figure out where my graphics card is, I am going to do just as you suggested. Who knows, it just might do the trick. It certainly couldn't hurt. ;)
Sue - who has had a 'stinky' afternoon, partly because of that blamed computer....grrr! lol
RosnSC
Member
Right now I can't update anything on there that isn't on the installation/recovery disks. I can't get into anything besides my BIOS 'thing', and that is a 'region' I don't mess with unless I am being walked through it, like when I just reset the BIOS to the default setting with the instructions on the HP web site walking me through it...(chuckle). Giving that I just blew the dust out of the inside of the tower the other day, I am fixing to do a check on the inside to make sure everything is secure, and nothing loose - that's per HP's instruction - that could be causing my problems.
Sue - thanking Robert for his well wishes, and hoping for the same...heh heh heh
penneddragonone
Member
Her video card is integrated onto the motherboard. There is nothing to take out and reinsert--video card wise.
penneddragonone
Member
It only shipped with 512 mb of memory if they didn't have more installed with a max of 4 gb possible. Wonder if something happened to the memory stick while hubbie was playing the game? The specs for her model say there is an integrated network connection and a fax/modem PCI card. So the only things she can take off the mobo are the battery, memory stick, modem card, heat sink/fan and processor. It also shipped with Norton Anti-Virus. My friend tried to uninstall Norton's trial version from her Dell and her hard drive crashed and wouldn't accept a clean system restore. It's awful not to be able to help somebody who is trying so hard.
Robert
StrayCat
Maybe...if Sue had a spare ram memory card (512 mb is cheap nowadays)she could try and replace that.And then again she maybe already tried that.
Yep,hard to get rid of Norton.But they do have special uninstallers on their website.
(make sure to get the right version)
RosnSC
Member
Robert, you mean memory stick, right? Never heard of it being called card - course then I don't know EVERYthing...lol.
Pennedragonone, my son is currently checking out my memory sticks, taking them out one at a time, and making sure the contacts are clean. Anything else I could/should do while we have the tower opened?
Sue
penneddragonone
Member
Try to stick the SATA plug in the motherboard into another different slot. Take out the battery again and leave it out for 15 minutes or so. I'm at a loss. The closest I can find to your problem on the internet the guy said it was the motherboard itself.
But then maybe he was just giving up. Did you run PC doctor on it? Does it boot up into safe mode?
penneddragonone
Member
I found this cool help .pdf, but he says the restore CDs that come with Compaq do not work....but it might be helpful:
http://www.vvcclub.com/SIGS/Advanced%20Users/Saving%20XP%20after%20BSOD.pdf.
If you got the Rescue CD I told you about, you could run a Fix MBR , Fix boot sector, and check out the hard drive with one of the hard drive utilities for Seagate. I'm still looking on the internet. One guy put his hard drive in an external case and booted from it there (it worked for some reason).
penneddragonone
Member
You can download a memory diagnostic from here:
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp There is also a guide that goes with it.
Robert,
Thanks for your suggestions! It's 5pm where I am. I'm good for another six or so hours.
penneddragonone
Member
Try to boot the machine with one memory stick at a time. You can find a bad one that way too sometimes.
penneddragonone
Member
Another guy said HP has a recovery console outside of windows recovery that you access by pressing F10 several times on bootup.
penneddragonone
Member
I found this free technical forum: http://forums.techguy.org/. They have volunteers ready to answer questions. You can cut and paste the symptoms you described here into a word document to save time. They'll need the model number, system ver, etc. you listed here. There are other free tech forums, too. But I got help on this non-tech forum right here at GOTD.
You have a nice system. I've always wanted a flat screen monitor. Right now I'm using my TV, :)
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