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2nd Destructive Recovery coming / Help Please
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gerry1
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8. January 2006 @ 13:33 |
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My computer is a HP Pavillion A250N which has worked flawlessly for the last three years...I do take care of it. About two months ago, it started doing some strange things: a brief grinding noise in the CPU when I turn on and off. Sometimes, but only sometimes got a little slow. Upon closing down, I'd start getting a "Program Not Responding" box first on occasion then all the time. I'd click on "end Now" and computer would shut down normally. After a couple of weeks, wouldn't close down at all and I'd have to just cut the power. Finally, upon booting up it would get up to the desktop and then freeze. HP said the software was corrupted and had me do a "Destructive Recovery". I reinstalled my programs and everything worked fine for about three weeks. It seems to be starting the same thing all over again. A brief grinding noise when I boot up or close out. Now I'm getting the "Program Not Responding" box on occasion but it does close down when I click "End Program" but it's follwing the previous pattern. Soon it will say Program not Responding every time I shut down...and soon, clicking "End Program" won't work anymore. Does anyone have any idea what can be going on here...I'm not terribly savvy in these things. I've used Norton Internet Security since I've had the computer. I update virus protection and do full system scans often. I remove any spyware regularly. I do a general clean up and defrag every couple of months. Any thoughts? (Please, if you respond, talk to me like a techno-dunce! :-) Gerry
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ddp
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8. January 2006 @ 13:36 |
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gerry1
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8. January 2006 @ 14:23 |
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Thanks ddp, I'll give it a shot in the order you said. (Sorry if I placed my thread in the wrong place...Gerry)
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gerry1
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9. January 2006 @ 13:28 |
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Hi ddp! I did as you said and in the order you said. It did find six spyware. I'm a little confused though ddp; isn't this a redundant action...I mean, aren't I doing the same thing when I run Norton Internet Security Professional? Just curious. Thanks
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ddp
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9. January 2006 @ 13:32 |
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did norton find those same spyware?
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gerry1
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9. January 2006 @ 14:35 |
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I don't know; I ran it a couple of days before but I don't think so because at one of them was called "wildtangent" which must have come with the computer as I never even opened the program though I have no idea if spyware can be in the recovery. Anyway ddp, thanks a lot for your help; I hope this does the trick ... I sure as hell don't want to do a destructive recovery and reinstall software once a month! Thanks again....Gerry
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ddp
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9. January 2006 @ 16:37 |
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wildtanget is spyware & program at same time. look thru the recovery cd(s) to see if there or not.
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gerry1
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10. January 2006 @ 15:17 |
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ddp:...I'm writing these words with my fingers x'ed but I haven't had a lick of a problem since I did as you suggested. I just wanted to say thank you ... I was having visions of my puter slowly biting the dust. Thanks again, you're a life saver. Gerry
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ScubaBud
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10. January 2006 @ 15:52 |
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Quote:
brief grinding noise in the CPU when I turn on and off
ddp, don't you think that the noise is something to consider also? Possible HDD failure or CPU fan going out?
gerry1
It might be a good time to do a full back up of your HDD as well.
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gerry1
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11. January 2006 @ 04:02 |
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@ Scubabud...backup is already done; I've been rather afraid of what might be coming down the road. I'm not getting the "Program not responding" box anymore upon shutting down; seems to be shutting down o.k. (knock on wood). I still get that very brief grinding noise from the CPU though when I boot up and shut down. Fan seems o.k. Thanks
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ddp
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11. January 2006 @ 07:31 |
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go into the properties of the drive & go into tools than scandisk. put a check mark in the 2 boxes & press enter. windows will say need to do a restart to do that so do it. it will do a full scan for bad spots on hd & hopefully not!
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gerry1
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11. January 2006 @ 09:07 |
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Will do! Thanks so much for all the help!
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ddp
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11. January 2006 @ 09:11 |
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keep us posted
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ScubaBud
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11. January 2006 @ 13:29 |
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Second that gerry :)
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gerry1
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11. January 2006 @ 13:30 |
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Hi ddp and ScubaBud! I did as you suggested. It did five different sorts of scans which took about and hour and a half...is that normal? It restarted itself and said it was "clean"; I'm assuming it's a damned good thing that it did.
I would like your opinion on something. Whenever I get the "Program Not Responding" box, it is always a program called "HP Updates" which seems to be responsible. I know from the task manager that it just runs constantly unless I end it. It is listed in the "Add and Remove Programs" ... I'm wondering if I should just uninstall it; I suspect all it really does is download these annoying HP ads which show up at the bottom of the screen and which clearly isn't your regular pop-up, thing is, I don't know if it serves some other vital function...I really don't think it does, I think it just gets advertising past spam and pop up blockers. Do you think it would be safe to remove it; I have a hunch it's causing some problems, but it's just a hunch. Thanks!
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 11. January 2006 @ 13:32
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ddp
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11. January 2006 @ 13:39 |
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get rid of it to see what happens next.
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gerry1
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11. January 2006 @ 13:57 |
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O.K. here goes ... I guess the worse that can happen is that I have to go to the recovery discs and reinstall!
Done! Guess I should know something when I shut down or next time I boot up. One of these days, I guess I should uninstall all the unnecessary junk that came with this computer which I've never ever looked at.
I'll tell you from my office is something comes up! Thanks again
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 11. January 2006 @ 14:01
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ddp
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11. January 2006 @ 14:33 |
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teach & learn
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gerry1
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20. January 2006 @ 03:28 |
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Hi ddp & ScubaBud; I'm not too sure if this thread is still good or if I should start another. Well, it's happened again and I had to so another destructive recovery. Went to boot up, screen went black with white print and this time it read .... Windows could not open....power has either been cut or computer shut down improperly (neither of which happened) then it gave me four choices: start in safe mode, start in safe mode with networking, start with last known functioning settings and start normally. No matter which I chose, it did the same thing: there would be a bright blue sudden flash on the screen, it would shut down and restart, a bright blue flash, restart etc.etc. in a continuous cycle which wouldn't stop. I did another destructive recovery and now it's working fine but probably won't for long. Grinding/ grunting noise when I boot up and shut down has grown louder and does does it at other times although rarely. Fan seems to have good air output. Is my hard drive on it's way to being fried? If so, is it worth replacing (I did it once on a gateway and it's a real no brainer ... it was an expensive machine with some extras and would like to save it if I can but if not, who would you say makes the best home PC? Hell, we have two public access rooms at the office: one of old dells and another or old IBS. Under constant use 16hrs a day by the general public, no attempt at preventive maintenance, they're like five years old and not a single problem ever. If I must replace, I need something reliable. What do you guys think? THanks ... Gerry
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ScubaBud
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20. January 2006 @ 03:57 |
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Hi gerry :)
IMO, a new HDD is always a good investment in any PC since it can most always be used in another down the road as a slave or put in an external case for $30 and used as a backup HDD. So I say it's time to get a new HDD and replace that old clunker first.
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gerry1
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20. January 2006 @ 05:07 |
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Howdy ScubaBud! Scuba, I'm a total no nothing dope in these matters so kindly forgive my ignorance! Am I correct in even assuming that these grinding/grunting noises are from the hard drive? Can, say, a motherboard make grinding/grunting noise (my phychic but otherwise empty grey matter tells me your having a good chuckle here... lol!)
The existing hard drive has a division containing the original restoration stuff; I can create restoration discs from that (I think they call it "D Drive") or I can get a set from Hewlett Packard.
If I get a new hard drive, would you recommend contacting HP and getting an exact replacement for the one that's in there? Is there some company that makes really superior replacement ones compatible with my machine?
I once replaced a gateway hard drive but it was with a larger hard drive that would have come with the computer anyway. It was easy...disconnect this plastic connector thing, remove the hard drive, put in the new one, reconnect that plastic thing and then run the restoration disc. Are they all that easy or did I just luck out on that? Again, I'm a rank amateur. Thanks for the help! ... Gerry
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gear79
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20. January 2006 @ 05:15 |
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i got your pm gerry, i see ddp has been helping you, as well as scubabud.. they are more advanced then me in this area.. he does it for a living..
but it looks like he has you covered..
may be time to upgrade anyway.. 3 year old puter and all..
sorry i could not be of much assistance.. :(
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ScubaBud
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20. January 2006 @ 05:33 |
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Gerry :)
Noises from a PC can be from fans, either in your Power supply, over your CPU, sometimes on your Graphics card, or in your case as cooling fans. Other noises can be from a floppy drive when activated or from HDD's. When you mentioned Quote:
Grinding/ grunting noise when I boot up and shut down has grown louder and does it at other times although rarely.
that to me is a HDD failing and since you are also having your recovery problems as well, I would guess the same.
If you are not familiar with replacing a HDD or don't want to purchase the software required to make it easy, such as Norton Ghost, plus a new HDD then I would also suggest a new PC. Spec out one from Dell's site, using both retail and business accounts to see what gives the best deal. If you have a business, you can order one for less sometimes, but not always, it just depends on their deals during the week. If you do decide to order one from the business side and you don't have a business, just PM me and I can help you there as well.
But if this was my machine, I would just purchase a new HDD, say a Maxtor 160gig with 16MB of cache and try that first. Like I mentioned before, you can always use the extra HDD for either an external backup with an external case or internal backup as an extra slave HDD.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 20. January 2006 @ 05:34
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gerry1
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20. January 2006 @ 05:59 |
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@gear...I'm sure both ddp and ScubBud know their business; I know you dabble in this too so I was just fishing for opinions. I was a bit surprised with what you said about replacing the computer because its three years old though. When I bought this HP, I gave my sister my old gateway which I bought in 1997 and it's still going strong with never a problem (I bought a new one because I do some image editing and the gateway didn't have close to enough memory to power new software). Even here at work, we have two computer labs for public use and they sure do get used, 16 hours a day; we don't have a tech here so there isn't even prev maint on them...defrag etc. and they're probably filled with spyware ... those are eight year old IBMs and Dells and still going strong. Why would a 3 year old HP need replacing? Are they not making them as good as they used too? ... wouldn't surprise me, seems to be the case with everything which brings me back to....
@ScubaBud....is there a big risk that changing the hard drive won't do the trick or should I just buy a new machine? who makes the best in your opinion? THe HP Pavillion I have now was built to certain specifications because I was getting into graphics so a PhotoShop teacher in my apartment building put the specs together for me. The DVD player/writer has also been kind of finiky since I bought it ... writer in the HP is a Philips but I don't remember the model. I spent $1,500. on that CPU. If I get a new one, I'll just get a really good "off the rack" model which will cost me a lot less but I don't know who makes the best brand and model.
P.S. I know enough people to get the hard drive installed for me. I got a couple of techies their jobs with my company so they owe me.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 20. January 2006 @ 06:11
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gear79
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20. January 2006 @ 06:58 |
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@ gerry...
i only suggested a new one cuz you know how it goes, you buy one today, tomorrow its outdated.. plus, i dont know the exact specs of your , but newer one have faster processors, larger hard drives, more memory, compatability, options... the list goes on..
and if you do decide to keep your, what it may cost to fix/repair it may out weigh the cost of a new one anyway..
it was not a knock at you, you know me better then that, i am willing to help where i can...
i just dont wanna stick my foot in my mouth.. i'd much rather someone with more experience give you the advice them me..
when i upgraded my (bought my new one in 05) there was a world of difference... like night and day....
anyway, i'll stay in here, just to see, learn, and read !!
i hope this does not double post, i got an error when trying to send and it did not go through !!
if it does, i will edit it out :p
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