Computer Problems Thread

[Guest Julius Quasar]

I've been having recurring computer problems lately...

My crappy PC keeps freezing/locking up, and I gotta crash it to bring it back.

My computer generally gets sluggish (especially here).

My temp files keep accumulating junk, even just after I deleted the junk to the recycle bin (build up of repeaters) and I even cleaned out the recycle bin.

When I run my AdAware session, my computer definitely freezes/locks up...

What could wrong (besides my computer being a piece of useless crap)?

How can I fix it?

Feel free to post your computer problems/solutions here in this thread, and we'll see if we can help each other out.

[Eagle Kammback]

for the past couple of weeks, our computer keeps breaking, and since we know cars, not computers, it keeps going back to radio shack, we have the largest on the East Coast,

[Guest Julius Quasar]

for the past couple of weeks, our computer keeps breaking, and since we know cars, not computers, it keeps going back to radio shack, we have the largest on the East Coast,

sorry to hear that, dude...

[sniper]

go to file hippo and download 1) avg free antivirus  2)malbytes anti malware 3)a squared free

these programs will jointly catch about 99% of all computer viruses/junk, so If it is virus/junk stuff thats doing it, these will catch it.  also I had a problem with bad RAM that kept making my computer crash.  download memtest, burn it onto a cd and boot from cd.  this will tell you if you have any RAM problems. (do the anti virus stuff first)

[DZComposer]

If Sniper's advice fails, Run Hijack This and post your log.

I would add an addendum to his advice, though. Don't install multiple AV programs at the same time. They could walk on each other and trigger false positives or invade each others' memory space and cause crashes. Uninstall the currently installed one before doing the next one.

http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis/

DO NOT tell HJT to fix things. Only use HJT to fix things if you know exactly what you are doing, else you could break some of your programs.

So long as you don't hit the fix button, you're safe.

Just post your log here.

HJT instructions: http://www.whatthetech.com/hijackthis/

[Guest Julius Quasar]

go to file hippo and download 1) avg free antivirus  2)malbytes anti malware 3)a squared free

these programs will jointly catch about 99% of all computer viruses/junk, so If it is virus/junk stuff thats doing it, these will catch it.  also I had a problem with bad RAM that kept making my computer crash.  download memtest, burn it onto a cd and boot from cd.  this will tell you if you have any RAM problems. (do the anti virus stuff first)

cool, thanks!  I'll try to do that when I get the chance.

If Sniper's advice fails, Run Hijack This and post your log.

I would add an addendum to his advice, though. Don't install multiple AV programs at the same time. They could walk on each other and trigger false positives or invade each others' memory space and cause crashes. Uninstall the currently installed one before doing the next one.

http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis/

DO NOT tell HJT to fix things. Only use HJT to fix things if you know exactly what you are doing, else you could break some of your programs.

So long as you don't hit the fix button, you're safe.

Just post your log here.

HJT instructions: http://www.whatthetech.com/hijackthis/

okay, cool...thanks. yeah, sometimes youtube has that problem with my sh*tty computer, the A/V things probably walk all over each other there, too.

This computer I'm on is shared by the family, and my mom has super important files on here, so there are some things I can and can't do, 'cause I don't wanna risk destroying my mom's files on the computer.

We're poor..I can't afford my own computer. xP

[Guest FoXXX]

Sorry, I don't have any good advice other than install Gentoo :P

[Steve]

cool, thanks!  I'll try to do that when I get the chance.

okay, cool...thanks. yeah, sometimes youtube has that problem with my sh*tty computer, the A/V things probably walk all over each other there, too.

This computer I'm on is shared by the family, and my mom has super important files on here, so there are some things I can and can't do, 'cause I don't wanna risk destroying my mom's files on the computer.

We're poor..I can't afford my own computer. xP

Alright lil man if those scans don't do anything for you, I'll try helping you a little bit, so, give me the comp specs and time of use.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Alright lil man if those scans don't do anything for you, I'll try helping you a little bit, so, give me the comp specs and time of use.

Uh...I got a confession to make...my stupid school NEVER taught me how to use a computer.  I'm...computer illiterate...my folks don't know it too well, and what we have here is a 3 foot CPU tower from 1995..WindowsXP I think...please bear with me, here, I'm sorry, I'm just...computer illiterate. I picked up bits and pieces over 15 years, but not enough...

I'll try my best to answer your question(s), and state the specs of...this...computer I'm on...

[Steve]

Alright, go to start and then "run" and type "dxdiag" then you can check most of your pc info there, you could either screen it and post it, or tell me the main stuff (processor, ram, hd,gfx, stuff like that) also, how much use does that computer get everyday and  how old is it? for what do you use it, things like that.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Alright, go to start and then "run" and type "dxdiag" then you can check most of your pc info there, you could either screen it and post it, or tell me the main stuff (processor, ram, hd,gfx, stuff like that) also, how much use does that computer get everyday and  how old is it? for what do you use it, things like that.

cool, thanks, I'll try that later on,  sorry for the slow reply, I'm working on a new fanfic right now.

[Steve]

If your computer is totally freezing, like, not even the mouse pointer moves around, then your HD might be dying, if that's the case, you better back up all the important data and get another HD, I assume your computer has something around 100gb, which is really cheap nowadays.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

If your computer is totally freezing, like, not even the mouse pointer moves around, then your HD might be dying, if that's the case, you better back up all the important data and get another HD, I assume your computer has something around 100gb, which is really cheap nowadays.

*does a spit take*

Oh my God!    It is that way, the mouse cursor doesn't move at all....Oh s***, my HD is dying!?  Not good...I better warn my parents, they got important stuff here...Yeah, this thing might need a new motherboard...thanks, Steve.

[Steve]

Hold your horses lil man, it can be one of the many things that could be wrong, let's see if that's the case.

http://download.cnet.com/HDD-Health/3000-2086_4-10804806.html Download the program and check how much "health" your HD has (you might need to reboot after installing so the program would give an accurate reading)

[Sabre]

Also while your getting free software, get CCleaner and Autobit Smart Defrag. Both great.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Okay, thanks!

I'll see about doing that ASAP. Right now, things are going as normal (weird, I know, especially after yesterday), but I'll try out what you suggested there.  I gotta be careful, though, I'm sharing the computer with my mom and dad, my dad's a lawyer, my mom's a teacher, so the files on this computer are...ah...very important.  I gotta check in with them before downloading ANY software or programs...I wish they would just back everything up on a flash drive, but mom's more computer illiterate than I am, and my dad's too busy/disorganized to do that.  But I'll still check with them on that, fortunately, my dad knows more about computers than I do.  He can tell if our computer will be okay or not regarding the software/files I download.  I'll tell him what you told me, Steve.

If all else fails, my cousin is a computer hacker, he could fix this...he's kinda flighty, though, I'd have to keep reminding him to come up here.

I'll be back later today, got errands to run.

If anyone else has computer problems, feel free to post them in this thread, we'll try to help you.

[Steve]

There's nothing you could do if your HD is failing. When a HD fails, it fails by sectors, and then the problem starts spreading around, it's basically like cancer. The only thing you could do is back up everything and change the HD, but like I said, it could be one of the many problems.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

I think I found the problem...

Today, when I was shutting down, my computer did an automatic update...since then, when I logged back on, there were no problems, AFAIK.  I think it was because my computer gets all bitchy whenever it's about to get an automatic update...it's happened before, come to think about it...funny how sometimes it can be the most simple problems often overlooked.

[Steve]

I'd still recommend checking the health of the HD, just to be safe.

[DZComposer]

EDIT: I will try to remember to put the risk level of any procedure I go through from here on out.

Very Low - there is almost no risk. Example: Doing a ping test or installing a mouse.

Low - Unlikely that you'll damage something. Example: Running HijackThis or installing additional RAM.

Moderate - Don't stray too far from the instructions. Example: Uninstalling software or replacing a CD/DVD drive.

High - If you do not follow the directions, you could damage something or lose data Example: Making changes to parts of the registry or replacing a Hard Drive.

Very High - if you are not careful, you could seriously damage something or lose data. Example: Restructuring HDD Partitions or replacing a motherboard.

I agree with Steve. Lets double check that HDD.

I haven't seen enough evidence to convince me that it is failing, but I haven't seen enough to convince me that it isn't either.

First, backup your data. Second, Back Up Your Date. Third: BACK UP YOUR DATA. It is very very very important to back stuff up, even if your computer is working fine, make backups.

As far as testing the drive, we need to find out the manufacturer and model  first.

Procedure: Determine make and model of hard drive using device manager.

RISK LEVEL: Very Low

If you're running Windows XP or later, go to your Start Menu.

RIGHT-CLICK on My Computer.

Select Manage.

The Computer Management window should open.

On the left side, find "Device Manager" It should be somewhere around the middle.

Click on Device Manager.

The right side should change.

On the right side, find "Disk Drives"

Click the + next to Disk Drives

The + should turn into a -, and one or more items should appear under Disk Drives.

Write down the items that appear under Disk Drives.

You can close the Computer Management window at this point if you wish.

Post here every entry that appears under Disk Drives. (Mine, for example, has one entry: WDC WD5000AAKS-75A7B2 ATA Device. Unless you have the exact same drive I do, yours will be different)

[Chrono Reaper]

Me and a few of my college hacker friends who they are learning their degree in Internet Security and Cyber Investigation all use, "AVAST Home Edition" and "Spybot Search and Destroy" for our devices. AVAST is real gewd because it updates nearly every 12-24 hours as well as a featured  "background scan" that non-stop scans your computer for unwanted software trying to get in your hard drive so there are less manual scans unless you want a thorough check. And then for internet protection from malware we install Firefox extensions, "Ad Blocker Plus" and TACO (Targeted Advertising Cookie Opt-Out) which block and deny permitted access of many various Google ads, cookies and other unwanted malware. I used to used AVG free addition but so many viruses get away after a scan and there are too many false positives that AVG would pick up from Spybot.

Personally a healthy computer means giving extra care and being cautious of any minor abnormalities. If your computer crashes because the RAM or the computer is running too slow, I would recommend right clicking on the task bar and click "task manager" and click on the "services" tab to view ALL of the clients currently running on your computer. If you find any unwanted software that you didnt install, you can find the directory of that application through your explorer window and uninstall or delete it. Also if you are unsure what some of the clients are that are shown the task manager you can always look them up and they should always be explained at the top results.

There's nothing you could do if your HD is failing. When a HD fails, it fails by sectors, and then the problem starts spreading around, it's basically like cancer. The only thing you could do is back up everything and change the HD, but like I said, it could be one of the many problems.

EDIT:

Bad sectors are often rare unless the Hard Drive is OLD or defective if it was recycled, but I never cam across anyone who had a bad sector in their drives for over ten years, mainly because everyone upgrades to larger drives before anything happens to their old ones, but who knows maybe the hard drive is a Legacy and its finally showing the end of its days.

[Steve]

Bad sectors are often rare unless the Hard Drive is OLD or defective if it was recycled, but I never cam across anyone who had a bad sector in their drives for over ten years, mainly because everyone upgrades to larger drives before anything happens to their old ones, but who knows maybe the hard drive is a Legacy and its finally showing the end of its days.

Yeah, that's why I made my statement, he said his computer was pretty old, and the "everything" freezing is one of the "HD saying bai" signatures.

Also, if his computer is old, he needs the most resources he can get. And having a ton of scanning programs , while "helpful" won't do any good on the long run. It's best to identify the problem, attack it, and then make sure he disables all the scanning programs. And he needs to understand what's going on as well, if he has a low level of computer knowledge, throwing all this stuff on him will only make him more confused.

[Asper Sarnoff]

Second what Steve said above. I used to have AVG running background scans on my laptop, before I realised almost all the lag and freezing I've been troubled with came from it claiming to many resources. I've instead chosen to disable it and only scan manually once in a while. Now it works like a charm, almost. I'll have to get a new computer anyway pretty soon.

[Chrono Reaper]

Yeah, that's why I made my statement, he said his computer was pretty old, and the "everything" freezing is one of the "HD saying bai" signatures.

Also, if his computer is old, he needs the most resources he can get. And having a ton of scanning programs , while "helpful" won't do any good on the long run. It's best to identify the problem, attack it, and then make sure he disables all the scanning programs. And he needs to understand what's going on as well, if he has a low level of computer knowledge, throwing all this stuff on him will only make him more confused.

I know there a lot of people who had this problem before on their computers and in some cases the issue was as easy as defraging their partition. If his computer keeps freezing it could be a RAM issue and if that is the case he might have a load of clients running over the limit of his computers standards. That's why I asked him to check the programs running in his "processes" Tab in the Task manager.

One other thing I would ask him to do is to click on "Start" and right click "My Computer" and click on "Device Manager" to check if any of his hardware has a " ! " symbol next to them located near the Hard Drive, RAM and Video Card areas just to make sure if hes not getting an error in his drivers or hardware. That would usually be the first thing to check if there are any problems with the hardware.

You can also perform a Hard Drive Check on each sector upon next startup, by click on "my Computer" and in the tools tab clcik on "check for errors" and then restart. When the computer boots up again the computer will do a thorough check on the sectors of the Hard Drive and then give the report on the health of the partitions.

If he had a bad sector his computer will tell him after the scanning process. But like I said I highly doubt it. It could be as simple as a Disk Defrag and a partition disk clean up. Or that his computer is running too many things at once.

[Sarita]

I know there a lot of people who had this problem before on their computers and in some cases the issue was as easy as defraging their partition. If his computer keeps freezing it could be a RAM issue and if that is the case he might have a load of clients running over the limit of his computers standards. That's why I asked him to check the programs running in his "processes" Tab in the Task manager.

One other thing I would ask him to do is to click on "Start" and right click "My Computer" and click on "Device Manager" to check if any of his hardware has a " ! " symbol next to them located near the Hard Drive, RAM and Video Card areas just to make sure if hes not getting an error in his drivers or hardware. That would usually be the first thing to check if there are any problems with the hardware.

You can also perform a Hard Drive Check on each sector upon next startup, by click on "my Computer" and in the tools tab clcik on "check for errors" and then restart. When the computer boots up again the computer will do a thorough check on the sectors of the Hard Drive and then give the report on the health of the partitions.

If he had a bad sector his computer will tell him after the scanning process. But like I said I highly doubt it. It could be as simple as a Disk Defrag and a partition disk clean up.

I disagree, given what he's told us about this computer, and given its age, I'm willing to bet the HD is dying. It's 15 years old. And while I'm sure it's easy to let the years get away from you, 1995 was a while ago.

BUT, he said he was no longer having the problem. Topic dead. Next question please.