Computer crashing--best fix?

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wems2371
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Computer crashing--best fix?

Post by wems2371 » Mon Apr 16, 2012 6:44 am

I can tell I'm going to have a problem with my computer in the very near future. It is shutting itself down unexpectedly, at least once a day. And I've never seen this before, but some of my regular favorite websites come up as "cannot display" or a page comes up that says "installation error". Even Ebay did that to me yesterday, and now they come up fine.

I can take it to the local phone co. to go over, for around $85, but if someone has a self-fix software recommendation instead...i'd rather have that for future use. We've had an Errorsmart subscription before, but I don't know if that'll fix this.

FYI--Norton & McAfee are expired on the computer. Using AVG 2012 Free Edition, and the scans come up okay.

Thanks in advance! Denise (slightly computer challenged :D )

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Re: Computer crashing--best fix?

Post by PntrRookie » Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:17 am

Couple things to start with...

Try NOD32 for Anti Virus http://www.scanwith.com/download/NOD32.htm. Run CCLeaner http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner. Then run a defrag Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools. That will give you somewhat of a fresh start.

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Re: Computer crashing--best fix?

Post by JIM K » Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:51 am

try to use RESTORE and go back a month or so.on COMCAST we now get free anit-virius program.without any program protection germs will get in and you may have to have the whole computer cleaned out.
save your stuff to disc if you want to keep it.
computer guys here charge 60 dollars to clean computer and reload your stuff and anti-virius protection.

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Re: Computer crashing--best fix?

Post by birddog1968 » Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:33 am

save all your important stuff and reinstall your operating system.....thats the only real way to start over with a clean machine.
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markj
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Re: Computer crashing--best fix?

Post by markj » Mon Apr 16, 2012 9:31 am

My laptop was doing this for awhile then kapoot no more PC. Put in a new hard drive and softwared it up now it works like new again. I am an IT network engineer :) and deal with this stuff a lot. Best way is to do a memory scan, then try a defrag, this may isolate the problem. If not then bring it over :) and I will look at it.
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Re: Computer crashing--best fix?

Post by SubMariner » Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:42 am

If my PC starts acting goofy I kick into "cleanup mode". Basically, it's what most people have already recommended in terms of updating & running anti-malware & AV programs: Malwarebytes, Spybot, AVG or Avast are all free & all very good programs.

However, I noted that you were talking about having a Norton & McAfee AV programs that have expired. Norton is notorious for being a big PITA and "not playing well with others". It's also a HUGE resource hog. I would definitely go into your Control Panel & uninstall it along with any other old software you are not using. THEN run a cleanup program like the Piriform CCleaner. Don't forget about your Recycle Bin! (If you are feeling confident, run the Registry component of the program as well.)

Updating software may also remove some bugs that went either undetected or unfixed. I know that my browser will sometimes develop a glitch that is actually a known issue that is dealt with in the next incarnation.

Another thing that people overlook is programs that have been set to start automatically as soon as you start your PC. This is because EVERY programmer dreams of having THEIR program start first on your PC. Wrong! I go into the msconfig & remove stuff like Adobe Reader that really doesn't need to be started EVERY time you power up your PC. (Ok, this may be a little more advanced than you want to hear about, but I thought I'd throw that in there anyways.)

It's only at THIS point that I will run a defrag program. Remember, if there are files that you have accidentally deleted, you won't be able to get them back once you defrag because that space will be overwritten. So this needs to be the LAST thing you do.

FWIW, I also back up my user files at least once a week to a separate hard drive.

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Re: Computer crashing--best fix?

Post by wems2371 » Mon Apr 16, 2012 11:08 am

markj wrote:If not then bring it over :) and I will look at it.
Yeah right! What's that, like a 6 hour drive from one side of the state to the other? :D

I did go in per PtrRookie and look at defragging. Unbeknownst to me, it's set up to automatically defrag every Wednesday, so it was last done on 4/14. And the last AVG scan was done within the last couple days and found nothing. I can still do a free Errorsmart scan, without fix of course since I'm expired, and it says I have 260 errors. I never know how accurate that is, since they're trying to sell something. But here they are:

ActiveX, OLE, and COM--25 errors
Add/Remove Programs--18 errors
Drivers--1 error
File Associations--161 errors
History/MRU Lists--2 errors
Invalid Shortcuts--52 errors
System Services--1 error

Thanks for all the suggestions, and I'll definitely try some of them. Because I have so many photos on my computer, my husband gifted me a GoFlex 2 TB External Drive some time ago, for backup storage. It's still in the shrinkwrap, and has made a nice paperweight. I'm long overdue to put my good stuff on it. :oops: I also don't know why, but my computer is running lightning fast without issue now. Hope it's not it's last hoorah... :?

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Re: Computer crashing--best fix?

Post by birddogger » Mon Apr 16, 2012 1:22 pm

This may be a little off the topic but FWIW, I will never again use Norton antivirus. As somebody already said, Norton doesn't play well with others. When my Norton subscription expired, I was advised by friends to go with one of the free programs [Avast, AVG, etc.]. I downloaded and installed Avast but it wouldn't work properly without uninstalling Norton. No problem right? Wrong! When I would uninstall Norton, it would show that it was still running somewhere. A computer geek friend of mine offered to fix it for me. She finally got rid of the Norton program but said it fought her tooth and nail. She said she finally had to "trick it" [whatever that means]. Her words were "it is evil". She also installed a free trial version of Tune up Utilities, which fixes a lot of issues before they become a problem and when the trial period was over, I bought it. I have had no problems since.

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Re: Computer crashing--best fix?

Post by llewellinsetter » Mon Apr 16, 2012 5:50 pm

Throw it out and get a mac:) They are well worth the money.
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Re: Computer crashing--best fix?

Post by SubMariner » Tue Apr 17, 2012 10:21 am

wems2371 wrote:
markj wrote:If not then bring it over :) and I will look at it.
Yeah right! What's that, like a 6 hour drive from one side of the state to the other? :D

I did go in per PtrRookie and look at defragging. Unbeknownst to me, it's set up to automatically defrag every Wednesday, so it was last done on 4/14. And the last AVG scan was done within the last couple days and found nothing. I can still do a free Errorsmart scan, without fix of course since I'm expired, and it says I have 260 errors. I never know how accurate that is, since they're trying to sell something. But here they are:

ActiveX, OLE, and COM--25 errors
Add/Remove Programs--18 errors
Drivers--1 error
File Associations--161 errors
History/MRU Lists--2 errors
Invalid Shortcuts--52 errors
System Services--1 error

Thanks for all the suggestions, and I'll definitely try some of them. Because I have so many photos on my computer, my husband gifted me a GoFlex 2 TB External Drive some time ago, for backup storage. It's still in the shrinkwrap, and has made a nice paperweight. I'm long overdue to put my good stuff on it. :oops: I also don't know why, but my computer is running lightning fast without issue now. Hope it's not it's last hoorah... :?
I would also like to mention that there is a "fix errors" utility as part of the window scan disk function (no extra $$$ involved). However, it can only be implemented if the program is scheduled to run upon boot-up. That being said, it seems to be pretty good at finding & fixing minor problems.

We do a lot of u/w photog, so yes... back up those pix & any other important user files you have!!
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Re: Computer crashing--best fix?

Post by SHNOOL » Tue Apr 17, 2012 11:52 am

Norton has issues for sure (as does MacAfee)... But the fact that you have both on your computer still is not helping your situation.
What would be good to is actually uninstall both... Control panel, Programs, select each, and uninstall. When it asks to reboot, please allow it too.

Now other suggestions are quite good. CCLeaner (Crap Cleaner as it is called, by Piriform) is an excellent program and will do MOST of what the others have said.
First, just "Run Cleaner". get the FREE software here http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner
When done, make sure to click on "registry" on the next icon down on the right. Click "scan for issues"
Then click "Fix Issues" once done scanning... don't bother to make a backup of your registry if you don't know how to restore it.
Next on the left, go to TOOLS... You can run the uninstall of any app (Norton and MacAfee come to mind).
Under uninstall there is startup click that as well. You can remove applications that start when you boot. Very little should be in this list, except perhaps drivers for video, and various non-standard devices (ie bluetooth, intel raid).

Finally defrag by opening computer right click your C: drive, go to properties, then TOOLs tab, and defragment now. Also check error checking and it'll say you need to do this on reboot (that is fine)... reboot then defrag.

Ok... now you should be pretty clean assuming you don't have any malware on your computer, because keep in mind, antivirus is rarely anti-malware! Plus some legit applications cause problems too (toolbars come to mind).

Another good free anti-virus is "Microsoft Security Essentials." An inexpensive anti-malware that works wonders, is Malwarebytes (they have a one shot free version too which is priceless, but the $19 for the paid realtime scanning version is worth it's weight in gold).

Anyway... With ALL THAT being said, if your computer is rebooting randomly ... you either A) have malware or B) have a driver/hardware issue causing a bluescreen.

Bluescreens are generally drivers that go awry because either A) they were coded wrong or B) a massive hardware error is ocurring.
You'll know you have a bluescreen if you see something like this just before it reboots:
Image

If you are getting this, then the system reboots, then you have the "Bluescreen of Death." No worries, if the computer has operated fine up to this point you can restore your computer to a point from before it started (before the driver was installed) by using microsoft's system restore: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... em-restore

If unfortunately it's REALLY a piece of hardware going (likely memory or hard drive), I can't directly help you. However, these days both are cheap/easy fixes even for the home owner. Memory is super cheap, buy online for best prices... I trust http://www.newegg.com implicitly. Hard drives are also cheap there, and fast shipping. However that can get tricky to do yourself if you aren't comfortable with slaving out your old hard drive in a hard disk enclosure like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817388033

You'll need your windows operating system disc (and if you bought an HP/Acer/Toshiba/Lenovo chances are you don't have one - or a recent Dell). However, good news on that front too, as most of those manufacturers are more than willing to SELL you the original disc, for like $19 shipped. to reinstall.

Sorry... I've been doing this for 20 years... and have rebuilt I swear thousands of home computers, and hundreds of work computers.

As for buy a Mac? OK... well yes, and your old truck when it gets a flat tire buy a horse. Sorry... yes both "vehicles" will get you there, but they both serve very different purposes, and operate differently, and can't actually pull all the duties you have the other for.

As a final offer, if you'd like more help, feel free to email me shnool @ yahoo My 9-5 is as an IT Manager over 4 companies.
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