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11-02-2009, 01:08 PM
| #1 (permalink) |
| Stoned Immaculate  Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Canoga Park, Fool Co-Op: NO Vendor: NO Patient: YES
Posts: 1,879
Rep Power: 113264       | Laptop on life support So my computer's got some kinda virus or something. I talked to Dell today and they said they could fix it for the bargain price of $129!  Right now I'm typing from my boyfriend's desktop, but I seriously need that laptop for school. Anybody have any ideas where I can get it fixed for a better price? |
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11-02-2009, 01:12 PM
| #2 (permalink) |
| High, Yes I Am!  Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Torrance, CA Co-Op: No Vendor: No Patient: Yes
Posts: 179
Rep Power: 3875 | Re: Laptop on life support The easiest thing to do if it is just a virus issue is run a great antivirus or even reformat and reinstall the OS but are you sure whats actually wrong with your PC? |
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11-02-2009, 01:13 PM
| #3 (permalink) |
| WT Regular  Join Date: Sep 2008 Co-Op: no Vendor: no Patient: yes
Posts: 275
Rep Power: 3166 | Re: Laptop on life support did your browser get hijacked?? spybot search and destroy will fix that pm me for free tech support |
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11-02-2009, 01:14 PM
| #4 (permalink) |
| High, Yes I Am! Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Torrance, CA Co-Op: No Vendor: No Patient: Yes
Posts: 179
Rep Power: 3875 | Re: Laptop on life support If it is just a virus I'm sure your laptop came with a backup disk or repair disk and you can reformat easily but you will lose all info on the hard drive unless you can get on the PC to back it up. Run the repair disk and it will put it back to the state when you bought it minus all the dust, ashes, skin and cracker crumbs in the keyboard. :) |
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11-02-2009, 01:19 PM
| #5 (permalink) |
| Stoned Immaculate Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Canoga Park, Fool Co-Op: NO Vendor: NO Patient: YES
Posts: 1,879
Rep Power: 113264 | Re: Laptop on life support Thanks for the help guys!  I honestly have no idea what's wrong with the thing. I assumed it's a virus; the dell dude said it was a software issue. I's totally clueless when it comes to computers. All I know is, the comp can't be on for more than hour without completely freezing. I'll try you suggestions later! Right now I'm just doing a quick check o' the headlines here before getting back to studying for two exams.  |
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11-02-2009, 01:32 PM
| #6 (permalink) |
| Antagonist kind of activist, with a tude  Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Denial Co-Op: NO Vendor: NO Patient: yes
Posts: 283
Rep Power: 5112 | Re: Laptop on life support get combofix from bleepingcomputer( free download) . I use it any time my system slows down. It takes a while if your computer is infected bad, but soon enough you get that white and text screen when its done. If you have a problem after that you may need to add a CFSCRIPT to kill certain files you can easily find but can't delete. |
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11-02-2009, 01:38 PM
| #7 (permalink) |
| WT Regular  Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: sunny coast Co-Op: no Vendor: no Patient: yes
Posts: 281
Rep Power: 34482 |  Re: Laptop on life support might be a heating problem or hard drive.If I was closer I would help more. Your Friend Fisherman Bob  |
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11-02-2009, 02:04 PM
| #8 (permalink) | |
| Medicated since 1968  Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: East Bay Area Co-Op: no Vendor: no Patient: yes
Posts: 1,751
Rep Power: 20570 | Re: Laptop on life support Quote:
Suggestion-- If your laptop has files on it you need for school/work-- be it papers or research you need to get those files off the laptop and on either a cd/dvd or another computer. You dont need to worry about your PROGRAMS-- Word/Excel iTunes etc etc---but you MUST get your DATA files saved to a safe location or you risk losing them if your laptop continues to get worse. You need to get all your browser bookmarks saved... I have a yahoo/gmail type email account, I regularly email my own bookmarks to myself, that way yahoo's servers back them up, not my home computer. I now do the same thing with any important (non-sensitive) documents--- I figure their server farm has a better backup system than I do... If your laptop's problems are software related, chances are they can all be rectified by simply formatting your hard drive, reinstalling your operating system, and all your application software (Word/Excel etc). To do that, you would need a copy of the Operating system (Windows XP/Vista/7 or OSX whatever for Apple)..... and all the drivers for your hardware (printer/scanner etc) sound cards... You will need to set up your ISP network connections again, so be sure you know all your passwords... And, you might be able to find a computer nerd on campus that would do all that for you for the price of a visit to Starbucks... 'specially if you do all the "legwork" ahead of time by gathering all the needed stuff up first. (OS disks, program disks, passwords etc etc)  If you were up here---I could do it for you over coffee while I lectured you on the evils of the liberal left and the absolute righteousness of old fat conservative Vets--- (you have to supply your own earplugs)Last edited by stanley; 11-02-2009 at 02:17 PM.. | |
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11-02-2009, 02:17 PM
| #9 (permalink) |
| WT Advanced Member  Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Riverside Co-Op: no Vendor: no Patient: yes
Posts: 505
Rep Power: 10701 | Re: Laptop on life support I'm too medicated or lazy to read what anyone else has run in the thread but 9 times out of 10 by virus they mean spyware or rootkit but who knows the difference anymore right..... So here is my standard routine to fix most problems, it's easy. Download a run combofix in safe mode preferably. A guide and tutorial on using ComboFix Next get smitfraudfix and run it, again in safe mode Index Next get the free version of malwarebytes and run it Malwarebytes.org Most likely you will not be able to download these from the laptop that has the problem so do it from another computer and transfer it over on a flash drive or write it to a CD. Also to start in safe mode when the computer is starting up after it finished POST (right before the windows loading screen shows up) press f8.. actually just press f8 over and over again while it boots up until you see the OS selection menu and choose safemode with networking. |
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11-03-2009, 06:08 AM
| #10 (permalink) | |
| Back in effect  Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: KronVille, CA Co-Op: no Vendor: no Patient: yes
Posts: 3,129
Rep Power: 369836 | Re: Laptop on life support Quote:
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11-03-2009, 06:47 PM
| #11 (permalink) |
| Hi, Im New! Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Where I Am Co-Op: NO Vendor: NO Patient: YES
Posts: 27
Rep Power: 3001 | Re: Laptop on life support VooDoo ~ Ya' need some tech time; Dell laptops have some specific tools in their OS that can freely get their own software database to diagnose and repair. Cleaned your temp files/history up ? The software freeze can be a cause of some simple housekeeping tasks worth walking through. For it it o freeze up after an hour, the power or the heat fan could have an issue for shutdown as well...laptops run hot. However, as u have an hour to surf b4 a freeze, dell cant say this is software so simply. Maybe a certain program u happen to open that tends to freeze you up faster by chance ? Holler at me if you care to walk it through. We gotta keep your puter healthy;=) ! |
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11-04-2009, 09:45 AM
| #12 (permalink) |
| We decide which is right, and which is an illusion  Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: OC, CA Co-Op: no Vendor: no Patient: yes
Posts: 1,846
Rep Power: 83556 | Re: Laptop on life support Don't overlook the possibility that your laptop's internal fan motor may have burned out, which could cause overheating. I'm guessing this because you said it works OK for an hour and then locks up. I am not a virus expert by any stretch, but i would think that once a virus takes over operations, you wouldn't be fine for an hour then have it lock up, time and time again. So, I'm guessing hardware related. Maybe try a test where you have a floor fan blowing on the laptop, and try to have the laptop elevated so air passes underneath and cools it better, then see if you get past the hour point of usage, would could help prove an overheating problem. Oh, one quick other thought, you're not out of free space on your hard drive are you? |
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11-04-2009, 10:33 AM
| #13 (permalink) |
| WT Advanced Member  Join Date: Mar 2007 Co-Op: NO Vendor: NO Patient: YES
Posts: 1,096
Rep Power: 52260 |  Re: Laptop on life support VC, Know not much help now, but consider an iMac next time around. Won't have those problems.  Hope it works out. GB  |
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11-04-2009, 01:28 PM
| #14 (permalink) |
| Stoned Immaculate Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Canoga Park, Fool Co-Op: NO Vendor: NO Patient: YES
Posts: 1,879
Rep Power: 113264 | Re: Laptop on life support Hey all, thanks soooooo much for all the great advice! I gotta admit I'm afraid to try anything on my own, so I'm gonna have my hacker friend look at it for me tomorrow. Hopefully, he'll be able to fix it! BTW GB, macs are made o' poo! |
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