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my wife killed my laptop

B

Build it Myself

Senior member
my wife is doing something on the computers, though I can't figure out what, because she's killed two of our laptops now, hers and now mine. The following is the list of symptoms:

Computer runs fine, then it starts slowing down, taking longer to boot, not opening programs as fast. Then it gets to the point where startup takes about 3minutes, then another 3 minutes just to load the windows mainscreen. Eventually it just keeps bogging down until it hardly runs. Eventually one day (like today) you turn it on and it loads the windows screen without any icons, no toolbar, no programs running, only the main picture and that's it and the HD light just keeps flashing in a constant 1second on, 1second off pattern. If you hit CTRL, ALT, DEL you can get the task manager to show up, but if you try to log off, or turn off, etc. it just stays at that mainscreen and the HD light keeps flashing but now you can no longer bring up task manager again.

I bought the thing from Circuit City and they didn't give me an install disk for windows so I can't very well do that, but even if i could, the CD drive has stopped working correctly recently...it only reads Region 6 DVD's and such (China/Japan) which i think is even more weird.

On another note, i'd like to mention that when I tried installing antivirus programs, I get a corruption in the install, no matter what program it is, and it refuses to run. When i try to do a virus sweep it would detect a virus almost immediately and then the virus program would freeze. Avira AntiVir detector program when I turn it on beeps like the computer knows morse code 🙁 1day after installing antivirus the computer dies and i can't turn it on again...

This is the 2nd computer she's done this to. She doesn't play games, go to strange websites or anything like that. All she uses are Skype, MSNmessenger, goes to a few sites like yahoo.co.jp and mixi, but really that's it. it's a word processing computer and it seems so weird this happened 2x. I had the thing for 4 years without a hiccup and inside of 2 months she's killed it.

What is going on? And can I fix it or get it to startup at least? I tried going into safe mode, it just freezes when I click on safe mode after running some codes across the screen, so that's not an option really either.

At this point i dont' want her touching my computer i'm using now and she's all pissed about it, but until i find out what it is i don't want her near electronics...

Thanks,

John
 
I got this thing from Circuit City, no manuals, no install CD, the guys really ripped me on it. As far as a seperate partition, negative, not partitioned at all.

Also, in case I didn't say it, the warranty IS expired, it's been 4 years after all 🙁
 
I'd go to http://housecall.trendmicro.com and have it fully scan all files and folders.

then run CCleaner's "Cleaner" and "Registry" option multiple times each till both can hit 100% without a single listing.

then report back after rebooting and tell us what both CCleaner and Housecall found.
 
Originally posted by: robisbell
I'd go to http://housecall.trendmicro.com and have it fully scan all files and folders.

then run CCleaner's "Cleaner" and "Registry" option multiple times each till both can hit 100% without a single listing.

then report back after rebooting and tell us what both CCleaner and Housecall found.
Click to expand...

This doesnt seem like problem with software to me, the fact that it corrupts on installs sounds to me as though there is either a bad stick of memory or a faulty hard drive. I would personally think hard drive since its 4 years old.

See if you can find out what type of hard drive and run the manufacturers tests on it, then run something along the lines of memtest86 or www.goldmemory.cz
 
the thing is that I can't get it to boot into windows now, so there's no way i can run any new programs or install anything on it. All i get is the background image on windows explorer, but no icons, no taskbar, nothing...it just sits there and the HD light blinks repeatedly.

RadiclDreamer, it would sound like a HD thing, but here's the catch, this is the 2nd computer to have identical symptoms to the other...both worked 100% until she got a hold of them...both times it happened in under 3 months.

As for the corruption, it wasn't with random programs or anthing, i can run games, msn, skype, all that jazz...only when you install antivirus programs, like something was preventing that particular type of program from installing.
 
The you did not fully read and understand what the OP wrote, kindly stick to giving them advice and your opinions to PM's or to yourself.
 
thanks robisbell, i did what you said and it seems to be working again, or at least it started in normal mode...it'll take some cleaning to get it working again and i wish i could wipe the HD but i don't have the original install disks. 🙁
 
Most commercial AV apps (usually one free after rebate somewhere) will boot and run from the cd.

I think it far more likely that it is a software problem (some kind of malware - visiting the same website, downloading the same free app) than her causing identical hardware problems.
 
giving them advice and your opinions to PM's or to yourself.
Click to expand...

See, you guys do that, and then I miss some of the TSing details. What good is this discussion board if some people discuss the situation in private?
 
When your computer starts to slow to a crawl it normally indicates that your computer is infected with spyware or your hard drive is going bad. Depending on how your wife uses your laptop, e.g., if she uses it on the bed, on her lap, or some place that doesn't have adequate cooling or ventilation, there is a good chance the laptop is overheating and thus causing the hard drive to fail.

I highly suggest running a hard drive diagnostic test on the unit. I use Hitachi's Drive Fitness test which works on ALL hard drives.
 
Originally posted by: Nocturnal
When your computer starts to slow to a crawl it normally indicates that your computer is infected with spyware or your hard drive is going bad. Depending on how your wife uses your laptop, e.g., if she uses it on the bed, on her lap, or some place that doesn't have adequate cooling or ventilation, there is a good chance the laptop is overheating and thus causing the hard drive to fail.

I highly suggest running a hard drive diagnostic test on the unit. I use Hitachi's Drive Fitness test which works on ALL hard drives.
Click to expand...

you know, that's a good point, that amd chip i have runs so hot that it melts power cables, i've sent it in 2x to get them replaced and now i have the cable taped to the jack because it melted the plastic retainer piece. 🙁 the cooling in that computer is terrible and it'll literally burn you sometimes if you let it go for a long time.

I never thought anything of it because I had expressed concern for this at first and the tech support said those chips ran extremely hot (amd mobile 2000+) and since it's ran for years i've never second guessed it. as for the power cables melting, i've simply learned not to let it run for more than a few hours at at time.

I'll check that program you recommended, see what shows up there. Thanks for the advice.
 
Originally posted by: Build it Myself
Originally posted by: Nocturnal
When your computer starts to slow to a crawl it normally indicates that your computer is infected with spyware or your hard drive is going bad. Depending on how your wife uses your laptop, e.g., if she uses it on the bed, on her lap, or some place that doesn't have adequate cooling or ventilation, there is a good chance the laptop is overheating and thus causing the hard drive to fail.

I highly suggest running a hard drive diagnostic test on the unit. I use Hitachi's Drive Fitness test which works on ALL hard drives.
Click to expand...

you know, that's a good point, that amd chip i have runs so hot that it melts power cables, i've sent it in 2x to get them replaced and now i have the cable taped to the jack because it melted the plastic retainer piece. 🙁 the cooling in that computer is terrible and it'll literally burn you sometimes if you let it go for a long time.

I never thought anything of it because I had expressed concern for this at first and the tech support said those chips ran extremely hot (amd mobile 2000+) and since it's ran for years i've never second guessed it. as for the power cables melting, i've simply learned not to let it run for more than a few hours at at time.

I'll check that program you recommended, see what shows up there. Thanks for the advice.
Click to expand...

If its hot enough to melt things its wayyyy too hot.
 
I agree with Nocturnal. That hot CPU probably cooked your hard drive. Do you use your laptop resting on a sofa or bed or any other well insulated area?

I'd say test the hard drive. I prefer Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test from here: http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT

Do an advanced test and report its results.

Having said that, too much heat could cause your hard drive to go bad, so it's not necessarily the root of the problem, but it definitely sounds like the problem with so much corruption and slowness. Having a bad hard drive is a full system failure waiting to happen regardless of what caused it.

If that test turns out okay, then you should check out the software like some of the other posters have said.
 
well if the cabling is packed kinda tight then any CPU can melt the cables. We've determined that the main issues is massive malware/torjan and virus infestation on both machiens, likely coming from use of MS Messenger or a website or a combination thereof. the solution is for the OP to wipe and rload the laptops, and place his wife on a limited user account so as to mitigate most of the potential issues, have a active antivirus and antispyware running on both, plus a good firewall on each.
 
The wife did it? As in, you never use it yourself? I'd lay odds it ain't the wife installing all the crapware and viruses on your computer.
 
I missed the post where the OP said "Housecall/Spybot S&D/whatever returned X problems."

If it's corrupting installs, hardware should be tested first, then software. No amount of software repairs will fix bad hardware.
 
he had over 2000 malware infection, not counting the 1000 or so viruses, and spyware. it is not hardware, it was from a site his wife is going to and/or ms messenger.
 
I didn't see the 2000 malware part. As one more antispyware tool may I suggest Superantispyware at http://www.superantispyware.com/ Run it in safe mode to be more effective.

When it begins to slow down again, run a scan before all these nasties have a chance to bring all their friends into the machine.


Jim
 
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