Odd computer problems

[SAWYER]

My computer has been acting up for awhile, but it is really bad now after I am back from vacation a week later. My pc has been taking anywhere from 15-20 minutes to load up, it stays on the bios screen then will load up to logon. I come home and power on my pc and when it loads up it is a different background(default Windows wallpaper) and my icons are arranged differently, I am also missing some folders. I noticed my "downloads" folder was missing, so I did a search for it and it showed up in the search results and I was able to access the files. It even showed to be on the desktop in the address bar within the folder. I opened my Firefox and it installed like it was new and had to reinstall it. I keep trying to install utorrent but it doesn't do anything after I get past the check here agreements page besides put an icon on my desktop.


This computer is running Windows 7 Ultimate, AMD x2 5200 and 2 gigs of ram but it is showing 1 gig on the bios screen. When it it all loaded up it runs ok.

 

[AKA]

Try reseating your ram.

If you actually have 2gigs installed but it only shows 1gig during post, then there is a problem with the ram, dimm slot or connection.

Also reset the BIOS.

Though not everything is making sense with the other issues, maybe your computer restored to an earlier restore point where you had different settings?

 

[daveybrat]

Test your hard drive. I can almost guarantee you that's what is causing the issue.

You have bad sectors on the hard drive that can cause an extremely long boot time. The reason everything looks different in windows is because your account (profile) in windows 7 became corrupted from the bad sectors and windows created a secondary logon for you which is why things look different.

I've had the exact same problem with several pc's i repair and they were bad hard drives.

Good luck!

 

[SAWYER]

Thanks, any software you can recommend to test it with?

 

[theevilsharpie]

Thanks, any software you can recommend to test it with?

Windows built-in chkdsk utility is pretty effective.

 

[SAWYER]

I ran that but I wasn't near my pc when it finished so I don't know what the results were.

 

[theevilsharpie]

The results are recorded in the event log. I believe the event source is Winlogon.

 

[daveybrat]

If it's a Western Digital or Seagate, you can download diagnostic software from their websites.

That is far more accurate than the built-in windows checkdisk.

Make sure to run a full scan.

 

[SAWYER]

I downloaded the Seagate software and it passed all the tests I tried. I did them all besides the advanced tests which said could cause me to lose data so I didn't try it.

 

[oynaz]

In that case, the culprit might be defective RAM blocks.