Unbelievable...

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letdown427

Golden Member
Jan 3, 2006
1,594
1
0
Originally posted by: I Saw OJ
Originally posted by: Udel
Originally posted by: I Saw OJ
Don't charge your friends who are completely computer illterate, thats what friends are for to help each other out. Also sounds like the computer was about to take a dump, ever thought about a fresh start on the OS?

Me? Sure I have. But he, I'm, sure, has a ton of things he cannot affort to loose. :roll:

Tell him it wont be that hard to download all that porn again :p


Seth


Ding ding! Truth.

Connect the laptop harddisk to your desktop (ok maybe this isn't do-able tonight, but it would be some other time...) and try to recover whatever pay per view pr0n it is that he needs, then just reinstall OS. You can make an IDE ribbon fit onto a laptop thing, it's just that annoying little tab that stops them. Well, certainly looks like that to me.

Or an external HD, and do a backup maybe...

I dunno. Good Luck! :)
 

Udel

Senior member
Sep 2, 2005
892
0
0
Originally posted by: letdown427
Originally posted by: I Saw OJ
Originally posted by: Udel
Originally posted by: I Saw OJ
Don't charge your friends who are completely computer illterate, thats what friends are for to help each other out. Also sounds like the computer was about to take a dump, ever thought about a fresh start on the OS?

Me? Sure I have. But he, I'm, sure, has a ton of things he cannot affort to loose. :roll:

Tell him it wont be that hard to download all that porn again :p


Seth


Ding ding! Truth.

Connect the laptop harddisk to your desktop (ok maybe this isn't do-able tonight, but it would be some other time...) and try to recover whatever pay per view pr0n it is that he needs, then just reinstall OS. You can make an IDE ribbon fit onto a laptop thing, it's just that annoying little tab that stops them. Well, certainly looks like that to me.

Or an external HD, and do a backup maybe...

I dunno. Good Luck! :)

Still hoping chkdsk comes through and I can work from there. If not, it looks likes a fresh install may be in order.

 

sandorski

No Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
70,786
6,345
126
Might be heat related. My bros Vaio laptop overheats constantly just surfing the net.
 
Jun 14, 2003
10,442
0
0
i dont charge my mates stuff to do with computers, currently sorting out my mates HDD, simple reformat and reinstall to help him out.
 

tm37

Lifer
Jan 24, 2001
12,436
1
0
Originally posted by: Udel
Originally posted by: shoRunner
Originally posted by: Udel
I want to grab another beer so badly, but his laptop is on my lap running chkdsk and I am afraid to get up. Drats! I do this for everyone, though. The computer techs on campus are ruthless thieves who charge like $70 for simple spyware scans. Even if I have to do it alone, I would rather rake up some good karma and help people out then have them pay through the nose to this lousy place that has bleed me nearly $400 in parking tickets.

ruthless theives? sounds like $70 dollars for what you've done so far would be a mere pittance. you under value your labor and therefore screw yourself...i've learned this and charge all my friends, that way we both end happy.

I just say that because the tech guys here really are criminals. $70 for an anti-virus scan may be alright at a place like Bestbuy, but I don't see how you could really charge more then $25.... It takes what? An hour of your time at most?

Wow you need to look at what professionals bill out per hour.

I bill out @ $50 when I do computer work.

At my Job I bill out @ $150+

 

YoYoBabyYo

Senior member
Jul 1, 2003
606
0
0
Originally posted by: letdown427
Originally posted by: I Saw OJ
Originally posted by: Udel
Originally posted by: I Saw OJ
Don't charge your friends who are completely computer illterate, thats what friends are for to help each other out. Also sounds like the computer was about to take a dump, ever thought about a fresh start on the OS?

Me? Sure I have. But he, I'm, sure, has a ton of things he cannot affort to loose. :roll:

Tell him it wont be that hard to download all that porn again :p


Seth


Ding ding! Truth.

Connect the laptop harddisk to your desktop (ok maybe this isn't do-able tonight, but it would be some other time...) and try to recover whatever pay per view pr0n it is that he needs, then just reinstall OS. You can make an IDE ribbon fit onto a laptop thing, it's just that annoying little tab that stops them. Well, certainly looks like that to me.

Or an external HD, and do a backup maybe...

I dunno. Good Luck! :)

LOL! This is usually the truth! Every computer I repair for my male friends contained loads of crappy pr0n preview clips (one of my friends had approximately 100GB of these occupying his 160GB HDD!). However, I never run into that problem with my female friends' computers, and I would not want to because I will view them as completely different people (and yes, I am a goody two shoes)!
 

dug777

Lifer
Oct 13, 2004
24,778
4
0
Originally posted by: YoYoBabyYo
Originally posted by: letdown427
Originally posted by: I Saw OJ
Originally posted by: Udel
Originally posted by: I Saw OJ
Don't charge your friends who are completely computer illterate, thats what friends are for to help each other out. Also sounds like the computer was about to take a dump, ever thought about a fresh start on the OS?

Me? Sure I have. But he, I'm, sure, has a ton of things he cannot affort to loose. :roll:

Tell him it wont be that hard to download all that porn again :p


Seth


Ding ding! Truth.

Connect the laptop harddisk to your desktop (ok maybe this isn't do-able tonight, but it would be some other time...) and try to recover whatever pay per view pr0n it is that he needs, then just reinstall OS. You can make an IDE ribbon fit onto a laptop thing, it's just that annoying little tab that stops them. Well, certainly looks like that to me.

Or an external HD, and do a backup maybe...

I dunno. Good Luck! :)

LOL! This is usually the truth! Every computer I repair for my male friends contained loads of crappy pr0n preview clips (one of my friends had approximately 100GB of these occupying his 160GB HDD!). However, I never run into that problem with my female friends' computers, and I would not want to because I will view them as completely different people (and yes, I am a goody two shoes)!

judgemental bastard.
 

Iron Woode

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 10, 1999
31,299
12,818
136
Originally posted by: Udel
Originally posted by: I Saw OJ
Don't charge your friends who are completely computer illterate, thats what friends are for to help each other out. Also sounds like the computer was about to take a dump, ever thought about a fresh start on the OS?

Me? Sure I have. But he, I'm, sure, has a ton of things he cannot affort to loose. :roll:
you do know that you can re-install XP without losing the old stuff, right?

I do that all the time just to get the system back up and running when there is a huge crash.

EDIT: he may have a proprietary setup and therefore no XP cd, but instead a recovery CD. You may have to use yours in order to salvage his system.
 

phantom309

Platinum Member
Jan 30, 2002
2,065
1
0
This is exactly why I don't like to work on my friend's/family's computers. Even if you get that thing up and running again, everything that goes wrong with it from now on will automatically be your fault.
 

Udel

Senior member
Sep 2, 2005
892
0
0
Hmm.. So I have run chkdsk /p and chkdsk /r several times and this thing still won't get into Windows. What the next I might try do you think?
 

SokaMoka

Banned
Feb 24, 2006
521
1
0
Computer illeterates heh ?

Install Linux on all laptops and don't give them any GUI's or anything , and watch them have a blast as they stare at the commandline, it's a favor they will never forget, I think ?
 

imported_Condor

Diamond Member
Sep 22, 2004
5,425
0
0
Welcome to the tech world. If this is the first time, it won't be the last. At my last job, we had lots of fresh college grads in the Econ section. They were all full of their marvelous computer skills. Can't say how many of their messes I had to fix. I finally forbade them from touching anything except the dummy interface.
 

wyvrn

Lifer
Feb 15, 2000
10,074
0
0
Reload windows, of course you will need a valid disk. It sounds like some system files got hosed when the service pack was updating files and the pc shut down.
 

wyvrn

Lifer
Feb 15, 2000
10,074
0
0
Originally posted by: Udel
Hmm.. So I have run chkdsk /p and chkdsk /r several times and this thing still won't get into Windows. What the next I might try do you think?

See my answer above. Checkdisk is only going to correct hard disk errors that cause bad sectors and corrupted data. It won't repair the problem you are having. You need to get the original Windows system files back on that box, and then DON'T install any service packs until the computer will reliably run of off AC alone (hint: take out the battery).

edit: Found this article on the Microsoft KB. Look at the last option, recovery console (will need windows disk).
 

swtethan

Diamond Member
Aug 5, 2005
9,071
0
0
Originally posted by: Iron Woode
Originally posted by: Udel
Originally posted by: I Saw OJ
Don't charge your friends who are completely computer illterate, thats what friends are for to help each other out. Also sounds like the computer was about to take a dump, ever thought about a fresh start on the OS?

Me? Sure I have. But he, I'm, sure, has a ton of things he cannot affort to loose. :roll:
you do know that you can re-install XP without losing the old stuff, right?

I do that all the time just to get the system back up and running when there is a huge crash.

EDIT: he may have a proprietary setup and therefore no XP cd, but instead a recovery CD. You may have to use yours in order to salvage his system.


yes thats right this can be done, just dont format the drive, install xp over the old one and everything else is still there!

 

Udel

Senior member
Sep 2, 2005
892
0
0
Originally posted by: swtethan
Originally posted by: Iron Woode
Originally posted by: Udel
Originally posted by: I Saw OJ
Don't charge your friends who are completely computer illterate, thats what friends are for to help each other out. Also sounds like the computer was about to take a dump, ever thought about a fresh start on the OS?

Me? Sure I have. But he, I'm, sure, has a ton of things he cannot affort to loose. :roll:
you do know that you can re-install XP without losing the old stuff, right?

I do that all the time just to get the system back up and running when there is a huge crash.

EDIT: he may have a proprietary setup and therefore no XP cd, but instead a recovery CD. You may have to use yours in order to salvage his system.


yes thats right this can be done, just dont format the drive, install xp over the old one and everything else is still there!
This really works? You can re-install on the same partition?
 

wyvrn

Lifer
Feb 15, 2000
10,074
0
0
Originally posted by: Udel
Originally posted by: swtethan
Originally posted by: Iron Woode
Originally posted by: Udel
Originally posted by: I Saw OJ
Don't charge your friends who are completely computer illterate, thats what friends are for to help each other out. Also sounds like the computer was about to take a dump, ever thought about a fresh start on the OS?

Me? Sure I have. But he, I'm, sure, has a ton of things he cannot affort to loose. :roll:
you do know that you can re-install XP without losing the old stuff, right?

I do that all the time just to get the system back up and running when there is a huge crash.

EDIT: he may have a proprietary setup and therefore no XP cd, but instead a recovery CD. You may have to use yours in order to salvage his system.


yes thats right this can be done, just dont format the drive, install xp over the old one and everything else is still there!
This really works? You can re-install on the same partition?


Yes it will only overwrite the system files. Man you sure you should be offering tech support? You sound like you need a bit more knowledge, no offense.
 

SirChadwick

Diamond Member
Jul 27, 2001
4,595
1
81
Originally posted by: Udel
Originally posted by: Continuity28
Sounds like his computer would have crapped out sooner or later anyways.

Yea, but now the blame goes to me because he is not able to realize that.

Welcome to the beautiful world of tech support!
 

Udel

Senior member
Sep 2, 2005
892
0
0
Originally posted by: wyvrn
Originally posted by: Udel
Originally posted by: swtethan
Originally posted by: Iron Woode
Originally posted by: Udel
Originally posted by: I Saw OJ
Don't charge your friends who are completely computer illterate, thats what friends are for to help each other out. Also sounds like the computer was about to take a dump, ever thought about a fresh start on the OS?

Me? Sure I have. But he, I'm, sure, has a ton of things he cannot affort to loose. :roll:
you do know that you can re-install XP without losing the old stuff, right?

I do that all the time just to get the system back up and running when there is a huge crash.

EDIT: he may have a proprietary setup and therefore no XP cd, but instead a recovery CD. You may have to use yours in order to salvage his system.


yes thats right this can be done, just dont format the drive, install xp over the old one and everything else is still there!
This really works? You can re-install on the same partition?


Yes it will only overwrite the system files. Man you sure you should be offering tech support? You sound like you need a bit more knowledge, no offense.
I always keep my drives partitioned. So, I never had to deal with this.