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[empty_land]

so i got home lastnight to find my computer in barely working order. i am very upset about this and i don't know how to fix it. i don't need a bugging computer when i need to have it working for school. i don't need to have roommates that don't care one bit about how they treat my most expensive possession

Comments

[empty_land]

thanks, dear!

my ability to try to explain what is happening to my computer is probably not very helpful though. :\

i can tell you that i did a virus scan and it came back negative, i've also tried going to windowsupdate but it didn't come up with any downloads for me. and lastnight i defragged but that hasn't stopped the problem. here is how i described it to Jeff in an email lastnight:

it's like the 'windows has encountered an error and needs to close' window keeps popping up and when i click to either send or not send (it doesn't matter which i choose) the error then everything kind of shorts out, my toolbar disappears and then a second window pops up about Dr Watson's Debugger needing to close because it encountered an error. and then if i click to don't send/or send an error report on that either the windows error window pops back up or everything freezes and my toolbar dissappears (sometimes the toolbar dissappears after a few more of the 'windows has encountered an error' windows pop up, but eventually everything freezes).

any ideas, John? i know, my explaination probably sucks a lot...

[gomer43]

Your explanation doesn't suck; this is very similar to the problems I was having with my computer.

The problem is that I don't know if what caused your issues is what caused mine. Mine was caused by (believe it or not) overheating. My computer case had not been disassembled for some time, and dust on the fan and other elements caused my computer to act as a greenhouse. Overheating can cause (usually temporary but not always) damage to the memory, hard drive, or chips. Mine SEEMS to have been temporary, but I've been running the computer without the case. I did have to reinstall, because some issues had been caused on my hard drive by the overheating causing it to no longer boot.

I would try this. (This is not a hard, long, or complicated process, so don't be afraid to do this.) Get a smallish phillips head screwdriver, and unscrew the case. Once the housing is off, clean the entire chassis out of dust; you can do this by blowing hard (not recommended unless you get your face out of the way quickly) or using some kind of compressed, canned air. Carefully remove dustbunnies that may have accumulated, and make sure all the fans are free and clear of dust and other blockages. Then let the computer sit for about 20 minutes. If you have a small fan, turn it on and blow the air into the computer. If not, make sure it is away from heaters and the like. After that, you can use it, and try it without the case on for a little while. If that works, you can try it with the case on (I prefer mine off).

Anyway, it might be that. If not, back everything up and reinstall, because I doubt those symptoms will be specific enough to help figure out a software problem.

[empty_land]

thank you so much for the suggestion! it has occured to me that my computer is like a year and a half, if not closer to two, years old and i've never once cleaned it out. that's bad, right? heh. the only thing that makes me sad about your suggestion is that it would mean my roomates didn't do it. :P

i could definitely try this trick. i need a screw driver and some air. and when you say "case"...do you mean like the whole case? or does it only come off on the sides or does the whole thing come off? or maybe just the back? wow, this makes me feel very stupid. i really appreciate you taking the time to explain that this to me though, John. :)

[gomer43]

Hee, there is some sadness to not being able to blame someone else!

Don't feel stupid; if you've never taken apart a computer before, you can't be expected to know those things. :)

Most computers have several screws (4-6) on the back, where the edges of the outer case lay on top of the back of the PC. Once those are removed, place the computer on a table or floor, hold both sides of the PC, and jerk back or up (back should work, depending on the model). That should pull the case cover off, and from there you can implement the rest of the solution.

If the case looks like it doesn't work that way, it may have a side door. If it looks like it might have one, let me know what model your PC is and I'll try to find out.

[gomer43]

Oh, and the back and front should be the only two parts of the case that don't come off! I forgot to mention that. :)

[disenchantedkid]

this is certainly something to try, it may be the solution and it won't hurt anything, but here's my additional advice.

check your event log:

How to View Event Logs
To open Event Viewer, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel. Click Performance and Maintenance, then click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management. Or, open the MMC containing the Event Viewer snap-in.
2. In the console tree, click Event Viewer.

The Application, Security, and System logs are displayed in the Event Viewer window.
see if you see anything in the Application Log or System Log that gives you more information.

Depending on that information ( or lack there-of ), the only option may be using your Operating System disk to try to repair windows, or reformatting (which you don't want to do unless you absolutely have to).

does your cd burner still work? if so, then you're OK to even reformat since you can back everything up first.

[empty_land]

so what you're saying is that i should have an operating system disk. my computer didn't come with any disks, not even windows. though when we bought it i remember Aubrey asking the sales guy specifically if the disk was in the box and they said yes...but it never was. those bastards.

the log thing was fun and exciting but i don't really know what i should be looking for in the application log. there was all kinds of things in there.

thanks for your input too, Jeff. :)

[gomer43]

Yeah, I should've suggested a repair, but it's been my experience that Windows XP repair is useless.

Worth a shot, though!