PC In Home repair service

[classylady60]

I was wondering if anyone has had PC world repair or update their computer at home? I need someone to come out and look at mine as there are faults on it, had a local person come and look but they didn't really fix it, was wondering if PC would be the next best thing?

Thanks for any answers you're able to give.

CL

[Ethel]

What's the problem with it and where in the country are you?

[classylady60]

Hi Ethel,
I'm in the south east (the effluent south ha). How long have you got re the problems on my PC?

Windows "hanging"
slowing down
trying to get rid of postupdate.exe (Macromedia... says I don't have authority to delete...)
MS Word not working properly for some reason
Program not responding coming up a lot
End now messages.... won't work when you click on them
Norton's letting in tracking cookies and I can't find out how to stop it (version 2004)
Adobe Reader 6.0 takes ages to load and sometimes jams up
etc...
and generally tidying up!!

I do all the AV scans, the spybot and antispyware and they don't find anything, but that's only if I delete the cookies first.

I really need someone who can sort it all out but I'm loathe to try again after the other guy seems to have damaged my Nortons... I can't get into the quarantine file, it says I need to reinstall...argh... it was working ok until he did some things on here.

Thanks for your reply anyway.... bet this has put everyone off now....yikes.

CL

[Ethel]

It may be worth taking it to PCWorld, but I would rather not.

How old is it? Do you have the cds that came with it?

I'm thinking that it may be worth your while backing up your personal files - documents, photos, music and so on, and restoring it to the factory default. Then it would be exactly as it was when you bought it.

This is not for the faint hearted - there will be major windows updates, and if you have bought software and no longer have the discs or licence keys you may lose it.

Having said all that I hate Norton with a passion and would get rid of it straight away. There are lots of excellent free firewalls and antivirus programs out there.

You can remove Adobe and reinstall it (I prefer another free reader - foxit).

Are you familiar with the task manager?

How old is the pc and what operating system is it running?

[Davethedog]

Before you do anything could I suggest you down load a registry fix program. There are many and most are free I actualy use one called registry fix.

I take it that you have cleaned up all the space and defragmented the disk.

Also look in your start up menu and see if you can remove stuff - remember removing it from this menu does not delete it from your PC - But be sure it not essential don't remove anything that you don't know what it is.

[Davethedog]

Sorry I meant down load and run registry fix. Many problems are due to corrupt files and many are easily fixed with registry repair.

[Mac70]

A suggestion to run a registry fixer is always made by someone who knows nothing about the registry.
It is a huge part of the OS which a few orphaned entries will make no difference to whatsoever. You have more chance of turning your pc into an expensive paper-weight.

postupdate.exe is part of the problem, see here
http://fileinfo.prevx.com/QQ436617083934-POST3 774197/POSTUPDATE.EXE.html

something else may be hiding it from your scans.

[sp1214]

If you work out the computer expert's fees of �100 per hour plus callout you may find it cheaper to buy a new computer.

[Postdog]

That last comment is so true!

My very first PC cost over a grand many years ago. OK, it came with various extra bits and bobs, but still only had an 8gb hard drive. My next one was less, but still dear.

Nowadays, prices are so cheap and bargains to be had all over the place, so I for one will not pay for repairs at all, simply get another.

You can always use the old one to back up files.

[Hymie]

I believe that Garry Glitter (Paul Gadd) was very impressed by the thoroughness of PC world�s examination of his laptop hard-dive.

[koster]

Save any files on a memory stick or burn them on a CD.

Do a system restore.

Problems solved, PC good as new.

For example, if you have a Dell computer press CTRL + F11 when you see the blue bar with www.dell.com during startup.

[ACtheTROLL]

system restore is useless - on many levels ... but you'll only be able to go back a few days ... so hardly good as new (with or without !!s)

as mac70 says registry fixers are at best useless ... at worst ... much worse (how can a registry tool possibly fix corrupt files??).

you could try ccleaner
http://www.ccleaner.com/download
it will improve things ... but don't expect miracles.

Ethel's is probably nearest to ideal ... a rebuild or factory restore (whichever came with the machine) is a bit daunting ... but if you are careful it's reasonably straightforward.

adobe ... well yes it does ... that's what it does
again eth's foxit http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php
or sumatra
http://blog.kowalczyk.info/software/sumatrapdf /
are a fraction of the size and lots faster

[trish432]

I think koster meant using the return to factory settings or windows disc, but what makes you say (AC) that system restore is just a few days? I`ve just taken mine back to 2nd of April. But as Ethel says I would return to factory settings or reinstall windows if you have the discs.

[Ethel]

trish - if your system restore goes back that far,it must be taking quite a big chunk of your hard drive.

[trish432]

I`ve just had a look Ethel it`s on maximum 12.5%, thats on a 160GB hard drive, is that ok or should I alter it? I have 132GB free space.

[classylady60]

The PC is around 4 yrs old. and it�s Windows XP Home Edition. It has 80 GB hd, 256MB DDR RAM and I think 2.8Ghz processor. I don�t have the original OS discs or Norton�s disc as they came pre-installed. I�m the original coward, scared of doing much re a PC. A factory restore or reinstall is too much for my little brain so I wouldn�t do either (no hope for me lol).

Things I can do are system defrag and disc scan, run the AV and update it, do the spybots etc and update them and delete cookies and temp files, I can also get into task manager, see what processes are running but wouldn�t know what to stop or not. I can also go into msconfig and startup menu but again, don�t know what to stop in there. I can do system restore points and can run things in safe mode. I wouldn�t touch the registry, read many threads where people say don�t touch unless you know what you�re doing and after the guy this week messed my pc up with his registry fix (which he plugged into mine via USB on his portable hard drive) I wouldn�t dream of touching it, so that�s about my lot for computer knowledge. Not sure postupdate.exe is malware as it�s to do with the shockwave in macromedia. Read that a lot of people have this and difficult to get rid of .

I really appreciate all your help, so thank you for that. I must say it is tempting to go out and buy a new PC but I don�t want Vista that�s for sure and I don�t want a lot of rubbish that comes set up on a new computer. I have never been drawn towards free AV or firewalls, I feel if one downloads these things and they go wrong, I can�t do much about it. I agree about Norton�s it takes a lot of space and I know every techy guy I have seen write on a forum, wouldn�t touch it with a barge pole.. but that�s because you all know what you�re doing and I�m a born again coward when it comes to my PC with no one to help me when things go wrong � sad isn�t it!

Thanks again for your input I really

[classylady60]

oops... it cut the last bit off of my post... it should read I really appreciate all your help.

Thanks again.

CL

[Mac70]

You do know there are plenty forums where you can be hand-held thru fixing your problems by tech guru's, many of them MVPs, for free?
Here's one example
http://forums.whatthetech.com/forums.html

p.s next time you need to buy an Anti-Virus go for Eset's NOD32.

[Ethel]

You know more than many computer users, CL.

I get the impression there is something running that isn't able to get up and go properly, for some reason, and it's slowing everything down.

I would like you to go off line, turn Norton and all your security software off, close every programme and application that you have running. Now you should be looking at your desktop and have very few icons in the system tray by the clock.

Open task manager. How many processes are running? What is the CPU useage? Maximise the screen and take a screen shot. (Open Paint - back to task manager, click Prtsc, open paint again, and copy).

Either post a link to the task manager here or email it to me at [email protected]

It will also be worth your while putting another 256 of RAM in - this will help Windows to run faster and is much cheaper. I did it myself and it is very easy to do. If you are interested in doing that, I will post the relevant information.

[ACtheTROLL]

trish ... I think you get the idea now?
if it's not hurting anything (it will slow you down slightly) just leave it
but - with the greatest respect ... if you have 12% used by restore ... and less than 25% of your discspace (including system) in use .... you are hardly a power user - your system should be running like new ... cause you're not challenging it, abusing it (using it?) to anywhere near it's potential

system restore is a flexible thing ... how big and how long are both dependent on each other but again you say april ... that's only 2 months ... not many (xp) systems would regard that as good as new.

the thing with system restore is ... it's just that ... (and with xp it's not a particularly good implementation of what it should be.

it's more back a bit to when it wasn't as bad as it it now.
(like using bostik on a teapot)

at the end of the day ... it's designed to restore your system
after a bad update
(not for programs installed ON your system ... so in many cases ... where a prog is the culprit uninstall is a better option.

the pro's don't often use it (it's a bit like the offside rule! - not many people understand it - and many more argue abourt it)
good old rebuild is more traumatic ... but also much more reliable ...

registry fixers - how could one prog cover all the possible combinations of software/hardware/driver versions?
a nice little earner ... but - consider a USB stick ... it only shows in explorer when it's plugged in ... what if you "clean" the "unused" drivers (unused only 'cause you're not using it just now)

classy's big problem is that without any system discs (unless they are still on the HDD) no reputable repairer will rebuild the system

[classylady60]

Hi again,

Thanks for your help Ethel. I have a problems with Norton's since Wednesday. The guy I had in to "fix" my computer messed it up... something to do with the registry and it's not updating live update now and I can't get into the quarantine file! We did a sys restore to the day before he did the "work" which meant I could use Norton's again (it had been disabled and not able to use it), but the whole problem wasn't sorted apparently.

I really don't want to switch off the AV etc just in case I can't get it back... but if I did the screen shot of the task manager without shutting it down would that be ok? I can do the screen shot but don't know how I would link it (to where) from my photo file where it goes to. Told you I was a technophobe lol.

Certainly wish I hadn't got this local guy in (advertises in church mag) as the Norton's was ok before that and now I'm left not knowing what to do as I don't have the disks and my subs run until December.

CL