Topic: No, I will not fix your computer. (Read 65407 times)

Bongo Bill · « **Reply #200 on:** September 02, 2009, 01:11:17 AM »

Whoo boy. That's not the worst virus problem I've heard of (one of them actually managed to remove most of the machine's device drivers somehow) but the registry is almost certainly fucked. I don't know the particular registry keys that relate to system restore, and I'm too about-to-fall-asleep to look it up right now, but that should be a good place to start.

Of course, depending on why it thinks it doesn't have to do a system restore, even fixing the registry so that it can try to restore might not solve the problem. In either case, my advice would be to back up everything irreplaceable (if practical, do this from another, non-Windows system), reformat, and reinstall. It will probably be faster and definitely be much less of a headache. It's the only way to be sure. (Having lost the CDs is not a terribly big deal.)

If he definitely can't back everything up, though... well, it depends on a lot of factors, and I have no doubt that many of the possibilities will be beyond me.

Frocto · « **Reply #201 on:** September 02, 2009, 03:45:30 AM »

Okay, he seems to have fixed it by killing a bunch of processes. Will get the names if it happens again.

TA · « **Reply #202 on:** September 02, 2009, 08:15:07 AM »

Tell him to try Malware-Bytes.

Kayma · « **Reply #203 on:** September 05, 2009, 01:34:53 PM »

Quote from: TA on September 02, 2009, 08:15:07 AM

Tell him to try Malware-Bytes.

+1. Update it, run it in safe mode, reboot. If that doesn't remove it, it's time for a reformat.

Thad · « **Reply #204 on:** October 24, 2009, 09:29:57 AM »

Quote from: Yoji on September 01, 2009, 04:01:15 PM

Quote from: patito on September 01, 2009, 03:46:03 PM
Yoji just thinks it's icky for his dad to be watching tits on the internet and gumming up his computer with who-knows-what kind of malware/spyware because he's too busy jerking off to browse responsibly.

Realize conversation is 6 weeks old now, but...Ubuntu is a perfectly good OS for people who only browse the Web. My girlfriend has no trouble using it. Firefox is Firefox.

Actually, partly at her suggestion and partly because I was sick of having my comic book inventory spreadsheet in a different room from my actual comic books, last night I set up an old Dell in my workroom with Xubuntu. It's just going to be for browsing, OpenOffice, and I bought Comic Collector Pro after verifying it would work under Wine. (I was briefly thinking of putting Windows 7 on the machine, but then realized A) I don't have a 32-bit disc and B) I don't have a spare DVD-ROM drive -- other than USB, and this machine won't boot from USB. Could have just put XP on there, but on balance I decided Xubuntu is far less effort for what is ultimately a spare PC.)

Frocto · « **Reply #205 on:** November 06, 2009, 09:05:44 AM »

I wasn't sure if this was the right thread for this, or if there even is a thread for this. Anyway.

It's a well-kept secret of mine that I record LP videos every once in a while and they are slowly killing my laptop dead. Stuff that ran perfectly when I started is now starting to come up looking like shit when I'm done recording and it's driving me nuts. I don't want to make bad videos! (insert joke here)

Anyway, the main problem with this laptop is it works fine for the first few videos, but it gets worse and worse the longer I record and the underside keeps getting hotter, till it is basically burning to the touch. I wish that was exaggeration but it is not! My fingers have stung for a while after touching it sometimes.

So is this something that means my laptop is fucked? Do I need to get a new one or should I just reinstall my OS and that will magically fix it somehow. I figure Vista is at least partially to blame here, since it is a hungry fucking whore, but it's the OS I learnt how to get my setup working on, so I am kind of loathe to get rid of it. Upgrading to Windows 7 would be fine, since I understand that's the same as Vista but less retarded.

If I have to junk this thing, I want to get a computer that will give me smoother videos while I'm recording. A lot of my videos are really chuggy and unwatchable to the point where I only upload some of them (ho ho) so that needs to be addressed, especially now that I'm being asked to LP PS2 games. This is my laptop, although mine only has a 120 GB hard-drive. You can probably tell it is not very good. If I get a new laptop, it has to be able to not die when I try to record uncompressed video from the ps3, not chug when I run Spelunky and maybe even be able to do all this without me having to close my browser. I don't care if it can run TF2 or not, that is the last of my concerns right now.

I am trying to keep the price under $2000 AUD.

Please help or I may be prematurely retired from LPing. :(

Brentai · « **Reply #206 on:** November 06, 2009, 10:51:37 AM »

Quote from: Frocjetlancher on November 06, 2009, 09:05:44 AM

it works fine for the first few videos, but it gets worse and worse the longer I record

No this pretty much always happens, just reset regularly or don't use Windows.

Quote

and the underside keeps getting hotter, till it is basically burning to the touch. I wish that was exaggeration but it is not! My fingers have stung for a while after touching it sometimes.

This also pretty much always happens. I don't know of any laptop that's not going to become uncomfortably ~~energetic~~ hot; they're pretty much constantly blowing heat out of their undersides. You can buy a cooling base put under it if it's a problem.

Which is not to say that the heat's not doing horrible things to the hardware's lifespan. Laptops are just not that suited for heavy processing, even though everyone does it anyway.

Quote

Upgrading to Windows 7 would be fine, since I understand that's the same as Vista but less retarded.

It literally is Vista with some of the retarded taken out. And a couple UI changes.

If you really are going to get a new machine for doing LPs, get yourself a desktop. You should probably have one anyway, since like I said laptops are really designed to just be used when you're on the go and not necessarily doing a whole bunch of heavy CPU stuffs. Beyond that you'll probably want to look for something with a bigger hard drive (likely why you keep seeing your performance drop), max RAM (usually 4 gig) and probably at least an actual GPU (graphics card on desktop, ATi or nVidia sticker on laptop). Beefing up your processor can't hurt but I think the major thing is having BIG MEMORIES MORE MONEY.

Rico · « **Reply #207 on:** November 06, 2009, 11:53:59 AM »

Quote from: Brentai on November 06, 2009, 10:51:37 AM

No this pretty much always happens, just reset regularly or don't use Windows.

Bad at computers.

Anyhow, you should probably get a can of compressed air at your local Office Whatever and blow out the inside of your laptop. Overheating issues where there were no overheating issues before are almost always related to dust buildup.

Windows 7 is Vista without retardation in the same way 2000 is NT and XP is 2000 is NT. It is very much worth the (reinstall), don't upgrade a Windows install on pain of death).

Brentai · « **Reply #208 on:** November 06, 2009, 12:08:52 PM »

Quote from: Rico on November 06, 2009, 11:53:59 AM

Bad at computers.

Oh, I'm sorry, I was waiting for you to back this up with something.

TA · « **Reply #209 on:** November 06, 2009, 12:10:45 PM »

An "Upgrade" install is just a full install, with your old Windows and Program Files and shit Windows (Old) folders. I think it's fine to do.

Rico · « **Reply #210 on:** November 06, 2009, 02:38:55 PM »

sorry, Brent, but unless you're still using 98 or something I don't know what to tell you other than, "You're doing it wrong," if you have to regularly reboot a Windows machine for performance issues.

Brentai · « **Reply #211 on:** November 06, 2009, 04:20:40 PM »

Kay I'll just go ahead and assume you know what the fuck we're even discussing here based on all the stuff you've recorded.

Rico · « **Reply #212 on:** November 06, 2009, 04:44:34 PM »

Admittedly I do more video stuff on my Mac laptop than my Windows desktop, but I'm assuming you're talking about "FRAPSing gameplay for hours at a time," which I've done in 3-5 hour sessions acceptably, on a much older and less powerful computer than I'm currently running, though I will admit that WoW is less resource-intensive than a PS2 emulator.

The caution against running an upgrade over reinstalling Windows is mostly because you'll occasionally get some weird things happening with program installs being carried over, but it's getting rarer and you don't really get the registry cruft degradation anymore.

Frocto · « **Reply #213 on:** November 06, 2009, 09:04:01 PM »

Thankyou, guys. I will try getting a Windows 7 install, a cooling pad and some air.

Rico · « **Reply #214 on:** November 06, 2009, 09:50:18 PM »

To be clear, Windows 7 isn't going to fix anything, but it's a pretty good OS and is nicer to use than Vista in a number of ways.

Frocto · « **Reply #215 on:** November 06, 2009, 10:40:42 PM »

A CAN OF COMPRESSED AIR IS $22

WHAT SORT OF WORLD DO WE LIVE IN

Rico · « **Reply #216 on:** November 06, 2009, 10:42:24 PM »

$18 of my burly American dollars get me a three-pack of compressed air cans. Ah ha ha.

McDohl · « **Reply #217 on:** November 06, 2009, 11:12:45 PM »

Looks like the Aussie dollars I got back in 2006 are worthless.

Cool, I'm out of terlitt paper.

Mongrel · « **Reply #218 on:** November 07, 2009, 06:29:49 AM »

Quote from: McDohl on November 06, 2009, 11:12:45 PM

Looks like the Aussie dollars I got back in 2006 are worthless.

Cool, I'm out of terlitt paper.

Uhm, the Aussie Dollar is on the rise. Going by this morning's rates, an AUD can currently be exchanged for about 91 cents USD.

If you have more than a buck or two then you have some non-negligable amount of money.

McDohl · « **Reply #219 on:** November 07, 2009, 08:43:26 AM »

I know, I was just kidding.

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Author Topic: No, I will not fix your computer. (Read 65407 times)