Another Laptop Problem - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

THGL · 08-26-2005, 06:57 PM

I hope someone here can help me out on this. I got a call from my sister the other day telling me that her laptop croaked on her. From the info I got, it sounded like it could be a virus problem so I told her to update everything and see how it goes. It didn't help so I had her type everything up and email it to me. Below is what she emailed. I'm a Mac guy so I'm limited in what I can advise with her "PC" problem.

Thanks for any help.

Quote:

Compaq Presario 2100
2 years old
AMD Athlon XP Processor
1.79GHz, 448 MB RAM
50%+ free space on hard drive
Windows XP Professional Version 2002, Service Pack 2
Norton Internet Security/Antivirus software updated today (after 30 day renewal laps)
Personal Firewall and Wireless router firewall
Windows updates automatically run daily

Problem -
The computer will flash to a blue screen with some text on it and then shut down and reboot without warning. Can't tell what's on the blue screen because it disappears too fast. The first time it happened (3 days ago) it shut down and rebooted two times in a row (did not even finish the first reboot when it shut down for the second). It happened once yesterday while unattended, once this morning after 4 hours of use, and once tonight after 30 minutes of up time. After reboot, as the desktop starts to come back, there is a warning that Nortons has been turned off and the computer 'is at risk', then there is a Windows Security Warning window. Three of the 5 times this has happened, the active desktop disappears and must be 'reinstalled'.
This event has occurred after a variety of active usage times, a variety of down times, with various programs running or with only one program running.
Have run Norton Antivirus, Spybot and Spyware Blaster. All clear except for Spybot which finds a "DSO" exploit which is says it repairs but after a 2nd and 3rd run it is still there.
HELP!!

I asked her to also Google her BSOD and let me know what it looked like. She said that this screen (link) is more like what she sees than anything else Google supplied (but I'm assuming not an exact match).

If you need more specifics, please post and I'll get an answer for you. Again, thank you.

MooseMan3000 · 08-26-2005, 07:37 PM

Immediately, it sounds like a virus, though if it is I couldn't tell you which one.

However, it also sounds like the laptop could be overheating, or it could be a hardware problem. I've seen problems like that from overheating that were fixed by simply allowing airspace under the laptop. I can't guarantee that's the problem, but it's worth a shot.

If it's hardware, I'm leaning towards a RAM problem. She can download memtest86 and run that to see if there are any corrupt sectors on her RAM. One bad sector can cause random shutdowns and BSODs.

If possible, I think the easiest fix would be to format the machine. Backup everything necessary and do a fresh install of Windows, including a complete wipe of the hard drive. That way, if it is a virus, you know it's taken care of. And you can also very quickly figure out if it's not a virus. If formatting is not possible for whatever reason, then try troubleshooting the hardware.

phukraut · 08-27-2005, 09:48 AM

There is a way to tell XP not to reboot when getting a BSOD, so you can actually read what it says. I think you have right-click on My Computer, go to Properties, Advanced tab, Startup and Recovery, click Settings, uncheck Automatically restart. Now "OK" out of there and reboot to take effect.

08-26-2005, 07:37 PM	#2 (permalink)
MooseMan3000 wouldn't mind being a ninja. Location: Maine, the Other White State.	Immediately, it sounds like a virus, though if it is I couldn't tell you which one. However, it also sounds like the laptop could be overheating, or it could be a hardware problem. I've seen problems like that from overheating that were fixed by simply allowing airspace under the laptop. I can't guarantee that's the problem, but it's worth a shot. If it's hardware, I'm leaning towards a RAM problem. She can download memtest86 and run that to see if there are any corrupt sectors on her RAM. One bad sector can cause random shutdowns and BSODs. If possible, I think the easiest fix would be to format the machine. Backup everything necessary and do a fresh install of Windows, including a complete wipe of the hard drive. That way, if it is a virus, you know it's taken care of. And you can also very quickly figure out if it's not a virus. If formatting is not possible for whatever reason, then try troubleshooting the hardware.

08-27-2005, 09:48 AM	#3 (permalink)
phukraut Addict	There is a way to tell XP not to reboot when getting a BSOD, so you can actually read what it says. I think you have right-click on My Computer, go to Properties, Advanced tab, Startup and Recovery, click Settings, uncheck Automatically restart. Now "OK" out of there and reboot to take effect.