08-26-2005, 06:57 PM | #1 (permalink) | |
Psycho
Location: Louisville, KY
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Another Laptop Problem
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:
If you need more specifics, please post and I'll get an answer for you. Again, thank you.
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"The truth is merely an excuse for lack of imagination." - Garak |
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08-26-2005, 07:37 PM | #2 (permalink) |
wouldn't mind being a ninja.
Location: Maine, the Other White State.
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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) |
Addict
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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.
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Tags |
laptop, problem |
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