Finally got my computer back!

[MBTcustom]

Whew!!!!
About 3 weeks ago, I realized that I had sucked in a virus from my email. My neighbor is a computer guy (flies all over the country maintaining corporate systems) and told me that he could fix it no problem and it would only take about 20 minutes.
Riiiiiiiiiigggggggghhhhhhht.
He kept it for a week and I called and asked if it was done. "Oh yeah, it's done, you can have it back any time."
Well, I went and got it, but it wouldn't boot up. I called him and asked if he could help me get it going. He came over and worked on it till 11:00 two nights in a row, finally taking it back home with him, and again, told me that it would be done in no time.
A week later, I called him.
Still no joy.
Told my dad of my troubles, and he said he knew exactly what had gone wrong, and that he could fix it up in no time.
So I got the computer from the neighbor, and dropped it off at my dad's house. For the record, my father is actually a certified rocket scientist so this shouldn't be any problem right?
Another week later, it's finally done after much wringing of hands, and here I sit posting again.
For the past month, I have been posting using my "smart" phone and my wife's lap top after she goes to bed.
Lord it's good to be back in my office!!!!

[Sweetpea]

Ah, yes...

As nice as the newer phones can be, they sure suck when you actually want to post something!

[cbrick]

Father knows best!

Oh wait, that was a TV show . . .

Rick

[jonas302]

I have never had luck with computer guys even if they get them going they fail very soon afterwards done the same waiting forever and whatnot new plan is order the cheapest one amazon has every few years and be running again in 2 days

[km101]

I can understand your pain. Several months ago I had hard drive problems. I ordered a new H/D and it took almost a week to get here. I installed it and less than 48 hrs. later it went belly up! Emailed the company (apparently they don't do anything over the phone) and they said send it back and they would send a replacement. Two weeks later the replacement arrived. After installation, it would not format! Sent it back for refund and ordered from another company.

Got the new H/D and installed, formatted and restored info. Everything is running fine. And then the power supply died! I ordered a new computer! All together I was without a computer for about a month. I used my wife's computer when she was not using it, but it's not the same. I have a Windows phone, but God help me if I have to start using it as a computer! I can barely check email on it!
I later fixed the old one and gave it to the grandkids to play on when they come to visit.

My computer is my "window on the world" and I feel lost without it. I know just how you feel. Glad you are back in operation!

[Mk42gunner]

In my experience, a computer guy saying "It'll be ready next week," ranks right up there with "The check is in the mail."

Robert

[MBTcustom]

In my experience, a computer guy saying "It'll be ready next week," ranks right up there with "The check is in the mail."

Robert

You know what the worst part is? I'm a gunsmith. I can't say ****.
LOL!

[Cmm_3940]

Computer parts come in different grades of quality, just like everything else. You get what you pay for. Just like buying anything else, the trick is to know what you want, and then look for a deal on that specific part, rather than the cheapest one that meets you requirements. When you can, look for parts described as being 'enterprise', 'server', or 'datacenter'. Most of the 'everyday computing' components out there are total junk as far as QC goes, so if you go cheap, you take your chances.

As far as troubleshooting and fixing a personal computer taking weeks to complete... I smell a rat. It only takes a couple evenings of spare time to completely build one from the ground up from individual components. Yes if data recovery is needed, it can be iffy timewise. But again, that is something you should know is a problem right away.

I suppose you could say building or fixing a PC is sort of like building or fixing an AR15... :bigsmyl2:

[JLarsson]

So what did the problem turn out to be? Hardware, software, or both?

Some virus infestations CAN be pretty problematic to remove. Prevention is the best solution, but not always possible.

I'm sitting here listening to my laptop fan wind up and down. It's been making noise for a couple months now. I have a replacement sitting in a box next to me, but it will probably be a few days until I change it out. As long as it's still working, right?

[MBTcustom]

Well, what my dad told me is that this was the type of virus that is easy to remove if you know how, but if you don't, what it does is it tricks you into damaging yourself as you remove it. That's what my neighbor did. He got the virus off there alright, but in the process he dam near killed the computer. Drive C was totally compressed and lots of files were damaged.
It's OK though!!!!
I don't mind if she smokes a little, as long as she gets me along down the road till 2015!

[JLarsson]

I don't mind if she smokes a little, as long as she gets me along down the road till 2015!

Ha! Just don't let ALL the smoke out or she won't go anywhere. :)

[searcher4851]

I know how frustrating that can be. I've been there a couple of time myself. Has it caused me to be more diligent about backing up files? No. lol Everything can be fixed, it's just a matter of time. The hard part is waiting to have someone else fix it.
At least you had other means to stay connected.

Welcome back to the "full" experience.

[Moonie]

As a computer professional I can tell you, sometimes when we get home we really don't even want to look at a computer. I tell all my friends when they ask me to work on their computers, fast, good or cheap, pick 2.

[MBTcustom]

I know I know, I'm the same way. See post #7. That's why I didn't bug the guy, the whole time I'm thinking "isn't this ironic!" LOL!

[joesig]

Been tapping on a keyboard for almost 35 years. Designed, built, repaired PCs. They are a pain in the butt. As frustrated as you were, the men fixing it were even more frustrated, I promise.

[Airman Basic]

I've worked on countless computers "for friends". Usually the virus-of-the-month or hard drive or power supply. I can tell you, sometimes the particular problem, whether soft or hardware, is head scratching, occasionally head banging. I leave them for a day or two while the problem dances around in my head until a new session brings the answer. That's why it takes so long for me. BTW, my usual fee is a bubba burger (don't ask) at the local eatery.

[Moonie]

I've gotten to the point that I normally just backup important files, wipe clean, reinstall OS, virus scan/fix backed up files and restore them. Takes more time to fix issues, and even M$ recommends a reinstall every year.

[josper]

104868Just last week I had a problem with my PC, it was randomly blue screening and crashing. I took it to the pc doctor and they did this and that and 80$ later it was doing the same thing. Just on a hunch I took out two sticks of ram and tried it ,worked fine . I put in one of the sticks of ram and it stared crashing again. Took that one out and put in the other one and it works fine. So one bad stick of RAM was the head ache. I should have thought of that first off but blue screens put me into panic mode sometimes.

[roadie]

josper,
When I first saw that pic, I thought it was some kinda new fangled stove and wondered why on Earth you would hang ear muffs on it.

Get Linux....very few viruses and not a target like that other OS.

[josper]

LOL, that is a Thermaltake level 10 GT case. I build my own computers , I used to be big into gaming. Still do but not as much.

[Freischütz]

My computer spent 8 weeks in the shop waiting for parts. Finally the shop sent it to the manufacturer's repair facility where it spent 7 more weeks. Although the problem was the laptop's screen, the manufacturer wiped the hard drive before returning it. The store had a backup of my machine but the backup became corrupted so they couldn't restore anything. Luckily I had backed up most of the data so little was lost. Reloading all the programs was a pain. I hadn't seen the machine in so long I had forgotten what was on it.

[David2011]

These problems are a pain. I support computers/networks/printers/iPhones for a very large company. I have quit trying to fix virus problems. First I test the hard drive to be sure it's not a hard drive problem. Passing the onboard tests doesn't guarantee that the drive is OK but failing is a definite diagnosis. Then I pull the hard drive, back up the data with a USB adapter and wipe the hard drive. Removing the partitions followed by creating a new partition and formatting it gets rid of the bugs. We have a corporate image so I just re-image after that. Home users can just pop in the Windows disk and it will re-install the operating system at that point. I don't trust anything less as intrusive as the bugs have become.

David

[popper]

If you remove the cobwebs from the HS & fan on the laptop it will probably fix the problem. You do have a small vacuum cleaner there. With all the updates on Windows, a backup is the best approach, to your DVD burner. Worst one I had to fix was the one that vectored all tasks to NULL. Came from a 'fix-your-PC for you' site, the wife pressed YES. Funniest one, IT manager infected the corp. site with the love bug. Worst one was an accident, the server got wiped. Software is crummy any more. If you don't stripe the disks and get a bad Linux node you are in ****.

[dbosman]

I'm a computer tech. Microsoft has indirectly been paying my family bills since the days of free NT server discs being handed out at ALL the tech conferences. I can build and configure a new machine a whole lot faster than I can clean up someones mess.
For most real virus or malware infestations, installing a new hard drive and copying only the old data files is significantly faster then cleaning.