Mysteries of XP
anonymous_at_discussions.microsoft.com
Date: 06/24/04
- Next message: anonymous_at_discussions.microsoft.com: "address bar"
- Previous message: David Candy: "Re: I'll ask another way - My Desktop view has shrunk, showing 'My Computer'"
- In reply to: Geri: "Mysteries of XP"
- Next in thread: Wood Contour: "Re: Mysteries of XP"
- Reply: Wood Contour: "Re: Mysteries of XP"
- Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ]
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 19:16:56 -0700
You need to contact a local professional to help you . . .
>-----Original Message-----
>I don't know if we (me and my blinking buddies) have a
>virus or if I'm just clumsy, but I've spent two days
>nearly without sleep in front of a couple of miserable
>computers who are driving me up the wall.
>
>I think my problems started when I downloaded SP1 for my
>aging Pavilion. Or maybe Norton SystemWorks was the
>problem. Whatever, after installing SystemWorks
>everything started going wrong so I believed I had no
>choice but to reinstall XP.
>
>Halfway through installation I got an error saying that
>some file was missing so I tried to cancel the install.
>No luck. I couldn't go forward and I couldn't back out
so
>I called MS tech support.
>
>We messed around for over an hour and finally concluded I
>would have to partition my hard drive if I had any hope
to
>ever use the computer again. It was frozen with just a
>black screen and the mouse arrow, which worked nicely but
>pointed at nothing.
>
>Prior to partitioning, I'd always kept up with updates
and
>had no problems so I thought I should continue to do
>that. However, there were 47 updates waiting to be
>installed so I assumed that SP1 was the best idea.
>Apparently I was very wrong.
>
>Things went from bad to worse, which was when I installed
>Norton SystemWorks.
>
>I should explain. My husband had just been given a new
PC
>by the State to use for a Vocational Rehab program he's
>in. He's an engineer who can't get a job because he's
>never learned CAD drafting and apparently no CAD, no
work,
>at least not in his field.
>
>The State contracts with a private party who sometiems
>buys computers and software, sometimes builds systems,
for
>people who need them as part of a rehab program. My
>husband, who is also recovering from two bouts of lung
>cancer, a heart attack and two asbestos related lung
>cancer surgeries over the past 7 years, thought that he
>still had to get a job if we have any hope to continue to
>buy groceries.
>
>SystemWorks is one of the programs the State bought my
>husband for the new computer but the software belongs to
>him (to us, you might say). So, even though I've heard
>some warnings about Norton, I installed it, hoping it
>might protect my own aging Pavilion.
>
>I rarely download anything from Internet and have no
games
>installed on my computer. Regardless, I'm still careful
>with my computer because I've had virus problems over the
>years. No big deal, I don't think but I'm not so sure
>anymore.
>
>Shortly after installing SystemWorks, my CD and DVD
drives
>disappeared from my computer. I spent many, many hours
>troubleshooting with the help of MS and had almost
>yelled "uncle" when a nice young man from Calcutta or
>Bombay or thereabouts figured out a way to tweak the
>registry and restore the drives.
>
>About a week later, Outlook Express disappeared. And I
>mean, it DISAPPEARED. Just plain gone.
>
>This time I was too weary to sit locked to the telephone
>so I tried finding help online and a little bit on my
own,
>with absolutely no success, until I ran across a website
>run by someone who calls himself MalcolmX and has a
>website called the Old Geek or something like that.
>
>He had a complicated string of commands to follow, but
>voila! Outlook Express was mine again!
>
>Now, all of this time I was only using the new PC, which
>is networked to the "old" one, for e-mail, when I could.
>I have Broadband on both computers.
>
>Just when I thought all was fixed again, I had to send an
>e-mail just when I was in the middle of doing a virus
>scan. That's when I discovered that, although the little
>icon that shows connnection to Internet was in my start
>bar, I could not get a connection to Internet nor could I
>get any e-mail, on the new computer. Somehow, the new
>computer was affected by the problems on the old one even
>though I'd been told that they are not networked in a way
>so that the problems on one will affect the other. Nor
>had this happened to that point.
>
>Further, when I would reboot the new PC, the old one
>sometimes but not always would also reboot. This had
>never happened before.
>
>I have done hours of poking around and I've discovered
>that the new PC thinks it doesn't have a modem of any
kind
>installed.
>
>Is it possible that the high speed modem installed by
>Comcast does not show up as a modem in my System Devices
>for the new computer? And, I'm also wondering if the
tech
>guy hired by the State might have failed to put a regular
>modem into the new PC when he built it. Maybe figuring
>we'd never know the difference?
>
>Anyhow, my big question right now is whether maybe I have
>some new or established virus in both computers despite
my
>daily virus scanning.
>
>That's one question.
>
>The other one is, how do I locate and reinstall a modem
in
>the new computer? The hardware is certainly there but
the
>computer doesn't want to admit it. If nothing else, I
>should be able to at least access the high speed modem
>installed by Comcast, huh?
>
>Further good news or maybe just confusing news is that
the
>network is working except for the modem/Internet access
>part. The networked printer is still working from either
>computer and I can also access documents from either
>computer. But I simply can't access Internet from the
new
>computer because it denies it has a modem of any kind.
>
>For some reason, I can't do a System Restore, either, or
>at least no restoration that will do me any good. I've
>done restores on both units and even when there's a
>supposed restoration, still no modem on the new
computer.
>Except for SystemWorks and SP1, I've installed absolutely
>nothing on either computer but they've both been poked
and
>prodded so much, hard telling what has been accidentally
>tweaked that maybe is the problem here.
>
>Oh, yes - and each time the old PC reboots for no
apparent
>reason, I get a warning that there's just been a serious
>error.
>
>The error report says that the problem was because of a
>driver that can't be identified. But since I haven't
>installed anything that should include a driver unless I
>just don't know the difference, I don't know what to do
>about it. I would happily uninstall the offending
program
>or hardware or software, etc., if I only knew what it
is.
>But since I haven't installed anything, how do I
uninstall
>it?
>
>Sorry if I sound a little hysterical and maybe flippant.
>I'm probably a little of both. I'm very, very exhausted
>from these days of tilting at Mr. Gates windmills.
>MalcolmX/Old Geek has convinced me that there are fixes
>out there for every seemingly insurmountable problem so
>hopefully someone will come riding along on their dark
>horse and rescue me one more time. Please?
>
>Thanks, whoever you are.
>
>Geri
>
>
>
>.
>
- Next message: anonymous_at_discussions.microsoft.com: "address bar"
- Previous message: David Candy: "Re: I'll ask another way - My Desktop view has shrunk, showing 'My Computer'"
- In reply to: Geri: "Mysteries of XP"
- Next in thread: Wood Contour: "Re: Mysteries of XP"
- Reply: Wood Contour: "Re: Mysteries of XP"
- Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ]
Relevant Pages
|
