Re: computer problems, is it my hard drive
- From: Malke <notreally@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 02 Jul 2007 12:43:22 -0700
cjpaetz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
It all started about a month ago ...........
I have a Dell Dimension 4600 with Windows XP operating
system (no network) it is
a home computer that is more than 4 years old.
I have had some Virus / Trojan Horse problems which are
resolved. My computer is
now protected with Avast and Stopzilla.
I have changed ISP's in the last month in my thrashing
about to resolve problems.
I have downloaded updated drivers through a service
(driveragent.com) and also sub-
scribed to a registry repair service (registryfix.com).
While these steps have eliminated many of the strange
"blue screen messages"
like : BAD POOL HEADER or IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL , I am
still getting
a "blue screen message" that says Windows has to be shut
down to protect my
computer and these are becoming more frequent.
I suspect (but I'm not certain) my hard drive (which is
a Western Digital Caviar internal 40GB) and have ordered a
Seagate 160GB to replace it.
I would appreciate any comments about the possible source
of my problems.
I DO intend to replace the hard drive and while I can
handle the physical aspect
I don't how to install the OS.
If more info is needed I'll try to provide it !!
I'm not saying this to hurt your feelings, but almost everything you've done has been bad for your system. For example:
1. You installed drivers from a service instead of getting them from Dell for your specific model machine, as you should have done. This is probably why you are getting errors.
2. You used a registry cleaner which is normally a bad idea. This probably damaged other parts of your operating system.
3. The hard drive's physical state was probably not to blame for the issues you were/are having. You can always do a drive diagnostic on it with a utility downloaded from the drive mftr.'s website. See this link for how to do that:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot
However, since you are going to replace the drive with a larger one anyway, you will do a clean install of Windows. Since you have an older Dell, you would have received an operating system disk and the Dell Resource CD. To install your operating system on the new drive, boot with the operating system disk and follow the directions at the links below.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Reinstalling_Windows - What you will need on-hand
4. After you get the operating system installed, use the Resource CD to install all the drivers. If you have lost your Resource CD, download all the drivers for your model machine from Dell's website first and burn to CD-R or put on a large-capacity USB thumbdrive. You need drivers for the chipset, network adapter, audio, and video.
5. If your operating system did not come with Service Pack 2, install it next. Have it burned to CD-R before you start your installation project because you do not want to connect the computer to the Internet without SP2 installed and the Windows Firewall active. You can download SP2 here:
Download full SP2 - http://tinyurl.com/5bobl
Order SP2 on CD from MS - http://tinyurl.com/6g675
After you get SP2 installed, go to Windows Update and do all the subsequent updates. Then install a current version antivirus and the rest of your programs.
Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
.
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- From: cjpaetz
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