Comp question!

[Mephistophelily]

I think my computer has become narcoleptic.

I'll be in the middle of working on something, and it decides to either go into sleep mode for no reason (No, I didn't push the button to make it do that) or completely shut itself down.

Any idea what's up with it? I've run my diagnostic program a few times- though its hard to let finish when the comp shuts off halfway through- and it said there's nothing wrong that it can tell. I noticed that I get the "Your Firewall is off" Balloon once in awhile- but my settings says it IS on. Could that be related, or just more crazy computer antics?

 

[webber1998]

Since it appears as windows is telling you that your firewall is off, that would point me to a virus.

There are lots of viruses that can do that fairly easily. If you don't have a decent anti virus, that would be the first place that I'd look. The old IHateYou virus was great for this one.

Do you have a decent anti-virus running?

Can you boot up and run in safe mode without it turning off? Networking disabled?

Are you just using the windows firewall or do you have a hard firewall installed?

 

[lady_sensuous]

 

[Arrows006]

kinda sounds to me like the CPU is overheating. If it is an older computer try cleaning out the Proc heatsink of dust and make sure the fan (if there is one there) is running with no problems.

 

[SubNebGuy]

kinda sounds to me like the CPU is overheating. If it is an older computer try cleaning out the Proc heatsink of dust and make sure the fan (if there is one there) is running with no problems.

although most motherboards will start beeping seconds before it shuts down due to overheating.

My guess is the power supply is going bad. it can overheat and not make the system beep...if your CPU gets too hot, it should beep.

i think the firewall thing is unrelated to this issue.

 

[TBKahuna123]

COuld be an overheating CPU, but it would start doing other wierd things before it shuts down. This sounds like the same behavior that the old Code Red worm used to cause. There IS a new worm out that I don't know much about, it's possible you got hit with that. I would run a good anti virus program or use one of the available online scanners. Then make sure you have all your Windows patches installed.

Finally it could be an issue with Spyware. Nearly every erratic issue I've seen on my corporate network it the last year has been related to Spyware. Since we put a goot spyware protection plan in place, very few issues. I would google Spybot S&D and Adaware. Those two programs are the best combo I've found. download and run those as well as the AV. If that doesn't fix it, then you are least know it's not virus/worm related and could be a hardware issue. In the list of possibilities though, I'd put hardware failues further down on the list.

 

[Undomiel]

The same thing has been happening to my PC lately. And it seems to happen every time I connect/disconnect a USB device.

 

[lotsoflove]

Unpredictable computer

I think my computer has become narcoleptic.

I'll be in the middle of working on something, and it decides to either go into sleep mode for no reason (No, I didn't push the button to make it do that) or completely shut itself down.

Any idea what's up with it? I've run my diagnostic program a few times- though its hard to let finish when the comp shuts off halfway through- and it said there's nothing wrong that it can tell. I noticed that I get the "Your Firewall is off" Balloon once in awhile- but my settings says it IS on. Could that be related, or just more crazy computer antics?

It sounds to me like it is a heating problem. Make sure you back up your stuff: Documents, emails, photos, etc. just in case it decides to go for good.
Also look at how much space on disk is left.
Good luck!

 

[TBKahuna123]

Why is it I hear so much about overheating computers and I have never had a problem? Even my overclocked systems never have issues.

 

[SubNebGuy]

Why is it I hear so much about overheating computers and I have never had a problem? Even my overclocked systems never have issues.

cuz you prolly built your own pc, and routed cables properly to avoid obstucting the airflow, and picked a properly sized power supply of good quality, and maybe even put in a case fan or two (or three).

the OP probably has a compaq with crap components and an underpowered power supply

 

[M's girl]

Can I throw in another question?

I have the same problem but I don't think it is because my CPU is overheating. I bought my Fujitsu Siemens D 7830 notebook in December of 2003. It came with some software called Microsoft Works Suite 2003 (including Encarta, Picture It!, Works, MS WORD and Autoroute 2002).

Since I use programs like Powerpoint, Excel and Outlook too, I wanted to install MS Office on my computer. "They" said that would not be a problem and the WORD version from the Office CD ROM would sort of overrule/overwrite the WORD version from Works Suite that, by the way and unfortunately, was already installed on the computer! (I don't believe that overrule/overwrite concept anymore because that's what they also said about if you re-install MS Office, which we recently did on our downstairs notebook, where we now have two MS Office versions running; the second one did not overwrite the first one as was promised.)

So I installed MS Office and from day one there have been problems when I tried to use WORD. I have formatted my computer since and re-installed everything (except the Worlks Suite stuff of course, left that off); MS Windows and MS Office. It never helped because I tried it two more times. It looks as if there is still something left on my computer from the first WORD version and the Works Suite version seems to be in conflict of some sort with the Office version. At least; that's what it looks/sounds like, everyone is telling me. But they can't tell me what to do without it. Everyine says formatting should do the trick, but it doesn't.

I figured there must be a way to clean out the computer to the stage where there is only the DOS stuff left that is needed to be able to start installing MS Windows. The prompt it's called, no?

So how do I best clean out my computer to that point and how can I check, from there, if there is really nothing left that could come in conflict with other components again? Is there a way now, without uninstalling everything or formatting again that I can see if there are components that are conflicting?

I always thought that if you format you computer/hard disc, it should be 'clean' enough, but learned since that that's not always the case (or so I notice).

Or could there be something else? I use Adaware and such. Plus... even if I format my computer and install everything 'fresh' without using internet or going online, the computer will crash (so IMO it's not something caused by online activities).

So what happens when my computer shuts down? Most of the time my screen will fix and the text (because it mainly happens in WORD) wil look askew/crooked. After that there is nothing else you can do (like I said: it's fixed, curor won't move, nothing will work) but turn off the computer the rough way. Sometimes mu screen will show nothing else but vertical (black) lines on a white screen and the text is gone. Another variation is a few coloured bars (green and red) horizontally (kinda thick)... I've only seen the latter one twice. What also happens sometimes is that the whole computer will turn of without warning with a "pouff" and that's it. That sounds most like what the other's described, only I'm pretty sure it's not the heat and besides it looks very much to be WORD-use related (although it happened once while working with Powerpoint and today while visiting a website... )

So what do you think? What's wrong? And what's more: what can I do to get my computer working properly again. I miss being able to use WORD and having to work around that!

Thanks guys, in advance...

 

[M's girl]

OK, I have another one.

Determined to give it one more try I'm now making back-ups and such. I'm throwing away stuff (it's like cleaning the attick somewhat ) and I'm making lists of passwords and registrations.

I think we will go for the format C: option one more time. I was just wondering if there's any tips you can give me before I format and do something really stupid like forgetting to make certain back ups. (Drivers and things like that?)

Also, is there a quick and easy way to save the e-mail messages I kept? I know I can save them one by one, but that's one hell of a job. There must be a better and easier way. I do not need to re-install them (I can build a fresh and new list) but I would like to save some of the correspondence with friends. They must be in a directory somewhere already is my guess but I have no clue where to look. Same question for the addressbook, only I wish to re-install that one, unlike the messages. I use Outlook Express, by the way.

Might have more questions also later on if you don't mind

Miss M's - computer-dummy - Girl

 

[cd1_christine]

Couple of questions....

I think we will go for the format C: option one more time. I was just wondering if there's any tips you can give me before I format and do something really stupid like forgetting to make certain back ups. (Drivers and things like that?)

Also, is there a quick and easy way to save the e-mail messages I kept? I know I can save them one by one, but that's one hell of a job. There must be a better and easier way. I do not need to re-install them (I can build a fresh and new list) but I would like to save some of the correspondence with friends. They must be in a directory somewhere already is my guess but I have no clue where to look. Same question for the addressbook, only I wish to re-install that one, unlike the messages. I use Outlook Express, by the way.

What version of Windows are you running, and what email program are you using?
If it's Windows 95/98/Me, and you're using Outlook Express, then your email should be in C:\Windows\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{some long serial number}\Microsoft\Outlook Express

For Windows 2K/XP, replace c:\windows with c:\documents and settings\<your username>

Although, for 2K/XP, the format c: won't work. It could be that you're reinstalling overtop, rather than actually formatting, too, which would leave everything just as screwed up as it was before.

For 9x, after you've backed up everything, boot from the install CD or floppy, go to the "Start with CD-ROM support", then type "format c: /s /u".

That'll do a full format, without trying to save any unformat information.

When it's done, you can then copy the \win98 (or similar) folder from the CD-ROM to the hard drive ("mkdir c:\win98" then "copy d:\win98\*.* c:\win98"). Reboot, and you'll get a command prompt. "cd win98", then "setup". This'll install much quicker than from the CD-ROM, and it'll also mean you don't have to go hunting for your CD whenever you need to add a component to Windows, or a hardware driver, or whatever.


CD

 

[cd1_christine]

If it's Windows 95/98/Me, and you're using Outlook Express, then your email should be in C:\Windows\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{some long serial number}\Microsoft\Outlook Express

For Windows 2K/XP, replace c:\windows with c:\documents and settings\<your username>

Got that wrong there....

For 9x, it's in c:\windows\Application Data\Identities\{long serial number}\Microsoft\Outlook Express

2K/XP, I had it right....
C:\Documents and Settings\<your username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{some long serial number}\Microsoft\Outlook Express

CD

 

[M's girl]

What version of Windows are you running, and what email program are you using?
If it's Windows 95/98/Me, and you're using Outlook Express, then your email should be in C:\Windows\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{some long serial number}\Microsoft\Outlook Express

For Windows 2K/XP, replace c:\windows with c:\documents and settings\<your username>

Although, for 2K/XP, the format c: won't work. It could be that you're reinstalling overtop, rather than actually formatting, too, which would leave everything just as screwed up as it was before.

For 9x, after you've backed up everything, boot from the install CD or floppy, go to the "Start with CD-ROM support", then type "format c: /s /u".

That'll do a full format, without trying to save any unformat information.

When it's done, you can then copy the \win98 (or similar) folder from the CD-ROM to the hard drive ("mkdir c:\win98" then "copy d:\win98\*.* c:\win98"). Reboot, and you'll get a command prompt. "cd win98", then "setup". This'll install much quicker than from the CD-ROM, and it'll also mean you don't have to go hunting for your CD whenever you need to add a component to Windows, or a hardware driver, or whatever.


CD

Haha, nerd that I am.... I had to read this all three times before I could make some sense out of it. I will print it and work from there. I have Windows XP Pro on my computer and indeed use Outlook Express (although Outlook is installed too, I only use the tasks and calander function from there and prefer Outlook Express for e-mail).

What I did to prepare so far is copy a lot onto my external hard drive. I will have M read this, he probably can make more sense of it than I (or so I hope). Thanks for the advise!

 

[cd1_christine]

Well, then.....

Haha, nerd that I am.... I had to read this all three times before I could make some sense out of it. I will print it and work from there. I have Windows XP Pro on my computer and indeed use Outlook Express (although Outlook is installed too, I only use the tasks and calander function from there and prefer Outlook Express for e-mail).

What I did to prepare so far is copy a lot onto my external hard drive. I will have M read this, he probably can make more sense of it than I (or so I hope). Thanks for the advise!

Don't worry....my advice tends to be a little technical sometimes, so don't feel bad that you had to re-read it.

Anyway, with Windows XP, you can't do the "format c:", because of the way XP handles drives.

Do the full backup of everything important, (BTW...your address book isn't in the same place as your email, so if you want that, too, you'll need to find it. I can't remember where it is off the top of my head, but go to Start->Search, and search for *.wab in all files and folders. The file that it finds is your address book.)

Once that's done, put your XP CD in the drive, reboot, and follow the prompts. Don't do any of the repair options....I think it's Enter to install Windows, F8 to agree to the licence, then something else I can't remember off the top of my head to do a fresh install with format, ignoring the install it already found.
Don't do the quick format, either, as the full is guaranteed to get rid of everything.

One more tip....make sure you have your network card drivers before you do the install, as you'll need them to download everything else you need.


CD

 

[borisk]

Have you checked the power supply? A failing powersupply can cause a lot of strange behaviors.

there is a free outlook backup program out there, just gotta look for it.

If you format and reinstall xp make a 2 partitions. one for the OS and the other for personal data. Once you have a clean install with all the xp updates get a program like ghost and creat a image. Once you install all of your aplications you can do a incramental bacup of your personal data. Then burn them on a DVD or external HD or both.

I reinstall XP from images once a quarter, just me being over cautious with all the crap that gets installed.

Boris

 

[Mary Hall]

Just buy an external hard drive and transfer everything to it.

 

[M's girl]

Have you checked the power supply? A failing powersupply can cause a lot of strange behaviors.

there is a free outlook backup program out there, just gotta look for it.

If you format and reinstall xp make a 2 partitions. one for the OS and the other for personal data. Once you have a clean install with all the xp updates get a program like ghost and creat a image. Once you install all of your aplications you can do a incramental bacup of your personal data. Then burn them on a DVD or external HD or both.

I reinstall XP from images once a quarter, just me being over cautious with all the crap that gets installed.

Boris

Thanks. It looks to me like it's not the power supply, at least, not every time. There was a time when I left the computer on 24/7 and it shut off by itself at night, sometimes (thus without me using WORD), so at those times the power/overheating thing might have been the problem, Idon't know. Since then I started to shut off the computer during the night again and no problems since, except when using WORD, so....

The partitioning is a good idea, although I have tried that in the past for the same reason (other computer). But I know I don't know enough about computers to keep the OS part clean. I mean, in theory you should be able to that way, but when I install new software (downloaded from the internet) I will not recognize stuff that I don't need when the installing/exe thing tells me it's better to install such and such. You know what I mean? And that way the OS might be cluttered with stuff I don't want and need before I even know it

The thing about backing everything up is that I'm afraid I will also back up stuff that causes the problems. Like when I do a complete back up of Outlook when I only want the addressbook, the messages and the blocked addresses from spam-mailers safed. What if there is shit somewhere in the other data? I will copy thát right back onto my 'cleaned' computer, won't I? How do you recognize this? Because I run spyware detection shit all the time. I have anti-virus and basically am sealed from the neck down, and still...

Hope this makes sense.

 

[M's girl]

Just buy an external hard drive and transfer everything to it.

Have that. An external hard drive. Most of my (own created) data is on there now. I could use it to back up the whole OS (enough space basically) but am afraid to do that (see previous post).

The thing is of course... I know far too less about computers to do this thing right I guess I just have to take my chances and go for the trial and error route. Only I don't want to. I wish I knew exactly ( ) what I was doing and know for certain all the effort was indeed of help. Sigh.

But you guys have helped me tremendously already. Next weekend is clean-up time, so if you never see me after that again... I failed

 

[Cathleen]

I had some trouble with my computer powering off at will too.

Here is the link to that thread, there was lots of good info shared and now my compter and I are friends again.

Also, cd1_Christine has EXCELLENT knowledge and shares it easily.

Thread about my computer issue

 

[M's girl]

I had some trouble with my computer powering off at will too.

Here is the link to that thread, there was lots of good info shared and now my compter and I are friends again.

Also, cd1_Christine has EXCELLENT knowledge and shares it easily.

Thread about my computer issue

Thanks Cathleen, I will look into that one too, and you're right about Christine

 

[StonetheCrow077]

this might sound dumb... but, do a defrag...

 

[jason_jenn]

Can I throw in another question?

I have the same problem but I don't think it is because my CPU is overheating. I bought my Fujitsu Siemens D 7830 notebook in December of 2003. It came with some software called Microsoft Works Suite 2003 (including Encarta, Picture It!, Works, MS WORD and Autoroute 2002).

Since I use programs like Powerpoint, Excel and Outlook too, I wanted to install MS Office on my computer. "They" said that would not be a problem and the WORD version from the Office CD ROM would sort of overrule/overwrite the WORD version from Works Suite that, by the way and unfortunately, was already installed on the computer! (I don't believe that overrule/overwrite concept anymore because that's what they also said about if you re-install MS Office, which we recently did on our downstairs notebook, where we now have two MS Office versions running; the second one did not overwrite the first one as was promised.)

So I installed MS Office and from day one there have been problems when I tried to use WORD. I have formatted my computer since and re-installed everything (except the Worlks Suite stuff of course, left that off); MS Windows and MS Office. It never helped because I tried it two more times. It looks as if there is still something left on my computer from the first WORD version and the Works Suite version seems to be in conflict of some sort with the Office version. At least; that's what it looks/sounds like, everyone is telling me. But they can't tell me what to do without it. Everyine says formatting should do the trick, but it doesn't.

I figured there must be a way to clean out the computer to the stage where there is only the DOS stuff left that is needed to be able to start installing MS Windows. The prompt it's called, no?

So how do I best clean out my computer to that point and how can I check, from there, if there is really nothing left that could come in conflict with other components again? Is there a way now, without uninstalling everything or formatting again that I can see if there are components that are conflicting?

I always thought that if you format you computer/hard disc, it should be 'clean' enough, but learned since that that's not always the case (or so I notice).

Or could there be something else? I use Adaware and such. Plus... even if I format my computer and install everything 'fresh' without using internet or going online, the computer will crash (so IMO it's not something caused by online activities).

So what happens when my computer shuts down? Most of the time my screen will fix and the text (because it mainly happens in WORD) wil look askew/crooked. After that there is nothing else you can do (like I said: it's fixed, curor won't move, nothing will work) but turn off the computer the rough way. Sometimes mu screen will show nothing else but vertical (black) lines on a white screen and the text is gone. Another variation is a few coloured bars (green and red) horizontally (kinda thick)... I've only seen the latter one twice. What also happens sometimes is that the whole computer will turn of without warning with a "pouff" and that's it. That sounds most like what the other's described, only I'm pretty sure it's not the heat and besides it looks very much to be WORD-use related (although it happened once while working with Powerpoint and today while visiting a website... )

So what do you think? What's wrong? And what's more: what can I do to get my computer working properly again. I miss being able to use WORD and having to work around that!

Thanks guys, in advance...

Hi... I don't know if this is too little, too late, but I'll give my two cents, since everyone else is giving a go....

Having worked for MOUS (Microsoft Office User Support), I have seen this issue quite often and is usually easy to overcome... Now these directions will be under the assumption you are using a Recovery CD or recovery partition on a proprietary system (such as HP, Compaq, Dell):

When the manufacturer supplied recovery is used, all of the promo software is installed as it was when you purchased it. In so saying, first one needs to properly uninstall the promo MS product before installing the new Office product you purchased.

First, you want to download msicuu.exe. Save it to your desktop. Now, run the msicuu file that you downloaded to desktop -> Click next -> Choose 'I accept the license agreement', then 'Next' 2x-> and finally, finish.

Go to Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs, then look for anything that is MS Office or Works related (as either of these suites will have Word included in them). Uninstall these. then restart your computer to finalize the uninstallation... Some may argue that restarting with WinXP is unnecessary, but I'm old school and it doesn't hurt anything....

Now, go to 'All Programs' -> 'Windows Install Cleanup'.. The program opens with a list of products installed... Check for anything related to MS Office, MS Word, or MS Works -> Highlight the program -> click 'remove'... Repeat if more than one of these products appear in the list. After all is done, restart computer.... Again, I like to do this to be sure the registry and memory are cleared of configurations made before the uninstall.

Insert the product CD you are wanting to install and follow through. There are rare instances where the registry is not properly cleared so that the installation or running of the product is not possible. in that case, I would urge you to call MS support for further assistance as I don't have access to such indepth troubleshooting since I left the company.... Good luck and happy computing!

 

[cd1_christine]

Why thank you!

I had some trouble with my computer powering off at will too.

Here is the link to that thread, there was lots of good info shared and now my compter and I are friends again.

Also, cd1_Christine has EXCELLENT knowledge and shares it easily.

Thread about my computer issue

Thanks for the compliment! Now if only I could get on here to help as often as I'd like. A four month old tends to take up a lot of your time, ya know?