Calling Laptop Wizards: Need help please

[divergrrl]

Ok...so my laptop has been running REALLY SLOW lately.

I defrag''ed my system & it helped a TON for about a week. I still have half the space left on my harddrive too.

But this morning it took 48 MINUTES for my laptop to fire up. Its a Dell Inspiron 6000 notebook & no, I didn''t buy the extended warranty & I''m so mad now cuz it''s only 2 years old & would have still been covered. (lesson learned)

During my 48 minute log on, my system flat out froze & I had to do a hard shut down (ctrl+alt+delete not working to get a task manager or shutdown menu) when it rebooted I received a system recovery message & Windows went through a 3 part checklist to clean "dirty" files. ????????

Normally my laptop takes about 10 minutes to log on & I think that''s ridiculous, I''ve never had a PC take longer than a minute or so to fire up. I took it to a repair shop a few months ago when my wireless card burned out & they said it was "fine". I won''t be using them again, that''s for sure.

So..do I repair it or scrap it? My wireless card is still burned out & I can''t call Dell because it costs per minute to talk to ANYONE even to ask a question. I paid $850 for my laptop & my dad said if repairs are more than 25% not to do it. But.....I really can''t afford a new laptop right now, so I''d rather spend less getting repairs. (Including a new wireless card--I''m using an external Linksys thingie right now.)

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

[musey]

Honestly? It sounds like it's kinda fried. Most cheap(er) laptops are built with crappier parts that, well, crap out after couple of years. If it still functions enough for your purposes, I'd say deal with it for as long as you can while saving for another laptop. I'd recommend Apple

(seriously... my computer programmer brothers both kept me buying and replacing PCs for YEARS, until I finally stopped listening and got my MacBook Pro which is still PERFECT 1.5 years later.)

It could be a hardware issue, so if you want to try to get it serviced... again... then you should try an freelance service guy (from the yellow pages or google) rather than a store. They'll likely work for less and their work is usually superior.

I'm so sorry about your laptop issues!! BELIEVE me, I can sympathize!

 

[divergrrl]

Musey: Oh yeah, you can bet that my next notebook is an Apple. Not even considering a PC again. That''s why I want to wait, I''d rather save up & buy a decent one. I''m kicking myself for cheaping out and not buying the Apple last time. I saved about $500 in the difference between comparable systems, and now its biting me in the derriere.

Plus, on the rare event that I do a little tech writing for this one group I contract with from time to time, all the web designers I''m working with are on Apples, so it would be better for me to have a Mac. (Indesign etc.)

I have a Compaq desktop downstairs that has all my data on it as well (except for some pics and stuff on itunes, haven''t backed those up since my last repair a few months ago---but am doing all that RIGHT NOW!) so even if this one flat out dies, I still have a computer at home. It''s funky too, starts sounding like its going to take off in flight if you leave it on too long.

And I will be getting the mac-daddy extended warranty. Computers/electronics just tick me off these days.

My laptop was originally repaired by a local shop....just a little storefront that''s been in my neighborhood forever. They are cheap...and nice. I dunno, I guess it can''t hurt to have them LOOK at it, since they are so reasonable, but I feel like I told them my issue last time & they ignored it and just gave me an external wireless adaptor that I could have bought myself at Fry''s and installed for half the price.

I dunno....I just get mad when stuff breaks. yes my PC may have been cheap, but still, $850 to me is a LOT of money & I feel that a decent laptop should last longer than 2 years, especially when I subscribe to McAfee security programs to protect it.

This is just my soapbox I live on....I expect companies to produce quality products that last a reasonable amount of time. (5 or 6 years minimum...my first pc, a 133mhz dinosaur last me 7 years with no problems).

Anyhooo.....back to backing up my data...

Thanks!

 

[poshpepper]

You should try doing a system restore to the last known good configuration. Kinda sounds like you might have spyware and/or a virus.
If you do a system restore, pick a date when you know the system was operating "normally".
If that does not help it then you need to find a different repair place. There is no reason why a 2 year old laptop should be crapping out on you....

 

[FireGoddess]

Yikes. My Inspiron 8000 ran for 5 years before I replaced it, and I only did so because it was ridiculous to try and update such an old laptop...when I first got the laptop 10 gigs was a lot of memory and now you can get them with 80 or 100 gigs or more!

My new Inspiron 700m is going well and December will be 2 years now. I wonder if yours is severely infected or something? Never seen an inspiron crap out in such a short time.

 

[whatmeworry]

your hard drive might be dying. Get your files out of there.

 

[laine]

No laptop specific advice, but my desktop made the airplane noise when its hard drive was dying, so definitely back things up now! A contributing factor to the hard drive death was that the fan to cool the case had quit working. Is your fan still going? If not, replace that ASAP. If it really is the hard drive, I don''t know if its worth replacing in a laptop or not. Good luck!

 

[darkeyesredshoes]

Psst...Diver...If you''re affiliated with a university or school, or have a student ID that''s not expired, or have a friend that teaches or works for a university, you can get an Apple at a decent discount now. You can get a good chunk of the price off of a laptop and get a two hundred dollar rebate on an iPod during the current promotion. Ignore me if this is old news to you, but I thought I''d give you a heads-up.

 

[Aloros]

If there are no strange sounds, I''d definitely agree that it could be a spyware/virus problem. It''s happened to me before, and I had the same problems with things just running slower in general. I''d recommend housecall to run a check on your laptop. It''s an online application, is free, and is updated frequently to keep up with the latest viruses. It''s always worked like a dream for me. Never failed to catch the nasties hiding on my comp.

You might want to backup your most important files just in case of hard drive failure. In my experience, however, the computer didn''t slow down with hard drive failure (it''s happened to me twice), it just suddenly went kaput!

If there are any strange sounds, whirring in particular, then one of your fans is broken. Without a working fan, your comp will fry pretty quickly. After a while, it will simply stop working. It''s pretty easy to replace a fan, but if your computer is halfway fried, it won''t get better.

Good luck with fixing your problem.

 

[poptart]

My last computer did the same thing when I had a major virus. They couldn''t fix it by the time I figured out that was the problem. So run it down to a repair shop now if you can. I tried to run the virus scan after I got the virus and it wouldn''t work, so I ended up having to get a new computer. Good luck!

*M*

 

[strmrdr]

have a shop run a basic hardware diagnoses and if it doesnt find anything have them back up your data and format and reinstall.
Should run right around $120 or so.

 

[divergrrl]

As usual the think tank at PS has great advice!

I backed up all my photos today (I back them up from time to time anway) and am in the process of getting my other data backed up & my itunes.

I have no noise, so I bet it is a virus/spyware. (the whirring is on my old desktop downstairs in my office)

As I type, I am running my McAfee virus scan & going to check out this housecall service that Aloros recommended.

Poshpepper: (love your avatar btw) I''ll do the system reconfig as soon as I''m done with these virus scans. It would be nice to get things back in working order myself & not run a repair bill. I can''t remember a specific date as to when things were running well, but I wonder if a reset to the very beginning would be good? I have a TON of crud on my system I don''t need. And I backed up anything I care about.

Darkeyesredshoes: Gosh, I''ve been out of college so long --- no id anymore....and my friends left in ed. are in the highschool side of things. Too bad my nephew doesn''t live near me...he''s in college--but very unreliable. If I sent him $$ to get me a laptop..he''d spend it! LOL. But hey...I''ll keep that in mind.



Ok...back to work..this is the bane of my day today.

THANKYOU EVERYONE!

 

[chiefneil]

Yup, probably spyware and/or a virus. I had a really nasty one once - my laptop started giving me the blue screen of death and running reaaalllly slow. I could see bazillions of IE windows opening and immediately closing, too. The standard anti-virus stuff didn''t work (I used both Norton and Symantec). I did a ton of research and bought several different tools to get it straightened out.

 

[phoenixgirl]

I use Ad-Aware and Spybot for spyware. They are both free and updated regularly. If you search the Microsoft webpage for spyware you''ll find an article recommending them. I think you can get them both from download.com.

My FIL had problems like yours, and we ran the program it found hundreds of critical problems. That makes me think . . . time to run it myself!

 

[Julianna]

Date: 7/9/2007 1:48:06 PM
Author: whatmeworry
your hard drive might be dying. Get your files out of there.

I haven''t read all the replies but GEEZ I wish you lived in Maryland, I''d love to get my hands on that Dell. I have 3 Dell laptops at home (no diamonds, just laptops...I''m THAT kind of geek) that I take apart for fun when they go down.

Anyway I agree with many of the comments. Firstly, you should be backing up your files whether your PC (or Mac) is having trouble or not. But, that aside, it does sound like you''ve got a tremendous amount of crap (that you didn''t invite) holding you up. Based on never seeing your laptop, my best shot in the dark is that you''ve contracted a number of viruses/trojans/what have you. Your laptop didn''t just stop on its own. Yes it''s getting old, but I''m running two six year old Dell Latitudes at home with no problems.

I also agree that you might try rolling back to your last actually-working configuration. If Windows will let you do that.

Meantime I''d download some freeware, namely Spybot Search and Destroy (which will take care of spyware and bots). It''s free and it works. It doesn''t get rid of a lot of stuff but if you run it, at least you''ll get an idea of the magnitude of your problems. Sounds fantastic, yes?

That''s a start...

 

[Julianna]

Date: 7/9/2007 3:24:19 PM
Author: Aloros
If there are no strange sounds, I''d definitely agree that it could be a spyware/virus problem. It''s happened to me before, and I had the same problems with things just running slower in general. I''d recommend housecall to run a check on your laptop. It''s an online application, is free, and is updated frequently to keep up with the latest viruses. It''s always worked like a dream for me. Never failed to catch the nasties hiding on my comp.

You might want to backup your most important files just in case of hard drive failure. In my experience, however, the computer didn''t slow down with hard drive failure (it''s happened to me twice), it just suddenly went kaput!

If there are any strange sounds, whirring in particular, then one of your fans is broken. Without a working fan, your comp will fry pretty quickly. After a while, it will simply stop working. It''s pretty easy to replace a fan, but if your computer is halfway fried, it won''t get better.

Good luck with fixing your problem.

Agreed. It''s rare that you get a warning before a hard drive goes down. Occassionally it''ll run a little wonky, most of the time you turn it on and NOTHING. So. Back it up. Please. Back up those pictures and that music. I lost 6 gigs of music in the great hard drive crash of ought six.

 

[divergrrl]

Ok....fingers crossed folks! I backed up my data, (photos, music, documents) and ran a virus scan....my PC completely locked up, so I just went ahead & said "to heck with it" and ran a system restore & backed it up 2 weeks (when it was running good). I also re-installed all my McAfee firewall/virus etc...(updates were available).

I''m going to run that virus scan again, but my PC fired up in 2 seconds flat & is running fast again. Hmmm....

Julianna: Thanks for the advice, I usually don''t have a TON of important stuff on my PC (I''m a momma/occasional freelance writer---so the only stuff on here of value is pics of my toddler, my portfolio--which is always backed up-- & my purchased music thru iTunes) and while I don''t always remember to back up my photos, they usually always get uploaded to Kodak Share Gallery, so I have online storage of them. But I did back it all up today...but I burned all my stuff on a DVD...is that a good way to back up data? Or should I get an external harddrive?

I am also going to download one or two of the spyware programs suggested here & run those more often. I suppose once every 9 months isn''t sufficient?

Thanks everyone!!! You all are so wonderful

 

[Shay37]

Dvr, short-term fix or less intensive fix. Download Spybot Search and Destroy, Ad-Aware, and AVG antivirus which are all free downloads at PCWorld.com. Run them.

More intensive fix: Operating system disc: boot your system with it in. Reformat hard drive, and reload operating system and then do your drivers, Update drivers for your video cards and all that. and do Windows updates after that.


Third fix: if you''re not sure about doing the more intensive fix, go to compusa buy like a 40 gig hard drive for laptop and install that and put operating system on the new hard drive. this way you still have your old information on the old hard drive. You don''t lose anything.



shay

 

[Aloros]

Yay! I''m glad it''s working well again!

 

[divergrrl]

Date: 7/10/2007 11:28:03 AM
Author: Shay37
Dvr, short-term fix or less intensive fix. Download Spybot Search and Destroy, Ad-Aware, and AVG antivirus which are all free downloads at PCWorld.com. Run them.

More intensive fix: Operating system disc: boot your system with it in. Reformat hard drive, and reload operating system and then do your drivers, Update drivers for your video cards and all that. and do Windows updates after that.


Third fix: if you''re not sure about doing the more intensive fix, go to compusa buy like a 40 gig hard drive for laptop and install that and put operating system on the new hard drive. this way you still have your old information on the old hard drive. You don''t lose anything.



shay

Shay: Ok, so Spybot, Ad Aware & AVG in addition to my McAfee firwall, anitvirus& other program? *whew* what a workout! LOL. I''ll do that right now. I''m not so sure about the Intensive fix, I''m not comfortable doing that much, I''m sure I could, but with a 2 year old & my pregnant brain, I get so tired that I run out of patience before I get big jobs done on things like this. I can have the guys at the pc shop do that for me for pretty cheap. I found the price list they gave me last time & its a service they offer.

Thanks!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/9/2007 5:48:26 PM
Author: Julianna

Date: 7/9/2007 1:48:06 PM
Author: whatmeworry
your hard drive might be dying. Get your files out of there.

I haven''t read all the replies but GEEZ I wish you lived in Maryland, I''d love to get my hands on that Dell. I have 3 Dell laptops at home (no diamonds, just laptops...I''m THAT kind of geek) that I take apart for fun when they go down.

Anyway I agree with many of the comments. Firstly, you should be backing up your files whether your PC (or Mac) is having trouble or not. But, that aside, it does sound like you''ve got a tremendous amount of crap (that you didn''t invite) holding you up. Based on never seeing your laptop, my best shot in the dark is that you''ve contracted a number of viruses/trojans/what have you. Your laptop didn''t just stop on its own. Yes it''s getting old, but I''m running two six year old Dell Latitudes at home with no problems.

I also agree that you might try rolling back to your last actually-working configuration. If Windows will let you do that.

Meantime I''d download some freeware, namely Spybot Search and Destroy (which will take care of spyware and bots). It''s free and it works. It doesn''t get rid of a lot of stuff but if you run it, at least you''ll get an idea of the magnitude of your problems. Sounds fantastic, yes?

That''s a start...

Julianna you are an amazing woman - you all are for being able to do this stuff! I can connect wires and stuff but thats it!

 

[Julianna]

I''m going to run that virus scan again, but my PC fired up in 2 seconds flat & is running fast again. Hmmm....

Julianna: Thanks for the advice, I usually don''t have a TON of important stuff on my PC (I''m a momma/occasional freelance writer---so the only stuff on here of value is pics of my toddler, my portfolio--which is always backed up-- & my purchased music thru iTunes) and while I don''t always remember to back up my photos, they usually always get uploaded to Kodak Share Gallery, so I have online storage of them. But I did back it all up today...but I burned all my stuff on a DVD...is that a good way to back up data? Or should I get an external harddrive?

DVD is a fantastic way to back up data! I wouldn''t bother getting an external harddrive unless you really want to, it doesn''t sound like you''re carrying enough to warrant that.

Also, great job with the rollback! Sometimes you''re just humming along and either you install something or Windows installs an update that the computer just doesn''t like. Sounds like you''ve got the situation well under control!

It''s good to run at least Adaware (gets rid of adware...obviously) and Spybot (for spyware) once a month or so because adware and spyware 1. bog down your computer and 2. are relatively easy to get rid of. Sometimes antivirus software doesn''t cut it.

Anyway glad things are looking up.

 

[Julianna]

Date: 7/10/2007 12:36:15 PM
Author: Lorelei

Julianna you are an amazing woman - you all are for being able to do this stuff! I can connect wires and stuff but thats it!

How lovely of you to say!

It didn''t take long for me to decide that if the laptop repair guy could do it, so could I. From there it''s just been a matter of getting over the fear of all those teeeeensy screws...

and of course, putting the whole thing back together and then realizing that there''s still a random part sitting on the table.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/10/2007 12:47:02 PM
Author: Julianna

Date: 7/10/2007 12:36:15 PM
Author: Lorelei

Julianna you are an amazing woman - you all are for being able to do this stuff! I can connect wires and stuff but thats it!

How lovely of you to say!

It didn''t take long for me to decide that if the laptop repair guy could do it, so could I. From there it''s just been a matter of getting over the fear of all those teeeeensy screws...

and of course, putting the whole thing back together and then realizing that there''s still a random part sitting on the table.

I really admire you for having the courage to do this stuff, I would be scared stiff that I might blow something up! I probably would knowing me!

I can imagine the sweet little random part sitting innocently on the table when you have been wrestling with teensy screws for the past 2 hours

 

[Aloros]

Date: 7/10/2007 12:47:02 PM
Author: Julianna

Date: 7/10/2007 12:36:15 PM
Author: Lorelei

Julianna you are an amazing woman - you all are for being able to do this stuff! I can connect wires and stuff but thats it!

How lovely of you to say!

It didn''t take long for me to decide that if the laptop repair guy could do it, so could I. From there it''s just been a matter of getting over the fear of all those teeeeensy screws...

and of course, putting the whole thing back together and then realizing that there''s still a random part sitting on the table.

Oh dear! I had to take apart and put together my laptop a couple weeks ago. A part had come loose and needed to be soldered back on. After putting it back together, I have three extra screws I have NO IDEA where they belong, and one foam piece. Well...it''s been working fine since then. Guess I''ll just cross my fingers!

 

[Julianna]

Date: 7/10/2007 12:49:35 PM
Author: Lorelei

I really admire you for having the courage to do this stuff, I would be scared stiff that I might blow something up! I probably would knowing me!

I can imagine the sweet little random part sitting innocently on the table when you have been wrestling with teensy screws for the past 2 hours

It goes a little like this:

"AHA, FINALLY!" *puts down screwdriver and wipes brow*

*glances to the right to see a small part smiling up at me*

a la Charlie Brown on Peanuts when Lucy grabs the football away right before he can kick it: "AAAAAUUUUGH!"

*sigh*

*picks up screwdriver*

hee hee!

 

[Julianna]

Date: 7/10/2007 12:54:27 PM
Author: Aloros

Oh dear! I had to take apart and put together my laptop a couple weeks ago. A part had come loose and needed to be soldered back on. After putting it back together, I have three extra screws I have NO IDEA where they belong, and one foam piece. Well...it''s been working fine since then. Guess I''ll just cross my fingers!

Ah, soldering. That was fairly heroic of you, I must say. Extra screws or no, a fantastic effort overall.

Especially since it worked!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/10/2007 1:04:59 PM
Author: Julianna

Date: 7/10/2007 12:49:35 PM
Author: Lorelei

I really admire you for having the courage to do this stuff, I would be scared stiff that I might blow something up! I probably would knowing me!

I can imagine the sweet little random part sitting innocently on the table when you have been wrestling with teensy screws for the past 2 hours

It goes a little like this:

''AHA, FINALLY!'' *puts down screwdriver and wipes brow*

*glances to the right to see a small part smiling up at me*

a la Charlie Brown on Peanuts when Lucy grabs the football away right before he can kick it: ''AAAAAUUUUGH!''

*sigh*

*picks up screwdriver*

hee hee!

Hehehe...hey - one thing I CAN do is solder

 

[Julianna]

Date: 7/10/2007 1:27:11 PM
Author: Lorelei

Hehehe...hey - one thing I CAN do is solder

Off laptop-topic: I had glasses from when I was in first grade until I switched to contacts in 10th. When I had wire frames, they''d sometimes get into small accidents (ie. my dad sitting on them...) and would break at the nosepiece. Dad and I soldered those suckers together so many times...

Anyway soldering brings back fond memories of hideous glasses.

 

[divergrrl]

Update: Well I just got my laptop back from the Geek Squad.

Can I say I LOVE THEM!!!

My system was completely jacked up with viruses ... my system restore worked for a day & then it was a mess again.

So they cleaned it up, upgraded my memory from 256k to 2gig, put new virus software in it & optimized everything.

And BONUS all of a sudden, my Intel Pro-Wireless internal wireless card works! That PC shop by my house told me it was burned out--I''ve had a stupid USB wireless adaptor hanging out of my USB port for over a year.

I''m confused as to how I got viruses, the guy at GS said (if he could speak candidly) that most come from adult sites. I don''t & I''m the ONLY one who uses this pc. I told him "when you look at my computer & history--you''ll see where I go--it''s pretty pedestrian". I also do not gamble or go to those kinds of sites.

Oh well..

my pc is smokin'' fast now...LOVE IT.

The GS guy also told me it was a nice laptop & should last me quite awhile. That made me happy.