OT: Just Another Computer Problem

[pixburgher66]

Pretty sure it's a OS problem. I have Vista, all the stuff is updated on there, did a antivirus and malware scan, both came out clean. After about 30 minutes on my computer won't freeze, but the OS will. I can move the mouse, highlight things, etc. But programs will freeze and I can't shut down the system with out taking out the battery. Ran a disk check and it came out clean, ran a memory check and it was fine...soooooooo, OS issue? I just checked this based on some google advice. Any advice out yonder my technological friends?

 

[blindbaby]

I would probably re-install windows. If it's still doing that shit, then it's probably a hardware issue such as the MOBO. I don't know a ton, but it's generally what I start doing when things go awry.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

Pretty sure it's a OS problem. I have Vista

Stopped reading right there. Problem identified.

Could be a failing hard drive. Backup your critical documents and do a system restore. Or better yet, try to find a reduced price copy of 7 and upgrade.

 

[dash]

Stopped reading right there. Problem identified.

Ain't that the truth - Vista was/is a piece a crap.

 

[esls79]

Since 7 came out, I haven't heard of anybody even using Vista. If you look at small business systems, it's like Vista never even existed - it's either on XP or 7 - there is no in between.

 

[BOSSMANPC]

Do you have a replacement hard drive? Oh, never mind.


In technical terms I think something is fucked up.

 

[pixburgher66]

Okay...so how do I backup docs? I don't have an external harddrive. I suppose I could just put them all on a jump drive. Not that much I'd miss. iTunes I suppose. Some school stuff.

 

[pixburgher66]

Oh, and uh...how do I do a system restore? hah

 

[BF4L]

Vista = crap

 

[higgyfan4]

Oh, and uh...how do I do a system restore? hah

Start-Control Panel - Performance and Maintenance. On the top left corner of the screen under "See Also" it should say system restore and follow the prompts.

 

[higgyfan4]

Okay...so how do I backup docs? I don't have an external harddrive. I suppose I could just put them all on a jump drive. Not that much I'd miss. iTunes I suppose. Some school stuff.

Save them in ZIP files. They hold much more stuff than normal files on the flash drive. Another thing I do is email them to myself, that way you can always have them wherever you access a computer. That's how I work from home alot.

 

[dash]

If none of the above works pix, then do the following:

or

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

Okay...so how do I backup docs? I don't have an external harddrive. I suppose I could just put them all on a jump drive. Not that much I'd miss. iTunes I suppose. Some school stuff.

Easiest option would probably be then to use an online service like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Microsoft SkyDrive (if you already have a Gmail account or Android phone, Google Drive should integrate pretty seemlessly). These give you (I think) 2, 5, and 7 GB, respectively, of online storage for free.

Dropbox requires a software installation. Google Drive does not (there's an option to do so, which I think makes it faster and easier). Not sure about SkyDrive since I've never used it.

It's basically like having an external hard drive, except that it only exists in cyberspace. Only downfall is the amount of time it could take to upload the files. If you're on a standard home cable or DSL, you're probably only going to get about 1MB upload speed, so it would take a while. Could do a lot better if you have access to something like a university network, as these generally have pretty good upload speeds.

 

[pixburgher66]

Easiest option would probably be then to use an online service like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Microsoft SkyDrive (if you already have a Gmail account or Android phone, Google Drive should integrate pretty seemlessly). These give you (I think) 2, 5, and 7 GB, respectively, of online storage for free.

Dropbox requires a software installation. Google Drive does not (there's an option to do so, which I think makes it faster and easier). Not sure about SkyDrive since I've never used it.

It's basically like having an external hard drive, except that it only exists in cyberspace. Only downfall is the amount of time it could take to upload the files. If you're on a standard home cable or DSL, you're probably only going to get about 1MB upload speed, so it would take a while. Could do a lot better if you have access to something like a university network, as these generally have pretty good upload speeds.

I'll probably go this direction. Or the email like Higgy suggested. I've emailed myself a lot of important docs anyway to print them around school. My only worry is that I won't be able to achieve this stuff before the thing stops working...again. So I suppose I'll do this in shifts. *sigh* Stupid thing.
Thanks for the help guys and gal!

 

[pixburgher66]

So, I tried a simple "system restore" and it's worked well thus far. Maybe I'm in the clear. We'll see, haven't had the computer on more than a few hours. That said it was about 10-15 minutes in the past before the OS would freeze.

 

[Vadered]

Vista sucks.

Currently saving up dough so I can upgrade my computer, and when I was considering new OSes, it was basically 7 or Linux. Sure, Vista's loads cheaper, but it also suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks.

 

[forty_three]

Since 7 came out, I haven't heard of anybody even using Vista. If you look at small business systems, it's like Vista never even existed - it's either on XP or 7 - there is no in between.

Every other Microsoft product works. Windows 8 will be a piece of shit.

Stopped reading right there. Problem identified.

Could be a failing hard drive. Backup your critical documents and do a system restore. Or better yet, try to find a reduced price copy of 7 and upgrade.

That would be my guess.

Okay...so how do I backup docs? I don't have an external harddrive. I suppose I could just put them all on a jump drive. Not that much I'd miss. iTunes I suppose. Some school stuff.

Figure out a backup strategy anyway. iTunes is synched online, so you don't have to backup every single thing. Any documents and your favorites are what you need to back up.

So, I tried a simple "system restore" and it's worked well thus far. Maybe I'm in the clear. We'll see, haven't had the computer on more than a few hours. That said it was about 10-15 minutes in the past before the OS would freeze.

Doing a restore just made your OS work smoother, but I would bet that the Hard Drive is still having trouble. It'll creep back. Back your files up weekly and ride that thing until it 'splodes.

They are getting cheap to replace.

 

[pixburgher66]

Doing a restore just made your OS work smoother, but I would bet that the Hard Drive is still having trouble. It'll creep back. Back your files up weekly and ride that thing until it 'splodes.

They are getting cheap to replace.

I just need this thing to get me until May...that's it. Once I graduate I'll be fine.

 

[pixburgher66]

Okay, so it wasn't temporarily fixed. Froze completely last night. Ran another disk check and it showed a "bad cluster" which was fixed, so I tried to run another system restore and it said that it was unable to do that. May just have to suck it up and restore to factory settings. Really starting to feel like a harddrive issue.