A Little Help Please....

[CIJ]

Hey guys n gals,

Im a little bit confused, i came home the other day, started my laptop as usual (i only ever close the screen to put it into standby) and it skipped thro the password screen and started. That was the first thing i noticed, then was the fact there were a load of shortcuts on the desktop that ive never seen before, as if the computer was brand new again!! But it also had a lot of shortcuts that i made..BT Hub Manager, Alcohol120% etc etc, that i had put on. Also Norton Anti-virus decided to pipe up and installing itself as if i had just put the disc in for it. After i got that finished and could use the computer, i started tryin to open my programs thats on it.....none of them are working at all, i have even been into windows explorer and the files are all there but it just wont let me access anythin. I had to re-install the BT Hub so i could get on the net.

Also when looking at the % of hard drive used its the same as before it all went tits up, so the laptop aint deleted anything from it, i just think that its storing it in some other place, which it wont let me acess.

Oh yeah i also tried the recovery program that it has on it, but the earliest date i could go back to was the same day i just want my laptop back to normal, is there anyone who knows what on earth could have happened here?? If so what can i do?? Or even if there is anyone close to Sunderland wanna lend a hand by having a look, there would be a cuppa tea and biscuits :D

Cheers in advance for any replies

Chris

[aido]

Does anyone else use your laptop mate?

It sounds like someone has done an inplace clean install over the top of your existing install without formatting, hence why your icons are still there but programs aren't working, also would explain why it's not prompting for a password, as the security hive in the registry has been blitzed resulting in a clean SAM database....

[CIJ]

No one should be using it, but if my brother has come in the house and tried starting it up, but he cant do anythin cos he dont have the password to get into actual windows! Or do yo not need to get in to do this??

So i didnt really understand all that you said, im not too computer literate!! But is there anythin that i can do?

Cheers

[Gareth]

Two things spring to mind:

Windows creates restore points. It's possible it's decided to revert to a previous one because of an error.

When this happens, though, it normally informs you.

or

I've seen windows sometimes jump between where it believes the user profiles are stored.

This can happen when windows 2k or similar is upgraded to XP.

Something causes the registry key to be changed and suddenly you get different user profile data.

In either case, or another situation, you still need to find out exactly what happened.

Try checking the system log ( Control panel > Event Viewer ).

Look for anything in either the shutdown period or the startup period that might suggest either a restore was done or that something went wrong.

We'll check your user profiles if that doesn't throw anything.

[lee_iceman]

As Gareth said it could just be using a different profile.

Ctrl+Alt+Delete and see who you are logged on as. Or in XP hit start then log off and back on again using your usual password and see what happens then.

[CIJ]

Ive just had a look in that file, but the slight problem is, that it aint displaying anything before the date and time that it all went tits up!!

Im running XP by the way!! As for logging off theres only one user account and thats mine :duh:

[Unregistered_User]

Out of curiosity, if you select the start button to display the start menu, is your username displayed? Windows machines have a default Administrator account and this functions in the same way as the other user profiles and may have obtained shortcuts from the All Users desktop profile.

Jamie

[CIJ]

Yeah my name is displayed at the top, is there any way i can re-set my laptop to the day it came outta the shop?? I have a restore CD that came with it and says it has all software and drivers on it, also has another cd with v3000 on it :duh:

[Unregistered_User]

Yes, generally this factory restore process is initiated by inserting the CD and rebooting the computer. The CD in the CD drive will have have an autorun feature and will kick in at the boot screen. (this is providing the laptop boot order is set to CD - but it should be).

Please be aware by doing this you will loose ALL FILES. It doesn't just restore the O/S and factory installed software, but will remove any software you have installed afterwards.

If you need to produce a list of installed software so you know what to put back on, I recommend this, as I use it a lot at work for when I'm prepping rebuilds:

http://www.judge-software.co.uk/

http://www.judge-software.co.uk/download/ipp150.zip

Jamie

[CIJ]

Im gonna go for it..... :duh: ......im scared.......may not see me for a lil while bye bye everyone

[CIJ]

Well i aint goin anwhere, the cd is just the same thing as the software recovery ive got on the laptop....bugger!!!!!!!!

Still not any further forward!!

[Sagitar]

Please be aware by doing this you will loose ALL FILES. It doesn't just restore the O/S and factory installed software, but will remove any software you have installed afterwards.

. . . the stuff on the recovery discs formats the drive on which the system files reside, before re-installing the system. Any non-system programs will also need to be re-loaded. That should not be difficult providing that you have the program discs and the necessary serial numbers/registration codes. If any of this software is of the kind that needs to be activated (Photoshop CS for example) you may also need to go back to the manufacturer to get a new activation code.

Maybe of more concern is the potential loss of data. If you have stored data (photographs, emails, letters etc) on the same drive as the system files, it too will be lost, so back it up somewhere else before you run the recovery discs.

I think it is a good idea to keep data on a different drive from your program files so that you don't suffer this loss if (when) you need to restore system files. It also makes the data much easier to back up.

The other thing I would recommend is a regular Ghost image of the drive with your programs on it. When all else fails you can boot from the Ghost disc and restore all your programs in one go.

[CIJ]

Thankfully this is my new laptop and all my photo's and other stuff is thill on my old laptop so there safe!! Its only a few downloads and software i have on here which im going to lose!! The recovery disc dont seem to say that its goin to format my computer just says its goin to install all the stuff tats already on it....just locked away in some place that i cant get to

[Sagitar]

Thankfully this is my new laptop and all my photo's and other stuff is thill on my old laptop so there safe!! Its only a few downloads and software i have on here which im going to lose!! The recovery disc dont seem to say that its goin to format my computer just says its goin to install all the stuff tats already on it....just locked away in some place that i cant get to

You need to look carefully at the handbook (or maybe use another machine to make a support request to the manufacturer)

Recovery disc systems work in different way. Some require you to boot from the disc, others require a routine after you have booted. Some machines (and it sounds like yours may be one of them) put compressed system files into a hidden partition on the hard drive and require a key combination to activate them while the machine is booting. Here is a quote from a typical handbook instruction - N.B. yours is probably different in detail.

"To perform a system recovery without recovery CDs, first check the BIOS settings to ensure that disk-to-disk recovery is enabled. Make sure the D2D Recovery setting in Main is Enabled. Exit the BIOS utility and save changes if necessary. The system will reboot. Launch the Disk2Disk recovery feature by hold ing down ALT as soon as the splash screen appears, and repeatedly pressing F10. The window of opportunity is very small, so this may take a few attempts. The Disk2Disk recovery feature allows you to recover the system without recovery CDs. This will return your system to factory settings and will delete everything stored on the machine. If possible we strongly advise backing up anything important on your machine before starting the recovery process".

It is usually easier to run recovery from recovery discs, but you do need to know how the machine expects them to be used.

All these recovery systems aim to put the machine into the "as supplied" state and I do not know of any that do this other than by first reformatting the drive on which the operating system resides.

Oh for the days when companies supplied real operating system software . . . . . .

[CIJ]

Ok so ive stuck the disc in and ive let it do its own thing!! It seems to be running through all the software and drivers thats on the computer and installing them, ive had a quick look to see if the hard drive space is deminishing and looks as though its staying as it was......Oh bugger me, its just installing software ontop of the old software.... id ont know what to do now..................

[Tyger]

Oh for the days when companies supplied real operating system software . . . . . .

Yet ANOTHER reason to look at VALUE FOR MONEY and not just the price on the box.

There is a company that provides a best in class FULL NON COPY-PROTECTED OS free with any machine or to buy new for about £80.

http://www.apple.com/macosx

/

[CIJ]

Look i dont want this post turning into a debate about what is better, i bought the laptop that i thought was good, unfortunatly it has decided to go tits up, all i want is some help to see if it can get it sorted....thanks

Bye the way, the resore CD didnt do anything!!!

[CIJ]

OK So does anyone fancy coming to have a look or even fix my laptop??

PLEASE?????

[Tyger]

*sigh*

*Passes CIJ a sledgehammer*

;)

Sorry you are having problems, but it comes with the territory.

I wasn't getting into a debate about which is better at all - I was just making a point that not all manufacturers provide crippled operating systems with their machines in reply to a comment from Sagitar. Hence the

If I was near Sunderland I would gladly help.

Anyone?

[Sagitar]

OK So does anyone fancy coming to have a look or even fix my laptop??

PLEASE?????

What kind of a laptop is it and where did you buy it?

Most manufacturers have a support site - send them an email

If you bought it locally, take it back and ask them to get it working under guarantee.

[CIJ]

No probs, thanks for the offer of giving me a hand too, i dont think that theres anyone up my way on here that deals with computers..