RE: Buying a computer

[Jags]

The response from my rep (from HP):


I would guess so but with no model number I can’t say for sure.



1. Create a set of recovery discs or a recovery DVD- To create the recovery disc set, Click Start , All Programs , PC Help & Tools (or similar), open the HP or Compaq Recovery CD-DVD Creation software, and follow the on-screen directions.
2. Order recovery CDs on the Web- Instructions can be found HERE: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&dlc=en&docname=bph07143&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN&lc=en

3. Contact HP Tech Support- Either thru the web, HP tech support or call (800) 474-6836

What the heck - if your looking at trashing it anyways, there is no harm in forging ahead with the F11 - recovery. Just do it.

 

[firefighterjake]

Thanks folks . . . I just may push the red button this weekend and see what happens.

 

[begreen]

The symc8xx.sys error sounds like you may have a harddrive that is failing. Check to see if it's still on warranty. If you get a new drive, I would not reinstall Vista, instead I would upgrade to Windows 7. Install, then update all the drivers for this motherboard.

 

[begreen]

That would fall into the lap of video driver, but that could simply be a side effect of a larger issue. The other errors that you reported go deeper into the OS.

Well - it goes something like this: ya gotta have software to reload your drive with. It can either be in the form of disks or a recovery partition on the drive. A good sign of a recovery partition is when you boot up your puter, when you still have black screen - at the top of the screen it should say something like "For recover press F9" and then a short count down timer.

I just went over a friend's HP + an ATI card with similar symptoms. Whenever he would play videos from his camera, they would play massively blocky and confetti colored. Sometimes the whole screen would flash magenta. The issue appears to be with Windows Media Player and Quicktime movies. I installed Quicktime on the system and associated .mov files with the quicktime player. That solved his issue completely.

 

[PapaDave]

I'd go along with everything Hog said.......except throwing it against the wall. You'd need to patch the wall, repaint (hope it matches), pick up all the crap that went flying everywhere, yada-yada-yada.
Too much trouble.
Spares are nice to have around, unless you have absolutely no idea what to do with 'em.
Laptops are also nice to have (my main machine nowadays).

 

[Puffins]

I know your problem. You're running Windows.


www.apple.com

 

[Hogwildz]

I know your problem. You're running Windows.


www.apple.com

Lemme see that computer of yours, I'll show you how to make Applesauce....

 

[Weird tolkienish figure]

Tired of dealing with issues with my existing computer . . .

Tried cleaning it . . . taking out and reseating memory stick, cards, etc. . . . updated drivers . . . ran a memory test . . .

At this point it seems to be freezing up and crashing even more often . . . so I'm thinking of getting a new desktop.

Anyways, this is what I have now . . . HP with AMD 64 x 2 dual core processors 6000 3.01 Ghz and 3.00 GB of RAM.

Any recommendations for something that would be comparable or a bit better . . . either on-line or at a brick and mortar store?

Haven't had good luck with HP's. The screen on my father's broke after a year. If you can afford them, Macs are very nice computers.

Here at work I'm a fan of Lenovo's. Very solid machines.

 

[firefighterjake]

Thanks for everyone's advice . . . I pushed the proverbial red button . . . turned both keys . . . and still have the same problems (only now the computer is back to how it came to me the day I bought it -- well minus the errors.

At this point I am going to have a techie friend come down to take a look at it . . . and then we'll go from there. He seems to think it can be fixed . . . if not I'll pony up the money for a new one.

In the meantime I'm accessing the internet through an older computer . . . which is fine . . . but for some reason while most sites are running fine, Facebook is very, very, very slow . . . however, it's better than having the constant freeze-ups, error messages and BSOD.

 

[begreen]

HP computers are ok, I'm on one now and like it and have a few friends with them.

Jake, have your buddy check the drive by doing the following:
"open a command prompt as administrator and type sfc/scannow press enter and let it scan, if errors are found you will need to run this again until clean."

He may also benefit from reading this thread:
http://www.vistax64.com/crashes-deb...-error-very-often-atleast-once-every-day.html

 

[PapaDave]

Jake, here's another thought. Random too.
Have you tried cleaning the inside of the case and all the fans and vents, etc.?
My nephew has brought his laptop over about 3 times since he got it, with similar problems. I thought it might be a virus, driver issue, or bad software/hardware.
Turns out, he never cleans the vents.....ever. Not saying you don't, but once I blew out all the detritus, it went back to running just fine. He was here just 2 days ago.....again.
Heat is the enemy. Always has been. Well, that, and hackers/MS haters.

 

[Weird tolkienish figure]

Jake,

Go to "control panel" -> "administrative tools" -> "event viewer" -> "windows log" -> "system"

If you scroll down, do you see any "error' that say "disk" in them? You may have disk error. If you do, you should run chkdsk.

 

[Retired Guy]

Your system probably had a SMART hard drive, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T. If so, there should be a log that will identify and list any hard drive issues.

 

[firefighterjake]

Jake, here's another thought. Random too.
Have you tried cleaning the inside of the case and all the fans and vents, etc.?
My nephew has brought his laptop over about 3 times since he got it, with similar problems. I thought it might be a virus, driver issue, or bad software/hardware.
Turns out, he never cleans the vents.....ever. Not saying you don't, but once I blew out all the detritus, it went back to running just fine. He was here just 2 days ago.....again.
Heat is the enemy. Always has been. Well, that, and hackers/MS haters.

I was just as bad as your nephew . . . lots of dust in there . . . cleaned it out awhile back hoping that maybe this was affecting things . . . still have the same problems.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I was just as bad as your nephew . . . lots of dust in there . . . cleaned it out awhile back hoping that maybe this was affecting things . . . still have the same problems.

Did you get the dust that is between the fins of your heat sink on the cpu?

 

[firefighterjake]

Did you get the dust that is between the fins of your heat sink on the cpu?

I think so . . . I blew some canned air in there . . . dust went everywhere . . . including all over me.

 

[begreen]

With the side off the computer, when you turn it on, do all the fans (CPU, case and display card) spin?

 

[firefighterjake]

With the side off the computer, when you turn it on, do all the fans (CPU, case and display card) spin?

Hmmm . . . didn't think to check that when I had things all tore apart. D'oh . . . should have checked.

 

[begreen]

Just open the side cover and have a flashlight handy to check. It could be you had a combination failure due to overheating that has corrupted a driver. If so, back to post #35.

 

[firefighterjake]

Update . . . had a friend/co-worker/techie guy come down yesterday . . . helping me with my computers. One computer he said needs more memory to work better and he spent quite a while downloading some updates as it was having issues installing the update.

The computer that I mentioned here . . . well that's a whole other challenge for him . . . he has brought it back to his home after dubbing around for a while. He seems pretty confident that he can make it all better.

 

[Jags]

Cool - keep us posted on the "fix".

 

[firefighterjake]

Well here's the fix according to my techie friend/co-worker . . . He pretty much said to take Hog's advice (well his actual words were, "It's dead Jim."

He spent well over 10 hours on this thing and in the end discovered that this particular make and model has been an issue for some other folks . . . seems as though after 3-4 years of use many folks found the same problem developing . . . and it turned out that over time some doo-dads on the motherboard swell up and get all puffy which he said may indicate an electrical malfunction. He said when he looked inside and looked at the doo-dads he found about half of mine were all puffed up.

In any case, he said if someone was wicked handy with a soldering iron and had the patience they could make the fix, but he said in reality it's probably easier to go shopping.

 

[Jags]

Ah - the capacitors popped. Several years ago, I had a sting of pc's that had that problem. Only solution is motherboard replacement and on an old machine, it ain't worth it.

Now you get to go buy a new toy.

 

[save$]

Shop around. I had several HPs but they have all but one broken. I have a Gatway laptop that seems to do well. Now one year old. My wife uses an Acer, also working well.
My sister in law just. Got a Dell desk top. Ok , but she has to buy a key to get the Microsoft starter word program. Mine came with it all ready to go. If you can, consider an external back drive. That can save you a lot of headaches.
There are a few nice touchscreen computers available. We have become use to touch pads on our smart phones and tablets.
Sam's club in Bangor has some good deals. If you have their advantage club membership, you get an extra year warranty.

 

[Hogwildz]

I got this Asus at Best Buy and I like it alot. Similar to what I would have made, yet already put together and less cost.