G
Geri
I don't know if we (me and my blinking buddies) have a
virus or if I'm just clumsy, but I've spent two days
nearly without sleep in front of a couple of miserable
computers who are driving me up the wall.
I think my problems started when I downloaded SP1 for my
aging Pavilion. Or maybe Norton SystemWorks was the
problem. Whatever, after installing SystemWorks
everything started going wrong so I believed I had no
choice but to reinstall XP.
Halfway through installation I got an error saying that
some file was missing so I tried to cancel the install.
No luck. I couldn't go forward and I couldn't back out so
I called MS tech support.
We messed around for over an hour and finally concluded I
would have to partition my hard drive if I had any hope to
ever use the computer again. It was frozen with just a
black screen and the mouse arrow, which worked nicely but
pointed at nothing.
Prior to partitioning, I'd always kept up with updates and
had no problems so I thought I should continue to do
that. However, there were 47 updates waiting to be
installed so I assumed that SP1 was the best idea.
Apparently I was very wrong.
Things went from bad to worse, which was when I installed
Norton SystemWorks.
I should explain. My husband had just been given a new PC
by the State to use for a Vocational Rehab program he's
in. He's an engineer who can't get a job because he's
never learned CAD drafting and apparently no CAD, no work,
at least not in his field.
The State contracts with a private party who sometiems
buys computers and software, sometimes builds systems, for
people who need them as part of a rehab program. My
husband, who is also recovering from two bouts of lung
cancer, a heart attack and two asbestos related lung
cancer surgeries over the past 7 years, thought that he
still had to get a job if we have any hope to continue to
buy groceries.
SystemWorks is one of the programs the State bought my
husband for the new computer but the software belongs to
him (to us, you might say). So, even though I've heard
some warnings about Norton, I installed it, hoping it
might protect my own aging Pavilion.
I rarely download anything from Internet and have no games
installed on my computer. Regardless, I'm still careful
with my computer because I've had virus problems over the
years. No big deal, I don't think but I'm not so sure
anymore.
Shortly after installing SystemWorks, my CD and DVD drives
disappeared from my computer. I spent many, many hours
troubleshooting with the help of MS and had almost
yelled "uncle" when a nice young man from Calcutta or
Bombay or thereabouts figured out a way to tweak the
registry and restore the drives.
About a week later, Outlook Express disappeared. And I
mean, it DISAPPEARED. Just plain gone.
This time I was too weary to sit locked to the telephone
so I tried finding help online and a little bit on my own,
with absolutely no success, until I ran across a website
run by someone who calls himself MalcolmX and has a
website called the Old Geek or something like that.
He had a complicated string of commands to follow, but
voila! Outlook Express was mine again!
Now, all of this time I was only using the new PC, which
is networked to the "old" one, for e-mail, when I could.
I have Broadband on both computers.
Just when I thought all was fixed again, I had to send an
e-mail just when I was in the middle of doing a virus
scan. That's when I discovered that, although the little
icon that shows connnection to Internet was in my start
bar, I could not get a connection to Internet nor could I
get any e-mail, on the new computer. Somehow, the new
computer was affected by the problems on the old one even
though I'd been told that they are not networked in a way
so that the problems on one will affect the other. Nor
had this happened to that point.
Further, when I would reboot the new PC, the old one
sometimes but not always would also reboot. This had
never happened before.
I have done hours of poking around and I've discovered
that the new PC thinks it doesn't have a modem of any kind
installed.
Is it possible that the high speed modem installed by
Comcast does not show up as a modem in my System Devices
for the new computer? And, I'm also wondering if the tech
guy hired by the State might have failed to put a regular
modem into the new PC when he built it. Maybe figuring
we'd never know the difference?
Anyhow, my big question right now is whether maybe I have
some new or established virus in both computers despite my
daily virus scanning.
That's one question.
The other one is, how do I locate and reinstall a modem in
the new computer? The hardware is certainly there but the
computer doesn't want to admit it. If nothing else, I
should be able to at least access the high speed modem
installed by Comcast, huh?
Further good news or maybe just confusing news is that the
network is working except for the modem/Internet access
part. The networked printer is still working from either
computer and I can also access documents from either
computer. But I simply can't access Internet from the new
computer because it denies it has a modem of any kind.
For some reason, I can't do a System Restore, either, or
at least no restoration that will do me any good. I've
done restores on both units and even when there's a
supposed restoration, still no modem on the new computer.
Except for SystemWorks and SP1, I've installed absolutely
nothing on either computer but they've both been poked and
prodded so much, hard telling what has been accidentally
tweaked that maybe is the problem here.
Oh, yes - and each time the old PC reboots for no apparent
reason, I get a warning that there's just been a serious
error.
The error report says that the problem was because of a
driver that can't be identified. But since I haven't
installed anything that should include a driver unless I
just don't know the difference, I don't know what to do
about it. I would happily uninstall the offending program
or hardware or software, etc., if I only knew what it is.
But since I haven't installed anything, how do I uninstall
it?
Sorry if I sound a little hysterical and maybe flippant.
I'm probably a little of both. I'm very, very exhausted
from these days of tilting at Mr. Gates windmills.
MalcolmX/Old Geek has convinced me that there are fixes
out there for every seemingly insurmountable problem so
hopefully someone will come riding along on their dark
horse and rescue me one more time. Please?
Thanks, whoever you are.
Geri
virus or if I'm just clumsy, but I've spent two days
nearly without sleep in front of a couple of miserable
computers who are driving me up the wall.
I think my problems started when I downloaded SP1 for my
aging Pavilion. Or maybe Norton SystemWorks was the
problem. Whatever, after installing SystemWorks
everything started going wrong so I believed I had no
choice but to reinstall XP.
Halfway through installation I got an error saying that
some file was missing so I tried to cancel the install.
No luck. I couldn't go forward and I couldn't back out so
I called MS tech support.
We messed around for over an hour and finally concluded I
would have to partition my hard drive if I had any hope to
ever use the computer again. It was frozen with just a
black screen and the mouse arrow, which worked nicely but
pointed at nothing.
Prior to partitioning, I'd always kept up with updates and
had no problems so I thought I should continue to do
that. However, there were 47 updates waiting to be
installed so I assumed that SP1 was the best idea.
Apparently I was very wrong.
Things went from bad to worse, which was when I installed
Norton SystemWorks.
I should explain. My husband had just been given a new PC
by the State to use for a Vocational Rehab program he's
in. He's an engineer who can't get a job because he's
never learned CAD drafting and apparently no CAD, no work,
at least not in his field.
The State contracts with a private party who sometiems
buys computers and software, sometimes builds systems, for
people who need them as part of a rehab program. My
husband, who is also recovering from two bouts of lung
cancer, a heart attack and two asbestos related lung
cancer surgeries over the past 7 years, thought that he
still had to get a job if we have any hope to continue to
buy groceries.
SystemWorks is one of the programs the State bought my
husband for the new computer but the software belongs to
him (to us, you might say). So, even though I've heard
some warnings about Norton, I installed it, hoping it
might protect my own aging Pavilion.
I rarely download anything from Internet and have no games
installed on my computer. Regardless, I'm still careful
with my computer because I've had virus problems over the
years. No big deal, I don't think but I'm not so sure
anymore.
Shortly after installing SystemWorks, my CD and DVD drives
disappeared from my computer. I spent many, many hours
troubleshooting with the help of MS and had almost
yelled "uncle" when a nice young man from Calcutta or
Bombay or thereabouts figured out a way to tweak the
registry and restore the drives.
About a week later, Outlook Express disappeared. And I
mean, it DISAPPEARED. Just plain gone.
This time I was too weary to sit locked to the telephone
so I tried finding help online and a little bit on my own,
with absolutely no success, until I ran across a website
run by someone who calls himself MalcolmX and has a
website called the Old Geek or something like that.
He had a complicated string of commands to follow, but
voila! Outlook Express was mine again!
Now, all of this time I was only using the new PC, which
is networked to the "old" one, for e-mail, when I could.
I have Broadband on both computers.
Just when I thought all was fixed again, I had to send an
e-mail just when I was in the middle of doing a virus
scan. That's when I discovered that, although the little
icon that shows connnection to Internet was in my start
bar, I could not get a connection to Internet nor could I
get any e-mail, on the new computer. Somehow, the new
computer was affected by the problems on the old one even
though I'd been told that they are not networked in a way
so that the problems on one will affect the other. Nor
had this happened to that point.
Further, when I would reboot the new PC, the old one
sometimes but not always would also reboot. This had
never happened before.
I have done hours of poking around and I've discovered
that the new PC thinks it doesn't have a modem of any kind
installed.
Is it possible that the high speed modem installed by
Comcast does not show up as a modem in my System Devices
for the new computer? And, I'm also wondering if the tech
guy hired by the State might have failed to put a regular
modem into the new PC when he built it. Maybe figuring
we'd never know the difference?
Anyhow, my big question right now is whether maybe I have
some new or established virus in both computers despite my
daily virus scanning.
That's one question.
The other one is, how do I locate and reinstall a modem in
the new computer? The hardware is certainly there but the
computer doesn't want to admit it. If nothing else, I
should be able to at least access the high speed modem
installed by Comcast, huh?
Further good news or maybe just confusing news is that the
network is working except for the modem/Internet access
part. The networked printer is still working from either
computer and I can also access documents from either
computer. But I simply can't access Internet from the new
computer because it denies it has a modem of any kind.
For some reason, I can't do a System Restore, either, or
at least no restoration that will do me any good. I've
done restores on both units and even when there's a
supposed restoration, still no modem on the new computer.
Except for SystemWorks and SP1, I've installed absolutely
nothing on either computer but they've both been poked and
prodded so much, hard telling what has been accidentally
tweaked that maybe is the problem here.
Oh, yes - and each time the old PC reboots for no apparent
reason, I get a warning that there's just been a serious
error.
The error report says that the problem was because of a
driver that can't be identified. But since I haven't
installed anything that should include a driver unless I
just don't know the difference, I don't know what to do
about it. I would happily uninstall the offending program
or hardware or software, etc., if I only knew what it is.
But since I haven't installed anything, how do I uninstall
it?
Sorry if I sound a little hysterical and maybe flippant.
I'm probably a little of both. I'm very, very exhausted
from these days of tilting at Mr. Gates windmills.
MalcolmX/Old Geek has convinced me that there are fixes
out there for every seemingly insurmountable problem so
hopefully someone will come riding along on their dark
horse and rescue me one more time. Please?
Thanks, whoever you are.
Geri