could this be a virus?

[scotty]

hey,.

Lately my laptops been gradually getting slower and slower. Running
programs is getting really slow and its not the RAM I have 1.5mb and
check the usage often. The other night, it crashed on me. On reboot it
did a diskscan, and ended up replacing registry keys for at least half
an hour.

Now the sound has stopped working (drivers are there, tried
reinstalling), also the network drivers have messed up. Also...in one
user account the start bar is there but no program windows show on it,
and on the administrator account there is no startbar at all.

In my account, programs like winamp will run for me, but not in the
admin account. Finally, I can't drag files, or copy and paste
anything.

Im running zone alarm security suite so I can't see whats caused this.
Hopefully theres a solution as i dont want to reformat..yet again.


any help greatly appreciated


scotty

 

[foghollow]

hey,.

Lately my laptops been gradually getting slower and slower. Running
programs is getting really slow and its not the RAM I have 1.5mb and
check the usage often. The other night, it crashed on me. On reboot it
did a diskscan, and ended up replacing registry keys for at least half
an hour.

Now the sound has stopped working (drivers are there, tried
reinstalling), also the network drivers have messed up. Also...in one
user account the start bar is there but no program windows show on it,
and on the administrator account there is no startbar at all.

In my account, programs like winamp will run for me, but not in the
admin account. Finally, I can't drag files, or copy and paste
anything.

Im running zone alarm security suite so I can't see whats caused this.
Hopefully theres a solution as i dont want to reformat..yet again.


any help greatly appreciated


scotty

I'd be thinking overheating or a bad disk as first suspects

 

[scotty]

I'd be thinking overheating or a bad disk as first suspects

come to think of it, it was really hot when it first crashed. The
temps are fine now (been checking with Speedfan) but i think the
damage is done, Ill have to reformat. Is there any way to prevent it
overheating? Or any way to dertermine the cause?

thanks again

 

[Potblak]

I think you're incorrectly combining overheating and bad disk as one
problem.
Overheating shuts down the processor; usually temporarily until the cooling
is fixed.
A dead or dying HDD on the other hand, is permanent. And very common in
laptops, especially if you travel a lot.
If you're lucky you can get a replacement and a smart tech who will mount
you're old disk in an external case (if its still got a spark of life left)
and copy everything back onto the new one.

 

[foghollow]

come to think of it, it was really hot when it first crashed. The
temps are fine now (been checking with Speedfan) but i think the
damage is done, Ill have to reformat. Is there any way to prevent it
overheating? Or any way to dertermine the cause?

thanks again

Guys on a poker forum I read are recommending always placing a lappy on one of the quick-defrost
plates you can get from cookery shops - dissipates the heat well and ensures a gap to fans which
are on the bottom.
A good flat surface instead of your lap, for sure, so there's deffo a clear gap to the fan intake.

 

[scotty]

I think you're incorrectly combining overheating and bad disk as one
problem.
Overheating shuts down the processor; usually temporarily until the cooling
is fixed.
A dead or dying HDD on the other hand, is permanent. And very common in
laptops, especially if you travel a lot.
If you're lucky you can get a replacement and a smart tech who will mount
you're old disk in an external case (if its still got a spark of life left)

- Show quoted text -

Ive got an external caddy for lappy drives so copying shouldnt be a
problem, I guess Ill have to buy a new disk and see how that goes

thanks for the advice people.

scott