I hate friends of friends with computers....

  • Thread starter Thread starter ToolPackinMama
  • Start date Start date
T

ToolPackinMama

I have a friend of a friend with a HP (Pavilion 7915) computer, and it
crapped out recently, so my friend's friend had another's friend's teen
son wipe the HD clean. Unfortunately, the friend's son who wiped the HD
didn't know what to do after that.

THAT'S WHEN THEY FINALLY THINK OF CALLING ~ME~!

I am trying to install XP to this (Celeron1.1 G, 128MB RAM) sys, and I
am seeing things I have never seen before. The OS loads VERY slowly,
and furthermore it keeps saying it's can't copy many files... one file
after another. I've been hitting escape to ignore the ones it can't
load (since that is not a new problem to me)...but it's so bloody SLOW.

Is VERY slow performance a sign of impending HD failure? Or what?

Just asking.

Thanks for any insights, you brilliant and very helpful people, you. :)

Laura
 
ToolPackinMama said:
I have a friend of a friend with a HP (Pavilion 7915) computer, and it
crapped out recently, so my friend's friend had another's friend's
teen son wipe the HD clean. Unfortunately, the friend's son who
wiped the HD didn't know what to do after that.

THAT'S WHEN THEY FINALLY THINK OF CALLING ~ME~!

I am trying to install XP to this (Celeron1.1 G, 128MB RAM) sys, and I
am seeing things I have never seen before. The OS loads VERY slowly,
and furthermore it keeps saying it's can't copy many files... one file
after another. I've been hitting escape to ignore the ones it can't
load (since that is not a new problem to me)...but it's so bloody
SLOW.
Is VERY slow performance a sign of impending HD failure? Or what?

Just asking.

Thanks for any insights, you brilliant and very helpful people, you. :)
Laura
Click to expand...

hd or ram. have you tied diags for the mfg on the hd or memtest on the ram
yet?
 
ToolPackinMama said:
I have a friend of a friend with a HP (Pavilion 7915) computer, and it
crapped out recently, so my friend's friend had another's friend's teen
son wipe the HD clean. Unfortunately, the friend's son who wiped the HD
didn't know what to do after that.

THAT'S WHEN THEY FINALLY THINK OF CALLING ~ME~!

I am trying to install XP to this (Celeron1.1 G, 128MB RAM) sys, and I
am seeing things I have never seen before. The OS loads VERY slowly,
and furthermore it keeps saying it's can't copy many files... one file
after another. I've been hitting escape to ignore the ones it can't
load (since that is not a new problem to me)...but it's so bloody SLOW.
Click to expand...

Your friend's friend's friend's son??? That's a pretty long stretch
to be asking for serious help. Consider washing your hands of
the whole mess.

Barring that, do a basic hardware check:
1. Check the CPU fan, case fans, and any other fans in
the computer and make sure they are working.

2. Access the BIOS and if the BIOS has a temperature
monitor feature, make sure the temperatures are ok,
especially the CPU temperature.

3. Shut down your computer and turn off power *at the
surge protector* (which cuts off standby power while
leaving the computer grounded) or unplug it. Take
the standard precautions against static electricity
(wear a wrist strap or keep one hand grounded at all
times).

4. Open up the computer and dust it out. *Do not use a
vacuum cleaner* - it might cause static discharge.
Get some dust remover spray (Walmart, BestBuy,
RadioShack) and a dust mask, and take the computer
outside and spray out the dust. Keep the end of the
spray straw at least six inches from any components and
keep it moving so as to avoid excessive thermal shock
to the components.

5. Reseat all the modules, including the memory modules,
and cables inside the computer.

6. Remove the CMOS battery, measure its
voltage, and if the measured voltage is significantly less
than the voltage marked on top of the battery (usually 3
volts), replace it. Note: If you do this step, you'll
have to set up your BIOS again.

7. Turn on the computer, and if it boots, download
"Memtest86+" from http://www.memtest.org and run
it for a few cycles to thoroughly check out your memory.
Zero errors is the only acceptable result..

Then, upgrade the memory to at least 256MB, or preferably
to 512MB. (Go to http://www.crucial.com and use their
memory advisor to find compatible memory.)

--Bob Day
http://bobday.vze.com
 
hd or ram. have you tied diags for the mfg on the hd or memtest on the ram
yet?
Click to expand...

No, I have not. What do you suggest?

I'm trying for the second time to load the XP OS to a clean (freshly
formated) drive, and just copying the files to continue the OS load is
taking two hours plus! I KNOW that's abnormal. That process normally
takes only a few minutes.
 
Bob said:
Your friend's friend's friend's son??? That's a pretty long stretch
to be asking for serious help. Consider washing your hands of
the whole mess.
Click to expand...

LOL I would, but they are paying me. :)
Then, upgrade the memory to at least 256MB, or preferably to 512MB.
Click to expand...

I agree about the memory upgrade, but technically, XP can load and run
on a sys with these specs. Not run well, but yes, run.
 
XP runs and loads VERY slowly on a computer with only 128 MB of RAM. It'a
good time to add some RAM.
 
DaveW said:
XP runs and loads VERY slowly on a computer with only 128 MB of RAM. It'a
good time to add some RAM
Click to expand...

I don't disagree, but stuck at 49% of install files to load OS is TOO
EFFING SLOW! By any standards.

Could it be a hardware problem? That's my question.

I can load WinME or 98 instead if that will help. No problem. BUT right
on the computer is a sticker that says it is XP ready!

Comments?
 
ToolPackinMama said:
I don't disagree, but stuck at 49% of install files to load OS is TOO
EFFING SLOW! By any standards.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry. I should have said stuck FOR TWO HOURS at 49%....

For the second time....

I hope you all can agree that THAT is unusual, and is not
explained/justified by the lackluster hardware config.
 
ToolPackinMama said:
No, I have not. What do you suggest?

I'm trying for the second time to load the XP OS to a clean (freshly
formated) drive,
Click to expand...


Is this a quick format or a full format? With the problem you're having,
you should be doing a full format.
It sounds more like bad sectors on the harddrive than faulty ram. When ram
has bad spots, my experience is Windows setup hangs or crashes.

The best/easiest thing to do is to try another hard drive if you have one
available.
Also, you should remove all unnecessary peripherals during setup. I.e., any
unnecessary ISA or PCI cards, printers, modems, etc. This will remove the
possibility that they are causing any conflicts.

I've found that if there are 'overclocking' settings in the BIOS, they can
cause problems with Windows setup => you might confirm the BIOS setting are
'normal'.

For hard drive utilities, you need to search the drive manufacturer's site
for diagnostic tools. All the major disk manufacturers provide diagnostic
tools for their hard drives for free.
Here's a link to Seatools from Seagate. They don't mention that the tool is
specific to Seagate drives, but it might be.
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/B7a.html

On Track provides a free demo version at
http://www.ontrack.com/dataadvisor/ I've no experience with their utility.

From my experience, you should do a 'recover bad sector' pass on the disk -
regardless of whether the utility says the disk is good.



and just copying the files to continue the OS load is
 
fj said:
Is this a quick format or a full format?
Click to expand...

Full. I tried both.
It sounds more like bad sectors on the harddrive than faulty ram. When ram
has bad spots, my experience is Windows setup hangs or crashes.
Click to expand...

I agree.
The best/easiest thing to do is to try another hard drive if you have one
available.
HA!
Click to expand...

Thank you. That's what I thought!
 
Apparently you are still trying to fix something by running
everything that is unknown. The problem therefore has been
made more complicated. sbb78247 recommended how to break the
problem down into parts. Concentrate first on that. One
unknown to eliminate immediately is XP or any other OS.
Responsible computer manufacturers provide comprehensive
hardware diagnostics. Test hardware without the complication
of any software.

Of course important facts stored in XP such as Device
Manager and system (event) log should have been collected
first. But I suspect, by trying to first fix the problem,
then such important data has been lost. So we move on.

Two more common sources for your problems are hardware
tested by diagnostics and power supply voltages measured by
the ubiquitous 3.5 digit multimeter.

The solution - by breaking a problem down into parts -
starts by confirming power supply integrity and then
confirming hardware integrity. Notice no OS, no Windows, not
trying to fix this and fix that. Get facts. Establish what
is working. That means confirming hardware integrity.

Your computer is HP. Therefore PC Doctor offline
diagnostics are even available on their web site - for free.
Take less than two minutes to verify power supply integrity,
then execute hardware diagnostics. Only then are we ready to
decide if hardware is good or bad. Only after hardware is
known to be good, do we even think about XP. Notice -
breaking the problem down into parts - then solving each part
separately. Collect all pertinent information long before
trying to fix anything.
 
ToolPackinMama said:
I have a friend of a friend with a HP (Pavilion 7915) computer, and it
crapped out recently, so my friend's friend had another's friend's teen
son wipe the HD clean. Unfortunately, the friend's son who wiped the HD
didn't know what to do after that.
Click to expand...

He's not alone, right ;)

Just kidding but the rest of the problems makes me wonder what he did to
wipe the hard drive, or if it was the hard drive.

THAT'S WHEN THEY FINALLY THINK OF CALLING ~ME~!

I am trying to install XP to this (Celeron1.1 G, 128MB RAM) sys, and I
am seeing things I have never seen before. The OS loads VERY slowly,
and furthermore it keeps saying it's can't copy many files... one file
after another. I've been hitting escape to ignore the ones it can't
load (since that is not a new problem to me)...but it's so bloody SLOW.
Click to expand...

Having to skip tons of files is a no-go right there.
Is VERY slow performance a sign of impending HD failure? Or what?
Click to expand...

Perhaps, or what.
Just asking.

Thanks for any insights, you brilliant and very helpful people, you. :)

Laura
Click to expand...

Reinstalling the O.S. is a reasonable start to fix "my son wiped the hard
drive" but with the problems you're seeing you need to step back to the
beginning and verify everything as it should not take that long even with
128 Meg of RAM.

First thing I'd want to know is what did the kid do, both to 'wipe' the
hard drive and any repair attempt's. Did anyone remove it, play with
jumpers, BIOS settings, or what? There may be some clues in there, not to
mention it could simply be that the hard drive has problems and that's what
got it to begin with.

Assuming the answer is the typical "I didn't do nuttin," this is a good
place for memtest. Not that it'll tell you specifically that memory is
good/bad but it'll give a system test. If it doesn't pass then you've got
some hardware debugging to do. (I'd check BIOS settings first even if they
claim to not know how to get into it).

While that's running check the XP CD because if it's damaged it'll have
trouble copying files. First a visual and then take it to a known working
machine and simply copy the entire contents to a folder on the drive to
verify everything is readable.

After memtest run complete stem to stern hard drive diagnostics. If it
fails you've got your problem.

If all that passes then remove all partitions from the suspect hard drive,
repartition, format, and then manually copy, on the suspect machine, the
entire CD to the hard drive. That'll give a short test of the CD reader
(and whether *it* can read the XP CD), the system itself, and the hard drive.

That should cover the most common issues with, in my experience, the
culprit usually either the hard drive, the CD reader, or the XP CD itself.

If all that passes and you've still got install problems then you'll likely
have to crack the case open and do more detailed hardware diagnosing, like
cleaning, loose cables/cards, dead/slow CPU/case/PSU fan(s), jarred this or
that, PSU voltage checks, etc. Frankly, I do that first but many people are
leary about cracking the case open. But if they've been inside then
definitely check the insides first.
 
w_tom said:
Apparently you are still trying to fix something by running
everything that is unknown. The problem therefore has been
made more complicated. sbb78247 recommended how to break the
problem down into parts. Concentrate first on that. One
unknown to eliminate immediately is XP or any other OS.
Responsible computer manufacturers provide comprehensive
hardware diagnostics. Test hardware without the complication
of any software.

Of course important facts stored in XP such as Device
Manager and system (event) log should have been collected
first. But I suspect, by trying to first fix the problem,
then such important data has been lost. So we move on.

Two more common sources for your problems are hardware
tested by diagnostics and power supply voltages measured by
the ubiquitous 3.5 digit multimeter.

The solution - by breaking a problem down into parts -
starts by confirming power supply integrity and then
confirming hardware integrity. Notice no OS, no Windows, not
trying to fix this and fix that. Get facts. Establish what
is working. That means confirming hardware integrity.

Your computer is HP. Therefore PC Doctor offline
diagnostics are even available on their web site - for free.
Take less than two minutes to verify power supply integrity,
then execute hardware diagnostics. Only then are we ready to
decide if hardware is good or bad. Only after hardware is
known to be good, do we even think about XP. Notice -
breaking the problem down into parts - then solving each part
separately. Collect all pertinent information long before
trying to fix anything.
Click to expand...

you never do a thing without your meter do you.
 
w_tom said:
....That means confirming hardware integrity.
Yes....

Your computer is HP. Therefore PC Doctor offline
diagnostics are even available on their web site - for free.
Click to expand...

OK, cool! Thanks! :)
 
David said:
Reinstalling the O.S. is a reasonable start to fix "my son wiped the
hard drive"
Click to expand...

That's what I thought.
but with the problems you're seeing you need to step back to
the beginning and verify everything as it should not take that long even
with 128 Meg of RAM.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought.
First thing I'd want to know is what did the kid do, both to 'wipe' the
hard drive and any repair attempt's. Did anyone remove it, play with
jumpers, BIOS settings, or what? There may be some clues in there, not
to mention it could simply be that the hard drive has problems and
that's what got it to begin with.
Click to expand...


The reason the kid was even asked to help is because they tried to
install a new version of NORTON internet security, and THAT is what
(allegedly) rendered the PC unusable.
Assuming the answer is the typical "I didn't do nuttin," this is a good
place for memtest. Not that it'll tell you specifically that memory is
good/bad but it'll give a system test.
Click to expand...

OK I got memtest on disk. I'll try it.
While that's running check the XP CD because if it's damaged it'll have
trouble copying files.
Click to expand...

I'm certain that the XP install CD is not the problem.
After memtest run complete stem to stern hard drive diagnostics. If it
fails you've got your problem.
Click to expand...

And how do I do that? Explain, please.
If all that passes then remove all partitions from the suspect hard
drive, repartition, format, and then manually copy, on the suspect
machine, the entire CD to the hard drive.
Click to expand...

OK, I know how to do all of that.
If all that passes and you've still got install problems then you'll
likely have to crack the case open and do more detailed hardware
diagnosing, like cleaning, loose cables/cards, dead/slow CPU/case/PSU
fan(s), jarred this or that, PSU voltage checks, etc. Frankly, I do that
first but many people are leary about cracking the case open. But if
they've been inside then definitely check the insides first.
Click to expand...

OK, good advice, thanks.
 
ToolPackinMama said:
That's what I thought.



That's what I thought.




The reason the kid was even asked to help is because they tried to
install a new version of NORTON internet security, and THAT is what
(allegedly) rendered the PC unusable.
Click to expand...

What does 'unusable' mean?

I've heard of people having problems with Norton IS but not wiping out a
hard drive.

OK I got memtest on disk. I'll try it.



I'm certain that the XP install CD is not the problem.
Click to expand...

If I had a dime for every time someone told me they were 'certain' ;)

And how do I do that? Explain, please.
Click to expand...

Download drive manufacturer's diagnostic tools and run them.
 
Back
Top