Newbie question: System Restore seems to have fouled it up

[Johnny]

Hello,
I bought my computer yesterday and I don't know what I did but for some
reason when I switched it on, after I had done a few very ordinary things
like look through Vista, it said it needed to do a repair before it booted.
Perhaps I had not closed it down propely when I needed to switch off (but
somehow I doubt it; it remains a mystery). Anyhow, it asked if I wanted to a
System Restore and, not knowing any better, I said yes. I had had, on my
previous system, endless problems with System Restore on XP, because my apps
never functioned propely after one such. Anyhow, after the Restore,
similarly nothing worked properly: sound card and graphcs card had to be
reinstalled. When I tried reinstalling Photoshop, the problems with its
functionality remained. I don't know what to do. My system didn't come with
a Vista installation disk.
On my previous system, on XP, these kinds of problems would only get worse
and there would be nothing for it but to reinstal the OS. I don't know why
they plague me in the way they do (I often thnk there might be something
environmental about it, not that I can see anything unusual about my
environment.)
BTW where can I find the tool that, in XP, was called 'Run'? I reckoned a
chkdsk might help, but obviously can't do one.
And why can't I get into those directories I used to use in XP such as
Application Data, Local Settings etc? I used to have to look through those a
lot in XP, to find eg. Temp files.
Cheers.

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

You will find all those folders in 'C:\Users\<your profile name>'

I would think chkdsk is a good solution for your errors, and you should even
have thoughts of getting a new hard drive. There are ways to download a boot
disk that lets you start a Command prompt, and run the command CHKDSK /R

If you can burn an .IOS file
Windows Vista Recovery Disc Download - The NeoSmart Files:
http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/

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Mark L. Ferguson

..

 

[Johnny]

Mark,

You will find all those folders in 'C:\Users\<your profile name>'

I couldn't find the Temp file there, or many other files I enjoyed perusing.

I would think chkdsk is a good solution for your errors, and you should
even have thoughts of getting a new hard drive.

It's new from the shop, yesterday. Strange thing is, I have a graveyard of
HDDs from my previous computers (desktops; while now I have a laptop),
because in the end I have no choice but to attribute all my many problems to
hard drive. At times I will be getting a new one every month. But I always
get a good brand like Maxtor, and nobody else seems to have these problems.
Do you still think it's the HDD?
What sort of thing would have caused the laptop to ask me to go into doing a
Repair? Just an inadertant power cessation?

There are ways to download a boot

disk that lets you start a Command prompt, and run the command CHKDSK /R

Is that the only way to do a chkdsk? What about other Run procedures?

If you can burn an .IOS file
Windows Vista Recovery Disc Download - The NeoSmart Files:
http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/

The shop technical support gave me the routine for restoring the PC to its
factory setting status.
Wouldn't that be more reliable to get the system functioning properly?

Sorry for the multitude of questions.

Cheers.

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

I agree, restore to factory settings is good, but using a new hard drive to
do it may entail being sure you have a good copy of the data. If you are
using Acronis, or other good image, then go for it.

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..

 

[Johnny]

I agree, restore to factory settings is good, but using a new hard drive to
do it may entail being sure you have a good copy of the data.

I put the disk in, with the downloaded files, and it went through the
process of loading files. I didn't know which option to choose after that.
But either way, what it turned up was an 'unexpected I/0 error': "Windows
has encountered a probem communicating with a device conected to your
computer" and it goes on to say that it may be a problem with a removable
storage device.
So this would be a physical problem with my *new* HDD in my *new* laptop?
I'm just amazed. I have just bought a new SATA, also, for my old desktop PC.
My systems start giving trouble with Windows functionality and end up not
letting me get past the stage of re-formatting the HDD when I try to
reinstall the OS, saying there's an error. Is this indicate there is
incontovertibly a physical problem with the HDD I have in my system? If so,
it's as though just the operation of bringing an HDD through my door is
enough to ruin it. The people in the flat above me have no such problems.
The shop seems to think maybe there's someone across the road zapping me
with some kind of beam. What do you reckon? It's been going on for some 6 or
7 years.
Cheers.

 

[RalfG]

Have you ever had the AC power in your home checked for voltage, line noise
and proper ground? Problems with any of those can cause operating
irregularities and shorten the life span of electronic equipment. Proper
grounding is a must. A good UPS can help with frequent brown-outs and
sometimes also with short term over-voltage conditions. Power conditioners
are also an option if you can't get a clean AC line.

 

[Johnny]

Have you ever had the AC power in your home checked for voltage, line
noise and proper ground? Problems with any of those can cause operating
irregularities and shorten the life span of electronic equipment. Proper
grounding is a must. A good UPS can help with frequent brown-outs and
sometimes also with short term over-voltage conditions. Power conditioners
are also an option if you can't get a clean AC line.

All I can say is that the electricity supply is very modern, has had a new
and fully up-to-date fusebox installed very recently, and meets all the
safety standards. Would that not be sufficient?

Cheers.

 

[Not Me]

If the incoming power isn't 'clean' he may have issues no matter how new &
nice the rest of his electrical system is.
If I put dirty or low octane fuel in my new Ferrari, it won't run properly.
The fuel filter helps the Ferrari... on a computer, that would be an
Uninteruptible Power Supply (UPS) or even a line conditioner.

 

[RalfG]

Not really. A fraction of a volt leaking into your ground line can be enough
to cause damage to electronic circuits. On the extreme end I've seen a
vacuum cleaner with a mis-wired plug fry over $10k of electronic hardware in
an instant.

It's understood that there will always be a small percentage of electronic
hardware that is defective 'out of the box', so to speak, but it is highly
unusual for you to be the one who's getting stuck with all the defective
drives one after another. Hard drives should last years, not months. There
have been cases of vendors knowingly reselling defective hardware but
there's no reason to suspect that, is there? Something must be causing your
problems though. It isn't the OS and if it isn't a case of recurring malware
infections that leaves defective hardware or something in the operating
environment .. i.e. power problems or some other external source of
interference.