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  • HI folks the server that hosts the site completely died including the Hdd's and backups.
    Luckily i create an offsite backup once a week! this has now been restored so we have lost a few days posts.
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HP Notebook needs a format

tali

tali

master brummie
My HP Notebook needs a format because System restore , diskcheck Avirus, Internet, Bitdefender - most of the things are not working :cry:, on some error is "services are stopped" - although it does go desktop to i suspect some form of malware. This happened when i noticed the programmes running in the Taskbar lost their blue colour and are showing white instead
Safe Mode says loading drivers and then does nothing and does not go to desktop
Msconfig doesn't show anything suspicious and most are unticked anyway
It has a Recovery Drive- I have not restored using a second drive before , so what i want to know is if i use the Recovery Drive will it delete all my files on my C drive? (I have been told that files will be lost - so what is point of partition if it loses exactly like a single drive?:confused:
Or is there another solution?
i am using Vista
 
Have you tried System Restore ?. I have a HP Pavilion Laptop and have used the Recovery set up twice. It cleaned out my hard drive. Some one will come up with other Ideas so try not to rush into anything ( just like what I am likely to do !). you may be able to salvage something.


SOORRRY , I see System restore is not working.
 
Tali thats what happened to my laptop i had window reinstalled cost £30


Mau-reece
 
aidan if you read Talis post he said system restore is not working


Mau-reece
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Well Aidan that all you can do i dont think you can format something that aint there

Mau-reece
 
I have an HP Desktop running Vista and have had to do a Windows Recovery twice. At some stage at the start of the process it asks you if you want to do a completely fresh installation or do you want to repair Windows.
A fresh installation will reformat your hard drive and all your files will be lost.
A Windows Repair will keep your Data files intact, only the files necessary for running the operating system will be removed and replaced.

I am assuming that a notebook installation is similar to my desktop one, but if not, I can assure you that, if the process on which you are embarking will wipe out all your data files, it gives you adequate warning before it happens and you can abort the operation at that point.
 
Just a quickie, if you use a memory stick or cd to save your important stuff to, be aware that the infected file or virus could be in there, so it would just re-infect.
 
If you partition your hard drive into two partitions say C: and D:, and keep all your data such as 'My Documents', photos, other files on the D: partition, then Windows on the C: partition can be reinstalled without affecting your files etc on D: I've done this on my 5 year old laptop and the only slight problem I have is waiting for all the Windows updates issued in last 4 years to download into my Windows when I periodically dump and reinstall my Windows.
 
Widows updates always seem / are much longer than anyone elses. It has taken me the best part of a day to renew Windows. You loose valuable drinking time.
 
tali,
As I understand it, if you have the Windows Installation disc, i.e. a disc with the full Vista operating system on, it is possible to do a repair without affecting your personal files. If it's a Windows Recovery disc or a recovery partition on your PC, it will return your PC to the state it was in when you first got it new out of the box, i.e. all your personal files will be wiped.

Probably too late in your case now as, like many of us, you didn't think backing up your files was necessary until they were needed but it does show the importance of doing a regular back up.

mikejee,
I too wondered about the relevance of that post.
sm-nachdenk.gif


EDIT (Sometime later): Just found this that might be of some help: https://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/
 
I've just switched the Windows bit of my laptop on and see 10 updates coming in, and I've got to restart my computer. I notice all updates I've ever received are stored in folders in c:\windows\$hf_mig$, so I might copy the folders to a usb stick and get them from that if I ever re-install XP again. This laptop has a 2GB Windows recovery partition and only reinstalls Windows on the C: partition, the D: partition remains the untouched.
I have 3 operating systems in my HP desktop computer.
WindowsXP - came with the computer, and I need it for some old programs.
Windows7 on a CD - I put it on a separate partition - it's fast, good looking, super I love it.
Linux Ubuntu 10.04 - it's free - I use it for the internet - no messing about with virus checkers and antispyware.
I have a data partition which all three systems can access and I back this up to a usb external disk.
I used to have a life, now I've got computers, but they keep my old brain cells updated ...:)
 
Oisin said:
Anyone seen tali? I wondered how he was getting on with this problem.
Click to expand...

Problem sorted! - well so far
I noticed that most of programmes i tried said services stopped and when i tried to start them nothing would happen
So Msconfig and under services tab - everything had been stopped - so i enabled all and everything is fine!!!!!
Trouble is i have a lot of services that i don't really need - anyone know which are vital?
Also - what caused the services to stop in first place?????
 
Trouble is i have a lot of services that i don't really need - anyone know which are vital?
Also - what caused the services to stop in first place?????
Click to expand...

Not sure which services are essential, it's something I've never had cause to mess with. All I can tell you is I just checked mine and everything is ticked. S'pose if it's working okay that's good enough. However, there is something about it here: https://ask-leo.com/what_windows_services_can_i_turn_off.html

Also have no idea what might have stopped them unless it was some sort of malware.Therefore it might be worth running a scan with your AV and MalwareBytes just in case there's anything still active.
 
With all services running the notebook is actually rather quicker :)
Did AV scan and 3 nasties were found and quarantined
 
Anybody interested in Windows services should take a look here https://www.blackviper.com/

This guy is very clever and well informed. I have used his advice several times to no ill effect.

Can I ask that you make a small donation? I am in no way affiliated with Blackviper and do not/will not benefit beyond his excellent information, but I do feel such sites are worthy of support since his advice is free but his website is not!

£1 is what I usually donate when I seek help there- not much from me, but mounts up from several contributers!
 
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