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Frustrated Computer User? |
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Sometimes things happen and your computer quits. It's often due to hard drive corruption and it is difficult to solve. How can you get back to normal? Sometimes it's very difficult to restore to a 'check point' that makes things better. It could be your PC was in dire straights before you noticed it and redoing the check point won't help because it is bad too. Today we will discuss what to do, if you cannot restore you system to the last good point and you have to install the operating system again. Here is what protections you should have in place: 1. Save all the CDs you get from the computer manufacturer. You will need them. Sometimes these include 3rd party software that have key codes on the disk envelopes that you got when you purchased your system. Don't lose them!!! Don't put the wrong disk in an envelope either. 2. Make sure you are using backups daily for your hard drive pictures and documents. You can purchase a huge amount of storage for under $300. For example, a Terabyte and more can be obtained and this will be good for all your computers since they can be plugged in via Universal Serial Bus (USB) The first thing you should do is try to re-install your operating system from your large drive to your C drive. If this is not possible or is not helpful, don't panic, just begin at the beginning. When you purchased your machine, the manufacturer supplied the Operating System and the utilities. Find them! Don't forget you'll need some key codes along the way. If your system is down and you cannot use the Internet, which is probable, you'll need the CDs and DVD's that were supplied. Here are the steps: Install the operating system first by putting it in the CD/DVD drive and restarting your computer. It will generate a lot of messages for you to follow so pay attention. Sometimes you will see a task bar that shows progress and sometimes not. If you see no progress, be patient. If you see no task progress bar, again be patient. They are not good with this. Once the operating system is installed look for any CDs that say "Drivers". These are software packages that support the various devices you have on your machine ... like installed Web Cam, Wireless, special audio devices, etc. Sometimes they will be all on one or a series of disks, but usually now they come separate due to the wide variety of machines that are produced. By this time you should have Internet established by broadband or wireless, whichever you normally use. If not, you have to establish it quickly. If the computer is working well, but you cannot connect, then you need to go back and see if you've not loaded all the drivers. You have to reconnect to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) in order to proceed. For example, with Bruce Telecom, you will have to know your username and password. Sometimes people ask the operating system to remember it for them and then don't write them down for cases like this. 13/01/2009 04:23 PM |
Sometimes the driver names are not clearly connected to the devices that you have. As a rule of thumb install all the drivers that came with your original machine and all the device drivers that you purchased later. Install every CD they gave you unless it's a pure promotion gimmick. When you have Internet connected you are almost there. If you find that everything is working fine, but you're still missing something, you can go to the support site of your manufacturer. If you make a phone call to the manufacturer, they will want to know your 'tag' number which is someplace on your machine or shipping list. Don't call them until you have this number and the packing list for it in front of you. Also, have handy a magnifying glass and if possible, a hands free phone. They will want you to do a lot of typing and looking for numbers. Sometimes it's easier than you may think. For example, if you have a Dell machine, you can go to their support site, type in your tag number and all the right information will be displayed there along with the up to date device drivers that you can download for free. This information will be for YOUR machine alone, so it is very valuable. Once you are up and running with the raw internet connected machine, make sure that you have your wireless connection established too, if you have one. Now you're ready to re-install all your old programs that you use all the time. This could include MS Word or whatever you have used in the past. It can take a couple of days to do this. You have to have the key codes to re-install. Usually these are on the boxes that the software supplier delivered to you. If you don't place these in a safe spot, you are in the soup. If you do have them, you're ok. Don't get too frustrated, it's not your fault and you can recover, if you don't have a fatal hardware flaw. So how does this mess happen in the first place? It can happen when some download gets interrupted while in progress. It's well to only do downloads when you want them done. Sometimes they are done while you are working and that's not good because you can interfere with the process very easily and they will mess up the operating system. If an update starts, it's best to close all the programs and just wait for it to finish or to do nothing until it finishes. You could have been besieged by a virus, but these are more rare than just plain 'bad stuff happens' The more you download programs for install from the net, the more you are open to bad things, so be careful. It's not that they are malicious, they just put you at risk by complexity on your machine. One final piece of advice. If you buy a program online and download it, make sure you ask for a copy of it to be delivered on CD to you, because you might need it in the future and it's awkward to re-download it. If they don't supply it, you can save the download to a file and then save it to CD before you install. Remember ____ happens, so be ready.
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