[submix8c]

Quote

He thinks it might be something in the Master Boot Record; said something about thinking it might be set to 2 instead of one.

?
Does this guy know what he's doing? If it has a "special OEM MBR" -AND- has that "special Recovery Partition" -AND- the Tech changes it - YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO USE IT!!!!

BIOS Selected Boot Device ->
Boot Device Boot Record (for HDD=MBR) ->
PBR (Partition Boot Record) ->
Booted OS

How does it have ANYTHING to do with "shutdown"?

[Sophy]

I think the part about the MBR has to do with the fact that he has been unable to get the Recovery CD (or whatever you call it) to run.

Please understand that my daughter is trying to tell me things she can remember of what he said. I am no computer tech and she is even less so. Perhaps I should not even be trying to document what is going on here. But to answer your question, YES, he does know what is going on. I can say without any hesitation that this is fact. He is still trying to research what is going on because, as he told her againr, in all his years of working on computers, he has never seen anything quite like this. He is trying to help her to reinstall her OS through the Recovery CD. Since I posted here last it seems it finally started to run and even as my daughter was calling me to report this good news, the screen went black so she was going to call him again. If something doesn't sound right, put the blame on me and/or my daughter because if anyone can get a computer running right -- find the problems and fix them -- it is this guy -- and also the woman who works with him.

[allen2]

Exactly what i though when i saw your post: the only way the MBR might block a shutdown (from the OS) would be it contain a virus that would be loaded each boot (and the virus would block the shutdown).
I heavily recommend that you make a backup (at the very least) of the MBR (with mbr wizard for example). An a full backup of all the drive should also be recommended (with something like clonezilla or the evalation version of Acronis true image) if your daughter has another drive to store the backup.
Edit: it seems i was too late for the backup recommendations.

This post has been edited by allen2: 09 September 2012 - 01:27 PM

[Sophy]

My daughter has decided to get a new laptop. Her computer is 5 years old and she doesn't want to start putting a bunch of money into it for parts, etc. Would you mind telling me what you think of this computer at Walmart. Especially want to know if this AMD processor is any good.
Acer 17.3" Aspire AS7250-0209 Laptop PC with AMD E-450 Dual-Core Processor and Windows 7 Home Premium with Windows 8 Pro Upgrade Option

The link is: http://www.walmart.c...Option/19977357

Maybe this is asking a lot but I would really appreciate it. The guy directed her to an Acer at Walmart that is on sale, but it has only a 14" screen and I don't know if she would be satisfied with such a small screen.

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Sophy, on 09 September 2012 - 03:53 PM, said:

My daughter has decided to get a new laptop. Her computer is 5 years old and she doesn't want to start putting a bunch of money into it for parts, etc. Would you mind telling me what you think of this computer at Walmart. Especially want to know if this AMD processor is any good.
Acer 17.3" Aspire AS7250-0209 Laptop PC with AMD E-450 Dual-Core Processor and Windows 7 Home Premium with Windows 8 Pro Upgrade Option

The link is: http://www.walmart.c...Option/19977357

Maybe this is asking a lot but I would really appreciate it. The guy directed her to an Acer at Walmart that is on sale, but it has only a 14" screen and I don't know if she would be satisfied with such a small screen.

If this is to be a keeper for more than a couple of years and not a throwaway wasted on facebook and angry birds or to be lost at school, well, then I'd pass on that one. Two reasons ...

- Unless you want an AMD for a specific reason ( uh oh, flamewar incoming ) I would go with Intel, nothing less than an i3 ( and the step from there to i5 is chump change even for 3rd generation ). i3 or i5.

- Acer is probably the least loved of the majors, personally I would go with Dell, Asus, Gateway first. Not that they are terrible, but they get very little respect from the many laptop users I am familiar with. YMMV.

Probably the only thing that makes that a reasonable price is the 17" screen. In the 15" range there are lots of similarly priced laptops but again, using much better processors.

Most of the other specs there are irrelevant ( HDD size, DDR3 is dirt cheap, etc ) and shouldn't be used to decide anything. Not to mention the fact that some of those things *can* be added or swapped later. However, the CPU cannot, she must live with the one that arrives with the computer. Forever. The horsepower from a good CPU will be apparent for years to come, every single time you turn it on.

Just my humble opinion.

[Sophy]

Thank you so very much. This would definitely be a keeper. And she and the oldest son (6 yrs.) do light gaming; games found on Shockwave as she has a paid membership. I really appreciate this input.

[allen2]

I'd just add :
- you should also get an extended support when you'll buy the new laptop if it is not sold with a 3 years old warranty/support.
- As for the make of the laptop i'd add to major makes you might want to consider HP and Lenovo.

[dencorso]

If I had to pick one for me, I'd buy ASUS or HP. But that's me, and YMMV.
BTW, Sony VAIO are good machines, too, besides the other brands already mentioned.

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Add Toshiba to the good list. They excel in the high end with i7 desktop replacements. In the mid to low range I imagine they wouldn't want to blow their reputation making crap.

[submix8c]

CharlotteTheHarlot, on 09 September 2012 - 06:39 PM, said:

Most of the other specs there are irrelevant ( HDD size, DDR3 is dirt cheap, etc ) and shouldn't be used to decide anything.

Beware that! the RAM upgrades are just fine. IF you change a HDD, THEN you will have to FULLY CLONE the old HDD to the New, expanding the Running OS Partition. THEORETICALLY this should cause no problem with Vista/7/8 since as a "norm" WIMS are used for the Recovery Partition (remember those?). SOME manufacturers (cough - DELL) screwed folks up by "hiding" a special "item" in a "secret place" thus disallowing cloning between HDD's.

So if you go that route (changing smaller->bigger HDD) come back here FIRST before proceeding.

However, normally newer PC's have more than enough HDD space for their needs. Video/Audio editing is a different story...

[Sophy]

Again, thanks to everyone. I've been sharing your advice with her.

[Sophy]

Just wanted to add a final note to this. After the guy worked on her computer, she was able to shut it down ... sometimes. The way it sounds, sometimes she has to let it set for a little bit and then it will restart. He did manage to do a repair install, but then afterwards the second she would click on Windows Update she'd get some spiel about not being able to dowload Windows Updates.

Strange thing, but exactly at that time I got a newsletter about a winfixtool by Anvisoft that will often cure problems with Windows Update so I told her about it. What could it hurt? She used it and was able to download and install over 100 updates. After that she went ahead and reinstalled her Malwarebytes, but instead of using Avast (which this guy who worked on her computer had warned her off of) she installed Microsoft Security Essentials and enabled her Windows Firewall.

Her husband thinks she needs a new hard drive and I'm still no so sure some of her problems aren't coming from her power supply. She says when she is able to shut down and then tries to start up again, at times she can see by the orange light on her tower that connection is not being made, but her fans will run real loud.

In any event, she is still planning on getting a new laptop, but is thinking about going forth with trying to fix this computer for her 6-year-old son to use to play his games on because she really doesn't want him messing with her new one. She wonders if there is a possibility that he did something to this computer which caused things to go haywire.

Anyway, thank you all for your time and expertise. I truly appreciate it.

[submix8c]

First, there was probably an "unrepairable" (by AV software) problem in the Registry. Some "trojans" intentionally change many things (autoupdate/firewall/antivirus). Malwarebytes should have found that and corrected it. This was the case with a FAKE Antivirus that many folks inadvertently "click" on (cleaned two of those before).

Second, an "over-the-top" Reinstall (aka "Repair Install") won't cure many Registry problems nor will it "remove" the "baddies". If the CD is a FULL OEM-supplied CD (as I had described the difference between the two "types") and it was used (as an "over-the-top" which I suspect to be the case) then I might recommend that WHEN the new laptop is obtained that a CLEAN INSTALL be done to it, thus "curing the magic" (i.e. REFORMAT the partition and boot to the CD).

I would be willing to bet this is the case. IOW, why "toss" a (potentially) perfectly good PC. Suggest a FULL SCAN with MalwareBytes in Safe Mode without Internet (after MBAM Update of course).

(p.s. the "Shutdown" MAY have been "altered" somehow to "Restart")