Messages

1

General Computer Support / Re: Wonderful in XP, but Vista had problems...

« on: June 30, 2015, 03:11:36 pm »

I agree. That does seem to be what's happening.

I hate doing the hard reboot when it won't unlock on it's own. Has anybody ever had success using Ctrl+Alt+Delete to shut down softly? I've haven't had any success with it on any computer in many years...

2

General Computer Support / Re: Wonderful in XP, but Vista had problems...

« on: June 29, 2015, 04:10:31 pm »

Thanks for the info, Shane.

The idea of a S.M.A.R.T. scan made me think of something. I have HD Tune installed. The quick scan comes up all green and says my HDD is good. However, I can't perform a full scan. My computer freezes mid-scan. This is a familiar problem, as I can do a quick defrag but not a full defrag, and I can do a quick scan virus check but not a full scan. So I would anticipate that no matter what brand of utility that I were to use, the full scan would freeze my computer mid-scan. 

3

General Computer Support / Re: Wonderful in XP, but Vista had problems...

« on: June 28, 2015, 02:02:03 pm »

Very interesting stuff, Boggin. Thanks for that. Glad to see that your HDD is in good shape!

Thanks, Shane, for the good explanation of what happened when I ran the repair tool. As far as the fact that more and more bad sectors will show up, ironically I have been stuck on 12 bad sectors for at least 6 months now. I first noticed the 12 bad sectors on 12/24. While the computer is not consistently stable, the majority of the time it is very functional, so I keep using it. Of course, my data is backed up.

It is probably rare that the 12 bad sectors prognosis has been maintained for such a long period, especially since I'm on the internet daily with the computer. I suppose I'm doing a good job at helping things not get any worse. For example, the computer has never picked up a virus or malware.     

4

General Computer Support / Re: Wonderful in XP, but Vista had problems...

« on: June 24, 2015, 03:48:58 pm »

Very interesting, Boggin. So there is a certain amount of time for the free trial, and the clock only runs when the program is in use/installed? And is the free trial IP address specific, or is it based on a userID and password? Thanks...   

5

General Computer Support / Re: Wonderful in XP, but Vista had problems...

« on: June 23, 2015, 03:14:37 pm »

Hi Boggin

I've had some sudden shutdowns, but they must not have been critical.

Yes, all programs work and all files do seem intact. I have no reason to believe, based on checking all the errors, that they are not intact. It does seem that chkdsk has only repaired system files, so that is good news. I'll go on the presumption that my backed-up document data is accurate. That is what is most important to me. Thanks so much for your help!

6

General Computer Support / Re: Wonderful in XP, but Vista had problems...

« on: June 22, 2015, 04:29:56 pm »

This was a very educational post, Boggin! I had a fun couple hours with these tools that I never knew anything about.

Since I realize that the HDD is on limited time, I'll pass on the academic exercise. I'm also skipping HD Sentinel since I'm prepared for HDD failure, but I will keep it in mind for the future.

In Event Viewer I had no Criticals. There were many Errors and I examined them.

The Reliability, Stability, and Failure history were most interesting. I examined each failure and type. Fortunately, many of the applications that failed I am already no longer using.

I believe that I have not lost any data in My Documents...specifically Notepad documents, Word documents, Excel documents, and pictures...as chkdsk has done it's thing. It seems these haven't been affected. But what do I look for to know for sure? What would be the Source code for any Error documents in Event Viewer? Or maybe that would qualify as Critical?

Thanks so much...

 

7

General Computer Support / Re: Wonderful in XP, but Vista had problems...

« on: June 21, 2015, 08:27:21 am »

Thanks, Julian. Yes, I saw the writing on the wall, so I have backed everything up and picked up another computer. I will be moving my files to the other computer. This one is still functional, though, so I can make some use of it 'til the HD dies.

Thanks, Boggin. I've used Event Viewer so far to view the files that have been deleted and recovered by chkdsk. These files are unrecognizable, but it seems to delete and recover the same files. I'd be very interested to know which applications are failing, as maybe I can delete them altogether. How exactly can I utilize Event Viewer to see the specific applications that are failing? Thanks so much...   

8

General Computer Support / Wonderful in XP, but Vista had problems...

« on: June 18, 2015, 09:23:01 pm »

Hi. I used the windows repair tool on my old XP, and it went wonderfully. It fixed the 9 pre-scan errors, I ran the repair tool,  and the computer is running very nicely. I didn't have as good an experience on my Vista. The situations going into the repairs were 1) NO pre-scan errors, 2) 12kb bad sectors on the disk (nothing new), 3) sfc shows some irreparable items (nothing new). My experience after running the repair tool is that Vista booted up VERY fast, which was nice. The problem, though, is that immediately after boot-up, the computer would freeze. After many forced shutdowns and reboots, it became apparent that this wouldn't go away, so I had to resort to system restore. I had to try a few different restore points to get the computer to work properly again. For the record, my computer has been freezing about once a day for 6 months.

It was SO disappointing that the computer became non-functional after such a wonderfully fast boot-up, and after the repair tool worked so well on my XP. I'm afraid to try it again, but I thought I should post in case this is a familiar problem with an easy resolution. Many thanks...