OT - anyone any good with computers?

[sweetheart]

My computer has crashed. This is a lap top and rubbish with it. My computer is a Cougar - cant recall the full spec

I think I got a virus and it seems to have wiped virtually everything. The thing is I had an anti virus running and it took that first. The machine identified and vaulted the virus but then everything just went and when I restarted it it said my hard drive was corrupt. It tried to fix it. It then said my Hd couldn't be found, My docs are all gone. I started in safe mode and it still wouldn't do anything . It boots and then shuts itself down. The only thing I get is a flash of a message saying something about " crash" ( only word I can read) followed by a boot up where everything seems Ok but it says " slave not detected".

I run on Vista on this computer. Its has all my stuff on it, I could really do with getting it back. Anyone know what I can do/ who I can go to?

[Peter Crosland]

It is not something that you can get detailed DIY advice about. You need to get someone to look at the machine physically. Look in yellow pages and find a computer repair specialist. Avoid PC World or Curry's like the plague.

Peter Crosland

[Andy Burns]

Manually recovering from virus infection is effectively too tricky to talk anyone through remotely, viruses operate in sneaky ways so you're likely to have multiple infections which keep re-applying each other.

It sounds like it's time to re-install Windows and restore data from backup ... assuming you have a system recovery CD/DVD or Vista CD/DVD and some backups?

If you don't have backups, and you *really* want back whatever files can be recovered (might range from nothing to everything) and are willing to pay a couple of hundred to recovery company, I'd recommend you switch it off and do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to it.

[sweetheart]

can you suggest someone because I got bit like this for the tune of three hours about five years ago. The computer didnt get fixed. I was up the creek and had spent out as much as a new computer would cost and then I ended up buying the computer I have now.

I have little trust in any of these so called geeks and techies that are working around simply because I had a similar issue with a TV I tried to get fixed just 12 months back. Cost £80 and lasted about half an hour. I took it back - same again.

I know the stuff is on the computer somewhere because it comes up momentarily as I move around the system pressing things ( in safe mode).

[sweetheart]

So throw it away in other words? I had it fitted with an OEM when it came. I may have some back ups but not a lot and nothing near what I have lost.

>

[Bob Martin]

Look on the bright side - you just learned the value of regular backups!

[John Williamson]

As others have said, turn it off, leave it off, and take it to a good professional computer supplier or repairer.

*DO NOT GO TO PC WORLD OR ANY SIMILAR COMPANY*. The first thing they do in these circustances is wipe your hard drive.

If you are lucky, your documents may be recoverable. What's needed may range from booting from a Vista install DVD and using the recovery console, through to removing your HD and recovering the data sector by sector.

Where are you, I know a couple of good relible geek type places in the Potteries.

[Andy Burns]

No, but you need to realise that the more you continue to fiddle with it, or allow someone who doesn't know exactly what they're doing with it to fiddle with it, the more damage is likely to happen to what's left of your data.

If you don't have any backups but want to recover anything that's possible to recover, you need professional help, and they'll be more successful if you turn it off now and do nothing else to the machine.

If (as seems unlikely) you don't care what's recovered from the machine, and just want to wipe it and start again, you might get enough help to do that ...

an OEM what? Do you mean an OEM version of Windows? Is it legal, do you have a Windows CD/DVD or recovery CD/DVD? Do NOT try to boot from either of them yet if you do.

Twice bitten, third time lucky?

[sweetheart]

It was factory fitted Vista. They told me they installed it once and that was it. I have no back up disks at all. I do have the Vista disk they installed from but as I said it was a once only disk. It was cheaper that way. Before you ask, this firm was recommnded by PC advisor as being good ( and to be honest the computer was good)

>

[sweetheart]

Sorry, SE Cornwall.>

[sweetheart]

I have back ups of most documents. Its the loss of all my music files and all my e mails and connections thats the problem. Something like going back to 2008. Its also the loss of the software ( it was a media centre and I don't have any of the disks for it. As I said it was a one off installation job.

[John Williamson]

If they installed from a DVD, and you have that DVD, then its very unlikely to be usable only once. What they may have meant is that you can only use that DVD to install Vista onto your machine. OEM copies of Vista are locked to a particular machine, but can be re-installed on that machine as often as necessary. They just can't be installed onto another machine.

[John Williamson]

Just a word of advice, and I know it's too late now. Buy a USB hard drive, and keep a backup of your data on it. Most of them come with some form of basic backup software, and if the worst comes to the worst, even Windows has a backup program included. Update it at least once a week, and it will only take a few minutes.

[Martin Warby]

If keeping your old data is important I'd recommend

swapping the hard disk out for a new one reinstall vista from scratch purchase a sata/ide to usb adaptor from ebay or the likes boot into a Linux live cd and copy only your documents across to the new drive

I'd not recommend using the old disk at all with your fresh copy of windows, it's almost asking to get reinfected. having the drive only attached when running a linux live cd should be fairly safe

you should be able to do this for =A350 parts, but if your paying someone to do it labour will be quite a bit more(2-3 hours roughly if you have all the bits to hand, a lot of that is waiting time)

Martin

[Martin Warby]

just to add, of course once you've got your data off the old disk, and reformatted it you can reuse it. I'd use boot n nuke on it first though

Martin

[Dave-UK]

If you can get access to another computer try Microsoft's System Sweeper:

need to know if your Vista is 32 bit or 64 bit. You download the relevant file which will create a disk image and then burn that to a CD. You then boot your laptop with the CD.

[tim....]

It's unlikely to be that hard. Once the disk is removed and used as a slave in a second computer the files are likely to be accessible in file format.

It's finding someone who has the kit (and the patience) to do that, that's the problem. "Geek" time doesn't come cheap and the OP has to decide if she wants to pay extra for her data to be recovered, or just for her computer to be usable again.

tim

[MuddyMike]

I am no computer wiz but did recover mine from a similar crash using "system restore" under safe mode. That was with XP mind, does Vista have system restore? It is found under Start, All programs, Accessories, System tools on mine.

When the old laptop overheated and cooked itself I recovered all the data on the hard drive by buying a hard drive caddy from Ebay that plugs into a USB socket, it cost less than a fiver, I now keep the hard drive in the caddy as a back up drive.

Mike

[Alan]

In message , sweetheart wrote

And usually the computer will have also come with a utility to allow YOU to back up all the drivers and make a recovery disk or two.

[Martin Warby]

failing that any vista disk of the right version should work fine with the key from the license sticker (although you normally have to ring up to activate)

Martin