Potty PC!

[Bulletguy]

After experiencing a number of unexplained crashes i decided to do a complete reformat.

I'm running with XP Professional.

So, it's reformatted and i've re-installed from the original software. Before adding any new programmes i installed Zone Alarm (version 7) but find it won't let me access the internet if i have that running....even if i lower the firewall settings to minimum. I have to switch it off.

Also since installing XP Service Pack 2, i've mysteriously lost audio. No problem....i have the drivers for it so simply tried to reinstall them. But it's telling me they are already there, do i wish to overwrite them? OK....i overwrite them and reboot. Nothing....still no audio. So i've uninstalled them and then reinstalled. But when i went to reinstall, i got the same again....that the drivers (which were uninstalled) are already there!

Any ideas on this? oh:

 

[iceni]

Hi
Well the first thing to remember is that a format doesnt phisically wipe the software from your computer. The programs are still there. When you format a drive you only clear the file allocation table (FAT) which is the file that tells the PC where everything is. This is what causes problems when you try to reinstall drivers. etc. Thats why the police can find things on your PC that you thought you had deleted.

I wonder if you tried a drive image backup before you did the format. if so try re-imaging the hard drive.
Or you could just try rolling the pC back to before the format.

The daft part is that the things that probally caused the crashes were probally left intact. These can be files missing or corrupted in the registry etc.

Thats all i can think of at the moment. It makes you feel like buying a new PC doesnt it.

Phill

 

[madbluemad]

Hi
I had a similar problem to yours about a year ago. I spoke to the manager at our local PC World (who i know) and he told me to do a destructive restore. I told him that I didnt like that word destructive but he said it would be ok. He said that I would loose some software but no data.

I han no choice and so I carried ou the destructive restore. It worked a treat. It took a while to reload the software that I had lost but in the end it worked.

Just a thought.

Cheers Jim

 

[Bulletguy]

Hi
Well the first thing to remember is that a format doesnt phisically wipe the software from your computer. The programs are still there. When you format a drive you only clear the file allocation table (FAT) which is the file that tells the PC where everything is. This is what causes problems when you try to reinstall drivers. etc. Thats why the police can find things on your PC that you thought you had deleted.

I wonder if you tried a drive image backup before you did the format. if so try re-imaging the hard drive.
Or you could just try rolling the pC back to before the format.

The daft part is that the things that probally caused the crashes were probally left intact. These can be files missing or corrupted in the registry etc.

Thats all i can think of at the moment. It makes you feel like buying a new PC doesnt it.

Phill

Not sure about others but XP Pro gives the choice on whether you want to reformat only the FAT.....or the rest of the drive. I reformatted the drive and left the FAT. Audio drivers went back in ok and worked.....until i installed SP2. Not saying that's definately the fault, but it was after that had gone in the audio 'disappeared'. Odd thing is, Device Manager tells me they are there and all working!

The crashes were caused by a Registry hive file.....\systemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE....which was either 'corrupt, absent, or not writable'.

Don't know about 'buying another pc'......the problems i've recently had makes me want to throw the bloody thing through the window!