Needing to fix Dell Computer...

[Ember]

If we need the stats I can get them for you but heres the basics...

Father got a Dell computer, some Intel core 2 duo (low end) 2GB ram.. etc... not bad, but far from state of the art.

He decided to just transfer his old computers HDD onto the new one... using a direct cable.. literally copying the old Harddrive and paste it on the new one...

This was a bad idea.. I know.. but he didn't listen.. Windows 95/98/ME data was on that drive, and now is on the new harddrive running VISTA.


That was a year ago.
The computer is now blue screening and major problems... I want to help him, I want to take off all the old junk, but save his files he wants so bad (pictures tax info etc) and NOT format, but get rid of all the programs he never uses/needs and ones that won't remove from the 'add/remove' program list.

Problem is the computer is still under warrenty and I am not allowed to format... so I need help making his performance better and getting it running like it SHOULD be and not taking forever to load stuff...

There are a lot of proccesses running when I check, and a lot of things that start up with it on boot.. most of them I don't recognize.. and I don't know jack about vista really (and no he won't go backward to XP)

Can anyone help me?
What can I do?
What do I need to run?

 

[carnageX]

You're allowed to reformat if it's under warranty... Why wouldn't you be? It's not like you're modifying the parts (which would probably break the warranty, but I've never worried about that either).

And what's the BSOD error code that you get? We can't tell anything from just a description of it. Tell us the STOP error code, which will be formatted as such: 0x000000XX, where XX = some alpha/numeric combination. There also should be a message at the top of the screen, in all caps (for example: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL).

It also sounds as if he could have a virus infection. Please go through this guide:

http://www.techist.com/forums/f51/spyware-removal-guide-osiris-165828/

and post your log files it generates here:

http://www.techist.com/forums/f70/

Thank you.

 

[Fat.Clown]

Hi,
first of all, Welcome to Tech-Forums

2nd wrong sub-forum http://www.techist.com/forums/f9/

3rd
check out these threads

http://www.techist.com/forums/f51/spyware-removal-guide-osiris-165828/
download the Office Word Doc and follow the instructions

http://www.techist.com/forums/f9/how-keep-winxp-really-fast-stable-156582/
for XP but most of it applies to Vista as well

Revo Uninstaller Freeware - Uninstall, Remove Programs, Solve uninstall problems
check out revo uninstaller, will uninstall programs that can't be removed from "add/remove" and all traces

 

[Ember]

thanks

The reason i cant really format is because I don't think my father has his thoughts together enough to trust him when he says "yea I backed up all my data" and I would hate for precious memories to get deleted because he forgot a folder, so I am trying to AVOID complete formatting.


Thanks for the input- I didn't catch the STOP error to write it down, simply told "It blue screened" If it happens again Ill be sure to write it down.

Adaware found 183+ infections, so I don't think he's kept security up.

More to come... thanks in advance.

 

[carnageX]

That's why you should do the backup yourself. Back up the entire My Documents folder, and look through the root of the C drive, and in any other program folder, just in case. Also back up his address book/emails if he uses Outlook for emails.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Ember]

Ill try but problem is he just copy/pasted the old harddrive data onto it, so the stuff he 'needs to save' is all over the place instead of organized. He went from 98 to Vista instantly >.<