I recently had to fix a Friends computer where he got a phone call claiming to be from Microsoft. They said they noticed his computer was infected and convinced him to do a number of things, online to fix it. Unfortunately, all he did was give an hacker remote control access of his system.
He did realize what was happening when they took control of his system and shut it down. Getting it running again was a bigger problem.
This was a Vista desktop computer. It would boot up to a login screen that claimed the system was locked or disable by the Administrator. I figured it was a viral infection and decided to run a few scanners of a CD. But then the owner suggested he wanted to upgrade to Windows 7.
So rather than fooling around trying to clear out this system, I decided to install Windows 7. A complete format of the hard dive with a fresh install rather than trying to upgrade an otherwise compromised system.
The install went flawlessly until the final reboot. The computer stalled at the BIOS bootup, with a message displaying, verifying dmi pool data.....update success.
I followed a number of suggestions online, like, clearing the CMOS settings, unplugging the drive (SATA in this case) and plugging back in. Numerous changes to the BIOS settings. Tried to fix the Master Boot Record through various CDs and programs. Reinstalled Windows 7 a number of times, reinstalled Vista.....nothing worked. One suggestion it was a damaged hard drive but using various boot discs I was able to access the files on the drive, No problem.
I did not suspect a damaged hard drive but I did suspect a damaged MBR, the only question was how to fix it.
I have various boot discs like Hiren's and UBCD4Windows, so I booted up with these, tried the various utilities embedded on the disc. Here's what worked. Both UBCD4Windows (created from your own Windows XP CD) and Hiren's have a Windows graphical interface. So once the disc was booted up, I just went to Start, Control Panel then Computer Management then Disc Management.
There where three partitions. It was a 160GB SATA drive that had a 10GB partition and the rest was split up evenly between the other two. I decided to delete them all, including the 10GB one. Then I tried to create one partition but it said I had to restart the system first. I did but when I restarted it was the Windows 7 setup DVD that was in the drive. Ran the setup, now they have a shiny new Windows 7 system, minus the remote connection capability, which I disabled, in case Microsoft calls back. :-)
To disable remote connections: Click on Start, then right click on Computer. Down the left hand menu click on Remote settings. Uncheck Allow Remote Assisstance connections to this computer and towards the bottom, check Don't allow connections to this computer.
Also, Microsoft will never call you about virus and other problems on your computer. Neither will any other company like Dell or Acer. You call them!
Recently decided to clean the dust out of my computer. I noticed dust bunnies peeking out through the vents in my computer. This and the fact that I had to clean out so many computers lately where overheating was the issue and I didn't want to take any chances.
There wasn't much inside a bit on the CPU fan. So I took the fan off to clean it. Unfortunally the Heatsink came off the CPU. The thermal paste had worn off.
I didn't have any thermal paste so I just had to put everything back together and hoped for the best. Everything seems to be working OK but my computer has gotten a lot louder. I started up my computer to the BIOS settings and noticed the temperature was about 64C, that's Celsius. And I believe that is a bit to high.
Lack of resources in this town forced me to go online and buy some thermal paste on eBay.
I finally received the paste and went on Youtube to find videos for the proper way to put it on. Basically, you have to first remove as much as possible of the old stuff with cotton swabs an rubbing alcohol. Then you have to place a very, very thin layer on the CPU. That's what worried me but I got it done. It was recommended to use a edge of a card, like a credit card to spread the paste out. I couldn't get it to spread evenly that way so I chose to use my own fingers, wearing a pair of plastic gloves.
Then I put the heatsink and fan back and hoped for the best. I also took advantage of this opportunity to clean the rear case fan that was becoming very noisy.
Before putting the paste on I went into the BIOS and the CPUtemperature was around 64c. After, the temperature dropped to about 38c. I just rebooted and checked again as I was writing this and it's remaining steady. I think it' pretty good considering it was first time ever with working with this stuff.
Lately I've been receiving a number of emails claiming their is a parcel of some sort. They all have some .zip file attachment, and I'm sure if I tried to open this is would mean a serious viral infection. Here are a few pics of the actual emails. If you receive any similar, delete them and do not open the attachments.
I receive at least one a day. At one time, four in one day.
Facebook Video Uploads
Had to upload some videos to Facebook for my Uncle. Once I got the video upload started I filled out the info concerning the upload and then clicked on Save Information button. The first time everything went through just fine but after, clicking on the same button just cancelled the video upload.
Tried different browsers, same problem. So I decided not to click on that button. Videos uploaded no problems. I waited till the upload finished first. Sometimes the information video window would close after the upload but then it was just a matter of going to the video and clicking the Edit this video button towards the bottom.
VLC recording problems
Tried to record a clip from a movie using VLC. Open the program and go into View check Advanced Options and you get a smaller new toolbar added towards the bottom with a record button.
Its red when you play a video, turns blue when you press it to record. Press it again to stop recording. Videos are automatically saved in: C:\Users\(your account name)\Videos.
I tried it but the clips I recorded only played around half way but seemed to have gotten corrupted after that. Still haven't figured that one out.
Vista Laptop Problems......nuff said!
Another guy had to return his laptop because of a failing battery and a crashed hard drive, luckily it was under warranty. He wanted me to set up a few things after it was returned. What surprised me when I looked at it was that one, it was not activated and they had only 5 days left to do it. I was able to do that no problem by inputting the Product ID that was on the bottom of the laptop.
They also installed a very basic version of Vista- Vista Home Premium without any updates. I was only trying to install Windows messenger but that required Service Pack 1 and 2.
I figured Windows Update would take care of it. It did not. I started at 7:30pm and finished at 12 midnight. 88 updates, 340mb in size. But still not the right updates.
So I downloaded the SP1 and SP2 for Vista and burned it of on CD the next day. Installed them both including the Windows 7 platform update. Started 10:30am finished 4:00pm. Finally I was able to install Messenger.
I still think a lot of this should of been taken care of before it was sent back.
BSOD cure.....CHKDSK
Fixed yet another Blue Screen Of Death with chkdsk from a recovery CD.
Loose Memory Chips?
Another desktop was bought to me that wouldn't start up, couldn't even boot of a CD/DVD. The owner told me that they heard it beeping when it started up. I was tempted to call them to see if they remember how many times it beeped. I heard nothing when I started it up. I checked for dust inside and found none. I though it might be the video but since it was built in there was nothing I could do about it. Then I decided to remove the memory chips and just put them back in. I fixed a computer before like this. It finally booted up with no problems.
I did run a few scans for malware after but it was pretty clean.
Then still another Laptop. When turned on it would just keep on beeping. I was trying to count the number of beeps but just assumed it was the same problem. I took out the battery, and then took off the back panel. Removed the two memory chips and then put them back in. I put the battery back on before putting the panel back, just to be sure and started it up. No more beeps. Shut it down agin to replace the back panel.
I don't really understand what is going on here, weither the chips become loose or if there is some static build up?? Or another of my theories, that maybe the information stored in the chip becomes corrupted and even when the power is gone from the system, electrical devices can still carry a charge. Maybe enough to keep the corrupted information in memory. Removing them breaks the current completely. Of course I've fixed video card problems just by taking it out and replacing it. I'll check around on the internet and let you know what the official verdict is.