Here we go again....(Facebook virus)

[Default]

At this point, however, I think I'll have to wipe everything clean. Just gotta get things running enough to salvage some unarchived files. . .<sigh>

"Hi, I'm a MAC, and I'm a PC. . ."

Use Ubuntu to salvage the files and copy them to a removable drive. You know your way around a file system, it'll be a piece of cake.

 

[capnjuan]

S'ok Steve; I think you're doing a better job of 'splaining than I am of getting it. Sent you an email discussing Plan B. Getting embarrassed from displaying my unwillingness to spend too much on this (greed) and inability to understand (ignorance). J

 

[Default]

Don't be too harsh on yourself. I've been screwing around with this for a while, just not getting a paycheck for it. :roll:

 

[jp]

Hey capn,
My PC is my newer Quadcore beast, and my Compaq laptop is the dinosaur. I run it lean and mean, and it does just fine. When my wife becomes MAC enlightened, I'm free to make it a little portable digital studio. The PC needs a power supply with beefier horses under the hood, so I guess now is the time to do it.

Use Ubuntu to salvage the files and copy them to a removable drive. You know your way around a file system, it'll be a piece of cake.

Thanks for the tip, Steve. I thought about it, and it may be the best way.

 

[jp]

So it turns out that I didn't have a virus. Apparently, when viewing media in Windows Explorer, it can cause Windows Explorer to continually loop and crash. Your machine, like mine repeatedly just locks up in a loop of non-working foo. Uggh! That's one day of my life lost. Thanks MS! :evil:

 

[capnjuan]

....my Compaq laptop is the dinosaur...

Hi JP; my laptop is an HP nc6000 .... caught up the line change between HP and Compaq - outside has HP logo, inside it's ID'd as a Compaq. Business-grade machine reminiscent of IBM stuff from the late 80s/early 90s; doughty but functional. Like municipal buses; not fancy but once you get them going in a straight line, they do pretty well; in five years of moderate use, do not recall either of its w2k or XP OSs crashing.

 

[jp]

Mine's a Compaq V2000. I bought it with the fastest Pentium M CPU-graphics package available, and it's still pretty relevant. Lean and mean, it still keeps up well enough. It's saved me a gazillion times through (2) workhorse desktop machine crises.

I'm still confused as to why HP lets Compaq languish in inactivity. From a business perspective, they have the perfect opportunity to develop acute brand personalities, yet I think they're afraid to lose their core HP market share. Personally, I'd use Compaq as an innovative brand to try out hot rod gaming machines, OEM open source OS laptops, and funky-colored, design-focused notebooks aimed at the less conservative crowd. Okay, off with my brand marketing cap.

My PC is up and running just fine now. I'm glad I was able to figure out the glitch. The problem was really deceptive, because there are so many causes for Windows Explorer to crash, most being viruses. The PC is absolutely inaccessible, even through Task Manager. It screams Trojan virus, because System Restore doesn't work, it won't work in Safe Mode, and the apps running are indicative of a backdoor takeover. Nuts! I run a pretty secure system, and I couldn't figure out how this could happen. The basic issue probably has to do with file format and video codec conflicts while viewing images and videos in Windows Explorer. All one has to do is move the conflicting image or video to another folder. I've turned that option off permanently.

Thanks for the Ubuntu tip, Steve. It's what helped me resolve this.

 

[capnjuan]

... I'm still confused as to why HP lets Compaq languish in inactivity ... Thanks for the Ubuntu tip, Steve. It's what helped me resolve this.

Don't know the answer; my first PC was a Compaq V2 portable, 9" diagonal internal monitor, 640K RAM/20meg hd, mil-spec ... $4,000 in 1986 :shock: I think Steve was a lifeguard in a former life :wink:

 

[fronobulax]

I'd use Compaq as an innovative brand to try out hot rod gaming machines, OEM open source OS laptops, and funky-colored, design-focused notebooks aimed at the less conservative crowd. Okay, off with my brand marketing cap. .

Interesting since if you did a word association with me and Compaq, once I stopped bitchin' about the fact that everything that they could get away with was proprietary (so your parts had to be Compaq), you'd start getting associations like rock solid, stodgy business machines. So to me, what you are proposing would be a reinvention of Compaq rather than building on a revered brand name.

Thanks for the Ubuntu tip, Steve. It's what helped me resolve this.

General rule for Windows problems is to boot with something else. In addition to the various *nix distros that have a Live CD that can read NTFS (whoops, uber geek jargon) there is Bart's WinPE and the Ultimate Windows Boot Disk. I also have a USB cable that I can use use to pop the disk out and then read it on another machine. Kind of sad though, and reinforces some of the anti-Micro$oft points, that any of these are needed to keep a home system running.

 

[jp]

Interesting since if you did a word association with me and Compaq, once I stopped bitchin' about the fact that everything that they could get away with was proprietary (so your parts had to be Compaq), you'd start getting associations like rock solid, stodgy business machines. So to me, what you are proposing would be a reinvention of Compaq rather than building on a revered brand name.

Yup, that's the standard rep. It's also what keeps them from seeing an obvious opportunity to innovate. It will never happen. I've always wondered why there's never been a push to "officially" standardardize laptop components and sizes, to cater to the ever-growing DIY builders. A standards board would be necessary, but I think industry buy-in would be strong. It's been done for years with desktops, and most teens know how to upgrade a PC or build their own machines. It would create a whole new market sector for component manufacturers. If I was able to build my own notebook with off-the-shelf components, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Sorry, I'm geekin' out pretty strong.

General rule for Windows problems is to boot with something else.

Unfortunately, mine's an HP--proprietary OEM OS issues. I bought this in a pinch for a steal when my mobo fried. I got a desktop, monitor, and box of peripherals for $500 from a guy moving overseas--about $1200 worth of gear. He needed to get rid of it fast, and I needed something up and running right away. Of course, it came with no recovery disks, and this Explorer conflict bamboozled all the resident utilities. Most of my time was spent browsing solutions on forums and trying them. The real fix took 2 minutes. I've used the UWBD on XP before, but this was my first adventure and hopefully last with Vista.