technology Doing a factory restore on my laptop tommorow, anything I don't know I should?

[Zygen 6,065]

Ok so for the past probably 6 months or so now I've been having problems with my computer, and I've even had times where they've worsened a bit. At first I had detected a virus or something, but I thought I had got rid of it, then I had some issues with my virus programs not working and I tried all kinds of things and it just didn't work, after a while I just gave up really. I came back a couple times with no luck.

 

As of now I still can't access any virus protections programs of any kind, and my computer has blue screen crashed me a couple times randomly. So I decided to talk to one of my uncles who works in the computer field and is pretty tech savy(I'm not an idiot for technology, but I'm not exactly a mastermind of it by any stretch.)

 

Anyways after speaking to him for a while I can to the conclusion that I'm going to try to restore my computer to factory settings sometime tomorrow if I can, since I am off this week from school. As far as I know I've got everything mostly ready to go, I've backed up anything I don't really wanna lose(Basically just some of my pony art and other random pictures aswell as some music.) Apparently I can't backup programs because when I factory restore it will clean my registry and everything else connected to the program, so according to what I've been told backing those up won't serve me much, meaning I'll have to reinstall those, not a big deal just some info.

 

I have a drive in my computer thats called Recovery D: And According to my understanding it should serve as basically what I'll need to restore to factory settings and hopefully fix my problems before they escalate anywhere to dangerous. (Don't really wanna pay for a whole new computer :/) In my Recovery D; Drive I found a program that says "PC restore" and as of my understanding so far that should, well restore my computer to factory settings, I have the stuff I need backed up and I'll just have to sync and do some reinstalling(Well alot of reinstalling) After the restoring process is done.

 

The question I'm wondering is, have I got everything together? Should I be doing anything else or will I be safe? I'm a bit worried I'll accidentally break my Laptop(I can still go on the forums on my Ipod, but I'd like not break my laptop) So should I be worried? Or is all my worries just pointless worries and everything should go fine?

 

Before anyone mentions recovery disks. I have no idea how to make them, and I never got any when I bought my computer. So I'm running on the hope I don't need them at all. Otherwise I may have to spend some time and money getting that resolved.

 

Hopefully any information y'all can give me that can help me finally decide with peace of mind what to do will be fully appreciated. I plan to do this sometime tomorrow if I can. So i thought I'd post this before hand to see if i'm missunderstanding or missing anything in general.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Also My computer is a Windows Vista, Dell, XPS M1530. Its something like 3 years old now maybe. If you need any other info just say the word, I'll hopefully stay on for a bit before going to bed. I am a bit sick right now so I don't wanna stay up to long, I just need some more advice and opinions on the situation since if you can't tell from how many times I've said it and how much rambling I've done I'm a bit worried I'm going to screw my computer over in some way.

 

Thanks again! If something does happen bad when/if I do my restore tommorow I can still get to these forums from my Ipod like I said, but hopefully it won't come to that at all.

[Commander Urdnot 2,680]

What anti-virus are you using? Are there any other problems the computer is having? Have you dropped the computer before? It could be a hardware problem for all we know, you said you had it for 3 years, most laptop's I've seen crapped out after 4-6 years. What are your computer's specs? What bit operating system are you running 32-bit or 64-bit? Have you ever restored it before? Have you had any problems prior to getting the virus? Have the problems changed since you first got the virus?

 

Also, make sure you have access to your computer's drivers, because if the restore fails. You will have to install a fresh copy of Windows, and replace every single last driver. Make sure you know where to get them before restoring. If things go off the rails, it's best to be prepared.

 

Restoring a computer is permanent, it should be a last-resort. Make sure you did everything you can before you restore it. Once you do it, you cannot undo it.

Edited February 11, 2013 by UrdiePie

[Zygen 6,065]

What anti-virus are you using? Are there any other problems the computer is having? Have you dropped the computer before? It could be a hardware problem for all we know, you said you had it for 3 years, most laptop's I've seen crapped out after 4-6 years. What are your computer's specs? What bit operating system are you running 32-bit or 64-bit?

 

Also, make sure you have access to your computer's drivers, because if the restore fails. You will have to install a fresh copy of Windows, and replace every single last driver. Make sure you know where to get them before restoring. If things go off the rails, it's best to be prepared.

 

Restoring a computer is permanent, it should be a last-resort. Make sure you did everything you can before you restore it. Once you do it, you cannot undo it.

I had McAffe but for some weird reason it expired even though I was apparently suppose to have like a year or so left, but it ran out randomly. So eventually I just got rid of it and decided to use AVG, which worked for a while. Then It stopped working because I somehow ended up with a trial of it(When I actually got the free version.) Then some problem happended where I got a virus apparently and I thought I had it resolved, but a while after the fact my Anti virus programs wouldn't work. I've tried installing any of them and they all won't load at all. No error or anything.

 

So far the only problems have been the anti virus programs not working(Which also disallows me to access Windows defender and I can't shutdown some of the startup programs I no longer use) I also apparently still have mcaffe firewall on according to security center, aswell as windows firewall, yet I deleted Mcaffe.

 

The last problem is it will sometimes give me a blue screen and of course stop working. Its done this maybe 10 times that I can remember since this problem came up. Its been pretty random and wide spread though.

 

I haven't really dropped it ever by itself. And I think I've only dropped it in its case on like my bed or something once or so. So I don't think its got anything to do with that directly.

 

My specs are

Dell XPS M1530

Intel® Core 2 Duo Cpu T8100 @ 2.10 GHZ

4 Gigs of ram

64 bit OS

And I have a Nvidia 8600 graphics card (Not sure the exact title at the moment.)

 

As far as I know I should be able to get all my drivers, if not I should be able to find a program that can tell me which ones I'm missing. My harddrive also backed up a bunch of other files I didn't chose but I'm not totally sure what they all are.

 

I technically have a Windows 7 Copy that my brother has somewhere, Its an upgrade I think though so I'm not sure if it'll work for rebooting my windows after the OS is gone or whatever.

 

I really don't want to do a restore, but I've had some problems and I'm sorta worried that my computer will just stop working randomly and then I'll have no choice but to save up and buy a big ol 500+ dollar computer. Infact it'll probably be even more if I buy a laptop :/.

 

It hasn't caused any major issues really since getting the virus, but I'm still paranoid about it. I suppose I am trying to stretch my computers life a bit to, but I'm not exactly rolling in money, so I would like for it to last as long as I possibly can.

[TwilizzleFoShizzle 95]

I have never actually restored a computer to factory settings, but have looked at it because I recently inhereted the family computer, a beast of a machine. However, my brother at 1 point tried to restore his computer to factory settings and all it did was black screen. The OS got dumped and the computer turned into basically a shell. There was no way to reload the OS as far as we knew, and the computer was on its last legs anyways. I recommend you make entirely sure that you are not deleting any files directly associated to the  Operating system. Also, I recommend you make a list of any programs you currently use because I know how much of a hassle it is to remember what programs to download when you switch to a new computer. Also, the problem with you computer may be that the virus was deleted but not the program or file from which it originated. Something you downloaded or installed around the time you got the virus probably gave you the virus and when you patched the virus, the file or program had another copy ready to infest your computer again. Try to figure out what file this is and DO NOT BACK IT UP. back up any important files other than files that you downloaded shortly before acquiring the virus, if you can remember which ones those even were. I'm not familiar with mcafee, however if you still have a mcafee firewall after deleting it then mcafee may very well be hiding somewhere in your C: drive reaking havok on your laptop. And by no means are you forcing that computer past its natural born life, I have had computers that operate after 10 years or so.

[Zygen 6,065]

I have never actually restored a computer to factory settings, but have looked at it because I recently inhereted the family computer, a beast of a machine. However, my brother at 1 point tried to restore his computer to factory settings and all it did was black screen. The OS got dumped and the computer turned into basically a shell. There was no way to reload the OS as far as we knew, and the computer was on its last legs anyways. I recommend you make entirely sure that you are not deleting any files directly associated to the  Operating system. Also, I recommend you make a list of any programs you currently use because I know how much of a hassle it is to remember what programs to download when you switch to a new computer. Also, the problem with you computer may be that the virus was deleted but not the program or file from which it originated. Something you downloaded or installed around the time you got the virus probably gave you the virus and when you patched the virus, the file or program had another copy ready to infest your computer again. Try to figure out what file this is and DO NOT BACK IT UP. back up any important files other than files that you downloaded shortly before acquiring the virus, if you can remember which ones those even were. I'm not familiar with mcafee, however if you still have a mcafee firewall after deleting it then mcafee may very well be hiding somewhere in your C: drive reaking havok on your laptop. And by no means are you forcing that computer past its natural born life, I have had computers that operate after 10 years or so.

Well thats not very reassuring. I haven't backed up anything really much other then some pictures music and few tibits of stuff here and there, then the stuff that was randomly auto backed up on my external hard drive. I didn't really download much of anything I can remember around that time, and if I did I don't remember it to be honest.

 

but like I said I am not really backing up much of any programs seeing as they apparently won't work(I backed up a few just to try, but we'll see) And the other stuff I have is basically all either itunes music, or pictures I took or made. So they don't really contain viruses or atleast i'd highly doubt it.

 

I'll try to clear out anything I see Mcaffe related and see if I can install a virus program and get it to work. But I really don't know much else to do.

 

I can try going into safe mode and seeing if I can access my virus protection programs, and searching using them(Of course I gotta find out how to active that aswell first.) But otherwise I'm either going to have to live with the problems and hope they don't grow into anything, or I'll have to restore.

 

To be honest I don't really trust myself to not screw my computer over my restoring, and not really having any recovery disks makes me worry even more.

[Rainbow Dash 1,471]

i have restored my laptop countless number of times. I i remember having to put stuff that i wanted to keep on a back up hard drive. I was really bad with computers back when i was doing this. i would suggest getting an external hard drive to save anything you really want.

[TwilizzleFoShizzle 95]

One problem you might run into is that if mcafee is the problem, it will be able to cause problems at any permission level with wchich you would be able to launch security measures anyways.

[Zygen 6,065]

i have restored my laptop countless number of times. I i remember having to put stuff that i wanted to keep on a back up hard drive. I was really bad with computers back when i was doing this. i would suggest getting an external hard drive to save anything you really want.

Did you have a recovery disk of some kind when you did the restoring of your computer? Or do you remember?

 

I have backed up everything I really want to save, but I don't want to backup everything just in case something is corrupted and is the problem.

 

I'm honestly not that amazing at computers really even now . If I was I proably wouldn't have this problem or be asking about it here .

 

One problem you might run into is that if mcafee is the problem, it will be able to cause problems at any permission level with wchich you would be able to launch security measures anyways.

Yeah I imagine that its possible that McAfee is causing problems with conflicting the other virus programs, but its quite stubborn and doesn't seem to want to remove itself, it still shows up as being an active firewall even after I cleaned out its files in my program files, and I can't find it anywhere else.

 

Regardless non of the security programs seem to want to launch, and I can't even get McAfee or windows firewall to turn off.

[Commander Urdnot 2,680]

I had McAffe but for some weird reason it expired even though I was apparently suppose to have like a year or so left, but it ran out randomly. So eventually I just got rid of it and decided to use AVG, which worked for a while. Then It stopped working because I somehow ended up with a trial of it(When I actually got the free version.) Then some problem happended where I got a virus apparently and I thought I had it resolved, but a while after the fact my Anti virus programs wouldn't work. I've tried installing any of them and they all won't load at all. No error or anything.

 

So far the only problems have been the anti virus programs not working(Which also disallows me to access Windows defender and I can't shutdown some of the startup programs I no longer use) I also apparently still have mcaffe firewall on according to security center, aswell as windows firewall, yet I deleted Mcaffe.

 

The last problem is it will sometimes give me a blue screen and of course stop working. Its done this maybe 10 times that I can remember since this problem came up. Its been pretty random and wide spread though.

 

I haven't really dropped it ever by itself. And I think I've only dropped it in its case on like my bed or something once or so. So I don't think its got anything to do with that directly.

 

My specs are

Dell XPS M1530

Intel® Core 2 Duo Cpu T8100 @ 2.10 GHZ

4 Gigs of ram

64 bit OS

And I have a Nvidia 8600 graphics card (Not sure the exact title at the moment.)

 

As far as I know I should be able to get all my drivers, if not I should be able to find a program that can tell me which ones I'm missing. My harddrive also backed up a bunch of other files I didn't chose but I'm not totally sure what they all are.

 

I technically have a Windows 7 Copy that my brother has somewhere, Its an upgrade I think though so I'm not sure if it'll work for rebooting my windows after the OS is gone or whatever.

 

I really don't want to do a restore, but I've had some problems and I'm sorta worried that my computer will just stop working randomly and then I'll have no choice but to save up and buy a big ol 500+ dollar computer. Infact it'll probably be even more if I buy a laptop :/.

 

It hasn't caused any major issues really since getting the virus, but I'm still paranoid about it. I suppose I am trying to stretch my computers life a bit to, but I'm not exactly rolling in money, so I would like for it to last as long as I possibly can.

Mcafee and AVG suck. I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials, Glary Utilities, and Malwarebytes Anti-malware. They're all free, light-weight, and do an excellent job. Try scanning with all 3 of those and see if it helps.

 

I also recommend accessing the problem even farther. It could be a hardware problem, or a particular program causing the problem. Also, Vista kind of sucks. It has errors all the time, so it simply just be your OS. Try investigating the problem even farther, you want to avoid restoring your computer. It takes awhile, and it's not fun.

 

You also have a small amount of RAM, I'd try getting more RAM if at all possible. Even if it doesn't solve the problem, it would definitely not hurt.

[Zygen 6,065]

Mcafee and AVG suck. I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials, Glary Utilities, and Malwarebytes Anti-malware. They're all free, light-weight, and do an excellent job. Try scanning with all 3 of those and see if it helps.

 

I also recommend accessing the problem even farther. It could be a hardware problem, or a particular program causing the problem. Also, Vista kind of sucks. It has errors all the time, so it simply just be your OS. Try investigating the problem even farther, you want to avoid restoring your computer. It takes awhile, and it's not fun.

 

You also have a small amount of RAM, I'd try getting more RAM if at all possible. Even if it doesn't solve the problem, it would definitely not hurt.

I have Microsoft Security Essentials, however the problem is I can't seem to access it to scan anything either. Same with malwarebites, It won't load at all. Whenever I try and load them I'll get like literally a half second of the loading symbol next to the virus program, and then it'll stop and it'll never load, it won't be loading in processes, it won't load if I wait there all day heck. I've  tried installing and reinstalling many of my Virus protection software, but I feel like that hasn't done any help. Infact they seem to be persistent with not wanting to be removed(Namely Mcaffe and still showing up on my firewall list alongside Microsoft essentials, with no options in sight to turn them off. )

 

Its entirely possible its just Vista being Vista. Like I mentioned I actually have a Windows 7 Upgrade, but to somewhat similar reasons of not trusting my computer skills and not wanting to mess up my computer I never installed it, and not I'm not really sure if I'd end up just wasting it if I tried to install it anyways.

 

I know it'll take a while, and the worst part is I don't really trust my computer will even work after the fact, therefore turning my small problem into a much enormously super giant entire town in chaos problem!(ok I had to .) But at the same time I don't feel right sitting idle not doing anything about it. I just figured since I'm sick as of now, and I have off this week for school I thought it would be as good a time as any to try something this time consuming.

 

I suppose its possible that the crashing could be caused by ram overload or something, It does seem to occur normally during playing a game, and normally when I'm playing a game I'll be on skype and other things. However I have a laptop, and as far as I know its impossible to add ram to it, I think it's probably integrated to the motherboard or something. Of course I'm not very competent in this knowledge so I don't know if this is true for sure.

 

 

Thanks everypony for y'alls time and help so far btw.

Edited February 11, 2013 by Zygen

[Commander Urdnot 2,680]

If you have time and a spare USB drive, you could try installing puppy Linux on a USB, run the OS off of the puppy Linux, and use the anti-virus on it to scan your hard drive.

[Zygen 6,065]

If you have time and a spare USB drive, you could try installing puppy Linux on a USB, run the OS off of the puppy Linux, and use the anti-virus on it to scan your hard drive.

I guess its possible if I find a USB drive hanging around. I don't have really any experience using or downloading Linux or any other OS really for that matter, but I assume I will be able to access it in some way if I tried. I assume I couldn't screw it up to bad can I? ?

 

I dunno. If I try I'll have to look for a USB drive somwheres. And one that'll have enough space for Linux. Its a possibility though, so thanks.

 

Overall I think I'm just gonna have to Procrastinate  Delay a bit on trying my restore if I do, because honestly I just feel to uncomfortable about it, and overall its kinda risky. Especially without any real Restore disks.

 

To be fair I have gone like months and months now due to my procrastination and my problem hasn't really evolved into anything huge. Atleast that I can tell. Maybe I'm just being really paranoid, I don't know.

 

I could always learn the whole binary language within 1 week and reprogram my own OS from scratch using nothing but a toaster oven...

 

Naw I'm to lazy for that.

 

But seriously thanks for the help Urdiepie and everypony else who's helped so far. I honestly might wait a while because trying to think about this even while sick is to be honest kinda difficult.. (Being a procrastinator and lazy doesn't help with solving computer problems .)

 

Unless a computer threating problem occurs tomorrow I don't think i'll be trying it tomorrow, Thats not to say its outta the question, but I'm going to see atleast if I can somehow miraculously solve my problem, or just go under the assumption theres actually nothing wrong.

[Rainbow Dash 1,471]

 

Did you have a recovery disk of some kind when you did the restoring of your computer? Or do you remember?

for my first laptop i had back in 07 i had a recovery disk with the operating system on it. for my newer laptop i dont remember. If you have an old laptop i would suggest throwing it out since it can't handle newer applications and system updates. although im not exactly an expert with these matters. 

[Zygen 6,065]

for my first laptop i had back in 07 i had a recovery disk with the operating system on it. for my newer laptop i dont remember. If you have an old laptop i would suggest throwing it out since it can't handle newer applications and system updates. although im not exactly an expert with these matters. 

Oh ok, don't worry about it, I'm just gathering whatever opinions and info on everything regardless.

My computers only about 3 yearsish old and can handle things quite well honestly considering its age and the fact its a laptop.

 

I also could be having crashes due to overheating. Maybe I should do some looking at my fan and stuff.

[TwilizzleFoShizzle 95]

Mcafee and AVG suck. I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials, Glary Utilities, and Malwarebytes Anti-malware. They're all free, light-weight, and do an excellent job. Try scanning with all 3 of those and see if it helps.

 

I also recommend accessing the problem even farther. It could be a hardware problem, or a particular program causing the problem. Also, Vista kind of sucks. It has errors all the time, so it simply just be your OS. Try investigating the problem even farther, you want to avoid restoring your computer. It takes awhile, and it's not fun.

 

You also have a small amount of RAM, I'd try getting more RAM if at all possible. Even if it doesn't solve the problem, it would definitely not hurt.

 

 

Mcafee and AVG suck. I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials, Glary Utilities, and Malwarebytes Anti-malware. They're all free, light-weight, and do an excellent job. Try scanning with all 3 of those and see if it helps.

 

I also recommend accessing the problem even farther. It could be a hardware problem, or a particular program causing the problem. Also, Vista kind of sucks. It has errors all the time, so it simply just be your OS. Try investigating the problem even farther, you want to avoid restoring your computer. It takes awhile, and it's not fun.

 

You also have a small amount of RAM, I'd try getting more RAM if at all possible. Even if it doesn't solve the problem, it would definitely not hurt.

Ram is not going to be the problem, and for a laptop 4 gigs is average. I run alot of my stuff off of a 4 gig laptop, and it works just fine. Also the OS is not the problem, because my main computer (aka the 1 I'm on now) runs Vista and I haven't run into any errors. It may not be the best looking GUI but its still just as stable as W7. A hardware problem is unlikely unless there is visible damage to the case or a definitive time at which the compute stopped working and that happened to fall on the same date as the computer was dropped at some point. Also, I don't have much experience with security programs, because I only use 1, and it just so happens I have never had a single problem with malware, viruses, etc. I use Norton 360, and although it has a somewhat hefty pricetag, it is well worth it.

Edited February 11, 2013 by TwilizzleFoShizzle

[Guest]

I once restored my laptop because it was messing up. I didn't experience any problems. Make sure to backup whatever you want to keep and get an anti-virus right after you restore. You should get Microsoft Security Essentials, it's free, easy and does the job. 

[HallowsEve 52]

Getting rid of Mcafee and AVG can be a pain. I have sooo many issues with them and Norton, which turned off my wifi for some odd reason. Anywho, have you tried getting rid of the leftover stuff with an Uninstaller? I used the program Revo Uninstaller to get rid of the stuff that was left behind. It does a great job of it too. There is a free version and a professional version. I have the professional, but being the horrible person i am.. I got it for free.

[Zygen 6,065]

Getting rid of Mcafee and AVG can be a pain. I have sooo many issues with them and Norton, which turned off my wifi for some odd reason. Anywho, have you tried getting rid of the leftover stuff with an Uninstaller? I used the program Revo Uninstaller to get rid of the stuff that was left behind. It does a great job of it too. There is a free version and a professional version. I have the professional, but being the horrible person i am.. I got it for free.

Only thing I've used to uninstall anything was the windows uninstaller, I also checked through for them and tried removing them, nothing really worked to remove mcaffe but AVG seems to be gone.

 

Still i have a feeling the conflict has nothing to do with why I can't start my Anti virus programs. Its possible, but I have this feeling it isn't, then again I know hardly anything special about computers so yeah .

 

I once restored my laptop because it was messing up. I didn't experience any problems. Make sure to backup whatever you want to keep and get an anti-virus right after you restore. You should get Microsoft Security Essentials, it's free, easy and does the job. 

Did you need a recovery disk or anything? Or did you just launch a program or something and it worked out fine after that?

 

I backed everything up I need as of now, that shouldn't be an issue, I have like a 500 MB external Harddrive to backup stuff. I'm just worried that when I launch the program that supposedly is made to restore my computer to factory settings it'll just ask me for the disk and not restore at all, and then I won't be able to run my computer at all. Thus just kinda turning my little problem into a big fat mess. :/