Topic Wiki

I figured that even this thread can have a wiki.
If your computer or phone is giving you issues:

• Please read this before posting: 4 Reasons Why IT People Ignore Your Requests for Help
• Restart the computer. Hopefully this will take care of any issues
• If your problem has not yet been solved, try to Google it. There may be a very simple solution
• On a Windows computer, a system restore may do the trick.
(This is a work in progress, please feel free to add whatever you may feel is helpful)


Please post whether or not the problem was fixed

Apple iPhone Master Thread
« Last edited by Thingywingy on May 07, 2019, 08:00:02 PM »

Author Topic: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread  (Read 977382 times)

Offline PETERP

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Re: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread
« Reply #3280 on: October 28, 2016, 07:08:08 AM »
have a 2 year old dell win 7 laptop that was having problems installing windows updates for the last 6 month  or so

Checked history and last failed update was February 14 2014

tried a system restore to Feb 10 2014 and got a " computer was unable to startup error "
and it's running a startup repai tool


It says attempting repairs and has been running for 20 minutes already.

How long should it take, and at what point should I cancel it , if it's running in a loop?

Afraid I made a small problem bigger . Help

Offline Thingywingy

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Re: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread
« Reply #3281 on: October 28, 2016, 04:08:32 PM »
As DanH mentioned, TestDisk is even better and it is free. But it takes some knowledge to use it.
Would this work on a laptop hard drive that's not really coming up when I plug into usb?
I am sometimes accused of overthinking things. I am still mulling over whether that accusation has merit.

Offline Yisroel Tech

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Re: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread
« Reply #3282 on: October 28, 2016, 04:34:38 PM »
Would this work on a laptop hard drive that's not really coming up when I plug into usb?
If it is not coming up at all (in Disk Management), then certainly not.

Offline Thingywingy

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Re: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread
« Reply #3283 on: November 01, 2016, 02:41:11 PM »
What brand is recommended for an external hard drive (backup)? I remember Dan having a strong opinion on this but can't seem to find it...
I am sometimes accused of overthinking things. I am still mulling over whether that accusation has merit.

Offline Yisroel Tech

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Re: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread
« Reply #3284 on: November 01, 2016, 02:51:38 PM »
What brand is recommended for an external hard drive (backup)? I remember Dan having a strong opinion on this but can't seem to find it...
WD and Seagate are the two known ones, I find WD better. But it is really tough to say statistically who's more reliable because it really depends on each model, and AFAIK there's no extensive study for external backup drives (for internal drives BalckBlaze has an annual report.)

Offline AnonymousUser

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Re: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread
« Reply #3285 on: November 01, 2016, 09:15:20 PM »
WD and Seagate are the two known ones, I find WD better. But it is really tough to say statistically who's more reliable because it really depends on each model, and AFAIK there's no extensive study for external backup drives (for internal drives BalckBlaze has an annual report.)
Get an internal drive and put it in an enclosure.

Offline pcgeek

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Re: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread
« Reply #3286 on: November 01, 2016, 11:15:39 PM »
What brand is recommended for an external hard drive (backup)? I remember Dan having a strong opinion on this but can't seem to find it...
Don't get seagate. Extremely high failure rates. WD is usually good, check the reviews for the model you intend to purchase to determine if others have experienced high failure rates

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Re: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread
« Reply #3287 on: November 01, 2016, 11:21:01 PM »
And... always have your stuff backed up in more than one place, and buy with amex (or from Costco)
Workflowy. You won't know what you're missing until you try it.

Offline sruliL

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Re: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread
« Reply #3288 on: November 01, 2016, 11:37:14 PM »
And... always have your stuff backed up in more than one place, and buy with amex (or from Costco)
Remember 3-2-1: Have 3 copies of your data on 2 different local mediums and 1 off-site. I'm a huge fan of BackBlaze-unlimited cloud backup for just $5 a month! https://www.backblaze.com/cloud-backup.html#af9gv3
Life's not about doing things good, its about doing good things.

Offline Thingywingy

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Re: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread
« Reply #3289 on: November 02, 2016, 01:40:58 AM »
Anyone remember where Dan gave his opinion on best brand?
I am sometimes accused of overthinking things. I am still mulling over whether that accusation has merit.

Offline Yisroel Tech

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Re: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread
« Reply #3290 on: November 02, 2016, 02:08:42 AM »
Anyone remember where Dan gave his opinion on best brand?
Do you mean this where he goes full on against WD? But that is way old, and can certainly not be applied to today's drivers.

Offline Thingywingy

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Re: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread
« Reply #3291 on: November 02, 2016, 02:33:30 AM »
Do you mean this where he goes full on against WD? But that is way old, and can certainly not be applied to today's drivers.
Thanks but it's more recent then that...I think it was on DDF but perhaps on DD as well...

@Dan care to comment...
I am sometimes accused of overthinking things. I am still mulling over whether that accusation has merit.

Offline PETERP

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Re: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread
« Reply #3292 on: November 02, 2016, 03:39:25 AM »
have a 2 year old dell win 7 laptop that was having problems installing windows updates for the last 6 month  or so

Checked history and last failed update was February 14 2014

tried a system restore to Feb 10 2014 and got a " computer was unable to startup error "
and it's running a startup repai tool


It says attempting repairs and has been running for 20 minutes already.

How long should it take, and at what point should I cancel it , if it's running in a loop?

Afraid I made a small problem bigger . Help

Did a hard shutdown and rebooted OK . Still does not find updates , and looking back in history
one update failed two weeks ago , and 5 failed  months ago


Offline DanH

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Re: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread
« Reply #3293 on: November 02, 2016, 07:03:11 AM »
It's funny, I've come across many dead WD Passports; however not one Seagate (well, there was one, but it was the usb3 connector, so i removed the drive and put into a different enclosure).  I have at least 2-3 of these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FRHTSK4/  and very happy.
For tech help feel free to Telegram me @DanTechSupp

Offline DanH

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Re: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread
« Reply #3294 on: November 02, 2016, 07:04:31 AM »
Did a hard shutdown and rebooted OK . Still does not find updates , and looking back in history
one update failed two weeks ago , and 5 failed  months ago
On the Windows 7 machine, download this:
http://update7.simplix.info/UpdatePack7R2-16.10.16.exe

Rename it to:
UpdatePack7R2--ie11++.exe

Run it as administrator.  Let it finish.

Good to go.
For tech help feel free to Telegram me @DanTechSupp

Offline Thingywingy

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Re: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread
« Reply #3295 on: November 02, 2016, 12:15:46 PM »
Don't get seagate. Extremely high failure rates. WD is usually good, check the reviews for the model you intend to purchase to determine if others have experienced high failure rates
It's funny, I've come across many dead WD Passports; however not one Seagate (well, there was one, but it was the usb3 connector, so i removed the drive and put into a different enclosure).  I have at least 2-3 of these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FRHTSK4/  and very happy.
I'm not 100% sure but from what I remember from the discussion with Dan and possibly DH Data recovery (who no longer seems to be part of DDF) they recommended Seagate as well...

« Last Edit: November 02, 2016, 12:20:21 PM by Thingywingy »
I am sometimes accused of overthinking things. I am still mulling over whether that accusation has merit.

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Re: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread
« Reply #3296 on: November 02, 2016, 12:18:50 PM »
I'm not 100% sure but from what I remember from the discussion with Dan and possibly DH Data recovery (who no longer seems to be part of DDF) they recommended Seagate as well...
I've had 2 Seagates die
Workflowy. You won't know what you're missing until you try it.

Offline Thingywingy

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I am sometimes accused of overthinking things. I am still mulling over whether that accusation has merit.

Offline PETERP

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Re: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread
« Reply #3298 on: November 02, 2016, 12:28:08 PM »
On the Windows 7 machine, download this:
http://update7.simplix.info/UpdatePack7R2-16.10.16.exe

Rename it to:
UpdatePack7R2--ie11++.exe

Run it as administrator.  Let it finish.

Good to go.

Thx . It's nighttime here in Greece
But will do tmrw and report back 😊

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Re: Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread
« Reply #3299 on: November 02, 2016, 12:35:45 PM »
So what do you recommend?
And... always have your stuff backed up in more than one place, and buy with amex (or from Costco)
:)

I'm not an expert, but after those 2 seagates died (a few years ago) I replaced them with a WD and it's still going strong. IME the "portable" ones are much more durable and longlasting than the "external" ones (which need to be plugged into an outlet).
Workflowy. You won't know what you're missing until you try it.