Computer Troubleshooting/Help Master Thread

[srap]

A system restore won`t erase You`re files.

That sounds great, but I am a person of exceptions (good and bad)!  If something can go wrong I'll find a way.  I've never done a b/u.  Is the flash drive idea ok or a better way?

[etech0]

That sounds great, but I am a person of exceptions (good and bad)!  If something can go wrong I'll find a way.  I've never done a b/u.  Is the flash drive idea ok or a better way?

If flash drive is big enough... or you can use an external hard drive. For long term backup, it's a good idea to set up an automatic online backup, like CrashPlan or Carbonite. That way, all your stuff is backed up, all the time. Well worth the cost IMO.

[etech0]

Maybe I can learn from your mistake.  It sounds like I need to make a b/u of pix, documents, pdfs?, music).
But how?   I have about 90GB on drive C: and 20GB on D:   Can I just copy these two entire drives to my new PNY 128GB flash (TY Dan!)?  It comes with 119 free GB.    9GB extra should be more than enough, right?

15GB Desktop will go on different drive.  Anything else I need?  Just everything under "This PC"?

Sure you can! It won't help you for programs though. What you need as far as programs go is installation disks for anything you might not be able to download from somewhere (or you can backup setup files with your files), and you also need license keys / codes for any software that you've purchased. That way if your computer goes, you will be able to reinstall all the programs you need.

[srap]

Hey--another idea.  All I did was install the Total Defense Internet Security, but I have been ignoring (blocking) all software communications and updates.  If I were to allow those is it possible that Microsoft updates would write over and somehow fix this messup?  (Don't laugh, I'm serious, just trying to find an easy way out.)

[etech0]

Hey--another idea.  All I did was install the Total Defense Internet Security, but I have been ignoring (blocking) all software communications and updates.  If I were to allow those is it possible that Microsoft updates would write over and somehow fix this messup?  (Don't laugh, I'm serious, just trying to find an easy way out.)

You can always try Windows Update and see if it fixes things. It's a good idea to run Windows Update every so often anyways.

[Moishel]

Help please. Monitor is too difficult to read in order to do research on Google.

 HP laptop monitor went bonkers:  very poor resolution where I can see 50% of the pixels, all letters/words are in normal black but surrounded by a thin white outline and then all background is bright pink (most white spaces are now bright pink), colored pixels around words flicker on and off, all colors are off.   

All I did new was install Total Defense which would not have a bearing on this.     Any suggestions?

A picture would help, but the must likely thing that you enabled the seeing for the visually impaired, check your display settings. Second possibility is a loose or broken vga cable, how it's your monitor connected you're computer? Next I would try uninstalling the graphics driver, but I doubt that's the problem.

[etech0]

A picture would help, but the must likely thing that you enabled the seeing for the visually impaired, check your display settings. Second possibility is a loose or broken vga cable, how it's your monitor connected you're computer? Next I would try uninstalling the graphics driver, but I doubt that's the problem.

You might also want to try booting into Safe Mode - see if that helps.

[srap]

A picture would help, but the must likely thing that you enabled the seeing for the visually impaired, check your display settings. Second possibility is a loose or broken vga cable, how it's your monitor connected you're computer? Next I would try uninstalling the graphics driver, but I doubt that's the problem.

How do I take a screen shot?  Display settings are set at recommended or default.
Oops.  I did drop the computer case (with laptop in it) 1-2ft from my hand to floor before this happened. 
Easier said than done, but would hooking up to an external monitor clarify anything?

[etech0]

How do I take a screen shot?  Display settings are set at recommended or default.
Oops.  I did drop the computer case (with laptop in it) 1-2ft from my hand to floor before this happened. 
Great idea!  I'll figure out how to use an external monitor and see if that bypasses a loose vga cable.

re: screenshot
there should be a button on your keyboard labeled PrtScrn, or Print Screen. One some laptops you might have to press the Fn key at the same time.
That will copy your screen. You can then paste it into word or any program that lets you paste things in.

[Moishel]

If you dropped it it's possible that something internally was broken, connecting an external monitor would confirm that, if the external monitors output is normal. Alternatively you can remote in from another computer and see if it looks normal over there.

[srap]

You can then paste it into word or any program that lets you paste things in.

Done.  Now what?

[srap]

If you dropped it it's possible that something internally was broken, connecting an external monitor would confirm that, if the external monitors output is normal. Alternatively you can remote in from another computer and see if it looks normal over there.

External monitor looks normal.  So this means it can only be a hardware problem, right?
I like the idea of a loose VGA cable better than something broken.  If I open the laptop bottom, what does it look like?

[meshugener]

A system restore won`t erase You`re files.

But it will uninstall all programs.

[etech0]

But it will uninstall all programs that were installed after the restore point you choose to restore to.

FTFY

[Moishel]

External monitor looks normal.  So this means it can only be a hardware problem, right?
I like the idea of a loose VGA cable better than something broken.  If I open the laptop bottom, what does it look like?

VGA is used for external monitors, not internal. If you want to try to fix it yourself you'll need to open the laptop and follow the cable from the screen to the motherboard and make sure it's not broken or loose. But I don't know if I would recommend a tech novice to do it themselves.

[srap]

FTFY

If windows 8 restores daily (supposedly) and even if not, I installed Total Defense yesterday before this happened and that, too, should trigger a restore so... other than losing the Total Defense I'm OK?  I shouldn't lose any of my software apps?(since I don't have the CDs)

[etech0]

If windows 8 restores daily (supposedly) and even if not, I installed Total Defense yesterday before this happened and that, too, should trigger a restore so... other than losing the Total Defense I'm OK?  I shouldn't lose any of my software apps?(since I don't have the CDs)

Exactly. You shouldn't. No promises, though, and if it was me I would definitely backup first.

[srap]

1) BTW, thank you all for helping me through this and @etech0 for teaching me screenshots.  How do I get them from Word to Forum post?

2) re b/u:
 

It won't help you for programs though. What you need as far as programs go is installation disks for anything you might not be able to download from somewhere (or you can backup setup files with your files), and you also need license keys / codes for any software that you've purchased. That way if your computer goes, you will be able to reinstall all the programs you need.

If I use the 128k USBs to copy entire folders for Desktop, Downloads, C: and D: from This Computer (windows 8 ), won't all files for my software apps (including setup files) be backuped in there? 

[etech0]

1) BTW, thank you all for helping me through this and @etech0 for teaching me screenshots.  How do I get them from Word to Forum post?

2) re b/u:
 If I use the 128k USBs to copy entire folders for Desktop, Downloads, C: and D: from This Computer (windows 8 ), won't all files for my software apps (including setup files) be backuped in there?

1) From within Word, you should be able to right click on the picture, and click Save As Picture. Then save it somewhere on your computer. Then, click the Attachments and Other Options link while replying in the thread, and under Attach click Browse. Browse to your picture, and then you can upload it.

2) It will copy the program files, but not the actual setup files / installation files. You can copy them back, but most programs will not work just by doing that. For programs like MS Office, Adobe, anything big that you paid for, it's a good idea to keep an installation disk. For programs like iTunes, or anything you can download, you can just download the setup file again (or you can back them up if you saved them the first time you downloaded them). The most important part is to save license codes for any software you paid for. You can usually find them by searching your emails, and for any that you can't find, there are programs you can download that will find the license codes off your computer.

[dsw193]

A system restore won`t erase You`re files.

But it will uninstall all programs.

It will only uninstall what was installed after the resore point was created When selecting The antivirus installation as a resore point (a day before).