My XPS is acting funny? What to do?

Well, I had made the mistake of lending my XPS m1530 to a friend who is in the hospital due to cancer and she gave it back all messed up.

Most everything don't work. I can't get online, a lot of programs don't work, such as trying to right or left click in the taskbar and other places... nothing happens.

I tried system restore to before she got the computer and nothing changes.
I've ran AVG and spy bot and it found some stuff, supposedly fix them, but the problems remain. I defragged too.

So what to try next? Reformat? I don't want to if I don't have to.

 

Only sure way to get rid of any and all traces of malicious software is a reformat. I guess you could try more virus guards, registry cleaners and optimizers, but I don’t think you can be 100% sure. And most likely you'll end up wasting more time and effort compared to a reformat.

 

Jack, I agree with PhoenixFX..I think a reformat is what you might wanna think about doing. (I know you don't want to, but in this case..)


Cin.

 

I'll have to take the other side of the fence on this one. In my experience, I've saved my own *ss probably at least 10 times, and when I was an admin at least about 50 computers in various offices. I say that to illustrate that you still have a chance (not to throw my weight around) so I wouldn't throw in the towel just yet and reformat. How far back did you try to retore to? And could you elaborate on your symptoms? For instance, are there alot of url hooks (when you try to go somewhere in your web browser and it takes you to some other bogus site)?

 

If you want the easiest way around this problem would be a fresh install. You spend a lot of time trying to find everything, but you may not get it all.

 

That's what I was thinking..I don't know how much time Jack has to mess with things..and he has put a lot into his 1530!!!

Though, Jack has several computers!


Cin.

 

abnet, I don't doubt that format/reinstall can save you a boatload of time, but in so many cases the individual has amassed alot of data. If jack53 doesn't have another drive to put that stuff on, we may be able to talk him through creating another partition to store the important stuff and then he can reinstall if it should come to that. I just feel that alot of times you can save an install.

 

That would work fine too if the OP is comfortable with making partitions and such. I just suggested the easiest method and data backup/transfer can be accomplished through a variety of methods.

 

Agreed. Your problem would be over by now. You would be using your PC again instead of pulling your hair out. I vote fresh install.

 

Yeah I think I will do a fresh install to be on the safe side. That is the smartest move.
I have already saved all my important files to the backup external drive.
It's just the time involved installing all my favorite programs such as Office 2007, Photoshop etc.
Just laziness why I don't want to do it.

 

Jack, I think it's the best choice for you, right now..

And, I know you can do it!!!!

Best of luck!


Cin.

 

Yeah, laziness is the main reason I didn't want to. I did a clean install the first month I got it to get rid of bloatware if you recall.

 

Ohh..don't call it laziness..I like the sound of *procrastination*, better!

And, I remember that clean install!


Cin.

 

To answer your questions, I did five restores (after each one didn't work) back 3 months with no change in the problem. In fact four of them, after reboot, I got a blank light green screen and nothing else. Had to get back in using the safe mode. As far as the web browser, I can't even get online.

So, instead of wasting anymore time, it is time for a clean install.
I've got all my files/photos saved on my external HD.

I had posted this in hopes someone had a similar problem and fix, but I guess not.

 

Jack, if you havent performed the reinstallation, did you try to tshoot things aside from doing restores on it. Like,


if nothing is working, double clicking on programs and nothing happening, not even right or left click on task bar, or when you go to your start-> program, even the program list wont come up, only a pretty small gray boxes.. Even task manager wont come up easily...

this happened to me just this afternoon in my office dell laptop. It turns out that i was running out of memory coz of 1 to many apps eating it. Take note you may not see programs buttons in your task bar, but i bet there would be a lot of resources being eaten up if you can.. emphasis on can.. open up the task manager. Killed some programs earlier.. and it did the trick.. So did you check hows the CPU and memory utilization.

did you check the event viewer logs if there are errors on it whenever you try to start an app and it wont?

When you performed your scans, you were in safe mode right? some viruses or malicious program can mask themselves if they are already executing when you run your scans, hence it may not be able to detect them.

for not getting online, did you check your network devices if they are online or enabled? Your friend might have change the default wifi connection for your laptop since she/he used it in some other place for quite sometime. Or he/she messed up the pass key in your connection settings... Can you even connect to your router? did you do a hard line connection directly from your modem see if it will work?

I guess next time you lend someone your laptop, dont give them access to admin account.

Btw how is your friend?

 

Thanks for the info and effort. I did most of what you said above. This is an fully loaded XPS so it should have more than enough memory at 4GB. Maybe I should check to see if that memory is indeed working. I did all checks, scans in safe mode.

I have two desktops and one other notebook in this room all working well online... however, I didn't do a direct lan connection, so I'll try that next.

I think the safe bet is just to format with clean install to be safe and sure. No biggie. Just time.

My lady friend who I lent the XPS to is dying of cancer so I don't have the heart to say anything to her, let alone chew her about it.
If I had to lend her the notebook again, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

 

"To answer your questions, I did five restores (after each one didn't work) back 3 months with no change in the problem. In fact four of them, after reboot, I got a blank light green screen and nothing else. Had to get back in using the safe mode. As far as the web browser, I can't even get online."

Wow man, that's rough. That thing is fubared (I'm trying to figure out how someone managed to wreck your machine that bad in so little time).

Are you sure it's just software?

By all means, it is definitely time to blow it away and reinstall.