Windows question(s)..

[totnaquerro007]

greetings everyone..

i had a problem with my operating system, and to say, my laptop.. this wasn't that old, i had this in december 2005 and problems arises august last year.. warranty is impossible for me to send this laptop to malaysia for the repair..

1st- the fan on my laptop halts without warning and the sytem will soon pause then die ( it hanged also) and can't turn the switch off button unless i remove the battery..

2nd- my OS just got corrupted, but i can still use with minor errors, i am using an XP and one day when i brought my laptop from the office, it got infected by a virus, and, using an antivirus, it is now safe and clean, i am always updating my AV.. the "system restore" works no more..

3rd- is it possible to repair the installed OS without sacrificing my the programs installed and my files? if yes, HOW?

help!

 

[mike_n_herrin]

1. I think T-rex is right, the laptop is probably overheating and shutting off to keep from damaging the parts. if it didn't shut off when it got too hot it would damage the laptop beyond what you could repair. see if you can tell us the make and model number and maybe one of us can see if we can find the manual and figure someway to repair the fan. do you have a local computer store that could do the repairs if nothing else?

2. i think it is likely that with the over heating thing and it shutting off, that is what has damaged your OS. you can sometimes get windows XP to install over top of itself so it repairs the messed up files without losing your data. but you have to be careful and NOT select the option to format your hard disk dive. if you format the drive you will lose all of your data and programs.

3. you should NOT attempt to reinstall your OS until you have the fan and the overheating thing fixed. if the laptop shuts off in the middle of a reinstall of the OS it's likely you will lose data and you wont be able to get it back. i would NOT try to fix the OS until you can get the fan fixed and the shutting down stopped.

4. to prevent further damage, if you fan shuts off you should shut down immediately to prevent additional damage.

 

[trawler69]

As above but the on off switch is likely to be caused by the crashing. rather than just pushing it, push and hold it for several seconds. I had one take over 10 seconds to shut down that way the other day. If you can start it with the power button, which I assume you can, then the button is not faulty.

 

[totnaquerro007]

thank you people..

@ T-REXX:
i am using DELL Latitude 505, Intel Pentium 1.60Ghz and using XP Professional.
i am also using a very small industrial fan-like under my laptop to prevent overheating but still it halts.

the problem when it halted, the on/off button cannot be switched off and so i would unplug it and/or remove the battery pack.

BTW, i've got every installers/ CDs and manuals of this laptop but can't find solutions from there..

we had a local computer repair shops here but i can't entrust them my laptop.. i am now wishing for a desktop computer rather than this one.. portable, yeah; but a waste of time and energy..


again, thank you.. i would do the vacuuming first..

 

[Marbas]

T-Rexx, re: post #6; I was going to post a thread asking if any of the computer whizz-kids here thought that it was worth getting a laptop cooling fan; recently I've been toying with the idea of getting one. Thanks for pre-emptively answering my un-asked query.

 

[mike_n_herrin]

Well assuming there is data on your hard drive you don't want a local computer shop to see...you could maybe just remove the hard drive. i looked up your manual and it's super easy to take out the hard drive. it's literally removing just 2 screws: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/latd505/sm/hdd.htm#1123687

then if your laptop can boot from the CD drive, you could just get a linux CD (or if you have highspeed internet you could download it and burn it to a CD) so that the laptop would will work so they can see what is wrong with the fan and the locking up and if they can fix it. alternatively you could just take out the hard drive and take it to the repair place and tell them you need the fan replaced. that's all.

your laptop's service manual is here: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/latd505/sm/index.htm

the fan is also listed and it looks like...if you were willing to try and get your hands on a replacement fan you could replace it yourself. i've never been on the inside of a laptop, so i don't know how "scary" that would be.

 

[totnaquerro007]

I don't mean to presume, but if the reason you can't trust the local computer shops is that there is something on your hard drive you don't want them to see, there is a way around this. You need access to another computer and an external hard disk enclosure which will accommodate the 2.5 in. drive of a laptop.

Remove the hard drive from the laptop and install it into the enclosure:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp

Plug the enclosure into the usb port of another computer and backup/erase any private information from the drive.

Reinstall the drive into the laptop.

haha.. there's nothing untoward or unwanted anything on my laptop.. though, pictures of naked women and some hardcore xxx and scandalous videos i've downloaded from various sites, there's none .. i just can't hand them over my laptop for the repair unless i've seen myself what they are mutilating and bring it to its old self again.. hehe.. funny, yeah, but weird.. i just can't expalin why..: confused:

 

[totnaquerro007]

T-Rexx, re: post #6; I was going to post a thread asking if any of the computer whizz-kids here thought that it was worth getting a laptop cooling fan; recently I've been toying with the idea of getting one. Thanks for pre-emptively answering my un-asked query.

cooling pads doesn't work with my laptop.. maybe you should buy a small fan instead and place it behind your laptop, just put some stand around 2 inches long at the back portion of your laptop so the air would pass.. i must show my mini industrial-fan-like fan but don't know how to post that here..

this helps somehow..

 

[mike_n_herrin]

/\ totnaquerro, i CAN NOT stress this enough, the problem you have is will RUIN your laptop if you don't get it fix. what is better no laptop or taking it to get it fixed? the fan not working will cause the laptop to burn up. it might not catch on fire, but it will stop working completely. you will lose everything you have. is that worth it?

take it in to get fixed AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!!!

 

[mike_n_herrin]

Oh..i forgot to say that EACH time you turn on your laptop now, you take the chance of it NEVER coming on again.

 

[star-warrior]

Oh, a note about copying from one hard drive to another, sometimes your files are hidden away. I lost several years of email when I reinstalled to a factory install. If you want you email you have to make sure you can view all the hidden files as well. For OE email, they're hidden away for your own USERNAME

C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Identities\
{???????}
Microsoft\Outlook Express.

The {????????} is some long winded sequence of alphanumerics which may be different on your computer. Once in there, you see the Microsoft Folder with Outlook Express there. Click to get in, and do a copy and paste to the new harddrive (click in the folder, control-a to select all the files, control-c to copy them all, go over to your other harddrive and control-v to paste, the files will be copied over) .

If you don't you'll loose all your mail as I did. I only found this out afterwards, so

Write down on a bit of paper all and every setting you have with your email client say OE, including the POP and SMTP settings. Get also the settings for the internet connection you have and save them, since you will have a job finding out where they are on your copied files.

Once your re-install has happened, OE has an Import facility to recover all your old mail. You just find the folder you copied over to, and it will automatically do the rest. The email settings however, you'll have to reinput by hand.

 

[star-warrior]

Oh..i forgot to say that EACH time you turn on your laptop now, you take the chance of it NEVER coming on again.

OR when you switch off....