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A computer problem. (HALP)
15 years ago
For more of your favorite Overlord please visit: http://heisyourleader.blogspot.com/
This is a desperate cry for HALP. There is computer treachery afoot, and The Overlord is displeased. The evil bastard machines are trying to rise up against me again.
First, to assuage any fears, it is not my computer. This time. Thank God.
It is, however, my mother's computer, and it has been having this problem for a long time. A long time. As in, months. Neither my father nor I have been able to crack this problem, and thus it persists. Normally we can deal with our own computer problems, but this one is running circles around us. I'm starting to feel like an idiot.
The problem is this:
The computer crashes.
The computer crashes at almost random intervals.
When the computer crashes it starts with the classic freeze, before going completely blank. There is no blue screen. There is no error message. It just goes dead. However, the power stays on. (Meaning fans, the lights, etc.) At this point the computer has to be rebooted.
The computer appears only to crash when interacting with the internet. Use Firefox, it crashes. Use IE, it crashes. Try to update something, it crashes.
Sometimes you can go for half an hour or more without it crashing. Sometimes it takes less than a minute before it crashes. It is impossible to predict.
We reinstalled Firefox. Same problem. We reinstalled the wireless internet driver. Same problem. We tried a wired connection. Same problem. We ran virus scans. No joy. We thought it might be hardware, a short circuit. We couldn't find it.
Now, because we thought it might be hardware, but couldn't pinpoint what, we took drastic measures.
This is where it gets weird.
We had a perfectly good perfectly healthy extra computer at hand. We removed the hard drive from the afflicted PC and placed it in the healthy computer. We hooked it up as slave, so that it wasn't running windows, in case that was the issue. Same problem.
Suddenly, we had a healthy computer with the same problem. The only possible link was the hard drive.
So, I unhooked the apparently afflicted hard drive, so that the computer would run only with components we knew were healthy. Same problem. Same. Damn. Problem.
Apparently it's infectious. Even though it doesn't appear to be a virus.
The only thing we have left to do is nuke it. A complete reformat. That will be done this weekend, if all goes as planned.
Basically, we've tried everything.
I don't know how, with the first hard drive unplugged, it would effect the computer now.
It has to be a virus.
Except there are no viruses.
Unless it's a poltergeist.
Which is starting to seem possible.
We need an exorcist.
First, to assuage any fears, it is not my computer. This time. Thank God.
It is, however, my mother's computer, and it has been having this problem for a long time. A long time. As in, months. Neither my father nor I have been able to crack this problem, and thus it persists. Normally we can deal with our own computer problems, but this one is running circles around us. I'm starting to feel like an idiot.
The problem is this:
The computer crashes.
The computer crashes at almost random intervals.
When the computer crashes it starts with the classic freeze, before going completely blank. There is no blue screen. There is no error message. It just goes dead. However, the power stays on. (Meaning fans, the lights, etc.) At this point the computer has to be rebooted.
The computer appears only to crash when interacting with the internet. Use Firefox, it crashes. Use IE, it crashes. Try to update something, it crashes.
Sometimes you can go for half an hour or more without it crashing. Sometimes it takes less than a minute before it crashes. It is impossible to predict.
We reinstalled Firefox. Same problem. We reinstalled the wireless internet driver. Same problem. We tried a wired connection. Same problem. We ran virus scans. No joy. We thought it might be hardware, a short circuit. We couldn't find it.
Now, because we thought it might be hardware, but couldn't pinpoint what, we took drastic measures.
This is where it gets weird.
We had a perfectly good perfectly healthy extra computer at hand. We removed the hard drive from the afflicted PC and placed it in the healthy computer. We hooked it up as slave, so that it wasn't running windows, in case that was the issue. Same problem.
Suddenly, we had a healthy computer with the same problem. The only possible link was the hard drive.
So, I unhooked the apparently afflicted hard drive, so that the computer would run only with components we knew were healthy. Same problem. Same. Damn. Problem.
Apparently it's infectious. Even though it doesn't appear to be a virus.
The only thing we have left to do is nuke it. A complete reformat. That will be done this weekend, if all goes as planned.
Basically, we've tried everything.
I don't know how, with the first hard drive unplugged, it would effect the computer now.
It has to be a virus.
Except there are no viruses.
Unless it's a poltergeist.
Which is starting to seem possible.
We need an exorcist.
I believe it was 777-1442, but I've already called him. He told me that he couldn't help, that it was "against the rules," and suggested I call the other guy, down stairs. I told him I already called the other guy, and he couldn't help me either. He then demanded how I'd gotten his phone number in the first place. I told him he'd put it on his Facebook. He hung up.