Computer Help Desk

[MND]

It was. I bought a new one today then upgraded the processor at the same time.....then got carried away buying memory, a new cabinet, a 7 card reader, a silent power supply, a bunch of extra USB slots and a 22" HD monitor. 

£300 later, only the hard drive and a few slot in devices and drives remain from the old one. At least it doesn't freeze up any more. 

  sounds like me when i go computer shopping

[Manny]

As there are some thermal errors there this may be a good time to upgrade your whole computer system with a new one with better cooling fans or you could face the same problem as i did down the track having the same problem happening again (Bloody Computers).

You are a prophet Mark. I should have done what I did today the last time and not just the hard drive.

My wife is fond of saying, "Greedy pays twice" 

[Manny]

An update to this I could use some advice on.

Funky new hardware installed and all has been OK for a couple of months. Here is the setup:

Pentium Dual Core
2.70 GHz.
3.21 GB of RAM
OS: XP Pro

Recently, the computer was slowing down again. A few days ago, I started getting the blue screen of death. It got to the stage that I had big problems getting Windoze to fire up at all. When it did, I could go and make a cup of tea while it got its act together. I ended up leaving it switched on 24/7 to avoid the loooong wait for it to fire up.

Yesterday, it took me half the morning to get it fired up at all. I was getting "insert system disc" and "no hard drive found" and no amount of "repair" or any other options would help. On some start ups, the hard drive would just continually bleep. I assumed the new hard drive had malfunctioned.

I went and kidnapped my techie inclined pal, who decided the operating system was corrupt and the hard drive was OK. He formatted the hard drive and re-installed Windows. He went away and it was all working fine.........

An hour later, it was rebooting on its own (when unattended) and asking me to insert system disc again. 

So I did some sniffing to the best of my ability. And some Googling. Here's what I found.......

In the "windows" folder is a txt file called "setuperr" -- in it, it says:

Error:
Setup detected that the system file named [c:\windows\system32\uxtheme.dll] is not signed properly
by Microsoft.  This file could not be restored to the correct Microsoft version.
Use the SFC utility to verify the integrity of the file.

***

My question is, is that my problem, and how do I fix that please?

[Manny]

IMac Apple

My next question is: Is it true that Apple computers don't suffer from all this type of stuff?

Most of the very computer savvy blokes I encounter, and most techs, seem to use Apple machines. I am wondering if the rumours are true about Windows; should I just throw this one in the trash and go buy an Apple machine for issue free computing?

Many of you blokes are much more computer savvy than me, so I am all ears to any opinions.

[WestCoast]

IMac Apple

My next question is: Is it true that Apple computers don't suffer from all this type of stuff?

Most of the very computer savvy blokes I encounter, and most techs, seem to use Apple machines. I am wondering if the rumours are true about Windows; should I just throw this one in the trash and go buy an Apple machine for issue free computing?

Many of you blokes are much more computer savvy than me, so I am all ears to any opinions.

Generally speaking an Apple MacBook (laptop) seems to be more stable than a Windows based laptop.  I've never had an Apple desktop but the MacBook has never given me any problems.  The problem with using a MacBook is that the world runs on Windows computers.  At some time in the future you might have a file or program that needs to run on a Windows machine or you will need some type of 3^rd party software to make it run on a MacBook.  As the saying goes "Everyone uses Windows based machines because everyone uses Windows based machines". 

[andrewfi]

Stuff happens to computers and doing what you do eventually you will find that you need Windows.

In this case, did your guy use a proper, paid for and licensed version of Windows or did he use something from a car boot sale?

I bet that if the latter is true then using the former to do a clean install will solve the problem.

If the Windows was fully licensed for your machine then I got nuttin' coz it is an install issue.

[JeanClaude]

IMac Apple

My next question is: Is it true that Apple computers don't suffer from all this type of stuff?

Most of the very computer savvy blokes I encounter, and most techs, seem to use Apple machines. I am wondering if the rumours are true about Windows; should I just throw this one in the trash and go buy an Apple machine for issue free computing?

Many of you blokes are much more computer savvy than me, so I am all ears to any opinions.

I gave my father an apple (he is 83) because it would be unrealistic to ask him to become windows savvy (with all the issues). True Apple is the best and with the least issues, but he only uses email and browsing and some online games, no other stuff,

So,..it all depends on your needs Manny.

[dbneeley]

Manny--

A fresh reinstall would seem to indicate that there is, indeed, some kind of hardware problem going on. There are various hard disk utilities that will read the SMART status of the disk, which may indicate it is beginning to fail. Also, various utilities will do extensive testing of the disk using various read/write combinations. That, too, would be very interesting to know.

It could be something else and may be very subtle. I have seen intermittent problems with RAM, with power supplies, and even with tiny shorts on motherboard circuitry that can cause this sort of thing--but the first thing to check is the disk itself in a somewhat more thorough manner than it appears to have been done.

As for reliable software, there should be no reason if the hardware you have proves to be good. For example, I run Linux about 99 percent of the time. It is far more reliable than Windows, and is usually faster on any given machine as well. Today, there are relatively few programs that run in Windows that you can't find replacements for in Linux--or run using the WINE program or even run a virtual machine setup to actually run Windows on top of Linux for any programs you really must have that are designed for Windows.

My stepson is having a problem on his desktop at present--he tried to reload XP on it, and it refused to recognize the built-in Realtech ethernet adapter. The ASUS driver disk *said* the proper driver was installed--but for some reason we haven't yet figured out it appears to have lied to us. Complicating the issue is the fact that his version of XP is a Russian language edition--so I am not particularly helpful in getting it figured out. In our case, we know the hardware is fine--I ran Linux from a live CD and had no trouble at all connecting to our router through the ethernet connection on his box.

In your case, if your friend did a completely fresh reinstall, after reformatting the partition--then I expect you'll likely find some kind of problem with the disk that may be a bit subtle or intermittent and thus be difficult to discover in a quick examination.

David

An update to this I could use some advice on.

Funky new hardware installed and all has been OK for a couple of months. Here is the setup:

Pentium Dual Core
2.70 GHz.
3.21 GB of RAM
OS: XP Pro

Recently, the computer was slowing down again. A few days ago, I started getting the blue screen of death. It got to the stage that I had big problems getting Windoze to fire up at all. When it did, I could go and make a cup of tea while it got its act together. I ended up leaving it switched on 24/7 to avoid the loooong wait for it to fire up.

Yesterday, it took me half the morning to get it fired up at all. I was getting "insert system disc" and "no hard drive found" and no amount of "repair" or any other options would help. On some start ups, the hard drive would just continually bleep. I assumed the new hard drive had malfunctioned.

I went and kidnapped my techie inclined pal, who decided the operating system was corrupt and the hard drive was OK. He formatted the hard drive and re-installed Windows. He went away and it was all working fine.........

An hour later, it was rebooting on its own (when unattended) and asking me to insert system disc again. 

So I did some sniffing to the best of my ability. And some Googling. Here's what I found.......

In the "windows" folder is a txt file called "setuperr" -- in it, it says:

Error:
Setup detected that the system file named [c:\windows\system32\uxtheme.dll] is not signed properly
by Microsoft.  This file could not be restored to the correct Microsoft version.
Use the SFC utility to verify the integrity of the file.

***

My question is, is that my problem, and how do I fix that please?

[MND]

Hey Manny sounds like the CPU will get back to you on that.

Apple Macs have just as many problems at times its a myth that they are better

[MND]

An update to this I could use some advice on.

Funky new hardware installed and all has been OK for a couple of months. Here is the setup:

Pentium Dual Core
2.70 GHz.
3.21 GB of RAM
OS: XP Pro

Recently, the computer was slowing down again. A few days ago, I started getting the blue screen of death. It got to the stage that I had big problems getting Windoze to fire up at all. When it did, I could go and make a cup of tea while it got its act together. I ended up leaving it switched on 24/7 to avoid the loooong wait for it to fire up.

Yesterday, it took me half the morning to get it fired up at all. I was getting "insert system disc" and "no hard drive found" and no amount of "repair" or any other options would help. On some start ups, the hard drive would just continually bleep. I assumed the new hard drive had malfunctioned.

I went and kidnapped my techie inclined pal, who decided the operating system was corrupt and the hard drive was OK. He formatted the hard drive and re-installed Windows. He went away and it was all working fine.........

An hour later, it was rebooting on its own (when unattended) and asking me to insert system disc again. 

So I did some sniffing to the best of my ability. And some Googling. Here's what I found.......

In the "windows" folder is a txt file called "setuperr" -- in it, it says:

Error:
Setup detected that the system file named [c:\windows\system32\uxtheme.dll] is not signed properly
by Microsoft.  This file could not be restored to the correct Microsoft version.
Use the SFC utility to verify the integrity of the file.

***

My question is, is that my problem, and how do I fix that please?

Ok Manny this is what the problem could be there were some bad sectors on the hard drive which caused the blue screen of death so reformatting the hard drive was a good idea. if a non genuine copy of windows xpro was used then when the system did an update of windows it then detected a non genuine copy so it blocked the file or did not replace it. Easy fix reformat and reload a genuine copy of xpro then do a windows update and verification.
The other thing it could have been that there was or still is a virus that has replaced the file that you need uxtheme.dll this is a bloody tough one to try and fix and there are plenty of virus'es around that are set up to attack these crucial files as the people that create them hate microsoft or are from microsoft that is debateble. As you had it slow up before you lost the genuine uxtheme.dll file this is the most likely cause a virus.

So reformat, reload, and verify the copy with microsoft so the windows updates download all the crucial files you need.

[Herrie]

Blue Screens Of Death (BSOD) can have various causes:

1. Did you actually replace the hard drive that was giving you errors? I personally can recommend Western Digital or Seagate (I prefer Western Digital, but Seagate has proven me to be very reliable as well over the last 15 years). My main PC runs 24/7 so it puts quite some strain on the drives.

Over the years I had a few hard drives failing (it's a normal thing especially when running them 24/7 ). The service of both Seagate (sent broken one and received new one in 6 days) and Western Digital (they offer to send you a new drive when you leave your credit card details, you can then swap the faulty drive with the new one and send the faulty back within 30 days and you won't be charged). This option is especially nice when you know your drive is still working and want to copy stuff over without needing to borrow/buy another drive

2. Another thing that COULD be the issue is your memory, which I believe to be the most common cause for BSOD's nowadays. There's a tool called MemTest86 (you can easily find it on Google), you can download an ISO, burn it with IMGBurn, Nero or whatever program. This tool will test your memory by writing and verifying random data to make sure your memory isn't faulty!

3. A third cause could be some problem with the chips on your mainboard. A number of years ago quite a few mainboard manufacturers bought some faulty components called "capacitors" which after a while would start leaking and loosing their function (http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=195). If you post the make and model of your motherboard this can be easily checked on Google to see if other people reported the same problem.

4. A fourth cause can always be some hardware conflict of any kind.

My best guess would be the hard drive when it wasn't replaced, 2nd the memory, 3rd could be the capacitors.

P.s.
On Windows 7: The best thing from Microsoft since Windows 2000! Been running it at home, recently also on work laptop and I'm impressed by it. Incredibly stable, good support for new hardware out of the box. Feels quick and responsive. There are some tricks to get it fully licensed for free that Microsoft can never find out and doesn't involve any software hacks so also doesn't cause instability!

[Herrie]

Just saw you replaced your hard drive, so that shouldn't be it. Best guess would be faulty memory or mainboard...

[dbneeley]

Yet another possibility might be a faulty power supply. When they start to go, the first indication is often computation errors and normal operations such as disk writes--usually on a seemingly random basis.

However, as I stated before, I agree with Herrie that it is likely to be a hard disk issue more than anything else.

About high-quality capacitors--that is one reason that I have used ASUS motherboards for years--they seem to be the most consistently high-quality board supplier out there. The quality of their components is as good as anyone in the market today--including Apple, by the way.

I have been so impressed with ASUS that when I had to replace my laptop in August I bought one of their machines. So far, I am thoroughly impressed with it

When it comes to hard disk replacement, I believe two other brands also merit consideration: Samsung and Hitachi. The Samsung Spinpoint drives represent excellent value for money, and tend to be very quiet in operation. My current primary drive is a Seagate Momentus series hybrid drive, which contains 4 GB of flash memory in a solid state drive setup integrated with a 500 GB rotating disk. The combination is quite fast, very quiet, and surprisingly low power is needed in normal operation. It is, however, a tad expensive at about $130 (U.S. list price)--and of course it's a notebook drive.

If the machine in question is a desktop, drives today are cheap enough that replacement isn't much of an issue for most folks.

For hard disk testing and diagnosis software (as well as various other programs to test a system), one very nice resource is the Ultimate Boot CD: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/      Or, if you'd rather have it on a USB memory key, it is available through the unetbootin utility: http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net

David

Blue Screens Of Death (BSOD) can have various causes:

1. Did you actually replace the hard drive that was giving you errors? I personally can recommend Western Digital or Seagate (I prefer Western Digital, but Seagate has proven me to be very reliable as well over the last 15 years). My main PC runs 24/7 so it puts quite some strain on the drives.

Over the years I had a few hard drives failing (it's a normal thing especially when running them 24/7 ). The service of both Seagate (sent broken one and received new one in 6 days) and Western Digital (they offer to send you a new drive when you leave your credit card details, you can then swap the faulty drive with the new one and send the faulty back within 30 days and you won't be charged). This option is especially nice when you know your drive is still working and want to copy stuff over without needing to borrow/buy another drive

2. Another thing that COULD be the issue is your memory, which I believe to be the most common cause for BSOD's nowadays. There's a tool called MemTest86 (you can easily find it on Google), you can download an ISO, burn it with IMGBurn, Nero or whatever program. This tool will test your memory by writing and verifying random data to make sure your memory isn't faulty!

3. A third cause could be some problem with the chips on your mainboard. A number of years ago quite a few mainboard manufacturers bought some faulty components called "capacitors" which after a while would start leaking and loosing their function (http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=195). If you post the make and model of your motherboard this can be easily checked on Google to see if other people reported the same problem.

4. A fourth cause can always be some hardware conflict of any kind.

My best guess would be the hard drive when it wasn't replaced, 2nd the memory, 3rd could be the capacitors.

P.s.
On Windows 7: The best thing from Microsoft since Windows 2000! Been running it at home, recently also on work laptop and I'm impressed by it. Incredibly stable, good support for new hardware out of the box. Feels quick and responsive. There are some tricks to get it fully licensed for free that Microsoft can never find out and doesn't involve any software hacks so also doesn't cause instability!

[Herrie]

Yet another possibility might be a faulty power supply. When they start to go, the first indication is often computation errors and normal operations such as disk writes--usually on a seemingly random basis.

However, as I stated before, I agree with Herrie that it is likely to be a hard disk issue more than anything else.

About high-quality capacitors--that is one reason that I have used ASUS motherboards for years--they seem to be the most consistently high-quality board supplier out there. The quality of their components is as good as anyone in the market today--including Apple, by the way.

I have been so impressed with ASUS that when I had to replace my laptop in August I bought one of their machines. So far, I am thoroughly impressed with it

When it comes to hard disk replacement, I believe two other brands also merit consideration: Samsung and Hitachi. The Samsung Spinpoint drives represent excellent value for money, and tend to be very quiet in operation. My current primary drive is a Seagate Momentus series hybrid drive, which contains 4 GB of flash memory in a solid state drive setup integrated with a 500 GB rotating disk. The combination is quite fast, very quiet, and surprisingly low power is needed in normal operation. It is, however, a tad expensive at about $130 (U.S. list price)--and of course it's a notebook drive.

If the machine in question is a desktop, drives today are cheap enough that replacement isn't much of an issue for most folks.

For hard disk testing and diagnosis software (as well as various other programs to test a system), one very nice resource is the Ultimate Boot CD: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/      Or, if you'd rather have it on a USB memory key, it is available through the unetbootin utility: http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net

David

I forgot about power supply, David is right there. It really pays off to buy a good one from the start (it's the first thing I look at when I assemble a PC and afterward I don't worry about it anymore ). The power supply usually outlives 2-3 mainboards when I decide to upgrade

I prefer Antec TruePower ones myself, they are quite pricey, but very reliable as well. At least 350W for nowadays computers is no luxury. Standard they fit the most PC's with cheap power supplies or ones with too little power (250W) which can cause all kinds of "funny" issues.

A cheaper but also very reliable alternative to Asus is Asrock, which was started as a budget spin-off from Asus. I've been using their boards for 5+ years and so far I can only be very satisfied.

On the disks I cannot agree with David, about a decade ago when the drives were still manufactured by IBM (now taken over by Hitachi) they had a series called Deskstar which were having a failure rate that was significantly higher compared to other brands. Since then no more IBM/Hitachi for me.

My general view on Samsung is the same: Cheap and not too reliable. I prefer to stay away from their products, be it fridges, phones, TV's or hard drives, but that's my personal view. I don't have extensive personal experience with their hard drives, so I cannot really make any proper judgment, except for my gut feeling of other people's experience with their products.

[WestCoast]

Frankly Manny if this is the same computer that you were having trouble with earlier it is probably far better to scrap it and get a new one.  Computer prices are cheap now and with Christmas coming up next month I'm sure there will be lots of deals on at the local computer shops. 

[Chris]

Frankly Manny if this is the same computer that you were having trouble with earlier it is probably far better to scrap it and get a new one.  Computer prices are cheap now and with Christmas coming up next month I'm sure there will be lots of deals on at the local computer shops. 

Same here, why bother trying to fix something that is already knackered, im my experience its usually better and more economical to bin it and save yourself all the heartache, expense and lost business time and just go buy a new one.

[Chris]

Frankly Manny if this is the same computer that you were having trouble with earlier it is probably far better to scrap it and get a new one.  Computer prices are cheap now and with Christmas coming up next month I'm sure there will be lots of deals on at the local computer shops.  

Same here, why bother trying to fix something that is already knackered, im my experience its usually better and more economical to bin it and save yourself all the heartache, expense and lost business time and just go buy a new one.


In the past I have done the same as you, bought all sorts of fixes, downloaded everything that aparantly I needed, bought new parts, but in the end the only thing that cured is was a quick trip to the local tip  

[Herrie]

I personally would stay away from anything pre-made by either a shop or brand like HP, Dell etc. The last 15 years I've always built my own PC to my own standards with only A-grade stuff and not the B-grade stuff they often use in Dell etc.

You'll have a lot more control this way and you know you have the good stuff. I'm happy to assist you in assembling one, just let me know your requirements and I can put a list of parts together for you

[msmoby]

Hi Manny

You need to find a geeky mate who has this CD:

http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd

The dodgy PC needs to have a DVD/ CD Rom drive - or SOMETHING that the PC can be 'told' to look for..

Without booting into windows it should be able to test for a fault..



SOUNDS like a hard disk drive controller or some other hard ware problem..

[dbneeley]

With power supplies today, I suggest looking for one that is "80+ certified"--a measure of how efficient it is. One very good website that is excellent on the subject--and which also specializes in very quiet computers--is www.silentpcreview.com. They are quite good with power supply tests, and there are many good ones out there.

Today, in selecting a desktop power supply, I pay attention to the machine configuration and how it is to be used. I also look at where it will be physically located--too many people put them on the floor, where they become magnets for dust accumulation. A layer of dust acts as a thermal blanket for computer components, raising their operating temperature. It also can get into fan bearings and cause premature failure, leading to even more overheating. An input air filter is a questionable addition, in my experience, because they restrict air flow and are often not kept clean enough. As they fill with dust, they become increasingly clogged.

Thus, I try always to mount a machine at least a foot to a foot and a half above the floor. Even that little amount of elevation results in a surprising reduction in dust accumulation. I still have a routine in which I remove accumulated dust from the inside of the desktop systems on a regular basis--I usually check them quarterly or at the very least semi-annually for this purpose.

As for the hard disks--most of the Deskstar unreliability issues were many years ago, principally with a particularly bad 30 GB design. As Herrie proves, living down such a problem is very difficult. Today, though, I have seen few problems with Hitachi drives. The original drive in my new ASUS laptop was by Hitachi, which now also lives in an external drive case since I substituted the Seagate hybrid drive for it in the machine itself. That gives me both a convenient backup drive as well as a readily available replacement should the Seagate become flaky--something I learned the value of with the HP!

Samsung--in hard disks and flat panel displays at least--has been quite good. (I have also heard good reports about their cell phones, but I have no direct experience with them.) I have used these drives in machines I've built or upgraded and have many acquaintances who have as well. Their reliability has been at least as good as the other majors, from what I've seen.  They have also been favorites for some years among the quiet computing crowd. I have never heard any reports that they are less reliable than the other major brands. (I've used a dozen or more thus far. The only one that has failed was the notebook drive I had for a year or so in my previous laptop. That laptop, an HP, "ate" hard drives at an alarming rate. In its four years of life, it was on its fourth hard drive when I replaced it this Summer. The original one was a Seagate; then a Western Digital; then a Samsung; and finally another W.D. -- which now resides in an external drive case and seems fine in that role. At the same time, I have used all of these brands in machines for myself and my various clients over the years without incident.)

The point is that any drive can fail, and it may not even be a problem of the drive but of the machine it's in. For instance, if ventilation is not adequate, the drive can run too hot which greatly shortens its life. That is a far more common problem than you might imagine, in fact.

When I build a desktop, I pay particular attention to ventilation and cooling issues. I am careful how I route the cables, using cable ties to keep them out of the airflow as much as possible. I use high capacity but quiet fans, and very good CPU coolers. I always make sure the hard disks are in a location that gets a good supply of fresh air.

Oh, yes--if the disk mainly fails when it has been running for a considerable time, the issue is probably heat related. The logic boards on the drives, like any electronic component, can become unreliable above some threshold temperature, which varies with the drive based on design, age, and condition.

I'd still look carefully at the hard disk. Even for a machine that is only a few months old, that would be the first suspect in my view--a complete ground-up reinstall of the OS from original media after reformatting the drive would seem to preclude a malware issue.

For a new drive with some sort of manufacturing defect, it would be common to begin to fail in the first several months of use. In fact, if you have a new machine, if it does not fail within ninety days the odds are that it will run for some years before failing. Failure within that ninety-day window should never be totally unexpected, though--given the complexity of the components.

Thus, as I said before, I'd begin with a decent hard disk test routine that can run for a few hours. That would stress the disk enough that if it has a problem it should show up.

David

I forgot about power supply, David is right there. It really pays off to buy a good one from the start (it's the first thing I look at when I assemble a PC and afterward I don't worry about it anymore ). The power supply usually outlives 2-3 mainboards when I decide to upgrade

I prefer Antec ones myself, they are quite pricey, but very reliable as well. At least 350W for nowadays computers is no luxury. Standard they fit the most PC's with cheap power supplies or ones with too little power (250W) which can cause all kinds of funny issues.

A cheaper but also very reliable alternative to Asus is Asrock, which was started as a budget spin-off from Asus. I've been using their boards for 5+ years and so far I can only be very satisfied.

On the disks I cannot agree with David, about a decade ago when the drives were still manufactured by IBM (now taken over by Hitachi) they had a series called Deskstar which were having a failure rate that was significantly higher compared to other brands. Since then no more IBM/Hitachi for me.

My general view on Samsung is the same: Cheap and not too reliable. I prefer to stay away from their products, be it fridges, phones, TV's or hard drives, but that's my personal view. I don't have extensive personal experience with their hard drives, so I cannot really make any proper judgment, except for my gut feeling of other people's experience with their products.

[dbneeley]

Chris--

The problem with reflexively replacing the hard disk is that the problem may be elsewhere--even if that other problem may have resulted in damaging the disk drive.

When I get a new machine, I tend to test it rather extensively before using it in a production capacity. That way, if it is faulty to begin with I can return either the entire machine or any components that may be bad if it's a desktop. (Like Herrie, I don't buy complete desktops as a rule--but with laptops there really isn't much alternative).

At the same time, Manny said this is a fairly new machine. Thus, it may be a waste to discard it for yet another one--which also could have problems. Thorough system testing, then, should at least help discover which components may be faulty.

I also would agree with Herrie that if you are stuck in a Windows environment, Windows 7 is clearly superior to XP on many points.

David

Frankly Manny if this is the same computer that you were having trouble with earlier it is probably far better to scrap it and get a new one.  Computer prices are cheap now and with Christmas coming up next month I'm sure there will be lots of deals on at the local computer shops.  

Same here, why bother trying to fix something that is already knackered, im my experience its usually better and more economical to bin it and save yourself all the heartache, expense and lost business time and just go buy a new one.


In the past I have done the same as you, bought all sorts of fixes, downloaded everything that aparantly I needed, bought new parts, but in the end the only thing that cured is was a quick trip to the local tip  

[Manny]

Just took me about 30 mins to get on. 

Yes, the hard drive is new. I recall it was a Maxter.
The motherboard is new. I think AS Rock.
The processor is new. Dual core thing.
The power pack is new -- an expensive silent running one.
There isn't much that isn't new here. By new, I mean two months old.

The windows version he put on is claimed to be a corporate one that system builders use. He couldn't be bothered using my disc, as his you don't need to type stuff in or have it authorised.

Is that DLL thing in that setuperr file indicative of a windows update throwing a spanner in the works? Can that file be copied from my disc and replaced?

[andrewfi]

Manny, thanks for the update, it looks as though I was right.

'Corporate editions' do not need activation in the same way as proper editions but as he is not a corporate user your dude got his copy from a torrent site or similar - much cheaper than paying money.

Your surmise about Windows update putting a spanner in the works is likely correct, you probably Googled and saw stuff about 'slipstreaming'?

So, thing one is to sort out your Windows install, get a proper, licensed copy and do a clean install and you will probably be OK. During the setup, as I recall, your HD will be checked for bad sectors and they will be fenced off.

After you have a decent install of Windows you can start to look for hardware issues, but I bet that you will not find any.

[Manny]

'Corporate editions' do not need activation in the same way as proper editions but as he is not a corporate user your dude got his copy from a torrent site or similar - much cheaper than paying money.

I expect he did. He is not a guy who likes to pay. It was in progress by the time I noticed my disc sat on the desk still. I trusted the claim that he has installed it to hundreds of machines without incident. I expect he does so without updates. 

I have a proper disc right here (Used it to boot up for this session in fact).

Funny, after about twenty attempts to fire the bugger into life, now I am actually on, its like lightening -- as it should be! I think I'll leave it switched on for today..........

[andrewfi]

OK, good.

If he is going to use these installs he should tell folks they are gash and to not install updates. When you go to the torrent sites you can download Windows with service packs and updates already in but then you probably do not want to go to Microsoft to be updated. 

Is your disk a full install disk or a recovery disk?
If it is a recovery disk it may no longer work as your guy has put on a different version that will not match up with your 'proper' disk. At worst you might have to buy a new Windows disk/licence.