Any computer nerds here?

[leemo 0]

I bought a bells and whistles puter last month; all going well till the hookey copy of Norton Internet Security the vendor had installed decided to disable itself. I hadn't installed, reconfigured or otherwise did anytihng that might have caused the disable, so it might be that it logged on for a live-update, realised it was hookey and became cranky.

 

Tried all sorts of things, and then to uninstall/reinstall NIS...then, too late discovered Norton has a habit of not uninstalling properly, as clarified by their website that has a special uninstall tool that even they confess is not guaranteed to work, and with an incomplete uninstall the damn thing refused to reinstall.

 

Long story...one thing led to another, with one thing leading to another, and I decided to save what was needed from C: drive and reformat...only, the shop did not give me a copy of the hookey XP they had installed...a friend gave me his legit copy, but the format did not run properly and somewhere there was 7gb nissing on the formatted C: drive.

 

Then reinstalled XP and the software, but now its all running v slow indeed, with internet connection and service bouncing between 10-30% reliability and speed.

 

Shop says they're not responsible for anything the software does, which I guess is fair enough, and want up to 3k depending on how long their reformat/reinstall takes.

 

Any nerds willing/able to do the honours or suggest what to do, apart from tossing this expensive piece of junk through the shop window live on Pattaya Mail, since they consistently advertise the business' goods and services as the best in Pty?

 

 

leemo

[wombat 5]

other than a hard drive scrubber and start again i wouldnt like to even hazard a guess at whats stuffed up.

with nortons the only thing you need is the virus protection,(set to auto update) if you install the whole nortons thing it will slow your puter down by megga %

 

this link has lots on scrubbers

 

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=h...ber&btnG=Search

 

ps...3 deep breaths and good luck.

[billten 0]

Sounds to me like you are missing some kinds of drivers and such. I suggest reformatting the bloody thing over again, but before doing that, make sure you get onto the manufacturers web site for ALL the major components and download the latest drivers. Once you have re-installed XP, install the drivers and things should be somewhat better.

 

Good luck, I have a feeling this is going to be a bit ugly...

[Flash_Basbo 0]

I 2nd billten. Try reinstalling XP again with a full reformat. I don't know what went wrong last time. First thing to do once XP is reinstalled is download all updated drivers for all programs.

 

Trash Norton's. I used it for years but finally dumped it when I reformatted my computer. Since that time my computer has never worked better. Anything Norton's does can be done by stand alone programs found free on the internet.

 

A few suggestions:

 

Great free virus scan: Tredn Micro

The BEST internet browser, also free, is Firefox. IE sucks and in virus prone: Firefox

Use an internet site like Yahoo for email to avoid viruses. Or you can use Firefox email client Thunderbird. Outlook is another virus magnet: Thunderbird

[leemo 0]

Tx, will keep you updated and yes, looks like it's gonna be messy...

[mbrucie 0]

Pretty much the same thing happened to me:

 

GOOGLE "Norton uninstall" The program that may help is Rnav2003.

Lots of info and sites on that search.

 

Plan B: Try www.computing.net take the XP platform option, and do a search on the problem.........Lots of knowledgeable nerds here.

 

Plan C: Format C: Start again from zero.

 

This problem is a bitch.

 

Bruce

[mykl 72]

1. Go to the store and buy (as in "pay for") a full copy of windows xp. Do a full install with a hard drive format.

 

2. Choke the owner/operator of the store that did such a balls up job of installation in the first place.

 

3. Three grand to reinstall an operating system that they bitched up in the first place? After loading a bootleg copy of windows? Next stop should be the better business bureau, then a good lawyer. Hell even a mediocre lawyer would have a ball with this one. There is a huge fine for using bootleg software in a commercial setting, which is what they are doing.

[leemo 0]

Thanks for your help and PMs. As I mentioned to the PMers, the guy came this morning, spent 3 hrs installing XP and other software, tweaking, chatting etc at 500/hr + time/travel expenses, removed the TV card that was causing a problem and will be back tomorrow to either fit or replace it...total cost 2000-2500...then, went shopping and within minutes bumped into a nerd friend whom I thought was in Cambodia, and who offered to come right away, but too late in line with the story of my life...then, 2 PMs with great sounding recommendations that I'll keep for the next time this expensive piece of junk gets cranky.

 

Thanks again, system working fine, send more money!

 

 

leemo

 

 

 

mykl:

 

Good idea, but TiT so best to get it sorted and on with life on the hard shoulder. Funny thing though, when I asked for a copy of the bootleg/modified XP that formats and installs automatically with no interruptions, and other bits, the guy said his boss doesn't allow the workers to share their bootleg software...seems it's ok to install pirated software on machines they sell, but not to distribute the evidence as it allows customers to reinstall without charge after an uninstall or format. Hmmm...

[Skytrooper 0]

leemo,

 

Thanks to the Flash_Basbo types, I'm in no position to send you money, but I will pm you with a list of recommended programs, mostly freeware.

[Mescalito 19]

leemo,

 

 

I may be a day late and 39.8537 baht short, but you may also might want to check and make sure you also have the most recent XP service packs installed. Assuming, of course, that Microsoft's download site will let you access them.

[para 0]

Sounds like you loaded XP from a DOS prompt. Dos FAT for addressing hard disks try running diskmanager and see what you can find.

 

%SystemRoot%\system32\compmgmt.msc /s

 

Remember system restores can soon build up and taht maybe you have inadvertantly installed XP twice as in dual booting.

 

Download a truely amazing app called Treesize Pro get it to scan your hard disk its surprising what can eat up disk space.....

 

NIS is a bitch to remove my background is IT and it took me 4 hours to get it off. If ever you want to add/remove/reconfigure the install it has to be done through add/remove programs. Its a pain but it is the only PFW/AV I would ever use.