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Author Topic:   Computer Help Please?
Dr Adequate
Member (Idle past 285 days)
Posts: 16113
Joined: 07-20-2006


Message 1 of 236 (753742)
03-21-2015 8:23 PM


I am running Windows 8.1, it is fucked, and I can't figure out how to unfuck it. I believe this is caused by a virus --- at least, the first thing that went wrong was that my antivirus (Panda) broke. Here are some of the things Windows will no longer do.
* PC settings just brings up the picture of the big cogwheel. Then nothing happens --- the mouse pointer still moves about, but there's nothing I can press or do, and indeed from that point on the only way to get the computer to do anything is to restart it using the power button.
* Task manager will not come up.
* Comand rompt will come up, but not Command Prompt (Admin).
* Run will come up, but then won't run anything useful, for example run a program to install a new antivirus.
* The Control Panel will get as far as opening the window, then it freezes before displaying any icons.
* System will open, but then freezes when I click on System protection.
There are various other missing bits of functionality (for example, Skype doesn

Replies to this message:
 Message 2 by Jon, posted 03-21-2015 8:46 PM Dr Adequate has not replied
 Message 4 by Theodoric, posted 03-21-2015 10:05 PM Dr Adequate has not replied
 Message 5 by frako, posted 03-22-2015 7:27 AM Dr Adequate has not replied
 Message 6 by PaulK, posted 03-22-2015 7:55 AM Dr Adequate has not replied
 Message 7 by Tangle, posted 03-22-2015 8:33 AM Dr Adequate has not replied

  
Jon
Inactive Member


Message 2 of 236 (753743)
03-21-2015 8:46 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Dr Adequate
03-21-2015 8:23 PM


Does a restart have any effect?
How are you trying to bring up Task Manager?
Have you made any changes to your software or hardware?
Can you get to your installed programs list? Is there anything in there that looks suspect?
Any browser problems (changed homepage, link ads, etc.)?
Some antivirus can be run from a CD or jump drive; this might be an option if you can't get anything else to go.
I've solved problems on Windows 8 a couple of times, but not enough to offer much help.

Love your enemies!

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by Dr Adequate, posted 03-21-2015 8:23 PM Dr Adequate has not replied

  
ThinAirDesigns
Member (Idle past 2374 days)
Posts: 564
Joined: 02-12-2015


(1)
Message 3 of 236 (753751)
03-21-2015 9:20 PM


First thing I do on a new computer is make a boot thumb drive with a clean restore point on it. I assume from your situation that you didn't do that. Perhaps your computer came with an emergency boot cd or other media?
Personally, I have found that setting clean restore points and backtracking to them from time to time gives me better results (combined with free virus software) than I ever got from expensive virus software.
But that's doesn't help you now, only in the future. If you don't have a way to boot from a clean source, I'm not sure if I could help you.
I feel your pain.
JB

  
Theodoric
Member
Posts: 9076
From: Northwest, WI, USA
Joined: 08-15-2005
Member Rating: 3.7


(1)
Message 4 of 236 (753761)
03-21-2015 10:05 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Dr Adequate
03-21-2015 8:23 PM


Can you download?
I would suggest a multi step process.
AVG bootable anti-virus anti-malware.
Free Antivirus Download for PC | AVG Virus Protection Software
Then
Malwarebytes Cybersecurity for Home and Business | Anti-Malware & Antivirus
This does a good thorough check for malware.
AVG should detect most virus problems. Then the malwarebytes will do a thorough job at looking for other problems.
I run Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes and never have an issue.
Edited by Theodoric, : No reason given.

Facts don't lie or have an agenda. Facts are just facts
"God did it" is not an argument. It is an excuse for intellectual laziness.

This message is a reply to:
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frako
Member (Idle past 306 days)
Posts: 2932
From: slovenija
Joined: 09-04-2010


Message 5 of 236 (753772)
03-22-2015 7:27 AM
Reply to: Message 1 by Dr Adequate
03-21-2015 8:23 PM


Format and reinstall, i assume you have your hardrive split so vital information is not lost, else find a second hd fromat and install windows on it set your current hd as a secondary drive, retrieve the vital information from it then format it to be safe.

Christianity, One woman's lie about an affair that got seriously out of hand
What are the Christians gonna do to me ..... Forgive me, good luck with that.

This message is a reply to:
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PaulK
Member
Posts: 17822
Joined: 01-10-2003
Member Rating: 2.2


(1)
Message 6 of 236 (753775)
03-22-2015 7:55 AM
Reply to: Message 1 by Dr Adequate
03-21-2015 8:23 PM


Panda may be the problem
Last week there was a serious problem in Panda that disabled the affected PCs
Here's one report

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by Dr Adequate, posted 03-21-2015 8:23 PM Dr Adequate has not replied

  
Tangle
Member
Posts: 9489
From: UK
Joined: 10-07-2011
Member Rating: 4.9


(2)
Message 7 of 236 (753776)
03-22-2015 8:33 AM
Reply to: Message 1 by Dr Adequate
03-21-2015 8:23 PM


Suggest that you boot in safe mode
http://www.howtogeek.com/...e-mode-on-windows-8-the-easy-way
Then go back to a restore point
How to refresh, reset, or restore your Windows 8.1 PC
Once you've done that, use Theo's virus stuff.

Je suis Charlie. Je suis Ahmed. Je suis Juif.
Life, don't talk to me about life - Marvin the Paranoid Android
"Science adjusts it's views based on what's observed.
Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved."
- Tim Minchin, in his beat poem, Storm.

This message is a reply to:
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xongsmith
Member
Posts: 2578
From: massachusetts US
Joined: 01-01-2009
Member Rating: 6.8


Message 8 of 236 (753793)
03-22-2015 12:57 PM


Windows 8 and 8.1 are the worst viruses unleashed on the planet. They have disabled to alternate boot option so you can only reboot Windows 8 off your hard drive. I recommend avoiding at all possible turn.
What is Panda? Could be there as pointed out.
For me, Panda is the Internet Go server.
BTW, for full disclosure, I am running 8.1 myself.

- xongsmith, 5.7d

Replies to this message:
 Message 10 by coffee_addict, posted 03-22-2015 3:34 PM xongsmith has seen this message but not replied
 Message 11 by nwr, posted 03-22-2015 4:09 PM xongsmith has not replied
 Message 12 by ThinAirDesigns, posted 03-22-2015 4:57 PM xongsmith has replied

  
coffee_addict
Member (Idle past 477 days)
Posts: 3645
From: Indianapolis, IN
Joined: 03-29-2004


Message 9 of 236 (753823)
03-22-2015 3:23 PM


Panda accidentally saw itself as a virus and thus rendered the user's computer useless. It has absolutely nothing to do with windows 8.1.

  
coffee_addict
Member (Idle past 477 days)
Posts: 3645
From: Indianapolis, IN
Joined: 03-29-2004


(2)
Message 10 of 236 (753825)
03-22-2015 3:34 PM
Reply to: Message 8 by xongsmith
03-22-2015 12:57 PM


Xongsmith writes
quote:
Windows 8 and 8.1 are the worst viruses unleashed on the planet. They have disabled to alternate boot option so you can only reboot Windows 8 off your hard drive. I recommend avoiding at all possible turn.
Windows 8/8.1 have been the best thing that's ever happened to my life.
My android apps brought in peanuts. Only when I started publishing in the windows store that the money started pouring in. The revenue from my apps in the windows store effectively gave me a 2nd income making it possible for me to pay my student loans, my boyfriend's tuition (he's still in school), and a new house for us. The revenue from 1 app alone in the windows store pays for my mortgage, property tax, and homeowner's insurance.
Simply put, we'd still be living in my parents' basement had it not for windows 8/8.1.
Don't know why people hate windows 8/8.1. It's the fastest operating system so far. It's incredibly stable. It boots up in every machine I've tried it on, including old machines from the early 90's.
Remember when windows 7 first came out and the internet exploded with angry users who absolutely hated 7 and some predicted fire and brimstone if MS didn't bring back xp's GUI? I wonder if it's the same people who are so afraid of change and continue to demand that MS comes out with another version of windows 7. Might as well make us all go back to the old hammer and chisel with stone tablets system.

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Replies to this message:
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nwr
Member
Posts: 6408
From: Geneva, Illinois
Joined: 08-08-2005
Member Rating: 5.1


Message 11 of 236 (753828)
03-22-2015 4:09 PM
Reply to: Message 8 by xongsmith
03-22-2015 12:57 PM


Windows 8 and 8.1 are the worst viruses unleashed on the planet.
When DrA wrote: "I am running Windows 8.1, it is fucked," I did consider replying "Yes, that's the way it comes from the factory." But I decided this was not the time to inject humor.
They have disabled to alternate boot option so you can only reboot Windows 8 off your hard drive.
I'm not quite sure what that means. I'm posting this from opensuse 13.2, which is what I mostly use on my Win8/Win8.1 box. I have not had any serious problems with dual-booting.
What is Panda?
Probably this Anti-virus software.

Fundamentalism - the anti-American, anti-Christian branch of American Christianity

This message is a reply to:
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ThinAirDesigns
Member (Idle past 2374 days)
Posts: 564
Joined: 02-12-2015


Message 12 of 236 (753830)
03-22-2015 4:57 PM
Reply to: Message 8 by xongsmith
03-22-2015 12:57 PM


xongsmith writes:
they have disabled to alternate boot option so you can only reboot Windows 8 off your hard drive
I can personally attest that the above statement is not true. There are several ways to boot to other options.
Microsoft Explains Windows 8 Boot Options -- Redmondmag.com
JB

This message is a reply to:
 Message 8 by xongsmith, posted 03-22-2015 12:57 PM xongsmith has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 14 by xongsmith, posted 03-22-2015 9:07 PM ThinAirDesigns has replied

  
Jon
Inactive Member


Message 13 of 236 (753846)
03-22-2015 7:08 PM
Reply to: Message 10 by coffee_addict
03-22-2015 3:34 PM


New Thread Created...
I replied to you in a new thread:
Windows 8

Love your enemies!

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 Message 10 by coffee_addict, posted 03-22-2015 3:34 PM coffee_addict has not replied

  
xongsmith
Member
Posts: 2578
From: massachusetts US
Joined: 01-01-2009
Member Rating: 6.8


Message 14 of 236 (753860)
03-22-2015 9:07 PM
Reply to: Message 12 by ThinAirDesigns
03-22-2015 4:57 PM


I have been unable to boot into Ubuntu. Read this carefully - they still are not describing how to do it, only that they will have the option at some later time:
"While Clark didn't mention it, booting to a Linux operating system on a Windows 8 machine appears to be a whole different kettle of fish that's associated with a UEFI "secure boot" controversy. Users who want to do that probably won't be able to do so on a Windows RT device (also known as "Windows on ARM"). This potential limitation has raised the ire of many people in the Linux community.
The new ARM-based Windows 8 devices will use the newer UEFI-based firmware, rather than BIOS, to boot the system. UEFI features a secure boot certification process that reduces the risks of booting into malware, but that feature doesn't play well with Linux OS variants. Microsoft will require hardware manufacturers to have the secure boot feature turned on by default in new Windows RT devices, but users of x86/x64 Windows 8 machines apparently will be able to turn that feature off.
Microsoft has said that it expects to deliver a "release preview" of Windows 8 in the first week of June. The OS may be rolled out as a final product sometime in the fall of this year. "
I have meticulously tried to sneak around Windows 8.1, but I always get slapped down.

- xongsmith, 5.7d

This message is a reply to:
 Message 12 by ThinAirDesigns, posted 03-22-2015 4:57 PM ThinAirDesigns has replied

Replies to this message:
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ThinAirDesigns
Member (Idle past 2374 days)
Posts: 564
Joined: 02-12-2015


(1)
Message 15 of 236 (753863)
03-22-2015 9:18 PM
Reply to: Message 14 by xongsmith
03-22-2015 9:07 PM


xongsmith writes:
only that they will have the option at some later time:
LOL -- that article is almost 3 years old. That "later time" is NOW.
Not sure what version you have, but my current laptop is about a month old and I hadn't had it for 24 hours before I made a boot thumb drive and made sure I could boot to it. QED
JB

This message is a reply to:
 Message 14 by xongsmith, posted 03-22-2015 9:07 PM xongsmith has replied

Replies to this message:
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