PC Troubles.

[Robotazy]

So, I've been having troubles with my laptop recently. So, before I dissect my Laptop, I want to get your opinions on this.

I've recently decided to try and add more stuff to my Youtube Channel. Unfortunetly, as of Febuary or March my computer has been shutting off on its own. This will sometimes happen for no real reason, but it will especially happen when I play any game or record any game for a period of anytime between 5 to 10 minues.

I believe it may have something to do with how I'm missing the files "lavejipu.dll" and "UUS2.dll", and I've looked through a few examples, but I want to know for sure what I'm doing before I break this laptop and have to buy one for my next semester.

I'll try to give you as much information as I can.

[Robotazy]

Same Laptop, different reason.

I probably brought this on myself, but I cannot get my computer to work properly. It will take me to the screen that asks me to either enter Safe Mode or just start normally, and no matter what I do, it just restarts the computer regardless of the option.

I lost the "logon.exe" file to a virus check, so that could have something to do with it.

I want my computer to work, but I don't want to just wipe it clean to do so.

If There is no reasonable way to save the computer, I also want to know.

-Is it possible to switch drivers on a computer?

-Can I put 2 C:/ Drivers on the same computer?

- If one of them isn't possible, how can I access a Hard Drive without turning a laptop on and extract data from it?

I plan to purchase a Hard Disk Drive to transfer my data, and later a new laptop, so getting the computer to work isn't as important as getting the information on it.

I need help as soon as possible, and any suggestions would be helpful. Otherwise, I'm gonna pull my laptop apart.

[Ace Mercury]

Yeah, this sounds like a pretty dire case. If it's been ravaged by viruses and other malware, there's not much you can do besides do a reformat+install. I mean, it can be fixed, but it's not worth the blood, sweat, tears, and cursing. If it's a laptop, it probably came with some recovery CDs to reinstall Windows (unless it is a Mac, in which case, go to the Apple Store). Try to save your files before you format, as formatting disappears files.

You might be able to boot of off a live CD or something like that, and then transfer your files onto a USB drive. You can also crack open the laptop and take out the hard drive; buy a laptop hard drive to USB adaptor and port your files to another computer. If that's beyond your skill sphere, you can probably bug your local computer guru to do it for you. Just have M&Ms handy, because anyone who like computers likes M&Ms.

Originally Posted by Black Belt Tazy

-Is it possible to switch drivers on a computer?

-Can I put 2 C:/ Drivers on the same computer?

Not sure what you mean here. You probably mean "drive" where you wrote "drivers", and the answer is yes (you can switch hard drives) and no (you cannot have to c:\ drives). Buying a new hard drive and sticking it in your laptop is basically equivalent to formatting your hard drive, because all of your information is in there (including Windows, applications, etc.). You can, however, have two hard drives hooked up to the same computer (c:\ and d:\, for example, each mapping to one hard drive), but laptops don't have room for more than one hard drive.

[Robotazy]

Thanks for the help Ace. I was kind of tired when I wrote that post.

I actually have seen someone salvage a computer's data, though like you said it took alot of effort to get it to work and I believe that some data was still lost.

I'll try looking around for an adaptor, which will hopefully allow me to transfer data to another place while I reformat my laptop. Though, finding the CDs could be a problem in and of itself.

[the Octopus]

Sounds in part like it might be a power problem, IMO. The toughest part about troubleshooting computer problems is how in part can cause another. Virus issues would severely complicate any troubleshooting you might try. You might be able to save the hardware if you just backup your vital files and reformat, but your issues sound like they're probably a cocktail combination of one flawed piece of hardware leading to more unreliable hardware.

Take my system, for instance; I've slowly narrowed down the problems in the system. I had random freezing issues, usually with no clear indication of what went wrong. There were also issues where the system simply rebooted itself out of the blue. AFAIK, it was a possible combination of low resources, poor heat distribution, unreliable power distribution, and hard disk failure. Every time I replaced one faulty component, the issues lessened, but there was always more - probably mostly caused by the shady power supply. Years later, now, I've finally got a new PSU with a massive fan on the bottom of it, all new/4 times as much RAM, a better affixed heatsink, and a new low-heat/low-power HDD. Right now, it's working better than it ever has, but it took a lot of poking and prodding to get it totally stable.

[Robotazy]

So, I guess I should explain my sucess here now.

First of all, I never explained how I solved my first problem (which I never told anyone I finished). That was just dust in the Heat Sink.

Secondly, I was successful in saving my data. Mostly, I thank Ace for telling my about the Hard Drive to USB Driver, which I was able to find on Amazon (though Jenocide did most of the stuff). Everything appears to be working now, though I still need to get a few things.

Thanks guys, you really helped me here.

[Ace Mercury]

Sure thing. Just pay it forward.

[DrJordo]

Mine used to shut down when I played games, I blasted some canned air into the fan vent and haven't had any issues. Looks like that worked for you as well.

edit: I didn't look at how old this topic was when i posted