Weird computer problem

[Duckjake]

I had a custom built computer at my office that worked great for 2 years. We weren't using it anymore so I thought I'd bring it home and set it up in my daughters room. Running Windows XP. Had it all ready to go and suddenly it shut down and when it restarted I got what you see in the attached picture!

Took it to my local computer repair place and they started it up and NOTHING WRONG. They cleaned up some Temp files and cookies etc and I took it home and the same problem occurred. Took it back they hooked it up and nothing again. So I took my monitor, keyboard and mouse in and they hooked them up and turned it on. Again nothing wrong.

So I take it back home hook everything up and BAM the 150 help.exe processes are running again. The computer is not connected to the internet.

The only thing I can think of to do is wipe everything off the drive and reload the operating system. Does anyone know how to do that?

 

[devilalum]

Put the Windows XP disk in the cd drive and restart the computer. After it restarts follow the directions.

and this http://tweakhound.com/xp/installxp/installXP1.htm

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Make sure the F1 key on your keyboard isn't pressed down or sticking...

Try another keyboard also. Just in case it is that simple.

 

[Duckjake]

Make sure the F1 key on your keyboard isn't pressed down or sticking...

Try another keyboard also. Just in case it is that simple.

Could be. Though I'd be really pissed if my IT missed something like that.

 

[Duckjake]

Make sure the F1 key on your keyboard isn't pressed down or sticking...

Try another keyboard also. Just in case it is that simple.

Amazing. That is exactly what was wrong. I owe you a shot of water.

I knew going to all those half time meets would pay off someday.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

 

[Duckjake]

BTW How did you know to check the F1 button on the keyboard?

 

[HeavyB3]

BTW How did you know to check the F1 button on the keyboard?

It's the help shortcut

 

[Brian in Mesa]

It's the help shortcut

Basically it's the kind of tech troubleshooting I do on a daily basis.

 

[Duckjake]

Basically it's the kind of tech troubleshooting I do on a daily basis.

BIM's first question to distraught housewife whose home computer is not working and is scared to death her husband will find out.

"So did your toddler spill anything on the keyboard?"

 

[Duckjake]

Oh and btw the IT guy I use is fired. He's a crook. Claimed he removed a bunch of viruses and trojans which I highly doubt existed and when I finally got the computer back up and running ran spybot and there were several items detected even thought the computer had not been connected to the net from the time it left his shop.

Reminds me of the early days of Tech when "computer repair" guys would charge by the hour and come in and run defrag on people's computers.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Oh and btw the IT guy I use is fired. He's a crook. Claimed he removed a bunch of viruses and trojans which I highly doubt existed and when I finally got the computer back up and running ran spybot and there were several items detected even thought the computer had not been connected to the net from the time it left his shop.

Rude !!

Reminds me of the early days of Tech when "computer repair" guys would charge by the hour and come in and run defrag on people's computers.

Oh yeah !! A lot of people out there are still like that. Or they pretty much make up stuff and say things like "I had to recharge the flux-capacitor" because they know the customer won't understand what they're saying anyway.

I prefer honesty - even if it kills repeat business.

 

[LVG]

Oh and btw the IT guy I use is fired. He's a crook. Claimed he removed a bunch of viruses and trojans which I highly doubt existed and when I finally got the computer back up and running ran spybot and there were several items detected even thought the computer had not been connected to the net from the time it left his shop.

Reminds me of the early days of Tech when "computer repair" guys would charge by the hour and come in and run defrag on people's computers.

Well, at least he didn't charge you $250 and say it was a standard windows IDTenT error message.

Spoiler

ID10T

Idiot

 

[Covert Rain]

Oh and btw the IT guy I use is fired. He's a crook. Claimed he removed a bunch of viruses and trojans which I highly doubt existed and when I finally got the computer back up and running ran spybot and there were several items detected even thought the computer had not been connected to the net from the time it left his shop.

Reminds me of the early days of Tech when "computer repair" guys would charge by the hour and come in and run defrag on people's computers.

What do you mean the early days? That is still happening today. Many repair guys will charge by the hour high prices for things that people can often do themselves. Even then they overcharge for something they claim takes hours.

My dad wanted to get his desktop cleaned up and remove some malware. A couple places wanted to charge him 100 bucks and another one 200. I did it for him in an hour and it runs like a charm. He knows I know my stuff but I was out of town on a business trip for 2 weeks and he was impatient. He won't be doing that again.

 

[Duckjake]

What do you mean the early days? That is still happening today. Many repair guys will charge by the hour high prices for things that people can often do themselves. Even then they overcharge for something they claim takes hours.

My dad wanted to get his desktop cleaned up and remove some malware. A couple places wanted to charge him 100 bucks and another one 200. I did it for him in an hour and it runs like a charm. He knows I know my stuff but I was out of town on a business trip for 2 weeks and he was impatient. He won't be doing that again.

That's sad. I've never understood people who have to rip off others to make money. But man is it ever prevalent the world over.

It's why I really like the net because I can learn about things before going to the shop. Or that my F1 button was stuck without ever leaving the house!