Computer Help Needed!!!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Hi, I did something very stupid this morning but I've done it in the past without causing any problems to my computer. I had my computer on and I was logging off but it was taking so long to shut down that I just turned off the power because I was running late for work. I've done this in the past before and when I would turn it back on it would always tell me to push certain keys to save my settings and then everything would be okay.

I have a Windows XP Compaq desktop. Tonight it didn't say anything like this. It flashed a small screen that said it can't load the locally stored profile and problems could be insufficient security rights or a corrupt local profile. It said a few more things but I wasn't quick enough to write it all down. Then after this another screen popped up and it said that windows can't find the local profile so it's logging on with a temporary profile.

I tried a system restore 3 times and each time it says that it can't restore it because nothing has changed. What else can I do to get all of my settings back? Please answser in simple terms because I still don't know too much about computers. Thanks in advance.

[Hellow]

Performing a hard shutdown (what you did) always carries the risk of damaging the hard drive in the computer, or other miscellaneous issues. The hard drive is where all of your information is stored.

Either your hard drive was damaged, which can be expensive to repair or impossible to repair, or some of your data got overwritten by other data that was being wrote to the drive when you shut it off.

[Puckstop31]

It sounds like you profile was corrupted.

So, unless what Hellow said is true and the HDD is physically damaged, you should be able to get everything back in shape. But the process for doing so is slightly technical. Basically, you have to log in as a different user, rename you old profile folder, then log back in as you. THEN, you can move all your data from the old profile folder to the new one.


I'll send a PM with some more details.

[Catty1]

Yes, BAD way to shut down a computer. Try restarting (Ctrl Alt Delete twice) and press F8 to get into Safe Mode. (Choose it from the list).

Just follow the prompts and when you get to the main window:

1. Double-click on My Computer

2. Go to the C drive and right click; choose Properties

3. Go to the Tools tab and select Error Checking. Follow thru and click ok. Be sure to check off 'find and repair errors'. The program will say it will run only after restart. Click ok, and restart the computer.

4. When it restarts, a light blue screen will appear and the computer will go through the error checking. Let it run.

This may NOT do the job, but I am suggesting it as something to try before you take it in to a tech.

If I was there, I could back up your data from the hard drive and do a clean install of your Windows. But I can't.

If you DO get things running again, your computer may be low on RAM. That could be one main reason for it being slow, especially if you have had it for a year or more and nothing has been added to it.

Good luck!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks everyone.:) I'll try what Candace has suggested first. This is a very old computer and the only one I've ever owned. I got in in Dec. whenever Windows XP just came out so I think it was back in 2001.

[Vette]

Sometimes they take a long while to shut off cuz theyre installing Windows updates an or shutting down more crap that was running in the background.

best just to let it shut down instead of what you did for reasons that you just found out about ;)

[Catty1]

KAK - post or PM the make and model number of your computer, and I can give you RAM recommendations. It's really quite easy to replace!

[Freedom]

Once you get through THIS mess . . .

I can tell you how to set things so you don't have to wait for it to shut down.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Well I just tried what Candace suggested and it still didn't work.:( My computer is a Compaq Presario 5000.

[Catty1]

If it's a model 5000US, you do have an older tower. You can go to www.crucial.com and download their scanner for a custom check. You don't have to buy the RAM from them, though.

Your machine takes PC133 RAM, with a max of 256 MB per slot (according to my manual check at crucial.com, your tower has 3 RAM slots). This stuff is expensive to buy, but if you know anyone with an older computer, or are on Freecycle, you might be able to get this for free! :)

It seems you were able to get into Safe Mode, so you might want to back everything up and reinstall Windows XP. I haven't tried backing up data in Safe Mode, so someone else here will need to see if it works.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Candace, I'm not really sure if I was able to get into safe mode or not. When I pressed Ctrl Alt Delete 2 times and then F8 nothing happened. There was no list to choose from. The only thing that happened was that security manager popped up. I then went to My Computer and right clicked on the C drive,chose properties, went to tools tab and selected error checking and clicked ok. I checked off the first box which didn't actually say find and repair errors but it was something close. I then shut down the computer and restarted it and the blue box did pop up and it went through the error checking but then it just went back to all of the temporary profile settings.:(

Brain is supposed to pm me with a step by step instructions on how to change or rename my profile. I'm hoping that this will work.

[Catty1]

k - make sure you upgrade the RAM too...maybe Brian has some he can mail you.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Well still no reply from Brian. I guess he was too busy today. I'll probably just end up calling someone locally to help me. Thanks again everyone.

[Catty1]

Patience - Brian will be in touch. I've had to contact him at times too, and he does get busy. Just hang in there!

[Puckstop31]

PM sent.

Yes, yesterday was REALLY busy. LOL 180 miles on the car.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I just want to give a huge thank you to Brian.:) Even though I couldn't fix my computer on my own with his instructions, he called me and then was able to install a program so he could see what's on my computer and then he was able to fix it remotely.:) I've learned my lesson and will never turn off the power to my computer while it's trying to log off.

THANKS SO MUCH BRIAN!!!!

[Catty1]

Wonderful news!

And upgrade yer RAM, young lady. :p;)

[sirrahbed]

WOW to Brian:D I am SO GLAD that your computer is fixed now KAK - how frustrating but saved by a PT member:D

[blue]

What was the issue Brian?

[krazyaboutkatz]

Wonderful news!

And upgrade yer RAM, young lady. :p;)
Brian checked out my RAM and he said that I have plenty. He did suggest that I do a defragmentation which I just did. It took several hours and now my computer is much faster.:)


What was the issue Brian?
I actually caused the problem because I stupidly turned off the power to my computer while it was in the process of logging off. I did this because it was taking a long time to log off and I was already running late for work. This caused all of my profile settings to be gone and my computer was using temporary profile settings. Brian thinks that I had a corrupted profile. Luckily I still had internet access or he wouldn't have been able to help me.

[blue]

I actually caused the problem because I stupidly turned off the power to my computer while it was in the process of logging off. I did this because it was taking a long time to log off and I was already running late for work. This caused all of my profile settings to be gone and my computer was using temporary profile settings. Brian thinks that I had a corrupted profile. Luckily I still had internet access or he wouldn't have been able to help me.

Did he make a new account for you and move all of your data to that new account? Ild really like to know the geekness that went into fixing your computer. :D

[krazyaboutkatz]

Did he make a new account for you and move all of your data to that new account? Ild really like to know the geekness that went into fixing your computer. :D
Yes, that's pretty much what he did.:) The cool thing is that all of it was done remotely so the only thing that I had to do was to install and then uninstall his program.

[Puckstop31]

Her profile was coorrupted while it was saving it during the shut down process. I did not spend any time finding out,exactly, what part was corrupted. But, I did know that was the problem because she had like 7 or 8 temporary profile folders in "Documents and Settings".

She had already created a new account, so all I did was move her desktop, favorites and documents. She uses a web based email, so I did not need to do anything there.

I did not tell her, but she probably has already noticed ( :) ), that you can't really move cookies from one profile to another... So saved passwords and such are no longer saved.

---

I used our companies Kaseya tool to remote to her. We use Kaseya to manage all of our clients stuff. Specifically, I used the VNC remote agent. Her computer was surprisingly zippy for a old beast like that. LOL

Also, I told her that I do not recommend spending a dine on it. It runs fine with the 512K it has... Plus, it is a older AMD processor running at 233Mhz, so finding RAM for it will be tough, and expensive. Save the $$ for something new.

I was happy to help. :D And, as a bonus for her, she got to listen in to some chaos in our home. LOL