Big problems!! - Techwatch: Satellite TV forums, FTA, Cable, Hardware, & Tech forums

delambo · 01-11-05, 07:54 PM

Before I went on holiday I set some downloads going on my pc (XP based) with edonkey. When I get home I find edonkey has closed itself and there is a little hazard symbol in my system tray. When I hover over the hazard symbol it says "windows virtual memory dangerously low" or sommat similar. I assume this is because my puny 13 gig harddrive is full, so I set upon deleting some sh*t that I dont need anymore. When that is done I set about uninstalling some software that I dont use, or have installed on my works laptop. Half way through uninstalling "when you save" (some kind of spyware that comes with edonkey) my PC turns itself off, when I go to switch it on I get the emachines splash screen followed by a buzz of the harddrive, then it swithes off, then on and merrily repeats this cycle until I swich the machine off.

I assume it is now time to install that 40 gig hd that I have been meaning to install for about the last year or so. I pop the new harddrive in and install xp and test - all OK. I switch the machine off, pop the old hd in as a slave and set the new one as a master. I boot the system up and open my computer in order that I open my old hd and transfer the files I require. When I try to open the old hd I get the message hd has not been formatted, do you want to format it now? - I dont! So I use media recover pro to recover my lost data, however after 2 hours I see it is still only 1% complete and the data it has recovered all appears to be rubbish, however I cant tell for sure as it doesnt tell me the original file name. This could be extremely laborious sorting through the 90% sh*t that I dont want to find the 10% that I do! Any suggestions? Is it worth trying to install xp on the old hd and seeing if it just works keeping the old files? Will this do more harm than good? I am loathed to try this as mediarecover only works when the storage device has not been overwritten. Any other suggestions?

jakeyfly · 01-11-05, 08:46 PM

Have you tryed booting into safe mode then doing a spyware scan, worth ago

delambo · 01-11-05, 08:52 PM

Not a bad Idea, is it f5 for safe mode? I cant remember.

jakeyfly · 01-11-05, 11:46 PM

Just copyed this for you

To start Windows XP in Safe mode, single operating system:

Use this method if XP is the only operating system installed on your computer.

1. Start Windows, or if it is running, shut Windows down, and then turn off the computer.
2. Restart the computer. The computer begins processing a set of instructions known as the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS). What is displayed depends on the BIOS manufacturer. Some computers display a progress bar that refers to the word BIOS, while others may not display any indication that this process is happening.
3. As soon as the BIOS has finished loading, begin tapping the F8 key on your keyboard. Continue to do so until the Windows Advanced Options menu appears.

Note: If you begin tapping the F8 key too soon, some computers will generate a "keyboard error" message. Please restart, and then try again.
4. Using the arrow keys on the keyboard, scroll to and select the Safe mode menu item, and then press Enter.

01-11-05, 07:54 PM	#1 (permalink)
delambo Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: infront of my pc Posts: 521 Thanks: 0 Thanked 4 Times in 3 Posts	Big problems!! Before I went on holiday I set some downloads going on my pc (XP based) with edonkey. When I get home I find edonkey has closed itself and there is a little hazard symbol in my system tray. When I hover over the hazard symbol it says "windows virtual memory dangerously low" or sommat similar. I assume this is because my puny 13 gig harddrive is full, so I set upon deleting some sht that I dont need anymore. When that is done I set about uninstalling some software that I dont use, or have installed on my works laptop. Half way through uninstalling "when you save" (some kind of spyware that comes with edonkey) my PC turns itself off, when I go to switch it on I get the emachines splash screen followed by a buzz of the harddrive, then it swithes off, then on and merrily repeats this cycle until I swich the machine off. I assume it is now time to install that 40 gig hd that I have been meaning to install for about the last year or so. I pop the new harddrive in and install xp and test - all OK. I switch the machine off, pop the old hd in as a slave and set the new one as a master. I boot the system up and open my computer in order that I open my old hd and transfer the files I require. When I try to open the old hd I get the message hd has not been formatted, do you want to format it now? - I dont! So I use media recover pro to recover my lost data, however after 2 hours I see it is still only 1% complete and the data it has recovered all appears to be rubbish, however I cant tell for sure as it doesnt tell me the original file name. This could be extremely laborious sorting through the 90% sht that I dont want to find the 10% that I do! Any suggestions? Is it worth trying to install xp on the old hd and seeing if it just works keeping the old files? Will this do more harm than good? I am loathed to try this as mediarecover only works when the storage device has not been overwritten. Any other suggestions? __________________ If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

01-11-05, 08:46 PM	#2 (permalink)
jakeyfly Super Drunk Moderator Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 260 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Big problems!! Have you tryed booting into safe mode then doing a spyware scan, worth ago

01-11-05, 08:52 PM	#3 (permalink)
delambo Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: infront of my pc Posts: 521 Thanks: 0 Thanked 4 Times in 3 Posts	Re: Big problems!! Not a bad Idea, is it f5 for safe mode? I cant remember. __________________ If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

01-11-05, 11:46 PM	#4 (permalink)
jakeyfly Super Drunk Moderator Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 260 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Big problems!! Just copyed this for you To start Windows XP in Safe mode, single operating system: Use this method if XP is the only operating system installed on your computer. 1. Start Windows, or if it is running, shut Windows down, and then turn off the computer. 2. Restart the computer. The computer begins processing a set of instructions known as the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS). What is displayed depends on the BIOS manufacturer. Some computers display a progress bar that refers to the word BIOS, while others may not display any indication that this process is happening. 3. As soon as the BIOS has finished loading, begin tapping the F8 key on your keyboard. Continue to do so until the Windows Advanced Options menu appears. Note: If you begin tapping the F8 key too soon, some computers will generate a "keyboard error" message. Please restart, and then try again. 4. Using the arrow keys on the keyboard, scroll to and select the Safe mode menu item, and then press Enter.


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