HP Laptop Non-responsive

[Doug Holtz NOSPAM in adress]

Group;

I rebuilt a users HP Pavilion laptop last month. It was snappy with a fresh
install of XP Pro.

Today the machine is performing at a snail's pace. It takes 15 minutes to
boot. It got blue screens upon trying to boot. My initial thought was that
it was a hardware problem. I ran the diagnostic (press the F12 key when
booting) and all hardware was fine. Then the user said he was at a hotel
over the weekend and was trying to get on their Internet, and that he also
installed Incredimail, and other nonsense.

My thought now that I'm trying to re-install XP and save his data is: It's
an AMD Athlon 4 processor with 512 MB RAM and 30 GB HDD. I think the
processor is overheated. The fan rarely comes on; only upon startup.

Anyone have any similar problems and resolutions?

Thanks.

Doug

[Ben Myers]

Could be spyware. Could be overheating. Could be a bad temperature sensor
controlling the fan. My bet is on spyware, but before taking me up on the bet,
run diagnostics on the hardware. MEMTEST-86 is as good as any for memory and
CPU testing. The hard drive manufacturer's diagnostics are the best for the
drive. Then install, update definitions and run both Spybot and Ad-Aware SE, in
either order... Ben Myers

On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 02:40:39 GMT, "Doug Holtz NOSPAM in adress"
<dholtzNOSPAM@wi.rr.com> wrote:
Group;I rebuilt a users HP Pavilion laptop last month. It was snappy with a freshinstall of XP Pro.Today the machine is performing at a snail's pace. It takes 15 minutes toboot. It got blue screens upon trying to boot. My initial thought was thatit was a hardware problem. I ran the diagnostic (press the F12 key whenbooting) and all hardware was fine. Then the user said he was at a hotelover the weekend and was trying to get on their Internet, and that he alsoinstalled Incredimail, and other nonsense.My thought now that I'm trying to re-install XP and save his data is: It'san AMD Athlon 4 processor with 512 MB RAM and 30 GB HDD. I think theprocessor is overheated. The fan rarely comes on; only upon startup.Anyone have any similar problems and resolutions?Thanks.Doug

[The JOAT]

Run them in safe mode.
Sometimes its faster, as some spyware won't load in safe mode.
Amir


<ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in message
news:41f5bf37.7936903@nntp.charter.net...
: Could be spyware. Could be overheating. Could be a bad temperature
sensor
: controlling the fan. My bet is on spyware, but before taking me up on the
bet,
: run diagnostics on the hardware. MEMTEST-86 is as good as any for memory
and
: CPU testing. The hard drive manufacturer's diagnostics are the best for
the
: drive. Then install, update definitions and run both Spybot and Ad-Aware
SE, in
: either order... Ben Myers
:
: On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 02:40:39 GMT, "Doug Holtz NOSPAM in adress"
: <dholtzNOSPAM@wi.rr.com> wrote:
:
: >Group;
: >
: >I rebuilt a users HP Pavilion laptop last month. It was snappy with a
fresh
: >install of XP Pro.
: >
: >Today the machine is performing at a snail's pace. It takes 15 minutes
to
: >boot. It got blue screens upon trying to boot. My initial thought was
that
: >it was a hardware problem. I ran the diagnostic (press the F12 key when
: >booting) and all hardware was fine. Then the user said he was at a hotel
: >over the weekend and was trying to get on their Internet, and that he
also
: >installed Incredimail, and other nonsense.
: >
: >My thought now that I'm trying to re-install XP and save his data is:
It's
: >an AMD Athlon 4 processor with 512 MB RAM and 30 GB HDD. I think the
: >processor is overheated. The fan rarely comes on; only upon startup.
: >
: >Anyone have any similar problems and resolutions?
: >
: >Thanks.
: >
: >Doug
: >
: >
:

[Ben Myers]

Good idea. Safe mode is a species of diagnostic test because it loads a minimum
of memory-resident programs. Look at what is loaded with MSCONFIG, or, better
yet, HIJACKTHIS... Ben Myers

On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 23:28:58 -0500, "The JOAT" <imthejoat@hotmail.com> wrote:
Run them in safe mode.Sometimes its faster, as some spyware won't load in safe mode.Amir
<SNIP>

[Doug Holtz NOSPAM in adress]

Ben;

After a 3-hour marathon to try and re-install an operating system, it
wouldn't boot. Ran the built-in diagnostics again and this time it said we
had a hard drive failure.

I've seen a lot of posts on IBM laptop failures. Very disappointing. Had
higher regard for their drives. Heck, I own both laptop and server drives
from IBM.

Gave the test results to the user; he is going to have *someone else*
replace the drive and rebuild the machine.

Doug
<ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in message
news:41f79241.562494@nntp.charter.net... Good idea. Safe mode is a species of diagnostic test because it loads a minimum of memory-resident programs. Look at what is loaded with MSCONFIG, or, better yet, HIJACKTHIS... Ben Myers On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 23:28:58 -0500, "The JOAT" <imthejoat@hotmail.com> wrote:Run them in safe mode.Sometimes its faster, as some spyware won't load in safe mode.Amir <SNIP>

[Ben Myers]

Doug,

One would hope you were amply compensated for your labors.

Yes, IBM went through a bad patch with disk drives, mostly notebook and desktop,
but not server drives AFAIK. Then they sold off the disk drive division to
Hitachi. I am at a loss to give a clean recommendation to any brand of hard
drive any more. Had a Dell notebook just out of warranty (one year) in here
recently with a failing Seagate drive. I've always thought Seagates were pretty
good. Of course, this was a NOTEBOOK computer, and who knows what acts of
unkindness were perpetrated by its owner... Ben Myers

On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 13:45:03 GMT, "Doug Holtz NOSPAM in adress"
<dholtzNOSPAM@wi.rr.com> wrote:
Ben;After a 3-hour marathon to try and re-install an operating system, itwouldn't boot. Ran the built-in diagnostics again and this time it said wehad a hard drive failure.I've seen a lot of posts on IBM laptop failures. Very disappointing. Hadhigher regard for their drives. Heck, I own both laptop and server drivesfrom IBM.Gave the test results to the user; he is going to have *someone else*replace the drive and rebuild the machine.Doug<ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in messagenews:41f79241.562494@nntp.charter.net... Good idea. Safe mode is a species of diagnostic test because it loads a minimum of memory-resident programs. Look at what is loaded with MSCONFIG, or, better yet, HIJACKTHIS... Ben Myers On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 23:28:58 -0500, "The JOAT" <imthejoat@hotmail.com> wrote:Run them in safe mode.Sometimes its faster, as some spyware won't load in safe mode.Amir <SNIP>

[Doug Holtz NOSPAM in adress]

:) Compensation

Yep, the user went and bought a new laptop and asked me to get it set up. 1
hour later he stuffed a $20 bill in my shirt pocket and said "Thanks for the
help". He is taking his HP and having a local tech sell him a drive and
rebuild the machine. A lot more than $20 from him. Every one's values are
different. At least this spares me the task of figuring out how to remove
the bad drive :) HP's web site does not address this issue or make it easy
to find the diagnostic stuff to put on a small non-dos partition. Let the
local tech do this; it's really fine with me.

Doug
<ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in message
news:41f7c4fa.552683@nntp.charter.net... Doug, One would hope you were amply compensated for your labors. Yes, IBM went through a bad patch with disk drives, mostly notebook and desktop, but not server drives AFAIK. Then they sold off the disk drive division to Hitachi. I am at a loss to give a clean recommendation to any brand of hard drive any more. Had a Dell notebook just out of warranty (one year) in here recently with a failing Seagate drive. I've always thought Seagates were pretty good. Of course, this was a NOTEBOOK computer, and who knows what acts of unkindness were perpetrated by its owner... Ben Myers On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 13:45:03 GMT, "Doug Holtz NOSPAM in adress" <dholtzNOSPAM@wi.rr.com> wrote:Ben;After a 3-hour marathon to try and re-install an operating system, itwouldn't boot. Ran the built-in diagnostics again and this time it saidwehad a hard drive failure.I've seen a lot of posts on IBM laptop failures. Very disappointing. Hadhigher regard for their drives. Heck, I own both laptop and server drivesfrom IBM.Gave the test results to the user; he is going to have *someone else*replace the drive and rebuild the machine.Doug<ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in messagenews:41f79241.562494@nntp.charter.net... Good idea. Safe mode is a species of diagnostic test because it loads a minimum of memory-resident programs. Look at what is loaded with MSCONFIG, or, better yet, HIJACKTHIS... Ben Myers On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 23:28:58 -0500, "The JOAT" <imthejoat@hotmail.com> wrote:>Run them in safe mode.>Sometimes its faster, as some spyware won't load in safe mode.>Amir>> <SNIP>

[Doug Holtz NOSPAM in adress]

BTW,

The Netserver LPr I bought is just awesome. Runs without whimper. Just a
lot of fan noise and it just boogies.

D

<ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in message
news:41f7c4fa.552683@nntp.charter.net... Doug, One would hope you were amply compensated for your labors. Yes, IBM went through a bad patch with disk drives, mostly notebook and desktop, but not server drives AFAIK. Then they sold off the disk drive division to Hitachi. I am at a loss to give a clean recommendation to any brand of hard drive any more. Had a Dell notebook just out of warranty (one year) in here recently with a failing Seagate drive. I've always thought Seagates were pretty good. Of course, this was a NOTEBOOK computer, and who knows what acts of unkindness were perpetrated by its owner... Ben Myers On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 13:45:03 GMT, "Doug Holtz NOSPAM in adress" <dholtzNOSPAM@wi.rr.com> wrote:Ben;After a 3-hour marathon to try and re-install an operating system, itwouldn't boot. Ran the built-in diagnostics again and this time it saidwehad a hard drive failure.I've seen a lot of posts on IBM laptop failures. Very disappointing. Hadhigher regard for their drives. Heck, I own both laptop and server drivesfrom IBM.Gave the test results to the user; he is going to have *someone else*replace the drive and rebuild the machine.Doug<ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in messagenews:41f79241.562494@nntp.charter.net... Good idea. Safe mode is a species of diagnostic test because it loads a minimum of memory-resident programs. Look at what is loaded with MSCONFIG, or, better yet, HIJACKTHIS... Ben Myers On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 23:28:58 -0500, "The JOAT" <imthejoat@hotmail.com> wrote:>Run them in safe mode.>Sometimes its faster, as some spyware won't load in safe mode.>Amir>> <SNIP>

[Ben Myers]

FWIW, it's OK to set up a system without the non-DOS diagnostic partition.

Unless you did the work for the person on company time as part of your paid
daytime job, you got screwed... Ben

On Thu, 27 Jan 2005 03:07:25 GMT, "Doug Holtz NOSPAM in adress"
<dholtzNOSPAM@wi.rr.com> wrote:
:) CompensationYep, the user went and bought a new laptop and asked me to get it set up. 1hour later he stuffed a $20 bill in my shirt pocket and said "Thanks for thehelp". He is taking his HP and having a local tech sell him a drive andrebuild the machine. A lot more than $20 from him. Every one's values aredifferent. At least this spares me the task of figuring out how to removethe bad drive :) HP's web site does not address this issue or make it easyto find the diagnostic stuff to put on a small non-dos partition. Let thelocal tech do this; it's really fine with me.Doug<ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in messagenews:41f7c4fa.552683@nntp.charter.net... Doug, One would hope you were amply compensated for your labors. Yes, IBM went through a bad patch with disk drives, mostly notebook and desktop, but not server drives AFAIK. Then they sold off the disk drive division to Hitachi. I am at a loss to give a clean recommendation to any brand of hard drive any more. Had a Dell notebook just out of warranty (one year) in here recently with a failing Seagate drive. I've always thought Seagates were pretty good. Of course, this was a NOTEBOOK computer, and who knows what acts of unkindness were perpetrated by its owner... Ben Myers On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 13:45:03 GMT, "Doug Holtz NOSPAM in adress" <dholtzNOSPAM@wi.rr.com> wrote:Ben;After a 3-hour marathon to try and re-install an operating system, itwouldn't boot. Ran the built-in diagnostics again and this time it saidwehad a hard drive failure.I've seen a lot of posts on IBM laptop failures. Very disappointing. Hadhigher regard for their drives. Heck, I own both laptop and server drivesfrom IBM.Gave the test results to the user; he is going to have *someone else*replace the drive and rebuild the machine.Doug<ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in messagenews:41f79241.562494@nntp.charter.net...> Good idea. Safe mode is a species of diagnostic test because it loads a> minimum> of memory-resident programs. Look at what is loaded with MSCONFIG, or,> better> yet, HIJACKTHIS... Ben Myers>> On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 23:28:58 -0500, "The JOAT" <imthejoat@hotmail.com>> wrote:>>>Run them in safe mode.>>Sometimes its faster, as some spyware won't load in safe mode.>>Amir>>>>> <SNIP>

[Dewaine Chan]

That is why I hated the retail market. I mainly do subcontract work for local
computer stores and printer outlets. It is a lot more fun to buy surplus Laser
printers and refurbished them and sell them to wholesale market. Don't have to
deal with all those ID 10 T problems.

Dewaine

Ben Myers wrote:
FWIW, it's OK to set up a system without the non-DOS diagnostic partition. Unless you did the work for the person on company time as part of your paid daytime job, you got screwed... Ben On Thu, 27 Jan 2005 03:07:25 GMT, "Doug Holtz NOSPAM in adress" <dholtzNOSPAM@wi.rr.com> wrote::) CompensationYep, the user went and bought a new laptop and asked me to get it set up. 1hour later he stuffed a $20 bill in my shirt pocket and said "Thanks for thehelp". He is taking his HP and having a local tech sell him a drive andrebuild the machine. A lot more than $20 from him. Every one's values aredifferent. At least this spares me the task of figuring out how to removethe bad drive :) HP's web site does not address this issue or make it easyto find the diagnostic stuff to put on a small non-dos partition. Let thelocal tech do this; it's really fine with me.Doug<ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in messagenews:41f7c4fa.552683@nntp.charter.net... Doug, One would hope you were amply compensated for your labors. Yes, IBM went through a bad patch with disk drives, mostly notebook and desktop, but not server drives AFAIK. Then they sold off the disk drive division to Hitachi. I am at a loss to give a clean recommendation to any brand of hard drive any more. Had a Dell notebook just out of warranty (one year) in here recently with a failing Seagate drive. I've always thought Seagates were pretty good. Of course, this was a NOTEBOOK computer, and who knows what acts of unkindness were perpetrated by its owner... Ben Myers On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 13:45:03 GMT, "Doug Holtz NOSPAM in adress" <dholtzNOSPAM@wi.rr.com> wrote:>Ben;>>After a 3-hour marathon to try and re-install an operating system, it>wouldn't boot. Ran the built-in diagnostics again and this time it said>we>had a hard drive failure.>>I've seen a lot of posts on IBM laptop failures. Very disappointing. Had>higher regard for their drives. Heck, I own both laptop and server drives>from IBM.>>Gave the test results to the user; he is going to have *someone else*>replace the drive and rebuild the machine.>>Doug><ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in message>news:41f79241.562494@nntp.charter.net...>> Good idea. Safe mode is a species of diagnostic test because it loads a>> minimum>> of memory-resident programs. Look at what is loaded with MSCONFIG, or,>> better>> yet, HIJACKTHIS... Ben Myers>>>> On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 23:28:58 -0500, "The JOAT" <imthejoat@hotmail.com>>> wrote:>>>>>Run them in safe mode.>>>Sometimes its faster, as some spyware won't load in safe mode.>>>Amir>>>>>>>> <SNIP>>>