[Esquire]

Is there anyway I can find out when my system was last formatted? My Girlfriend brought here computer to a shop because formatting the system a month ago didn't seem to help with the system running choppy when multi-tasking. So she wanted to find out if there was any hardware failure or conflicts in the system (mom and pop store built) So anyway paid the $25 quotation fee just to see what was wrong and then most likely fix it ourselves if we bought the new hardware. She got it back yesterday and the system looks well restored but just slightly off.. Seems to be that they formatted the system. They claim there was a virus and cleaned it and charged her $100 bucks. This was without calling to notify of a problem or ask if it was okay to proceed with the 'maintenance' work. So basically I just wanted to see if there's a technical way to find out if they merely formatted her computer and tried to take her for an easy $100.
Thanks in advance.

[Advertisements]

Hmmm... you could check the Event Log and System Restore to see how far they go back, check the Date Modified of system files....

[The Admiral]

Hmmm... you could check the Event Log and System Restore to see how far they go back, check the Date Modified of system files....

[peter99]

download free version of SIW from

http://www.gtopala.c...w-download.html

choose standalone version

double left click to run program

wait for the program to check computer

go to
software
operating system

on the left side

on the right look for

Installation Time Mon May 23 17:46:57 2005

this is the date when XP was installed on my computer

[iman74]

I would just let it go. There might be tools out there, but even then what is that going to do? $100 is really nothing compared to what they do these days, and sometimes you can spend 3hrs on a machine and still not get it cleaned. Rule of thumb. If the PC is 3 years old or younger have it done, if it's older than 3 and you don't have the know how to do it yourself, just get a new PC.

Edited by iman74, 12 September 2008 - 07:26 AM.

[happyrock]

everest home will also tell you when the OS was installed...after installing it ...click on operating system...
you can get it here..

[wannabe1]

If you use Moore's Law as the judging standard, then a three year old computer is considered obsolete. However, there have been huge advancements in hardware in recent years that would tend to add quite a bit of useful longevity to today's machines...so a three or even four year old machine may not yet have outlived it's useful lifetime.

We are not here to recommend the purchase of a new machine simply based on it's age. If it's running good and has functional hardware, there is simply no reason to replace it. Hardware and software can be replaced and upgraded so long as the platform that supports it is solid.

That said, there are several benchmarking applications that will provide the install date of Windows. You were given SWI in the first reply...another is WinAudit. I think Belarc Advisor does, too....but I don't have that application installed on this system so I can't verify that.

Another way to see when the system was put into use is by checking the System Logs in the Computer Management Console. The oldest date you find there will usually represent the date Windows was installed. This will hold true unless the log has been cleared at some point, which is not highly likely.

Esquire: I'm closing this topic. If you would like to discuss this issue further, please feel free to PM me.