Jump to content

Welcome to Geeks to Go - Register now for FREE

Need help with your computer or device? Want to learn new tech skills? You're in the right place!
Geeks to Go is a friendly community of tech experts who can solve any problem you have. Just create a free account and post your question. Our volunteers will reply quickly and guide you through the steps. Don't let tech troubles stop you. Join Geeks to Go now and get the support you need!

How it Works Create Account
Photo

Vista is acting strange!


  • Please log in to reply

#1
hottiemom24

hottiemom24

    Member

  • Member
  • PipPip
  • 42 posts
I am frustrated with my Vista system!! There are strange things happening that I can't fix.

1) There are 20 different printers in my printers folder, but Vista won't allow me to delete them. It gives me an error and says that it doesn't exist, but it won't delete the icon. So every time I try to print, I have to look through some HUGE list of printers! It gets that way because every couple of weeks, I have to reinstall my printers because my computer decides they don't exist for me to print to them! So every time I reinstall my printers, I have to add the date, so I know which one I can actually use. It's so frustrating and I know that it's not 'normal'. I should be able to delete unused printers and not have to reinstall them constantly.

2) It tells me I am not the administrator and can't handle certain functions. I am the administrator!! I am the only one using my computer!

3) It has shut off my Security Center and when I click to turn it on now, it says that it can't be started. This is concerning because I don't want to end up getting any sort of viruses.


there are other things, but at the moment, they are all escaping me. Please help with these issues. I am ready to wipe the drive and start over, but considering how much I have on this system, that will put my computer down for a week. I can't do that.

Advice please!!
  • 0

Advertisements


#2
Jacee

Jacee

    Malware Expert

  • Expert
  • 994 posts
  • MVP
Lot's of good information on this site.
http://www.howtogeek.../windows-vista/
  • 0

#3
hottiemom24

hottiemom24

    Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • PipPip
  • 42 posts
Thank you I will take a look.

However, today it wouldn't recognize my own DVD drive.....it's so frustrating that I am ready to switch to a Mac!
  • 0

#4
rmel

rmel

    Member

  • Member
  • PipPip
  • 22 posts
hottiemom24 (you got that right). One thing that you have to remember when you go to delete a Printer, if you have any documents in that printers spool, you have to "Cancel all Documents", before you can delete the printer.

You obviously have more problems than that. I have been having ongoing problems with my HP Pavilion notebook dv6985se running Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit. I am attaching text e-mails of my experiences, so that you can get some idea of what the problem might be. I noticed that components that I used all the time (CDROM, wireless mouse & printer) and software like Microsoft Office, that move data accross the hard drive, were not working consistently, and overtime stop working. My Printer was listed under Computer as a (z:) drive. When I tried to fix the wireless mouse, it was connected to the wrong port, the Advance Tab to change the ports was gone. When I went into the Restore feature to restore my system, after I realized the system was corrupted, the box that you check to look at the last five days was gone. After I made the first restore, nothing changed, but the system told me that the restore was successful. When I went back in to restore again, tried to go back future in time, the restore feature would fail.

When HP told me to do a Complete System Recovery, I discovered that the D: drive had been blown away - HP did not believe it and checked themselvesl. When I used my CDROM, and put in a CD with data on it, it would indicate that the CD was (New) no data, when I would put the CD in again it would show the data that was on the CD and when I put the CD in another time, it showed data on the CD that was not on the CD. The first time this happened I suspected the hard drive (bad sectors), but the HP tech's told me it was not possible. The second time I had the same problems after the first recovery, they tried to tell me I needed to Recover the System Software. I told the second level Tech rep. that it was hardware, likely the hard drive, because of the way the software and hardware was acting in conjunction with file movement. They had me boot to F10 and test the hard drive, it came out fine. I asked the tech rep how two factory VISTA operating systems could be bad - he could not answer that, but told me that it was software and not hardware. I told him I would not Recover my computer again, and sent the notebook back to HP Service. It came back in two days, the hard drive needed to be fixed, forgot what they called it, but it was a process that fixed all the sectors on the drive. The old Norton Utilites used to have a Utility that scanned the hard drive and marked the bad sectors, so that data could not be written to it.

Your problem may be the Operating System, but if it is, and it is serious, I would not re-install the Operating System Disc's that you have, I would get new ones. The problem may also be the hard drive, which in my case was just a procedure - they did not replace the drive. In either case, you are likely stuck, like I was, with a complete System Restoration and the loading of software, etc. that goes with it, including backing up your data files.

My computer was so messed up that I could not do a data transfer via cable, flash, CDROM or slaving. Lost everything twice. Hope you don't fall asleep reading the text e-mail attachments.

Good luck, hope this was some help. Excused me while I go back into your profile to take another look at that picture!

Best Regards,


rmel
  • 0

#5
sari

sari

    GeekU Admin

  • Community Leader
  • 21,806 posts
  • MVP
Rmel,

This thread is almost 3 months old, so I'm guessing she either solved her problem or chose to format. Regardless of the pictures someone posts in their profile, please avoid the direct and somewhat sexist comments about their looks and photos. :)
  • 0

#6
rmel

rmel

    Member

  • Member
  • PipPip
  • 22 posts
sari,

You read my mind! I was going to apologize to the group for my remarks tonight when I get on the Forum. I have worked with women for my entire career, 33 years, in finance and accounting, and eventually as the President of a manufacturing Company. When I was in the position to do so, I paid and treated all of the women who worked for me equally. Many of the best thinkers and problem solvers who worked with me were women. They do not generally have the big ego and over aggressiveness that many men in business have, and when given the opportunity (which in my days were vary rare) they met or exceeded my expectations (which were very high). If you read some of the attachments to the post that I sent sexymommie, you will see several comments that I made to the HP Representative regarding women. The second in command, that was my right hand person was a woman when I was President. Let's face it, women are, in many ways, smarter than men and are not as childish as men can be. I was just trying to be funny, but it was not appropriate. I like to laugh and have fun, it is part of my therapy.

In my entire career of working, I went out of my way not to get involved personally with any of the female employees, nor did I ever harass them in any way (I think that many of them thought I must be "gay" - can I say that?). I have been married for 29 years and have never cheated on my wife, she is the best thing that ever happened to me. I know, "me thinks thou doest protest to much"!

I am new to this forum, I retired in Jan. 05, because of severe depression, bi-polar and anxiety (that was the original diagnosis), and have been basically drugged up on anti-depressants and anti-psychotics (excuse spelling), until July of this year. My medication was changed to Effexor and Depakote this past July, which woke me up and got me going again. I went to see a different Psychiatrist, told him the symptoms I had been having for almost four years, and he told me I needed neurological/psychological testing, and a CT scan of my head. That is what I did four weeks ago, and it turns out that I have extreme excessive compulsive disorder, worry, and some brain damage. The good news is that I am not crazy, although you may disagree with that. My cognitive short term memory is in the 1 percentile and my visual short term memory is in the 17 percentile. I am now taking medicine for attention deficit disorder and am going to Vocational Rehabilitation to learn how to focus again, stop worrying and keep my mind from racing, other than that, I am just fine.

One of the first things that I started to do, when i came out of my funk, was to get back into my love for computers and software. I bought an HP Pavilion notebook PC for my son, for college, and I have been working with in since then. I have gotten up to speed very quickly on VISTA 64-bit and Windows XP and am building two computers for myself. And, by the way, that post of "Troy's' on building computers was fantastic - concise, well organized, great pictures) - he is also a perfectionist.

It turns out that the problems that I have been having with HP for the last 2-3 months were really opportunities for me, as I have learned much from the experience. I do not feel sorry for myself and do not want anyone else to feel sorry for me either. I am learning how to deal with my disabilities and it has helped me to become a better person. I am currently helping two of the patients that I met in the hospital, one is recovering from alcohol and drug abuse, and the other person, a young African American man is dealing with mental issues, and is missing one leg as a result of an automobile accident. They both asked me to help them, before I was released from the hospital in July. I do not know why they chose me, but it was a good thing for me, my rehabilitation and for them.

This forum gives me an opportunity to share some of my past and present knowledge and experience with others, and helps me to focus on one thing at a time. It is an excellent forum with people who are knowledgeable and extremely helpful. I wish that I had discovered it sooner. It makes me feel good to be able to help other people, and that is what I would like to do.

When I first got on this forum, I did not know what to do or how to post replies. Even though I read through the frequently asked questions, I did not pickup on many of the nuances. It is likely because I was trying too do to many things at once. I apologize for any comments that I have made or how I may come across in my postings. I have been accused in the past of being arrogant and impersonal, by some of my Superiors, in my e-mails to them. That is probably because I am a perfectionist, excessive/compulsive, and to me everything was business and getting the job done, which taken together, are not good traits. I am better today, because of my disabilities and just want you and the others on the forum to have some patience with me. I am a quick learner and will obey the rules.

I am going to fill out my Personal information so that you will know more about me (although you may not want too), and a picture so you can see who I am. I have learned more on this forum in the last few weeks than I have in the last three months. The solutions that you give for computer problems are extremely helpful, as well as the Websites and software recommendations (I have been downloading software like crazy). I have been searching for several months to find all of the information that I have found on this forum in the last two weeks.

My goal is to get back into building computers and problem solving, which is what I used to spend a lot of time doing. I intend to take every class in computers that they offer at Vocational Rehab. and hopefully it will be helpful to some of you on this forum.

sari, how did you know that the person I posted too had been gone for several years? I came across her post purely by accident, as I have been reading as many of the posts as I can each night. My post was originally meant for a woman that was pleading for help with her VISTA 64-bit Operating System. I do not remember her user name. She was also experiencing many of the problems that I have been having with this Operating System. I spent two hours putting together the post with the attachments, and lost it all, so I had to start all over again, but could not find her original post, I came across sexymommie and thought that it would be helpful to her as well. That is the way things go for me some days, but it is a good way to learn (repetition). I am a self-taught person, and I will not ask for any help until I absolutely have too. Over the years, and in the process of doing this, I have learned many things that I would not have otherwise known. It helped me to retain things, and keeps the mind alert, as well as speeding up the thought process.

And my Doctor told me I was Excessive/Compulsive????

Sorry for the lecture and excess commentary. Will try to keep my posts to a minimum, politically correct, and on topic. I thank you for bringing this issue to my attention sari.

Best Regards.

rmel
  • 0

#7
Troy

Troy

    Tech Staff

  • Technician
  • 8,841 posts
Hi rmel,

And, by the way, that post of "Troy's' on building computers was fantastic - concise, well organized, great pictures) - he is also a perfectionist.

Thanks a lot! Just so you know, that guide was actually a team effort, posted when I was a Tech Apprentice. The Tech Academy does a lot of hard work in helping and learning, before they are allowed to become Tech Staff. The main other assistant with that guide was Artellos, also a very helpful young man who has a lot of expertise in areas I do not. He started Tech Academy later than I did, and is still working through his logs. He will be promoted to staff soon, of that I am certain.

I'm glad you liked the guide, we worked hard on it. If you have any questions regarding System Building, be sure to post a thread in that forum, and if you want me in particular to have a look, feel free to send me a PM with the link. :)

sari, how did you know that the person I posted too had been gone for several years?

Every post has the date and time at the top of the post. You can see hottiemom24's last post was way back in August, quite a few months ago. This sort of practice has been called "grave digging" by some, and can be considered bad forums etiquette. For someone who doesn't know this, of course, then we won't hold it against you! Just keep in mind when reading through the forums, to check the date of the last post.

Cheers, and keep learning.

Troy
  • 0

#8
rmel

rmel

    Member

  • Member
  • PipPip
  • 22 posts
Troy,

Thank you for your response to my post. Please let the others know, who worked on your project, how to build a computer, that it was excellent work. I can tell that you are an astute Manager, because you give credit to the people who work with you for projects that are done. I practiced that all through my career, as aposed to some Managers, who were "glory hogs". People will respond to you better and work want to work with you, when they get recognition for their successes.

I do appologize for not understanding the thread issue. I did read all of the information about proper edicate and the rules and regulations of the Forum, but some things just don't always sink in right away. I used to plan everything out, and do things in a proper and logical order, now I tend to act before thinking. My post was inappropriate, and I realized it after I posted it. I was going to send an appology out the next night, but sari beat me to the punch and she was right to point out my indiscretions.

I will be aware of the dates from here on out. I was doing a search of problems with vista 64-bit OS and that is how I came across that post.

Thanks Again,

rmel
  • 0

#9
Troy

Troy

    Tech Staff

  • Technician
  • 8,841 posts
No problems at all. :)

Don't forget you are able to edit your own post. Just scroll up to the one you want to change, and hit the Edit button. You'll be given the option of "Quick Edit" or "Full Edit". Have a play around with them. I often edit posts if I see I have forgotten to add some important information, or decide I want to change what I have written.

If you do edit your post, you'll see a small notification at the bottom of the post. I'll edit this post so you can see it below.

Cheers

Troy

I am adding this information from the "Quick Edit" function, the notification will appear below:

Edited by Troy, 19 November 2008 - 08:37 PM.

  • 0






Similar Topics

0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users

As Featured On:

Microsoft Yahoo BBC MSN PC Magazine Washington Post HP