Computer question --how to get rid of Kitro Worm

[SnowRidge]

If it's six or eight years old then you probably have given it all the attention it deserves.

Too true, and the CMOS battery is probably shot, which may be why it won't boot.

 

[Soundguy]

Could be. They used to use a rechargeable cell.. but I've seen them go to lithium for most of the new stuff..

Of course.. in the old days.. there was also a 'cmos battery state low' message.. dunno if that one is still in there?

soundguy

 

[SnowRidge]

Of course.. in the old days.. there was also a 'cmos battery state low' message.. dunno if that one is still in there?

soundguy

I have never seen that message, but I do recall having to replace at least two CMOS batteries.

 

[Grrrr]

I'd give up with this computer at this stage.

At 6 - 8 years, it really is getting on now. I think that you will just get more and more problems. Most parts are probably pretty near to being shot by now.

You can get such cheap computers now, it is often cheaper to buy new rather than upgrade or pay for repairs.

I build computers on a small scale and have some people who will just go out and buy new computers when there old one just gets slow. They don't even bother thinking about and OS reinstall and most of the time AV is totally out of date.

I offer them £50 for the system and format it, clean it up and stick it on ebay for £150

 

[Soundguy]

Yep.. you can find that sort of thing at flea markets here.. pc's that are 3+ ys old.. for 50-150$.. etc..

I've bought 1-2 just for parts before.. etc..

Soundguy

 

[cp1969]

Picked it up from the geeks today. They wanted $330 to reinstall both operating systems. I told them no thanks. They did verify there is nothing wrong with either hard drive.

 

[Soundguy]

Sounds like you need to boot from cd and do a restore from there..

soundguy

 

[cp1969]

I think I'm going to buy yet a third hard drive. Take out the other two, do a clean install on the new drive, then install the others one at a time to try to recover data from them.

After that, I might punt Microsoft altogether. I'm thinking of trying a Linux based OS or switching to a Mac.

I wonder how many man hours of available productive time have been lost due to dealing with PC or software issues in the last twenty years. Probably enough to power what would be the world's third largest economy if it could have been put to productive use instead of jacking around with a PC and its assorted problems.

 

[Tig]

Amen to that. I still shake my head when an organization decides to ditch the mainframe and rely on PCs alone.

 

[Soundguy]

Whenever i upgrade computers.. IE.. get a new one to replace a running but older one.. I usually backup all my data to cd, and then uninstall specialty drivers.. and just leave the PC in basic windows supplied video driver/cd driver/audio mode. I then store it in my closet. Whenever i have a hard tiome with a pc.. like my wifes or brothers.. I snatch that old HDD out of my old pc and slap it in and autodetect it and then usually I can get a clean bootup with no problems.. as most audio and video hardware is supported onthe basic level with plane jane windoes low res drivers.. etc. Once that I get it up.. I can then do what you are thinking about.. IE.. re-introduce one of the old system drives and see exactly how hosed it is.. etc.

Soundguy

I think I'm going to buy yet a third hard drive. Take out the other two, do a clean install on the new drive, then install the others one at a time to try to recover data from them.

After that, I might punt Microsoft altogether. I'm thinking of trying a Linux based OS or switching to a Mac.

I wonder how many man hours of available productive time have been lost due to dealing with PC or software issues in the last twenty years. Probably enough to power what would be the world's third largest economy if it could have been put to productive use instead of jacking around with a PC and its assorted problems.