Mrs. E's Computer...

[Eupher]

...keeps crashing. Blue Screen. FDISK comes up. The machine's been in the shop 3-4 times in the last couple of months. It's to the point where I want to shitcan the damned thing.

She wants a Mac. I don't. Too damned expensive, plus everything else (except her school-supplied iPad) is Windows-based.

If we go the new machine route (they're stupidly cheap anymore), I definitely want to stick with Win7 64 bit. I hate Win8 with a passion.

She uses her machine mostly for email and very limited software usage, like Finale. She doesn't need much horsepower and she's okay with a smaller 13" or 14" monitor.

I'm thinking this guy here:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8080052&CatId=2627

Comments, questions, and smart remarks are all welcome.  

[obumazombie]

What about that laptop tablet hybrid ?

[Maxiest]

The one you chose looks good.  And HP has stepped it's game up the last few years.  A few years ago I would have told you to stay away.

BTW, sounds like a bad Hard Drive on her current computer.  Maybe some bad sectors.

[Eupher]

The one you chose looks good.  And HP has stepped it's game up the last few years.  A few years ago I would have told you to stay away.

BTW, sounds like a bad Hard Drive on her current computer.  Maybe some bad sectors.

I was thinking bad hard drive too. Is there some kind of downloadable software thingie (besides CHKDSK -- I errantly said FDISK upthread) that can definitively tell me if it's a bad hard drive?

She's got two in her machine. One is strictly for backup.

[Eupher]

What about that laptop tablet hybrid ?

I think we're gonna stick with either a mid-tower or even a mini-tower. She's got her freakin' iPad. That's enough tablet thingies for even a drug addict.

[Eupher]

Oh, I forgot. She likes those internet games like Pogo and whatnot. Thank God she turns the sound off. That would drive me insane.

So the standard Ethernet connection is needed, of course.

[Maxiest]

I actually have some programs on a bootable USB I us that are more effective because it's ran outside of Windows.

I would try:  http://hddscan.com/

[Eupher]

I actually have some programs on a bootable USB I us that are more effective because it's ran outside of Windows.

I would try:  http://hddscan.com/

Thank you!

[EagleKeeper]

If you decide to go the new PC route, judging by the requirements you listed, the one you have highlighted seems to fit your needs.

A couple of concerns. It has two usb 3.0 ports on the back, two usb 2.0 ports on the back and what I believe is two usb 1.0 ports on the front. It also has two ports on the back at the bottom which I could not identify.

The preloaded windows operating system is windows 7 pro 64bit NOT windows ultimate.

The video is provided by a Radeon HD 7540D HD which benchmarks quite low as compared to other chipsets so I hope her gaming is not to demanding.

The PC provides a DVI port for monitor out so keep that in mind when shopping for a monitor.

[Eupher]

If you decide to go the new PC route, judging by the requirements you listed, the one you have highlighted seems to fit your needs.

A couple of concerns. It has two usb 3.0 ports on the back, two usb 2.0 ports on the back and what I believe is two usb 1.0 ports on the front. It also has two ports on the back at the bottom which I could not identify.

The preloaded windows operating system is windows 7 pro 64bit NOT windows ultimate.

The video is provided by a Radeon HD 7540D HD which benchmarks quite low as compared to other chipsets so I hope her gaming is not to demanding.

The PC provides a DVI port for monitor out so keep that in mind when shopping for a monitor.

Thank you. Lots of good info in your post.

I dug a little bit deeper and according to the HP web site, the machine has 6 USB ports. Two in the front, and the rest in the back. We don't use anything requiring USB 3.0, so that isn't much of a concern. Will probably get her a wireless keyboard and mouse, though.

As far as her gaming goes, it's strictly online. And it's that puzzle kind of stuff, along with another thing called Pogo she likes to play. I don't think any of that would be a strain for the video card.

There's room on the motherboard for 8GB of DDR memory, so I think I want to stuff 'er full.

I've not heard of Windows Ultimate, so I don't know the difference between Win7 64, Win8 64 and Win Ultimate. Will read up on that.

A web site called Provantage is selling the same machine for $376, which is about $24 less than what Tiger Direct is calling for. Not sure if Tiger Direct is charging for shipping and tax.

At any rate, I managed to call off the Mac computer dogs that have been ankle-biting Mrs E., so I have her blessing to move forward on this. An added feature - it's a smaller tower than her current machine, which means cooling should be better. I think that's been a problem all along as we've had it shoehorned into a small space, even though we have 3 fans cooling that puppy off.

I will definitely run hddscan when I get home. Curious to see what it says about her hard drives.

[EagleKeeper]

Just a clarification.

I've not heard of Windows Ultimate, so I don't know the difference between Win7 64, Win8 64 and Win Ultimate. Will read up on that.

I speaking to the differences (feature sets) between Windows 7 Pro 64bit and Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit.

There is a usefull chart here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions  that explains the diffeerent feature sets. Truth be told though, I can't see you needing anything more feature rich then the professional version.

[Chris_]

I use a Hiren's boot disc for diagnosing issues.  Unzip the file and use the included utility to burn the ISO image to a CD.

http://www.hirensbootcd.org/files/Hirens.BootCD.15.2.zip

MHDD should be listed under the Hard Disk Tools on the main menu.  There are several other hard disk utilities available.  The computer manufacturer should also have a diagnostic disc available for download on their website.

[Eupher]

I use a Hiren's boot disc for diagnosing issues.  Unzip the file and use the included utility to burn the ISO image to a CD.

http://www.hirensbootcd.org/files/Hirens.BootCD.15.2.zip

MHDD should be listed under the Hard Disk Tools on the main menu.  There are several other hard disk utilities available.  The computer manufacturer should also have a diagnostic disc available for download on their website.

The machine was initially built by a friend, so I'd have to look and see what type of hard drives are in the machine. Can't recall right now.

[Maxiest]

I use a Hiren's boot disc for diagnosing issues.  Unzip the file and use the included utility to burn the ISO image to a CD.

http://www.hirensbootcd.org/files/Hirens.BootCD.15.2.zip

MHDD should be listed under the Hard Disk Tools on the main menu.  There are several other hard disk utilities available.  The computer manufacturer should also have a diagnostic disc available for download on their website.

Yes, that is what I use to.  But I thought maybe that process might be a bit complicated for Eupher.

[Eupher]

Just a clarification.

I speaking to the differences (feature sets) between Windows 7 Pro 64bit and Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit.

There is a usefull chart here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions  that explains the diffeerent feature sets. Truth be told though, I can't see you needing anything more feature rich then the professional version.

Right. She's the kind of user (as am I anymore) who just plug the damned thing in and boot it up. Yeah, okay, I'll vacuum out the guts once in awhile to remove the dust bunnies, and I've installed some memory and a hard drive and a video card, but I definitely don't tinker with any of it.

Life's too short. 

[Eupher]

Yes, that is what I use to.  But I thought maybe that process might be a bit complicated for Eupher.

Simple is good, but I'll try the hddscan.com and see what it says, then try the Hiren's. If I don't blow it up, all of that should tell me something.

If all I need is a hard drive, will reconsider the whole thing.

[Chris_]

Can you tell if you're getting an error on the BSOD (it would be the first line at the top)?  In my experience, if you see 'Page fault in non-paged area' on a blue screen, you're going to need a new hard drive.

If you end up buying a new hard drive, consider upgrading to a solid-state drive.  It makes a big difference.

[Eupher]

Can you tell if you're getting an error on the BSOD (it would be the first line at the top)?  In my experience, if you see 'Page fault in non-paged area' on a blue screen, you're going to need a new hard drive.

If you end up buying a new hard drive, consider upgrading to a solid-state drive.  It makes a big difference.

I'll try to check this tonight.

[Eupher]

If you end up buying a new hard drive, consider upgrading to a solid-state drive.  It makes a big difference.

Wow, price difference is significant. $410 for a drive less than 500GB? Whew!

I shouldn't bitch. I remember paying $300 for a 32MB Seagate drive for my XT clone in 1988. 

[Purple Sage]

I have spent countless hours on the phone with family diagnosing their computer ills and even jumping on planes to go there and fix them.  It is amazing to me that they seem to know that the best time to call demanding emergency help is when I have the least amount of time to deal with the problem.

Let me start out by saying I am not an Apple fangirl.  With that said, I have purchased macbook pros for nearly every family member.  Reason?  They're crafted for idiots.  They can't do much to trash them.  My "Help me right NOW!" calls have been vastly reduced to near nil.  For my peace of mind, they were worth the cash I doled out for them; although it does bug me giving my hard-earned cash to Apple.

How did I ever discover macbook pros, you ask?  I received one as a gift from my husband who knew I wouldn't want it and he would thus end up with it.  He had been throwing out hints for one for ages even though he knew I thought them to be a waste of money and proprietary garbage.  Being a tad ornery, I used it for a few weeks intending to make him sweat a bit before handing it over as I was irked at his machinations.  I did find the machine was outstanding for Web development tasks and ended up keeping it for that purpose.  Don't worry about him, guys.  I purchased a better one for hubby after I got over my initial pique.  I also use my mac for Web surfing here at work as it is pretty much useless here to anyone else.  It is always free and available. 

The short of it is, if you have someone who isn't a techie that you will end up having to maintain the machine, you might consider Apple as a choice if you don't have the time or inclination to deal with their "oops".  There is also the butt hurt of the price to consider as well, of course.

[Chris_]

I paid a hundred dollars for a smaller 40 Gb drive, enough to install an operating system and a few basic applications.

[Maxiest]

Also lots of BSOD's with page faults can be a faulty memory module.  Which I also use Hirens to test.

[EagleKeeper]

Also lots of BSOD's with page faults can be a faulty memory module.  Which I also use Hirens to test.

This is sorta the direction I am leaning FWIW.

I'm hoping that at least the bug check string, bug check code and maybe some of the parameters can be recovered.

Eupher, sometimes this information can be found in the system event log in the event viewer.

[EagleKeeper]

So...what do ya think?

[Eupher]

Well, after a lot of dicking around, I never could make up a Windows Live CD. I downloaded a program (fighting with my virus protector the whole time), installed it, researched on the web WTF you're supposed to do with it and the instructions they provided were so poorly written and incomplete I never could get that shit right.

So I had Mrs. E take her machine to the local boys where I know they've already got all this Windows live shit, and can figure out what the problem was -- which is, btw, a "process initialization BSOD." Youtube had a short video on how to deal with it, but as it required booting from a Windows Live CD or thumb drive, I never got past Go.

All the computer boys have to do is go to the Windows/Win32 folder and delete a file called "bootcat.cache" file.

This Youtube describes the exact BSOD I'm seeing:

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvZDGpFEHDQ[/youtube]

As I couldn't get into Safe Mode and as I couldn't boot from a !@#$% thumb drive or CD because I couldn't make the Windows Live CD that they told me I needed to make in order to come up an "iso" file of some type, after about 2 hours of jacking around with the shit, I just unplugged the damned thing.

(User Account tells me I don't "have permission" to download and install Make PE_3, which apparently is the program that makes up the boot disk. Yeah, right. I'm the f'n Admin of the computer (that does NOT mean I know WTF I'm doing, btw) and I don't "have permission."  

So after I got completely frustrated with all this, I went ahead and ordered the machine linked above, along with an extra 4 GB of DDR3, an external card reader, and a wireless keyboard and mouse.

I've gone ahead and made up a bootable system disk, but it's too late -- the bastards have her old computer. Once we get it back, we'll rescue a few files she's got on it, then I'm gonna shitcan the f'n thing. I'm tired of all the bullshit.