The Conservative Cave
The Help Desk => Computer Related Discussions & Questions => Topic started by: franksolich on May 12, 2012, 08:50:47 AM
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This morning, I had some, uh, problems when the computer didn't do something I wanted it to do.
This was the first time anything has gone awry with this computer, which I've had for some years now.
Never a problem until now.
I finally yanked the plug and restarted it (it wouldn't shut off).
I got the black screen--not the blue screen--with the white print, saying "battery system voltage is low."
Okay, what'll I do now?
Can this wait until Monday until I go to the big city?
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Sounds like your BIOS battery needs to be replaced.
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Sounds like your BIOS battery needs to be replaced.
Are there different sorts of batteries inside the black box, or just one all-purpose one?
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I'm assuming it, or they, look like round hearing-aid batteries.
I replaced one once in another computer, years ago.
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Also, my usual computer place is closed on Saturdays.
Is a computer battery anything that can be purchased any place that sells computer supplies, even Wal-Mart and such?
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Also, my usual computer place is closed on Saturdays.
Is a computer battery anything that can be purchased any place that sells computer supplies, even Wal-Mart and such?
It looks like a giant watch battery. I doubt Walmart has them but a computer place should,they should be able to print out instructions for replacement for your particular computer also.
Replacing The Mother Board battery (http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/81)
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Okay, I printed off the pages and pages of instructions at the link you gave me.
I hope to God it's a lithium battery, as that looks the easiest to replace (I haven't checked the innards of the black box yet).
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Okay, to get the right battery, I need to know the specifications of the black box.
There's something that analyzes and describes one's computer (gigabytage and all that); both Thor and chris_ have given it out before.
Or can I get by merely by taking the old battery in and asking for a new one of the same?
You're not dealing with a computer genius here, by the way.
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Take the old battery out and bring it to the store with you. Last time I checked, Walgreens still sold them.
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Okay, to get the right battery, I need to know the specifications of the black box.
There's something that analyzes and describes one's computer (gigabytage and all that); both Thor and chris_ have given it out before.
Or can I get by merely by taking the old battery in and asking for a new one of the same? Yes
You're not dealing with a computer genius here, by the way.
Caution! Play it safe and don't use a metalic screwdriver. Look around for a simlarily shaped instrument made of plastic or nylon, and ridgid enough to pry the old battery out.
Secondly, remember the orientation of the old battery. It's not nice to fool Mother Board by replacing the old battery with a new one and reversing the polarity. (http://www.conservativecave.com/Smileys/default/handface.gif)
Finally, get ready to (probably) redo your BIOS. And that can be a PITA! (http://www.conservativecave.com/Smileys/default/banghead.gif)
I replaced my MB battery a couple of months ago. Mine old one was a lithium CR2032 about ten years old.
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You should be able to remove it with your fingers. Don't use anything metal.
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Okay, to get the right battery, I need to know the specifications of the black box.
There's something that analyzes and describes one's computer (gigabytage and all that); both Thor and chris_ have given it out before.
Or can I get by merely by taking the old battery in and asking for a new one of the same?
You're not dealing with a computer genius here, by the way.
No Computer Guru either.
Like Chris says you should be able to remove the battery with your fingers.
Older systems you may have to go through some steps to reset your Bios but newer systems do it for you with minimal operator input.
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Okay, it was a lithium battery, and I took it with me.
I got a Duracell replacement, same number, although it says "Duracell Medical" in it; 3V, just as the old one, DL2032, CR2032, just as the old battery.
I installed it, and after cleaning the interior of the machine, turned it on.
It seems to work fine, but Microsoft did a whole lot of funny things with the screen, such as now only my recycle and firefox shortcut icons show. Also, the clock is off.
What'll I do now?
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Also, all my personal files seem to have, uh, disappeared.
They were in a "New Folder" in the C drive.
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My Computer > Tools > Folder Options > Restore Defaults.
I'm not sure what else is going on with your computer.
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I'm not seeing "restore defaults" at that.
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Oops, okay, now I do.
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It doesn't "apply".
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Have you rebooted a second time (stupid question).
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Yeah, I did, and this time the black screen with the white print did NOT show, which it's not supposed to.
Since the black screen didn't show, I assumed all was okay, but by the time it opened up, it was as if I was starting out brand-new, nothing (short-cuts whatnot) on it. The personal files had disappeared, and it hadn't "saved" conservativecave as a bookmark when I re-opened it (I had of course the first time bookmarked this place).
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Among related phenomenons, while Windows was opening, it showed two messages in little tan boxes.
The first said something like "Windows cannot load local profiles because of insufficient security or corrupted local profiles."
The second said something like "Windows cannot find the local profiles."
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Oh, okay. That is another problem entirely and shouldn't be related to the battery change. Your user profile is corrupt which is why you're not seeing any of your personal items.
On Windows XP, it could be related to low disk space. How does yours look?
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Oh, okay. That is another problem entirely and shouldn't be related to the battery change. Your user profile is corrupt which is why you're not seeing any of your personal items.
But I was seeing them just before I opened up the black box and took out the battery.
This morning, while asking about batteries.
The local profiles worked fine then.
Damn, I got thousands of scans of family photographs on it too.
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Your photos and documents should still be on the hard drive... your user profile has been changed so you won't be able to see them. Do not, under any circumstances, reformat that drive or reinstall Windows without making a backup.
Do this: Run > CMD (enter)
Has your computer name changed?
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Your photos and documents should still be on the hard drive... your user profile has been changed so you won't be able to see them. Do not, under any circumstances, reformat that drive or reinstall Windows without making a backup.
Do this: Run > CMD (enter)
Has your computer name changed?
I ain't touching nuthin', and no, my computer name hasn't changed that I know of.
How to I get to this "Run" stuff? I assume that's on a black screen with white print.
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It's on the Start menu (I just press the Windows key and R at the same time).
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Okay, so I get that, a little black screen with white print.
It says "C:/Documents and Settings /TEMP>" with a blinking little line the next character.
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Okay, so I get that, a little black screen with white print.
It says "C:/Documents and Settings /TEMP>" with a blinking little line the next character.
Ouch.
Yes, your user profile is definitely corrupt. Normally that TEMP should be the name of your computer. Since your user profile is not loading correctly, the system created a temporary one.
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Okay then, I suppose no great loss, can I just forget about that and start anew?
How do I create a new user profile?
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You should be able to use the Control Panel to create a new user.
You can either attempt to fix the problem or install a new hard drive. Personally, I think the easiest thing to do at this point is to set up a new hard drive on that computer while keeping the current one accessible as a second drive.
I have extra hard drives lying around I can ship to you so you don't have to buy one.
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before you do any tinkering attempt a system restore.
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before you do any tinkering attempt a system restore.
How does one do that?
The reason I'm concerned is because the computer I had before this one was an old library computer with an "administrator," and I couldn't save anything on it, from "favorites" to documents. Every time I turned it on it started out with a clean slate. It worked okay and all that, but nothing could be saved.
And now this looks as if I'm in the same boat.
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You should be able to use the Control Panel to create a new user.
You can either attempt to fix the problem or install a new hard drive. Personally, I think the easiest thing to do at this point is to set up a new hard drive on that computer while keeping the current one accessible as a second drive.
I have extra hard drives lying around I can ship to you so you don't have to buy one.
Lemme think about that.
It just may be easier to look around for a new used computer; I dunno.
This works when it's on, but it doesn't "save" anything.
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You should be able to use the Control Panel to create a new user.
Okay, I just did that. It now has me as an "administrator."
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How does one do that?
The reason I'm concerned is because the computer I had before this one was an old library computer with an "administrator," and I couldn't save anything on it, from "favorites" to documents. Every time I turned it on it started out with a clean slate. It worked okay and all that, but nothing could be saved.
And now this looks as if I'm in the same boat.
System restore just restores all your settings to a previous date. you can let the puter pick a date or you pick a date. System restore can be located by clicking start the type system restore in the search box.
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System restore just restores all your settings to a previous date. you can let the puter pick a date or you pick a date. System restore can be located by clicking start the type system restore in the search box.
Okay, so I typed in "start" on "search" from the control panel.
It found 45 files. Now what?
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Okay, so I typed in "start" on "search" from the control panel.
It found 45 files. Now what?
No no no click on start ,see the search box,type in "system restore".with out the qoutes. That should bring up s the system restore exe file. Clicking on that should open system restore.
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This is what I get.
System Restore C:/Documents and Settings/All Users 2KB Shortcut 5/12/2012 2:41 PM
So I click on System Restore, and it tells me that nothing exists before this afternoon.
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This is what I get.
So I click on System Restore, and it tells me that nothing exists before this afternoon.
Then you are screwed unless you computer did a backup when you changed the battery and the file is on your HD somewhere. type in todays date in the search box and see what you get, look for a file with .BAK designation.
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Then you are screwed unless you computer did a backup when you changed the battery and the file is on your HD somewhere. type in todays date in the search box and see what you get, look for a file with .BAK designation.
Well, it looks like I'm screwed.
I tried all sorts of variations for May 12, 2012, and came up blank.
I also tried all sorts of variations for May 11, 2012, and came up blank.
Things such as "May 12, 2012," "May 12 2012," "05-12-2012," "05-12-12," and somesuch.
Damn.
I'm going to take the rest of this afternoon off.
Damn.
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As of Monday evening, the status is this:
I created a new administrator file, and using that, the computer does in fact "save" things (passwords and documents).
It's no longer like a library computer where, when one shuts it down, everything is erased and one goes back to the original "nothing here" settings.
The old administrator file, which holds all my stuff, is still there, because when I right-click on properties on the C-drive, it shows about the same amount of "space used" and "free space."
I got this personal message:
Open My Computer and browse to C:\Documents and Settings. You should see your old profile with all your documents and bookmarks.
I must be dense; there's an absent piece of information here, at least as far as I know.
I open "My Computer." Okay, fine.
But there's nothing there to indicate how one "browses to".
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Browse to means you when you double click "My Computer" , you'll have a list of things show up. One of which will be "C:" double click the "C : " - You are now "browsing" the contents of "C :" - then double click the folder that says "Documents and Settings" - you are now browsing that.
Under "Documents and Settings " there should be several more folders - one will be "All Users" - one "Administrator" - and several others like for example "Franksolich".
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Browse to means you when you double click "My Computer" , you'll have a list of things show up. One of which will be "C:" double click the "C : " - You are now "browsing" the contents of "C :" - then double click the folder that says "Documents and Settings" - you are now browsing that.
Under "Documents and Settings " there should be several more folders - one will be "All Users" - one "Administrator" - and several others like for example "Franksolich".
Wow. You're right.
Thank you. I got caught up on the word "browse."
It all shows under the administrator file (I got this computer from TVDOC some years ago; when he set it up, he set it up using "administrator" for the administrator file. The second administrator file, the one I created and am currently on, is under another name).
It's all there, everything that used to be here.
I'm brain-dead, tired, worn out, at the moment, but I'd like advice to use when I transfer stuff from the original administrator file to the new administrator file; it's nearly all scans of family photographs (thousands) and Microsoft Word documents (hundreds). I'll need to know how to transfer, and importantly, how to ensure I'm not transferring a corrupted file from there.
I'll work on this after Tuesday, after the big guy's showing at the polls in Bellevue.
Thank you, LC EFA!