Laptop troubleshooting: Please help, my computer goes rogue on me
- 11/13/09 2:53 PM
Symptoms seems to point that the new drive needs reformat
by roland827 - 11/2/09 7:57 AM In reply to: Please help, my computer goes rogue on me by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I guess you already know that, as you have mentioned dropping the computer on the hardwood floor. If you have an HDD activity light indicator, you will probably notice that during this period of computer "hanging" your HDD light would probably be ON most of the time. This occurs when your HDD is either using the virtual memory file or when it tries to read something from the HDD and it needed several retries to get to that sector, thereby causing your PC to stop/pause all other i/o (input/output) devices like your keyboard. You might want to scan your hard disk for bad sectors, or better yet, reformat to find out if it is still usable... This happened to a HDD of mine, wherein my daughter dropped the PS/2 with a hard drive while it was active, it still seemed to work afterwards, but was crashing most of the time. I reformatted it, but it found lots of bad sectors, and eventually found its way to the FAT sectors, rendering it useless after I tried formatting it... Althought I could be wrong, as laptop hard drives usually are more tolerant of shocks, but the only component that would be affected by a non-distructive fall (if there were no cracks on the LCD or casing) of a laptop would be the the hdd...
Trip to the shop might be in order...
by rlessmue - 11/2/09 10:26 AM In reply to: Please help, my computer goes rogue on me by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Well basically the drop didn't help matters...and it might of
uncovered a problem that was about to happen.
What do I mean? A loose connection, bad soldering on a internal
part might have been "getting ready" to act up. When the laptop
was dropped, it brought these "possible problems" to the "front"
or increased their "odds" of occurring more often.
Also, they type of issue you are describing is not a "software
type" of issue.
One area to focus on is maybe the keyboard. On laptops, the keyboard
comes out in one piece and can be replaced. Some are tricky to do,
others are quite easy. The keyboard should not cost that much (if
it can be verified that it is the problem). If you do not feel ok
about replacing the keyboard, a service center can do it for a small
fee (it should not cost that much).
Opening up the laptop might be your only option to see if you can
find any issues. Some of this you can do yourself. Visually look
at where the "impact" of the laptop was and carefully inspect it
for any possible damage. Sometimes there are screws that can be
removed, so one can look inside. If you do not feel "comfortable"
doing this type of work, you will have to take it to the shop for
them to look at it. If you take it to the shop, just ask for a
diagnosis, and what it might cost before they do any work. Also.
make sure to tell them not to replace anything! Why? If it is a
small part...ok...but if it is a main part like the motherboard,
you might find yourself "further ahead" buying a new laptop instead!
If you get a new laptop, you can have your information transferred
over from your old laptop...but if you get the same kind of laptop
that you currently have, you might be able to put in the hard drive
from your old laptop into your new one (and you would have a spare
hard drive too)!
Good luck! Intermittent issues are the hardest to fix.
My recommendation is to buy the same kind of laptop and "swap" out
the hard drives. I think any "fixing" of the problem...unless you
can find the "exact" issue (where you can have the problem go away,
and reproduce it to come back), this "rogue" issue will re-appear
at sometime later on.
Hope this helps!
Cheers!
THE FIX.
by TexasDad-55 - 11/2/09 11:53 AM In reply to: Please help, my computer goes rogue on me by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Download combofix from combofix.org
Follow the prompts and it will take up to 25 minutes to clean your pc.
Thank me later 
Who the he** are you!!!
by TexasDad-55 - 11/2/09 8:35 PM In reply to: THE FIX. by TexasDad-55First off I did not post a link to that anti-spyware site, I hadn't even posted to this thread except foe this one time, I got an email saying the topic I was following had a new reply,what is going on?????
"Rougue Computer"
by Stumpy_Joe - 11/2/09 6:57 PM In reply to: Please help, my computer goes rogue on me by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
If I was a betting man and I'm not there are only 2 reasons for your particular problem-Your's Is a common Problem with Laptops-Keyboards in particular-The fact you Dropped It makes the Exact solution a bit harder BUT-that being said 1)Sticking Keys-this is SO COMMON with laptops due to the compact nature of their design-best cleaning method is a GOOD cleaning of your Keypad(with some EASY Partial Disassembly)-Go to your manufactures website:get the Technical Specs on your L-Top-find the instructions for Keyboard replacement they show-treat It as If You are Replacing,Instead JUST CLEAN IT once It's sepaerated from case-8-10 times this is The FIX 2)Secondly in rare cases more commonly with Macs than PCs-Keyboards can change their default languages-Causing odd characters wierd behavior ETC-Check your Keyboard Layout Language and make sure It's correct for your laptop/Region and Language requirements(Don't know if your question was answered or not-Did not have time to read other responses-Extremely Busy week-)
mechanical damage
by wbowblis - 11/3/09 7:33 AM In reply to: Please help, my computer goes rogue on me by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I'm no laptop expert, but what you describe is mechanical damage. Could be as simple as a loose connector or as bad as a cracked circuit board. The cost to fix it depends on what it is and how hard it is to get to, but it will almost certainly get worse until the computer can't be used at all. If you are comfortable with taking it apart, it may be obvious what the problem is. Otherwise, get help.
Rogue computer suggestion
by sford1950 - 11/3/09 4:48 PM In reply to: Please help, my computer goes rogue on me by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Mike,
I would turn your laptop over and open the back up exposing the memory chips, pop each one out and re-seat it. Maybe the drop worked something loose inside the laptop. I would work simple first. Like memory and harddrive.
Regards,
Scott
Rogue
by desertsurfergirl - 11/4/09 11:26 PM In reply to: Please help, my computer goes rogue on me by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
First of all what you said tells us everything. You dropped the computer. So why run antivirus software to fix that? They won't fix anything that is physical and they won't fix anything that is related to software issues other than virus/malware/adware etc. Shaking the computer jeeze us that's definitely not going to help the problem either. It is a hardware issue. You may have damaged the keyboard or possibly the hard drive, often these things are intermittent and jostling the computer around will only make things worse. A connection inside maybe damaged and only fails once the computer is warmed up. Suggestion #1 stop shaking the computer. If it is intermittent do a hard reboot and see if that helps. If you did damage something internally eventually it will fail once and for all. Without looking inside and testing the hardware no way of telling.
RE: Rogue computer.
by BMH280 - 11/6/09 10:15 PM In reply to: Please help, my computer goes rogue on me by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
If the laptop was dropped onto a hard surface, Then there is a possibility that when you dropped it, You shook a connection or two loose or something simpler like that. Or it could be something as bad as a fracture or a break in the motherboard which would then be better off replacing the laptop. Especially if it is an older computer. Or maybe the hard drive was damaged in the drop. I hope it is an easy simple fix for you and sorry I couldn't be of better help.
Please help, my computer goes rogue on me
by anco_feez - 11/7/09 3:04 PM In reply to: Please help, my computer goes rogue on me by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Why don't you try opening up the laptop and slotting in the hard drive nicely, sometimes the hard drive might not work properly if the connection id slack.
Loose keyboard connection?
by burnmw - 11/11/09 4:21 AM In reply to: Please help, my computer goes rogue on me by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
My first suggestion would be that the keyboard has come loose. If you have a spare keyboard to hand the next time it happens, try plugging it in and seeing if the laptop responds to the new keyboard (rather than the normal keyboard). If it does then chances are the ribbon connecting the keyboard to the motherboard inside the laptop has come loose. Quite often these are very easy to repair using guides found on the Internet. If you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself ask a friend or relative, or it looks like it may a trip to "hospital"!
Having said that, it may not be the only answer and someone else may have more knowledge about it than me.
dropped computer
by bunny333 - 11/11/09 1:01 PM In reply to: Please help, my computer goes rogue on me by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
This probably won't be what you want to hear, but I dropped my last laptop which was a Compaq on a tiled floor in Spain and it never worked properly again after that. In the end I had to buy a new one. Luckily I was able to save all my pics etc on a memory stick. If you do need to get a new one I would advise either Dell or Advent as I had had a load of trouble with the Compaq one and it was in fact a replacement for an earlier Compaq which was even worse!
Try external keyboard first
by pualynn - 11/13/09 4:55 PM In reply to: Please help, my computer goes rogue on me by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The best answers suggested plugging in an external keyboard to see if the problem followed ANY keyboard, or only the on-board keyboard.
Delicate Electronics
by rchuncleskeleton - 11/13/09 5:02 PM In reply to: Please help, my computer goes rogue on me by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
should be handled with care.....I know accidents happen but you really should make sure you have a good grip on your laptop before trying to pull it out of the case, that being said you could check the keyboard cable and make sure it's not loose, try a new keyboard, try a new HD, you could try several things and none of them may work, my best suggestion is since you're using a 3 year old "Compaq" go out and get a new laptop, maybe a gateway or a dell, even some of the acers are good. I've always seen compaq as low level garbage....it's made by HP but I don't even trust HP's products anymore. Make sure you read up plenty on the model you plan on purchasing before doing so, a lot of systems recently seem to have quite a lot of quirks about them.
Keyboard goes Rogue
by rickolano - 11/13/09 5:40 PM In reply to: Please help, my computer goes rogue on me by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I too feel that it is the keyboard that is giving you the problem, not the cpu, memory, or hard drive.
Get the thing opened and look first at the connector to the motherboard to be sure that it is seated firmly. Look to see if the cable is pinched between something or has a tear or a sharp depression in the ribbon where an inner wire might be partially broken inside the cable.
Also be sure there are no loose parts like a screw, or broken component. Check very carefully looking for anything that moves or rattles.
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