My PC has alzheimers (FIXED)

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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 8:17 pm

I went out before and shut down my PC as usual, now I'm back, it let me log in, then gave me an odd message that it was loading desktop settings, then WTF?

A blue generic desktop background, and programs that either don't work or work as if its the first time I've ever used them. In 'my documents' nothing, but I still have admin rights apparently, when I click on my name under users I can get into my files, so it could be worse. Its as if Ive logged into another version of 'me'.

Restore didn't work either.

Malwarebytes won't work, which is suspicious in itself, I'm typing on my laptop at the moment while I run a full anti virus scan. I fear a hijack of some sort, I have been downloading from dubious sources recently.

More to come when I know something.

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 8:38 pm

At least I can fix my own double posts! Wink

Currently being baffled by the event logs. Something called event 41 Kernel-power happened in the last 24 hours and was critical, off to see what that means. Unfortunately I never normally look at these things. Maybe that helpful man from India will call and offer to fix it by remote access.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 41

Does this help?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2028504

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:09 pm

Your wolf suit is getting stranger. The link does help in that it explains what the critical event was - me hitting the big reset button when it all went to hell in a handcart.

I got a message that partly eplains things - 'You have been logged on with the default profile for the system.'e Logging in using the wfie's profile gives me exactly the same desktop.

It also advises me to see the event log or contact the system admin. Restore isn't working either, it suggests I disable anti virus and try again.

There will be unhappy bunnies if I haven't fixed it by tomorrow.

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:10 pm

Which Windows OS are you using? I have had issues since I went from 8 to 8.1 with drivers. My touch pad on my laptop has gone wiggy and had to disable it and use a mouse instead. I won't go into the issue of my wi-fi driver losing it's driver every time that Windows has an update of any kind. Oh and the fact that my log-in became defunct and had to set from MS account to local account. <sigh>

Are you also on Win 8.1?

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:10 pm

W7, 64 bit home edition.

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:14 pm

Have you gone to the Fix-it center on Microsoft's website?

Fix-it MS, FIX IT dammit !

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:46 pm

Can't find anything there that helps. Basically it's not letting me logon properly, so every program thinks I'm a new user. All the info is still on the computer, but security settings are keeping me from acessing stuff like bookmarks, and more importantly a bunch of payroll info.

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:47 pm

Can you take a disc image now, so that if anything really b0rks it in trying to fix the thing you get a second shot?

*** BANNED *** Joined: 26 Jul 2012 Posts: 1116

You know.... they made a patch for Windows: http://www.ubuntu.com/

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 11:25 pm

Thank fek for geeks! Back on the big computer now, and all the payroll data of 12 companies is not only there, but has now even been backed up! Embarassed

For the first time

@NG, I would have taken an image if I had anywhere to put 900GB, but I haven't.

Basically the userfile was corrupted, but a backup is made of the original with a .bak extension. Regedit got me to the profiles in:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
Sure enough one profile had a backup file, with a path to my documents and just a /temp address in the current profile.

Zap that, and delete the .bak extension, reboot and Bob's your Uncle, as we Brits say. These days Bob may actually be your Auntie's live in lover.

Geeks, don't listen when people tell you to get out more, you'll only meet the Wallet Inspector who'll take your lunch money. Keep typing useful stuff for me to Google when all else fails.

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2014 2:15 am

^OK, how's Bob? Razz

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2014 2:19 am

Roycropper wrote:

These days Bob may actually be your Auntie's live in lover.

Or even your uncle's live in lover. Shocked

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

@ Joker

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2014 3:52 am

I'm glad to know that you conquered that! We are so freaking dependent on computers now...... I back up like a fiend but I still lost a lot when my computer died a few months back. I was able to restore all the critical data, thank god, but many programs are gone forever and with them a certain amount of less important data.

I often miss the days of pen and paper, and their permanence. Yeah, file cabinets took up a lot of space but no minor electronic hiccup ever made them inaccessible.

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2014 4:42 am

Juan Freizwidatt wrote:

...I often miss the days of pen and paper, and their permanence. Yeah, file cabinets took up a lot of space but no minor electronic hiccup ever made them inaccessible.

Gosh me too! Better yet, having people know how to do their job with a pen and paper. I am a database programmer and worked for a mortgage company for quite a few years. The V.P. and Sr. Loan Officer wanted features added to our application. I asked them to do it by hand and they both had a glazed over look and started to show me by using a mortgage/loan calculator. When I told them my server doesn't own a mortgage calculator and I need to know the calculations and steps in order to program what they wanted, they didn't know how to do it! They made twice as money than I, and yet they expected me to know their job? I did figure it out after I looked through the owners manual of their calculator and then reverse engineered the calculations, but man, it's like the better computers/technology become, the more stupid people become </rant off>

Back on topic- congrats Roycropper - you earned your gold star for the day.

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2014 12:04 pm

I do two back-ups of my Mac every weekend.

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2014 12:22 pm

Some Buddy At Home wrote:

I asked them to do it by hand and they both had a glazed over look and started to show me by using a mortgage/loan calculator.

I can well believe this, but can you blame them? They don't need to know to do their job, so why bother learning.

My first job in the mid '80s was for a Life Insurance company and I spent some time doing premium calculations. We had 4 terminals (not computers) in a branch with about 30 staff when I started, that were used to do some of the simpler illustrations, but the majority of them were done by hand. We had a dozen or more different loose leaf folders with all the rates in them and instructions for each of the diferent products for how to factor in non-smoking discounts, occupation factors, etc. Some of the more complex products could take 15 minutes or more to calculate all the figures necessary to go on the illustration and then had to be checked and after that they went off to be typed. Why bother learning how to do all of that when you can stick a few details in a computer and print out a glossy document in a minute or so.

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2014 3:09 pm

Joker wrote:

You know.... they made a patch for Windows: http://www.ubuntu.com/

You must be an IT guy. Wink

That reply is just like when you post about an IE thing on a help forum, and the first reply you get is 'get Firefox'. Razz

Makes me wonder if these people never have been hit with a fist in their life... Laughing

*** BANNED *** Joined: 26 Jul 2012 Posts: 1116

^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rksCTVFtjM4

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2014 7:50 pm

^

Not quite a Newb Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 41

Laughing.

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