Computer advice

**Alonzo-ny** · June 13th, 2008, 06:58 PM

My laptop went loopy yesterday. It wouldnt turn on but when plugged in the battery charging light was blinking. After a couple of hours I tried to turn it on again and miraculously it cam and has worked fine again now as I returned from work. I am thinking of getting it checked out and perhaps getting a new processor upgrade, maybe even a increase in hard drive too if i feel so inclined. Can anyone suggest a good computer place i can go. Also if you know computers and have theories as to what may have been at fault yesterday please throw in your opinion.

Thanks!

**BWilliams** · June 13th, 2008, 09:40 PM

MacBook Pro Can't Go Wrong There

**Alonzo-ny** · June 13th, 2008, 10:16 PM

You wanna give me a grand or two?

**Front_Porch** · June 14th, 2008, 11:20 AM

Lincoln Business Machines on 111 West 68th services both PCs and Macs.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

**NYC4Life** · June 14th, 2008, 12:14 PM

You can always try the good ol Geek Squad at Best Buy....5th and 44th

**pianoman11686** · June 15th, 2008, 09:34 PM

alonzo, your laptop's hard drive may be defective or damaged. If you want to do a quick diagnosis, try rebooting your computer and put your ear right up next to where the hard drive is. Listen for any weird noises like a clicking sound.

I would try and purchase an external hard drive as soon as possible if it seems like there is a problem. Back up all your data and then format your hard drive. Sometimes this can fix the problem, but it doesn't always work. You might have to get a new one.

**Alonzo-ny** · June 15th, 2008, 10:00 PM

Does formatting get rid of all my programs?

**ZippyTheChimp** · June 15th, 2008, 10:08 PM

Make sure the cooling fan is operating, and the vents aren't clogged with dust bunnies.

**pianoman11686** · June 15th, 2008, 10:46 PM

Originally Posted by alonzo-ny

Does formatting get rid of all my programs?

It depends, actually. I've been able to do a full system restore on a previous laptop that had hard drive problems, and that usually saves most of your program files. On the current laptop I have, however, my hard drive was busted to such a point that it could not do a full system restore, and it made me erase everything. I thought it was fixed after that, but as soon as I tried reinstalling a few things, it crashed again and I had to replace the hard drive. Lost everything.

I would really try backing everything up on an external hard drive before doing anything. If you find you can't do that, then basically you're screwed. Hard drive recovery from specialists costs hundreds of dollars, and it's usually just not worth it.

**Alonzo-ny** · June 15th, 2008, 11:18 PM

Ugh, Ill have access to a computer geek friend in a month or so, I think ill hold off til then. Thanks guys!

**brianac** · June 16th, 2008, 04:20 AM

This is what I use for backing up data.

There are various capacities available.

http://www.jr.com/freeagent-500gb/pe/SAG_5004FDA1E1/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is the back up program I use. It copies the whole of you hard drive.

http://www.jr.com/acronis/pe/ANS_TRUEIMAGEH/

Both are vital if you have a lot of photographs (you can't replace) on your computer.

**Alonzo-ny** · June 16th, 2008, 11:24 AM

Anyone know a good free back up program thinger? (I already have Ext. HD) Thanks Brian!

**brianac** · June 16th, 2008, 02:41 PM

You could browse through these Alonzo.

Maybe someone on the forum has tried one of them.

http://free-backup.info/backup-software.htm

**ManhattanKnight** · June 16th, 2008, 03:07 PM

I've been happily using Carbonite for a couple of years automatically and securely to back up all data (not program) files on my home network (consisting of a server and two notebooks) to an offsite location from which they can be recovered almost immediately. The cost for unlimited offsite storage capacity is now about $45/year. http://carbonite.com/ The HD in one of the notebooks, where I park digital photos before editing and archiving to the server, recently died. I replaced the HD and restored the photos (and much else) from the offsite Carbonite volumes. For years, I installed a tape backup drive in every new machine and tried to keep a reasonably current set of tapes in my office or bank safe deposit box, but I'm not quite anal enough for that to be an effective strategy. Carbonite's a lot faster, cheaper and more reliable. Highly recommeded.

**Ninjahedge** · June 16th, 2008, 04:41 PM

I remember using a proggie called "ghost" to, well, ghost my drive, install a new one, then transfer stuff back to it.

I would recommend you doing a google search for some techie sites that may be able to help you with this.

Also, if you are REALLY unskilled in this, I would DEFINITELY back up your drive, but do NOT "restore", reinstall or format your drive! These things can wipe everything either clean, or completely off your computer.

Easiest thing to do sometimes is to look and see what programs you have around the house that you can re-install. Then you see if you have all the serial/ID codes for them. If you have everything you need, backup your data (files and such) and then just do a re-install on a new drive. Yes you will have to re-personalize everything again, but you get over it pretty fast.

GL!