I have a(*)»Compaq Presario SR5350F Desktop PC with a Vista Operating System that I bought about 7 or 8 years ago. Up until now, it's been working fine. But, I've recently encountered frequent system crashes. In some cases, when I try to reboot it tell me to select System Recovery and it goes through supposedly fixing bad files. I've tried the backup and restore task five of six time and it continues to happen. Once, I was given a message that said to create a recovery disk. I did a bit of digging and found 3 disks I made when I first booted the system - have no idea where the original program disk is at the moment but it's around somewhere. I put Disk #1 in my Drive{E} the only one I have and it didn't do anything. So, give me some help here. What should I do? And please give step-by-step because I'm really a PC dummy
If the computer is that old it may be naturally braking down. I don't have the numbers in my head but I think a processor (even an old one) has several million transistors, and a CD I think starts falling apart after 20 years. While these numbers may not be that important in your case, it still is possible that some part somewhere in the computer naturally stopped working. It wouldn't hurt opening it and cleaning the inside from dust. The computer may just be overheating and crashing for that reason. 7 years is a long long time for a computer though. It may be a good idea to just buy a new one for a few hundred bugs. It will outperform the old computer several times.
You could try some utilities that may identify and fix the problems if they are software related. If it's hardware then your computer has had a good run, put it down. Google - Windows utilities freeware - and see how you go finding them. There are quite a lot of apps around that will allow you to check out the software. You can load them up on a usb stick in portable form and use them from the usb. You could even burn a copy of Ubuntu to the usb disk and use it to probe your Windows system - http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/31804/the-10-cleverest-ways-to-use-linux-to-fix-your-windows-pc/ - just run Ubuntu live and don't install it. I suppose you could always upgrade your os, if you can get a copy of Win 7 that would be good. I'm not sure 8 or 8.1 would work with an older computer. You could use Ubuntu to save your files (running Ubuntu from the usb) and then fresh install the new os and reload your files. That's if it's software problem, if it's hardware then perhaps replace the pc.
I have had all those things happen because of a failing power supply. If you can, take a whiff of it after it is just turned off. If you smell anything like something burning or overheating that is probably your problem. Also, check the fans especially the one over the CPU. With the computer turned off, try to move the fan and see if it binds up or anything like that. Bad bearings in the fan can cause it to seize once in a while and be less efficient and cooling which will result in crashing as overheating can cause crashes as well. Motherboards also have a small integrated battery for storing CMOS information. When the battery fails, booting up will be a problem.
You might have a bad capacitor on the motherboard... ... have a good technician check it out... ... also there may be a computer user's group in your area... ... where you might pick up a motherboard on the cheap.
Taking it into a shop my wife and I have confidence in. For about $200, will do a thorough inspection to make sure all the hardware is still good, a virus check, and install Windows-7. I've run numerous checks and it says all of my hardware is okay and running fine.
why not go on amazon and buy a new hard drive for 100 dollars and put windows 8 on for the same price or less?...it will have more memory too...and run better too...just a thought...
with a new one who needs a backup?..and also you can get copies of the disk you need from HP online for free...i have done this many times in the past..and get all the drivers you need to
A few things I would suspect. 1) A fan quit working. If the case fan, cpu fan, graphics card fan or power supply fan quit working this can lead to overheating and cause random crashes. 2) Faulty power supply can cause power fluctuations that can result in random crashes. 3) Bad sectors on the HD 4) Corrupt OS. 5) Virus. I suspect your problem is likely a fan or power supply problem. Look in your case and visually inspect all fans to make sure they are working. If they are then it may take a bit off elimination to pinpoint the problem. I have an old (2007) Vista box too and have had to replace a number of fans and the power supply a couple times. Also make sure that the heat sink on your cpu and graphics card are not clogged with dust as this can cause the PC to over heat also.
Step 1: Fix the Registry The first step toward fixing problems related to computer crashes is to clean the registry. For a clean registry, you need to ensure that your Windows XP or Windows Vista registry is free from unwanted, obsolete, and incorrect information. This is important because all the junk information in the registry causes it to bloat up and damages it. And, a damaged registry becomes unstable causing frequent system errors and computer crashes. You can easily fix registry problems using a Windows XP or Windows Vista registry cleaner tool. Using the registry cleaner tool, you can scan and remove registry errors, defrag the registry to make it compact and contiguous, and backup the registry so that you can restore it in case a certain action damages your registry. Step 2: Remove Malware Infections Malware programs, such as spyware/adware, viruses, worms, and Trojans are also a major cause of computer crashes. Spyware and adware programs fill up your system with several unwanted files and registry entries, which eat up a lot of system resources. As a matter of fact, one of the main symptoms of spyware/adware infections is that your PC slows down dramatically. Virus, worms, and Trojans also alter your system configuration, add malicious code to program executables, and incorrect entries in the registry and generate several system errors and cause frequent system crashes. To free your system from these malware problems, you must regularly run antispyware and antivirus scans on your system to detect and remove any malicious information from your system. You must also keep these tools updated with the latest updates released by their manufacturers to ensure that your PC is protected against the latest threats. Step 3: Disable Unwanted Startup Programs When a Windows computer starts up, certain services and programs are also loaded. Many of these startup programs are critical to run your Windows operating system, but there are some which are added by additional programs and are not so critical. Therefore, to speedup your PC and prevent computer crashes you must disable these services from loading at system startup. To do this, first check the shortcuts in the Start > All Programs > Startup folder. Here, delete shortcuts for all programs that you dont want to load at startup. Next, run msconfig to open the System Configuration Utility dialog box and check the Service and Startup for any program you do not want to load at startup and disable them. Step 4: Clean the Hard Disk Last but not least, you must keep the hard disk of your system free from unwanted files and folders. You can do this easily by cleaning your hard disk using the Disk Cleanup tool that is shipped with Windows XP and Vista operating systems. This tool enables you to compress old files, empty the Recycle Bin, remove unwanted temporary files, uninstall unwanted applications and Windows components, and delete obsolete system restore files. After you have performed all of the above tasks, use the Disk Defragmenter tool to defrag the hard disk to make it contiguous, optimize your system to speed it up, and prevent frequent computer crashes. http://www.felgall.com/ntins39.htm
I will check out the two registry cleaners. I daily do the disk cleanup to remove unwanted files and have recently defragmented the HD In addition, I have a Malware program and my McAfee suite comes with virus cleaners. As indicated, since switching to Safari I've had no screen freezes and the only time the system rebooted with in my OpenOffice. I've removed most of the unnecessary startup programs and have not had to do a recovery boot in two days. Thanks for the help and info.
Something simple to check. When is the last time you cleaned it out? Dust can cause problems like overheating.
Well, this should be interesting. Not sure how to do it but guess I can figure out how to remove the outer shell to go to work with the spray I have to clean the computer. Well tell you what the results are.
Thanks to everyone who tried to help me. I solved the problem! I bought a new Dell Inspiron desktop that actually fits nice atop my desk. It runs Windows 8 and I have to admit that I do not like the Win9 start page. With that in mind and because I was quite comfortable with my Vista menu and desktop, I was directed to and downloaded Classic Shell which gives me a Win7 start menu. I had all my important files backed up on a flash drive and it took some figuring on how to transfer the pictures - which I managed, Then, I was going nuts trying to figure out how to transfer all the MP3 music I had. It would import from the FD but, when I tried to access and play it, it was unavailable. I then remembered that I had CDs with much of my music backed up on them. And then, for the life of me, I could find anything in the help menus on how to download them to the system. I left messages on the totally worthless Dell Help Forums. For some reason - one of those slapping oneself on the forehead events - I came up with a simple idea - why not go to the menu that showed my computer's HD where the FD showed. Los and behold,there was a little thing marked with a C and when I clicked on it, it opened the CD drive! Insert the disk and the system took me to Windows Media Player where all I had to do was click on the Rip icon to get it into the system. Perhaps I'm not as techie stupid as I thought! Now, to figure out how to get all the rest of that music off the flash drive. And, this new keyboard is giving me fits - the "a" key is so close to the Caps Lock that I keep hitting it instead.
