Need Laptop rebuild suggestions

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  • #606544

    kellym
    Participant

    My daughter’s laptop has gone haywire from a virus and booting up on safe mode to recovery is not working at all. Any recommendations on who to take it too? Any idea of what they might charge to wipe and reinstall Windows….and of course anti-virus…my bad it lapsed and i didnt’ know it…..

    #784921

    clark5080
    Participant

    do you have install disc’s for windows? Pretty easy to do just stick the disk in and follow the instructions

    #784922

    kellym
    Participant

    nope it came preloaded and if there were any discs my daughter has long since done away with them sigh….teens.

    #784923

    clark5080
    Participant

    How old and what ver of windows was it running Is the key number listed on the laptop?

    #784924

    Ken
    Participant

    how old is this laptop?

    99% of all laptops sold in the last 7 years have a recovery partition.

    And besides that, most malware and viri can be removed and/or the data backed up and the os and other software reinstalled.

    By all means, Google the laptop model and the word “recovery” or better yet go to the manufacturers web site and look up the model using the numbers on the back lable or the service tag (Dell), part number (HP/Compaq) or whatever numbers are hidden in the battery compartment if it is an apple or several other brands.

    Call me if you don’t want to do any of these things and I can tell you how likely it is you will need to reinstall.

    Google voice number:

    8010FIX

    801-0349

    or since it is now out there… my direct cell number at 351-1132

    #784925

    Ken
    Participant

    btw I do this kind of work for free for any on public assistance, SSI/SSD or un/under employed.

    Anyone else can donate whatever they feel is fair either to me or to the West Seattle Food Bank or the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

    Some local computer shops have published flat fee for reinstall of the OS or virus removal. Check their web sites.

    There are indeed several rootkits, malware, scareware/ransomware and virus droppers that do so much damage to core windows files (actually it is usually the Antivirus software that does the damage) that the os reinstall is the only way it is going to be safe to use at an online shopping or banking site again.

    #784926

    jamjets
    Participant

    And since Ken is so modest, let me say that he is one of a very few local computer guys that a lot of WSB’ers use. Nice guy and very competant. I have taken a fair amount of older but still usable hardware to him to tune up and then donate to needy folks. It’s worth the trip (near 35th and Morgan) just to see his workshop/garage. He is a retired coder/network engineer and knows his stuff. And he smiles when you mention the horrible years of “sysini-winini-himem=” file modifications!!

    #784927

    kellym
    Participant

    Ken, I may very well take you up on your offer. Embarssingly enough I’ve been DB2/Oracle DBA for 25 years, but I still don’t know what really makes a desktop/laptop tick. I did start up the laptop in Safe Mode and tried to perform a recovery. I stepped away to pick up my other daughter from work and when I returned the laptop had shut itself down. I tried it again and it seemed to get stuck coming up in Safe Mode. Sigh. It’s a Toshiba that was purchased in 2011, I’m at work so I’m not sure of the exact model number. I’ll give it one more try and search for the disc’s(again teenager) and most likely give you a call. I’ve heard your expertise highly praised on WSB many times. I should have gone to the mountain first!!

    #784928

    Ken
    Participant

    bring it by :)

    I have 5 toshiba laptops in the house that work and I am not sure how many in the parts pile.

    #784929

    Ken
    Participant

    Also note, Toshiba usually has the recovery disk available for between 17 and 25 bucks but it might mean you have to talk to a tech support person to get them. It used to be a lot easier to order recovery disks but I have been told that Micro$oft has made onerous changes to its license agreements to OEM’s that have forced them to limit the time period in which replacement disks are available. But 2011 should be no problem.

    I can take care of that if needed.

    #784930

    kellym
    Participant

    Thanks Ken, I’ll be traveling for the next week or so, but I’ll call when I get back to schedule the work.

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