Weird stuff happened when mum was on the computer

[PsychoNerd]

Right, so yesterday night mum was on the compy, she was doing something in the local disk, her description is that she pressed something and the screen flicked to white and back and suddenly she found things looked different, like the quick launch icons had disappeared and the desktop had changed (not the wallpaper) i looked at it and thought it was odd. Said to shut it down and i'd fix it tomorrow...

So now it's tomorrow (after school anyway) and ive taken a look at some suggestions on other forums which said to run a system install to a earlier date (which happened to be before installing the sims 3), now the files have returned, only still weird, some files are still there, but other files (like picture and such) were missing, i showed the hidden files and now i can see all the files which should be there. Now i want to know 2 things:

1) how do i un-hide the hidden files

and 2) why did this happen?

[andsome]

Have you tried System Restore? Do you have a mirror image on software such as ACRONIS? :D

[PsychoNerd]

Have you tried System Restore? Do you have a mirror image on software such as ACRONIS? :D

ok, second day on and its just gotten weirder

yes i did do system restore, it solved most of the problems, but now the quick start icons are funny, like idk, they've lost the directory, and here in mozilla atm, the back button wont work, i mean wtf

HALP!

[Hb_Kai]

I doubt that your main problem here is causing Mozilla's back button to stop functioning properly. If need be, reinstall Firefox.

You could try removing your current icons from the quick-launcher and putting them back again?

[Dencandy]

When you do system restore it sets some things - like your desk top appearance & it's short cuts - back to what they were at that time even though the computer's insides might be different now. It's like reading a 2008 newspaper that tells you George W Bush is the USA President, even though we all know that in 2009 he isn't (I hope!).

So one of things you need to do is to find (in All Programs or My games, for instance) the applications which no longer have a short-cut and make new ones for them as if you had just installed the program. You do that by finding the application's start-up symbol in its folder then select Send to... desktop.

Another thing is that if you uninstalled an application after the date which you've now gone back to you might find the short-cut has been restored to the desktop or taskbar. But when you click on it, it doesn't work because you uninstalled it after that date.

That's how Windows works. You get used to it after a while.

[PsychoNerd]

I doubt that your main problem here is causing Mozilla's back button to stop functioning properly. If need be, reinstall Firefox.

You could try removing your current icons from the quick-launcher and putting them back again?

yea, ive decided to do that, i think the main problem did cause the mozilla problem, outlook wont open and closes instantly after a prompt message, settings for files have changed like the hidden files and maybe the read only things, i might have to reinstall all the problem things, it confuses me of why this all happened in the first place

could it b a worm or virus?

[PsychoNerd]

When you do system restore it sets some things - like your desk top appearance & it's short cuts - back to what they were at that time even though the computer's insides might be different now. It's like reading a 2008 newspaper that tells you George W Bush is the USA President, even though we all know that in 2009 he isn't (I hope!).

So one of things you need to do is to find (in All Programs or My games, for instance) the applications which no longer have a short-cut and make new ones for them as if you had just installed the program. You do that by finding the application's start-up symbol in its folder then select Send to... desktop.

Another thing is that if you uninstalled an application after the date which you've now gone back to you might find the short-cut has been restored to the desktop or taskbar. But when you click on it, it doesn't work because you uninstalled it after that date.

That's how Windows works. You get used to it after a while.

yea, this would never happen on the mac :P

[Hb_Kai]

could it b a worm or virus?

Doubt it. But what was happening on the computer at the time? May help someone here understand the problem to let you know what, exactly, happened.

[PsychoNerd]

could it b a worm or virus?

Doubt it. But what was happening on the computer at the time? May help someone here understand the problem to let you know what, exactly, happened.

well atm,

i found some drivers wont work (like my wacom tablet!),

programs wont work even after reinstalling them,

the start menu icon for the user wont change

um, it might be easier to list the things that are right XD

but seriously, im considering reinstalling everything, of coarse getting all the important stuff

just need an external harddrive now to put all said important stuff on...

anything i should know?

[Hb_Kai]

Have you scanned your computer for any viruses yet? May be a good idea to try at least and see if you can find anything dodgey on your computer - even if the anti-virus can't get rid of it, there is always a way to remove a virus from your computer so that could be a good direction to go down.

Other than that, I can think of trying

sfc /scannow

from the command line which may help. But you will need your original installation disc for this.

[PsychoNerd]

Have you scanned your computer for any viruses yet? May be a good idea to try at least and see if you can find anything dodgey on your computer - even if the anti-virus can't get rid of it, there is always a way to remove a virus from your computer so that could be a good direction to go down.

Other than that, I can think of trying

sfc /scannow

from the command line which may help. But you will need your original installation disc for this.

my mum tried something called RegCure, it said the compy had something like over 2000 corrupt files, mostly to do with file path references and about 900 said empty registry item (?)

it all adds up

what would have caused this?

[-pops-]

Be VERY careful using products such as RegCure. A lot of these "cure" programs (including RegCure according to WOT*) - are designed to tell you untruths (ahem!!!!!2000 corrupt files!!!!) in order to sell you a product to clean them up.

I don't know what the answer is to your problem but it isn't RegCure.

*WOT is Web Of Trust, a system of warning about dodgy web sites. It works on a "traffic" lights system. RegCure scores a "red" for danger.

Some advice for when you get going again: Ensure you have a full system backup. Also ensure you keep it up to date.

[Hb_Kai]

If you're wanting to clean your registry, CCleaner has something that does this - it's safer than a program claiming you have 2000 registry problems like that.

I also use WOT and even looking on Google for reviews of RegCure gives me nothing but unsafe websites.

[catgate]

First of all download Crapcleaner and run that. but not the registry part, just the cleaner.

http://www.ccleaner.com/update/

Then go onto Trend

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/uk/

Download and run "housecall". It is not the swiftest thing in computing but is certainly a good one.

Then come back here and report.

[PsychoNerd]

thanks for the advice, did ccleaner and it cleaned mainly IE and other internet browsers, but mainly IE

we are getting a 25gb hearddrive (WD) to backup everything important, other things can just be installed

since starting off with a clean slate after the reinstall its gonna be more organised at least, and if it doesn't work atleast the compie's still in warranty ^^

[-pops-]

Do you really mean 25GB hard drive? Not very big for a modern computer and drives of that small size tend to be quite rare and expensive.

[andsome]

First of all download Crapcleaner and run that. but not the registry part, just the cleaner.

http://www.ccleaner.com/update/

Then go onto Trend

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/uk/

Download and run "housecall". It is not the swiftest thing in computing but is certainly a good one.

Then come back here and report.

I tried to post on this topic yesterday but Craig had broken the forum, so I couldn't. I agree that C Cleaner is a first rate program and I run it last thing every day. I disagree however regarding its registry cleaner. I have had no end of trouble over the years with registry cleaners and have had to reinstall Windows several times. HOWEVER, I cannot speak highly enough of the one built into C Cleaner, it has never once caused me any bother whatsoever, and I highly recommend it. In any case, it always offers the option to back up before running it, which takes all of a couple of seconds. :D :D

[MJR]

I use CCleaner, too, and have always found it very reliable. Like most pc things, I feel it's better to run things frequently, sooner than let a load of rubbish build up.

I've not heard about WOT - do you just Google for it? Anybody using it that has any helpful advice with regard to settings, etc, I'd be very glad to hear from. (choosing settings is my personal headache as I never know which to tick, so tend to leave most as the default choice).

[Boris]

I've not heard about WOT

http://www.mywot.com/

WOT is a free Internet security addon for your browser. It will keep you safe from online scams, identity theft, spyware, spam, viruses and unreliable shopping sites. WOT warns you before you interact with a risky website.

[rong]

Anybody using it that has any helpful advice with regard to settings, etc, I'd be very glad to hear from. (choosing settings is my personal headache as I never know which to tick, so tend to leave most as the default choice).

You just let it do it's own thing, it only interferes with your browsing when you try to open an iffy sight and then you can overrule it I think (I haven't tried to)

[Hb_Kai]

Yeah. You get a choice whether to ignore its warning or continue to the website.

it also has, which is something to look out for, green, grey and red circles next to hyperlinks saying whether the site is safe. Green, obviously, means safe/good reputation, grey, I'm not sure what that is and red, obviously, unsafe/poor reputation.

I think the thing with registry cleaners is that people should check on how up-to-date theirs is, keep an eye out on each update to see what's new and use the one that is less bugged, most reliable fixes and should really check through the list of their registry errors rather than cleaning the whole lot in one.

[-pops-]

There is an animated demo of WOT here: http://www.mywot.com/en/demo

[Hb_Kai]

Oops.

[andsome]

There is an animated demo of WOT here: http://www.mywot.com/en/demo

very interesting. Thanks. :D

[PsychoNerd]

hello again, im back to ask WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!

right, so ive done what windows asked me to to restore windows to its factory conditions like tap F8 while starting windows, ive pressed enter when highlighting repair windows, but what does it do! it restarts windows normally, this is really me off

PLEASE GET BACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE