Ran Norton Internet Security repeatedly - computer still freezes, always clicking

Archive
21

Yes, Hugh, my computer is the HP Pavilion Slimline Desktop - that's all I see. I'm not sure of the model ID. It's Windows Vista with an AMD 64 AthlonX2 (not sure what that means). My USB drives are empty, but when I tried to back up a file, specifically my family tree maker, my computer would not recognize the USB drive or even a CD was inserted. I have the program, I just needed to back up the thousands of names that I've entered during my years of research.

 

Tomorrow I will look more into the online storage for backing up all my information. I really appreciate your help with all of this. Thanks.

22
huwyngr wrote:
...   Do the minimum to stress the hard drive...

Hi sbncmo,

 

I think what Hugh said above is very important.  Right now try to limit the disk tasks to relatively short ones, not ones that take hours to complete.  If the disk gets really overworked it might fail sooner rather than later.

 

RichD

_________

23

Thanks. I came in this morning & found one of my cats sleeping on the CPU. I'm sure that hasn't helped matters. From now on the door stays closed!

24

PC_confused,

 

You mention NIS 2011, Ghost 15, and Norton Utilities for only $4.99 USD (after Rebate). I looked each of these up.

 

My NIS 2010 expires in 4-5 months, so I don't know if I need to upgrade to NIS 2011 yet. Do I?

 

Ghost 15 looks like it would work pretty well at taking everything from my current computer, holding it & transferring it to a new computer when I get it, but will my Windows Vista be compatible with newer Windows programs? (My son tells me that the new Windows systems will not work with any of the old systems, but I don't believe this.)

 

Norton Utilities is just a clean up program for my current computer and I've been advised against doing that.

 

And in looking at all these programs which cost $69.99 each, I didn't see any rebate offers. Do I need to go to another website for these rebates?

 

I sure appreciate your help & everyone's help. Thank you so much. I know all of you will help me get thru this crisis.

25

No room on a credit card ..... ? (I know that feeling ...)

 

If your comuter is not seeing the USB thumbdrives when plugged in -- if you look in Windows Explorer/MyComputere when one is plugged in you don't see one as a removable drive?

 

There's one bit of diagnosis that you could try:

 

With one plugged in press the WINKEY (bottom left with the Microsoft flag on it) and the Pause Key (usually up top right on the keyboard and may have something else on it as well as Pause) at the same time and this should bring up System Information -- look for a link to Hardware or Device Manager and get to the Device Manager screen.

 

Look on it for any (X) or /!\  symbols which might relate to drives or the USB controllers and tell us what you can about what they seem to show.

 

But to be honest I'm not sure what you could do except take it to the repair shop.

 

One thing you could try, especially if you plan to buy the new PC from them or at least the external hard drive (running a business you absolutely have to have a solid backup plan because the hard drive on the new PC WILL STOP WORKING!, is to ask the repair shop if they will make an image of the drive for you now either onto DVDs (since your new PC will surely have a DVD burner) or onto their own hard drive and keep it for you until you get the new computer?

 

Is this a specialized computer place or one of the big box stores?

 

Above all -- Keep It Simple ... to avoid stressing the PC

26

I'm totally baffled by this, Hugh. I plug the USB into the port & click on computer to check all the computer drives & it is recognized there, but when I try to copy anything onto it, I get the message that there is no USB drive or disc. How can the computer recognize it, yet it not be recognized when I try to transfer files? It is not making any sense. I followed your steps & my computer said my USB is working properly.

 

Our local computer repair shop is a small privately owned shop. We have had a problem with this HP previously and have taken this computer to them. My husband said he doesn't want to get another HP. I'm not sure what brand we wll get, but we will probably get it from Office Depot. And we will probably get the external drive as well. Our son said he keeps everything on an external drive. I just hope my computer lasts another 2-3 weeks. I'm sure not going to do much on it.

27

I wish I could point you to an easy solution to that but I'm not expert enough.

 

Howevere I have just been looking at downoads and updates for your general model HP -- look around on the case and labels on the back and see if there is anything likea numbr from 3200 to 3280 and some letters before and after) and I did find one update for a problem where the system does not see a USB device after if returns from sleep -- do you shut down your PC completely or do you let it hibernate or sleep in order to boot up more quickly?

 

However it can only be applied to the original release of VISTA before any service packs were released and installed.

 

Can you look at the WINKEY + Pause page and it should tell you which version of WIndows VISTA you have installed and what Service Packs are installed if any (they come down through Windows Update). Also look to see if you see the words 64 bit anywhere on  that page.

 

Any chance of taking it to that repair shop which does sound like what you need and asking them to get the USB working?

 

Although you can't copy anything to them if you double click on their icon in Windows Explorer do they open up and show any content or any error message -- some thumbdrives do come with files on them and at least one kind has a protective system on it already.

28

Well, I don't know if this helps any. The info I found is my computer runs on Vista 2007, Service Pack 2. The model is s3421p. It is a 4 GB, 32 bit operating system.

 

I shut down my computer every night & sometimes need to do a forced shutdown a few times a day if it is really being a pain n the neck.

 

One of my USB's, the 8 GB, has "V-Safe 100" on it. The 4 GB has nothing on it. When it is plugged in, it comes up as a "CD drive US system". I know the 8 GB worked before because I had saved some business letters/floor plans on it & I erased them yesterday to make room for other things I need to save and the old items were no longer needed. I'm going to try one more time with the USB's.

 

My husband just called & we are going to go look for a harddrive Saturday & see what kind of computer I want to replace this one with. He doesn't trust Norton Ghost - says it can be hacked too easily. I don't know. But hopefully we will get the new harddrive and this one will hold for another couple of days & I won't have to worry about 3 weeks. It buys a little time.

29

Keep your fingers crossed.

 

I don't think your husband is right about GHOST since it is a utility that you use to make an image of your comuter drive -- as I mentioned earlier -- that you store on your own hard drive or set of DVDs. I think he may be thinking of OnLine storage and stuff called "in the Cloud" but I don't think he is right about that being hacked either but I would not choose it for mission critical storage.

 

And given what I said about Seagate, Maxtor and Western Digital hard drives and getting a free copy of an imaging program from them GHOST is less relevant plus if you are forced to wait for the new PC then it's going to come, in all probability with WIndows & on it and that has a built in Imaging program so don't rush on that unless you need to hold off on the new PC.

 

Here's a link to a free Imaging program that is well though of by many:

 

http://www.paragon-software.com/home/br-free/ 

 

Office Depot is a good place to go both to look and touch and because they do have that excellent refund policy so you can use it for up to 14 -15 (?) days and if don't like the noise the keyboard makes even you can get a full refund with no restocking fee -- just keeep every scrap of packaging and paperwork that comes with it.

 

Here's something that will almost certainly get skipped when you talk with the salesman in most places but nearly every comuter you buy now comes with what is called the 64 bit version of Windows 7 and not the 32 bit version. This has some potential advantages for gamers and people who process digital images, videos and music type stuff but for everyday use 664 bit has little real advantage -- but "they" give you little choice unless you find a model and can special order the 32 bit version of the same WIndows 7.

 

The downside of this 64 bit is that any older hardware you want to continue using -- printer, scanner, multifunction printer, in particular has to have available matching 64 bit drivers or they will not work at all although Windows 7 64 bit does have some simple 64 bit drivers for some older softare built in you may find that some features won't work -- like faxing or pressing a button on a printer or scanner and having it do something.

 

So you need to know about this or you will find yourself with a wonderful computer and essential hardware that won't work!

 

I'll be happy to check out that hardware for you since I'm used to doing that if you give me the details of what you have plugged in that you have to continue to use. AgainI need to know make and the model number that will enable me to identify it on line.

 

Since we really aren't dealing with a Norton software problem I'm going to suggest that a moderator moves this thread over to another Forum here called Tech Outpost since that is where we deal with computing problems that don't directly involve the Norton software.

 

You won't lose sight of it all since it will leave behind a link here that will take you to the new location but you'll see Tech Outpost listed in the Community front page.

 

See you there.

30

Hi Hugh,

 

Can you copy your last post & put it on Tech Outpost? I went there, but didn't see you yet. Thanks.

31

We haven't been moved yet!

 

Keep coming here until you see a message with the same subject as you started and Moved and it will give a link that you click on to take you to exactly where it's gone to!

 

So my message should be here still -- I see it and this one I'm replying to.

32

Okay.  I guess I'm getting ahead of the moderator. I finally got several files to transfer onto my USB disc. And I'm looking at the Paragon Back-up. That would be a lot easier & quicker. I agree with you abot Norton Ghost - I don't think it could be hacked when it is created by a computer safety company.

33

Hi sbncmo,

 

About the USB thumb drives not working properly ...  The problem might have arisen if you previously removed a USB storage device without first clicking on the special removal icon in the system tray,  I don't know what this icon looks like in Vista, but it is the icon your are supposed to click on to make sure that the device is ready to be removed.

 

If you remove a USB storage device without first getting permission from Windows, then some strange things sometimes occur.  One of these things is that that particular USB port still thinks that it is connected to that particular item and will not allow a new item to be connected properly.  There are ways to fix this, and I'm sure your local computer repair shop would know what to do.

 

Meanwhile, there is something you might try, because it sometimes works:  If you have multiple USB ports on your computer, then try using the thumb drive on each USB port, in turn.  It might work on one of the USB ports but not on another one.

 

In any event, if you manage to get a USB storage device to accept your backup files, then be sure to properly disconnect the device when you're through.  Close all of the folders that are open on the attached USB drive, then look for the special icon in the system tray and click on it before removing the device from the system.  (If you can't find the special icon, then you can always just do a regular Windows shutdown, because Windows knows know to correctly disconnect all devices as it is in the process of shutting everything down.)

 

RichD

______________

 

 

34

If you can do it then when you get the external hard drive and it connects OK to the computer then install and use the Paragon to IMAGE the whole hard drive into a file on the external hard drive. Then you do have an absolute backup of the whole drive that can be restored later if necessary to a new hard drive and then have time to recover or move over onto the new computer.

 

I'll be off line now until sometime in the morning then off over midday so I'll catch up tomorrow.

35

sbncmo - After reading your post, about your Family Tree Maker Program, I tried to backup my Tree information to a thumb drive.  My copy of FTM Version 16, (about 30 MB of data) would not allow me to backup to a thumb drive?  I received an alert that the floppy had information on it and I needed to insert a clean floppy?  I  didn't understand that unless the backup overwrites everything else on the thumb drive, I don't know.  What I ended up doing was just coping the .FBK and .FTW files from my desktop to the thumb drive.  It worked.  FTM Version 2011 did allow me to backup to a thumb drive.  Good luck with your drive problem.

36

Hi sbncmo,

 

A couple of added notes to what others said earlier.

 

Regarding new computers with 64 bit windows. I would recommend that you check ahead of time to see if all of your hardware you want to use on that new computer has 64 bit drivers available. If they do I would recommend that you DO get 64 bit Windows. You will still be able to run 32 bit applications even for things such as IE, MS Office, etc, etc. In fact MS themselves recommend to use the 32 bit version of IE and Office for the time being because not too many plug-ins and add-ons are yet available for 64 bit IE and Office.

 

But 64 bit OS IS recommended provided that you don't have hardware that you must have use of and they don't have 64 bit drivers available.


Microsoft has already announced that after Windows 7 there will be NO more 32 bit Windows. If you get 64 bit on your new computer now you will have an upgrade path when 64 bit Windows 8 comes out.

 

Regarding USB flash drives, a couple of things. I can't help wondering if you could have gotten some USB flash drives which are not formatted properly or are formatted in a way that Windows does not recognize. If you know you do not have data on it you can try formatting from Windows Explorer and see if that works. If it is able to format the USB flash drive, then see if you can write files to it.

 

Best wishes.

Allen

37

I got my USB to accept my files. I have some programs that I have somehow lost the original discs for and saved the entire program - it seems to have worked. And my Family Tree Maker, I have the program disc so I also just coped the .FTW files from my desktop to the thumb drive/USB. Hopefully I've copied everything correctly & can reinstall it on a new harddrive and/or computer - probably both - or store online. I've use several computers for the last 12 years, yet when it comes to stuff like this, I'm in over my head!

38

Hi Allen,

 

I don't think I need anything added to my new computer. Any hardware is what came with the computer. I want to make sure my new computer will work with MS Works since that is what all my documents are done with.

 

And I wonder about compatibility with my MFC. It's a simple HP Officejet 4500. Not expensive, but I just bought it & I don't want to buy another one so soon.

 

It sounds like 64 bit will be the best way to go so I won't have to upgrade later. I assume a saleman at a store will be able to tell me if a particular computer is compatible with my MFC & will use my MS Works, as well as all my programs that I have saved on my USB disc. I lost eveything once with an upgrade when the new OS wasn't compatible with the old one. I don't want that to happen again.

39
sbncmo wrote:

Hi Allen,

 

I don't think I need anything added to my new computer. Any hardware is what came with the computer. I want to make sure my new computer will work with MS Works since that is what all my documents are done with.

 

And I wonder about compatibility with my MFC. It's a simple HP Officejet 4500. Not expensive, but I just bought it & I don't want to buy another one so soon.

 

It sounds like 64 bit will be the best way to go so I won't have to upgrade later. I assume a saleman at a store will be able to tell me if a particular computer is compatible with my MFC & will use my MS Works, as well as all my programs that I have saved on my USB disc. I lost eveything once with an upgrade when the new OS wasn't compatible with the old one. I don't want that to happen again.

Hi sbncmo,

 

If you just bought this printer I'm sure it will have a 64 bit driver available. Here is the link I found on the HP website for this printer. It indicates in system requirements section that it is compatible with 64 bit Vista and Windows 7. If you click on Support and Drivers near the top left you can fill in the form and should be able to get to the 64 bit driver.

 

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF06b/18972-18972-238444-12019-3328086-3919445-3986394-3986401.html

 

For anything else it is really just a matter of checking the manufacturer website and confirming if they have 64 bit drivers available for any hardware you are concerned about and which OS it is for.

 

For other software (other than drivers) most 32 bit applications are compatible and can run on 64 bit Windows. Exceptions can be things such as low level utilities like disk utilities, etc which may not run on 64 bit if they were designed for 32 bit. ALL drivers on 64 bit OS MUST be 64 bit.

 

Similar to hardware support for 64 bit OS - for any software you are concerned about you should be able to find out from the software manufacturer if it will work or if they have updates available if needed.

 

By far and large most typical 32 bit applications will run on 64 bit Windows.

 

It is more common for software to stop working or not work properly when you change the version of Windows such as Vista to Windows 7, etc.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Best wishes.

Allen

40

Hi Allen,

 

Changing the version from Vista to to Windows 7 - that may be a big problem. My OS is Vista and I don't know if any new OS will be Vista or if everything will be Windows 7. My sons says Vista is being done away with, but I don't know. But I will keep in mind to check for updates. Thanks.