AFU error
 

I can turn my laptop on.....but i can't turn it off. It just sits on 'Logging off'
I can't uninstall any programs.
I can't install any programs...it just sits on the 'preparing to install
If i highlight text in firefox, it lock the program up
I cant get the Task manager to open...although it sits in the tray
I can't restore to a previous restore point...I get the same 'preparing' hang

this is all true in safe mode as well.


w t f

If i format drive c, will the restore on drive d boot?

Oh...I've seen that before.

That's A Fuck U error. :)

All Fucked Up, actually.

...hmmm...the highlighting text thing seems to be better

Did you make a bootable CD by any chance? If not, make one at work - google 'BOOT CD'.

Hopefully, you are set up to boot off the CD.

Are you running Vista?

I don't know what you're dealing with, but to answer part of your question, if the computer has a restore partition, that will usually wipe the disk and restore everything to its factory condition without you having to do any kind of prep. (Of course you need to back up anything you want.... there are still ways to get the files off, if you need to, even if Windows won't boot--as long as you're not dealing with actual physical failure of the drive.)

yes

the restore feature wont go

Hmm well you may have a toasted hard drive.

but the computer works ok otherwise?

You know what to do with toast, right? Put jelly on it.





































PUT JELLY ON YOUR HARD DRIVE.

It's all jinx's fault. If you didn't have all those pics of her smoking hot body on there, this would have never happened. :headshake

Look who's talking. Your pics ruined my keyboard.

I admit I'm nosy. I'd love to know what was in Labrat's deleted reply. :D

Put jelly on your hard drive?

put jelly on *these*

Hard to tell without more detailed info (what does work? If anything?) But, let's say you have a bad area of your hard drive. Things will work fine until the computer tries to read or write something to it. Or maybe some of your files are just corrupted. Again, you're fine till it tries to use one of those files. Bad memory might cause symptoms like that too.. I had a bad memory card in a server once, but it wouldn't freeze up until there was enough stuff running to use a lot of memory and make it try to use the "bad" part.

i was thinking it might be the memory.....

i had an issue before when i tried to install a program...it came up with an error saying i needed at leat 196M of ram or some nominal amount....It came with 4G.

i looked, and it's 2 cards at 2 each...upgradeable to 8G with 2 4's.

I guess i'll try that before i get drastic.

Jesus Christ--stop him before he gets drastic!

Put down that soldering iron, man.

Before you buy memory, try the apps I pointed to here. If that checks out ok, do a surface check on the hard drive.

• Open the My Computer window.
• Right-click on the drive and choose properties.
• Click on the tools tab.
• Click on the error-checking/check now button.
• Click on both check boxes.
• Click on start.
• You may have to reboot.

Doing those things will at least give you more information.

thanks dar, i will attempt to. i dont think i'll be able to install those apps though.

The best memtest is this one anyway. That's an iso image. Download the file to a different computer. Use any of the methods on this page to burn the file to a cd. The cd will be bootable. Now boot your machine from the cd you made. You may have to run your machine's setup program to tell it to boot from cd. (When your machine first starts up, you should see a message "Press F2 (or something else) for setup." PM me if you have problems.

When the cd boots it will automatically start running the memtest.

I haven't used that particular program, but I agree that live-boot CDs are your friend. Big time.

cool. i have nero. thanks.

mmmmm

K

Y

???

What is the hardware manufacturer?

Remove the battery briefly?

I'm a little surprised. I was expecting you to tell him to break out his heat gun and direct the heat at various parts and report back what happens.

You can ruin a laptop with a hairdryer.

Especially if you are using it in the bathtub.

Why? We don't even know what the hardware manufacturer is? Fix the computer before doing a makover.

That's right, removing the linoleum from the laptop surface should happen later in the troubleshooting process.

hewlett packard:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1213399970436

damn...it was $899 when i got it.

tried that. no soap.

That means it has comprehensive diagnostics in the machine, provided on a CD, and also available on the web site. To break the problem down into parts - then verify the integrity of thost parts - only the better computer manufacturers provide such diagnostics.

Is the problem in Windows or in hardware? Diagnostics answer that. Verify each hardware item. Either test each hardware or run the entire diagnostic to test everything, including memory.

Diagnostics mean identifying the problem before fixing it which is why only better computer manufacturers such as HP and Dell provide them.

Do not format anything. That would be fixing something without any idea what is wrong. Nuke and Pave is the last ditch - burn down the world and let nature fix it - solution.

BUT....I'm a John Wayne Motherfucker....

Then shoot it and apply for warranty repair. Do you think those repair guys are going to argue once they see the bullet hole?

:lol:

tw must be gettin some - he's been a riot lately.

how long should the test take? it took mine appx 2 hours to complete with no errors. I started jinx's doing it, and it was going 2.5-3 times faster than mine.

I love tw Funny Day!
I've tried to map it, but it's not tied in with the phases of the moon. Solar flares maybe?

it's almost as though someone else had written it, too. there are participles and proper verb conjugation and all......

tw, do you have company over?

It can take a while to go through the whole test. 2 hours sounds about right. I don't know why there was a difference between your machine and Jinx's. Are your configurations exactly the same? If she has less memory or a faster bus, that might explain it.

The test is pretty thorough, so I'd start looking at other issues. One would guess the hard drive, but it's certainly possible to be other things. A virus, for instance, can play havoc with your machine.

It's a fairly new computer, isn't it? I'd say if it's not the hard drive, then you should have a strongly worded talk with the vendor. Unless you've poured a drink in the thing, it shouldn't be failing this soon.

You'd have a harder time of getting something out of them if it's the hard drive. A hard bump when it's reading or writing can ruin a sector or more.

If you've got automated diagnostics as tw suspects, I'd run those and see what it tells you.

Otherwise run the Windows drive tests I mentioned yesterday.

Good luck.

i saw the link to the memory test, but the drive test is where?

It's built in to windows.

Hardware involved with your problem is not detected by a memory test or drive test. However if those (or other) hardware has a problem, it is more likely to be found in the system (event) logs.

The only diagnostic that will test hardware relevant to your problem is HP's comprehensive diagnostics.

Why a difference between execution time of two machines? Those numbers (reason for the difference) may be found in BIOS settings. Those numbers may also be reported by HP's comprehensive diagnostics.

All those tests that Dar512 has recommended are in comprehensive diagnostics.

There is little to nothing useful in Windows diagnostics because Windows is designed to work around and avoid hardware failures whenever possible. However if Windows has seen a hardware failure, then that is stored and reported in system logs or is obvious in Device manager. Windows is a bad tool for hardware diagnosis.

Once a manufacturer's comprehensive diagnostic says OK, then move on to other suspects - which is not hardware.

I agree with this. The problem sounds like hardware and if you call for support, they will not go further with you until you've run those.

so...where do i find these diagnostics you speak of? on their website, or is it in my computer somewhere?

Either on a CD that came with, or from the HP site somewhere.

i got the system restore to work FINALLY, and now i cant get it connected to my godamned wireless network. I'm gonna shoot it very soon.

come chat and help me fix the fucking shitbag

well, i found the diagnostics within the bios setings in the start up menu.....

i'm running the primary drive test now....it also has a memory test in there.

the problem now though....is that i can connect to my home wireless network, but it wont get internet. I've tried all the 'repair connection' options i can find, but the dog just won't hunt.

im terribly frustrated.

You can cannot to your home wireless network? How? What is the test that says you have a connection that far?
Ping 192.168.1.1 ?
In Internet Explorer, http://192.168.1.1 ?
Lights on the wireless router? Or just that something on the Task Bar tells you a connection exists?

Also not defined is your ISP? What is physically connected to what?

Of course, a temporary hardwire connection to the router would simplify a diagnosis. Using wireless is best done later after everything else is confirmed good.

Don't try all those fixing things. First identify the failure. Failure has not yet been identified. Above are some tests to identify the failure - not yet fix anything.

Now you have two identical computers. Many netork interface diagnostics need two identical sysetms connected to a common network to test the network connection. Boot both computers into the comprehensive hardware diagnostic (no Windows) and find the last network interface test where two computers running the same diagnostic talk to each others. That diagnostic is a best way to determine what is absoutely working without doubt - so that we can move on to other possible problems.

i threw it out the window. i was surprised that it bounced.

actually, i gave up trying to find the issue.....and used system restore to reset the computer to it's original out of the box state. I had backed up all the files i cared about, so now it's just a matter of re installing a few programs. thanks anyway for your help, cellar.

So is it working now?

Oh, yeah.....it hooked right up. It's kind of cool, actually....getting to start over like i just got a new computer. AND! i get another 60 days free virus scan from norton that came with it!

Bonus!