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Old 11-20-2008, 03:34 PM   #31
Clodfobble
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That's right, removing the linoleum from the laptop surface should happen later in the troubleshooting process.
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Old 11-20-2008, 03:49 PM   #32
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tw View Post
What is the hardware manufacturer?
hewlett packard:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1213399970436

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

Quote:
Originally Posted by Undertoad View Post
Remove the battery briefly?
tried that. no soap.
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Old 11-20-2008, 04:00 PM   #33
tw
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lumberjim View Post
hewlett packard:
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.
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Old 11-20-2008, 04:07 PM   #34
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BUT....I'm a John Wayne Motherfucker....
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Old 11-20-2008, 04:08 PM   #35
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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?
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Old 11-20-2008, 04:18 PM   #36
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Old 11-20-2008, 08:20 PM   #37
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tw must be gettin some - he's been a riot lately.
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Old 11-21-2008, 08:01 AM   #38
lumberjim
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Originally Posted by dar512 View Post
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.
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.
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Old 11-21-2008, 09:29 AM   #39
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Originally Posted by tw View Post
Then shoot it and apply for warranty repair. Do you think those repair guys are going to argue once they see the bullet hole?
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?
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Old 11-21-2008, 09:48 AM   #40
lumberjim
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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?
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Old 11-21-2008, 09:50 AM   #41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lumberjim View Post
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.
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.
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Old 11-21-2008, 10:42 AM   #42
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i saw the link to the memory test, but the drive test is where?
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Old 11-21-2008, 11:48 AM   #43
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It's built in to windows.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dar512 View Post
<snip>
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.
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Old 11-21-2008, 03:13 PM   #44
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lumberjim View Post
i saw the link to the memory test, but the drive test is where?
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.
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Old 11-21-2008, 03:35 PM   #45
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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.
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