More Problems after Formatting - Wierd!

[cookiemunstahh]

I will try to make a long story short:
Computer originally kept restarting with no BSOD. Just would shut off and turn back on. (Sometimes during boot up and maybe 10-15 times in a row... like maybe a few seconds after the last had hit). Tried a bunch of the stuff in one forum about restarts, but didn't really do anything (other free online scanners I could never finish because it would reboot before finishing). Finally it just got out of hand, brought it to my school's computerplace, they scaned it and said it was fine. Took it home, upon turning it on it immediately started restarting again. This time I noticed it was with slightly less frequency. Then I decided to format my computer. I did the whole "erase to factory settings" thing and it STILL rebooted. Then I went on spring break and when I came back my computer miraculously stopped rebooting, BUT now it has a myriad of other problems.

(Also I must add the restarting may have come from a download 3 days before. I tried to dl an onscreen keyboard without knowing that the computer already had one. -- My roommate is a b**** when it comes to complete and utter silence for her studying and sleep. )

I must note when I erased my computer I noted a lot of things I had added on (software) before weren't erased... Why is that?

Current Problems include:
- Occasional freezing
- My DVD-RW drive sometimes doesn't work. It starts beeping like crazy. Also sometimes If I have a DVD or CD in there when starting the computer up it keeps beeping loudly with a black screen. I need to take out the disc for it to work.
- major one: The computer won't let me update some of its software... esp. back to Windows XP (the 2 pack or whatever it is). I need to update it so I can reinstall my school's virus remover and their computer monitoring software. But when I try to dl the 2nd pack from their site it always gets to the very end of installation and it gets an error. Then it erases everything it added.
- Also I'm having a problem retrieving movies (we're not talking bootleg, we're talking videocamera burned onto computer, then onto disc--I'm the video editor for one of my clubs) from dvd-r's. Some of them work, but some don't. (I get the beeping noise with some of burned dvds/cds. I also get halted whirring "duuuuuuck... duck duck duuuuuck" and "squeeeee" noises. After the non working ones... don't work... either the computer freezes or nothing happens.)

I know I have had other problems I've encountered but I can't remember them at the moment...

I'm in an HP Media Center... Windows XP (Assuming Service Pack 1 as the updating thingie says I need SP 2).

[cookiemunstahh]

Oh yeah I forgot to mention that my TV Tuner is also no longer working...

And at the moment I am scanning with Housecall. We shall see if that does anything. (I am noticing too at the bottom of the screen w/ the files scanned flashing by... every now and then it goes "ERROR.")

Okay I'll be back... need to go to class.

[dl65]

cookiemunstahh....... Usually , HP provides 3 cds ( I believe ) with their machines .......  the 1st on will have the operating system on it with the service pack ..... for example Win XP Media Centre  SP1 or perhaps Win XP Media Centre  SP2 .
In your case you probably have the first one .
Then ...there should be a second cd ....called Application and Driver Recovery DVD.
Then the 3rd cd ...is called Application Recovery CD ..... ( this one is for doing a system restore back to as shipped condition )

The odd thing is that you say you did a format and clean install , but it didnt remove some programs ...... that suggests that you only did a repair ....... as opposed to a complete format .......

Perhaps you could describe how you did "your format" and which cds you used .
I ask this because I just did a format and a reinstall on a HP laptop and it formatted the whole hard drive ....not just part of it ........ or did you have partitions set and the programs which were not removed were stored in those partitions ?

dl65  

[cookiemunstahh]

Well I asked the HP ppl on the site (I chatted with them). I told them I wanted to do the erasing to "factory settings" because I did that a long time ago on a different computer.  They gave me a set of instructions... (Let me find them because this was a few weeks ago and I forgot exactly what it said)

So this one doesn't have CDs. (I only have CDs for the original software I bought at the same time as the computer, old virus scan stuff and Microsoft Office... I don't think I threw it away cuz I always keep all my computer stuff in one box... Also, this is a bummer too, this comp is relatively new... maybe a year and half old. So I remember wondering where the other CDs were...) I think because it has that extra drive we don't need it. It was like during the boot or something we pressed f8 or something and you come to a series of screens they have choices like "completely format" and "format to original factory settings."

Oh sorry... it's "System Recovery" (I must add, I never changed the recovery settings... like I never saved the "new" settings after dling software.  Never bothered to.)

OK Found the site... here's what it says:
NOTE:  HP PCs that ship with Microsoft Windows XP do not come with recovery CDs. Instead, they use a hidden space (partition) on the hard drive to store the recovery information. The use of a hidden partition provides a convenient process that eliminates the use of recovery discs that may be lost or scratched. Recovery discs for Windows XP are available from HP for a minimal cost. Go to the section " Related support " for ordering information. Your PC may also contain Recovery Creation software.  

So yeah I just used the partition thingie... Well some of the things I noticed that didn't change were updated drivers (I updated drivers recently before formatting because I thought that might be the problem... but I dunno).

Other things that weren't deleted were like remnants of programs... like a LOT of icons were left on my desktop but most of them didn't work... like you click em and either an error shows up or nothing happens.

Also, wierdly, the internet was already set up. (When I originally came to school I needed to go through this whole process to set up the internet.)

Do you think I should order these disks and just completely erase it? Or is there another way to clean up the problems on here?

[cookiemunstahh]

OH wait, I think I must have read this wrong... I tihnk I did a system recovery... I thought I remembered the destructive one as totally erasing EVERYTHING. But it says here not... is this true?

"CAUTION:  Performing a Destructive Recovery will format the hard drive. This will delete all the information on the hard drive and reinstall Windows XP and the original software that came with the PC.Performing a System Recovery replaces system files and original software with the files that originally came with the PC. This process may move or remove certain files, like those stored in My Documents. Before performing a System Recovery backup important files and the files stored in the My Documents folder.In either case, be prepared to reinstall software that was not originally included with the PC. You will also need to reconfigure an Internet Connection and obtain all critical Windows Updates, Virus definition updates, and anti-spyware updates.  "

[GX1_Man]

If you use the full restore ALL of the things you added yourself will be gone, along with the problems hopefully. If there is any important data you need to back up do so.

[cookiemunstahh]

So really the "destructive" one is the one I want to do right... "Back to Factory Settings" was on my old computer... yeah I don't mind that reg. files/progs will be lost... I understand that I need to reupdate everything right?

Just making sure LOL.

[GX1_Man]

That is correct.