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Author Topic: New to Boards - Need help  (Read 6700 times)

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Berti2.0

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    New to Boards - Need help
    « on: December 05, 2008, 03:43:52 PM »
    Hi all, my name is Bert. Well, Ive had my computer for about a year now and just a month ago, it started giving me lots of problems. First, its Vista. Second, I have over 10,000 songs on there and lots of other personal writings as well. I had customized my computer, had all the shortcuts on my desktop etc etc etc and one day, when I turned it back on, everything was gone. Everything I had customized was gone, and subsequently my music and files were also gone. I was shattered to be honest. Well, I made a search on my computer and found my music and files on some other folder and I copied all the files back into my original "My Documents" folder. So as I finished doing that, i re-customized everything and for a bit everything was back to normal. So I turned off my computer and woke up the next day and turned it back on and everything was gone again! My files were gone and everything I had customized had disappeared. I searched for my files once again and yes, they popped up but to this day I am unable to open and access them. A message that reads "Power refers to a location that is unavailable. it could be on a hard drive on this computer, or on a network. Check to make sure that the disk is properly inserted , or that you are connected to the internet or your network, and then try again. If it still cannot be located, the information might have been moved to a different location." So everytime I've tried to open something, that pops up. It's frustrating and sad because I have absolutely no idea how this might have happened. So here I am today hoping I can get some sort of help. Thanks and thanks for anyone that took the time to read this and thanks for the ones that will try and help.

    patio

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    Re: New to Boards - Need help
    « Reply #1 on: December 05, 2008, 05:56:01 PM »
    Time to start considering a good backup strategy...
    Apart from that we need some more info...
    What Vista version...
    How did you move/copy the files...
    Is shadow copying turned on...
    Indexing service on or off...
    How many accounts on the machine

    How long have you been running Vista...

    Lotsa questions and sorry for that ...but Welcome Aboard !
    " Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

    Berti2.0

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      Re: New to Boards - Need help
      « Reply #2 on: December 05, 2008, 07:09:25 PM »
      Vista version? I think its the home personal one..I don't know..
      Well when I made a search, the folders containing my stuff popped up and I think I just moved them from that location (which I don't know what its called) to "My Documents" folder.
      Shadow copying/Indexing service on/off? I have no idea where to turn those on/off.
      Theres two accounts active on the computer right now.
      And I bought the computer last year around this time and Vista was already installed. I'd be more than happy to supply you with more information and thanks!

      patio

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      Re: New to Boards - Need help
      « Reply #3 on: December 05, 2008, 09:15:02 PM »
      OK.
      Before we go chasing down reasons for why this may have happened i'd like you to try something.
      Re-boot the machine and go to Windows Explorer ...in Vista from the Start Menu it's All Programs/Accessories/Explorer...
      Open the My Documents folder and see if the tunes are there...check the Music folder as well because sometimes Vista wants to be smarter than it thinks you are...
      If no joy-joy then re-boot and login to the 2nd account and repeat the above procedure...

      Let us know,
      " Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

      Berti2.0

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        Re: New to Boards - Need help
        « Reply #4 on: December 06, 2008, 12:00:30 AM »
        Okay. I did all of that and...nothing.

        killerb255



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          Re: New to Boards - Need help
          « Reply #5 on: December 06, 2008, 09:01:35 PM »
          Vista doesn't have a "My Documents" folder.  Just "Documents" as well as "Music," "Pictures," etc.

          Do a search again.  This time, click "Views," then "Details."  This should show you the exact location.  Post those locations here and perhaps we can come up with why they ended up there...
          Quote from: talontromper
          Part of the problem is most people don't generally deal with computer problems. So for most they think that close enough is good enough.

          Berti2.0

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            Re: New to Boards - Need help
            « Reply #6 on: December 06, 2008, 09:23:45 PM »
            Okay....so this is what it says when I search for a song and i look under "location"

            c:\users\TEMP\music\SoulSeek\

            Broni


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            Re: New to Boards - Need help
            « Reply #7 on: December 06, 2008, 09:34:41 PM »
            Do you keep all your important files in TEMP folder?

            BC_Programmer


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            Re: New to Boards - Need help
            « Reply #8 on: December 06, 2008, 09:35:31 PM »
            TEMP in this instance looks like it's a username ???
            I was trying to dereference Null Pointers before it was cool.

            Berti2.0

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              Re: New to Boards - Need help
              « Reply #9 on: December 06, 2008, 10:16:39 PM »
              Uh no I don't keep my files in a "TEMP" folder. I had all my files in my "Documents" folder. When I first noticed my files were gone from my "Documents" folder, I made a search and found the folders and files in a separate "TEMP" folder so what I did was move them from that folder back to my "Documents" folder.

              killerb255



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                Re: New to Boards - Need help
                « Reply #10 on: December 06, 2008, 10:29:36 PM »
                I know what the problem is!

                BC_Programmer is half-right.  TEMP is a user name, but not just any user name.  It's the user name for a temporary profile created when Windows can't find your real profile.

                Chances are, you were logged in under a temporary profile while copying all your music and stuff, then your real profile started working recently, making it appear that your stuff is missing.

                In other words, your user profile might be corrupt.  I wouldn't try to use it anymore. 

                Do this:

                1) Create a new user account on your computer.
                Start -> Control Panel -> Classic View -> Manage another account -> Create a new account -> type new name (can't be the same as any other names) -> select Administrator.

                2) Restart your computer and log in under the new account.

                3) Now go to C:\Users\TEMP as well as C:\Users\your old user name and copy the Desktop, Favorites, Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos to C:\Users\your new user name.  Select "Copy and Replace" when prompted. 
                Quote from: talontromper
                Part of the problem is most people don't generally deal with computer problems. So for most they think that close enough is good enough.

                Berti2.0

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                  Re: New to Boards - Need help
                  « Reply #11 on: December 06, 2008, 10:38:02 PM »
                  I'm a bit lost here sorry...
                  When I get to step 3, where do I go to access the c:\USERS/TEMP..?

                  Broni


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                  Re: New to Boards - Need help
                  « Reply #12 on: December 06, 2008, 10:39:22 PM »
                  Also with 10,000 sings, and all other important data, make sure, your computer is backed up at least once a week. Complete image would be your best option.

                  BC_Programmer


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                  Re: New to Boards - Need help
                  « Reply #13 on: December 06, 2008, 10:52:42 PM »
                  you would access C:\Users\temp by using windows explorer.

                  or;

                  Windows key +R C:\users\temp

                  I was trying to dereference Null Pointers before it was cool.

                  Berti2.0

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                    Re: New to Boards - Need help
                    « Reply #14 on: December 06, 2008, 11:00:46 PM »
                    Okay so I did that and it says it can't open it. I've tried it lots of times and its just not opening.