need some computer help
 

when it comes to computers i really have no idea whats going on, i just turn it on and surf the web and ocassionally save some pictures to it. but recently my hp laptop completly ---- the bed and would just freeze up after it loaded everything. i brought it in and they said that the mother board is fubar and that its probably not worth saving. they are charging me 49.95 For diag, and want another 49.95 to transfer my data to cd's. they said they would turn my harddrive into some kinda of usb based "external hardrive" and they would transfer all my data over for me for free, if i would just scrap the rest of my computer to them for parts.

my computer is only 2 years old and i think still pretty nice. their quoting me 600 to fix the mother board.now my question is .. is it really that damn expensive? is it a good deal to just do the hard drive thing and let them have the rest? ive found "hp mother boards" on ebay for 95-185 but i have no idea what one i have or if their junk or what.

Re: need some computer help
 

Have you clean your computer with can air. If its the memory maxing out after restarting your computer. Have ever just use the alt-ctrl-del and choose task manager. While in there look at the performance tab and see if your cpu memory is maxing out. Then look at physical memory usage history see what it is doing if it never goes near the max. memory but just floats a point continously then you may just need to replace memory. If it ddr2 you can pick up memory chips for about $40.00 for 1g at a walmart.

Re: need some computer help
 

stop taking your ---- to best buy


have a real computer guy take a look rather than some dumb ass geek squad cop wanna be getting paid slightly better than minimum wage and hates his/her job.






question 1...

when you start your computer does it at least make it to the main screen (aka desktop)?


if so, your MOBO is more than likely fine and what is probably causing your issue is some virus/trojan/spyware that you got. A simple reinstall of XP should do the trick. you lose all your files, but your computer works. you can probaly buy another HD (~$50), and put that new one in and install XP, then take your old one out, buy the USB external HD case ($10) and then transfer your files over.

not hard to do at all.



if you turn it on, and then does nothing, not even beeps, your MOBO is fried. buy a new one for $350, and then take your old HD out of the old PC and buy the USB external HD case ($10) and transfer files.





---- ain't hard son

Re: need some computer help
 

Take a pic of the screen where it freezes and post it up. Where are you located? If you're in WA i'll fix it for free.

Re: need some computer help
 

its on the desktop when it freezes up. it seemed to boot up just fine i guess. and i didnt bring it to the geek squad, it was a local business that only deals with computer repair. i dont think its my memory maxing out cause i thought it had a good amount but ive checked my performance before and my cpu usage is always between 35-85% even when im not doing anything?

where can i find a good new hardrive for it? prolly ebay or something? or is there a good website for it?

Re: need some computer help
 

I your cpu memory is between 35%-85% then your L1 and L2 memory is burnt or damaged and You need to replace some memory. DDr2 at most places start @ $25 to $60 depending on the amount of memory you want to buy. Keep your buying info and register your replacement chip so you can take advantage of the warrenties. (usually lifetime)
On my laptops I burn up 2 chips every 6 mo.

But just in case go into your control panel and look at your startup menu and disable anything you do not want started when restart. Most of the time when you DL any new programs the programs auto. setup to startup when computer is restarted or boots up. Hope this helps. ;D

Re: need some computer help
 

He's talking about CPU usage, I dunno what you mean by CPU memory. Anyways if it is idling that high it's not a memory problem, it's most likely a trojan/spyware issue.

Re: need some computer help
 

I was talking about the the built in memory on the CPU and he could just have too many programs running in the back ground at startup.

Re: need some computer help
 

you have some spyware/virus/trojan that has most likely corrupted your OS as i mentioned before. a reinstall of XP should fix your problem.

if you dont want to loose your files, get a hard drive from....

craigslist
ebay
newegg
or some other online place

new 120gb HD shouldnt cost more than $75 at most.


install that into your laptop, then get the adapter to turn your OLD hard drive into a USB drive. Buy this adapter from newegg or an electronics store near you (Best Buy, Circuit City, etc...). should cost lest than $20 for the adapter.


then pull your files from the old hard drive (pictures, documents, music, videos, etc..). when done, format that hard drive and sell on craigslist to recoup some cost.

Re: need some computer help
 

Nice plan for me in the future.