PC Survey.

[Cranfield]

I am having a few PC problems and would appreciate some feedback.

I am operating Windows XP Home.

 

If you have the time please go to;

Start

All Programmes

Accessories

System Tools

System Restore.

 

What is the furthest date back, you can restore your PC to ?

 

If you have set a deliberately short period, please mention that.

[Davej]

28/03/06 reloaded windows on that date.

[Gemini]

It all depends on what you have done to your PC. Sometimes you download a specific update that creates a restore point on your PC and if that is done on the day after you installed XP, then that would be the earliest date that you could restore it to.

I always create a restore point as soon as possible so that I can return to it if something goes wrong. It also makes sense to create restore points once a week so that you don’t lose too much if you do have to restore your PC due to something going wrong.

G.M.

 

 

Sorry just realised that you were looking for a specific answer.

Edited May 8, 2006 by Gemini

[magman]

8th feb 2006

should be able to go back further i would have thought

[sussex lad]

27/02/06

[Lord Geordie]

Feb 7th of this year

 

I wouldn't go using restore all the time though a friend of mine said it saves a huge file in your comp incase you wanna go back to the date you started with

 

Do this a few times and you get the picture

 

LG

[Dunkield]

30th November 2005

[dunganick]

dont use system restore, its a real speed killer

 

use ghost over the network and back up all of our houses PC's onto two removeable hard discs.

 

I just take a Ghost everytime i have done a major update and everything is working properly.

[Cranfield]

So far, the furthest back is November 2005 and most others are earlier this year.

I would have expected most to be at least a year back.

 

Mine will not go further back than 23 March 2006.

 

It has been suggested that one of the symptoms of the intermittent problem I am experiencing, is lack of System Restore memory.

 

Thanks for the help.

[Davej]

So far, the furthest back is November 2005 and most others are earlier this year.

I would have expected most to be at least a year back.

 

Mine will not go further back than 23 March 2006.

 

It has been suggested that one of the symptoms of the intermittent problem I am experiencing, is lack of System Restore memory.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

Sounds like you are talking about a virus or worm ect I have 6 pc networked throughout the house and constantly running checker and havn't picked anything up.

[Poacher]

furthest it goes is........15/10/05........

[Cranfield]

Thanks, that gives me enough information to go on.

 

It does look as though I do have a worm, or virus, although nothing is being picked up on my AVG, or any of my Spyware/Malware Checkers (and I have loads).

As the problem is very intermittent and seems to eventually correct itself, it makes sorting it out all the harder.

[lurcherboy]

Cranfield I have suffered from that as well. The problem according to windows is lack of memory made available to system restore. It is adjustable but you will have to search for it.

 

Hope that helps

 

 

 

 

LB

[barrie0]

Cranners , you may have to change the amount of hard disk space available to system restore .

 

Have a look at this link :

 

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_restore.htm

[Cranfield]

I don't really mind the limited System Restore back dating, as I can't imagine wanting to restore further back than a few weeks.

 

It has been suggested that it is another symptom of my problem.

 

I have had an intermittent start up problem for about a year.

 

The symptoms start with a double beep on start up and I get the F1 and F2 option screen.

 

Sometimes if I press F2, it loads OK and all I have to do is change the date and time (date goes back to date I got the PC and the clock goes to 00.00).

 

Occasionally, this doesn't work and I have to boot in Safe mode and its starts OK, (still have to alter time and date).

 

Sometimes this doesn't work and on one occasion I called out a Techie and he changed a battery that, " should never run out" and it was OK.

 

Today it happened again and I went through all the usual proccesses, but nothing worked.

Eventually, I went into F1 and tried to change the date there and poked about, with no effect.

I then selected "Exit" and "save settings" and it rebooted perfectly OK.

 

I spoke to the Techie on the telephone this morning while I was trying all this and we discussed options.

After I got it working OK (accidently) I rang him back, he was at a Clients house who seemed to have a similar problem.

 

He asked me to check how far back my System Restore point on my PC went.

When I checked I couldn't get back further than 22 March 2006.

His Client couldn't get back further than 4 April 2006.

 

I have done every virus check, I have Spyware Doctor, Adaware, Spyware Blaster, auto updates, run at start etc. so I wouldn't expect to have a virus.

[Goose]

You can delete system restore right up to your last restore point. You don't need to save all that info going back months. When it is all running fine create a restore point and delete the rest to clear up the drive and make the computer work faster.

[Davej]

I don't really mind the limited System Restore back dating, as I can't imagine wanting to restore further back than a few weeks.

 

It has been suggested that it is another symptom of my problem.

 

I have had an intermittent start up problem for about a year.

 

The symptoms start with a double beep on start up and I get the F1 and F2 option screen.

 

Sometimes if I press F2, it loads OK and all I have to do is change the date and time (date goes back to date I got the PC and the clock goes to 00.00).

 

Occasionally, this doesn't work and I have to boot in Safe mode and its starts OK, (still have to alter time and date).

 

Sometimes this doesn't work and on one occasion I called out a Techie and he changed a battery that, " should never run out" and it was OK.

 

Today it happened again and I went through all the usual proccesses, but nothing worked.

 

 

 

Eventually, I went into F1 and tried to change the date there and poked about, with no effect.

I then selected "Exit" and "save settings" and it rebooted perfectly OK.

 

I spoke to the Techie on the telephone this morning while I was trying all this and we discussed options.

After I got it working OK (accidently) I rang him back, he was at a Clients house who seemed to have a similar problem.

 

He asked me to check how far back my System Restore point on my PC went.

When I checked I couldn't get back further than 22 March 2006.

His Client couldn't get back further than 4 April 2006.

 

I have done every virus check, I have Spyware Doctor, Adaware, Spyware Blaster, auto updates, run at start etc. so I wouldn't expect to have a virus.

 

With some viruses they can store in youre restore backup and don't get detected you have to turn this off and run your checker I think it mentions it on microsofts site somwhere,Your techi did right by first going to your battery this keeps cmos chip going when your not switched on and can create all sorts of problems. usually you clock on the bottom of the sceen will not keep its time.

 

and I think 2 beeps means system fault

Edited May 8, 2006 by Davej

[barrie0]

2 Beeps , it can depend on which bios manufacturer you have on your motherboard ie Ami , Award etc , so for an Ami bios you have this .

 

1 short DRAM refresh failure

2 short Parity circuit failure

3 short Base 64K RAM failure

4 short System timer failure

5 short Process failure

6 short Keyboard controller Gate A20 error

7 short Virtual mode exception error

8 short Display memory Read/Write test failure

9 short ROM BIOS checksum failure

10 short CMOS shutdown Read/Write error

11 short Cache Memory error

1 long, 3 short Conventional/Extended memory failure

1 long, 8 short Display/Retrace test failed

 

 

Detailed explanations:

 

1 short: DRAM refresh failure

The circuitry used to refresh the DRAM has failed.

 

2 short: Parity circuit failure

This relates to parity checking. The circuitry used to check the parity bit on system memory is failing.

 

3 short: Base 64K RAM failure

There was a problem with accessing the first 64Kb of memory. Swap out each memory stick to try and see if you can bypass the problem. Try swapping between various slots too. This error occurs if the motherboard is also failing so if none of your RAM works then the motherboard might be at fault.

 

4 short: System timer failure

The motherboard is toast (some timer or other on the circuit is failing)!

 

4 short: System timer failure

The motherboard is toast (some timer or other on the circuit is failing)!

 

5 short: Processor failure

The CPU is returning an error, or the motherboard cannot use the CPU properly. IMPORTANT NOTE: Don't confuse "processor failure" to mean "processor is dead"... if your CPU is dead the system shouldn't even power up at all, so it could possibly be a short, or a problem in a component that is interfering with the system. The processor might not be functioning properly or the motherboard might be having some problems (compatbility between components need not be outruled), but the processor is not "dead".

 

6 short: Keyboard controller Gate A20 error

The Keyboard controller is not working. This controller controls the keyboard and also the A20 Gate that access the HMA (High Memory Area).

 

7 short: Virtual mode exception error

The processor can't complete it's test of virtual mode.

 

8 short: Display memory Read/Write test failure

The motherboard cannot write to the frame buffer of your video card. Something is either wrong with the video card, with the video card memory, or the motherboard. Btw if the system continues to boot this is not unusual: this is not a stop error code.

 

9 short: ROM BIOS checksum failure

The ROM (read-only memory) that stores the BIOS code has failed its checksum error. This checksum is used to ensure that the BIOS code is correct each time you boot up, and the error likely means that the BIOS code has been corrupted somehow. The code is stored usually on a BIOS chip that can often be replaced. Some motherboards even have what is known as a "Dual Bios" system which will allow you to use a second BIOS chip in case of the first having failed.

 

10 short: CMOS shutdown Read/Write error

Unlike the ROM BIOS checksum failure, the CMOS shutdown failure indicates that the user BIOS settings somehow cannot be accessed by the motherboard. This usually indicates something is wrong with the motherboard.

 

11 short: Cache Memory error

The motherboard cannot verify the secondary L2 cache.

 

1 long, 3 short: Conventional/Extended memory failure

Conventional/Extended memory failure means that the system is reporting an error with the DRAM sticks that you have installed in your system. The most likely problem is either fault RAM, or improperly seated RAM (try reseating the RAM or moving it around to different slots).

 

1 long, 8 short: Display/Retrace test failed

The video card retrace has failed. This is usually a problem with the video card, or with the motherboard.

 

 

Looking at 2 beeps , I would suggest taking the memory out of the motherboard and reseating it as over time memory suffers from what is called chip creep (thermal expansion) and most of the time just needs taking out and putting back in . A battery should last years though but are easy to replace , normally they are a cr2032 cell battery about 50p each and just push into the socket on the motherboard . A failing battery would keep losing time and would also lose your bios settings but you would also normally get an error message ie cmos checksum error . One of the biggest hardware problems on a pc which is most overlooked is the power supply as most pc's are supplied with cheap psu's . Symptoms of a dodgy psu can be random memory errors , cold start up problems ,random rebooting and lock ups etc, etc . I learnt this a long time ago and have always put decent psu's in my systems . In summary Cranfield I would reseat the memory , maybe change the battery again and if you are still getting problems change the psu . All the above are simple things to do if you do a google search you will find plenty of sites that will show you .

[Piebob]

barrie0 has it sussed. The only thing I would add is that, depending on your memory configuration, you may want to run with reduced memory installed to eliminate any faulty modules one by one - may take some time if it's an intermittent problem.

 

You have a hardware issue - nothing to do with system restore problems, viruses or anything to do with software. When you are hearing beeps you haven't actually booted the Operating System.

 

I, too, had weird boot up problems which were cured when I swapped the power supply.

 

Piebob

[Cranfield]

Thanks for the suggestions Chaps and I think barrieO may have hit the nail on the head, as I had a larger memory chip fitted about 2 months before the first problem occurred, but never connected the two things.

 

I will change the psu as well as refitting the memory card.

[Simon Roberts]

28th April 2006!

[barrie0]

As piebob has said I would run your computer with just 1 memory stick at a time , and then by swapping them out you should be able to tell which memory stick is/if causing problems . I always use Crucial memory as it is fairly cheap but of good quality . http://www.crucial.com/uk/ , also changing the psu as you said is never a bad thing anyway as if you buy a new computer in the future you can take the psu and replace it with the quality one you have bought or just keep it as a spare . Akasa , Antec ,Enermax are all good makes and I would look for a 350 watt or above model . Best prices for computer parts are from here http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/home/index....6121989&stid=1& I have used them for a number of years and have never had any problems . There is a possibility that your motherboard could be playing up but in this case it sounds more like a memory or power problem .