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Dead PC
I have been where you are when it comes to what seams to be a dead PC. The first thing that most assume is that it's due to a virus, but more commonly it is due to lack of maintenance and most often due to simply not rebooting often enough. I know alot of people will disagree with me, but especialy with older systems it is essential to reboot no less than daily in order to avoid some degree of corruption in the swap file due to over usage from poor memory management.

But there may be a simple fix, especialy if you are using 9x or Me. Boot from a floppy or boot CD and type fdisk /mbr to remove your master boot record. Don't worry, it will be replaced when you reboot. This corrects the issue of the mbr being corrupted by a virus or by a missalocation of the swap file.
Keep in mind that some viri are designed to fight this easy fix by re-corupting the mbr each time you reboot, so be sure to run a virus scanner before re-booting after a succesfull boot.
If you have NT 2K or XP, you may have a fouled ntldr, you should visit MS web site for specific instructions as to how to rebuilt it {it's just a text file} or borrow a similar ntldr file from a friend with a similar machine and replace yours assuming that you can boot to dos with a boot disk.

I hope this helps
Posted by: flan4u   Posted on: 04/05/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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By and large, this is not a big deal  Real World | 04/05/05
Re: By and large, this is not a big deal  Mack DaNife | 04/05/05
Sorry, I should have been more clear  Real World | 04/05/05
turning away from eCommerce TRUE  Pixel_dust | 04/05/05
That's a raw deal  Real World | 04/05/05
thanks  Pixel_dust | 04/05/05
Video problems?  lcates@... | 04/05/05
vacuum time  Pixel_dust | 04/05/05
A Couple of Good User Forum Sites  t.e.sumner@... | 04/05/05
Get Your Data Back  brian.giordano | 04/05/05
Assuming it is not a virus.  lcates@... | 04/05/05
Childs is even older than mine is  Pixel_dust | 04/05/05
Which Window? XPHome, XPPro, 2k, Me (God, not Me, please!)  The King's Servant | 04/05/05
XPHome  Pixel_dust | 04/05/05
Ah, now we have limited the issue.  The King's Servant | 04/05/05
Thanks to all for your help  Pixel_dust | 04/05/05
Sugestions  Real World | 04/06/05
if your trying the bios...  jdahs@... | 04/05/05
F8 does nothing  Pixel_dust | 04/05/05
just a suggestion  lapwizrus | 04/05/05
Vacuum  lcates@... | 04/05/05
Vacuum addnedum  Linux User 147560 | 04/05/05
Dead PC  flan4u | 04/05/05
Reboots?  Real World | 04/06/05
Call DELL Tech support  johns_z | 04/05/05
Dell hangs on boot  paule4@... | 04/06/05
Dell hangs on boot  johnrich | 04/11/05
put it back in the box  afterbrnr | 04/05/05
Don't put it back in the box  johnrich | 04/11/05
Not a software problem?  danag42@... | 04/06/05
Another suggestion: memory  feskridge@... | 04/06/05
Therin lies the problem...  BitTwiddler | 04/05/05
Without foreign ISP action, there's no solution.  sdgreen42 | 04/05/05
Small correction  douglen@... | 04/05/05
Correction agreed...  sdgreen42 | 04/05/05
Small correction  johnrich | 04/11/05
What about Comcast?  JMusto | 04/05/05
RE:What about Comcast?  flan4u | 04/05/05
Domestic zombies, asian, So American links  Hsbarney@... | 04/05/05
Browser flaw helps phishers  mikew_z | 04/05/05
Try this  phobos | 04/05/05
Use two browsers for security  Wagadonga | 04/05/05
Security of communications  stevem_001 | 04/05/05
What is with ASP?  JMusto | 04/05/05
Or,...  The King's Servant | 04/05/05
MS couldnt scan your system with high security  NotMSUser | 04/06/05
What is it with ASP?  johnrich | 04/11/05
Nothing to see here- VIRUS=MICROSOFT  Xunil_Sierutuf | 04/05/05
HSBC deluged by viruses  ncawthray@... | 04/05/05
Phishing  ydnas | 04/05/05
viruses  kemcrest@... | 04/05/05
viruses? you mean phishing  johnrich | 04/11/05
Dell laptop will not boot  ardlur@... | 04/05/05
a virus is a WINDOWS problem  JV711 | 04/05/05
virus attack does not equal virus infection. the virus laden email that is  wessonjoe | 04/06/05
Who's really at risk?  clazaam@... | 04/05/05
the biggest security risk is writing a password down for anyone to read.  wessonjoe | 04/06/05
That is what you pay for using Microsoft platform only.  systemcleaner | 04/06/05
HSBC  Tomchance | 04/06/05
Bugs Viruses and Worms  pgbev | 04/06/05
Bank Security  jack@... | 04/07/05
HSBC - Surprising??  nicari | 04/14/05
eCommerce Security / Virus  dlwz3@... | 05/02/05

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