# Bad computer repair.....



## bubbahead (Oct 19, 2007)

So, we have an Emachine that is several years old. Were running Windows XP. Had many issues with pages not loading, error messages, etc. Took the pc to a "backyard mechanic". Big mistake.

He dumped the entire computer. Started from scratch. Loaded Windows XP Professional. When he brought it to the house and hooked it up it was missing drivers. He loaded them from the internet.

The dang computer is so slow now and trash is constantly taking over the screen. Internet Explorer keeps "encountering problems" and throwing us off. 

My husband heard something about Maxmyspeed.com. Legit? There was a cost involved, but I don't remember what it was.

Time to get a new tower? Any suggestions for a very computer illiterate, confused computer newbie?


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Can you tell us anything about the machine? Model, processor, memory?


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## lharvey (Jul 1, 2003)

I can't imagine working on someones machine and then returing it without the drivers and everything working properly and all the patches and updates right up to the minute.. This only applies to OS and hardware install. I do not reinstall all the 3rd party software and junk that these companies dump on your machines making it sound to you like you are getting a bargain.

And yes, I get a lot of machines brought to me that a "backyard mechanics" had totally trashed. You get what you pay for. Just because they have a computer at their home doesn't mean they know what they are doing. Also you can't buy this service by price. Most technicians in the general area all charge pretty much the same as everybody else for their service. Just like an automotive garage. 

I don't work on E-Machines normally, but on occasion I will have a residential machine brought in. I recall that the customer actually had the OS and Utilities CD's with them for the last one.

Do you have all the media that came with this machine or is (was) the restore partition the only thing you had?

If you do not have the media (CD's) then contact E-Machine, you may be able to purchase a replacement set for your particular model.

Then, after receiving the media, do a total reinstall yourself or take it to a real technician and have it done.


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## OntarioMan (Feb 11, 2007)

Internet Explorer 8 does indeed "error out" more than other versions. Not exactly sure why, but I'll assume its caused partially by the software itself and partially by the webpages its attempting to read. The good news is that its better than when Internet Explorer 8 was originally released, so it is improving. All of this is assuming you're actually running v8.

Although I'm not familiar with Maxmyspeed.com, most of these are either scams or they'll increase your speed so little that they're not worth any payment. If you have problems with the general speed of your computer, perhaps a hardware or driver isssue, fix that first.

As Nevada mentioned, how old is the system, how much memory and what processor?

The "trash is constantly taking over my screen", this is often an indication of malware or a virus infection, which may be the root cause of the system being slow.


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## pcwerk (Sep 2, 2003)

I tried that Maxmyspeed.com and it found all kinds of things wrong with my
pc, but I balked at the $39.99 price. Maybe I should have done it 'cause
now my pc is on the blink (suspect a trojan!) and I'm looking at a 50-$100
repair bill ;-(
pc


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Do you keep an antivirus program running, and update your definitions regularly? 

Whenever something really bad happens, I tell my sisters to pop in their restore disc... and voila... 'new computer'. Then I install AVG and set it up to download regular definitions.

I wouldn't pay for any computer repair... cost of repair could easily cost more than a new cheapo box. Only real trouble I've had is hard drive failures... remember my apprehension first time I cracked the box and 'voided the warranty' pfffttt... fixed the problem in minutes, switching a new hd for the old one.

I know nothing about maxmyspeed... I know in the past firms that promised to speed up browsing basically cached sites on your hd and it just 'seemed' fast, as it was bringing up the old content.


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