Someone PLEASE help....

[qiktune]

I need another recomendation.

2 weeks ago I was downloading some mixes from work onto my studio pc and picked up a virus. Managed to find someone local who could "fix" it for me in a hurry - 3 days and $400 later I get it back and find that all they did was reformat and I had to reinsatll all my programs. Worked fine until Sunday pm...in the middle of tracking up pops a DAE error message, PT shuts down, I get a blue screen and now when I boot up I only get as far as the second black screen showing driver lists etc.

I had Anthony at Calibrations set this pc upfor me 2 1/2 years ago and it's never skipped a beat. I've been trying to contact him since Sunday but I keep getting an answering machine - I really need to get my pc sorted as I do have some work coming up so it's kinda urgent.

Can any of you TR'ers recommend someone who does audio pc setups?
Please help.....

ps, I know NOTHING about computers so DIY is not really an option. Thanks guys

[heathen]

Sounds like it could be a hardware error maybe, like a video card or something dying or not seated properly. Try removing the video card and reseat it and the ram also. Could be the bios is corrupted or a dead/dying hard drive or dead motherboard.

I've had the video card thing happen before and after a few times reseating it everything was good.

[TimS]

Brett,
Dust can also be an issue.
Check your fan on the back for buildup and if there's a bit, remove the case cover and with a soft bristled brush, dust lightly over the MB and connections and hold a vacuum nozzle close by to suction up the dust particles.
While you have the case cover off, check the seating of all removable cards etc.. but do it AFTER you have dusted donw - you dont want dust in your PCI/PCIe slots..

[Ausrock]

2 weeks ago I was downloading some mixes from work onto my studio pc and picked up a virus.

I have to wonder how the virus got there in the first place.............something sounds "odd" to me.

Other than that, I would be contacting the guy that "repaired" it and politely suggesting that for the $400 you paid him, you have now got a PC that is now not working at all.............Oh, and $400 to reformat, what a F*%$#NG joke.

[qiktune]

Heath & Tim - thanks guys, I'm dusting and checking connections now before I do a full reinstall from disk.

Chris - it's weird and was a complete fluke to get it.....I entered the url and then the abbrev for the artists name - downloaded all the songs, then proceeded to backspace to enter a different artists name. Once I got back to the forward slash ( after ".com" ) I accidentally hit "enter" which took me to the studo homepage, and THAT was where the virus was picked up from. The whole time I was on the site via the backdoor it was fine.

[Bent my VU]

If you're getting DAE errors try this - right click my computer and select properties, then go to the advanced tab select the performance settings. Now select the advanced tab of performance options select "Background Services" under processor scheduling, click apply and see if it helps.

I've assumed you're running XP

[Kurt]

That goes alright for 1/2 an hour and a few mouse clicks!

I charge $120 to do a re-format and reinstall Windows (BTW).

[Kurt]

I apologise, you didn't mention for that $120 you are doing a fair bit of extra work on top of that to get it to a usable state, it's pain in the arse and $120 starts to sound pretty bloody good. Have you looked into writing a set-up script to do all that automatically? Check out N-lite (custom set-up script) and Autopatcher (to install updates)

qiktune, if your computer won't progress past post I'd strongly suspect a hardware failure as already suggested. Maybe don't go back to ol'mate Mr. $400!

That goes alright for 1/2 an hour and a few mouse clicks!

What are you trying to say mate....

Part of my install is fully updating Windows with the latest updates,
And installing free AVG and Super Anti Spyware - pretty good value really. (unless the customer has bought protection they want to use)
Plus I always fully (slow) format the HDD to remove any bad sectors.
And of course making sure all attached hardware and the mainboard have the latest drivers.
Normally takes around 3 hours all up. (sometimes longer)

[Bent my VU]

Opps i didn't read the post properly before responding - It definitely sounds like a hardware fault.

Is the computer producing any beeps when you try and start it? If POST is picking up a hardware fault you should get an error code of some sort.

Where abouts in Sydney are you? If you're not that far from the North Shore i'd be happy to help you out

[qiktune]

Hey guys, thank you so much for all your suggestions and help. All who diagnosed a HD problem were correct. It seems that upon testing the pc before delivering it back to me the IT repairers had overlooked running it with the secong internal HD plugged in. It's a very old HD and was attached to the same channel as the PT drive.

After unplugging and removing it....I'm back in business!.

Thanks again for all the help and thanks for the offer of some one on one help Michael

I'll now go back to lurkin' and learnin. Have a great day all.