tomorrow evening. Hopefully I won't be "computerless" for too long - I don't know how long I can go without checking the classsifieds here. I've become addicted to checking several times a day - just in case there's something I MUST have! ;) (so no one post anything I'd want for a couple of days, ok?! :lol: )
He also said to back up everything before he gets it in case he has to wipe it all out to get rid of the bad stuff. I thought he knew I was computer illiterate..... I suppose I should try to figure that one out.

I hope you aren't without for too long.

Hopefully he will get it right back to you!!! :D:D:D

I hope so too!

I sympathize, and actually, I'm in the same boat right now.

My 3D graphics suddenly disappeared, meaning no video and no games that use it. Downloading new drivers didn't work, so I trued a system restore, and it's telling me my system restore points are corrupted - that's scary! My anti-virus program (Norton) says no viruses.

I'm way beyond my comfort zone in trying to deal with this, so I'm going to at least talk to Best Buy's Geek Squad and see how much it'll cost for them to check it. I don't want to pay for them to do the routine stuff - I've already done most of that. I have a couple more things to do...

... and I need this computer for job hunting and interview follow-ups and such. Using the local library's computer just doesn't cut it. I could use the last of my dwindling savings to by a cheap laptop, but I really don't want Vista/Windows 7. Half my software won't work with that, and I sure can't afford a few thousand right now to update it.

(Sorry, the need to vent was strong.)

going to the computer guy is better than going to computer heaven. be happy.

Update: All my woes are due to a refrigerator magnet that somehow found its way onto the outside of my computer box. So I know the cause, but not how to fix or even what-all it damaged besides the 3D graphics and System Restore.

Best Buy Geek Squad Rant:

Don't even bother trying to get real help from these guys. Once upon a time, they would actually help, but apparently not any more.

Last night I went to their website. It promised 24/7 assistance, so I called the toll-free number. The machine voice promised a person if I just stayed on the line. (There was no fine print explaining that person did not mean techie.)

Some woman who didn't sound too educated came on and wanted to know if I had a service plan. No, mine had expired. She assured me she'd transfer me to an "agent" who would help me with my problem. Said agent made it clear she wasn't a techie either, and all she could do was schedule an appointment for one. What happened to 24/7 availability?????

I noticed that the website said it could cost as little as $19.99 to take it into the store, so I gave up for the night.

Found the magnet this afternoon and removed it. Magnets can damage hardware as well as software, I'm told. Lovely (not).

I called the local Best Buy store and talked to another uneducated sounding person, but this guy assured me he was a Geek Squad techie. So I told him the problems and asked what they might be able to do and how much it might cost. He assured me that they'd at least look at it for free, and I've experienced that kind of helpfulness before, so I brought it in.

The uneducated-sounding guy didn't seem to be there. The shlub who was there barely glanced at my baby and said he'd need to "run diagnostics" on it to determine the problem(s). That would be $69.99.

Now, okay, that does make sense, but then why couldn't they have said that on the phone and saved me (and Baby) a trip? I can't afford $69.99 right now for them to just end up telling me I need to wipe my hard drive and start over. (Which ain't gonna happen, as I have high-end software on here that can't be replaced.)

And what happened to that so-reasonable $19.99? What does that cover?

I am disgusted. Well, I'm not at all sure what I'm going to do. I can try replacing the graphics card for the $69.99 it would cost for the diagnostics. I can make do without games and online video. I am posting my questions on tech boards, but why couldn't someone just have listened last night on their 24/7 toll-free number and said, "we'd need to run diagnostics." ????

Naturalmama, I sure hope you're faring better than I am. :|

DH & I also aren't too happy with the Greek Squad. We did get good service and not a big bill several years ago but the techie was a neighbor's son who knew us. Last year we took our computer there, neighbor's son no longer working there, and the 'free' diagnotic run and estimate for replacement parts was more than a new computer. Guess what we did? We went to the local computer guy's store and everything was fixed for a low price.

Keeping my fingers crossed right now as I put a trojan horse into the vault this morning but computer is still runny slow.
May in Jersey

May, if your computer's still slow, have you defragmented the disk lately? (If you don't know what that is, go to Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Defragmenter and run it. It may take a few hours, but it basically organizes the files on your hard drive so the contents of each file are together rather than strewn all over the disk. That can speed your computer up.)

I'm thinking I'll check around for a local tech. The thing is, I'm leery because I won't know the person, and I can't afford a ton of money for diagnostics. I'm trying to find out how to do those myself.

Restoring your computer is pretty easy. You do it off your installation disk, just follow the prompts. You can also do the "go back" feature the same way.
Either way I hope you can figure out what is going on with your computer. I just reformatted mine for the second time. Not happy times, but it's just an annoyance and not something I would call fun by any means.