Need help with computer crash!

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summerof42
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Need help with computer crash!

Post by summerof42 »

I was working on important papers on my computer while listening to music on YouTube. Suddenly there was a loud screech sound and my computer crashed and I was left with a blank screen. I shut down and restarted but screen is still blank! I also disconnected everything and restarted with no luck.

I’m sitting here crying as we speak because I need the important docs in my computer, I didn’t back up and don’t know what to do. I called computer tech guy who was suppose to come to the house today and didn’t even show up. I tried calling him three times and he won’t even pick up the phone.

As a senior citizen I’m sure I’m not his top priority and doesn’t much care. I need to go on line to pay for my COBRA premiums and so frazzled and will be up all night worrying.

Can anyone make a recommendation for computer tech support? I live in the Midwest in Wisconsin. Thank you!
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cheese_breath
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by cheese_breath »

The only one I can think of is Best Buy's Geek Squad. Probably not the best, but they should be able to diagnose your computer. And if its not worth fixing pull off whatever's on your hard drive and put it on a new computer they'll sell you.
The surest way to know the future is when it becomes the past.
6Pack
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by 6Pack »

I used to fix computers years ago. It sounds like your hard drive physically crashed.

EDIT: for the tech types out there, it sounds like the heads crashed into the platter.

You will spend more fixing it than it is likely worth. If you really need a computer immediately, it might be quicker and more cost effective to go to Walmart/Best Buy/wherever and buy a new one.

To put it in prospective, a new hard drive will be around $100, labor will be about $100 or so and that will likely exclude data recovery ($200 or so overall). With a physical hard drive crash, you’d need to send your hard drive to a lab and have them recover the data. Spending $300 or so on a new computer might not be a bad option.
inbox788
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by inbox788 »

Did it sound like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5pXn8w ... tu.be&t=85

If so, it's bad! Sorry.

Consider an SSD replacement or maybe time for a new computer.

Recovery of data will be difficult to impossible and expensive. Consider alternatives.

Paying for things online like COBRA just require logging on from another computer. You can always call their customer support and do things over the phone the old fashioned way.

Consider a Chromebook. What important files are on the computer?
Last edited by inbox788 on Mon Jan 28, 2019 7:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
badger42
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by badger42 »

Get a Chromebook. Keep everything in the cloud. This is a good indicator that a "real" computer might not be for you.

If that doesn't work for you, at least get some sort of cloud backup software like Backblaze, and make sure you know how to do a restore / recovery yourself.

Actually, no matter what, get a Chromebook. It's basically a toaster with a web browser, and good to have as a backup no matter what you do. They start at <$200 if cost is an issue.
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Watty
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by Watty »

It would be best to not do anything else with it until a technician can look at it.

You could make things worse if you keep trying things without knowing what you are doing.

One thing a technician can do is to take the hard drive out of the computer to try to read it on another computer to try to get the information off of it.
LookinAround
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by LookinAround »

I find Windows TenForum an excellent resource for online help.

In any case, before you spend $ for someone to come out, you can create your own Rescue Media (on DVD or flash drive). Boot from the rescue media you created instead of your hard drive. It will allow you look for folders/files on your hard drive.
  • If it's just Windows corrupt, you'll find all your files on the disk. You can use Windows Explorer to look for your hard drive and if drive is found and is readable you can copy your files to a USB flash or hard drive
  • If the disk file system or disk corrupted, you'll need more help
You can download rescue media ISO file from their forum HERE. Burn it to DVD or use it to create a bootable flash drive

If you need more help to create the media, suggest create a post on their forum. You'll find a lot of people there willing to help.

/* EDIT */
Though on re-reading your post, hearing a "screech sound" just before the crash doesn't bode well

/* EDIT 2 */
Oh. Doing the above assumes you have access to a 2nd working computer which may not be the case unless you have one or can use a friend's or relative's
Last edited by LookinAround on Mon Jan 28, 2019 7:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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cheese_breath
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by cheese_breath »

LookinAround wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 7:18 pm
/* EDIT 2 */
Oh. Doing the above assumes you have access to a 2nd working computer...
Maybe a decent assumption since OP posted here ... :twisted:
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LookinAround
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by LookinAround »

cheese_breath wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 7:32 pm
LookinAround wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 7:18 pm
/* EDIT 2 */
Oh. Doing the above assumes you have access to a 2nd working computer...
Maybe a decent assumption since OP posted here ... :twisted:
Easy to post from a phone or tablet (when you don't have a PC) :mrgreen:
Last edited by LookinAround on Mon Jan 28, 2019 7:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Elena
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by Elena »

summerof42 wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 6:56 pm I was working on important papers on my computer while listening to music on YouTube. Suddenly there was a loud screech sound and my computer crashed and I was left with a blank screen. I shut down and restarted but screen is still blank! I also disconnected everything and restarted with no luck.

I’m sitting here crying as we speak because I need the important docs in my computer, I didn’t back up and don’t know what to do. I called computer tech guy who was suppose to come to the house today and didn’t even show up. I tried calling him three times and he won’t even pick up the phone.

As a senior citizen I’m sure I’m not his top priority and doesn’t much care. I need to go on line to pay for my COBRA premiums and so frazzled and will be up all night worrying.

Can anyone make a recommendation for computer tech support? I live in the Midwest in Wisconsin. Thank you!
Please, do not cry. If you can remember your COBRA password, you can pay from any computer, or maybe call them with your payment info. You can use the library or a neighbor's computer. If you lost the entire hard drive, you can reset all passwords on a new or borrowed computer, or just the passw. manager if you use one. As for the lost documents, if one of them is your 2018 spreadsheet, you can still do taxes with the forms from your brokerage. Since it is Jan., you do not have to rebuild the 2019 spreadsheet.
Do not lose sleep over this. Reconstructing docs. is a pain, but it can be done. Also, take it as an opportunity to back up docs. to a flash drive monthly.
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F150HD
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by F150HD »

summerof42 wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 6:56 pm I was working on important papers on my computer while listening to music on YouTube. Suddenly there was a loud screech sound and my computer crashed and I was left with a blank screen. I shut down and restarted but screen is still blank! I also disconnected everything and restarted with no luck.

I’m sitting here crying as we speak because I need the important docs in my computer, I didn’t back up and don’t know what to do. I called computer tech guy who was suppose to come to the house today and didn’t even show up. I tried calling him three times and he won’t even pick up the phone.

As a senior citizen I’m sure I’m not his top priority and doesn’t much care. I need to go on line to pay for my COBRA premiums and so frazzled and will be up all night worrying.

Can anyone make a recommendation for computer tech support? I live in the Midwest in Wisconsin. Thank you!
how did you post this without a computer? (Kinda sounds like a hard drive failure.)

What PLATFORM are you on? Windows? Mac? what version? (Win 10? 8? 7?)

If Windows look into booting into SAFE MODE. In my experience it may boot up eventually, but you'll want to get all the data you want off it ASAP, either by saving to the Cloud (maybe Google Drive) or an external harddrive.
Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light.
z91
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by z91 »

F150HD wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 7:49 pm how did you post this without a computer? (Kinda sounds like a hard drive failure.)
Most people own smartphones nowadays..
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summerof42
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by summerof42 »

Thank you all so much for your help and guidance. I’m trying my best to remain positive - but’s so hard and I’ll explain why below in further detail in addition to the computer crash.

Inbox788 - the link you sent where I could listen to a sound similiar to what I heard during the crash is exactly the same! Bringing me to tears. I am able to log into this site because my friend is letting me use her iPad and to give me some {{{hugs}}}

The reason I am crying is because the documents I was working on for the past 2 days was my resume because my position at work was eliminated. At 63 yrs young and it’s all so scary for me, especially not having enough in retirement funds. I had so many important docs which it looks like I won’t be able to retrieve :-(. This computer crash couldn’t have come at a worse time for me. I’ve already lost weight thinking about the job loss. I’m trying to have faith, I really am, and thanks to your kindness in trying to help brought a big smile to my face.

Additonally, lost my Mom to cancer. Boy I could sure use her right now even though I’m a senior.

Given I’m trying to be so careful about my expenses in light of job loss and having to cover mortgage, utilities, food, COBRA, etc and now of course it looks like I have to buy a new computer is all so hard :( :(

Worse yet, I was using Mozilla Thunderbird for my email and there could be important responses about a job and I don’t believe with a new computer I can create the same email account and see those emails? Thunderbird is not a public site so I can’t login from another computer to see the emails.

I need to take a deep breath and come up with a plan. Thank you again, you are all so wonderful.
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F150HD
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by F150HD »

z91 wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 9:32 pm
F150HD wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 7:49 pm how did you post this without a computer? (Kinda sounds like a hard drive failure.)
Most people own smartphones nowadays..
really? you're kidding? I thought only 3-4 people had them. Huh! Boy, I'll have to keep up on this Intra-net stuff.
Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light.
Sidney
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by Sidney »

I had a noisy "crash" a couple of computers ago. The screen went blank. It turned out that it was the video card. The fan died noisily ( a loud screech) and then the video card overheated and died. I replace the video card and it started up normally. I don't know if they still have fans on video cards any more.
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mhalley
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by mhalley »

You might want to do Angie’s list for computer repair. Otherwise just google computer repair near me and look for reviews. Just for a comparison, I recently had a computer crash due to hard drive failure. Took it to the shop, took 7 business days and $225 to replace the SSD hard drive and recover the data.
phantom0308
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by phantom0308 »

Sidney wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 10:18 pm I had a noisy "crash" a couple of computers ago. The screen went blank. It turned out that it was the video card. The fan died noisily ( a loud screech) and then the video card overheated and died. I replace the video card and it started up normally. I don't know if they still have fans on video cards any more.
Most video cards (aka GPUs) still have fans. The rest are liquid cooled. They operate at around 90C (~200F) under load.
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summerof42
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by summerof42 »

Hello Sidney

Funny you should mention “video card.” While I was working on my resume I was also listening to music on YouTube.

I wonder if it was the video card which only needs to be replaced? Gosh, I hope so;albeit, I would still need someone who is tech savvy to take care of it for me. I haven’t been successful yet. I waited all day for the guy to come today who never showed up and didn’t return my calls.
ladycat
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by ladycat »

summerof42 wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 9:52 pm

Worse yet, I was using Mozilla Thunderbird for my email and there could be important responses about a job and I don’t believe with a new computer I can create the same email account and see those emails? Thunderbird is not a public site so I can’t login from another computer to see the emails.
It sounds like maybe you're using your internet service provider (e.g. comcast, cox) as your email address. If this is the case, you should be able to log in to your email provider using a web browser (with your username and password) and access emails. Some of your older emails may still be in the "inbox" and maybe some in your "sent" box. For example, if your email is at myname @comcast.net you can go to comcast.net and log in to your email.

Hopefully you printed a recent copy of your resume, or or emailed it to someone recently so you could retrieve it.

Sorry about your Mom passing. And good luck!
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F150HD
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by F150HD »

summerof42 wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 10:29 pm Hello Sidney

Funny you should mention “video card.” While I was working on my resume I was also listening to music on YouTube.

I wonder if it was the video card which only needs to be replaced? Gosh, I hope so;albeit, I would still need someone who is tech savvy to take care of it for me. I haven’t been successful yet. I waited all day for the guy to come today who never showed up and didn’t return my calls.
what version of Windows were you running? (sorry if I missed it). 10? 8? 7?

Did you try booting to Safe Mode? (This boots the PC w/ limited functionality so you can 'fix' what is broken)

If you are near a Best Buy you could take your laptop in (Geek Squad) and they'd look at it on site.
Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light.
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summerof42
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by summerof42 »

F150HD

Computer is Windows Vista 7. I tried rebooting in safe mode several times w/no luck.
Marylander1
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by Marylander1 »

summerof42 wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 9:52 pm Worse yet, I was using Mozilla Thunderbird for my email and there could be important responses about a job and I don’t believe with a new computer I can create the same email account and see those emails? Thunderbird is not a public site so I can’t login from another computer to see the emails.
Thunderbird is only your email client. Your emails are still accumulating on a server somewhere, run by whoever owns the part of your email address that follows the @ symbol. (There may also be a website you can log into to see the same email that Thunderbird downloads, but again that entity is responsible.)

Depending on your configuration, Thunderbird may be your only copy of order messages, and messages you sent, so those may be lost. But whoever set up your Thunderbird configuration can probably help you do it again on another computer, using the same account with the same email address.

Marylander1
bryanm
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by bryanm »

Do you have a completely black screen at all times, or does something (a manufacturer logo, black and white text, etc) show up when you try to boot?

If it's completely black, it's not your hard drive. Could be the monitor. Could be video card or something else. Your data is safe but you might need a tech to recover it. (Unless it's the monitor. Maybe try plugging it into another monitor?)

If you see a logo and text, but some kind of error message (like "no boot device found"), it's your hard drive. Your data might be gone. Yuck.

If windows tries to boot (you see the windows logo) but fails, something else is going on. Data might be safe.

Sorry for your troubles. Good luck on the resolution.
pdavi21
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by pdavi21 »

If you can't do it, get (pay) someone who can. Remove boot drive and attach to another PC as a secondary drive. If the second PC can read the drive, get your files off it. If it can't, you are SOL unless you had backups.
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cheese_breath
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by cheese_breath »

LookinAround wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 7:46 pm
cheese_breath wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 7:32 pm
LookinAround wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 7:18 pm
/* EDIT 2 */
Oh. Doing the above assumes you have access to a 2nd working computer...
Maybe a decent assumption since OP posted here ... :twisted:
Easy to post from a phone or tablet (when you don't have a PC) :mrgreen:
Then why couldn't she use that to pay her COBRA premiums? :confused
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tuningfork
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by tuningfork »

The sound you heard might have been a cooling fan failing and then something overheating. If it's a desktop computer there likely will be several fans: power supply fan, CPU fan, possibly a GPU (video card) fan, possibly one or more case fans. When you turn on the computer, do you hear any fans at all or is it completely dead silent? If you hear noise, then the power supply is probably ok. Next would be to check all the things bryanm lists a few messages up. These are things you can do without any technical expertise that might give you some comfort if it turns out not to be the hard drive.

You do not need to create a new email account. You just need to remember your email account information you used in Thunderbird to access your email server from another computer. If you were using IMAP to access your emails, then they should all still be on the server. If you were using POP, then the emails that arrived before the crash may only be on your hard drive and would be lost if the hard drive is what failed.
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cheese_breath
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by cheese_breath »

tuningfork wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 11:25 pm
You do not need to create a new email account. You just need to remember your email account information you used in Thunderbird to access your email server from another computer. If you were using IMAP to access your emails, then they should all still be on the server. If you were using POP, then the emails that arrived before the crash may only be on your hard drive and would be lost if the hard drive is what failed.
I'm not sure if it was TBird or Comcast, and I can't check now because I'm on a Chromebook, but I seem to recall an option somewhere to specify how many days the Emails would remain on the host before being deleted. But it might default to zero. :(

(Or maybe it was Outlook Express) :(
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inbox788
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by inbox788 »

cheese_breath wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 11:51 pm
tuningfork wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 11:25 pm
You do not need to create a new email account. You just need to remember your email account information you used in Thunderbird to access your email server from another computer. If you were using IMAP to access your emails, then they should all still be on the server. If you were using POP, then the emails that arrived before the crash may only be on your hard drive and would be lost if the hard drive is what failed.
I'm not sure if it was TBird or Comcast, and I can't check now because I'm on a Chromebook, but I seem to recall an option somewhere to specify how many days the Emails would remain on the host before being deleted. But it might default to zero. :(

(Or maybe it was Outlook Express) :(
Sounds like the hard drive crashed. While you may have lost some items, a lot of things can be fixed or alternative solutions found. Many files came from somewhere, so it might take some legwork to go get it again. You will need redo the work you've put into, but you should still have most of the information (did you print anything out or send/email it anywhere?)

Getting email working is a top priority, and one of the easiest things take care of. Is your email address xyz@comcast.com? You can use any number of ways to access email. This might work for Comcast: https://webmail.comcast.com/

You'd just need your email and password to read and send mail via their web interface. If your email address is something else, you need another web interface. Once you're in, you can see if your old mail is still there. Check folders like Trash and others. You might even be able to request old mail to be restored, especially if it's a company mail server. [don't know if this applies to your email account, but may be worth taking a look: https://www.xfinity.com/support/article ... eted-email ]

Take it one step at a time, and in the process you will learn other ways of accomplishing similar things, sometimes even better ways. It might take some time, but I'm sure you can find suitable replacements for most of the digital items you lost. Backtrack where you got it and go back to the original companies to get another copy. You might find it's easier than ever these days because accounts, passwords and statements are constantly being lost by everyone. The most difficult ones might be the tighter security ones that will have to mail you access numbers or passcodes to physical addresses, but that just means a week or two extra delay. If you're lucky, a text or a phone call may be sufficient (or an email once that's restored).

Good luck and were here to help.
Last edited by inbox788 on Tue Jan 29, 2019 12:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Watty
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by Watty »

bryanm wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 10:53 pm Do you have a completely black screen at all times, or does something (a manufacturer logo, black and white text, etc) show up when you try to boot?

If it's completely black, it's not your hard drive.
:oops:

That is a very good point.
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whodidntante
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by whodidntante »

Watty wrote: Tue Jan 29, 2019 12:26 am
bryanm wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 10:53 pm Do you have a completely black screen at all times, or does something (a manufacturer logo, black and white text, etc) show up when you try to boot?

If it's completely black, it's not your hard drive.
:oops:

That is a very good point.
Yep.
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dual
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by dual »

Look around your town for someone who can help you out. Some possibilities:

A senior citizens center

Your church

your neighborhood association

word of mouth with your family and friends

There are ways to recover from this. You may lose some documents but you can recover your access to your email and other online accounts. You may have to re-create your resume but having gone through creating it once, it will be much easier to do now.
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summerof42
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by summerof42 »

To Watts

When I reboot I see HP logo and then text ie “computer was not shut down properly. . . “ I then proceeded to Safemode which results in “please wait” and monitor shows lines of text like trying to download and/or retrieve files ie windows hard drive, etc and then screen goes blank.

In regards to email, Thunderbird is nota public site and I use the email address I originally created with my IT provider SPECTRUM. Not being a public domain I cannot retrieve emails in using another source.

The sound {screech} I heard during the crash is exactly like the link kindly provided by earlier poster, which per his post, I lost everything.

The hardest part about all of this now is just thinking about having to purchase another computer during a job loss.
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RickBoglehead
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by RickBoglehead »

Your understanding of your email is not correct.

Thunderbird is an email program , not a site.

Your email address is with Spectrum. It is likely here - https://webmail.spectrum.net/mail/auth

Loss of data cannot be determined by a person on a forum.

Windows Vista was obsolete in 2017, and should not be used on any computer that goes online. Windows 7 (Windows Vista 7 does not exist) ends support on 1/14/20.

Hopefully you will be able to find a reputable service facility to install a new hard drive (or SSD), and then attempt to recover the data.

In the future, please ensure that you have a valid backup procedure in place. Hardware can fail at any time - whether new or old.
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Tycoon
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by Tycoon »

Boot up using a Linux Rescue disk (or usb drive) and see if you can view your harddrive.

http://www.system-rescue-cd.org/
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go_mets
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by go_mets »

RickBoglehead wrote: Tue Jan 29, 2019 4:53 am Your email address is with Spectrum. It is likely here - https://webmail.spectrum.net/mail/auth
I hope his emails are still on Spectrum's email server.
However, if he is using Thunderbird email client program, the emails were probably downloaded from Spectrum email server to his PC's hard drive, then deleted from Spectrum's email server.
:|
02nz
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by 02nz »

go_mets wrote: Tue Jan 29, 2019 10:27 am
RickBoglehead wrote: Tue Jan 29, 2019 4:53 am Your email address is with Spectrum. It is likely here - https://webmail.spectrum.net/mail/auth
I hope his emails are still on Spectrum's email server.
However, if he is using Thunderbird email client program, the emails were probably downloaded from Spectrum email server to his PC's hard drive, then deleted from Spectrum's email server.
:|
Depends on the settings used. But in any case, emails received after the crash (i.e. after Thunderbird stopped fetching emails) would still be on the Spectrum server and accessible via the webmail link another poster provided. That's what the OP was concerned about - incoming emails about potential jobs.
bryanm
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by bryanm »

summerof42 wrote: Tue Jan 29, 2019 1:19 am When I reboot I see HP logo and then text ie “computer was not shut down properly. . . “ I then proceeded to Safemode which results in “please wait” and monitor shows lines of text like trying to download and/or retrieve files ie windows hard drive, etc and then screen goes blank.
Congratulations, you're hard drive is not dead, at least not completely. Windows is a program on your hard drive. Windows is whats trying to load itself from your hard drive. Ergo, your hard drive is at least partially working. I recommend taking it to a technician to see what they can get off of it. They may even be able to save the computer entirely. (The sound you heard was almost certainly not a complete hard drive failure. I don't know what it was, but it wasn't that.)
summerof42 wrote: Tue Jan 29, 2019 1:19 am In regards to email, Thunderbird is nota public site and I use the email address I originally created with my IT provider SPECTRUM. Not being a public domain I cannot retrieve emails in using another source.
To reiterate the post above, check Spectrum's webmail portal (linked above) and your email might be there. Worth a shot.
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Sheepdog
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by Sheepdog »

May I butt in here with a backup question? I have an external backup (Samsung SSD T3) which I backup to regularly. I trust it, but how do I verify that it has copied everything? I hadn't thought about this until this thread came to be. Get another computer?
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RickBoglehead
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by RickBoglehead »

go_mets wrote: Tue Jan 29, 2019 10:27 am
RickBoglehead wrote: Tue Jan 29, 2019 4:53 am Your email address is with Spectrum. It is likely here - https://webmail.spectrum.net/mail/auth
I hope his emails are still on Spectrum's email server.
However, if he is using Thunderbird email client program, the emails were probably downloaded from Spectrum email server to his PC's hard drive, then deleted from Spectrum's email server.
:|
That's not a valid conclusion. My wife uses Thunderbird. It depends whether the person sets up the email as POP3 or IMAP. POP3 gets downloaded, IMAP does not. Has nothing to do with Thunderbird, has to do with how a user (or someone who does it for them) sets up the incoming and outgoing server.
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by cheese_breath »

Sheepdog wrote: Tue Jan 29, 2019 11:19 am May I butt in here with a backup question? I have an external backup (Samsung SSD T3) which I backup to regularly. I trust it, but how do I verify that it has copied everything? I hadn't thought about this until this thread came to be. Get another computer?
A backup to the backup? I backup my files to an external drive, but also to the cloud in case the backup drive fails.
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02nz
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by 02nz »

Sheepdog wrote: Tue Jan 29, 2019 11:19 am May I butt in here with a backup question? I have an external backup (Samsung SSD T3) which I backup to regularly. I trust it, but how do I verify that it has copied everything? I hadn't thought about this until this thread came to be. Get another computer?
You can use the backup program to restore everything and verify the contents. Most backup programs also have a verify function (you may need to specifically enable it) that double-checks the backup upon completing it.
Elena
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by Elena »

OP can see some lines when starting in safe mode.
I wonder if she could boot from a flash drive, made to hold Win7 startup essential drives. That would give her a very "ugly" interface from which to attempt at recovering important docs., hoping that they reside in a healthy sector of the hard drive.
OP, would you want to attempt this? I can point you to how to create a bootable flash dr. You will need another computer to create it.
michaelingp
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by michaelingp »

I would echo the remarks about the Chromebook, although I would recommend an iPad, but only because I have zero experience with Chromebook. If you don't have the (considerable) computer skills to maintain a full-blown computer and can't find a convenient, inexpensive, dedicated "computer whisperer" to maintain the computer for you, you should probably move completely to cloud computing. To maintain your own computer you have to deal with file and disk backup, computer security, disk storage management, operating system upgrades and probably more stuff I can't think of.

My daughter-in-law's laptop recently died, and she replaced it with an iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard. She uses Google Docs (and apps) and stores all her files on Google drive. She uses Gmail for both business and personal mail. I'm hard pressed to think of anything she wants to do with her computer that she can't do with the iPad. If the iPad dies, she just gets another and the Apple eco-system just replicates itself. I'm sure there are many applications that cloud computing doesn't work for, but I think they are outliers.

I don't want to start the local vs cloud security debate. If you have the skills, by all means keep your data safe locally, but if you don't have the skills, I think you are better off, for example, doing your taxes on-line and let the experts worry about security.
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by inbox788 »

bryanm wrote: Tue Jan 29, 2019 10:57 am
summerof42 wrote: Tue Jan 29, 2019 1:19 am When I reboot I see HP logo and then text ie “computer was not shut down properly. . . “ I then proceeded to Safemode which results in “please wait” and monitor shows lines of text like trying to download and/or retrieve files ie windows hard drive, etc and then screen goes blank.
Congratulations, you're hard drive is not dead, at least not completely. Windows is a program on your hard drive. Windows is whats trying to load itself from your hard drive. Ergo, your hard drive is at least partially working. I recommend taking it to a technician to see what they can get off of it. They may even be able to save the computer entirely. (The sound you heard was almost certainly not a complete hard drive failure. I don't know what it was, but it wasn't that.)
summerof42 wrote: Tue Jan 29, 2019 1:19 am In regards to email, Thunderbird is nota public site and I use the email address I originally created with my IT provider SPECTRUM. Not being a public domain I cannot retrieve emails in using another source.
To reiterate the post above, check Spectrum's webmail portal (linked above) and your email might be there. Worth a shot.
If you're even thinking about recovering data from the drive, STOP using it, and take it to an expert. Any data that may be salvageable is at risk of being destroyed by any use. I don't know how valuable the data is, but in most instances, it's not worth the trouble and cost. It's simpler and quicker to find replacements for what was lost, minimize losses and get on with life.

OP, after you've checked the webmail for any mail that is currently on the server, you might try to contact the ISP and see if they can restore/recover the account to some past date. You may get back some old mail (but be careful, as you might lose some newer mail depending on how they do it). It's not something typically done, so you might have to talk to support several layers up before someone knows how to do it. It's simpler with business/corporate mail systems.

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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by LadyGeek »

Thegame14 has a question which I've moved into a new thread. See: [Computer reboots while playing video game]
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

A couple suggestions:

Get yourself a replacement computer and start over. Resume and payments and such.

Buy a couple thumb drives. Save important stuff on 2 separate thumb drives. I recently bought 2 16 gig ones at best buy while I was getting something else and the 2 cost me ten bucks.
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Katietsu
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by Katietsu »

OP, Take a deep breathe. It sounds like this is not too horrible itself but is just one more thing at a stressful time. You can get a new computer to do the things you need for under $200. So, think carefully about spending any money on the old one with its outdated system.

If you need information from the old one, it might be worth it just to have someone retrieve your files from the hard drive. I am not sure how important that is to you at this time. You can certainly recreate your resume, pay Cobra and retrieve new emails from any computer. You can probably even pay Cobra tonight from your friend’s tablet if you wish.

There are a couple of community programs in my area that would be able to help you. It might be worth asking around to see what assistance might be available in your area.
badger42
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by badger42 »

michaelingp wrote: Tue Jan 29, 2019 1:48 pm I would echo the remarks about the Chromebook, although I would recommend an iPad, but only because I have zero experience with Chromebook. If you don't have the (considerable) computer skills to maintain a full-blown computer and can't find a convenient, inexpensive, dedicated "computer whisperer" to maintain the computer for you, you should probably move completely to cloud computing. To maintain your own computer you have to deal with file and disk backup, computer security, disk storage management, operating system upgrades and probably more stuff I can't think of.

My daughter-in-law's laptop recently died, and she replaced it with an iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard. She uses Google Docs (and apps) and stores all her files on Google drive. She uses Gmail for both business and personal mail. I'm hard pressed to think of anything she wants to do with her computer that she can't do with the iPad. If the iPad dies, she just gets another and the Apple eco-system just replicates itself. I'm sure there are many applications that cloud computing doesn't work for, but I think they are outliers.

I don't want to start the local vs cloud security debate. If you have the skills, by all means keep your data safe locally, but if you don't have the skills, I think you are better off, for example, doing your taxes on-line and let the experts worry about security.
iPad is fine, Chromebook is fine.

The OP seemed concerned about $$, and you can get a totally usable Chromebook (keyboard included) in the $200 range (even below $150 for older models or refurbs), versus $300+ for a refurbished older iPad model or quite a bit more for new.
HereToLearn
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by HereToLearn »

Someone suggested above to check with your town's senior center. One other thought is your town library. You might even find a teen there who would be willing to try to help you. Good luck!
GrowthSeeker
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Re: Need help with computer crash!

Post by GrowthSeeker »

re email:
I believe that most if not all internet service providers provide a means of accessing your email from anywhere on the internet via a web browser. Most people have a setup where a program (email client) on their main computer automatically (or with a mouse click) communicates with their ISP's email server and stores emails on the local drive. But there should also be a "webmail" access.

For example, my ISP was timewarnercable until they were bought by Spectrum.
But I can also get my email by going to this website:
https://webmail.roadrunner.com/
another possibility is: https://webmail.spectrum.net/mail/auth
I think the password for this site might be different than the password I used when accessing email from my main computer using an email client.

Call your ISP for help in gaining access to your email via a web browser (e.g. Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer or whatever the big E is called now)

---
re Backup:
Thumb drives are OK but are not satisfactory as your sole backup, since they are small and easy to lose, and have a chance of failure. You should also consider a cloud backup such as Carbonite (there are others, I don't know which is best or cheapest). I had an external hard drive backup with software to do incremental backups and so on, very fancy; but I could never figure out how to retrieve anything from it. I highly recommend that your next computer have a solid state drive rather than a traditional hard disk. I recently had my laptop die from being dropped. But the solid state drive was intact. I got a new laptop and an external reader that you can slide the SSD into like putting a Nintendo cartridge into a Nintendo box (or an 8 track cassette, remember them?). So now I have my old SSD which I can write to for backing up. One advantage to having a backup that lives off site (such as cloud based) is that if you have a fire or other disaster, you could lose everything that is on site.
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