pc help needed

cherokee · 06-08-2006, 19:29

now im not computer literate and i havent got the foggiest how they work .but im having major problems with my pc ... i got a virus some time ago when i opened a zipped folder by mistake so i tried to reformat an do system restore but to no avail i got norton av on it which seems useless ..but my real problem is every half hour or so my pc goes into system shutdown and i cant stop it or do anything with it .it just says system will now shut down and restart and gives a code which is 1073741819 just wondered if there is anyone who could advise me on what this is and why its doing this and is my pc comletely shot at

entwisi · 06-08-2006, 19:37

you can stop it shutting down by running a command in a MSDOS window.

shutdown -a

This is only a temporary solution. You have a virus still. When did you last update the virus database in Norton? I'm not a fan of Norton but up to date it should still remove the virus. If you haven't got an up to date subscription then uninstall Norton, download AVG from http://free.grisoft.com/, install it and let it do all its updates. then let it have a go.

You also need to make sure you have a firewall on that is correctly set up. If you haven't, get the basic version of Zone Alarm from Zone labs. Whatever you do they will try and sell you the paid for version. Don't bother, the free one does the job just fine. When its installed please make sure that you don't just click willy nilly allowing all and sundry access. Make sure you know what programs you give permission to access teh net, any you aren't sure of click deny.

cherokee · 06-08-2006, 20:00

cheers for that entwisi i will give that a try now and see if any joy my norton is an old version which was actually given to me but i will uninstall it and give the avg a try cheers once again

entwisi · 06-08-2006, 20:06

Anti Virus MUST be kept up to date, you may as well not bother at all if you don't update it

mani · 08-08-2006, 12:50

if ur willing to splash a lil out or give it a whirl for 30 days nod 32 is one of hte best out there

chav1 · 08-08-2006, 14:39

click this link and follow onscreen instructions

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

free
enjoy

cherokee · 08-08-2006, 19:30

cheers for advice guys i ve got the avg that entwisi suggested and apperntly 7000+ files was infected with a worm it s healed them and probs a lot better im still getting the shutdown but not as often ..i think its time i bought myself new pc as ive had this for many yrs now and thinks its days are numbered ... so im saving for new one

mani · 08-08-2006, 22:26

if worse comes worse - y not do a full re-format of the system?

cherokee · 08-08-2006, 22:58

wouldnt know where to begin with that one mani and dont you need special software for that

entwisi · 09-08-2006, 13:13

You need a windows disk or teh recovery disks that originally came with your PC.

What spec is it? CPU/Memory etc?

Madhatter · 02-09-2006, 23:06

Did you sort this out cherokee? Because it sounds like a hardware problem if you stopped shutdown but it still shuts down.

I fixed the pc Entwisi

symptoms were automatically reseting. As if I'd pressed the reset button. It was worse the more the pc had to work. A virus makes a pc work harder so maybe thats what cherokee's problem is/was.

Thanks very much for finding me the drivers. I don't know what I did wrong the first time but when I tried again and it said you must reboot for changes to take affect I didn't do, I just swaped the cards.
My friend on Blackpoolweb has kindly given me a slightly better card so I'm going to see if I can fit that in the future. BUT although the fan was sticking on the graphics card(noisey ****** it was, at least this is fan less) it wasn't that.
I swapped the power supply for the one off that pc thats waiting to go back and it worked. SO, where can I get a good power supply at a reasonable price 350 watt the last one was and how do I know what sockets I need. This one just had a 20 pin one, a 4 pin square one, and two sets of drive connectors, but they don't say it in english in the ads do they.

entwisi · 03-09-2006, 18:03

ebuyer, scan, dabs, planet micro, & microland are a few I would consider

cherokee · 03-09-2006, 22:56

well thanks to our very own mick who spent three hours doing his best to sort it out and putting relevant software on it , i must say it is running much better ,still gettin some probs like internet dont like me at mo and keeps throwing me off but a few harsh words daily seems to calm it down , once i reconnect a couple of times it seems to settle so will have to see how it goes mick seems to think my hard drive may be on its way out as sometimes on startup it comes up with.. dumping physical memory.. and i have to restart but then its ok grrrr

entwisi · 04-09-2006, 06:30

Blue screen of death? I would be running a proper memory test if I was you. you can download memtest for free.

Mick · 04-09-2006, 06:37

It also helps if on Broadband to have a firewall hehe
and yes the grinding noise from the harddrive is not a nice tune