new pc issues

stevetiler

stevetiler

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Steve
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Got a hideous problem with a pc my son built for us. Windows 8.1 keeps freezing then restarts and say repair PC but when I click on that it says " the drive where windows is installed is locked - unlock drive and continue"
Its got two drives installed- a Samsung 250gb ssd with windows on it and a 1TB WD HDD
This keeps happening and the whole system seems unstable- the only programs i have installed are AVG and Chrome, any help would be appreciated!
 
Ok thanks,tried that but made no difference! Could it be a faulty drive?
 
Ulfric M Douglas said:
Steve is there any particular reason you are not asking your son this question?
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Well yes I have, but he doesn't know the answer- he's not an IT tech head - just knows how to build a PC! ie bolt the thing together- it's probably a case of "a little knowledge is dangerous "...........!
 
First thing I'd do would be search the compootah forums for conflicts between your exact Samsung drive, your operating system, and your motherboard.
Sometimes other folk have the same problem and Bingo!
 
Does it behave if the HDD is removed?
 
Well fingers crossed ! We made some changes and it's been ok for about six hours ! Will test over the next few days and report back!
 
Are all fans working? Easy to check and easy to forget to plug in!
 
It seems this is a common bug, that Microsoft tried to pass off as a virus, one solution is since you do not have any software installed is to backup all your data and perform a clean re-install.

The second trick you might like to try is to disconnect the second hdd and change the boot sequence in the efi bios.

some folk have found that they have additional boot partitions and recovery partitions from Linux on the SSD and either disconnection of the drive or deleting the partition everything has worked.

I would just do a clean re-install with only one of the drives connected.
 
Got more problems now! The PC boots up now and works ok but two issues have come to light- windows update doesn't work and I can't install iTunes! When I go to win update it just searches for updates forever and the iTunes install stops when it reaches the publishing part! Beginning to wish I'd just bought another Dell PC.!
 
Is it unstable with a different OS (if you ran a 'live' Linux CD or USB stick instead of Windows). That would tell you if it's a hardware or software fault.
 
stevetiler said:
Got more problems now! The PC boots up now and works ok but two issues have come to light- windows update doesn't work and I can't install iTunes! When I go to win update it just searches for updates forever and the iTunes install stops when it reaches the publishing part! Beginning to wish I'd just bought another Dell PC.!
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I would not worry about Windows update is because Microsoft will just install a load a updates that slow your new pc down. Try running a registry checker like this https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner.

If nothing is reported then I would do all the basic checks like:

re-seat the ram
reset the bios
check the ram for faults (there are plenty of ways to do this, even in the bios there may be a memory test).

If the hardware is ok then re-install Windows.
 
Sometimes it can take a very long time for Windows Update to catalog your computer's update inventory, if it seems stuck then go to reboot and you may find that updates have been installed and it requires a reboot to continue.

Alternatively, run "services.msc", and restart the "Windows Update" service and try again.

iTunes? I can't help with, I pity anyone who is forced to use the PC version of that...
 
simie said:
Microsoft will just install a load a updates that slow your new pc down
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That's precisely the attitude NOT to have. Of course all these well paid employess just make the OS slower and slower instead of fixing countless vulnerabilities, and virus backdoors...
 
Found another issue-apps from the app store won't download!
 
It would run the Win update again,as somebody has said it can take a long time to update overnight in some cases,then once you got windows running try your other downloads again :)
 
I could jump in here with the 'all these amateurs doing work for free, ruining the comp engineer profession' etc etc as most pro togs do but that would be cruel ;)

From the issues you have described so far, I would start again with a clean install, it sounds like there are some fundamental issues that are just gnot going to go away.

On the hardware side, check all connections are correct and seated properly. The SATA connections on the motherboard are numbered (the first one is usually a different colour) make sure the hard drive you are installing the OS onto is in the first SATA port. Also, the memory dimms, how many do you have and are they installed in the correct slots? dual channel memory will require the dimms in the correct slots so slot 1+2 may not be right.

Sounds obvious but is your hardware meeting the minimum requirements for Win 8.1?

Win 8.1 is a doddle to install, answer a few simple questions and your done in about 30 mins, it's not easy to mess it up really :) just take most of the defaults (I would customise the install location to ensure it is installing on the drive you think it should though to make sure).
 
Well stone-the-crows! Done a simple system restore back a few days and all seems to work!
Itunes is installed,updates are installed and apps are working........
trouble is I'm now not got total confidence in the machine- so rigorous testing for a few days before transferring all files from old machine to new!!
On the plus side it runs like lightning

Thanks for all the advice - will keep you posted!

Steve
 
PaulF said:
I could jump in here with the 'all these amateurs doing work for free, ruining the comp engineer profession' etc etc as most pro togs do but that would be cruel ;)
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Yes it must be annoying but hey when it all goes wrong you'll be the guys we call!!
 
stevetiler said:
Yes it must be annoying but hey when it all goes wrong you'll be the guys we call!!
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No worries, the writing was on the wall so I moved away from domestic support years ago.
Glad you seem to have it sorted.
 
daugirdas said:
That's precisely the attitude NOT to have. Of course all these well paid employees just make the OS slower and slower instead of fixing countless vulnerabilities, and virus backdoors...
Click to expand...

You are probably right, I have a bad attitude when it comes to windows update, I seen many a problem occur due to it.

A few years ago Microsoft issued a graphics card update for various cards that failed miserably. When the computer loaded the new driver all the user got was a constant black screen. What great programming and testing that was.

Anyone with any common sense will use a firewall blocking all those unused ports. not the crap that comes with Windows though.
 
PaulF said:
I could jump in here with the 'all these amateurs doing work for free, ruining the comp engineer profession' etc etc as most pro togs do but that would be cruel ;)
).
Click to expand...

Your average pc user may not know all the technical names like sata, dimms etc so baffling them with technical terminology is pointless that's why I myself keep things simple.
Yes I agree installing Windows is easy these days.

The problem is down to budget as well, a lot of people that build PC's use poor quality components this includes PSU's, ram and or course motherboards and install them in badly designed cases which do not allow decent ventilation then they charge a lot for it.
 
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