trumpeter
Topic Starter
I have a Dell Inspiron 15r (n5010) laptop, two years old, Windows 7.
The laptop has been working fine the last two years.
Last night, in an attempt to speed up its startup time, I uninstalled a number of unused programs and also ran Dell's diagnostic tool to see if any drivers needed updating. Only bluetooth needed updating so I downloaded Dell's latest driver R273948.exe and tried to install it (the install failed for some reason - I'm not sure why).
The computer was working fine for the rest of the evening. I restarted it a number of times and used Chrome for a few hours more for email and general browsing before closing the lid and (I assumed) putting it into sleep.
This morning I opened the lid and noticed the computer was still on. The browser windows was still open and the computer seemed to be working fine. However I noticed Chrome's gmail pop window was not working properly (it popped up but showed "page unable to display" inside) which I found odd. Also, when I minimized the browser I noticed all but three of my desktop icons were missing (I usually have around 50). And when I went to the start menu all my applications were missing except for a few.
I attempted to restart the computer. However, Windows 7 would not restart. It automatically went into "startup repair". I ran the repair a number of times and followed the guides at microsoft.com but it did not work.
I have since managed to access my HD by downloading a small operating system called UBUNTU and booting it up from DVD.
When I natigate to my C drive within UBUNTU the files are all missing except for the 3 on the desktop I saw this morning and one or two others in my documents folder. Most of my files are missing and many of my folders too. The HD appears to be 90% empty (it was 90% full before).
I have critical files on the HD which I did not back up.
I do not believe this is a virus as I have not downloaded any software and use Avast firewall and virus checker.
I'm in a bit of a panic right now. So any advice much appreciated.
Thanks.
The laptop has been working fine the last two years.
Last night, in an attempt to speed up its startup time, I uninstalled a number of unused programs and also ran Dell's diagnostic tool to see if any drivers needed updating. Only bluetooth needed updating so I downloaded Dell's latest driver R273948.exe and tried to install it (the install failed for some reason - I'm not sure why).
The computer was working fine for the rest of the evening. I restarted it a number of times and used Chrome for a few hours more for email and general browsing before closing the lid and (I assumed) putting it into sleep.
This morning I opened the lid and noticed the computer was still on. The browser windows was still open and the computer seemed to be working fine. However I noticed Chrome's gmail pop window was not working properly (it popped up but showed "page unable to display" inside) which I found odd. Also, when I minimized the browser I noticed all but three of my desktop icons were missing (I usually have around 50). And when I went to the start menu all my applications were missing except for a few.
I attempted to restart the computer. However, Windows 7 would not restart. It automatically went into "startup repair". I ran the repair a number of times and followed the guides at microsoft.com but it did not work.
I have since managed to access my HD by downloading a small operating system called UBUNTU and booting it up from DVD.
When I natigate to my C drive within UBUNTU the files are all missing except for the 3 on the desktop I saw this morning and one or two others in my documents folder. Most of my files are missing and many of my folders too. The HD appears to be 90% empty (it was 90% full before).
I have critical files on the HD which I did not back up.
I do not believe this is a virus as I have not downloaded any software and use Avast firewall and virus checker.
I'm in a bit of a panic right now. So any advice much appreciated.
Thanks.