windows 7 premium issues after tranferring to fresh hard drive

Hi everyone I would like some advise

I have a desktop windows premium 7 OEM & the first sign of problems was the desktop would not start up after a power cut which was while I was using the desktop

So I get a guy out & he says the 'desktop box is not getting any power.
He rings me in a day or 2 & says the mother board is cooked so must replace, I allow.
Then he rings me saying the hard drive had failed, I allow this to be replaced
Then the tech telephones me to say the company that made my motherboard is no longer around so he will have source another one. I allow
Next he is on the phone saying the motherboard will not fit in the desktop box case so he has to change the case.
The computer is returned to me & it will not allow my AVG to be installed giving a bad error message ( I have used the paid version of AVG for over 10 years so I am very familiar with how it works & I have NEVER in 10 years had an issue)
The tech returns my desktop & has installed Avira free

Over that next month the computer begins to run slower & slower …it is a very capable computer (I think) 
Processor Intel (R) Core I7 cpu 920 @ 2.67GHz}
Installed RAM 12.0 GB
Although I am an old lady , I am an avid on line COD multiplayer gamer..<3 <3 <3 shoot 'em ups'

Anyway the desktop went bad to the tech this last week as he said 'windows 7 can have some compatibility issues by transferring from the crashed hard drive to the new one but we iron those out fairly quickly
Within a day it was worse than ever…slow bad error messages from my AVG & would not let it install or run….windows microsoft has stopped working messages…freezing, after a restart the desktop behaved like I was a first time user…at times after restart it would not remember my browser references…some apps I would open to read a message 'since this is the forst time using this programme ( but the programmed had been used before many times) almost like it was wiping things when restarted.
I preformed an Avira scan & it took 4.5 HOURS, detected 4 viruses……not sure when they slipped in & am wondering if it was while the Tech had the desktop because one of the tech's back up files on the home screen desktop had a virus detection

After the 4.5 hour scan I  had to restart…upon restart I had the bad image message for Avira…(exact same as for bad image message I get from AVG.
Avira worked until after a restart so I installed it again Again it worked fine until a restart then it gave the bad image message again

Now what brings me here is alarm bells & the tech said to me that the first bad image error message AVG was an AVG software issue..AVG are still trying to resolve,,,,as I said Avira now has the same bad image error message….call me paranoid but that says to me it is a system problem but I am no trained IT tech

I have system corrupt files in my scannow repair disk from the CMD prompt…scan repair disk is unable to fix them
I do not have the windows disk….it is very far away in storage
I have ceased using my desktop & using my laptop as I feel the desktop is too fragile in it's correct state..besides it will not accept an virus protection

Questions 

I have searched google all weekend & I believe I could clean install a fresh windows 7 premium DISK (after back up to external drive the files I want to save) however I am not even sure if this will fix the errors..
An install must be fairly straight forward as they sell them in the stores….I am also aware I will  have to delete the partitioning when clean install over a current failing OS

Or will the errors disappear because I am installing a fresh windows 7?
I have never had anything like this happen.
I not comfortable returning the desktop for the tech to try & fix for the 3rd time or even allow him to do the clean install because to date I believe he is not being reliable

I have paid him $550 & this is what I am left with…. 'you cannot blame me for everything' he has said in reply but the thing is..before the power went out my system was perfect & this is what I asked him to do….bring my desktop back to me operating to full correct capacity!!
I feel a little like I am being lead on & taken for a ride….money pit

Maybe this is usual when these things happen or I am out of touch, being completely unreasonable
Please, I would be grateful for any help
Lastly I hope this post makes sense to somebody

Thanks in advance





 

We see way too much of this here, from what you have said they don't appear to be much of a tech, personally I wouldn't start ringing up saying part A has failed, then part B etc., don't get me wrong there are area's that can not be tested, and all you can do is test all that can be tested, and whatever is left has to be treated as suspect, but personally, I would of been able to check the PSU, hard drive(s) and ram before I start ringing anyone, and I am just someone at home, and not running a business, so from your post I would not have done half the calls you had, and getting the motherboard wrong, that's just crazy, obviously human error can happen, but put together with the rest of what you have said, I would not consider them to be good at what they do.

I am worried that it may end up being a take it back to a repair place again, but that depends on how comfortable\able you are to follow instructions on how to remove ram from inside the case, because I have seen no mention of that so far, and as it's sensitive I would be concerned that they may have been damaged at the same time, there are a couple of scans that can be done, but they are not always able to see a problem, so let me know what you feel about going inside the case, I would lay out all you would have to do, then we can decide if we can start checking things in there.

While waiting to hear from you, and decide what way to go, lets try and get a scan done, Here is a set of instructions from m$ saying how to do this, have a look at that, and see if you are able to do that scan\test, if you can let us know how that goes, then we can go from there, and feel free to ask if you need anything explained more than already has been, as we don't know how much a person is comfortable\able to do, hope this gets you started at least.

definitely find a new tech/shop to take your pc in for repairs in future.

you can download your version of windows 7 from here :- http://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/14-windows-7-direct-download-links

then burn it to a disc and use that disc to repair the corrupt files the scan found and see if that fixes your problems.

You will need to have the number (product key) on the COA sticker that came with your original installed purchase, in order to activate your license.

Since he replaced the mother board, and hard disk, Microsoft will need it to reactivate.

***note that you have that sticker only if you bought the computer with Windows pre-installed.
You don't have one if you bought Windows yourself and installed it.

thank you 8210GUY for the reply…I am thankful that my suspicious have lead me here.

NO! NOT comfortable at all dealing with this Tech any more that is why I am here wondering / asking if I can fix this mess  myself.
I consider myself slightly more savvy than the average home user & a 'can-do' kinda gal.

I have run the windows memory diagnostics (manually) from the link above as you suggested.(actually I ran the test twice as the first time I missed the results & it said they would be displayed after restart.. it was not displayed after restart.)
Each test ran a 'standard' test & the screen displayed it was running 2 tests (each time)
The status: 'No problems have been detected yet'.
I cannot find the report it said it would give after restart….is it sitting somewhere in my system? I could not find a google answer
However before the test shut down to restart I could see it had completed fully overall test status with no problems detected.

My next question is what have this test done? Tested the memory? Is that in the hard drive? (sorry to ask what may be a stoopid question)

I am happy to 'go inside the case' as you put it. It makes me a little nervous but this morning I was able to go into my BIOS to see how I might change the order of my boot order in case I need to do a clean install & it was simple enough to follow using these steps (it was a highly stressed situation though I might add ! )
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/ss/bootorderchange_7.htm
(my apologies if I am not allowed to post links here….I am not sure about that)

I will await your next piece of valuable guidance.
I am very grateful for you taking the trouble & time in helping me thank you






 

thank you 8210GUY for the reply…I am thankful that my suspicious have lead me here.

Edit by paws…duplicate post edited out.




 

thank guy Terry1966 
I am going to run through some trouble shooting with 8210GUY but I am off to the shops to get a CD & will do as you suggest

I am grateful for you time & trouble thank you …please stay close I am still in deep waters & may need your assistance…may need all the help I can get…

Jacee the desktop that was returned to me with new case, motherboard hard drive of course looks now nothing like what first went out the door with this so called tech guru.
I no longer have the windows sticker on this new box & he says he does not have my old one! Let me ask a second time & I will let you know his response…(he is conveniently not answering my emails at the moment & I dare not call as speaking over the telephone has no hard copy or what was said so I wait…..

I appreciate you time in trouble in helping me, many thanks   
 

on my desktop , computer, right click properties I can get my system info….under Windows activation I can see PRODUCT ID XXXXXXXXXXX
Is this the license number for my windows 7 premium or will I need that sticker off the side of the old boat?
I was able to have the jelly bean counter retrieve my product key.

Could someone please advise if these are the 2 that I will need or still need that windows sticker with all the details?

Thank you

Right the test you have run is to test the ram (memory), not the hard drive or anything else, but if you have reason to wonder about the hard drive we can set you up to scan that for peace of mind if you wish, but given multiple issues all arising from power, I suggest dealing with each in turn, it will be easier to manage and not start getting mixed up.

The fact the ram had no faults found, doesn't mean they are good, so the next step to try is swapping stick around, taking some out and running in-between long enough to get the feeling if you system feels like it used to be, but this is very possibly going to be time consuming, and repetitive, but it's a good way to see if anything shows up, but you are going to have to be methodical in doing this, so pen and paper is advised to note each combination you try.

First the safety rules, whenever you go to go into the case, turn OFF the mains, AND remove the plug, next if the PSU has a switch, turn that off as well, it is the mains power supplied by a kettle lead, and if there is a switch it will be close to where the cable plugs in, a major factor to remember is that static electricity can kill ram as well as other parts, and it only takes a couple of steps to generate enough static to damage something.

So before you touch anything, touch the side of the case (the chassis), this should eliminate any static, but make touching the case like this the 1st thing you do before touching anything inside, and do this every time you go to touch something, even if you have only taken a couple of steps, after you have done each step of what we have to do inside the case, put the side back on, but you only need to use 1 screw (keep the others safe though), then turn it all back on, this is the cycle you need to do every time, it's to keep you safe, and the parts.

Now open the side of the case, there should be 2, possibly 3 screws that hold it on, if they are big you should be able to undo them by hand, but if they look like any other screw then you will need a screwdriver to undo them, they will be on the rear of the case, on the lip of the side that comes round the back of the frame, the lip is maybe quarter of an inch, only undo the 2 or 3 screws in that lip, but there are numerous other screws on the rear, but it is only these ones on the lip that needs to be undone.

With the screws out, you should be able to remove the side, often it needs to be slid backward while flush, this part "may" be easier to do on it's side, once it has loosened, you may be able to straight lift it off, or you may need to "open" it like a door, most of the time it will lift off, it all depends on the case, once removed you will be able to see inside the case, and have access to all the parts.

First thing is take note of everything, but touch nothing yet, the ram will be long rectangle shaped sticks with chips down their sides, it will be close to the heatsink, which is a big block of metal with a fan on top of it, take note of how many sticks there are, and how many slots there are, the slots are colour coded (usually) lengths of plastic that the ram slots into.

It will also help me to know the make\model of the motherboard (that's the big PCB panel that everything's plugged into), this info is usually printed on the board, and take note if it says a revision number, e.g. Rev 2, if you can't see this clearly then we can find out by running another scan, but I would like to know what we are dealing with to make sure we get it right.

Now starts the pen and paper bit  write on the bit of paper Slot 1, Slot 2, Slot 3, Slot 4; this assumes there are 4 sticks of ram, but 12gig is not a figure that I associate with 4 sticks, which is partly why it would help to know what board we are dealing with.

Slot 1 is the slot nearest the heatsink, with Slot 4 being furthest from it, as you move these sticks make sure you keep them on the piece of paper against the slot they came from, when ram states getting swapped around, it is very easy to lose track of what came from where, so this is important, and I don't know if you have anyone else around, or pets, make sure they are unable to disturb this paper and mix up the ram.

So if you can let me know how many sticks there are, and what the board is, then I can see what you are dealing with, because another important note about ram, with the systems that started using new technology to use matched pairs of ram, it is important to make sure that ram is kept in it's matched pairs, when I know this info I can suggest how to do this, should you not be able to read the info from the board, download and run Speccy, it will list what is in your system, click on motherboard and read it from there, then we can make the next step.

Don't forget, if you are unsure about anything just ask and we can try and clarify things for you.

8210GUY OMG you mean physically go into the box? OMG! ….OK bare with me…(breathing needs to return to normal)..ok no worries I can..we can do this the experience will be great.
Ok I hear your safety…turn off all power..(I am not that much of a risk taker) …methodical (me by nature) take notes…time consuming?  (I have little money sas a poor adult student so I am rich in time)

Quick update before I go. Put a new CD into the drive to try & copy my file & data…got the blue screen message just from inserting a CD Into the drive I get the   'microsoft windows has stopped working'….I left if & then it went to this following blue screen message

'A problem has been detected & windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.
process or thread crucial to system operation has unexpectedly exited OR been terminated. If this is the first time you've seen this stop remove screen restart your computer if this screen appears again follow these steps.

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new install as your hardware or software manufacturer to a provide any windows updates you might need.
If problems continue disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable or remove any newly installed hardware. Disable BIOS memory options such as cachIng or shadowing if you need to  use safe mode ot remove of disable components. Restart your computer press F8 to select advanced startup option & then select safe mode'

I have started my computer in safe mode to try & get some of my files backed up to CD

I will organise getting into the box & follow your steps thank & come back to you
Tech info
***STOP: Ox000000F4 (Ox0000000000000003, OxFFFFFA800CF74B30, OxFFFFFA8OOCF74E10, OxFFFFF80002F887BO

I ran in safe mode & tried to insert the CD again but as soon as I put the CD in the drive it froze safe mode. I think I will forget that idea for the minute.
Is this message a baddie?

Going to find somewhere suitable to open the box, following everything you have said above….will update soon. 

Thanks so much 8210GUY 

8210GUY

sorry the side panel is off but I am having difficulty seeing which is the ram…I have taken a picture is there anywhere to upload it here please?

8210 GUY
I have located the ram & there is  slots. orange black orange black orange black ( kinda matches what you say about RAM in pairs…?) they are all holding ram (ie none are empty)

The mother board has ASUS written on it but I cannot find any Rev or anything. When I start the desktop is shows a splash screen with PB Motherboard

Ok I understand about trying to get the motherboard info…..Mmmm I will then need to start the failing desktop….download a free antivirus or uninstall the free avira that gives the bad error message once the desktop has been restarted ….then download the speccy, I assume from this site?..Will take a look & get back to you
I might wait to hear from you as I am a little apprehensive about using my desktop in it's current state? 
Thanks

 

8210 GUY
I have located the ram & there is  slots. orange black orange black orange black

Edited by paws… duplicate post
 

here's what mine is like with the side panel removed…but then I guess they are fairly similar

oppphs sorry it hasn't loaded