DVD Burning problem & general delousing of computer discussion.

[Death Metal Moe]

Ugh. This is a long one, just a warning. If you're not a tech head you may get extremely bored, sorry.

Ahhhhh the joys of being the "guy who knows some stuff about computers" in a family. My dad suggests that it would be just dandy if I go up to my uncle's house and see why his computer can't burn DVDs anymore and is generally slower that fucking shit. Yea, that's not a can of fucking worms waiting to be opened. So I put my computer tools together and shoot up there.

The computer is an HP desktop that's less than a year old. They got some sort of bundle because it's an HP flatscreen, and HP tower, and HP mouse, an HP keyboard and an HP 3 in 1 printer thing. Just a baseline to let you know what I was working with. Case was a little dusty but everything looked fine. All wire connections were fine, I checked them twice. Running Vista, 2 gigs RAM, 400GB HD, 2ghz dual core Intel.

Here is the DVD problem:

It suddenly stopped burning DVDs a few weeks ago. However, it WILL:


Play CDs
Play store bought DVDs
Burn and then read CD-R's
Read DVD-Rs they burnt a few months ago


It will NOT burn a working DVD-R at this point. They use Windows DVD Maker to do it and it shows that It's setting the burn up and supposedly burns it, but it won't read it in the player. I even brought the test DVD home, it didn't write anything on the disc, you can see it wrote no data on the disc. I am going to take Nero up to them tomorrow and see if it's the program not the drive. If Nero won't let it burn working DVD-Rs then I am fairly certain it's a problem with the drive and they need to call HP to warranty it. If Nero WILL let it burn then I guess it's a problem with Windows DVD Maker, I know that makes little sense but at least I'll leave them with a program that works.

The other point of this thread is to discuss the deplorable condition of their computer programs. There's Norton AND AVG Free running. Norton won't even open anymore. There's NVIDIA software on there but they use the on board video card, there is no NVIDIA products in the computer. There was like 3 IE toolbars that loaded. SOMEONE has a Bit Torrent client on there, I'm not even sure anyone in the house knows how to access bit torrents. Fucking WEATHERBUG was on there! Who still uses that! It set off every fucking virus warning I had last time I tried using it.

It also kinda looks like SOMEONE who kinda "knows" about stuff tried to do shit on there. I found WINRAR loaded on there, that's a tell tale sign to me that someone with knowledge of comps was in there. There's a registry cleaner and some sort of PC Protection shit loaded on there which is either from that asshole who tried to fix it or they agreed to download it with something else.

Does anyone have some programs they trust all the time to kinda work the bad juju out of a computer that has had kids downloading games and parents who aren't extremely computer literate?

My plan is this:

Run CCleaner
Run SuperAnitSpyware
Run AVG Free
Update all Windows Updates


Is that a fairly good game plan? I'm open to any suggestions or even to hear other people's horror stories of doing this to try and get any ideas I can. Thanks tech heads.

[PD]

do not be so sure the dvd burner still works.

do you have another burner you can pop in to try?

you can also try installing Nero or imgburn or some other program, see if it gives you the same results.

[Reynolds]

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

You could also check and see if there is a firmware update for the DVD drive on the hp website.

[biggestmexi]

get a new one for 20 or so.

[Death Metal Moe]

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

You could also check and see if there is a firmware update for the DVD drive on the hp website.

That's a very good idea. No idea why it would suddenly stop working as it did but I'll check for it.

[KC2OSO]

Fukin A!

That's how a post to The Basement should be made. Pretty much all the pertinent facts.
OS
RAM
PROC
INSTALLED AV PROGRAM
ANY OTHER SHIT OF NOTE
EXACT NATURE OF PROBLEM


All laid out there...nice.



Meantime, I have no fucking idea either. I'd run a malware scan make sure that clears.
Reynolds - love the: http://www.malwarebytes.org/

Get 'em up on SP3 since they probably shut that off. Get them up on some sort of current AV. Have them pay for it. I like Norton. You bastards may like something else. Freeware AV is worth exactly what you pay for it. I've been running this box on XP Pro for going on 6 years now with no problems using (Jimmy) Norton.

Find the drivers for the DVD burner. Put them on a disk.

Unplug the DVD Burner, go through a full cold boot cycle and see if windows detects it again once reconnected. That will more or less prove whether or not the device is physically functioning or defunct. Failing that do as others have suggested and sub in a known to be working DVD burner. I have a box full of crapped out CD, CD-R, and DVD-RW drives that have just failed for whatever reason. Probably dust.

Good luck.

Write back. I'd love to see how this one turns out. My bet is malware.

[Reynolds]

That's a very good idea. No idea why it would suddenly stop working as it did but I'll check for it.

I had the same thinking with a problem once, but low and behold, it worked.

[Death Metal Moe]

Fukin A!

That's how a post to The Basement should be made. Pretty much all the pertinent facts.
OS
RAM
PROC
INSTALLED AV PROGRAM
ANY OTHER SHIT OF NOTE
EXACT NATURE OF PROBLEM


All laid out there...nice.



Meantime, I have no fucking idea either. I'd run a malware scan make sure that clears.
Reynolds - love the: http://www.malwarebytes.org/

Get 'em up on SP3 since they probably shut that off. Get them up on some sort of current AV. Have them pay for it. I like Norton. You bastards may like something else. Freeware AV is worth exactly what you pay for it. I've been running this box on XP Pro for going on 6 years now with no problems using (Jimmy) Norton.

Find the drivers for the DVD burner. Put them on a disk.

Unplug the DVD Burner, go through a full cold boot cycle and see if windows detects it again once reconnected. That will more or less prove whether or not the device is physically functioning or defunct. Failing that do as others have suggested and sub in a known to be working DVD burner. I have a box full of crapped out CD, CD-R, and DVD-RW drives that have just failed for whatever reason. Probably dust.

Good luck.

Write back. I'd love to see how this one turns out. My bet is malware.

Thank you sir, I don't like to waste time. And when I'm asking for help I like to provide all the information I have to help you all.

I will try unplugging and reattaching the DVD burner. Unfortunately I don't have another to swap in so I'll have to try other avenues.

[Death Metal Moe]

I had the same thinking with a problem once, but low and behold, it worked.

I'll install the driver 1st if one is available. If it still fails I'll try the drive reinstall after I unplug it. After that I'll try Nero. If all 3 of those fail to give me a DVD I can burn and read I'll just move on to scanning for shit and deleting stuff they don't need in hopes it can help speed the comp up.

[Death Metal Moe]

get a new one for 20 or so.

I already told them that and they didn't seem too upset since I know I can get them a decent one off Newegg cheap.

I mean they'll lose the Lightscribe they have but they didn't even know what it was so they'll never miss it.

[Reynolds]

I'll install the driver 1st if one is available. If it still fails I'll try the drive reinstall after I unplug it. After that I'll try Nero. If all 3 of those fail to give me a DVD I can burn and read I'll just move on to scanning for shit and deleting stuff they don't need in hopes it can help speed the comp up.

I give up easy now, and just reinstall windows like 3 times a year.

The other guy suggested power cycling, that's a good idea too, unplug all your shit, wait like 10 minutes, plug it all back in. Nero's buggy, and they throw out updates all the time, you could try that too.

[boosterp]

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

You could also check and see if there is a firmware update for the DVD drive on the hp website.

Of course.

Need something like this. (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2346364,00.asp)

Renew Norton and read this. (http://www.pcworld.com/article/167514/most_parents_ignore_parental_controls_for_kids.htm l)

As for the burning issue, it sounds more like a software issue. One, the computer is loaded with crapware, two there is a registry cleaner and it could of been used improperly dropping a driver, three someone who thinks they knew what they were doing could of fucked it up a million different ways. So, by using Nero to test it that is the right step one.

[biggestmexi]

I already told them that and they didn't seem too upset since I know I can get them a decent one off Newegg cheap.

I mean they'll lose the Lightscribe they have but they didn't even know what it was so they'll never miss it.

search thru newegg and SLICKDEALS.NET

I picked one up with lightscribe for i think 25 shipped.

[mendyweiss]

Less than a year old, shouldn't it still be under warranty ?
(Mendy's big contribution to the tech thread ! )

[KC2OSO]

search thru newegg and SLICKDEALS.NET

I picked one up with lightscribe for i think 25 shipped.
Yep. Not even worth fucking around with. Once the machine is back up to speed, just drop in a new burner and be done with it.

[PD]

yes, newegg is great- sometimes you also get the free ship.

do try to install another writing program in case.
if the old one reads, you can keep it in and install the new one as a 2nd- then you can make copies easier.

[Goatweed]

Newegg has LG dvd burners for $22 - and they have lightscribe. I have 2 of those drives in my box, they're very quiet and they work very well.

It sounds like there's a lot of software on that pc that doesn't need to be, and it's possible one or more of those apps could have screwed up Nero. Have you tried uninstalling Nero/cleaning the reg/reinstalling Nero?

Either way, short of reinstalling windows (with all that extra bloatware, I would, but that's me), you're best bet might be to uninstall all that crap, run ccleaner and grab a free copy of glaryutilities and run his reg cleaner as well. Then run malwarebytes, lose avg and norton and put either avast! on it (free) or Nod32 ($$ but worth it).

Also if they are on XP sp2 or sp3 or Vista, they should not need drivers for the dvd drive - the OS will provide them automatically (or in Vista's case, provide or get them off the internet for you). When I built my box the only drivers I installed were for the motherboard, sound card and video - and I didnt need to install the last two off the cd's but I wanted the advanced tweaking features for both devices.

[Death Metal Moe]

Less than a year old, shouldn't it still be under warranty ?
(Mendy's big contribution to the tech thread ! )

They bought it at Circuit City which is now out of business so they can't take it back to the store for help, but they can probably call HP. I don't know, if it were mine I'd probably make the call but for me at this point it might be easier to just get them to get a new drive.

[Death Metal Moe]

Newegg has LG dvd burners for $22 - and they have lightscribe. I have 2 of those drives in my box, they're very quiet and they work very well.

It sounds like there's a lot of software on that pc that doesn't need to be, and it's possible one or more of those apps could have screwed up Nero. Have you tried uninstalling Nero/cleaning the reg/reinstalling Nero?

Either way, short of reinstalling windows (with all that extra bloatware, I would, but that's me), you're best bet might be to uninstall all that crap, run ccleaner and grab a free copy of glaryutilities and run his reg cleaner as well. Then run malwarebytes, lose avg and norton and put either avast! on it (free) or Nod32 ($$ but worth it).

Also if they are on XP sp2 or sp3 or Vista, they should not need drivers for the dvd drive - the OS will provide them automatically (or in Vista's case, provide or get them off the internet for you). When I built my box the only drivers I installed were for the motherboard, sound card and video - and I didnt need to install the last two off the cd's but I wanted the advanced tweaking features for both devices.

They never had Nero, they were using the Windows DVD maker and whatever else is loaded on there with Vista to burn CDs and DVDs. I'm going to add Nero to see if the program is somehow corrupted.

I'm kinda putting it off today, I really just need to get up there and start it so I can finish it.

I'm leaving AVG on there, fuck it. Avast! needs that yearly reg renewal and I don't want to go up there every year.

1st thing will be to try to fix their problem with the DVD burner, then I'll get rid of a lot of the shit software on there.

[Death Metal Moe]

WARNING: The post that follows is an extremely detailed accounting of the 4 hours I spent at my Uncle's house fixing his computer. If you're not a tech geek like I am you will find this post even more boring than my original. Just a warning. For everyone else, here's what happened.

When I got there I immediately but Nero 8 on the computer and burned a DVD. Holy shit, it worked. The burner burned a working DVD and then read that DVD. So that means that somehow, someway, Windows DVD Maker has been corrupted, infected or overall buttfucked. I sat my little cousin down, the one who deals with the computer, and showed her the new program she will be using to make DVD-Rs. This took about 30 minutes total with slow installation, actual burn time and me checking several files on the DVD to make sure multiple sectors of the disc were readable.

Here's where it gets fun.

Now I start the task of "speeding up" the computer. And as every tech head knows, that means addressing whatever is running in the background that shouldn't be there.

My 1st step is to install and run CCleaner. A great tool I started using after some Ronfez.net peeps talked about it in this very forum. I took about 15 minutes to run the scan the 1st time, NO ONE had EVER deleted temporary internet files or any of that shit. After that I ran the actual registry cleaner several times until it returned no errors to correct.

2nd I decided to start taking out some of the bloatware and just general bullshit they didn't need. Someone had half uninstalled Norton Internet Security last time the fucked with it so I went to Norton's site and got that Norton Removal Tool from them. Finally, LiveReg isn't running in the background updating a program that isn't even there anymore! Removed a few things through CCleaner's Uninstall screen, small shit but shit none the less. Some things weren't unistalling so I'll get to them later.

My 3rd "Speed Up" step was to install that Malwarebytes program you all suggested. I ran it on my laptop last night, found nothing but I thought since I saw more than one person suggest it, I may just throw it into my routine of scans. This scan took like a fucking HOUR. Do you know how boring it is sitting in front of a computer in a house with 4 little girls running around and no Air Conditioning? Holy shit. I HAD to abort the scan about an hour and twenty minutes into it. It had actually found 32 things that I deleted off the comp, so that made me feel better.

The 4th step I took was to physically go into Program Files and delete folders of files that I couldn't get to uninstall the proper way. This included AOL 9.0 that came bundled on the HP comp and a NVIDIA suite of shit that they didn't need because they didn't have an NVIDIA product installed. It also included some fucking IE toolbar called "Torrentman" that I tried to delete last night and today before physically removing. I then ran CCleaner's registry cleaner about 5 more times until no errors came back from all the fucking folders I just threw out the wrong way.

Just to be nice I threw Microsoft Office 07 on there for the kids, everyone needs a word processor. Also triple checked MSCONFIG to make sure I turned off everything on the start up tab that should be gone. Restarted several times to see the speed of the initial load, was working great for the amount of stuff they wanted me to keep on there.

At this point I thought I was done. I was going to set a virus scan going on my way out and leave. Unfortunately, Windows downloaded a HUGE update package that really forced itself upon me. As I was trying to update the AVG Free it just hogged the bandwidth then started to set itself up for an install, so I relented and just installed it. This extra step added another half hour onto my already 3 1/2 hour ordeal.

As soon as the fucking thing was done, pizza guy shows up and now I have to be polite and eat a slice. I tried to wiggle out of it by telling them I had stuff at home but it didn't work. I felt bad even eating one slice, they have 4 kids, they need that food.

So in conclusion, I got the DVD burning issue resolved and the computer was running MUCH faster after all the shit I did to it. I am guessing that someone could have either used a registry cleaner improperly and fucked up the DVD burning process or it was just spyware and other shit. No idea. I didn't have time or ambition to do a Scan Disk, Defrag or even SuperAntiSpyware, but I did a lot.

Thank you for your time and thank you for reading all this shit. I hope they take care of that fucking thing now.

[Death Metal Moe]

Oh, and thanks to everyone who responded to this thread for your time and valuable advice. I appreciate it. I think you guys are like me, when you hear about a problem like this your brains start working towards a resolution so it's actually fun in a way. And when something actually gets fixed you feel a sense of accomplishment.

[boosterp]

Damn Moe!

Well, I have my Mom's computer here. I love her to death but can not sit over there for 4-6 hours, I'd go nuts.

She's careful, but has had this thing for a few years and Windows XP is crapping out, hanging up, etc. Plus, she got some sort of flash based malware about a year ago that fucked everything up.

Now, of course they do not listen and back shit up so I am going to clone the HD. It is an EIDE HD to make things slightly more complicated, no big deal.

I am setting up a machine right now to act as the clone, but have run out of energy to fuck with this. Luckily they are gone for 2 weeks so I have time.

Sometimes I want to beat a family member although I love them to death, BACK YOUR FUCKING SHIT UP! My job would be much easier.

[biggestmexi]

Oh, and thanks to everyone who responded to this thread for your time and valuable advice. I appreciate it. I think you guys are like me, when you hear about a problem like this your brains start working towards a resolution so it's actually fun in a way. And when something actually gets fixed you feel a sense of accomplishment.

i really didnt put much time in though :happy:

[Death Metal Moe]

i really didnt put much time in though :happy:

OK, then proportional thanks back to people depending on the amount of time and effort you gave to me 1st.

[biggestmexi]

OK, then proportional thanks back to people depending on the amount of time and effort you gave to me 1st.

all righty!

i cant take thanks when i didnt do anything. doesnt feel right

[PD]

good to hear it Moe.

I've had to do that stuff to family computers;
it's a lot of time, but as long as it works out, it's not so bad.

[KC2OSO]

Moe - Nice you didn't have to do anything severe to get the machine going again. Good thing also that it was an XP box and not Vista. I'm really learning to dislike Vista quite a bit.

[biggestmexi]

Moe - Nice you didn't have to do anything severe to get the machine going again. Good thing also that it was an XP box and not Vista. I'm really learning to dislike Vista quite a bit.

y's that?

[Death Metal Moe]

Moe - Nice you didn't have to do anything severe to get the machine going again. Good thing also that it was an XP box and not Vista. I'm really learning to dislike Vista quite a bit.

Sorry if I didn't make it clear enough, it was Vista.

[KC2OSO]

Sorry if I didn't make it clear enough, it was Vista.
Hrmph. Sorree. Guess I forgot form yr OP. Still don't like Vista much. I don't like the way Windows Explorer works. It's just a matter of getting used to things having been moved around. Having to hunt around to find things. Once you get used to it, it's fine I guess.

[biggestmexi]

Hrmph. Sorree. Guess I forgot form yr OP. Still don't like Vista much. I don't like the way Windows Explorer works. It's just a matter of getting used to things having been moved around. Having to hunt around to find things. Once you get used to it, it's fine I guess.

yes.

after a little while you will then its not really that bad.

I still get bothered by the fact that they renamed the Add/Remove programs. :furious:

[Death Metal Moe]

Hrmph. Sorree. Guess I forgot form yr OP. Still don't like Vista much. I don't like the way Windows Explorer works. It's just a matter of getting used to things having been moved around. Having to hunt around to find things. Once you get used to it, it's fine I guess.

I was VERY against Vista at 1st too. Then after SP1 and hearing better reviews I dove in. I do hate how they have to re arrange EVERYTHING but once you find it all, it's very similar. Just prettier.

I will say that I fucking HATE that Vista doesn't have the same audio settings. You can't record what you hear in the computer without physically connecting the audio out to the audio in on your sound card. I fucking hate that and keep a separate comp just to do work that I can't capture as an MP3 before hand.