Solved RE: Windows mess - questions with Hard Drive

terazbox

Member
Member
Messages
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Hello all!
I am not sure where exactly to put this topic, so if I've put in the wrong spot, please forgive me. Tis been a stressful week with computer issues and finding out my beloved cat has cancer.
Anyhow, I think the easiest way to begin my question is to share a screen shot of what I want to inquire about.
Could someone be kind enough to instruct me on how to do that?
Thanks so much and have a great evening!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WINDOWS 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
Hello all!
I am not sure where exactly to put this topic, so if I've put in the wrong spot, please forgive me. Tis been a stressful week with computer issues and finding out my beloved cat has cancer.
Anyhow, I think the easiest way to begin my question is to share a screen shot of what I want to inquire about.
Could someone be kind enough to instruct me on how to do that?
Thanks so much and have a great evening!

Press your Windows Key and Prt Sc Key together and a photo will be taken of what's on your screen. The image should be stored in your pictures folder under Screenshots sub-folder. Then you can then attach that image to your post. At least that's the way it works for me.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1 64, LT -Windows 10 Home 64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP 500-075 Desktop + HP 15-f018dx Laptop
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 3470 Ivy Bridge 3.2 GHz Quad Core/ LT - i3-4030U 1.9 GHz
    Motherboard
    Foxcon Joshua-H61-uATX
    Memory
    8 GB/ LT - 6GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD (DX10.1)
    Sound Card
    Integrated IDT 92HD73E
    Hard Drives
    1T HDD, 16G Sandisk Cache Drive, 2T Seagate 3.0 External
    Keyboard
    Wireless
    Mouse
    Wireless
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Norton 360
    Other Info
    CyberPower UPS, Macrium Backup, Revo Pro, Malwarebytes Premium
Yes, just tried that and it works.
I shall be putting together my inquiry in a little while and submitting it.
Thanks so much!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WINDOWS 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
Okay,
This is my concern. Our laptop is still fairly new. Purchased in November. It was working beautifully. Then, we did the upgrade to Win 8.1.
At first, all seemed well. Then husband said it wasn't shutting down for him while I was at work. Then, it started going really slow on some things. Then, husband told me he was getting those fake popup messages that say your computer is infected and you need to click on the link to save your computer.
Anyhow, I did do a system refresh. It was still going really slow and husband was complaining that it used to be faster. Then, it was lagging on changing screens and those pop ups for security were still showing up. Malware bites did find some adpup things but between that and Webroot, our virus protector - nothing else was found. I installed CCleaner, even uninstalled Webroot and did several scans with Windows Defender but found nothing else. Still slow and a few freezes that took forever to come back up and a few times where I actually had to hold the power button down to get it to shut down.
When it restarted, I never got any messages that Windows didn't shut down correctly or anything else weird.
Then, I noticed that my C drive didn't seem as big.
Now, hubby and I can't remember if this laptop had 700 or 750 GB HD but we both kinda think it was 750. The box is up in the attic and I'm just beyond patience to pull down the ladder and crawl up there, what with the sick cat and all.
Last night, I did the restore that was supposed to take it back to factory.
Again, the HD was smaller. Tonite after work, I called Microsoft to inquire about it thinking that perhaps reverting back to the supposed factory conditions after upgrading to 8.1 did something wacky to it.
Well, the dude seemed to think that computer was fine but said that the Microsoft product was now out of warranty. I about went nuts on him. Told him.. heck no... I wasn't paying nearly $100 bucks for a glitch of some sort when I had just shelled out that much and more on the cat. He said call HP.
I called them and the dude wavered back and forth like he didn't understand what I was asking. Now, he was remotely connected to my laptop and I even took the mouse and hovered over what I was trying to explain to him and he said, oh, that hurts nothing and no, your laptop could never have had 700 or 750 gb hard drive.
Sigh....

All I know is, when we go the laptop I only ever saw the C drive and the D drive. C being the main one and D being the recovery portion.

Here is the screen shot of what I have now. Can anyone explain this to me? Is it harmful? Can I get any of my hard drive space back to use? What is going on?

That's the 1st of my questions. I have more but I'm going to go one section at a time. Oh, the retailer that we purchased it from said that we can drop it off and they can send it back to HP but they only send out stuff on Monday mornings and when I called at lunch time, they had already shipped stuff out for the week. So, I have till the end of the week to see if anything can be fixed and if not, I'm dropping the thing from the balcony and having them get me a replacement because we got the warranty to cover all kinds of things. :)

Let me know if you can make any sense of the screen shot and thank you, thank you, Thank you to any and all who can assist!



Screenshot (2).png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WINDOWS 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
Oh, here is another shot of this stuff on the hard drive that makes no sense to me.

My apologies, I don't know how to make the images bigger. Hope this all helps.

Screenshot (3).png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WINDOWS 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
Not sure where you are at the moment. If you restored back to factory you would be back with 8.0. Plus, if you did a refresh after upgrading from 8.0 to 8.1 that probably took you back to 8.0 already.

A store upgrade from 8.0 to 8.1 results in a couple of new disk partitions. I saw the same thing with my HP I purchased in Dec. pre-loaded with 8.0. This is just a consequence of the 8.1 update. One reason why a clean install of 8.1 is better than the upgrade path. The update to 8.1 has also resulted in system shutdown and sleep issues with some users.

So I don't think the disk partitions have anything to do with your problems. Some have deleted the recovery drive for the space but only if they have adequate image and recovery tools and media backup.

Sure sounds like you could have a bug in the system though. Have you looked at the system, and applications logs in the event viewer to see what kind of errors are being generated?

What have you installed on the computer since new? You may want to try uninstalling anything that wasn't there when purchased just to rule out conflicts. If you added things after purchase but before the 8.1 update, some of those things might not be compatible with 8.1. Device drivers have also been a big problem. Make sure all drivers are up-to-date.

There are a lot of different commands that can be run that will identify and possibly repair system problems but frankly there are a lot of participants here that are far more qualified to walk you through. Possibly others will chime in.

Are you on 8.0 or 8.1?
What additional programs/applications have you installed?
Make sure drivers are up-to-date

That's a start
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1 64, LT -Windows 10 Home 64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP 500-075 Desktop + HP 15-f018dx Laptop
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 3470 Ivy Bridge 3.2 GHz Quad Core/ LT - i3-4030U 1.9 GHz
    Motherboard
    Foxcon Joshua-H61-uATX
    Memory
    8 GB/ LT - 6GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD (DX10.1)
    Sound Card
    Integrated IDT 92HD73E
    Hard Drives
    1T HDD, 16G Sandisk Cache Drive, 2T Seagate 3.0 External
    Keyboard
    Wireless
    Mouse
    Wireless
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Norton 360
    Other Info
    CyberPower UPS, Macrium Backup, Revo Pro, Malwarebytes Premium
Oh, here is another shot of this stuff on the hard drive that makes no sense to me.

My apologies, I don't know how to make the images bigger. Hope this all helps.

View attachment 37732

Your images are fine.
Once they get here, one just needs to left click them to make them bigger. :)

screenshot_8.jpeg

It looks like you have a 700 GB drive.
It looks normal to me.

Your second screenshot looks good too.
Very little fragmentation.

Download this batch file & run it.
It contains the sfc & dism commands.

Once downloaded, right click it & click Properties & click Unblock & Apply & OK.
Then Right Click it & choose Run as administrator.

Dism will hang on 20% for a long time.
Be patient.
It will complete.

When it is done, press the space bar to get sfc to start running.
It might take an hour to complete.
Then restart the computer.

Post back with the results of the scans.
{Whether they completed successfully or not.}

Batch file:

View attachment dism.bat

PS---Sorry about your cat. :(
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
Good morning all!

A good nite sleep, so my brain feels better.

Our laptop came preinstalled with 8.0. It is an HP envy 17 notebook. We did do the 8.1 free upgrade from the windows store.

After we did the back to factory reinstall the other nite, the only thing that I added were windows and hp updates and Belarc.

I haven't installed any of the other software that we use or even set up our printer yet.

I finally got windows defender to turn on.

Have gotten no weird things from that.

And now, I'm seeing a new issue - I keep getting this message about an HP Smart Adapter. The smart ac adapter connected will power your computer but potentially at a reduced performance level. and so on.


Never saw this message until now. This is the adapter that came with it.

Anyhow, now that I've shared that with you, I shall read through the replies again and try and determine which way to go next.


Thanks!!!!!!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WINDOWS 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
Just so you know the drive manufacturer uses 1000 bytes as 1 kilobyte when they advertise the size. 1 kilobyte in decimal is actually 1024 bytes. That's why your 750 GB drive only shows up as 698 GB in disk management.
Hard Drive Size Capacities Calculator
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
the dism.bat file thing isn't doing anything.
I downloaded it 2 different times
unblocked it
run as administrator
just a cursor sitting there
task manager says 0 - it not doing anything
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WINDOWS 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
ok
I am so frustrated right now

let me ask this

is there any way to totally wipe the drive clean - totally, totally clean - all gone

is there a way to get an 8.0 install (yes I have product key) - but an install other than my recovery disk? something that I can use say from a flash drive to install just 8.0 - minus the HP stuff (I can always worry about that later)

can that be done?

if not, I'm just going to box this thing up on Friday and take it back to the retailer and hope like hell that they don't just kind of do something to it and send the darn thing back to me in a state of not much better
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WINDOWS 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
You can clean install if you have the install media. I clean installed 8.0 on my ASUS laptop and wiped the factory stuff off of it. You just delete all the factory partitions and create new blank ones. Getting the install media is the tricky part. There is this download but it will not except OEM keys. http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/18309-windows-8-windows-8-1-iso-download-create.html?filter . There isn't much other than TechNet/MSDN which are subscription based. You may be able to find an ISO on a bit torrent site but that can be a risky venture, as those are often modified. Sometimes in a bad way with malware added.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
oh, when we did the 8.1 install, ran it a few weeks, had problems and tried to revert back with the refresh, it would not accept my windows 8 key. I called Microsoft, explained the issue to them and the fellow gave me a new product key.

Would that help or does it make things even more weird?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WINDOWS 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
I'd be game to try that, if you would think it would be something I can handle.

Have to confess, I'm nearly in tears this morning.

If I use the link you provided for the download, can I put it on a flash drive and load it that way and, if so, how big does the flash drive need to be? Best buy is right up the street, so if I need a bigger drive, I can run up there and get one.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WINDOWS 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
so, if I did that, I could use my recovery disks that we created?

As far as I know the recovery disks will just restore the factory install with all the factory utilities etc..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
I'd be game to try that, if you would think it would be something I can handle.

Have to confess, I'm nearly in tears this morning.

If I use the link you provided for the download, can I put it on a flash drive and load it that way and, if so, how big does the flash drive need to be? Best buy is right up the street, so if I need a bigger drive, I can run up there and get one.

After all the files are downloaded you'll get install options. One of the options is to install at a latter date and create install media. It will let you create a bootable thumb drive to install from. If you read though that thread it will explain it all. You can download 8.0 and or 8.1. Like I said though, it won't except OEM keys, you need to enter a Retail Product code to get anywhere.

EDIT: A 4 gig flash drive should do it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
terazbox,

I was delighted to see the heavy hitters join the conversation. The knowledge level and their willingness to help others is impressive.

If you are in a position to return your PC or send it back for repair at little or no cost is something only you can decide. On the other hand if have a willingness to spend the time and work through the fix yourself you will be much better off moving forward because you will have gained a lot of knowledge regarding how the PC operates. If you decide to move forward yourself I am sure those that have responded will help you along the way but if at anytime you think you are in over your head don't hesitate to say so. We all have our own areas of expertise and I am sure there some things that you know more about than most here. To paraphrase a well known actor "A man (or woman) has got to know their limitations".:D I will be watching your progress and if I think I have anything to add to the conversation I will do so.

Sorry to hear about your cat. I know how it is. I have 6.:eek: and just lost a 15 yo the other day. I have spares, you want one? Just Kidding:D All of them were rescued as kittens.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1 64, LT -Windows 10 Home 64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP 500-075 Desktop + HP 15-f018dx Laptop
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 3470 Ivy Bridge 3.2 GHz Quad Core/ LT - i3-4030U 1.9 GHz
    Motherboard
    Foxcon Joshua-H61-uATX
    Memory
    8 GB/ LT - 6GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD (DX10.1)
    Sound Card
    Integrated IDT 92HD73E
    Hard Drives
    1T HDD, 16G Sandisk Cache Drive, 2T Seagate 3.0 External
    Keyboard
    Wireless
    Mouse
    Wireless
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Norton 360
    Other Info
    CyberPower UPS, Macrium Backup, Revo Pro, Malwarebytes Premium
I'm on dog no.4, I've made that last trip to the vet several times. It never gets any easier. Mine just got old so I haven't had to deal with what your going though. I do know how you feel though and can sympathies' with it. :( I :cry: a lot with each one on that final day.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
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