Ex-girlfriend trashed my place, damaged laptop and desktop

Sloth

New Member
After a nasty breakup, and before I could get the locks changed on my place, my ex-girlfriend came by while I was at work and trashed my apartment. Among the things damaged were a couple of older Dell computers--one was a laptop and the other a desktop. They had been thrown across the room. In the case of my desktop tower, the peripheral cables were literally ripped out of the tower before the tower was tossed. The DVI port was damaged on the tower (one of the set screws is missing, but fortunately the other one is still there and is enough to make a good connection to the monitor). Both run Windows 7, the desktop runs Windows 7 Home premium 64-bit. The laptop, when started up, emits a series of four beeps with a brief pause between. It does this continuously until I shut it down using the power button. My brief research into this seems to indicate an issue with the RAM.

My desktop does something different.

The desktop is a Dell XPS-8700 running Windows 7 Home premium (64 bit). I have been really happy with this computer as it has been very stable and reliable whether used for mundane everyday computing and websurfing or playing online videogames such as LOTRO (Lord Of The Rings Online). The problem I am having with this computer is that it now will only boot up in Safe mode. I can still use the computer (I'm typing this post on it, as a matter of fact), but the Safe mode asthetics are VERY annoying. I have tried the "msconfig"thing as well as doing a "system restore", and neither works.


With regard to the desktop tower, I have two questions: 1. can I fix this myself or do I need to take it to a computer repair specialist to have them work their magic? I'm not a "tech" guy. 2. what desktop towers nowadays would be comparable to what I currently have, functionally and taking into account newer operating systems and memory requirements for programs and such?


Thanks,
Sloth
 
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johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
4 beeps is a memory issue. Try removing the memory sticks and reinserting them. Sometimes that works. As far as the desktop goes, it may just have loose hardware. Make sure everything is secured tightly to the motherboard. It may be a driver related issue as well. What happens when you try booting to regular mode?
 

Sloth

New Member
As far as the desktop goes, it may just have loose hardware. Make sure everything is secured tightly to the motherboard. It may be a driver related issue as well. What happens when you try booting to regular mode?
What is "regular mode"? When my computer boots up, it does so in safe mode. I am not given a choice in the matter.

Did you ring the police? I'd civil suit for the damage including the PC repair shop bill.
The legal side of things is being dealt with, of course. I'll just leave it at that.
 

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
What is "regular mode"?
When it boots windows normally. I dont think I've ever seen a computer boot to safe mode at every boot unless it's set that way. When I get home later I'll reply back with something to check in settings. If I remember correctly it's in msconfig utility.
 

netrick

Member
This is the safe mode setting in Boot options in msconfig. You might want to see if it has been set somehow.

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Sloth

New Member
Okay, sorry to have disappeared. Things have gotten very hectic at work and I've been putting in some long hours.

I ended up taking the computer tower to a local computer repair service which has great reviews. They went through my computer, cleaning out several years'worth of dust and lint. They checked out the components and recommended an upgrade from my mechanical drive to an SSD. They said it would speed up my computer. They also highly recommended I upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 (which I was already thinking about anyway). My graphics card, they said, was fine for everything I do (including playing LOTRO). They even found a spare set screw to install in the VGA port to replace the damaged one that I had to remove. Apparently there was also some malware on the computer, which surprised me as I have the Kaspersky Total Security suite installed and have regularly run scans--up until the point where the ex-girlfriend tossed the computer. The total cost was $399. Quite a bit better than going out and buying a brand new computer with similar capabilities to the one I already have.

When I hooked up the newly repaired/upgraded computer to my monitor, I was unpleasantly surprised to find that the resolution was that low-res garbage that I have seen when the computer starts up in safety mode. After fiddling with things for a bit--with no success--I had a thought: what if the problem is not that the computer is in safe mode, but rather the monitor resolution has somehow been affected? After all, the boot options box (as shown above in netrick's post) did NOT indicate that my computer was set to boot in safe mode. Turns out that my new hunch was right. Somehow, my nice monitor had gone to a lower resolution setting. Some trial and error over roughly 15 minutes of time got me to the highest resolution setting that the monitor could handle with my computer. All seems well now. I now have a computer that has had its innards cleaned of dust and dirt and its hard drive and operating system upgraded. Perhaps my ex-girlfriend's tantrum was a blessing in disguise.

Anyway, thanks to those who posted in this thread for your advice.

Cheers!
Sloth
 
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