Use a recovery disk to correct errors

My laptop came with everything per-installed, including the Windows 7 operating system.  There were no recovery disks or installation disks.  It came as a complete surprise, when my laptop started acting up and asked me to insert Windows installation disk.  When I contacted the manufacturer, I was told that the only thing I could do was to restore my computer from a backup. But I had not learned to maintain backups at that time.  The alternative was to purchase a new operating system.  Instead of trying to help me they tried to make me upgrade to Windows 8.

But I was not prepared to spend additional money to buy a new operating system, when I had already paid for the one installed on my computer.  After intensive Google search, I was able to locate Windows 7 installation disk online. I managed to download it and burn it as an ISO disk. With that ISO installation disk, I was able to repair my computer.  It is important to note that this is only an installation disk, and that I still needed the product key from my original OS to make it work. 

Learn to use Google Search

The other day while installing a program, I received this error code:  “An error has occurred during initialization.   If this problem continues, please contact your system administrator: error code: 0x80073b01”.  I looked around to see if I could find my system administrator.  Hello, I am the system administrator!  Now what? 

I had to figure out what the problem was.  I copied and pasted the error code in my Google search box to see what came up.  The first hit was from Microsoft.  It said that, “Your PC is possibly infected with the newest variant of Sirefef AKA Zero Access.  One of the symptoms is that downloads are (falsely) identified as being a virus...and it will frequently disable and prevent the installation of various antimalware programs.” 

Once I knew what the problem was, I was able to deal with it.  I ran a scan with my MalwareBytes program and was able to remove the virus.  It is important to be as specific as possible while searching through Google, otherwise there would be plenty of worthless hits which would only add to the confusion. 

Check your hardware with Linux Mint

One fine day, my computer started acting up.  It would start fine but then abruptly shut down and go into the restart mode.  I wasn't sure what was going on, but it was important for me to determine whether it was a hardware problem or a software issue.  After some research I discovered that there was an easy way to know whether there was a hardware problem or not. And it would not require me to open the case.  All I needed to do was to boot the computer from my DVD drive using Linux Mint operating system.  If the computer operated without a hitch, the hardware problem could be ruled out. So I decided to give it a try. 

I downloaded Linux Mint 16 ISO file from the Internet, and burned it to my DVD.  Linux Mint is an open source operating system developed by a community of developers and is distributed free of charge.  Next, I set my BIOS to boot from the DVD drive, shut down the computer, inserted the Linux Mint DVD and restarted the computer.  Within minutes, Linux operating system started and loaded all necessary drivers without a hitch.  The computer was working fine and I was able to go to the Internet as well.  It was magical.  I was able to see my hard drive and all folders and files intact.  The conclusion was that there were no hardware issues and the only thing I needed to worry about was the software issues, possibly related to the Windows operating system. 

One word of caution, if you try this, be careful when you download Linux Mint from the Internet.  You may attract some worms and virus infections along with it.  I would be happy to burn an ISO DVD and send it to anyone who requests by sending me an email at pcselfservice@yahoo.com.  I may even send you a step-by-step guide on how to do this.

Test and repair your hard disk

The error check in Windows explorer revealed a few bad sectors. Now what?  The first thing to do is to backup the entire computer on a new and error free hard drive. All important data should also be copied on a DVD Rom or other storage media.

The disk may still be useable. The best way to test and possibly fix errors on the disk is by running an open source program called TestDisk 6.14. I used it to test and correct the partitions on my hard drive. I am sure that there are other comparable programs out there and you should feel free to use them.

Setup regular backups

I bought an external 1 Terabyte hard disk drive from Toshiba to back up important documents. I also use it to setup regular backups of the entire computer including the operating system and programs. This is the best way to reconstruct the computer after a major hardware failure. The restore point is only helpful if the computer's hard disk is still working. If the hard disk fails, as it happens quite too often, you have no other way but to restore from a backup.

The process is quite simple. Plug the external drive into a USB port and access the backup feature by entering backup in the search box after clicking the start button. The system will automatically identify the external drive and all you need to do is to click backup computer.

Check your hard disk for errors

It came as a surprise to find out that modern hard disks are designed to last for only 2 to 5 years. Anything can go wrong once their designed life span is over. The best way to check the hard drive for errors is by using the system's "error checking" features.  In order to access this feature, go to the windows explorer, and right click on the drive you want to check, and then click on Tools, and then on Check Now under Error Checking.  That is all.  The system will check the selected drive and fix any errors it encounters.

As data is added, modified and deleted on the hard drive through constant use, it gets fragmented in little pieces. The data is still there but the disk has to work overtime to retrieve and make it usable.  One way to keep the data neatly organized on the drive is by using the defragmentation feature of the system. Simply type defragmentation in the search area after clicking on the start button and it will take you to the defragmentation area.