A friend plugged a portable memory drive to my computer and since then, nothing works right.?

Question

I no longer can access my memory stick (Sony) for photos and my computer takes FOREVER to boot up.. How do undo what he did?

Answer 1

Assuming both memory sticks are USB and you are running Windows XP...
Go into the control panel
Click on the System icon
Select the Hardware tab
Click the Device Manager button
Find the catagory for USB devices in your hardware listing
Click the + in from of the group to expand it to show all the devices
Right-click and uninstall each device
Reboot the PC and it will readd the USB drivers.
Hopefully now it will recognize your memory stick
(Sometimes the table that tracks USB devices gets confused and it will stop recognizing one or more USB device(s)).

If it is still slow booting, then it may be trying to load some software related to the other memory stick. You can use the MSConfig utility to turn that off.
Go to Start, then Run and type in: msconfig
Go to the startup tab
You will see a list of all the programs that are loaded when your computer starts up. Uncheck any that you do not have to have. (Usually you can uncheck them all). If you decide you to need one, you can go back and recheck it. Hopefully something on that list will be the software related to the other memory stick that is slowing you PC.

Answer 2

Use the Last Known Good Configuration feature in Windows XP. The Last Known Good Configuration feature is a recovery option that you can use to start your computer by using the most recent settings that worked. The Last Known Good Configuration feature restores registry information and driver settings that were in effect the last time the computer started successfully. Use the Last Known Good Configuration feature when you cannot start Windows XP after you make a change to your computer, or when you suspect that a change that you just made may cause a problem. For example, you can use this feature if you cannot start Windows XP after you install a new driver for your video adapter, or if you installed an incorrect driver and have not yet restarted your computer.

When you start your computer by using the Last Known Good Configuration feature, Windows XP restores information in the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet
Note Any changes that were made to other registry keys remain.

Then do the following:
1. Start your computer.
2. When you see the "Please select the operating system to start" message, press the F8 key.
3. When the Windows Advanced Options menu appears, use the ARROW keys to select Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked), and then press ENTER.
4. If you are running other operating systems on your computer, use the ARROW keys to select Microsoft Windows XP, and then press ENTER.

Hope this helps!!!

Answer 3

You should unplug it and run a virus scan, make sure it is up to date with new scan data. Use a spyware scan as well. After which you will want to run system restore.Here is were it will get a little tricky oh yea make sure your scans are full system scans and not just a quick scan. AND when you are through restoring the system and you are sure things are working o.k. you will want to turn off system restore, what this does is it will delete all other system restore points on the machine. This is just a precaution so if the original problem was hiding in the system restore section waiting to attack again it will have been deleted with the restore points. And do not forget to reboot when done and continue to turn on system restore again and you should be good to go.

Hope this helps.

P.S. after all that make sure you do not use that device again and scan all future devices for virus and spyware also.

Dbarselow

Answer 4

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Answer 5

I do not know what operating system you have, but if you have windows xp, you are in luck.
Click on start, then all programs-accessories-system tools-system restore.
Once there, you can "go back" to an earlyer time.
The available times will be in bold.
Pick one that is BEFORE the time that your friend hooked up the drive to you computer.
The computer will restore itself to that time that you pick,and it should work just as before.
Any questions, you may email me.
Let me know how it gose.

Jon

Answer 6

two things may have happened.
the first thing is that the memory stick could of had a virus on it.
the second thing is you may want to contact the place where you bought the computer to manually rest your computer

Answer 7

Scan for viruses... likely one on his stick. If you don't have a virus scanner get AVG FREE at www.filehippo.com

Answer 8

probably got infected by a virus...use antivirus programmes to disinfect, failing which: reformat the drive

Answer 9

Dewcoons is rigtht.you dont have a virus and you dont have to do a system restore.

Follow his advice.

Answer 10

You have to restore it or reboot it with your back up disc.