I have a compaq presario 5000 with a pentium 4 processor. I had it running with dsl with no protection (stupid I know) and I got lots of damage including spyware, virus's, etc. I took it to the Geek Squad at my local Best Buy. They told me that it needed a new hard drive. I think they said because of all the spyware and infections the harddrive got overworked and damaged. Does that make sense? Is it worth it to replace the harddrive or can I just use my recovery cd and wipe out all the virus and spyware and then just install virus protection/anti-spyware. I know it wont be running to its full capacity if I do that but some of the harddrive will still be working right? I cant really afford to shell out the money for a new system right now. PLEASE ADVISE.
2006-08-31 10:40:32 · 14 answers · asked by cherastitch 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Software
Sorry for not knowing the "lingo" but when you say re-format is that the same as just inserting the recovery cd and restoring to the original set-up? Or is that something different?
And what is a cheap and good spyware/anti-virus to use if you are using dsl?
2006-08-31 10:54:05 · update #1
The geek squad said i needed a new hard drive that it wasnt running at its full capacity or something to that effect. And since my system was upgradeable thats what I needed to do. They didnt even try to get me to do it since its beyond their scope to install harddrives anyways. So I paid them the diagnositc fee and was on my way.
Still not sure if re-format is the same as just restoring to factory settings or not?
2006-08-31 11:07:31 · update #2
your time is free I would definitely try it what do you have to lose
2006-08-31 10:45:25 · answer #1 · answered by salute222000 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
dont worry about the Geek Squad , they are mostly kids straight from hs who only know basic tech,, hell they couldnt even answer me the question ,,," do you carry a fan and heatsink for a socket 478 motherboard??" and the supposed to be smart geek squad agent said " uuughh , isnt that an AMD!!!" and i said no ,, which of course any good computer person would know thats and intel socket, anyhow then they said hold on,, and i was on hold for about 5 mins and then they come back and give some lame excuse,,, " uuughh,, we used to carry that but now we dont,,, you might want to try the internet,, maybe ebay or something!!!" what f****n advice is that.. if you have a restore disk or a rescue disk you may be able to reload,, if you have any access at all to the internet,,,by any other computer or a friend,, have them go to www.free.grisoft.com and download the virus software and spyware versions they have,, its absolutely free, you dont have to renew for the life of having it,, its better than any norton or mcafee virus software out there 10 to 1,, it detected viruses on my wifes grandmas computer that neither norton or mcaffe could detect,,, and once again did i mention its free,, i never once in 6 yrs on my computer have ever had a virus, trojan, worm or anything else for that matter. have someone download it to a disk and itll wipe clean anything your hd drive picked up, you can count on it its the top of the heap guarenteed!!!
2006-08-31 18:03:12 · answer #2 · answered by John C 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
NO, that does not make sense. While a hard drive may fail in time, it can be tested to see if it is still good. If they didn't do that, don't replace it.
You need to back up all personal data. Next you do a low-level format of the hard drive, you can generally download a program from the Hard Drive manufacturer's support section. Then you need to reload the operating system, reload any program files and finally reload you personal files including the documents and settings files.
That should restore you machine to a good clean condition. Before you connect it to the Internet, install a GOOD anti-virus program. You can download a couple at no charge, a good one is Grisoft AVG. Download it and include it in the backup files. Don't wait until the machine is clean to download it, you can easily get reinfected while it downloads.
2006-08-31 17:56:40 · answer #3 · answered by john_mason4438 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like a load of rubbish
9 time out of 10 when a HDD seems damaged it is caused by software
Usually when the hard drive is clean wiped (formatted) and reinstall the HDD will be fine
This best way to check is to get a diagnostic disk to check the integrity of the disk
Usually "Geek Guys" do not really the in's and outs of hardware problems
If you have a recovery disk - use this - if this recovers ok then your hard drive will be ok
If you have any problems would should try deleting the partition tables then do a format then recover your machine -
hope this helps you out
2006-08-31 17:50:08 · answer #4 · answered by FEN 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
are you sure he said you new hard drive?
your SOFTWARE is affected by virused and parasites (spyware), not your hardware.
A Full reload ( Meaning clean slate start over from scratch) SHOULD erase all the data and software. You may try contacting Compaq (they're HP now i think) Tech support and asking how to do a "full reload" with that specific restore disk, it may not delete your data and therefor, not delete your parasites and viruses.
You COULD have hardware issues AND software issues, Ask the geeksquad guy to be more specific.
When you get everything done, BUYanti-virus software, like Norton. The"free" software often has parasites and spyware built in and could slow you down.
2006-08-31 17:58:07 · answer #5 · answered by kittenspawn 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it might actually be better to just buy a new one. There are hard drive recovery places, that can recover the data, but that could cost more than just buying a new hard drive. Kinda of a bum deal, but that does happen. Just remember to use virus and spyware protection on the new drive. Try newegg.com to find a good and cheap hard drive.
2006-08-31 17:50:03 · answer #6 · answered by MOJO25 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
look Ive had thousands of viruses and i almost never change the hard drive in fact I'm a technician and i believe if u reformat the hard drive u should be fine instead of wasting money on a new hard drive which is what the geek squad wants u to do waste money so they get more money(commission) just reformat. the only way u should buy a new one is if Ur getting stop errors and even then recovery consoles Can help with some stop errors(blue screen of death)
2006-08-31 17:49:16 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sounds just like best buy! take it to a reputable local computer tech to have the drive tested. It is probably ok and you can just install a fresh copy of XP. If it is bad you can replace it fairly cheap with a used hard drive of the similar size. I often have to listen to my customers vent after a best buy visit, when they find out I fixed the problem for $50 bucks after they paid best buy several hundred bucks and still needed me to actually fix the real problem.
2006-08-31 17:53:06 · answer #8 · answered by Interested Dude 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's possible but I think they are just jerking you. You computer and harddrive should have something called SMART (self monitoring and something something) that should warn you if your harddrive is about to go. Obviously if you get a SMART error (will tell you on boot up, but only if you have it activated in the BIOS) then replace the hard drive. Otherwise tell them to chowder off.
2006-08-31 17:50:32 · answer #9 · answered by Nerdly Stud 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
new harddrives aren't that particularly expensive. you can try to clean out the drive and reinstall with the recovery disc and see if that works. what they said would only be applicable if the hard drive was SOOOO overworked it warped or something but I've never heard of that happening.
2006-08-31 17:46:47 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you can do the installation yourself, some hard drives will cost as much as the software you are planning to install... especially the anti-virus software.
2006-08-31 17:51:50 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋