My laptop is acting very weird.

Castiel19

Estimable
Jan 26, 2016
9
0
4,510
I have an Asus U52F Laptop, the Core i3 version (Very old, I know) running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit. It was given me to my uncle, so I didn't buy it, therefore don't know where it's from. When I turn the computer on, it instantly attempts to login to the administrator account, but then automatically signs back out. I can log into the other two accounts that are not the administrator, but when I do the desktop is black and the task bar shows nothing. I tried to open task manager to run explorer.exe, but it didn't work. I thought at first it was a virus, since it tried to login to the admin account although it failed, and the amount of downloaded junk on this thing is crazy. Then I thought, maybe the HDD is failing. Recently I tried to run it, and it said something it needed wasn't installed. Soda got spilled on it, the battery was removed right after; but the keyboard no longer works. That wasn't a big deal, I just got a USB one. About a year later these problems started though. Task Manager also says that the Disk is at 100% use, the Memory at 29% use, and the CPU at 11% use. This hints me to thinking there's a virus, those are VERY high values for being idle. Any help is appreciated, thanks for reading.
 
Solution
There isn't a lot that you can permanently do without admin access.

Sounds like the best answer is to just get a new Windows disc and do a clean install.

Castiel19

Estimable
Jan 26, 2016
9
0
4,510


I typically play light games like Terraria and browse the web. My parents do small amounts of work on it, but not much since I'm a computer hog. My mother tends to click on adds, so I really think it's a virus. Something called "24/7 Tech Support" Showed up a while ago, and it says you must be an admin to delete it. The admin account doesn't work though.
 

Castiel19

Estimable
Jan 26, 2016
9
0
4,510
Oh, I'm so sorry! The computer runs windows 8. I hate these tiny mobile keyboards... Anyways, I only see a sticker that says windows 7. Nothing else. My uncle must have updated to windows 8 after he got it... I see a product key, but nothing else.
 

Castiel19

Estimable
Jan 26, 2016
9
0
4,510

Sorry if I sound like a newbie, I am not really that smart with laptops. I'm not sure what you mean by 'product key'. The sticker only says 'Windows 7' on it. But if that's the key, then indeed I have it.

 

Geekwad

Estimable
Sep 25, 2015
75
0
4,610
Ah, OK. If it is just the Windows 7 logo and you don't see something that looks like a serial number (this would be the product key), then you don't have the key.

Unless you can get the correct admin login password from your uncle, then you're eventually going to have to reinstall windows. You can buy a license for around $90, or the free option would be to wipe the hard drive and install Linux.

Linux would look very familiar to you, and has all the basic things you'd expect from a computer (most find it very intuitive). In an older machine, Linux would also help with performance overall because it isn't as 'bloated' as Windows. You can browse the web, play games, and there are great office productivity application available in the Linux app store (some installs even come with them out of the box).

This would be a good way to try it first:

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/

And then you can install it if you do too.
 

Castiel19

Estimable
Jan 26, 2016
9
0
4,510


Ok, but I think I'll stick with windows for my parents. The price isn't the problem, and getting them used to a new OS even if it's similar to Windows would be impossible. About the PC though, I tried deleting ALL the stuff except the OS from the disk. I rebooted, and everything was back. Yes, I deleted them all from the recycle bin too. I don't know if the viruses source files are in the system files, or if it isn't even a virus that's causing the problems. I got the ability to right click back, and could refresh the desktop to display icons. I can't even open the Start "Menu" or panel as some would call it in windows 8, so I can't connect to the internet. I will try opening something like a game soon to see if it runs. Desktop backgrounds and taskbar items are still completely gone.

 

Geekwad

Estimable
Sep 25, 2015
75
0
4,610
There isn't a lot that you can permanently do without admin access.

Sounds like the best answer is to just get a new Windows disc and do a clean install.
 
Solution

Castiel19

Estimable
Jan 26, 2016
9
0
4,510


Ok, thank you. I didn't want to unless necessary, but it seems like the time has come. Your time has been appreciated, you helped me out quite a bit!