Bizarre array of computer issues

[TKLVR181]

OK guys n' gals, as I have next to zero technical knowhow and I Trust you guys with this kind of thing, I figure I'd give asking you guys about this a try before I go anywhere else.

So three weeks ago I finally have saved up for a new laptop and I got a Lenovo G50 laptop with AMD A8 processor with Windows 8. Worked great until last night, when it froze up. I couldn't do anything, so I manually restarted it up--and when it started booting again, it had updates to install, which I allowed it to do.

That's when the booting problems started. For the first six or eight tries, it froze up on the start menu and I couldn't click the desktop icon. Finally it let me log in, it took about fifteen minutes before it finished booting up and was usable. Windows explorer 'stopped working' a couple times last night, and it froze for no good reason a few times as well. After an hour or so of wrestling with it I gave up (apologies, again, to those from here/TMF I disappeared on D: )

This morning I booted it up again and it took about fifteen minutes, again, to be able to boot up. Only today I get a message from Lenovo's message center saying that the Lenovo has run on 90% or less of memory more than 5 times for more than 3 minutes each. I know that Mozilla is a RAM hog, but I've only been running 3-4 tabs at a time :/ I've downloaded a small couple of things from Steam but nothing huge, and no I haven't been on any weird sites (if you don't count TT, TMF, and dA as weird 😛 ) so I have no idea where I'd have picked up a self-replicating virus or something along those lines.

So what the actual eff is going on? Did the update screw me over, as I know that windows version 8.1 has been screwing people left and right? Is it a hardware issue? I'm totally clueless about stuff like this >_< Thank you guys in advance!

~K

 

[MistressValerie1]

If it's still under warranty, you might do best to simply exchange it or get a refund and buy another model for around the same price.

 

[BlackDragonScar]

most computers come with a 90 day warranty, unless its refurbished you only have about 3-5 days to return it if its giving you so many issues. If its new, take it back to whatever story and tell them of the issues your having and try a new one. If you have to see if they will let you boot it up there and make sure there are not issues with it when you come home.

 

[TKLVR181]

Yeah I've had it 3 weeks and it is definitely going back. It's been stuck on the splash screen all night-I tried pressing the Novo button to reset the BIOS and it didn't even acknowledge that I'd done anything. I really hope I can get it booted up and restore factory settings first, as a friend of mine sent me a pic yesterday with the word "tickle" in the title and its sitting on the desktop 😛

~K

 

[BlasterMaster]

Ugh, Windows 8! (shudders)

 

[TKLVR181]

Ugh, Windows 8! (shudders)

I'm thinking more "Lenovo" *shudder* since Senshi had a similar problem with his at first, though they seemed to sort themselves out. Possibly the update for 8 screwed me, though. Think I'll upgrade to 10 with my next one 😛

~K

 

[BlasterMaster]

I'm thinking more "Lenovo" *shudder* since Senshi had a similar problem with his at first, though they seemed to sort themselves out. Possibly the update for 8 screwed me, though. Think I'll upgrade to 10 with my next one.

I'm actually wondering if there is any other software that looks a lot like Windows XP to be honest. I've heard some good things about certain Linux softwares but am hesitant to try them out without getting a second opinion on the matter.

 

[MistressValerie1]

I'm thinking more "Lenovo" *shudder* since Senshi had a similar problem with his at first, though they seemed to sort themselves out. Possibly the update for 8 screwed me, though. Think I'll upgrade to 10 with my next one 😛

~K

Lenovo has had serious problems recently, most notably with the factory having preinstalled "Superfish" malware. I have seen Lenovo laptops for sale at ridiculously cheap prices lately, which shows that retailers have had trouble selling them.

I'm actually wondering if there is any other software that looks a lot like Windows XP to be honest. I've heard some good things about certain Linux softwares but am hesitant to try them out without getting a second opinion on the matter.

I am fortunate to still be on Windows 7, but I don't want to move to 8 or 10 because of privacy and functional issues as well as enormous-sized updates which would be unacceptable on my slow and capped connection. I'm strongly considering trying a version of Ubuntu Linux for my next laptop. Technically inclined people who need Windows for video games or proprietary software may want to consider setting up a dual-boot with Linux.

 

[TKLVR181]

Last night I had a mild panic attack and checked my old laptop-fortunately I was intelligent enough to put off restoring to factory settings so I still have all my stuff. Aside from a few conversations I've saved with people from the Community, I won't lose anything x_x also tried resetting BIOS, zero change :|

~K

 

[MistressValerie1]

More reasons to avoid Lenovo for now: http://boingboing.net/2015/08/12/lenovo-preloaded-laptops-with.html

 

[MistressValerie1]

Last night I had a mild panic attack and checked my old laptop-fortunately I was intelligent enough to put off restoring to factory settings so I still have all my stuff. Aside from a few conversations I've saved with people from the Community, I won't lose anything x_x also tried resetting BIOS, zero change :|

~K

Ideally, you should have at least 2 backups of anything important. An external HD would be best for large amounts of data, but a USB flash drive, DVD, or even cloud storage would be sufficient for smaller amounts. I've seen 32 GB USB flash drives at Newegg for $15 🙂

 

[DarkTribes1]

I agree with MistressValerie. I always keep at least one back up of all of my files and such.

 

[Cryptic71]

Problems...

~K

Well, if it won't even start up, then either A: The software is defective, or B: The hardware can't handle it. They don't sell laptops that can't handle the OS they ship with, so the most likely problem is that the update pushed the software past the hardware's limit, or the update was simply broken.
(or incompatible with the laptop's processor/motherboard. But I doubt a Windows OS has any incompatibilities)

(Or the hardware could be defective. Factory or shipping problem)

If it still has a warranty, I'd just return it for a different laptop.

Go Windows 7. Windows 8 sucks dooty, and Windows 10 has this thing in its user agreement that allows the government to watch what you're doing in real-time whenever the hell they feel like it.

(You can get a Win8 laptop and just downgrade it to Win7)

 

[TKLVR181]

Thanks for the advice, guys. Cryptic, your summary of my thread in one word made me lol xD

~K

 

[BlasterMaster]

I am fortunate to still be on Windows 7, but I don't want to move to 8 or 10 because of privacy and functional issues as well as enormous-sized updates which would be unacceptable on my slow and capped connection. I'm strongly considering trying a version of Ubuntu Linux for my next laptop. Technically inclined people who need Windows for video games or proprietary software may want to consider setting up a dual-boot with Linux.

That's me in a nutshell Val. I don't really play that many games on my PC anyways so I figure what the hell, I'm gonna try out Ubuntu Linux (but only if it has an option to make the desktop and various folders look like something I'm familiar with like Windows XP).

Windows 10 has this thing in its user agreement that allows the government to watch what you're doing in real-time whenever the hell they feel like it.

Why am I not surprised? God dammit Microsoft!

 

[Cryptic71]

Why am I not surprised? God dammit Microsoft!

Yeah, you can disable that in the security/privacy settings though.

Thing is: The agreement also says that Microsoft can run updates whenever they want to, and they DO NOT have to notify you in any way. Happy coincidence is: The updates reset your privacy settings.

How convenient.

Seeing my quote made you lol. again, cant remember exactly how that went and dont wanna do another post.

Ye, I aim to please. or to make lol. Or just entertain.