System recovery on laptop ?

miggiwoo

Am having continual problems on my laptop .Started with trying to put 2 ipod onto my itunes account and eneded up wiping my ipod clear and not being able to sync all my music back on to it.
Then for some reason I have messed up my internet settings ( am using a 3g dongle from virgin mobile).When try to connect to the internet it says detecting device (as it usually does) then doesnt detect dongle.
Tryed to do a system restore but cannot get back to a date when all was ok.
Am not the biggest experts on computers/laptops but usually get by ok.Think i have dug myself into hole and am struggling to get out of it.
As my laptop is just used for music , photos and internet , should I back up all of my stuff and do a system recovery ?
I know its drastic but cant seem to get anywhere with a restore.
Would my internet dongle work ok with my laptop set to original settings ?

Thanks

ITtim

a restore will be fine providing you back up anything you want to keep and that you have all the disks available to re-install your software, ie MS Office etc.

Have you tried going back a few months on system restore?

miggiwoo

ITtim wrote: »

a restore will be fine providing you back up anything you want to keep and that you have all the disks available to re-install your software, ie MS Office etc.

Have you tried going back a few months on system restore?

Tried that but must have created a restore point of day before yesterday.It wont let me restore to an earlier date.
Dont think my laptop came with word or powerpoint , but am sure an uncle put them on for me , so might ask him again.
The only think I am a bit worried about is re-installing the virgin dongle.It didnt come with an installation disc , just the dongle and a sim-card.
Wondered if i put the dongle back in (post system recovery) will i just need to follow instructions to re-install it ?

macman

The software is already installed in the dongle, it installs automatically when you plug it in for the first time. So if you uninstall it it should just repeat the process.
Loss of System Restore can indicate you have an infection on your machine, so I suggest you ensure your antivirus is updated and do a full scan.

miggiwoo

macman wrote: »

The software is already installed in the dongle, it installs automatically when you plug it in for the first time. So if you uninstall it it should just repeat the process.
Loss of System Restore can indicate you have an infection on your machine, so I suggest you ensure your antivirus is updated and do a full scan.

thanks
have backed up my photos , music , videos and my wifes nursing stuff (!) onto my MP4 player and am going to go ahead with system recovery.
If it does look like a virus , have told my wife that we are going to have to get a new laptop.
Although she said she wants her teeth whitening if I get a new laptop !!

macman

Why do you need a new laptop to get rid of a virus?
Very worst case with a virus is that you have to do a clean reinstall of the OS, but that should only be an option after you have tried all the other things first.

miggiwoo

macman wrote: »

Why do you need a new laptop to get rid of a virus?
Very worst case with a virus is that you have to do a clean reinstall of the OS, but that should only be an option after you have tried all the other things first.

sorry , have been pushing for a new laptop for a few months now.My current one doesnt have a firewire port or an expansion slot and I want to download my camcorder stuff.

sammybee

can any 1 help with my system restore, it will not go back and complete a restore point, ive created my own restore point s and will not go back to them either, so i was told to shut it down and put it on again, i did that a month ago, i have created several restore points but when i go back to them it goes to restore them and then says in complete, it has not restored, any suggestions welcome
samxxx

macman

So you can still create a new restore point, but not restore to it-yes?
Almost certainly an infection, have you updated and run your antivirus as advised and did it find anything?

sunshine54

miggiwoo

sorry , have been pushing for a new laptop for a few months now.My current one doesnt have a firewire port or an expansion slot and I want to download my camcorder stuff.

so you don't want to fix it after all ????

sammybee
try restore whilst in safe mode

sammybee

ive had scans and everthing is ok, i did have problems months ago but it was sorted apart from system restore, i think a virus did something
ive tried creating restore points, which it will do, but if i do a system restore back to the one i created it ,shuts down like expected then when it starts back up it come s back in complete
i dont want to sound like a dunder head but how do u do it in safe mode