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What's going on with my laptop?

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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014 - Apr 12, 2014 at 09:45 PM
 Blocked Profile - Apr 20, 2014 at 09:11 PM
I have a Dell Inspiron 14 laptop, and I have absolutely no idea what's going on with it.
My Dell laptop had shut down suddenly, upon restarting it was devoid of everything once on it. I shut it down, or tried to; as it would not shut down, before pressing the power button until it did. When it restarted, the flag in the corner where it says "Start" looked more basic and was a gray block.After that, it loaded with all my stuff, however, the computer is running very slowly. And videos among other things are not working. Does anyone know what is wrong and how to fix it? And the bottom portion where the icons are thumb-tacked keeps freezing and disappearing.
It works well in safe mode, however, I'd like to find the initial problem. Video and sound are the main problems, as videos on Itunes and You-tube, in example, don't play. Also, it occasionally has moments where the screen blacks out for a second. There was a scan by Microsoft Security showing that a virus was quarintined, which was 'Adware:Win32/BetterSurf'
It's rather difficult to get rid of this when everything keeps freezing.
Please help me, all help is appreciated!!!
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19 responses

Answer 1 / 19
Blocked Profile
Apr 12, 2014 at 10:55 PM
It freezes in safe mode?

on which scan?

try the scans in safe mode.

Sometimes when my internet is down I forget the rest of my computer works.
PS - I'm from GMT time zone.
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Answer 2 / 19
officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 12, 2014 at 10:54 PM
Ah... It keeps freezing during the scan.. Any advice, or do I just keep going and hope I get lucky?
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Answer 3 / 19
Blocked Profile
Apr 13, 2014 at 11:43 AM
if you go in to safe mode again and use MSCONGIG to untick everything in the startup tab and restart in normal mode, does it still play up?
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 13, 2014 at 12:43 PM
Yes, it does.
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 13, 2014 at 10:58 PM
Good news!! It hasn't frozen up for a few hours!!! However, the task bar changing along with the inability to play videos still confuses me.
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 14, 2014 at 12:39 AM
In addition, some pages I go onto from google are loaded, but I can't scroll down or move the page.
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Answer 4 / 19
Blocked Profile
Apr 14, 2014 at 06:29 AM
Hello,

you should reset internet explorer settings.

go to start > control panel > internet options

clear out temp files

go to the advanced tab and reset settings
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 14, 2014 at 07:52 AM
Did that, youtube videos now play briefly! However, I've noticed that it only plays for a few seconds, with no sound. Could this have something to do with the task bar changing?
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 14, 2014 at 08:00 AM
I actually have no audio at the moment.
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Answer 5 / 19
Blocked Profile
Apr 14, 2014 at 08:03 AM
Right click computer and go to manage

in device manager do you have any yellow triangle warnings?
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 14, 2014 at 08:17 AM
It didn't come up, I got "C:\Windows\system32\compmgmt.msc
The service cannot accept control messages at this time.
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Answer 6 / 19
Blocked Profile
Apr 14, 2014 at 08:38 AM
Can you run malwarebytes again after updating it.
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 14, 2014 at 09:29 AM
Did it, it said nothing was detected.
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Answer 7 / 19
Blocked Profile
Apr 14, 2014 at 10:00 AM
Just to clarify,

do you get the problems when you're in safe mode with networking?
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 14, 2014 at 08:08 PM
No, but the task bar still changes. Also, each time the screen flashes and the task bar changes is when everything messes up..
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 14, 2014 at 08:34 PM
Specifically, it changes from "Aero theme" back to basic.. I have no idea why
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Answer 8 / 19
Blocked Profile
Apr 14, 2014 at 08:55 PM
What if you set it to basic and see what happens?

I think you should run Windows Updates and see if there is an update for your graphics adapter.
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 14, 2014 at 08:59 PM
Yes! It's saying I need to update my Display Driver Model! The model Is WDDM. Do you know if I can update this online, or where?
Also, it says all updates are up to date.
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Answer 9 / 19
Blocked Profile
Apr 14, 2014 at 09:05 PM
http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04?c=&l=&s=bsd?c=us

click detect my product and look for VGA/display drivers.
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 15, 2014 at 12:15 AM
It doesn't seem to be working for me
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Answer 10 / 19
Blocked Profile
Apr 15, 2014 at 10:18 AM
You'll have to manually enter your laptop make/model.
0
officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 15, 2014 at 07:23 PM
It seems to be working... Never mind. *It literally changed task bars as I just finished typing.*
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 15, 2014 at 08:27 PM
New update, I think it might only change when I open Itunes(Which ends up crashing, thoughts?). Actually.. Scratch that, it changed. But videos/ Itunes DOES trigger it.
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 15, 2014 at 11:49 PM
W.E.I needs to be updated!! This might be a reason!
However, when the task bar turns to basic, it freezes.. Each time it's halfway.. Suggestions? For some reason, in safe mode the task bar is already classic, so I can't update it then..
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 16, 2014 at 12:04 AM
IT WORKED!!!
VICTORY!!!! *\(^0^)/*
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HELP!!!
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 16, 2014 at 12:56 AM
Ah.. It came back..
=_= However, sound still works. As well as videos.
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Answer 11 / 19
Blocked Profile
Apr 16, 2014 at 05:17 AM
It sounds like you're having fun on your own here..

in normal mode can you uninstall itunes and try?
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Answer 12 / 19
officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 16, 2014 at 07:50 PM
No, it didn't work. Do you know why the aero theme keeps getting replaced by the classic theme?
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Answer 13 / 19
Blocked Profile
Apr 17, 2014 at 09:39 AM
You said it only happens when you watch videos or use itunes?

What happens if you turn your laptop on and leave it?
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 17, 2014 at 08:26 PM
It still changes.
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 17, 2014 at 08:27 PM
Audio and videos just trigger it.
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Answer 14 / 19
Blocked Profile
Apr 18, 2014 at 07:15 PM
Can you go to device manager (Start > right click computer > manage)

find your graphics driver, right click it and uninstall and tick the option to delete.

restart the computer and try with use basic microsoft drivers.


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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 19, 2014 at 05:11 PM
No.. It's not working..
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Answer 15 / 19
Blocked Profile
Apr 20, 2014 at 06:52 PM
Have you got the recovery CD for your laptop? does it have a recovery partition?
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Answer 16 / 19
officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 20, 2014 at 07:17 PM
No, but I noticed Itunes and video work fine in safe mode... I really have no idea what the problem is.
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Answer 17 / 19
Blocked Profile
Apr 20, 2014 at 07:20 PM
I think you've got to reinstall your graphics drivers.

go back to the dell support website and put in the model number of your laptop and download the graphics drivers in normal mode.
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 20, 2014 at 08:42 PM
I can't. It freezes in normal mode. Sometimes, It goes 'files were successfully un zipped'. However, nothing seems to change. I'm trying to check if it installed correctly in device manager, but when I do it says "Not enough storage is available to complete this operation.' I've been getting quite alot of these errors when I try to open something like 'MSCONFIG'.
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Answer 18 / 19
Blocked Profile
Apr 20, 2014 at 09:11 PM
I don't know what to suggest other than a reinstall of your operating system.

I recommend you backup all your files and data from safe mode and look to reinstall it.

You may need to contact Dell support to purchase recovery media.
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Answer 19 / 19
Blocked Profile
Apr 12, 2014 at 09:50 PM
Hello,

load windows in to Safe Mode.

In safe mode press start and type "run" and hit OK

in the run box type MSCONFIG and press OK

under the startup tab i want you to untick EVERYTHING and apply.

go to the services tab and click "Hide microsoft services" and disable all services.

restart your computer in normal mode.

download malwarebytes free from here

update the program and run a quick scan first.

restart and run a second FULL scan and remove threats.

after restarting run another full scan and keep doing so until nothing else is detected.

then go to https://www.eset.com/us/home/online-scanner/ and run the ESET Online scanner.

once this has finished, restart and do it again until its clean.

once this is done go to start > Run > MSCONFIG and enable services and startup items again.
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 13, 2014 at 08:56 AM
Thank you very much, as I've cleaned out many harmful material from my computer, however, it is still running very slowly and freezing, and I have no idea why.
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officialotaku Posts 26 Registration date Saturday April 12, 2014 Status Member Last seen April 20, 2014
Apr 13, 2014 at 09:07 AM
Also, It starts out normal; it works fine for the first few minutes, then the screen blinks black and the bar where there icons were pinned turns gray and the start button turned gray as well, but in a little box. Later, it all disappears, so the bottom of my background is the only thing that shows. If I close the window, it comes back after a few minutes, but typically freezes out.
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