M
MCHardacre
Hi everyone, I’ll try to be as comprehensive as I can with my explaination so please bear with me.
First, I’ll provide some background information. Currently, I’m using an HP Omen Obelisk desktop computer with Windows 10 as my operating system. It’s been serving me well for the past few months, but two days ago, I ran into a pretty severe issue. Every night, I completley power off my device when its not in use to avoid the sound of whirring fans and the pulsating LED light on the front of the computer. Two days ago, I powered up my device as usual, when I ran into my first of many issues. I have my computer set up so that I only need to provide a 4-digit pin number to access it, but for some reason, this time it was asking for my Microsoft account password instead. I thought nothing of it at first, but after repeated attempts, I recieved continuous error messages that I wasn’t able to access my account for whatever reason. Suspicous of a potential compromise of my Microsoft account, I attempted to do the same thing on a laptop that used the same account. Everything worked perfectly fine on there so I figured it must’ve been an issue with my computer itself. Countless power cycles later, I sucessfully managed to get my computer to prompt me for a pin number instead and I got into my desktop. This is where the next big issue arose. After a loading time far longer than usual, my desktop eventually appeared, but there were a few key problems. First of all, the desktop background had been reverted to its default state. Second, there were several files and programs missing from the desktop, and all of the remaining programs were moved to the left of the desktop. Third, the taskbar had been reset to its original orientation at the bottom of the screen. Fourth, the screen would occasionally flash black and take several minutes at times to reappear. Finally, the computer was running extremely slow as mentioned previously. I tried several troubleshooting tips online including several more power cycles, and eventually factory reset attempts. I tried multiple factory resets at different levels of file erasure including keeping my files and fully wiping the system, but every single one always got to a certain percentage of completion, reverted its changes, and told me the reset failed. At that point, I became pretty confused and upset. I contacted microsoft customer support, and after another failed reset attempt with the representative, we eventually managed to perform a custom install of Windows 10 via flash drive. This I figured, would allow me to start from scratch and continue with a fully functioning computer. However, unfortunatley, that wasn’t the case. After a long install proccess, which ended up being successful, the computer was still running unbearably slow. Everthing from booting up, to signing in, to opening programs, to installing programs. The custom install allowed me to retain my files, which I now discovered are all still perfectly intact in the windows.old folder. But at this point, I’m honestly willing to let go of them if it means getting a functioning computer again. Everything I’ve tried has failed, and I’m starting to get pretty stressed out about this whole thing, considering this is a pretty expensive piece of hardware. It was working with no issue two days ago, so you can understand my confusion when this major issue appeared seemingly out of nowhere and without warning. I’m really not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to this sort of thing, so I’d really appreciate some help from a person who could diagnose my situation.
Thanks in advance for any assistance,
MC
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First, I’ll provide some background information. Currently, I’m using an HP Omen Obelisk desktop computer with Windows 10 as my operating system. It’s been serving me well for the past few months, but two days ago, I ran into a pretty severe issue. Every night, I completley power off my device when its not in use to avoid the sound of whirring fans and the pulsating LED light on the front of the computer. Two days ago, I powered up my device as usual, when I ran into my first of many issues. I have my computer set up so that I only need to provide a 4-digit pin number to access it, but for some reason, this time it was asking for my Microsoft account password instead. I thought nothing of it at first, but after repeated attempts, I recieved continuous error messages that I wasn’t able to access my account for whatever reason. Suspicous of a potential compromise of my Microsoft account, I attempted to do the same thing on a laptop that used the same account. Everything worked perfectly fine on there so I figured it must’ve been an issue with my computer itself. Countless power cycles later, I sucessfully managed to get my computer to prompt me for a pin number instead and I got into my desktop. This is where the next big issue arose. After a loading time far longer than usual, my desktop eventually appeared, but there were a few key problems. First of all, the desktop background had been reverted to its default state. Second, there were several files and programs missing from the desktop, and all of the remaining programs were moved to the left of the desktop. Third, the taskbar had been reset to its original orientation at the bottom of the screen. Fourth, the screen would occasionally flash black and take several minutes at times to reappear. Finally, the computer was running extremely slow as mentioned previously. I tried several troubleshooting tips online including several more power cycles, and eventually factory reset attempts. I tried multiple factory resets at different levels of file erasure including keeping my files and fully wiping the system, but every single one always got to a certain percentage of completion, reverted its changes, and told me the reset failed. At that point, I became pretty confused and upset. I contacted microsoft customer support, and after another failed reset attempt with the representative, we eventually managed to perform a custom install of Windows 10 via flash drive. This I figured, would allow me to start from scratch and continue with a fully functioning computer. However, unfortunatley, that wasn’t the case. After a long install proccess, which ended up being successful, the computer was still running unbearably slow. Everthing from booting up, to signing in, to opening programs, to installing programs. The custom install allowed me to retain my files, which I now discovered are all still perfectly intact in the windows.old folder. But at this point, I’m honestly willing to let go of them if it means getting a functioning computer again. Everything I’ve tried has failed, and I’m starting to get pretty stressed out about this whole thing, considering this is a pretty expensive piece of hardware. It was working with no issue two days ago, so you can understand my confusion when this major issue appeared seemingly out of nowhere and without warning. I’m really not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to this sort of thing, so I’d really appreciate some help from a person who could diagnose my situation.
Thanks in advance for any assistance,
MC
Continue reading...