Computer Repair in Pacific Palisades
A previous client in Pacific Palisades called for computer repair. The computer service call was about a PC that was having issues running Internet Explorer 7. I had worked on his 2 other computers previously, but not on this particular machine. When I scanned the computer, I found that it had many high threat viruses such as trojans, malware and specifically Vundo. Due to the nature of the viruses, there was potential risk in removing the viruses because in doing so, it could damage some system files. That is exactly what happened. Apparently, I was getting an error message regarding 2 files in the system32 folder; icm3232.dll and gdi3232.dll not being valid Windows images.
The first step was to try to repair the XP Home installation using a Windows CD. The repair was rather slow since the computer was an older model Sony Vaio PCV-RX670. During the installation, numerous error messages came up regarding the icm3232.dll and gdi3232.dll files. Another error message was titled grpconv.exe - Bad Image and mmc.exe - Bad Image, regsvr32.exe, logagent.exe, unregmp2.exe, cmd.exe - bad image, unloadm.exe, migrate.exe, wmpenc.exe, drmupgds.exe.
After the repair, the computer was still running a bit funny. It would freeze up and not boot properly intermittently. After consulting with the client, we decided a data migration and reinstallation of the operating system would be the best solution. The client said to go ahead and take the computer back to our office and bring it back when it was finished.
I copied about 40 GB of data from three user accounts making sure to save everything including their documents, pictures, movies, music and favorites. It took a long time to copy so it was good that it didn’t have to be done on-site. I then scanned all of the files I was going to migrate to ensure I wasn’t also migrating the virus.
I reinstalled Windows XP, installed all of the drivers necessary, installed the security applications for them, installed the software they requested; (Microsoft Office, iTunes, Rhapsody, Mozilla Firefox, Picasa and some other extras). Then I migrated the data from their old system to the newly installed system and proceeded to migrate their iTunes library and other data into programs. We want the computing experience to be as seamless as possible for the client.
After talking to the client, we decided that it would be a good idea to also upgrade the RAM and install a backup drive. I installed the memory and the internal hard drive. I also used a backup program to automatically image their entire system in case of a hard drive crash. I also setup an online backup for their important data. The online backup was setup to backup nightly in case something happened to the entire computer; the client could just re-download their files.
The computer was ready to go after only 1 day at the shop. The client said that they would be busy and that they would rather me bring it in the next day. I returned the computer and the client seemed very happy with the results. I had to reinstall their printer and re-setup their Internet, but I was only there for another 20 minutes max. It was a fun experience for me. I was glad that the client was satisfied. They ended up also signing up for a Maintenance Plan with us to ensure that problems like this would be prevented in the future. Smart move on their part.
