should I be worried about computer start-up up?

[Asiantravel]

I would just like to ask should I be worried about the way my computer reacted when I routinely switched it on this morning?

When I pressed the on button the computer suddenly started making a loud intermittent noise like an alarm. I also received a message saying the computer failed to start normally because of changes to software or hardware which I certainly hadn’t made myself.

Next the screen was black apart from a small panel which showed that files were being downloaded onto my computer completely unprompted. I have no idea what they were and the was no way for me to stop them and as this was going on the alarm type noise kept going on.

When this was all over the computer automatically shut down and I restarted it but then it showed a small dialogue box which said it was in repair mode and the computer would attempt to repair any defects itself.After all this I restarted it again and I immediately launched an Avira antivirus scan which showed that I had 2 detections which were both identified as TR/Dropper.Gen

the question I have is should I be worried that whatever was downloaded might still be on my computer despite my antivirus scan and should I take the laptop to a repair shop and get them to more closely examine whether I have any other unwanted programs ?

[WhizBang]

LOL. Well, if it was me, I would be formatting the HD and reloading windows. But, that's me.

[mrjohn]

Had similar problem recently, turned out to be the power unit. New one 590Bht!

[gk10002000]

If you run the usual scans and they are OK, i would look at the Hard drive or power supply. Backup all important files to a thumb drive first. 20 Gbyte ones are so cheap now. My old toshiba HD just died after 11 years and it was an XP machine and not worth fiddling with any more so I bought a new win 7 HP elite. This Laptop has a Solid State Hard Drive. The whole PC only cost 400 USD delivered to my house so I figured it was time to try out the Solid State "hard drive". I think their time has come

[wpcoe]

Motherboard manufacturers/BIOS providers build in a selection of alarm patterns that reflect specific startup failures or errors. e.g. A series of short beeps means something different than a series of long beeps.

Googling your motherboard manufacturer and/or BIOS provider and "error beep codes" or something similar can lead to a definition of what the beep codes mean. It will help identify the culprit.

[NeverSure]

I agree with Wpcoe. You may well have heard beep codes and you should get those and write them down so you can pay attention to that if it happens again.

^^^ I wouldn't be formatting the HDD when it's possible the HDD or mobo HDD controller or power supply are failing. My last major computer failure was the HDD controller on the mobo. At first it presented as, and Windows reported it as a HDD failure but it took a new mobo to fix it. The HDD was fine although I replaced it too.

[rakman]

Troubleshooting rule #1: Find the problem. Don't do random fixes without understanding the problem. Don't guess.

Troubleshooting rule #2: Fix the problem with the specific fix.

[slipperylobster]

Looks like windows trying to repair itself.

Years ago, I had a desktop with a loose video/graphics card...it would beep in a series of four beeps...continuously. I pulled out the video card, blew off the dust, and reseated it...and it was fine. This does not seem to be your problem (and perhaps you have a laptop instead, anyways).

Your Windows had a serious error, and might of been trying to repair itself. I would run some malware/virus scanners, check what programs autostart....etc, etc. You may want to check for disk errors or your hard drive. Also turn off windows updates for a while and update manually. Check your task scheduler...for tasks that are trying to start that are not necessary/or that are related to viruses.

May be easier to just reinstall....sometimes I just add another partition..and keep the old operating system on another partition. Install a new copies of windows on the new partition.... Boot off the new partition..and you can still access the old files on the old partition. When you are satisfied...you can eliminate the old partition options .

[noise]

I got the impression from your closing words that the computer now seems to be running normally. If so, I would suggest Googling TR/Dropper.Gen to see what it is and how to get rid of it. I quickly did that and there are articles telling you what to do on the web.

Rakman was correct; find the problem and fix that and only that. Your closing words do not justify reformatting your HD and reinstalling Windows.

I think in the long run, you would be happier with having your own suite of tools to do clean up and trouble shooting at home before simply asking some IT guy to do it for you.

So I suggest you Google CCleaner, Advanced System Care, and SpyBot, all free, and see what they are and see if you think they would be worth having (I use all 3). SpyBot might the the best one to back up your Avira findings.

And, I would recommend you go to Windows support and download a Boot Disk. It will let you fix a lot of things without deleting files. Again the web will tell you what that is and how to use it.

[Asiantravel]

thanks for all responses