Posts by Olivia Rogers5

These scores aren't bad at all, not bad! One moderate risk and two low ones. You helped us out—we're keeping an eye on things.

brightgull95 said:First off, why even bother with D-dimer tests? Second, what's the actual risk level for DVT or PE here? Third, what does the combined score from the Wells, PESI, and Geneva scales look like? And finally, who was the one actually responsible for ordering those D-dimer tests in the first place?

My bad, I have no clue what those acronyms mean. This isn't some long-term issue or chronic thing we've been dealing with, so we're totally in the dark. We just ran the D-dimer test ourselves because we read somewhere that it’s recommended after having COVID. No one suggested testing, and nobody explained anything to us—we'll just call our primary care doctor tomorrow to make sense of the results. If things like a bad diet, being overweight, smoking, and a sedentary lifestyle are the main drivers for DVT and PE, then I'm guessing the probability you're asking about is pretty high.

Sorry I can't give more details right now; this is the only lab result I've got. But is a 0.65 value considered an alarming red flag?

62yo female, obese, survived a nasty heart attack two years ago with a stent put in. She cleared Covid about a month ago without much trouble. Just got her D-Dimer results back today—it's at 0.65 mg FEU/L, while the reference range is <0.5.

Is that high enough to worry about, and what's the move now? Should she be looking at vein ultrasounds or maybe color Doppler?

fadedorca66 said:So from now on, just use your head and get some antivirus 😁

I didn't catch a single virus back when I was messing around online as a teenager, but apparently, I'm an easy target now that I'm just checking the news and the weather forecast. 😒

McAfee, right? You think it can actually hold its own against a basic tool like Malwarebytes?

Just a quick follow-up—everything’s running smooth now. I did a full backup, wiped everything off the C drive, and went through with a fresh Windows reinstall. Now? It’s performing better than it did when I first unboxed it.

Thanks!

fadedorca66 and Hajduk, thanks. We'll give a Windows reinstall a shot then... Can I just use that Update & Security - Recovery - Reset this PC option? Is "Keep my files" enough, or am I gonna have to wipe everything?

Hey, I've got a problem. Here's the timeline if anyone wants to take a look.

1) Tried running a Windows update, kept getting an error. Googled it and found this:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...d-83fcb80e8f2f. Tried the first fix, didn't work.

It’s pretty likely I messed something up while following those instructions.

2) Found a fix for the same issue on YouTube (). That worked, updates are installed now.

3) Now I'm trying to download programs, run installers, nothing works. The apps aren't anywhere to be found, I can't launch them, yet the system says they're already installed.

4) Then I notice my PC fans are going crazy. I open Task Manager to see what's happening, and suddenly CPU usage drops to 4-5% and the fans quiet down. As soon as I close Task Manager, the CPU spikes and the fans go nuts again.

5) Googled that specific behavior, and apparently, some viruses love doing that—hiding themselves so Task Manager won't show them.

6) Back to point 3). I'm trying to install an antivirus to scan the machine, but it tells me one is already installed. Again, I can't find it or run it.

7) Tried using Windows Security, but that's gone too. Or rather, I find it, but it's totally blank. No options, can't run any scans. https://ibb.co/0D4MnLS

Anyone realize what's actually happening here and how to fix it? I'm clearly not a genius.

Thanks!

So, straight to the repair shop? Honestly, I can barely make sense of any of you. 🙂 Do these service centers even carry SATA III cables? Isn't this just a massive money grab? What am I even supposed to tell them? I'm leaning towards the HDD being the issue since it's throwing CRC errors—is telling them to just swap the cable really necessary? It's not exactly rocket science, right? An hour or two tops?

Honestly, I haven't a clue. I’ve never opened up a laptop myself, and I have no idea if they ever even touched it at Best Buy. As far as I know, the optical drive was always there; nobody messed with it.

I went ahead and bought a new HDD on my own and took it to a technician who knows his stuff to get it installed. He refused, though, telling me the current drive is perfectly fine and there's no point in swapping it. He probably had his hands on the old drive before, too. But regardless of him, I had these exact same issues both before and after seeing him.

Regarding cables, I didn't even realize an HDD used one. Look, I'm not some tech genius—I'm a total amateur, and I wouldn't dream of opening a laptop because I'd probably just break something. So, what's the bottom line? The laptop works fine, but is there a communication error? What does "communication issue" actually mean when you're talking about a drive? Can this even be fixed, and if so, how? Is it normal for a communication glitch to cause the specific problems I'm dealing with?

I doubt that applies to desktops, don't they use 3.5'' drives? Mine is a 2.5''.

Alright, here’s the smart status:

CrystalDiskInfo: View on imgur

HD Tune: View on imgur - this blue part (C7 Interface CRC Error Count), when you click it, says: "There were communication errors. This may be caused by a damaged cable."

Command Prompt: View on imgur

Running an Error Scan on HD Tune right now. It looks like it'll take forever, so I'm just sending what I have for now.

Hey, I'll try to lay out my symptoms here so we can figure out what's going on. My gut says the HDD finally kicked the bucket.

1) Booting up the OS and restarting takes forever... I can't even give you an exact time because I never actually see it finish; I always end up holding down the power button just to force it off. It usually takes 2 or 3 forced restarts before things even seem somewhat normal.

2) Trying to access anything on that HDD (music, photos, PDFs) is impossible—everything hangs, everything is sluggish, it's just terrible. Sometimes the whole laptop freezes up. Occasionally I can open a few pictures, but I'm sitting there waiting for like 3 minutes. Other times, File Explorer just locks up entirely and even Task Manager won't help. Even something as basic as checking how much storage is left takes ages—it spends 2 minutes just counting gigabytes. Sometimes I can't even right-click the drive to run error checking. I rarely manage to get that far.

3) When I actually succeed, it says there's an error, so Windows tries to scan and repair it, then restarts the laptop, but nothing changes.

4) Every time the system starts up, it automatically triggers a disk scan. I usually just skip it.

5) Device Manager says the "device is working properly." Drivers are up to date too.

The laptop is a Dell, and I've run hardware tests through SupportAssist several times. Everything comes back clean, like nothing is wrong at all.

I also tried scanning it with some HDD scan software, and it gave me the same "all good" result.

Some context that might help: I had data recovered from this specific failing drive at a data recovery lab about six months ago.

The laptop has two drives: an SSD (C:) and an HDD (D:). The SSD is working perfectly fine.

So, what do you think? Is the HDD the culprit? Is there any diagnostic tool besides Windows that will actually catch the problem? Or better yet, something that can fix it? Or am I just stuck buying a new HDD?

So, just one checkup and I'm done. Thanks, everyone!

Keith Gonzalez said:Otherwise, just one.

So does "otherwise" mean I could actually hit all three appointments this time? And once the checkup is done, do the doctors keep the referrals, or am I still holding onto them?

Hey everyone, quick question for you—I used one referral to book appointments at three different hospitals just to see which one has the shortest wait time... but here's the thing: I can only actually use that one referral for one appointment, right? Not all three?

You’re spot on about how things work, but I wasn't about to gamble with critical data using half-baked fixes that could easily wreck everything permanently. People head to IBM or similar outfits because they need their data salvaged at any cost, and those companies know exactly how to capitalize on that desperation. I just gave you those price points and issues as a rough guide. As for Dell service—and honestly, Dell laptops too, given how they handle support here in the States—I couldn't care less about them.

Quick update for anyone dealing with this mess. Hopefully you’re smarter than I was and actually run backups, because my drive got wiped. InfoLab managed to pull all my data back—it took about two weeks total, including free diagnostics. They dragged their feet a bit, $0.37, but whatever. It probably could've been cheaper, but it is what it is. I'm happy with the result.

Richard Lee47 said:Insane.
If the laptop runs fine without the battery, or if you pull the battery and the exact same issues persist, then it isn't the battery. Why would you even bother buying a new one?
And what's up with the Windows stuff?! You can download Windows legally right from the Microsoft site and test everything out; they just won't be activated. And a reinstall fixes the drivers?! WTF?!

Let's be real, they're just taking you for a ride.

Honestly, just go to some local "mom and pop" shop like someone else suggested. Find a place near you where the communication is actually decent. They aren't arrogant because they actually care about their reputation, plus the prices are usually better.
Authorized service centers act like they don't give a damn because they know you have no choice.

Exactly, but I've been losing my mind dealing with these scammers for two months now and I am not going through that headache again. Still, I left it at InfoLab for a diagnostic so we'll see what they say. If they overwrote the Windows files over my old data, then we're screwed, but logic says they'll install Windows on the C drive—the Solid State Drive—not the Hard Drive where my data is stored.

Michael Jackson10, thanks, I get it. I know they aren't liable for the data, and honestly, I can't prove they should've been more careful to prevent this mess. I'm not going to waste my breath arguing; I just want my files back by any means necessary. I could have given them hell about the battery, but their job is to fix the root cause. After following their advice and buying a new battery, the laptop still won't boot, which proves the battery wasn't even the issue. So much for that.

The Hard Drive is in the laptop, it's just showing up as "unallocated" and I'm stuck. I haven't installed anything or even used the machine yet. I have no clue what their process was that wiped everything, though a Windows installation seems like the most likely culprit. Not worth stressing over, though.

Anyway, my first move is hitting up the repair shop to see if they can recover the data since they're the ones who messed it up. If that fails, I'll just head to a dedicated data recovery firm and see what the damage is—whatever it costs, it costs. Up to $150 is fine for about 500 GB. Has anyone used pikirati InfoLab? Any experiences or price ideas?

Then there's those recovery programs; I've heard they actually work pretty well. That's my last resort—just grab a pro version and hope for the best. Someone suggested running a free version first to scan what's recoverable before paying for the upgrade. Now I'm wondering: is it safe to install that on the C drive (SSD)? It’s working fine and holds the data I care less about, but will installing stuff there screw my chances of getting things back from the Hard Drive?

Hey, sorry if I'm in the wrong sub, feel free to move this.

So, I've got a Dell laptop—not cheap either—and it keeps hitting me with the Blue Screen of Death. Sent it in for service, thinking it was just a dead battery. Turns out, even after buying a new battery, the problem persists. They told me it was a software issue, specifically drivers, claiming the hardware is totally fine as long as I just reinstall Windows. Problem is, the thing is useless; I can't even get to the point where I could reinstall Windows because the blue screen pops up before I can do anything. So, I went ahead and bought a legitimate copy of Windows just so they'd actually finish the diagnostics. I get the laptop back, and they tell me it was the motherboard. They swapped it out, and sure, it works now, but all my data is gone.

Look, I'm no tech genius, but shouldn't the data stay safe on the hard drive? Swapping a motherboard shouldn't mess with the files, right? They should still be there.

Another thing bothering me—my old Windows setup was pirated (obviously), but they installed the genuine version I paid for over the top of the old one. I don't know exactly how they handled the transition, but I've got activated, legal Windows now. It would have been great if I still had my files too. This whole situation sucks.

Is there any way to recover those files? Even with a new motherboard and a fresh Windows install, that data has to be sitting on the drive somewhere, right? I had an SSD and an HDD setup with two partitions: the C drive (SSD) and the D drive (HDD). All my important stuff was on the HDD. Now, all I see is the C drive.

Thanks for any help!