PC Woes

When I rebuilt our computers last year, I did not re-install the OS on my machine as I usually do with a newly built machine. Instead, I re-installed the old hard drive and simply updated the OS as needed so it worked with the new parts. Then, when I decided to get an SSD (solid state drive), I used the OS copying software that came with it to move everything from my then current boot drive to the new drive, rather than installing the OS from scratch and re-installing the additional programs.

Over the last couple of months, the machine has had some quirks. I'd suddenly drop all Ethernet/internet connections for no reason. Some of my games would suddenly eject me and I'd be unceremoniously dumped back to the desktop. Occasionally, my file transfer speeds would dip to incredible lows. Sometimes I would plug USB devices and nothing would happen; the OS wouldn't recognize them, the system wouldn't read them. I'd lose some or all of my headset's abilities. On some rare occasions, my machine would simply freeze and only turning off the power would resolve anything.

I finally had enough two weeks ago, when my system kept shutting off, freezing, and refusing to recognize my Ethernet connection. When I would reboot or restart, it wouldn't even POST. I thought, 'Uh oh, I've somehow ruined yet another BIOS on my motherboard.' However, after some time, the BIOS POSTed and I was able to run again, in fits and starts. I decided it was time to format the SSD, wipe it clean, and re-install the OS from scratch. Before doing so, I decided to use my TrendMicro virus scanner "recovery disk" (via USB drive) to do a full, deep scan of the BIOS and everything on the OS. Sure enough, the virus scan found a couple of deep-seeded programs it marked as viruses and deleted. A couple were masquerading as Steam files, a couple were pretending to be game files, and a couple of others that the virus catcher apparently didn't catch (or I had not correctly set the program to scan) "live." I eliminated those and tested my system for a while before continuing with the re-install  sure enough, my system was running faster and smoother. I still had some of the issues, though, so I proceeded with my plan.

Since re-installing Windows 7 to the SSD and rearranging some of my cabling on the motherboard, I have had none of the previous issues resurface. I am very slowly re-installing my old applications, so that I can keep an eye on how the system works for at least a day or two before moving on to another application. Currently, all of my game apps and Steam are working better, faster, and more consistently than before.

This just goes to show you that you should do what you know is right and not rely on new methods that haven't been tried and tested; I have decades of experience knowing that, when you do a major rebuild, you should install "fresh" and slowly, but I ignored it in favor of the SSD's software. On top of the apparent viruses (or virus-like programs) that were found, my system was doing things it shouldn't and it was systemically worsening. Next time, if there is a next time, you can be assured I'll go back to my roots and do what I know is the right way.