Looks like we've got a dying hard drive.  Keeps freezing, screen goes black and I get a boot device restart message.
I've had this e-machines for 9 years! I'm crushed cuz I hate the idea of having to start over again!

I hate computer problems more than anything else.  The trouble is you can't keep up with technology.  While we're away I have my Android tablet and it's too smart for me.  I like my old desktop.  All of a sudden I find it has switched something I am writing into French.

 
Get another HD (same size or bigger) immediately and clone it before it dies completely.
 

I have to have the Geeks look at mine too. A week ago this search engine called WeKnow highjacked my Google Search page and now it just says SEARCH. I looked it up and lots of people had that happen. I reinstalled chrome and got rid of it. Then I got an email from Apple saying I have an upgrade for my system so I did it and now I have the old chrome thing back and the SEARCH is back. grrr. I run antivirus and says I have no virus. What a pain.

Hi Jim...any suggestions for my problem?

oh dear....

I have in my budget to purchase another cellphone... cause every time I go to Memphis I have to replace one... plus in the accident all my cellphones were thrown out the window of the car and cracked all of them in the same box...
also the GPS garmin stand and I'm still looking for the remote to the small plug in TV that I travel with just in case I get bored waiting on AAA to come to the rescue...depending on where you get stranded it could take up to 2 hours in the winter months....

I don't want to think anymore....

What to buy?  Toss up between an iPhone or an Android smart phone.  I have the latter and I really like it.

Jim, I'm buying a cheap tower right now, and when my oldest boy comes home for Christmas, he says he can build me one that's bullet ptpro... using a solid state drive or something.  He builds his own computers and they can do just about anything except wipe your rear after a deuce, LOL.

 
Sunshine, you can change your Default Search Engine in your Settings.  Thats all WeKnow did. (unless they put another file on your system that changes it back every time you change it.  That would take a bit more digging to find. But if you have an Apple, then I'm not your guy.  I've never owned one.

Hopefully all you need to do is click on the three dots in the upper right corner of Chrome, then select Settings near the bottom, then slightly scroll down to Search Engines and select Google.

Just Close all the tabs and restart Chrome, and Google "should" be back.  Fingers crossed.




Takn, you're going to LOVE that SDD. It is FAST!
Since your son builds his own PCs then he might know how to Clone HardDrives.  If your HD doesn't die completely its possible to clone it all over to your new drive and not lose a single syllable.  I use "EaseUS ToDo Backup."  You may have to buy a copy in order to use the Clone feature.  I've bought copies for my machine, my wifes machine and both sons. I like it that much.

I keep a current cloned backup of my both my Boot drive and my (D)ata drive, just in case something goes wrong with the original. And they have come in handy many many times.

I did all that Jim...and yes I have a Mac.Even after doing a system upgrade and reinstall Chrome...it came back. I'll have to get the Geeks over here one of these days.

I guess we'll hang on to the box till Christmas then.  I backed up all my files to an external, but apparently, did not back up all my favorites on Chrome, so now it only loaded my bookmarked pages from my phone (and Aesop's was one of them, LOL)

This is going to take some getting used to.  I can't figure out how to set up the file explorer, so I can easily get to documents and photos.

Right now, it looks like a bunch of app screens...it's driving me nutso.

I guess this new windows doesn't allow screensavers either...yes, I will probably figure some of it out before Sonny gets here, but then if I have him build me a new system, hopefully, he'll also set it up for my feeble mind, LOL.

Windows 10 is a nightmare... you have to figure it all out yourself and you will miss some of the programs that you uses to get...getting most of your old programs out of the Microsoft store...windows 7 was a give me... I still have 2 emachines I thing they work... and filled with a lot of stuff I loved but... can't update to Windows 10 obsolete... need something I'm not giving..... the lost of a perfectly good scanner and printer... I tell ya...
Windows is something... made all the stuff you bought years ago obsolete...and not useful to other computers....

I hated Windows 10 and finally dumped it.  I find my Apple desktop, and Android tablet so easy to use.

It is going to be a challenge.  Since I do so much writing and research, having a desktop is a real necessity.  But it's not a user friendly interface at all, and for someone who's already technology challenged, it's a nightmare.

I guess I will have to survive till Christmas when my son can assist me in building exactly what I need and loading it with ONLY the stuff I want.  The start menu on this thing is like navigating those silly widgets on your phone.

xp was the best to me when I finally learned how to work with it and then came
Windows 10...

I don't know how many computers and tablets I have in the back room... printers, scanners, cameras, telephones...I tell ya... it's hard to get rid cause of the cost of it all... I think I'm keeping them for parts... but I need to give them up or be named a hoarder....

wonder if I can get a few dollars to the used computer store for them... I'd feel better if I could... but to haul them off and be told garbage would hurt my feelings....

so am I a hoarder or what....

got the computer guy to fix 5 and upgraded them to Windows 10 but I'm only using this one for now... when I breaks down... back up I think... I don't know anything anymore... I really don't...

thinking I have to purchase another cellphone when I go to Memphis is overwhelming but I have too...

feeling kinda lost in cyberspace...somewhere....

one thing I did learn is pencil and paper is the way to go for saving all numbers and password...

and the most important is to have a library card where ever you live... in Memphis and Hellsville...well I got that too along with library cards in the surrounding area....if I lose my purse.. I'm lost for sure...lol

So far, I've managed to ensure my internet security is in a subscription, but just found out this box didn't include the Office suite except on trial, so I'm searching for a legit "free" version of Office 2013.  Office 365 is enticing, but I don't want to have to download and keep paying.  I think this kind of stuff should ALWAYS be included on any computer.

I am still struggling to get all my favorite websites back up, because apparently when I saved to my external, it didn't save those...and even signing into my chrome account, it only had the ones that were on my phone.  Cest'la'vie...this is gonna take time.   Time I don't have right now, because getting the yards ready for winter takes a lot of time.