UPDATE: It’s been about 6 weeks, I think, for this thread. Six entire weeks of my life just fighting and fighting and fighting these damn computers. I just wanted to thank everyone who tried to help out with this. I’ve just given up at this point. I have devoted literally hours and hours and hours to this, trying to get two broken computers running again. It’s no use.
The old xp netbook I finally got running with puppy linux. It also responds to a Hirens boot usb. I tried restoring the HD, but it failed. This netbook doesn’t come with any restore media. So the only way to make it work even a little is to run it with puppy or through Hirens and hook it up directly to the modem with an ethernet connection. Even then it seems very limited in what it can do.
I tried downloading the 8.1 download onto that computer in order to transfer it to usb and then use the usb to reinstall windows on the 8.1 laptop, but it failed. I also tried downloading it directly to a usb through that computer, but that has also failed. Error message of there not being enough resources available. It has 193 gigs avail on the HD, but whatever. The only other working computer I have has my business’s database on it and doesn’t have enough HD space to download the 8.1 file onto anyway. That computer won’t let me download directly to a usb.
The 8.1 laptop never would boot from usb, not even with puppy or the Hirens boot. It also will not refresh nor restore. I am very careful and never got a virus on either computer and used good antivirus and anti-malware.
If I had the money to buy a new computer, I would. But I don’t.
I’m so discouraged and, quite frankly pissed off, at how DIFFICULT this whole thing has been! It really shouldn’t be this hard. It should be pretty intuitive.
But it’s not.
If anyone has any other ideas of what to do, please let me know. I get so frustrated, I sound like Nancy Kerrigan hollering “Whyyyyyy! Whyyyyyyyyy!” If only I had a big stick and if only laptops had knees…
Otherwise, I’m going to bow out of SDMB for awhile. Every time I use my working computer (the one with the biz db on it) I open it up to the potential for malware and problems, even from SDMB. And I cannot afford the risk.
I’ll ask the mods to close this thread in a few days if nobody has any other ideas for me to try. Thanks again. It really never should have been this hard.