{"id":5032,"date":"2021-08-10T23:52:50","date_gmt":"2021-08-10T17:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=5032"},"modified":"2021-08-10T23:52:50","modified_gmt":"2021-08-10T17:52:50","slug":"still-thinking-for-myself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=5032","title":{"rendered":"STILL THINKING FOR MYSELF"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Scott \u00a0\u00a0 Recently I had to do a computer repair for my friend Bryan and it got me thinking about a blahg I wrote in 2012 when I had to do my own computer repair and was given some bad advice from a computer salesperson.\u00a0 Needless to say, I didn’t take the salesperson’s advice and figured out for myself the repair, which he said couldn’t be done, and I was successful and got a blahg out of it.\u00a0 The original blahg was\u00a0ADVICE FOR THE NEXT 50: THINK FOR YOURSELF.<\/a> It was a blahg not only about the computer repair but celebrating the fact that I had turned 50 and that I could still think for myself with positive results.\u00a0 Next month, I will turn 59 and I’m still thinking for myself but my body has other ideas of it’s own when it comes to pain and arthritis.\u00a0 Too early to write about that stuff here.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Before I get too far off topic, or into the topic, let me talk about the repair I did on Bryan’s laptop.\u00a0 First, his laptop is a brick.\u00a0 It’s a few years old and large and heavy and running Windows 10.\u00a0 \"SpinningAfter a recent Windows update it would no longer load into Windows.\u00a0 Bryan just kept getting the spinning blue wheel of death.\u00a0 I know, I know, the image to the left is not a spinning blue wheel but it belongs to death so who am I to argue.\u00a0 Bryan got the spinning blue wheel of death and his laptop would no longer load into Windows.\u00a0 He asked for my help.\u00a0 In the past, when he had the same error he was able to fix it himself so I knew that this time would be a bit of a challenge.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 I took his laptop home and tried to load it up but I too got the spinning blue wheel.\u00a0 I left it alone and eventually an error message similar to the one below was displayed:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"LogonUI.exe<\/a><\/p>\n

That gave me a reference point to try and begin to fix the problem.\u00a0 By the way, clicking OK or CANCEL did nothing and the same error eventually came up again.\u00a0 Searching for different answers suggested trying to do a System Repair or a System Restore.\u00a0 Of course if you can’t load into Windows then how do you get to these options.\u00a0 There is another way.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 What Windows doesn’t tell you is that getting into these extra options or even a Safe Mode of Windows is not like it used to be.\u00a0 I remember with Windows XP and I believe Windows 7 all you needed to do was tap F4, F8, or some Fn’ key (get the play on words) and you would get some other options to boot your computer.\u00a0 Pressing any of those keys didn’t help.\u00a0 What I found was you had to power on the laptop then turn it off once it started to load into Windows.\u00a0 Do this two times and on the third reboot, the Advanced Options loads.\u00a0 Choose “Troubleshoot” then “Reset This PC” if you want to Reset PC without repairing or choose “Advanced Options” after “Troubleshoot” to get to “System Restore” or “Startup Repair”.\u00a0 Unfortunately neither “System Restore” or “Startup Repair” worked for me.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 It was at this point that some websites were suggesting getting into Safe Mode to try some other options.\u00a0 So getting into Safe Mode is another set of instructions I had to research.\u00a0 So, when you get into “Advanced Options” you have to choose\u00a0 “Startup Settings”, Windows 10 then will say that you can restart your device to change advanced boot options, including enable Safe Mode. Press Restart. After Windows 10 restarts one more time, you get a screen that lets you choose boot options. Select 4 or F4 to start in Safe Mode.\u00a0 Once I had Safe Mode, I was able to look at all of the options that other websites were suggesting.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 The LogonUI.exe error message was very specific and some technical support sites were suggesting that I could rename the LogonUI.exe file to LogonUI.old and then copy a fresh version from a different directory and paste it into the Windows\/System folder.\u00a0 You can research that for yourself but I’ll tell you right away that you can’t do any of that from Safe Mode.\u00a0 The suggestions tell you to enter Command Prompt in Safe Mode but these system files such as LogonUI.exe are protected.\u00a0 I couldn’t even run a “chkdsk” (this is actually CheckDisk that verifies the logical integrity of the file system) because it too won’t run in Safe Mode.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 In my previous blahg,\u00a0ADVICE FOR THE NEXT 50: THINK FOR YOURSELF<\/a>, I talked about a disk called a Hirens Boot CD.\u00a0 It allows you to run a mini-version of Windows XP from the disk.\u00a0 I still had that Hirens CD from 2012 and I was able to boot into the mini version of Windows XP and rename the LogonUI.exe and copy a fresh version over from a different folder and put it in the Windows\/System folder.\u00a0 Unfornately that didn’t change a thing.\u00a0 I still would get the LogonUI.exe error when I tried to boot into Windows 10.\u00a0 I even tried “chkdsk” while in the mini version of XP but that wouldn’t work either.\u00a0 It was at this point that I put the laptop away for the night.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 I thought about the problem the next day and all of the suggestions I had tried and that failed.\u00a0 \"WhatI had emailed Bryan and he told me not to bother further and he was just going to remove everything and reinstall Windows 10 fresh.\u00a0 I didn’t want to give up that easily.\u00a0 It meant that I had to accept defeat and, like 2012, I wasn’t prepared to throw in the towel. It was a battle of wits against the computer with the computer taunting me and me wondering what it would take to get this computer working properly again.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 The solution to the problem was easier than I thought.\u00a0 I had eliminated all of the things that didn’t work and it was a matter of finding a method that would work.\u00a0 I was sure that running “chkdsk” was the answer because usually “chkdsk” would find errors and repair them.\u00a0 The problem was finding a way to get “chkdsk” to run in Safe Mode.\u00a0 The quick answer is you can’t do that.\u00a0 The error I was getting when trying to run “chkdsk” in Safe Mode was: <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

“A function call was made when the object was in an incorrect state for that function. A snapshot error occurred while scanning this drive. Run an offline fix.”<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

By researching the “run an offline fix” <\/em>phrase, I easily found a solution on the following website:\u00a0 https:\/\/answers.microsoft.com\/en-us\/windows\/forum\/all\/safe-mode-chkdskscan-wont-work\/96e79025-ec52-448b-91f8-3fd4bc113313<\/a>.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Before you begin reading all the posts on that Forum, let me just draw your attention to a post by a user by the name of “Jason Dale” dated July 2, 2017.\u00a0 His reply was almost four years after the Forum was created with the problem of trying to run “chkdsk” in Safe Mode.\u00a0 Here’s what he posted:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

The \/scan option might not be available in safe mode. Use chkdsk\u00a0\/f c: if a virtual disk (VM) or chkdsk\u00a0\/r c: if physical (if you don’t know, it’s probably physical). \/r implies \/f – \/f fixes file system issues, \/r repairs sectors.\u00a0<\/em><\/h4>\n

I know this is 4 years old but all these BS answers are frustrating.\u00a0<\/em><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

Focus on the direction to go into a Command Prompt in Safe Mode and type “chkdsk \/f c:<\/em>” (without the quotes).\u00a0 The problem is that your system is using C:, and “chkdsk” can\u2019t repair things that are in use.\u00a0 You will get a message that looks like this:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"chkdsk<\/a><\/p>\n

Answer Y for Yes and then reboot your system. CHKDSK will run before Windows starts so it can repair the drive before Windows starts using it.\u00a0 That’s what I did.\u00a0 Bryan’s laptop restarted and started to run “chkdsk”.\u00a0 It was going to take some time so I walked away and watched television for an hour.\u00a0 When I walked past the laptop, I tapped a key to wake it up and was very surprised to find that it had booted into regular Windows 10.\u00a0 I shut it down and restarted it and it booted into Windows 10 again.\u00a0 Success!\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 So what did I learn from this?\u00a0 First, never give up, never surrender.\u00a0 That’s a reference to a line from the movie “Galaxy Quest” in case you were wondering.\u00a0 Second, stop overthinking.\u00a0 All of the suggestions I tried were other people’s suggestions and were sending me down the wrong rabbit hole.\u00a0 Third, think for yourself.\u00a0 When I started thinking about “chkdsk” and believing it was the key then all I had to do was find the way to run it.\u00a0 Then user “Jason Dale” may have offered me the right solution but I was the one who found it after placing my faith in the notion that there had to be a way run “chkdsk” outside of Safe Mode.\u00a0 Think For Yourself.\u00a0 I said 9 years ago and it’s still working for me today. \u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 When I went back and re-read ADVICE FOR THE NEXT 50: THINK FOR YOURSELF<\/a>, I discovered something else that I was recommending in that blahg besides thinking for yourself.\u00a0 I talked about a singer I had discovered by watching the television series ‘Stargate Universe.’\u00a0 I wrote that “one of the great talents I have discovered from watching Stargate Universe is the singer, Deb Talan.\u00a0 In one episode, they used Deb Talan\u2019s song ‘Comfort’… If you research Deb Talan you will learn she is a member of the group \u201cThe Weepies\u201d.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know that and I don\u2019t know who they are but I\u2019ve listened to a few of their tracks and I enjoy them… As always, if you like a singer, especially an independent artist who doesn\u2019t get the airtime like some of those others who should go back to street singing, in my humble opinion, then go out and buy their CDs or attend their concerts…I don\u2019t know if she\u2019s going to come to Canada anytime soon but if she does, you can bet I\u2019ll be there.”\u00a0 <\/span><\/em>Nine years later and I’m still listening to Deb Talan and I’m still listening to The Weepies.\u00a0 In that time, they have released the album “Sirens” and Deb released her solo CD “Lucky Girl.”\u00a0 They’ve also performed in Toronto twice and you can bet I was there.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 On the album “Sirens” The Weepies did a cover of Tom Petty’s “Learnin’ To Fly.”\u00a0 I was skeptical when I heard they were doing a version but I think it works for them, the way they did it.\u00a0 Check it out:\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n