I apologize if this post isn't categorized correctly but it's my first time posting on well any forum for that matter. Recently on my 2 year old Gateway FX6860, an issue occurred where after installing anti virus software, said software caused my computer to be unable to boot up, safe mode would not appear as an option and system restore did not offer any restoration points.
After bringing my PC in to future shop where I had purchased it, it was suggested that I reset my computer back to factory standards using the CD's I was given upon purchasing the computer. The restoration seemed to be working up until the I was asked for a third CD, and after putting the CD in a message appeared saying something along the lines of "PRELOADER.EXE is not a valid windows application". After clicking okay on the message the restoration seemed to stop, it looked like the process was still going as the "..." continued to flash, but after waiting two and a half hours without the progress bar moving even 1% more, it became clear that the restoration had been halted. With this i decided to try one last time by shutting down the computer and starting it back up to attempt to continue from where it had left off or perhaps start over, however even though the restoration seemed to be incomplete, windows started up the same way it did when i had first bought it, asking me to register my gateway and input my user data, and so I did, and am currently using that very same computer to type this. Windows seems to be running perfectly fine as far as I can tell but I am by far nowhere near being a computer expert, so I have no idea if I should be worried about the incomplete restoration and perhaps bring it in to be done by a professional?
The purpose of this post is that I am seeking some sort of advice about what I should do next, whether I should continue to use this computer like it had never happened or bring it in to be fixed, also any information about the "PRELOADER.EXE is not a valid application" would also be helpful, and I apologize for not writing down the error code at the time, but I am currently unable to return to that screen and I don't want to risk causing any more problems for the computer.
After bringing my PC in to future shop where I had purchased it, it was suggested that I reset my computer back to factory standards using the CD's I was given upon purchasing the computer. The restoration seemed to be working up until the I was asked for a third CD, and after putting the CD in a message appeared saying something along the lines of "PRELOADER.EXE is not a valid windows application". After clicking okay on the message the restoration seemed to stop, it looked like the process was still going as the "..." continued to flash, but after waiting two and a half hours without the progress bar moving even 1% more, it became clear that the restoration had been halted. With this i decided to try one last time by shutting down the computer and starting it back up to attempt to continue from where it had left off or perhaps start over, however even though the restoration seemed to be incomplete, windows started up the same way it did when i had first bought it, asking me to register my gateway and input my user data, and so I did, and am currently using that very same computer to type this. Windows seems to be running perfectly fine as far as I can tell but I am by far nowhere near being a computer expert, so I have no idea if I should be worried about the incomplete restoration and perhaps bring it in to be done by a professional?
The purpose of this post is that I am seeking some sort of advice about what I should do next, whether I should continue to use this computer like it had never happened or bring it in to be fixed, also any information about the "PRELOADER.EXE is not a valid application" would also be helpful, and I apologize for not writing down the error code at the time, but I am currently unable to return to that screen and I don't want to risk causing any more problems for the computer.
