Reasons why I believe that malware is the problem are as follows:
1) The computer will not work properly ( i.e., bluescreen, abnormal disk activity, weird network activity, etc.)
2) The computer will fail to boot up properly ( due to an infected/malware-infected/corrupted boot sector).
3) The computer may be completely unusable as a result of the infection/malware/corrupted files.
How can I properly identify the cause of my computer having problems?
The answer to this is: "You can't"
Reason 1) is actually a bit of a trick question. It's not something you can "identify", or "check" and look for "problems" with. Even if you tried to check every "potential" cause ( drive, files, sectors, etc.), you'd still end up having to do a lot of guesswork as to which is the cause.
If it's only happening on certain drives, it's an extremely difficult problem to troubleshoot. It's much easier to just replace the drive and boot from a known good drive and see if the problem goes away. That's what most people do.
Reason 2) is somewhat easier. Usually, when a computer doesn't start, it's because the boot sector has become corrupted somehow. You can check that with the "fixmbr" command.
Reason 3) is the most difficult. It's the reason you have a "problem". A damaged/infected/malware-infected/corrupted boot sector and all of it's associated files can be, and usually are, the cause of a computer not being able to boot properly. A quick search on this site will find loads of guides on how to fix your boot sector (many of which are outdated, but should still be accurate), but it's easier to just reinstall Windows from a known-good drive or have an official copy of Windows handy.
Q:
"When was this movie last released?" vs. "What is the (UK) title of this movie?"
I'm helping my friend edit his article. He used to live in the UK but he's not sure what the title is for this movie he remembers seeing in the 1990s, but he's not sure if it's released in the last year.
I suggested "When was this movie last released?" and he replied "no, that's not the be359ba680
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