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COMPUTER PROBLEMS - HELP THREAD


wibble

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PC Running Like a dog ...(Bigsmak's advice)

 

 

1st - Go through your documents and decided if there is anything you want rid of. Chances are that your computer is full.. Getting rid of old unwanted things wont really speed your Laptop up but will help if you run the Tune Up utilities below.

 

You probably really need to clean up the Start Up files.. this will help you do this. .. You will have loads of things that start when you switch the computer on... Lots of games / crap that you don't need. This will help you get rid of them.. very easy to use.

 

 

Anyway - You will have things like - I-Tunes, Quick time, Adobe launcher, Real Player launcher, Your mobile phone files, digital camera etc..

 

What is happening is that each time you install one of these it creates a start up program on the computer. So when you switch on the laptop it opens all of these things up and they run in the background.. It Makes things slow and is the main cause of laptops taking ages to load.

 

If you remove one - i.e. I-TUNES.. it does not delete I-Tunes, it just means that it doesn't start automatically with the computer. You can still open it normally from the desktop / my programs or whatever.

 

Leave things that you use every single day. Leave the anti virus / anti spyware things. Leave the instalsheild.

 

Anything you are not to sure about.. post here and we might be able to help.

 

So simply make the tick disappear from the box, they wont start up automatically. This will speed up the computer straight away..

 

Then go do the rest of the stuff after this!

 

Run these - if you don't have something I have provided links to get free ones!

 

Then run your Anti Virus program

Then your anti Spyware Program

Then your anti Adware Program.

 

This might seem like overkill but worth it. You should be running these at least weekly.

 

FREE ANTI VIRUS

FREE ANTI SPYWARE

FREE ANTI ADAWARE - Take the free one on the left.

 

NOW get this program. Get the free Trial version.. It lasts a month I think but its long enough to sort everything out for you!

 

http://www.tune-up.com/products/tuneup-utilities/

 

You will have 2 new programs on your desktop -

1 - One Click Maintenance

2 - Tune Up Utilities.

 

Use the one click maintenance first. Let it do its thing...

 

Then open up the tune up utilities and read through each of the headings.. You might not know what they are but you will recognise some of them..

 

First - you probably really need to clean up the Start Up files.. this will help you do this. .. You will have loads of things that start when you switch the computer on... Lots of games / crap that you don't need. This will help you get rid of them.. very easy to use.

 

Second - Use the clean up and repair option. - Click all 4 of the operations.. This could take some time.. Bare with it.

 

Third - Optimize and improve - the DeFrag option is the main one here.. Just do this...

 

Don't worry about the last two options - Admin control and the file recovery + destruction.

 

Re-run the one click maintenance again when finished.

 

This has worked wonders for me and my friends computers and speeds everything up and makes them all, cleaner!

 

Warning... this could take hours, I mean up 3 hours or so to do depending on the state of your laptop! (if its clean it take 5 mins) You will probably need to restart the computer a few times during the clean up.

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PC is virus infected or has pop-up problems or hoax virus scan issues ..

 

I always advise people to ditch Norton, McAfee etc. as I find that they cause more problems than they fix.

 

You need to run a combo of 3 products for good protection (and they are all free)

 

Antivirus - http://www.free-av.com/en/download/1...antivirus.html

 

Adware blocker - http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

 

Malwarebytes -http://www.malwarebytes.org/

 

 

 

There are other products that work too like Avast, AVG, Spybot Search and Destroy, but I find that the 3 above work perfectly without bogging down the PC.

 

Just make sure you run a full scan about once a week - especially if you have kids using the PC.

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Hooking Your PC/Laptop up to your TV.

 

This guide assumes your tv has the correct VGA slot (sometimes called PC Input)

 

You need

--> VGA Monitor cable

Picture here

Available at maplin here,although probably cheaper at Tesco, Office world and even B&Q

 

--> audio line in cable

Available here at maplin

 

Instructions.

1.Take the VGA cable and connect it from your PC/Laptop and to the slot on your TV

2. Connect the audio line-in cable from either

Your PC sound card to your TV*

or

Your laptop headphones slot to your TV*

 

*this slot should be close to the VGA cable slot

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BoJack Horseman

I had this bookmarked, courtesy of redjambo.

 

http://www.hmfckickback.co.uk/showthread.php?t=43020

 

Following on from some conversations I've had tonight regarding slow PCs, I thought I would show, in case anyone is interested, the steps I take to spring-clean my PC from time to time. I have to point out that I am not a guru and that everyone has their different ways of doing things (and I am also not responsible for anything that may go wrong as a result of you doing any of the below ;)). However, you never know, something in the steps below may be of interest. :) My apologies of course if this has already been covered at some point.

 

Why spring-clean? Because even though hardware advances have produced faster machines with more memory, software has itself advanced at the same time in terms of bloat, intrusiveness and ability to hog memory. Not only that but most software does not clean its traces up properly if uninstalled, leaving a load of crap on your PC.

 

How often? It's up to you. I do it every month or so, but that may be too often for some folk. Some folk might just want to do it if they feel their system is slowing down. Try to do it at least once each spring though. :rolleyes: All the software mentioned below is free.

 

(1) Do a complete check of your computer for viruses and malware. For this, I use AVG Free (http://free.avg.com), SUPERAntiSpyware (http://www.superantispyware.com/) and Ad-Aware Free (http://www.lavasoft.com/). Between these three they should cope with most baddies out there. You will need stronger beasties to clear things up if you don't use adequate protection on your PC and/or you surf the wrong kind of sites (you know what I mean ;)).

 

(2) Next, back up your data. Hopefully you will have been keeping all your documents, music, data etc. in the one area, perhaps on its own drive, and ensuring that your various software writes and reads its documents from that area. If not, go through your documents and organise them. If you do keep stuff on your desktop, it should be temporary (e.g. downloads) - you can always make shortcuts to files on your desktop if you want. Why all this? - so that a backup is much easier to do. I use SyncBack Freeware which quite nicely backs up all your data to a USB key. If you have loads of music and films then obviously an external hard drive would be a better bet for these. MozBackup (http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/) is also useful for backing up Firefox and Thunderbird settings etc.

 

(3) Clear out old unwanted programs. I use a nice package called Revo Uninstaller (http://www.revouninstaller.com/) for this, as an alternative to the Add/Remove control panel, viewing in Details mode and almost always choosing Advanced mode - the advantage of this is it get rids of crap that the unofficial uninstaller doesn't. However Advanced mode must be used with caution. Fortunately it sets up a system restore point before every uninstall so that things can be unwound if necessary (which has only happened twice for me).

 

Note that, if it so pleases you, you can install Real Alternative Lite (http://www.codecguide.com/about_real.htm) instead of RealPlayer, QT Lite (http://www.codecguide.com/qt_lite.htm) iinstead of QuickTime (plugin, not player) and Foxit Reader (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/) instead of Adobe Reader. All are low-footprint and the difference is noticeable.

 

(4) Now, replace all programs (where necessary) with up-to-date versions. Note that if there has been a major change (e.g. v1 to v2, or 2008 to 2009) then you may be better off uninstalling the old version before installing a new one, as otherwise both copies may be left installed. As ever though, do not uninstall a program unless you are confident that your data has been backed up and that there are no vital settings that will be lost.

 

(5) As (4) but with Firefox plugins.

 

(6) Clean up unnecessary files with CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/). As well as using all the defaults, I have "Old Prefetch data" enabled in the Advanced section. Follow this up with a blast of Windows's Disk Cleanup (Start->Accessories->System Tools->Disk Cleanup (all users)) - I also use the advanced button to delete previous restore points but you should only do this if you're confident that the system is working correctly and has been for a fair while.

 

(7) Clean up unnecessary registry entries, for which I use RegVac (http://www.superwin.com/) in Novice mode.

 

(8) Defragment the hard disk and then the registry. For these I use Auslogic's (http://www.auslogics.com/en/) DiskDefrag and RegistryDefrag.

 

(9) Almost there :). Now check the startup programs to see if there is any extraneous rubbish being started up in the background that you don't need (a quick google of a program name should tell you if it is useful or not). For Vista, I use the inbuilt Control Panel->Change Startup Programs->Show for all Users; for XP, a wee gem called Startup Control Panel (http://www.mlin.net/).

 

That's about it! Sorry for the length of this post. :) For those who are interested, other software that I use to "housekeep" and protect my PC include SIW (http://www.gtopala.com/) - system info; Comodo Internet Security (http://www.comodo.com/) - firewall only; Unlocker (http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/) - unlocks undeletable files; Recuva (http://www.recuva.com/) - undeletes deleted files; TimeSync (http://home.mnet-online.de/horst.muc/win.htm) (required for XP only) - ensures PC clock at right time; and 7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org/) - handles archives and ZIPped files.

 

Have fun. :laugh: If I have made any mistakes, or omitted anything, above it is because it's late and I'm knackered, honest. :rolleyes:

 

Red

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Another tip (do the following before running any scans):

 

Get rid of temporary crap.

 

Close down all programs.

 

If using windows XP, navigate to the temp folder (You will need to display Hidden files and folders):

 

C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Temp

 

Vista:

 

Click the Vista button (normally bottom left).

In the search box type (without quotes) "%temp%"

 

This should open up the temp folder. (This would probably work in XP also).

 

Once you have located the temp folder, delete as much as you possibly can (there may be some things that you will not be able to delete as some files may be getting used by another background process).

 

The temp folder is used to store temp files which basically can make applications work faster, and over time a lot of junk can accrue in here. There should be no data in here that you need to keep (unless you have manually saved data in the temp folder).

 

Also, open your web browser and delete the temp internet files (normally can be found under internet options in IE).

 

The reason for doing this is to make the scans run much quicker, and in some cases can knock of a couple of hours off scanning time.

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I find http://www.filehippo.com a useful site for day to day programs you might need on your PC. Also has a useful non-intrusive update checker that informs you automatically when there are updated versions of any software programs you have installed that are available for immediate download.

 

filehippo.com also has many of the programs listed above in previous posts in this thread.

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portobellojambo1
PC Running Like a dog ...(Bigsmak's advice)

 

 

1st - Go through your documents and decided if there is anything you want rid of. Chances are that your computer is full.. Getting rid of old unwanted things wont really speed your Laptop up but will help if you run the Tune Up utilities below.

 

You probably really need to clean up the Start Up files.. this will help you do this. .. You will have loads of things that start when you switch the computer on... Lots of games / crap that you don't need. This will help you get rid of them.. very easy to use.

 

 

Anyway - You will have things like - I-Tunes, Quick time, Adobe launcher, Real Player launcher, Your mobile phone files, digital camera etc..

 

What is happening is that each time you install one of these it creates a start up program on the computer. So when you switch on the laptop it opens all of these things up and they run in the background.. It Makes things slow and is the main cause of laptops taking ages to load.

 

If you remove one - i.e. I-TUNES.. it does not delete I-Tunes, it just means that it doesn't start automatically with the computer. You can still open it normally from the desktop / my programs or whatever.

 

Leave things that you use every single day. Leave the anti virus / anti spyware things. Leave the instalsheild.

 

Anything you are not to sure about.. post here and we might be able to help.

 

So simply make the tick disappear from the box, they wont start up automatically. This will speed up the computer straight away..

 

Then go do the rest of the stuff after this!

 

Run these - if you don't have something I have provided links to get free ones!

 

Then run your Anti Virus program

Then your anti Spyware Program

Then your anti Adware Program.

 

This might seem like overkill but worth it. You should be running these at least weekly.

 

FREE ANTI VIRUS

FREE ANTI SPYWARE

FREE ANTI ADAWARE - Take the free one on the left.

 

NOW get this program. Get the free Trial version.. It lasts a month I think but its long enough to sort everything out for you!

 

http://www.tune-up.com/products/tuneup-utilities/

 

You will have 2 new programs on your desktop -

1 - One Click Maintenance

2 - Tune Up Utilities.

 

Use the one click maintenance first. Let it do its thing...

 

Then open up the tune up utilities and read through each of the headings.. You might not know what they are but you will recognise some of them..

 

First - you probably really need to clean up the Start Up files.. this will help you do this. .. You will have loads of things that start when you switch the computer on... Lots of games / crap that you don't need. This will help you get rid of them.. very easy to use.

 

Second - Use the clean up and repair option. - Click all 4 of the operations.. This could take some time.. Bare with it.

 

Third - Optimize and improve - the DeFrag option is the main one here.. Just do this...

 

Don't worry about the last two options - Admin control and the file recovery + destruction.

 

Re-run the one click maintenance again when finished.

 

This has worked wonders for me and my friends computers and speeds everything up and makes them all, cleaner!

 

Warning... this could take hours, I mean up 3 hours or so to do depending on the state of your laptop! (if its clean it take 5 mins) You will probably need to restart the computer a few times during the clean up.

 

While I already have and use applications such as Malwarebytes and Spybot I also use this package, which I discovered when installing Smart Defrag (which deep optimizes in a fraction of the time the preinstalled Disk Defragmenter system tool did/does).

 

Have you ever tried this and if so what is your opinion of it -

 

http://www.iobit.com/advancedwindowscareper.html

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davemclaren

On the asumption that the propellor heads will read this thread.......I have just change ISP from Orange to Talktalk as Orange was slow and more expensive. Works faster BUT my wife's laptop has problems keeping a connection wheras it worked fine with Orange. COnnects for a while then connection drops for a while them commevts for a while and so on.....her complaints are infuriating!!

 

Help.

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On the asumption that the propellor heads will read this thread.......I have just change ISP from Orange to Talktalk as Orange was slow and more expensive. Works faster BUT my wife's laptop has problems keeping a connection wheras it worked fine with Orange. COnnects for a while then connection drops for a while them commevts for a while and so on.....her complaints are infuriating!!

 

Help.

 

There are different ways that your wife's laptop will securely connect to the network. I.E. either WPA or WEP. It could be that the laptop doesnt like a certain kind so try changing the type of security on your router.

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special agent oso

HELP I have an old packard bell easynote c3300 , that is given me loads of problems , it takes an age to load up and often just freezes , I restored it to factory settings and added more memory on the advice of a friend , 512mb , he also told me to run bitdefender and do an online scan , this came up clean , but it still freezes and is so so slow , I have 86% free space on the hard drive , can anyone help as I would like to give this to my daughter for her study , thanks in advance

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Bit more hardcore, but if you're really wanting to know what's loading up and running on your computer, you might want to try HijackThis:

 

http://download.cnet.com/Trend-Micro-HijackThis/3000-8022_4-10227353.html

 

Obviously it's not to be used if you're not entirely sure what you're doing, but it's a cracking way to find out if there's anything there which shouldn't be.

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Bit more hardcore, but if you're really wanting to know what's loading up and running on your computer, you might want to try HijackThis:

 

http://download.cnet.com/Trend-Micro-HijackThis/3000-8022_4-10227353.html

 

Obviously it's not to be used if you're not entirely sure what you're doing, but it's a cracking way to find out if there's anything there which shouldn't be.

 

Be very very careful with this program.. If you ask it to remove something it will.. Be sure what it is you are doing.

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Geoff Kilpatrick

Folks, AVG is doing my nut in by constantly crashing, yet the system won't let me uninstall it. Any ideas? :qqb010:

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Angry Haggis

Potential Speed increase for Broadband users

 

for Network Termination Equipment 5 (NTE5) master socket through which their phone calls and broadband connection travel (basically if your Broadband comes down your phone line)

 

I know of least 2 people who have fitted a BT iPlate and seen performance increase on their residential Broadband peformance.

 

See here for details and review:

 

http://www.shop.bt.com/products/bt-i-plate-58LT.html

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  • 2 weeks later...
HELP I have an old packard bell easynote c3300 , that is given me loads of problems , it takes an age to load up and often just freezes , I restored it to factory settings and added more memory on the advice of a friend , 512mb , he also told me to run bitdefender and do an online scan , this came up clean , but it still freezes and is so so slow , I have 86% free space on the hard drive , can anyone help as I would like to give this to my daughter for her study , thanks in advance

 

Problems like this can be one of many, many things.

 

If it is software related, and especially as you are giving it to your daughter, it would be best to format the hard drive and re-install Windows from scratch. This will sort out any software problems without trying to fix a buggered up operating system - just not worth trying sometimes.

 

If it is hardware related it could be:

 

Bad memory - Run Memtest on it .. http://www.memtest.org/

 

It might help to open up the back of the laptop and remove and refit the memory. Perhaps there is a loose connection or some tarnished connectors.

 

Bad hard-drive - run a CHKDSK on the drive.http://www.memtest.org/

 

If it finds any errors then it could very well be a sign that the drive is on it's way out. It would be worth replacing the drive before it fails and blows away all your daughters college work.

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If you need or want to help a friend or relative with something on their computer it really helps to be able to see what is on their screen.

 

I have pulled my hair out trying to help people over the phone.

Teamviewer lets you see what is going on on their computer and fix things remotely. It is free for home users and works a treat.

 

http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx

 

Now if anyone knows a cure for hair that's been pulled out ....

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Sheriff Fatman
If you need or want to help a friend or relative with something on their computer it really helps to be able to see what is on their screen.

 

I have pulled my hair out trying to help people over the phone.

Teamviewer lets you see what is going on on their computer and fix things remotely. It is free for home users and works a treat.

 

http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx

 

Now if anyone knows a cure for hair that's been pulled out ....

 

Why use a third party application when you can just use the Windows remote access and remote assistance facilities?

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Why use a third party application when you can just use the Windows remote access and remote assistance facilities?

 

I suppose with Teamviewer there is no need for the person in need of help to faff around and try and follow instructions on how to find the IP address for the person trying to help them.

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Angry Haggis
If you need or want to help a friend or relative with something on their computer it really helps to be able to see what is on their screen.

 

I have pulled my hair out trying to help people over the phone.

Teamviewer lets you see what is going on on their computer and fix things remotely. It is free for home users and works a treat.

 

http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx

 

Now if anyone knows a cure for hair that's been pulled out ....

 

Similiar app for remote contol over the net:

 

https://secure.logmein.com/home.asp?lang=en

 

Use this site to connect to a number of relatives PC's/Laptops if they need assistance.

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Sheriff Fatman
I suppose with Teamviewer there is no need for the person in need of help to faff around and try and follow instructions on how to find the IP address for the person trying to help them.

 

Who needs an ip address, you just send an email asking for help. Or even simpler you ask for assistance via Windows Messenger.

 

Finding an ip address isn't exactly a mensa test anyway, all you do is click on

 

Start

Accessories

Command Prompt

then type ipconfig

 

or

 

Start

Run

then type CMD followed by ipconfig

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Finding an ip address isn't exactly a mensa test anyway, all you do is click on

 

Start

Accessories

Command Prompt

then type ipconfig

 

or

 

Start

Run

then type CMD followed by ipconfig

 

 

I know mate (I provide support for the University of Edinburgh), but believe me when I say that you can get some right belters on the other side of the phoneline when trying to get an IP out of them.

 

Some people just live on a different planet when working with computers.

 

I had one person a few months ago needing ink in their network printer. I said I would phone them back when I can get someone to come out and replace the cartridge. Their answer:

 

'Can you not send the ink down the network?'

 

The whole office was in stitches with laughter. This person was being serious.

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Sheriff Fatman
I know mate (I provide support for the University of Edinburgh), but believe me when I say that you can get some right belters on the other side of the phoneline when trying to get an IP out of them.

 

Some people just live on a different planet when working with computers.

 

I had one person a few months ago needing ink in their network printer. I said I would phone them back when I can get someone to come out and replace the cartridge. Their answer:

 

'Can you not send the ink down the network?'

 

The whole office was in stitches with laughter. This person was being serious.

 

It works the other way too. You should try some of the idiots that I have had to speak to when phoning help desks, not by choice either it was company policy that if anything went wrong with the computers I had to phone the help desk before I did anything.

 

Half the time it would be me telling them what I had to do to fix the problem, the other half the only suggestion they came out with was 'reboot the system'.

 

If you want some classic IT support funnies look here:

 

http://www.rinkworks.com/stupid/cs_obvious.shtml

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It works the other way too. You should try some of the idiots that I have had to speak to when phoning help desks, not by choice either it was company policy that if anything went wrong with the computers I had to phone the help desk before I did anything.

 

Half the time it would be me telling them what I had to do to fix the problem, the other half the only suggestion they came out with was 'reboot the system'.

 

If you want some classic IT support funnies look here:

 

http://www.rinkworks.com/stupid/cs_obvious.shtml

 

Some of them are great mate. Also brings back some memories of old OS's.

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On a similar note

When I phoned an IT helpline recently after telling the guy that I had already attempted everything he was telling me and I asked to be moved up to the next level of help or for a replacement.

I got the response "Sir, I have been working in IT help for nearly ten years now"

 

I had to bite my tongue..

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yvonnejambo

Help! I have had a new laptop for couple of months and the norton free anti virus has run out. I tried ti uninstall it and downloaded avg. Everytime I download something it disappears and is not traceable. I sent hours last night trying to download anti virus and it looks like its downloading fine but I cant find it on the PC.

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Help! I have had a new laptop for couple of months and the norton free anti virus has run out. I tried ti uninstall it and downloaded avg. Everytime I download something it disappears and is not traceable. I sent hours last night trying to download anti virus and it looks like its downloading fine but I cant find it on the PC.

 

If you are using Firefox

 

Go to your internet options, under the tools at the top of the page and there should be a "save files to" bit on it, click the browse button next to it and it will take you to the folder. It should be there.. Personally I always save things to the Desktop so that I can move them around myself!

 

Internet Explorer should give you the option as to where you save it (I think)

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Help! I have had a new laptop for couple of months and the norton free anti virus has run out. I tried ti uninstall it and downloaded avg. Everytime I download something it disappears and is not traceable. I sent hours last night trying to download anti virus and it looks like its downloading fine but I cant find it on the PC.

 

If it is Vista, it will probably be in C:\Users\*yourusername*\Downloads or something like that (I don't use Vista)

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yvonnejambo

Thank you I did have to go through Rodges way (sounds bit pervy) anyway got it now so thanks. I will be rereading this thread later to find all the other things I should have on this laptop. :2thumbsup:

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Mac Elliott

Bit advice needed please.

 

Have a old dell laptop which has stopped booting up, just been down to a repair shop in musselburgh and was told the fan had stopped working and the graphics chip was goosed! 150 for new motherboard 90 to fit!!!!!!! or new laptop mmmm hard choice:10900:

 

The real problem is there is a lot of info a need on the hard drive was quoted 35 to remove it but the generous guy would give 40 for the laptop as he would use the spares.(also only access to work intranet is on this laptop once recovered from the hard drive is it easy to install on a new laptop?)

 

how easy is it to remove?

 

Is he a chancer?

 

any help much appreciated:2thumbsup:

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Bit advice needed please.

 

Have a old dell laptop which has stopped booting up, just been down to a repair shop in musselburgh and was told the fan had stopped working and the graphics chip was goosed! 150 for new motherboard 90 to fit!!!!!!! or new laptop mmmm hard choice:10900:

 

The real problem is there is a lot of info a need on the hard drive was quoted 35 to remove it but the generous guy would give 40 for the laptop as he would use the spares.(also only access to work intranet is on this laptop once recovered from the hard drive is it easy to install on a new laptop?)

 

how easy is it to remove?

 

Is he a chancer?

 

any help much appreciated:2thumbsup:

 

Dell laptop hard drives are easy to remove. However, you need an adapter to fit the old hard drive to enable you to copy it to another system.

I normally pull the hard drive out, connect the laptop hard drive to a computer on the bench and then copy all of the data to DVD. Easy enough to do and gives you a backup to put away somewhere safe in case of any "mishaps" ! :43:

 

PM me if interested, I would also take the old one for bits

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Commander Harris

My advice: reboot. :D

 

solves 99% of all problems :D

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Bit advice needed please.

 

Have a old dell laptop which has stopped booting up, just been down to a repair shop in musselburgh and was told the fan had stopped working and the graphics chip was goosed! 150 for new motherboard 90 to fit!!!!!!! or new laptop mmmm hard choice:10900:

 

The real problem is there is a lot of info a need on the hard drive was quoted 35 to remove it but the generous guy would give 40 for the laptop as he would use the spares.(also only access to work intranet is on this laptop once recovered from the hard drive is it easy to install on a new laptop?)

 

how easy is it to remove?

 

Is he a chancer?

 

any help much appreciated:2thumbsup:

 

You can buy an external Hard drive case on Ebay for under a tenner. Take the drive out of the lappy and pop it in the case, then you can access all the data from the new lappy.

 

Sell the old lappy to Rodge.

 

Doesn't sound like the guy is a chancer, but he is trying to make a living out of doing business with you.

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Sheriff Fatman
You can buy an external Hard drive case on Ebay for under a tenner. Take the drive out of the lappy and pop it in the case, then you can access all the data from the new lappy.

 

Sell the old lappy to Rodge.

 

Doesn't sound like the guy is a chancer, but he is trying to make a living out of doing business with you.

 

If you are doing that make sure you get a laptop caddy for laptop hard drives or a normal caddy for PC hard drives, as they are not the same size.

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If you need or want to help a friend or relative with something on their computer it really helps to be able to see what is on their screen.

 

I have pulled my hair out trying to help people over the phone.

Teamviewer lets you see what is going on on their computer and fix things remotely. It is free for home users and works a treat.

 

http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx

 

Now if anyone knows a cure for hair that's been pulled out ....

 

MJ, some good advice there - I have a wee problem, "My Pictures" always takes me back to the desktop - I can view the photo's by using Start/Search/jpg so that's not a problem - I have a few ASF files which are mini home movies, about one or two minutes long - when I go the same route to see them, then that always takes me back to the desktop - any suggestions or ideas?:57:

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MJ, some good advice there - I have a wee problem, "My Pictures" always takes me back to the desktop - I can view the photo's by using Start/Search/jpg so that's not a problem - I have a few ASF files which are mini home movies, about one or two minutes long - when I go the same route to see them, then that always takes me back to the desktop - any suggestions or ideas?:57:

 

Is that the "My Pictures" shortcut in explorer? Also XP or Vista?

 

Try righ clicking on the "My Pictures" shortcut and select "properties"

 

Target: should be "C:\Users\Jambo\Pictures" .. where Jambo is the name of your computer.

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MJ, thanks again for your sound advice - it's XP I have - I'll try that to correct access to the ASF files, will let you know how I get on - thanks again for the advice.:hang:

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Guest GhostHunter

From another site...

Ever gone away to let windows get on with updating, and then found that your computer had suddenly restarted? This can be a nightmare especially if you frequently have alot of stuff open like documents etc. Short of disabling automatic updates (leaving yourself more prone to security vulnerabilities) what can you do? Read on...

 

Onto the fix:

 

1. Open up the Start menu and hit 'Run'.

 

2. Type "gpedit.msc" (without the quotation marks) into the drop-down box and click on OK.

 

3. The Group Policy Manager will now appear. NOTE: I don't recommend messing around with anything else in here if you don't know what your doing.

 

4. In the left pane, click on 'Local Computer Policy' then expand 'Computer Configuration' then 'Administrative Templates' then 'Windows Components' and finally click on 'Windows Update'. Whew!

 

5. A few options should have now appeared in the right-hand pane. Find the one that says 'No auto-restart for scheduled Automatic Updates installations' double click on it to bring up it's properties.

 

6. Change the radio button set on 'Not Configured' to 'Enabled' then hit OK.

 

7. That's it, all done!

 

NOTE: Although this does stop the computer automatically restarting, it won't stop the annoying dialog box which periodically pops-up reminding you to restart.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Help, please.

 

My laptop is telling me i need to upgrade my flash player. There is a link telling me to update now. I did this, several times now, but even though the wee box appears saying the installation was successful, it`s still not working. Any idaes what im doing wrong?

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Bordeaux 03
Help, please.

 

My laptop is telling me i need to upgrade my flash player. There is a link telling me to update now. I did this, several times now, but even though the wee box appears saying the installation was successful, it`s still not working. Any idaes what im doing wrong?

 

You could try restarting your laptop see if that works. What browser are you using? Internet Explorer sometimes tells you to do this even though you don't need to.

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You could try restarting your laptop see if that works. What browser are you using? Internet Explorer sometimes tells you to do this even though you don't need to.

 

If the restart doesnt work, try going to "Add or Remove Programs" in Control Panel and uninstall Flash player altogether, then install the latest version from the macromedia website.

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Hey guys,

 

Wanting to buy a laptop this week for about 350-450

 

Wondering what specs I should aim for and if somebody could give a brief rundown of what they mean

 

ie

 

processor

ram

hdd

anything else

 

 

cheers

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Sheriff Fatman
Hey guys,

 

Wanting to buy a laptop this week for about 350-450

 

Wondering what specs I should aim for and if somebody could give a brief rundown of what they mean

 

ie

 

processor

ram

hdd

anything else

 

 

cheers

 

Processor - Get an Intel Core Duo, rather than an Intel Celeron Dual Core, preferably with a minimum of 2Ghz

 

What it does - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPU. They really are a bit complicated to write a couple of lines about.

 

RAM - Get a minimum of 2Mb (preferably 3)

 

What it does -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAM Again a bit complicated to write a brief couple of lines about.

 

HDD - Up to you but I would say a minimum of 160Gb. You can pick up external hard drives very cheaply now, so you can always use one of them to add more later. Changing the hard drive in a laptop is pretty simple anyway, so you can always replace it later with a new one.

 

Anything else - Forget Sony, you won't get one with anything close to decent specs for the money you want to spend.

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Processor - Get an Intel Core Duo, rather than an Intel Celeron Dual Core, preferably with a minimum of 2Ghz

 

What it does - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPU. They really are a bit complicated to write a couple of lines about.

 

RAM - Get a minimum of 2Mb (preferably 3)

 

What it does -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAM Again a bit complicated to write a brief couple of lines about.

 

HDD - Up to you but I would say a minimum of 160Gb. You can pick up external hard drives very cheaply now, so you can always use one of them to add more later. Changing the hard drive in a laptop is pretty simple anyway, so you can always replace it later with a new one.

 

Anything else - Forget Sony, you won't get one with anything close to decent specs for the money you want to spend.

 

Cheers mate

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Hey guys,

 

Wanting to buy a laptop this week for about 350-450

 

Wondering what specs I should aim for and if somebody could give a brief rundown of what they mean

 

ie

 

processor

ram

hdd

anything else

 

 

cheers

 

I recently bought a COMPAQ Presario (CQ60) for around that price. It has been superb.

 

Just don't expect these low end laptops to play graphic intensive games. Great for web surfing, watching movies, office work etc.

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