Date: 07/10/07     Keywords: no keywords

Edit: Nevermind. :) My old dinosaur allowed me to eviscerate her to do a little game of switch to see if that was the issue. It was. Everything is good now. Thank you.


I was sitting around when all of a sudden my ISP spat back that I was disconnected from the internet. This isn't anything new. I usually get a "Juno could not contact its central computers" every 20 minutes or so and have to reconnect.

This time it said my modem was already in use. I went ahead and restarted my pc, because that's fixed the problem before. No dice. Modem is still in use. Okay, so I turn off the pc, unplug the phone line and try to see if Juno will tell me that I don't have a dial tone. It still says that my modem is in use. I restart again and try a manual connection to see if Juno is the problem. Nope, that spits back that the modem is in use.

I pop into the device manager and see that my modem is supposedly working fine. I poke around on the modem properties (pretending to know what I'm doing), and recieve that my COM3 port cannot be opened. Okay, I go down to the ports area in the device manager and notice that only my printer port is listed.

Following the troubleshooter, I tried to reinstall the COM port, but that only installed COM4. I may not know much of what I'm doing but COM3 =/= COM4.

I broke down and pulled out my older PC to check the phone line. I am online, so that says that it can't be my lines. Also, I've been online for way longer than 20 minutes. It feels sort of odd.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/797268.html

Date: 07/09/07     Keywords: no keywords

Something has gone wrong with either my external drive or the ports in my laptop. One day when I was hanging out with my girlfriend at her house, I was sitting on her bed and using my laptop, when her dog ran in and started jumping and walking all over it. When I kicked her out, I noticed my music stop playing, and Windows Media Player wasn't able to access any of the files. It turns out that my external was still plugged in, but for some reason it wasn't connecting with the computer. Whenever I plug it in and push a little harder, the external will at least turn on, but the computer still won't access anything on it. I've tried it on a couple different computers, to the same result. My best guess is it's a loose connection in the external's cord, because I can still plug in my mouse to the USB ports. Can anybody confirm my estimate? Is this an easily repairable problem? Do stores sell just the cords for externals? I'd hate to have to get a new one because all my music (besides what I have on CD), pictures from school, movies, and a couple resumes are on this external.

Thank you in advance!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/797015.html

Date: 07/09/07     Keywords: no keywords

I'm in Windows Safe Mode right now, I believe. I restarted the computer and hit F8 and then clicked "Enter" on Safe Mode.

When I turn my computer on, it starts up like it normally does. I get the XP blue screen that says "Starting Windows". Then it goes to my desktop and I can see my wallpaper. But neither my desktop icons nor my bottom toolbar thing (what is it called?) will come up. If I Ctrl+Alt+Del, there is nothing in the applications, but about 70-90 things in the processes. It says my CPU usage is at 100%.

I read something online that said I might have to do a system restore which is perfectly freaking fine with me - but I don't know how to access it!

Even in safe mode that I'm in right now, I can't get it. I have a black screen that says "Safe Mode" in each corner. No desktop, no icons, no toolbar at the bottom. I Ctrl+Alt+Del and no applications and maybe a dozen processes. So, I clicked "New Task" and put in firefox.exe because nothing else I was trying would work.

If I do a system restore to, say, a month ago when the computer was working fine, do you think I'll be able to get some stuff done? At this point I plan on deleting all .mp3, .avi, and .exe files that were downloaded because I don't know who the culprit is. I'd like to burn my pictures and my documents to a CD, but I don't know if it'll just end up being infected as well. I could do a "Restore to Factory Settings" option, but I never did make a restoration disk because the disks I have are RW and it won't let me make them with those types and I don't have the $$$ to go out and buy CD-R and DVD-R disks right now. I just don't want to lose my photos.

Sorry for being a pain in the butt.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/796900.html

Date: 07/08/07     Keywords: security, virus, antivirus, spyware, google

I recently downloaded BitTorrent to try my hand at torrents. I ended up getting the very first thing I wanted very quickly and was enthused. I tried for something else - got it, but couldn't get it to work on my computer, so I deleted it. Then the pop-ups started... Mostly in IE (which I haven't used since, oh, 2002, I use Firefox and rarely Opera) - a page saying I need, um, WinAntiSpyware 2006 or something similar (forgive me).

Right now I have:

• McAfee Security Center
  
• Avast
  
• Spyware Doctor (free version that came with the Google Pack)

• Spybot Search & Destroy (something I had used years ago)
  
• Advanced WindowsCare V2 Personal (which had good enough reviews)
  
• Ad-Aware 2007

• Spy Catcher Express 2007
  
• Avira AntiVir Personal Edition
  
• Zone Alarm 7.0
  
• AVG AntiVirus Free Edition

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/796084.html

Date: 07/07/07     Keywords: no keywords

so a couple of days ago my pc crashed and i started to type all the letters symbols etc to try to unlock it, cause even crtl_alt_del wasnt working. somehow it inverted the keys. (its a portable pc, an acer, it has the fn key for some funtions over in the m, k, j, u, etc etc keys. and now for me to write in those keys i have to press fn, and the blue smbols on the key, witch originaly works by pressing the fn key dont work at all...
 how can i put it back? help plz its making me crazy to write like this!!

thanks*

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/795756.html

Date: 07/03/07     Keywords: php

Anyone here have or know of a good script that I could use to extract LJ posts from my account into either a text file, or better yet, onto a private WordPress blog site?

The best scenario would be one where I could automatically mirror posts from LJ to the private site.

Perl or PHP preferred . . . but not required. I am pretty flexible.

Thanks in advance!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/795262.html

Date: 07/03/07     Keywords: no keywords

I accidentally moved the "show desktop" button from my quick launch toolbar to my desktop. How exactly do I get it back in the quick launch? I tried dragging it back, but then it's just a shortcut to the "show desktop" button on the desktop (of all places!). And if I delete that icon off the desktop, the quick launch button doesn't work. I know you can hit the windows button + m to minimize everything, but it's just easier (for me at least) to click "show desktop".

Thanks!!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/795004.html

Date: 07/01/07     Keywords: no keywords

i'm looking to buy a new video card but i don't want to spend a ton of money. i would like to be able to play games like half life 2 and kotor on let's say medium settings. what would be a video card that would allow me to do this (let's say both ati and nvidia equivalents)? i'm probably also going to purchase 2gb of ram (that will bring my system up to 2.5gb). if it wasn't going to be obsolete in like a year that's also a plus too.

thanks for your help! i'm sure this is a question that you guys are sick of but i'm totally clueless.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/794383.html

Date: 07/01/07     Keywords: no keywords

Whenever I start my PC, I'm not logged in as the Administrator so certain features of XP are prohibited such as the Properties and Control Panel. The screen resolution suddenly went to 800x600 and I could not access anything that will change this.

Please help, I'm desperate.

Thank you.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/794353.html

Date: 06/29/07     Keywords: software, security, virus, spam

Also posted in computerhelp

I am at my wits end here, I hope you guys can help. I am running a Vista system that is about 3 months old. My cable internet provider hasn't bothered to upgrade their security suite to be Vista compatible but pointed me to free trials I could use until they do.

After exhausting two free trials I made the HUGE mistake of trying CA's Internet Security Suite 2007. It has been nothing but a nightmare since I installed it. Causing blue screen o' doom errors many times a day. I went out today and purchased Micro Trend PC-cillin Internet Security software today, because it was one of the trials I tried and I like the way it works.

I went in to try and uninstall the CA program it uninstalled the anti-virus, spam blocker and anti-phishing components bet then it proceeded to tell me that I do not have enough privileges to install or uninstall Personal Firewall and to try logging in as an administrator. I am the only profile on this machine which by default makes me an administrator, and just to be sure I went in and checked, yep, I'm an admin. However, that doesn't solve the problem of how to get this crappy program the hell off of my computer so I can actually have a suite that is effective and doesn't cause blue screen errors.

I went to their support site, all of their "knowledge base" articles time out when I try to open them and they aren't responding to my email inquiry, but somehow I don't think I will be at the top of their list of people to get back to quickly since I pretty much told them I am getting rid of their software and using a competitors suite. Any help on how to manually purge my system of this beast or whatever, as long as it is no longer on my system would be greatly greatly appreciated.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/793535.html

Date: 06/25/07     Keywords: google

I apologize if my question has been answered recently; I went back a few pages but didn't see anyone asking this question.

Long story short, my baby cousin got away from me, started pressing the buttons on the monitor, and managed to completely mess with the color settings (thankfully that's all he messed up.) I've tried to adjust the settings back to where they were, but can't get it anywhere close to right.

What I need to know is how to restore the monitor back to the factory default settings, and if this will reset the color settings as well. I've tried Google, but it only shows product listings and tells me to reset my monitor, but not how. Owner's manual is also being less than helpful.

I'm using a Dell Dimension 2400, and my monitor is a 19 inch flatscreen by the same manufacturer.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/792800.html

Date: 06/23/07     Keywords: no keywords

I have a Sony Vaio VGN-A790 desktop replacement (basically a stand notebook computer with a larger screen, not your run of the mill laptop that you carry everywhere).

I had put my eighteen-month-old nephew down to bed in my room with The Brave Little Toaster playing on the computer. I snuck out after he fell asleep. When I came in to check on him, he was sitting at my desk and there were a ton of windows open (none of them had anything to do with Firefox) - so he was just hitting keys. The calculator was open, he had sent a few random IMs, and had managed to open Paint Shop Pro.

Now when I try to scroll in Firefox using the up and down arrows, it's not working. They will bring me either to the direct top or direct bottom of the page (acting as a page up or page down) instead of just scrolling down (or up) a little bit at a time. This happened before and I never did figure out how to fix it... When I had my hard drive reformatted (don't let roommates use your things!!), it worked fine so I've been happy for months. But, now,... UGH!

HELP PLEASE!!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/792320.html

Date: 06/22/07     Keywords: no keywords

IPs in the 24.64 range. All kinds of addresses on the third and fourth nodes. I have Norton set to let me know when something is looking for a port, and to let me know when my PC is trying something outbound (auto updates, etc.). I also have Norton set to "learn" what I don't want. They all say "allow always" recommended, but I select "block always" - with thousands of possibilities, I just don't want to be interrupted that much.

Trouble is, how do I find out why this particular IP is trying so much? I get maybe 10 hits a day from other ranges, but this one group is about 30 hits an hour. I'm on a cable ISP, by the way.

Since I really do not know what I'm doing, I'm thinking of having Geeks on Call come in to work the PC over. I use SpyBot twice a week to clean things up, and do Norton and Windows checks for updates nearly daily - full scan twice a week.

I got six hits while typing this entry. grrrrrrrr

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/792115.html

Date: 06/22/07     Keywords: no keywords

Okay, so I love this game called Gunbound. It can be found at gunbound.ijji.com
I've played it for a few months and the other day it just stops working abruptly. When I try to launch it-it says that I don't have a 3D video card or my video card is outdated. I don't know what to do!! Help!! :(:(

P.S. The game has to be installed on your computer-I don't know if that helps or not. :S:S

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/791952.html

Date: 06/21/07     Keywords: no keywords

Is Recordnerd.com not working for anyone else? Whenever I go to the 'your list' page, it takes ages to load and then says page cannot be displayed?

If it's not working, can you recommend another site in which you can list all the cds you have and what you want?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/791365.html

Date: 06/19/07     Keywords: virus, web

for some reason my computer will not play anything past the first minute(if that) of a youtube video or a song on myspace. it usually gets to an intro and then the sound stops. however, youtube and myspace say that the song/video is still playing. or with youtube it will play a few seconds and then the end thing that asks if you want to watch the video again pops up. if i push to watch it again it does the exact same thing.
i have updated my flash player, because i thought that's what it was at first. that apparently made no difference.
i uninstalled and then reinstalled firefox. the problem also happens in plain internet explorer
i tried to update my windows music player and it won't let me. i don't know why.
i uninstalled everything i had installed in the past week, which about when this fuckery started.the things i had installed were flickr uploader, bear share, and lastfm scrobbler.
the computer does play my itunes and music/movies from my computer, just not from websites. it allows my itunes to play podcasts,but not stream radio that is not from itunes.
how do i fix it?
do i need to reformat my computer?

my computer is an hp pavillion a347x. i have windows xp. my virus protection is pretty up to date.i tried to dnld avgfree, but it won't let me.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/791187.html

Date: 06/19/07     Keywords: virus

'night everyone. so heres the problem. today i was working in some photoshop thing and when i tried to save it it show a message saiyng that it couldnt be saved because there was no memory in the scratch disk. i didnt understand so i checked the C:\ memory and it showed smtnhg like 380 Mb!! and just a few minutes before it was 2.50 ~~ Gb!!! sooo i couldnt possibly fill my memory in such a small gap of time, neither could i because i didnt put more files at all! i moved some files to D:\ and it eased a litlle. but sometime later there was no memory again, something like 7,9 Mb! now however it turned to 3,20 ~Gb again... wht the hell happened? is some virus playing with my memory?
plz help !!

thanks *

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/790699.html

Date: 06/18/07     Keywords: no keywords

A few days ago, my laptop got down to 2% battery, and the light in the case that shows low battery/critical battery started flashing orange, to tell me that the battery's flat.
So that was fine, I charged it. Except the light hasn't stopped flashing orange. Booting into Windows tells me the battery's on 97% or something, and booting into Ubuntu tells me the same thing. The battery's sure it's flat though, and the flashing orange light is getting annoying.

The battery still works fine, and I can leave it running on battery power fine for a few hours, which is as long as it usually lasts. But the laptop thinks it's flat.

Anyone know what I can do to fix this? I've charged it up to 100%, let it go back down to low, then charged it again, which didn't fix it. I called Dell who told me I need to get a new laptop, or at least a new battery. I'll buy a new battery if that's the only way to fix it, but it seems unnecessary since the battery still works fine.


Thanks in advance,
Sarah

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/790370.html

Date: 06/18/07     Keywords: no keywords

Is there a way to hook up a DVD recorder to your computer and TV so you can burn .avi's and videos from the DVD and VHS player on the TV/PC to a DVD?

what do I need to do this? do I just need a dvd recorder?

any help will be appreciated.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/790094.html

Date: 06/17/07     Keywords: no keywords

I need a way or program to help me uninstall another program without using the corresponding uninstallation program that the original program came with, if that makes any sense. Here's my situation:

I got this laptop a year ago (Dell Inspiron 6400), and on it came the Sonic MyDVD studio thing. There was an issue, and I had to reinstall but of course I wasn't given the CDs with my laptop so I tried to fix it otherwise. I attempted to uninstall, but I think that crashed halfway through or something (this was all a bunch of months ago), so now when I try to uninstall again it tells me that it can't find the appropriate network resource, MyDVD.MSI, to uninstall.

I've contacted Dell and they've been completely lovely in sending me all of the CDs I need to reinstall and a bunch I don't think I'll ever use, but are fun to gloat about regardless. However, I can't reinstall the DVD burning portion without installing the previous! I got the MSI file from the installation CD and pasted it somewhere in hopes that directing the uninstall to it would work, but to no avail. I need to remotely uninstall this program without the need for MSI files. The little programs that came with it in the first time (some Audio thing, some Copy thing) uninstalled and reinstalled fine, it's just the MyDVD Studio - what I need - that has to go.

Is there a way to do this? I want to uninstall it without using anything like Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel. I'm XP, SP2. Is there a program available that I can use to clean my computer of all of the corresponding files and the like, so it's as if they never exused?

Thank you!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/789515.html