Date: 03/09/06     Keywords: web

Does anyone know how to block specific websites/url(s)? I just want to block myspace.com and xanga.com.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/597920.html

Date: 03/08/06     Keywords: virus, linux

I really dislike asking for help, but I'm at a complete loss at what to do. My computer is a home-made variety, Intel motherboard+chip, Samsung hardrives. OS is Windows XP, altough I don't think that matters with what's going on. I have an anti-virus - Norton - but again, I don't think that's made much of a difference in the past week and a half.

First off, yes, I know about cable placement and setting jumpers.

So. I had two hardrives, an 80 gig and a 40 gig. The 40 was the master with the OS and the 80 was the slave. About a week ago I decided I didn't like this setup and wanted to put the newer hardrive as the master and the older as a slaved backup. Soooo, I move files around, remove all the partitions from my 80, repartition, format, install, and move all my files back over to my 80. Get the 40 ready for being formatted, reboot, and BAM - there's a black screen reading "Disk Read Error."

I tried everything I knew. Put the 40 in charge again and tried to read the 80 from Windows XP. If I clicked on it I got either "F: or whatever path it was is an invalid parameter", "F: is not formatted" and "Cyclic redundancy error." Checking the properties of the 80 gig showed that it was reading the drive as having 0 space used, 0 space free, with a file structure of RAW. Since this was above me, I took it to a friend's house who is more computer-savvy.

We tried it on a Linux box. It could find the drive but could not read. Put it in their Windows box. Found the drive, could not read. Ran chkdsk on it (multiple times) and it just came up with a bunch of bad sectors and failed after the first step. Right now the busted 80 is still at their house, my friend is still trying to get any data off it. I've lost hope - we believe the physical disk was scratched.

Now, this wouldn't bother me too badly (this stuff happens after all..) except I bought a new hardrive yesterday. 80 gig. Stuffed it in as master. Installed Windows. This morning, went to access my 40 gig - the good drive that has lasted me for a long time - and BAM. Not formatted/other error messages. RAW file structure. Boot it up as master - Disk Read Error. Swapped out the ribbon cable for a new one - nothing changed.

Right now I have the 40 unplugged and am just sitting here sweating, waiting for my black hole inside my box to devourer my brand-new 80. I've had this computer for about a year and a half now, some parts longer than that (the 40 I've had for nearly three years and the old 80 for about a year) and I've never had a problem like this. I don't care about recovering my hardrives anymore. I just want to figure out what is wrong with this thing, why it's destroying hardrives, and what needs to be replaced/done to keep my system from completely melting down. Cause I'm really scared right now.

And I'm a college student putting myself through school. I can't afford these sorts of problems right now.

crossposted to some places cause I'm desperate and scared

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/597464.html

Date: 03/07/06     Keywords: no keywords

I have 2 laptops and a wireless router that I just bought today. I used to have a different router but it broke'd. The router is a Belkin Wireless G Router (Model #F5D7230-4).

Alright. The fact that it is a *wireless* router means that it should connect to my modem, I should be able to set it on the table next to the modem, and take my laptops wherever I want in the house, and be able to get on the Internet, right? Heh, I mean, that's what a router does.

So why is it not doing that? I installed it with the installation CD, and I can get a connection when I connect it to my modem and then connect the router to my laptop physically with the network cable. But when I take the network cable away, it doesn't detect any wireless networks. And that sucks and does not work for me.

So, any suggestions? =/ I tried setting up a new wireless connection with the Wireless Network Connection Wizard (Windows XP Home) but, obviously, it didn't work.

Help is appreciated. =/ I'd like it asap.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/596871.html

Date: 03/06/06     Keywords: no keywords

Hi all. This my first time posting here and I hope someone can help me.
I used to hang out on talkers a lot (think telnet) but it's been many years since I've logged onto one. I was playing around with telnet today and somehow got it to a fullscreen mode and now I can't get it back to regular size. There's no top menu when I open it up (and there wasn't one there to begin with). I had to right click just to find the settings/properties/options....whatever you want to call them. It's definitely not the telnet I'm used to (back when we had Windows 98). I now have XP and this is the first time I've ever brought up telnet on this computer and I am totally lost! So how can I get back to the normal size screen?!
Thanks!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/596696.html

Date: 03/05/06     Keywords: no keywords

I've got a homebrewed PC. Fully integrated Intel motherboard. Jetram memory, Seagate HDD, some Panasonic DVD-RW, TFT monitor. Celeron-1700, powersink&thermal grease in place, temp. around 35 deg. (Celsius). Every piece of this workhorse (including power supply unit) was thoroughly tested (yeah, and i've got the new power supply), but it still powers up after 4th-5th attempt. Hints anyone?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/595848.html

Date: 03/02/06     Keywords: no keywords

I recently came across a game I've been looking for for around 10 years. It's the old Sierra On-Line game called "Sierra Championship Boxing". It runs in MS-DOS. I used to know my way around Dos a little better, but these days it seems I've forgotten everything.

Anyway, every time I try to play the game I get this error message:

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/595321.html

Date: 03/02/06     Keywords: no keywords

My computer screen has gone crazy. The image shrunk into a thin strip, with two black strips on both left and right. I can barely see anything cuz everything is stretched vertically and so tiny... In addition to that, the little bit of the screen that's left (lol) is getting lines that flicker all over. The screen is prety old, 5-6 years. It's Compaq MV520 if that helps. I got it from my brother, because my old HP was beginning to do the same... Now I'm wondering whether it's the computer's fault. Anybody knows how to fix it? I had to write 9 page paper on it and I my eyes were so strained I almost died... So, any help out there? Will be incredibly appreciated.
Anya

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/594892.html

Date: 03/01/06     Keywords: no keywords

I want to download all my text messages from my samsung d500 to my pc using my bluetooth..


Programs I've tried that didn't work :/ are Oxygen and MobilEdit... Any other suggestions?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/594550.html

Date: 03/01/06     Keywords: no keywords

Im using Windows XP, and I am having problem with the dvd rom drive on my computer.

As you know, some dvds come with special features that can only be accessed on the dvd rom drive on your computer. Well when I put on my dvd to access those special features using DVDMAX, its saying 'to access these features please insert your dvd in the dvd rom drive. Now its already IN the DVD Rom drive, so whats going on and how do I fix it?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/594396.html

Date: 03/01/06     Keywords: virus

I'm running out of options here, so I figured I'd try LJ. My computer just recently stopped letting me access any form of email service, and also my MSN messenger. When I try to sign in with my password and such, it just tells me "page cannot be found" and a connection error on Firefox.

There's also supposedly virus going around that basically IM's you from someone's account asking "is this you?---->" and then putting a link with your email in it. Well, I clicked on it, and I'm assuming I now have that virus. All of my virus protection is out of date and doesn't really work (no money to get new stuff. :() So it may be as simple as that. I remember an older computer of mine having this same problem, but I can't for the life of me remember what I did to fix it.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Is there anything I can do to fix it before I get new virus protection? Thanks for any suggestions!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/594163.html

Date: 03/01/06     Keywords: virus, antivirus, spyware

I am having problems with spyware or a virus. It started a couple weeks ago where I would start my computer and it would work fine, but after a few minutes I couldn't execute new files. It would say file could not be found.

I ran spybot and norton antivirus in normal mode. It got rid of some spyware and it didn't fine any virii. I still had the same problem. I rebooted in safe mode and did a full system scan. It didn't find any virii, but it found the same two spyware. I've run spybot several times in safe mode and normal mode and the same two things come up.

It's listed as this...
Wild Tangent (wish I could copy and paste the message from spybot)and it's listed as a registry value

and

AntiVirusDisable Notify and it's listed as a registry change.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/593678.html

Date: 02/28/06     Keywords: no keywords

Using Windows XP Pro SP2.

I presently have three hard drives attached to my system: the main drive (13GB?), a second internal drive (160GB, divided into two partitions), and an external 250GB drive. All are formatted NTFS, and none is compressed.

I haven't checked the main drive yet, because I'm not directly using it in this scenario. I have a large number of files I want to transfer from one drive to the other for space reasons. Every once in a while, I get an error saying the file is being used by another process. Long story short, I finally figured out the "other process" was the fact that the file was read-only, and the cut-n-paste operation was unable to delete for that reason. Simple enough solution: I right-click on the top folder in the hierarchy, choose "Properties," uncheck "read-only," and hit "apply." Everything gets reassigned. I click OK. Long story even shorter, a number of hours later I get the same error, check again, the folder is back to read-only. I set the attribute again, hit Apply, hit OK, hit properties on the folder again immediately, and the folder is once again set to read-only.

How do I clear all files of the read-only attribute permanently? There are (or should be) no hidden or system files in any directory I'm working with-- it's all MP3s.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/593160.html

Date: 02/28/06     Keywords: no keywords

I thought I had a monitor problem, but it's not the case. One day, everything was fine, the screen was all nice. But then i clicked on an image to view, and BAM!..it happened. the colors were suddenly brighter and there are now streaks going across the screen where dark parts are..overlapping pics and making them dark. I was hoping it WAS my monitor, but putting a new one in didn't help. My friends are telling me it's my video card, but i'm not sure. There's no reason it would just bust like that.

This computer is a few years old, though. It's a Gateway. We got it at a rent-to-own, so that makes it older i suppose.

I'm wondering if maybe a system restore would work? i'm in safe mode right now. I tried to reboot, and I see the WinXP logo just fine, but after it loads, the screen is just black, no cursor or anything. It worked before i put the new monitor in.

oh yeah, my video card is a NVIDIA Vanta/Vanta LT if that means anything.

I would LOVE some help. I'm going insane. :(

EDIT: ACK!! can't do the system restore. not enough disk space. i can't go to a restore point before this thing happened unless it's on it's highest setting..which will take 1GB of space. and i only got 2.6/8GB left. :( so...can't do that.

I REALLY want to listen to my music, and of course, my sound drivers are disabled under this stupid safe mode. i seriously need help.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/593007.html

Date: 02/28/06     Keywords: no keywords

Im currently having problems on startup. The problem started when the OS froze. I then did a manual poweroff. After this I attempted to turn it on about 10 times. The first time i tried to turn it on it:

would load to the cpu, fans, and video card, but not the ram.

(1st - 3rd attempts to turn on) I have 2 corsair 512dim ram. They are the ones with the lights up and down the side. At first those lights would not turn on.

eventually the corsair lights would only light up the middle "yellow" one led on the ram chips.

by the time i got to the 10th try NO lights and No fans would turn on.


I believe my motherboard is the fault. Old and overused. The mobo is an ABIT IT7-Max v2.0 I am runnin an intel 3.2

I think its the mobo because when I could load up the computer on tries 1-3, the cpu, fans, and video card worked however the lights on the corsair did not. I believe that when loading on powerup the motherboard loads first the ram, then the CPU then the VideoCard.

Does anyone know how to fix or have an answer to this issue?

If you advise that i get a new motherboard which one should i get?

Thanks!

you can email me at talktoenoch@gmail.com

Enoch

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/592704.html

Date: 02/25/06     Keywords: no keywords

Our power just went out three times within a few minutes. Now my roommate's computer is dead, even though she has a surge protector. At first there was just a bunch of unreadable text and random squares of colour. It was the boot options (safe mode, safe mode with comand prompt, safe mode with networking, last known good config, and restart normally) but it was just a bunch of iiiiis and gggggggs and ooooooos. Anyway, NONE of those options work, and just cause the computer to restart again.

The monitor is now showing things clearly, but it won't do anything but give these options. I tried to put the windows cd rom disc in, but it doesn't recognize it, and won't boot from the disc.

The computer had been having problem with restarting it self and saying it was recovering from a serious error before this, but it would always work fine after that. Also occassionally the monitor would turn black and load a screen that said something like "OUT OF RANGE V: (numbers) H: (numbers)"

Has anyone ever heard of anything like this, or know anything that can help?

Also:

In the last known good configuration, and starting windows normally, it will act like its loading window showing the "WINDOWS XP HOME" screen with the black background and the little blue bar at the bottom...but then it will flash a blue screen with white writing on it. It doesn't stay there for more than a second so its impossible to read what it says, but its English and not gibberish. Then it restarts itself and the whole process starts all over again.

Do you think this is caused by the power failure, or something else?

We have Windows Professional, and Windows Home....but even if it came to reinstalling windows and loosing years worth of personal data, it won't read the disc.

Please if anyone can help at all....please.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/591855.html

Date: 02/21/06     Keywords: no keywords

I have two hard drives: a Western Digital 40gb 7200/2mb that's been running since 2001 and a WD 80gb 7200/8mb running since 2002. I am very good to my drives, defrag often, have a fan directly on them and they've never given me any trouble until recently. There's only one sympton - if I power up my machine from a cold state (not very often) one (or both?) of my drives starts up wtih this heinous, high-pitched whining sound. It wavers for a couple of minutes like that before settling into the usual racket of WD 7200 drives. Is this something I should be worried about? How normal is this, if it is at all?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/590077.html

Date: 02/20/06     Keywords: microsoft

This has happened to my computer before and something fixed it... but I'm not exactly sure what, as my cousin fixed it before.

Anyway, when I try to open up a document on Microsoft Word (I have a Windows ME version computer), it takes forever to load and never does, and then a white box pops up and mentions something about it needing to be terminated, and system resources low. When I do CTRL+ALT+DELETE it doesn't work, and I have to end up switching my computer all the way off.

Now, uninstalling and re-installing word hasn't worked before, and it doesn't actually have anything to do with my system resources. I think my cousin mentioned last time something about a corrupt file...?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/589575.html

Date: 02/20/06     Keywords: software

hello, i'm sarah and i just joined. i need some help.

i apologize in advance if anything like this has been addressed recently, i'm just kind of desperate and totally confused and i've been searching the internet for answers to no avail, so i may have overlooked something here. but here's my problem.

my mom has a HP laptop and a few weeks ago, the touchpad just stopped working. i tried the wireless mouse we have with it, and it worked fine, so i put off trying to fix the touchpad because she was fine using the mouse. yesterday, i found a possible solution to the touchpad problem. first, it said to try and see if the touchpad would work in safe mode. so i turned on safe mode, and it didn't work. then i restarted the computer, but then the mouse wouldn't work either. i've tried restarting over and over, and i've tried both safe mode and normal mode, but neither the touchpad nor the mouse work at all anymore. i don't know if this is a software issue or a hardware issue or if the two are even related. i unscrewed some things and looked at as much as i could, but nothing seemed obviously wrong and so i put everything back together and now i'm just completely baffled. i can't mess around with settings on the computer because, obviously, my touchpad and mouse don't work.

any ideas? taking it somewhere to find out what's wrong and try to get it fixed will be a last resort and something we may not be able to do for a while because we don't really have the money, so anything i may be able to try at home right now would be great. thanks in advance. :)

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/589509.html

Date: 02/18/06     Keywords: virus, spyware

Even when I turn off viruscan, task schedualer, screensaver, and the modem, something still keeps interrupting when I try to run scandisk or defrag.

Explorer
Mpftray
Mscifapp
Msksrvr
Mpfagent
Mcvsescn
Mskdetct
Mskagent
Stimon
Mctskshd
Systray
Rnaapp
Mwsoemon

Which ones are safe to turn off? Is the problem something else? Could all this be causing my computer (Windows98) to be slowing down despite removing spyware? Is the moon really made of cheese?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/589102.html

Date: 02/17/06     Keywords: browser, web

I've got a problem with my browsers on my laptop. I can't surf the net with any of them. I have IE and Mozilla Firefox installed. I had Netscape 7.2 installed but I uninstalled that in frustration. Before that, I could reach a couple of websites with Netscape, but that was about it. My browsers quit working a couple of days ago.

Can anyone offer any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/588864.html