This page always under construction
Latest Threats
Anti-virus 2009,
WinPC Defender, Personal Security.
Programs
that pop up a window stating that it has detected a virus or viruses
on your computer, it then urges you to purchase the full version to
remove the virus, this is a scam, if you buy the full version it will
claim to have removed a virus but it really did not, it is not a real
anti-virus program.
Index
True Stories
Anti-Virus
Blue screen of death
Cards
CPU
Display
Graphics
Install problems
Internet
Networking
Spyware
Unexpected shutdowns
USB
Various Viruses
Windows
Non Microsoft Operating Systems
The following stories are all true they were taken from my own experences.
True Stories
Interesting and strange but true story.
The motherboard has (6VA694T Ver 2.0) printed on it, (google identifies
that as a Lucky Star brand) socket 370 running a Pentium 3 1.4GHz, cache
512KB, 133FSB CPU, 3 PC-133 ram slots filled with 1.5GB of ram, an 80GB
western digital 7200rpm 8MB cache hard drive, and a 3Com 3C905C-TXM
Ethernet card.
After performing without a problem for two years the network card
decided to go on vacation, it was replaced with another, same results,
with a fresh restart it would work for about ten minutes then quit, the
card was then put in a second PCI slot, then a third, still the same
thing, next the card was replaced with a brand new one(same kind),
still the same results, next the card was replaced with a used Realtek
RTL8139, presto!!!! up and running just fine.
Chipset incompatability?????? Delayed incompatability?????? After two years??????
2nd Story.
First thing in the morning following a storm I observed a very unusual
thing, both my D-Link DI-624 wireless turbo G routers were outputting a
wireless signal that could be detected by a computer but could not be
logged on to, after attempting several times to connect I simply
rebooted both routers thereby fixing the problem, I did not unplug them
I just logged on with a wired computer and pressed the restart button
in the router software, I'm still curious just what that was all about,
possible lightning disrupted the signal and somehow corrupted it??????
3rd Story.
A computer I built a number of years ago had a hard drive failure about
three weeks after being built, of course this was warrantied, but six
or so months later the hard drive failed again, the third hard drive
lasted longer but still less then a year, after that the hard drive was
placed on the secondary IDE controller, four years later the hard drive
is still working. this is an example of a problem that will not
completely quit, the motherboard must have a problem with the primary
IDE controller, yet it runs just fine for the most part with no
complaints from the owner except for when a hard drive fails, it is
fast and surefooted when running but appears to have had a flaw from
the factory, since this problem is not consistant I am unsure if the
motherboard company would warrenty it even if it were still in warrenty.
Recent Update
This computer recently developed a BSOD problem,
this is usually what took place before a hard drive failure, however
this problem quickly worsened then stopped the computer altogether, it
would not even boot into windows, it just BSOD
everytime someone tried to start it, after a number of mistries the ram
was replaced, and several lost files were replaced, now the computer
works just fine again, it had a pair of 512MB stricks in it and one
went bad, the other one works just fine.
4th Story
The computer has a Giga-byte motherboard with an Intel 945 chipset,
Pentium4 duel core 3.4GHz, 4GB of DDR2-667MHz ram, windows xp home
edition. it has a USB port problem, plug a memorex USB stick into one
port and it says; "this device has malfunctioned or is not compatable
with this port". if you plug it into the port beside it and you get
this message; "this device should be plugged into a higher speed port,
for a list of avalible 2.0 ports please click this message". if you
plug it into a third port, the computer works for a while and finally
locks up still trying to access the USB stick. what makes this so
notable is the fact that this stick has worked in every other computer
I plugged it into, that number is at least 10 that I remember right
offhand, and everything else that was plugged into these ports such as
cameras, joysticks, hard drives, etc. worked just fine.
Anti-Virus
Symantec Norton Anti-virus is by my
rating top of the line protection, however you might
be better off with a leaner anti-virus, there are a number of freebies
that I checked into that appear to do the job very well.
Symantec has now leaned down their anti-virus so it is once again a good choice for even a mid-range computer.
AVG free edition has been on a main computer for six years now
with not a problem yet, if installing it on vista make sure you have at
least version 8.0. unfortunately AVG seems to be getting more and more
insistant that you buy their Pro version, this seems to show up
primarily when a large update becomes avalible, like when they go from
8.0 to 8.5 or 9.0, just wade your way through a lot of unreasonable
mess and you should be able to wind up with the upgraded free version.
PC-Tools has a free one that I ran for about nine months and
it works well with windows vista, so far only minor glitches from the
program itself, however I prefered AVG.
Both of these are avalible to download for free.
www.download.com
Blue screen of death, or BSOD
when your entire screen goes blue and contains an error code, this can
be caused by a wide selection of problems, if restart (reset) does not
fix the problem shut the computer down entirely. if you must unplug the
power cord, wait about two minutes then plug it in again and start the
computer. if you still get the BSOD it may be you have a hardware
problem, software problems can cause BSOD but it is much less likely,
(when reset or complete shutdown is used it usually fixes a software
problem)
it is usually caused by a piece of hardware either failing altogether, or
being incompatable with the rest of the system.
Examples from my experence include.
Bad modem card, Bios battery dead, Bad stick of ram, Bad hard drive.
Cards (add on)
Some via chipset add-on cards have a compatability issue with some via chipset motherboards.
CPU
Twice now I have run into problems
with AMD processors not liking double sided memory sticks, problems
included error messages saying my windows disk was bad, refusing to
start after windows was installed, and other operating problems.
Display
Display icons not look right? right
click on desktop and choose properties, this opens display properties,
then select the appearence tab, go down to the scheme box and select
(windows standard) apply this and look at your icons, do they look
right now? this is the factory setting for many computers, if its not
quite right try some of the other settings.
Graphics (Video) cards
If your graphics card uses hyper-memory be sure your computer has
plenty of ram, at least 1GB maybe 2GB depending on what programs you
are trying to run, hyper-memory graphics cards use system ram for
higher performance, but they do not ask permission from the system
before using, therefor they will use memory even if your system does not
have enough to go around. (this can cause programs or even windows to
crash)
Install problems
Sometimes if you have a program that
just won't install, it can be because a virus is blocking it, scan your
computer for viruses and remove any found, (be sure to clear system
restore) then try the installation again.
Internet Explorer problems
Internet explorer crashes when
attempting to download updates or access microsofts website, open
internet explorer but do not expand to full screen, in fact shrink it
to less then a quarter screen, type in their website and wait till it
loads, then stretch internet explorer to full screen and do your work.
stupid? of course.
Internet explorer 7.0 will cause update problems in older quickbooks.
Internet explorer 7.0 can cause access problems in older sonicwall routers.
Internet explorer 7.0 is starting to work better with the sonicwalls, I
think one of microsoft's updates must have fixed a glitch in the
program.
Internet explorer don't work? Try scanning your system for viruses,
there are a few viruses that can prevent an internet connection.
Networking problems
Do not change settings in a router
with a wireless computer, most companies say this can ruin a router, I
have not personaly observed this but enough manufacturers state this
that I feel a test is not needed.
Wireless networking seems to be one of those things that was a good
idea but the systems themselves don't wish to cooperate, and if you
push the range at all your problems multiply.
Trouble logging in to your router.
Having trouble logging in to your
router? most companies list a way to get in to the router even when it
does not wish to cooperate.
D-Link
for D-link brand routers try
setting your computer IP address to 192.168.0.2 this will usually allow
you to access the routers internal settings even if the router is not
cooperating.
Netgear
For netgear routers try IP address 192.168.1.2 and see if that won't let you in.
Sonicwall
If you have a Sonicwall try setting your computer IP address to 192.168.168.200 kinda like an overide setting.
internet explorer 7.0 can also cause access problems in older sonicwall routers.
internet explorer 7.0 is starting to work better with the
sonicwalls, I think one of microsoft's updates must have fixed a glitch
in the program.
Having trouble making changes in your sonicwall? try clearing internet explorer, delete all cookies and files, then try again.
Some computers will not logon to a sonicwall, since these computers all
belong to someone else I was never able to bring one home and find out
just why, I suspect an internet explorer setting is not quite right,
but how it got changed in the first place I don't know, in my experence
new computers always work with sonicwalls.
Windows Vista seems to be a little touchy about setting up a network,
sometimes just running through the network setup 2 or 3 times can get
it working, sometimes you need to dig a little deeper, but if at first
you don't succeed try again.
Spyware
Spyware is another problem, similar
to a virus but built with a different purpose, spyware does not usually
cause your computer to malfunction, instead it collects personal
information such as (name, address, social security number, bank
account number, credit card number, etc.) and delivers this information
to someone who usually does not have your best interest in mind,
shortly thereafter you will begin to receive bills
that are not yours. they also track which web sites you frequent and
other such information about you, a good antispyware is one way to
prevent this, there are many different antispywares out there and spybot search and destroy from www.download.com seems to be a good one, and the price of free makes it really appealing.
Unexpected Shutdowns
One of the most common causes of
computers unexpectedly shutting down or rebooting seems to be software
glitches, second seems to be failing power supplies.
USB
USB thumb drives are not all compatable with all computers.
USB ports on the same computer can act differently (see story four in true stories).
Various Viruses
Having trouble with your desktop not
showing up just after you removed a virus, I have encountered viruses
that left a line in the registery even after your anti-virus program
removed the threat, it makes a very interesting situation.
Windows Vista problems
Windows Vista runs much better if at least 1GB of ram is used.
Windows Vista appears to have no problem with even old microsoft
products, games made for windows 95 run just fine, running the
backwards compatability mode is not needed.
Ouch, windows Vista has some serious driver issues with older hardware,
just flat refusing to install drivers that worked with windows XP
should not be an option (service pack 1 seems to have resolved some of this).
Some of the windows Vista problems are being corrected by the updates
released by microsoft, it seems to be more compatable with other
company's software now.
If you are using Quickbooks 2006 or older you may have much difficulty
installing and running on Vista, try installing in the windows XP mode,
then it should install and partually work.
Computer? Problems. (mildly humorous-completely serious)
Interested in operating systems other then windows?
Then check out the following pages.
Ubuntu On Site
Linux Clustering Off Site
(by Nelson H.)
Linux Clustering On Site
Mandriva One Off Site
(by Hoover Electric)
Problems I'm still working on.
why does internet explorer sometimes reset to non full screen?
Request tech support.
Sorry this link not working yet. see (contact me) link on home page.
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