The General "Computer Issues" Thread

[Hanshotfirst1138]

Finally buckled down (or rather my folks did) and got a new one. Lets hope that it's not possessed too ! Anyway, a couple of minor, quick questions, neither of them affecting the running of the machine, and just out of curiosity. One: how do I get Firefox (since my brother downloaded it yesterday, presumably the newest version) to remember me on e-mail, forums, etc., but delete my browsing history when I close? The new menu seems a bit bizarre. Two: DVD-ROM. I was trying to run my Terminator 2 UE DVD the other day, and I couldn't seem to get it to load the PC friendly stuff, and it seems to have trouble with InterActual Player. Is this just one of the side effects of running on Vista? Neither hugely important, just curious.

 

[Jacob]

I have a problem with my iPod Touch.

I'll be listening to a song, then, in the middle of a song, it randomly cuts to another song.

 

[En Sabah Nur]

I have a problem with my iPod Touch.

I'll be listening to a song, then, in the middle of a song, it randomly cuts to another song.

You have a shake to shuffle function set. I bet it only happens when you walk, especially when you hold it in your hand. 3.0 update introduced the function. Go to settings>ipod and disable it.

 

[defunctzombie]

Not a problem, just a question. I bought a laptop. I don't plan on using it more than my desktop, but I was wondering how much of a processor loss this is. My desktop is a Pentium 4 HT, and this is a AMD Turion X2. My old desktop was a Celeron. Is this laptop better than that?

 

[Michael24]

Not really an issue, but just something I'm curious about. Every so often my mouse cursor will suddenly jump across the screen. Sometimes it'll be while I'm typing, and sometimes I'm moving it in one direction, then suddenly lose sight of it and realized it's jumped to another area or into a corner of the screen. My brother said sometimes his does the same.

Any idea what causes this? I was thinking maybe it's just a common glitch with optical mice or something.

 

[defunctzombie]

Not really an issue, but just something I'm curious about. Every so often my mouse cursor will suddenly jump across the screen. Sometimes it'll be while I'm typing, and sometimes I'm moving it in one direction, then suddenly lose sight of it and realized it's jumped to another area or into a corner of the screen. My brother said sometimes his does the same.

Any idea what causes this? I was thinking maybe it's just a common glitch with optical mice or something.

Mine does that all the time. In fact, the brand new laptop I just bought does the same with its finger pad. I think it's just mice in general.

 

[Mynd Hed]

Not really an issue, but just something I'm curious about. Every so often my mouse cursor will suddenly jump across the screen. Sometimes it'll be while I'm typing, and sometimes I'm moving it in one direction, then suddenly lose sight of it and realized it's jumped to another area or into a corner of the screen. My brother said sometimes his does the same.

Any idea what causes this? I was thinking maybe it's just a common glitch with optical mice or something.

Mine does this: it's because the little clear plastic bit that protects the optical bit fell off, and sometimes a hair or piece of random desk gunk gets caught in there and screws up the beam. Check and see if your little clear plastic window thingy (very precise technical terms, I know) is still there. If it is, try cleaning it with a little Windex and some tissue.

 

[Shawn Hopkins]

Maybe someone who knows how to find parts can help me. My cousin gave me a Dell Dimension 2400. She also gave me the official speakers, but not the adapter that powers them, so I get no sound. Does anyone know where I could find just that adapter?

If not, what replacement speakers would work. I think they need to be powered speakers, because I tried my old non-powered speakers on it and got very tinny sound. I've seen USB speakers at Wal-Mart but I don't want to use those, I'd rather keep the ports free.

 

[En Sabah Nur]

Not a problem, just a question. I bought a laptop. I don't plan on using it more than my desktop, but I was wondering how much of a processor loss this is. My desktop is a Pentium 4 HT, and this is a AMD Turion X2. My old desktop was a Celeron. Is this laptop better than that?

Anything is faster than a Celeron. Im not sure how fast your AMD is though.

 

[En Sabah Nur]

Maybe someone who knows how to find parts can help me. My cousin gave me a Dell Dimension 2400. She also gave me the official speakers, but not the adapter that powers them, so I get no sound. Does anyone know where I could find just that adapter?

If not, what replacement speakers would work. I think they need to be powered speakers, because I tried my old non-powered speakers on it and got very tinny sound. I've seen USB speakers at Wal-Mart but I don't want to use those, I'd rather keep the ports free.

Dude, you can get any pc speakers and they will all work, as long as they are plugged in to electrical outlet, you dont need USB speakers. If you have speakers but dont have an adapter, you can go to Radio Shack, PCRichard & Son, Best Buy or any other electronics store and buy a universal voltage adapter. Just make sure that you use the right plug and read on the back of your speakers how much voltage they use and set the adapter accordingly. But like I said, any PC speakers you want to get will work.

 

[Shawn Hopkins]

Dude, you can get any pc speakers and they will all work, as long as they are plugged in to electrical outlet, you dont need USB speakers. If you have speakers but dont have an adapter, you can go to Radio Shack, PCRichard & Son, Best Buy or any other electronics store and buy a universal voltage adapter. Just make sure that you use the right plug and read on the back of your speakers how much voltage they use and set the adapter accordingly. But like I said, any PC speakers you want to get will work.

I know, but I think I need powered speakers. The speakers from my old computer don't seem to draw enough power from the speaker port on its own to work, even at the highest volume the sound is tinny.

I thought maybe there was a place I could order the adapter online. Maybe even find the original part.

 

[En Sabah Nur]

I know, but I think I need powered speakers. The speakers from my old computer don't seem to draw enough power from the speaker port on its own to work, even at the highest volume the sound is tinny.

I thought maybe there was a place I could order the adapter online. Maybe even find the original part.

All PC speakers are powered speakers, they draw their power from your outlet. only portable speakers are passive. And you dont need original parts any universal adapter will do.

 

[Shawn Hopkins]

All PC speakers are powered speakers, they draw their power from your outlet. only portable speakers are passive. And you dont need original parts any universal adapter will do.

Thanks. I guess I'll take the speakers in to Radio Shack to make sure they can get me a compatible universal adapter.

 

[Tanooki]

I have one of them viruses. The Trojan Dropper to be specific. (Currently using my bro's PC.) I have the latest version of AVG, but I can't run it because it's infected. I tried to install Ad Aware, but can't, because it became infected. I need some help.

My comp is a Dell Dimension 4400 (6 years old). I think my only option left is to do a reboot of the OS. So, two questions:

1. What's the function key I hit on the "Dell" start up screen with the reboot CD in?

2. Do I have any other options?

 

[Shawn Hopkins]

I have one of them viruses. The Trojan Dropper to be specific. (Currently using my bro's PC.) I have the latest version of AVG, but I can't run it because it's infected. I tried to install Ad Aware, but can't, because it became infected. I need some help.

My comp is a Dell Dimension 4400 (6 years old). I think my only option left is to do a reboot of the OS. So, two questions:

1. What's the function key I hit on the "Dell" start up screen with the reboot CD in?

2. Do I have any other options?

Did you try Spybot? It might be worth a shot.

 

[defunctzombie]

I have one of them viruses. The Trojan Dropper to be specific. (Currently using my bro's PC.) I have the latest version of AVG, but I can't run it because it's infected. I tried to install Ad Aware, but can't, because it became infected. I need some help.

My comp is a Dell Dimension 4400 (6 years old). I think my only option left is to do a reboot of the OS. So, two questions:

1. What's the function key I hit on the "Dell" start up screen with the reboot CD in?

2. Do I have any other options?

I have the same computer. I believe it's F8.

 

[chalmers]

Anybody who uses Firefox get these pop-ups that say "Contextual Ads By SnappyAds" on the titlebar? These things open up in a new window and they are very annoying. I have my pop-up blocker on for Firefox, and it occasionally tells me that it has blocked a pop-up, but whenever it's by these guys it doesn't block them. Does anyone know how to disable them?

 

[En Sabah Nur]

I have one of them viruses. The Trojan Dropper to be specific. (Currently using my bro's PC.) I have the latest version of AVG, but I can't run it because it's infected. I tried to install Ad Aware, but can't, because it became infected. I need some help.

My comp is a Dell Dimension 4400 (6 years old). I think my only option left is to do a reboot of the OS. So, two questions:

1. What's the function key I hit on the "Dell" start up screen with the reboot CD in?

2. Do I have any other options?

Yes, you can get Norton Internet Security 2009, it will Quarantine the offending virus before the main install so it can install itself(NIS2009) without any problems, and then it will remove that virus and others you might have once you do a full system scan.

For the record, Spybot and Ad-Aware are not antivirus software, they are malware removers. And AVG is mediocre at best. ESET NOD32 and Norton are 2 of the best.

 

[En Sabah Nur]

Anybody who uses Firefox get these pop-ups that say "Contextual Ads By SnappyAds" on the titlebar? These things open up in a new window and they are very annoying. I have my pop-up blocker on for Firefox, and it occasionaly tells me that it as blocked them, but whenever it's by these guys it doesn't block them. Does anyone know how to disable them?

Make sure your Firefox doesn't have any extension that can cause there pop-ups to occour. And what kind of pop-up blocker do you use? if its anything other than AdBlock Plus, then remove it and get that one.
Here is a lethal combo for all firefox users: (filterset.G is outdated and no longer supported)
Adblock Plus
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865
Adblock Pluss: Element Hiding Helper
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4364
Adblock Plus Filter Uploader
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4042

With there 3, ads are history.

 

[Shawn Hopkins]

Anybody who uses Firefox get these pop-ups that say "Contextual Ads By SnappyAds" on the titlebar? These things open up in a new window and they are very annoying. I have my pop-up blocker on for Firefox, and it occasionally tells me that it has blocked a pop-up, but whenever it's by these guys it doesn't block them. Does anyone know how to disable them?

That sounds like malware or adware to me. You probably didn't download it on purpose, did you? Do you have something called Yoog Search as your default search, too? If you do a Google search you'll see people complaining about these two in tandem.

I always use Adaware and Spybot to get rid of things like this, and sometimes look up the registry keys and edit them out of my registry if they are particularly tenacious (need to be really careful doing this), but that's just what has worked for me in the past. Others may have different solutions