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Archive through January 30, 2005

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: 2004 Nov. - 2005 Jan.: All Things Technical: The Help Desk (ARCHIVES): Computer Problems? Ask Here (ARCHIVES): Archive through January 30, 2005 users admin

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Draheid
Moderator

09-09-2001

Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - 12:57 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
March: According to THIS ARTICLE in PC World Magazine, you should consider also using SpyBot & AdAware in addition to your Norton suite:

quote:

Norton tosses in additional spam filters, including one for Yahoo Web-based e-mail. But the program lacks some features that you'll find in Trend Micro's package, and the spyware detection is not as good as what's available from Trend Micro. In our tests, Norton failed to detect any of the active infections introduced into the Registry, though it did correctly pinpoint the files we used to infect the system.




Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - 3:57 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
March, I would use the Norton as long as it is free, then uninstall it and go with the free AVG Anti-virus, Adaware, Spybot, etc.

Ketchuplover
Member

08-30-2000

Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - 7:28 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Norton sucks

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - 7:51 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Okay, actually Ketchuplover is right. I would get rid of Norton right now and install AVG. Download it free here:

http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 7:19 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Dra or anyone, General question. Though it seems everyone has cable or satellite TV, majority still does not. Correct? (I'm still plain ol' TV -- no cable.) Well, what about high-speed internet connection in the home? Any percentage figures on cable, DSL, and dial-up connection? Any consensus on which is better -- DSL or cable connection?
I've had dial-up with Earthlink for a number of years and been satisfied with their service. Last October I ordered Earthlink DSL. IT NEVER WORKED. I had my computer consultant here a couple of times regarding DSL hook-up, so it wasn't my computer illiteracy that was the problem. The Earthlink customer service regarding the whole mess was horrible. I had to call them so many times and go through the recorded voices and waiting . . . . I'm finally down to getting billing corrected by disputing through my credit card. In December I received a bill of $220.05 for DSL which NEVER worked. I disputed it. Earthlink canceled my account (NO connection service) for a couple of days because I disputed. A few months down the line I think I'd like to try again, but I don't know . . . .

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 7:36 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
And what about wireless for home stationary computer? I know nothing about wireless.

Draheid
Moderator

09-09-2001

Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 7:48 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Colordeagua: In order to be able to receive DSL service, your telephone must be within 18,000 feet of a 'central office' (where the digital service for DSL is originated at). The closer to this fringe your residence is, the slower and more unreliable your DSL service is going to be. This includes every foot of telephone wire from your computer all the way back to the CO, up and down telephone poles, through every splice and connection in between. My guess is that is why you had trouble getting the service to work in the first place. Unless the phone company has upgraded the system in your area to provide a closer 'Central Office', I doubt if you will have any better luck getting DSL anytime soon.

Generally to receive cablemodem service, you have to be able to receive standard cable TV service as well. Although there are some limitations in very old existing cable systems, most operators have upgraded their main cable infrastructure to support highspeed internet so it shouldn't be a problem.

Typically cablemodem service is much faster than any other internet service available, and usually similar or lower priced than most DSL service available. To give you an example, most DSL offers 512K download speed versus cablemodem speeds of 2000K for downloading. There is faster service for both types of connections available, however in your case I doubt if your even eligible for the basic DSL service given the problems you've experienced in the past.

Wireless networking can be used for any computers in the home, portable or desktop, to connect to your internet service. The advantage to this is that you avoid having to run networking cables around the house to add computer access to the internet. This type of setup is also getting much more affordable and it offers the flexibility of having a wireless system that you can easily add to in the future.

Hope this helps.

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 8:01 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I'm pretty sure in the "whole mess" it was determined that my location was good for DSL service -- definitely close enough to CO, etc. At one point, Earthlink had even sent a tech here to check wires. He did his thing and said everything OK. Then Earthlink talked to phone company. All OK. Ultimately, Earthlink thought it might be a faulty modem they sent me. On a Wednesday Earthlink rep said would send me new modem. When I called the following Sunday for UPS tracking number -- modem had not be sent. Along with all the other problems I'd had with Earthlink customer service at that point, that was the straw that broke the camel's back!! I said, "Cancel everything." They shipped the modem the next day and I refused it when it came. I was done with Earthlink DSL service / customer service.

Any idea of approximate percentage of DSL, cable, dial-up, and wireless for home computers?

Think I may check out wireless.

Draheid
Moderator

09-09-2001

Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 8:55 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Colordeagua: First of all, I think I should clarify the wireless issue. In the above post, I was only describing how you could setup a wireless network within your home for the purpose of sharing an internet connection such as DSL or cablemodem. I was not talking about wireless internet service such as satellite or any other wireless internet service that might be available.

According to a survey posted by the FCC HERE (pdf file), as of June 2004, residential & small business highspeed internet was 82.7% Coaxial (cable) and 15% DSL. The rest was small numbers of satellite, direct connection lines, & fiber optics. (See Chart 8 on that document for a pie chart representation of these numbers).

Hope this helps.

Jimmer
Member

08-30-2000

Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 9:27 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
What do you think of wireless networking, from a usability and a security viewpoint. How reliable is it and how secure? Thanks!

March
Member

10-02-2003

Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 9:50 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Thanks everyone, I have AVG at work guess I will have to look at putting it in at home.
Thanks for the info on Spybot and Adaware , not surprising really. Will add them.
I don't use the internet as much as home as I do at work but like to be protected when I am on there.



Draheid
Moderator

09-09-2001

Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 11:54 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Jimmer: Wireless networking is great, IMO. It can be as secure as you make it while still convenient when configured properly. The only limitation is that it won't be as fast as wired networks when sharing files across the network. However you shouldn't see any difference in your actual internet connection performance since the wireless is at least as fast as most connections anyway.

Hope this helps.

Jimmer
Member

08-30-2000

Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 12:46 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Thanks Dra. I have a Linksys wireless router already but I haven't used the wireless on it so far (I just use the cables). I'll have to work on setting things up for wireless.

Draheid
Moderator

09-09-2001

Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 1:17 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Jimmer: If you haven't already configured the security, and you aren't inclined to share your internet connection (and possibly your home computers) with neighbors or someone passing nearby with a wireless computer, you should set the security up regardless of whether you have wireless computers yet or not. In the default configuration, I believe the wireless is unsecure and could be used by anyone having a matching wireless connection and can get near enough to your residence to access the network.

Good luck.

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 1:22 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Hi again Dra, back from work. So very few of us left with just dial-up? Yes, earlier I was asking about wireless residential internet connection. Just me and my one computer here.

Jimmer
Member

08-30-2000

Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 1:35 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Thanks Dra. I'm almost positive (now there's a contradiction!) that I have the wireless function turned off on the router for that very reason, but now that you mention it I'll double-check it to be sure.

Gina8642
Member

06-01-2001

Friday, January 28, 2005 - 10:52 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Don't feel like starting a new thread - so I thought I'd add this here. I just go a wireless mouse. Very Nice!!!!

My mom bought it for her laptop but realized that with the base station and all it wasn't convenient at all for a laptop - so, she gave it to me. Hooray!!

So far so good - and no more knocking over my diet coke can with my mouse cord. The mouse is a little heavier than I'm used to, but I think I'll adjust quickly. It cost just over $25 bucks which is considerably less than I paid for my first Intellipoint mouse 4 or 5 years ago - and it's intellipoint as well as wireless.

It says it needs 2 new AA batteries every two months with "average use" - so I guess I'll see if it is really worth it. They should make rechargeable ones. Heck, the probably do. LOL!

Jimmer
Member

08-30-2000

Friday, January 28, 2005 - 1:41 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I have a cordless mouse. I wasn’t sure how much of a gimmick it was when I first bought it but I simply love using it.

Kristylovesbb
Member

09-14-2000

Friday, January 28, 2005 - 7:44 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I just purchased TurboTax 2004 and can't get it to load. My husband put the disk in his laptop and it loaded just fine. I want to do my taxes on my computer, anyone have any ideal as to what could be wrong. When I put the disk in I get a little blinking disk beside my mouse arrow and that is it.

Draheid
Moderator

09-09-2001

Friday, January 28, 2005 - 8:03 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Kristylovesbb: You can try running 'setup.exe' (or similar) by clicking 'Start - Run' then browse to the CD drive and double-click on the file - OR - use the Windows Add/Remove Programs feature on the Control Panel to install the software. Either should work fine for you if the Autorun doesn't automatically work. The only other possibility is if your CD drive is bad or possibly just dirty in which case you'll need to resolve that first.

Hope this helps.

Kristylovesbb
Member

09-14-2000

Saturday, January 29, 2005 - 9:43 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Thanks Draheid dh fixed it for me. It seems the drives could not read the disk or something like that. Anyway he fixed it and I have finished my taxes.

Jan
Member

08-01-2000

Sunday, January 30, 2005 - 10:16 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Since I returned from vacation, whenever I turn on my computer I get a loud whirring sound (sounds like a dishwasher). This lasts for a few minutes then the noise goes back to the normal less loud (but still noisy) fan noise I have always had. Does this sound like my fan is on it's last legs???? (SIGH)

Halfunit
Member

09-02-2001

Sunday, January 30, 2005 - 10:45 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Jan, you don't have a Gateway by any chance, do you?

My BIL moved out of state for a couple of months and had the same thing happen. I called Gateway and they said it was common for systems that hadn't been used for a long time. They stick.

Their solution was for me to remove the cover and take the handle of a screwdriver and tap the harddrive!

Now, I don't recommend this unless you call the support line, lol. I was shocked that this was their answer but it worked.

Course, it could be your fan too. :-)


Draheid
Moderator

09-09-2001

Sunday, January 30, 2005 - 10:50 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Jan: It is difficult to say for sure where the sound is coming from. There are 3 main places on most computers that could be suspected of making the noise you describe. The fan is one of them, but it could also be the CD drives or, worst case, the hard drives. Only by closely listening in each of these areas can you hope to tell which it is. The fan is usually located at the back of the computer near the power cord. The CD on the front of course (you might observe if the activity light on the CD is on during this 'noise'). (If you suspect the CD, you could open the case and unplug the power & data cables on the CD and then turn on the computer to verify this is the problem to be sure.) Finally the hard drive is inside the computer so, in order to get a good 'listen' of it, you may have to open the case before turning on the computer.

Determining the actual source of the noise will tell you how you will need to resolve the issue. The fan is not generally easy to replace since most computers have them inside the power supply. Usually the easiest (although a little more expensive) way to replace the fan is to replace the entire power supply.

The CD drive should be the easiest to replace if that is the problem. If you don't need access to CDs right away, you could just disconnect it as above for now and replace it when you can. This shouldn't affect the normal operation of the computer.

And of course the hard drive presents the problem of needing to try to backup anything on there before installing a new one. Most new drives will include some software that should allow you to move everything over to it from the old drive and save having to reinstall everything you have on the computer now.

Good luck with determining the cause of this problem. Hopefully it is as simple as a fan or CD.

Gina8642
Member

06-01-2001

Sunday, January 30, 2005 - 11:38 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
My last computer had a really, really loud CD drive which got louder with age. It really, really whirled when the computer was first turned on - but then turned off - sounds exactly like your issue. Keeping it empty helped (or was it full?) But try it both ways...

I was pleasantly surprised with my new dell computer - I barely hear it...