Archive through January 17, 2003
TV ClubHouse: Archives: 2003 January:
Computer Problem - I need advice/help (ARCHIVE):
Archive through January 17, 2003
Marysafan | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 08:00 am     I need help! I logged onto the internet only to discover that my homepage has been changed to xupiter.com and the tool bar that Yahoo had once implanted on my screen has now been changed to xupiter. I was able to figure to out how to change my homepage back to it's usual one by searching madly through my "help"....but now...guess what....Xupiter.com is back! I have no idea why...or how to get rid of this pesky xupiter. Can anyone help? Please??? |
Marysafan | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 08:08 am     oops...sorry...got sidetracked...double post. |
Crossfire | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 08:18 am     Marysafan, you got yourself some adware crud there. I recommend that you download and install ad-aware to clean that up. http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ For info on that adware crud, http://allentech.net/parasite/Xupiter.html |
Weinermr | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 08:47 am     I don't disagree with Crossfire's advice. The following should be mentioned, however. The latest freeware version of Ad-aware is Version 5.83, as far as I know. The signature file, the file that tells Ad-aware which adware to seek and destroy, has not been updated for four months. This is very unusual for Lavasoft. The program has been supported and updated for a very long time - until now. It may be prudent to look for another adware program that is updated for any more recently created adware out in the world. Just a thought. |
Crossfire | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 09:02 am     Good caution Weinermr, I specifically suggested that program after confirming that it would solve the problem at hand. With regard to Ad-Aware's future, I copy this from a post in the lavasoft forums posted by an administrator.
Quote:To all, It has become apparent that many people are concerned with the lack of updates for Ad-aware 5.83. We acknowledge this and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. The reasons for this are as follows: 1) The 5x engine is old and to keep ahead of our target base needs to be replaced. Are we saying it is bad or ineffective? No. But to effectively and safely remove many new targets and those older ones, which have changed/mutated, we would need to do a major upgrade of 5.83 and it’s reference file as well. 2) The 5x engine (in its current configuration) cannot handle many of the new targets correctly. As stated in #1, the entire Ad-aware executable would need to be rewritten. 3) We have been hard at work on that very upgrade, but where this is different is in WHAT we are upgrading to. As many of you already know, we are/were working on version 6. It is an entirely new application; more powerful, expandable, configurable, and to be quite honest, light years ahead of version 5.83. We decided that any further upgrades beyond 5.83 would be more of a waste of time than productive as the coding work for version 6 was already underway. We therefore decided to place all of our efforts into the new version. 4) As with any endeavor started from scratch, we ran into several delays and complications as proposed features didn’t work correctly or were not compatible with the new version. We apologize for the delays but they were unavoidable. We are however notifying you (our customers and the general public) that we have entered into the late stages of beta testing. Except for some minor polishing and some last minute initial bug fixes, we are nearly done and should be ready to release Ad-aware 6 to our customers mid January 2003 and to our freeware users at the beginning of February 2003. Please be patient and we are confident that when you see what we have to offer you will understand AND appreciate the time taken to make it the best solution available!
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Squaredsc | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 09:15 am     just to give an update on my dead computer. its still dead. i took it to best buy after calling them and asking if they fixed gateways and when i get there and after they say it will cost $60 to run a diagnostic and that i probably fried the motherboard, they take all my info, someone else there says they can't fix it because gateway computers use gateway specific parts. so now i have to take it to the store and i know they will charge me an arm and a leg. |
Whit4you | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 09:36 am     Squared - it often costs more to fix a computer then it would to replace it computer techs charge 60+ an hour (I know I used to do that sorta thing lol) if I recall your computer isn't very old? Rather then spending 300 or 400 to get it fixed you could just buy a whole NEW computer of the same brand (gateways are good I've owned two) and use your current hard drive as a 2nd drive and your memory in addition to the mem you get with the new system. You can still use all your perphrials. So you just need to get a barebones system without the monitor and you should be able to do that for less then it'd cost you to get this one fixed. But perhaps this one is still salvageable - hard to diagnos the problem based on what you've said but to me it clearly sounds like you just need to replace the power supply and you could do that yourself - or find someone you know locally with a teenage son... if that son can't replace the power supply trust me he'll know someone who can LOL. Just make sure you purchase the power supply from somplace that will take it back (with restocking fee) in case it does not solve your problem. But I don't think it's the motherboard itself that's a problem or it wouldn't have came on before with you tinkering with the wires. One thing I can say if your fan is NOT working - do not run the computer with the case on - the chips can overheat on you and then your in trouble. |
Squaredsc | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 09:50 am     thanks whit. car said the same thing about buying a new fan and fixing that myself. so, maybe the gateway people can just sell me a new power supply(does it come with a fan???) and i can install it myself. i can't afford to buy a new system, even barebones right now. but i will cruise their website to see if there is one under $100 (yeah right, lol). now im wishing i got a compaq or something 'cause best buy was closer to me than gateway, lol. |
Zachsmom | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 10:03 am     actually square..your best bet would be not to buy a brand named computer..you then have more options and are not confined to purchasing name brand replacement parts. Next time you are in the market of purchasing a computer..either build one yourself..(which is easy and you can get a better understanding how your computer works) or have someone build one for you.. if sometime down the road you are interested..let me know.. |
Squaredsc | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 10:06 am     thanks 'mom. i think i will need an additional one at the end of the year. i will give this one to the kids and get a new one for myself. and i may just build it like you said. i think im going to start hanging out on ebay again. they had these cut little fans that lite up and i just know they have an aubergine one, lol. |
Weinermr | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 10:11 am     Crossfire, Thanks for the update! |
Crossfire | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 10:46 am     Weinermr: No problem. Lets hope they deliver, or we need to find plan B. Squardsc: I am concerned that the computer store may not have given you their best advise. In their defense, they might have been trying to save you the bench fee before telling you they could not finish the job. What they say MAY be true, you might need a proprietary part, but chances are just as good that you do not. If you can find a local friendly geek, I'd get him/her to have a look. It might just be the power-supply, and geeks tend to have extras, and if not, they will be able to tell you if a vanilla off the shelf version can be used as a replacement. Good luck. |
Squaredsc | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 10:58 am     thanks cross. unfortunately the only friendly geek that i know is my brother and he is at brown univ right now. the guy at the store said that only gateway parts would fit. my desktop is very small. its about the width of a 17 in monitor i think. and he said their parts would be too big. im going to try to see if gateway has a pic of what i have so you can see. |
Crossfire | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 11:07 am     By the way, I did look around a little bit, and I did find a company on the web that does sell gateway parts, but before I went with them, I'd want to see how much a ransom gateway would charge for the parts. Interestingly enough, I did find power supplies for sale on the gateway website, but they were all brand name stuff. It was unclear to me if they would work as replacement parts. Having said that, its too bad we could not find the geek who could make sure what it is before any money is spent at all. Good Luck. |
Draheid | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 11:16 am     Squaredsc:If you have the model number, I happen to know that Gateway has a fairly thorough collection of users guides and illustrations online. The model # would give one of us effectively an opportunity to look at your specific computer and possible offer better options for you. If you prefer, you could do the same thing by going to Gateway's Users Guide section and find your computer there yourself. Hope this helps. |
Squaredsc | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 11:34 am     thanks dra and cross. i don't have the model number on me. um but i did have gateway email me my computer info, hold on. |
Squaredsc | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 11:48 am     of course the stupid comcast email is totally stupid. apparantly i can't look at email that i have already read, it only has new mail. stupid comcast. i looked on the gateway site. didn't see my computer, of course, but i think its called a micro-tower. i also did a search for power-supplies and came up with lots of stuff that didn't look like it would fit. my best bet is to take it to the store to at least see what part i need. |
Halfunit | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 12:17 pm     Square - will anyone be at your house that you can call before you leave work to get the model #? Then you could post it here, let the sleuths do their work, and read about it tomorrow. |
Squaredsc | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 12:22 pm     1/2, the computer is in my car. my car is not close to my office. um wait, let me call one of my ds and see if they can find the invoice i left on my desk. hold on again. |
Draheid | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 12:26 pm     Squaredsc: It probably isn't Comcast's fault here. Most e-mail programs have a hidden option that lets you leave e-mail on the server (Comcast) even after you've looked at it. With this option disabled, every time you access your e-mail, it also deletes it from the server. If you choose to leave your e-mail on the server, then you will need to delete older ones at some point or the server will fill up with old e-mail and you won't be able to receive new ones. Each provider has a different limit so you would want to be aware of that. What I do is use a web-based e-mail to check mail from wherever I am. Then, once I've read what I want and deleted what I don't want (helps protect you from spam and some viruses too) then I load my 'main' e-mail which downloads and deletes them from the server. Hope this helps. |
Halfunit | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 12:27 pm     Square - just tell your boss that you left some medicine in your car and you have to run out and get it. If you don't take it, you will become delirious, lol. I mean, it is Friday afternoon... |
Draheid | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 12:29 pm     Halfunit: Do you think the boss would notice a difference?  |
Conejo | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 12:35 pm     I've heard that your computer stores information on the web sites that you have visited. If this is the case is there any way that this info can be deleted? I'm asking because I don't have a CPU at home so I do all my surfing while at work (including visiting the TVCH). I don't think my boss would ever check (and probably not even care) but would like know how this works and how to delete this info, if possible. |
Squaredsc | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 12:36 pm     lol 1/2 and yes dra, they would notice the difference. ok here is the serial number: 00029030975351 dra, your comcast comment went right over my head. but don't worry about it. but i just realized that i haven't checked my email in a couple of days. oh well has to wait till tomorrow. dra, those instructions seem very basic and i think i can follow them. thanks. thanks guys. |
Halfunit | Friday, January 17, 2003 - 12:37 pm     Draheid: I figured she could act normal for a couple more hours!  |
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