IT Professional in Chorley, PR6

RE: Plan to buy Asus N73 JN. Itcomes with windows home premium operating system. Can i upgrade to Window

My twopennorth on laptops is to never buy any make beginning with "A". (Acer, Asus, Advent) With a hefty budget of £800 - £1000 you should be able to get a decent Sony Vaio or high-end Toshiba.

RE: black screen of death

I feel that Ted is trying to do something which is extremely difficult and confusing for a novice, but an every day occurence for an IT Techie. We all have different skillsets in life - and there are many times when we have to bite the bullet and pay for those skillsets we do not have ourselves. This need not cost too much. For a simple format & reinstall of a faulty laptop, assuming no inherent hardware problems and with no data recovery required, is something we'd charge around £60 to do. If hardware faults were found, meaning we couldn't carry out the work, we wouldn't charge anything. I'd suggest that Ted should ask a local Techie for a quote and he may find the price is remarkably worthwhile for the pure peace of mind and speed of response.

RE: acer problem as not working

Acers are popular because they are cheap. Sadly, there is no such thing as a cheap and reliable computer. In my experience cheap computers become very expensive. The issue with this computer may well be that it is an Acer, which are prone to simply dying. Otherwise, it could be that there is a motherboard (or other hardware) fault or an over-heating problem. 1. Is it a laptop or desktop? 2. Will it not boot at all now, even if left to cool down for an hour? 3. If it does boot, after being left alone for an hour to cool down, how long will it stay powered up for before switching off?

RE: acer laptop wont turn on.

1. The PCIQ Forum is not an advertising tool for PCIQ Members - let alone unknown American web sites! 2. How can they support it remotely if it won't turn on? 3. I don't believe they support you through a live Technician unless you pay $200. They have support forums - at a price - where you can get help. That is what you get here for free. My advice (for nothing) is that it needs someone to look at it and give you a diagnostic. That shouldn't cost too much and will probably be accompanied by a useful lesson in what to look for in your next laptop.

RE: How to turn off Toshiba laptop

Jennie This could be happening if some programme is stuck in the background, preventing Windows from shutting down correctly. As Alan says, hold the Power Button down for long enough and the laptop will switch off. However, this isn't something you would be expecting to do as a matter of course. If the laptop refuses to close down properly in future there is a problem which should be found and fixed.

RE: cannot activate my built in bluetooth on my laptop.

The HP web site doesn't say anything about this laptop having Bluetooth - http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01787636&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=uk&lang=en&product=3976066 When you say there is a Bluetooth option can you be more specific?

RE: White Screen

Linda, I can assure you we are not trying to gang up on you at all, and I appreciate that you are learning fast. As someone else has commented you have a record number of Techies all trying their best to help you. (Although this may be confusing the issue, they are all here with only the very best intentions.) Sadly, you've bought the Lada of computers and not a Rolls Royce. You weren't to know that, of course, when you bought it. The computer should have come with a manual - and there is a chance there is one loaded onto the hard drive or on a CD. But, the manual won't tell you how to fix it, only how to use it. What you're attempting isn't a minor fix like changing a tyre. It's probably along the lines of a wheel bearing or broken piston ring. The age of the computer doesn't matter if (as widely suspected) it has some malware or virus infection. To continue the car analogy, the garage wouldn't be responsible if you put diesel into the tank of your petrol car - even if no-one had ever told you not to do such a thing. The garage would simply assume you'd bought the car, you should know not to do this. You've bought a computer with Norton anti-virus installed, yet it sounds like it has some sort of virus. (Obviously I can't be certain of this without seeing the machine.) No matter how good the computer, or the shop that sold it to you, they won't accept responsibility for what is a software issue. You seem to be getting frustrated and angry at our best efforts to help you, for free. You should remember that we are simple Techies who spend our days talking to computers or other Techies, and communication isn't our strong point. (You should also understand that Microsoft called their operating system Windows simply because you feel like throwing the thing through the windows!) The option of paid support is always available...

RE: White Screen

Linda The vast majority of computers I see which are infected with viruses have Norton installed, updated and "working". It is an exceptionally popular piece of anti-virus software, of course, which may be why I see so many machines with both Norton and viruses.

RE: I think I have malwere My computers toolbar icons are missing, constant american radio in the backg

Alan's suggestion that there is a "bad" fix or a "good" fix depends on your point of view. Formatting & reinstalling a computer is generally faster, and therefore cheaper, than attempting to remove the underlying problems. It gives you back a fully working, known to be good computer, and is more or less guaranteed to work. A good Techie will ensure all of your data has been backed up before starting the work. They will also advise on what security measures should now be put in place to prevent a reinfection. The downsides are the loss of personalisation and the fact that you need to reinstall the software you have added since you got the computer, which generally means you have to be able to find the original disks. Alan's "good" fix is much more challenging, and therefore interesting, for the Techie, but possibly much more expensive due to the time taken. Each scenario could be different and it shouldn't be seen as a case of good or bad. In your situation you should probably call on some specialist help, even if it is just a 30 minute advice session on your best option from someone who has seen the problem first hand. You not only want rid of the malware, you also need to know how not to catch the same malware again on this or any other computer.

RE: system restore

Jan You say, "I am a little concerned though about all the current work etc that is on my actual PC as I cannot have anything happening to that.." You need to seriously consider a robust backup system. This isn't something I would suggest trying to do yourself - better to get expert help. This needn't be too expensive as it's reasonably quick work - especially as you already have an external hard drive to use.

RE: system restore

Jan I'm afraid the answer is no. System Restore only restores System files - it does not restore or affect your own data, such as music files. There are programmes available which can attempt to retrieve your data, but other Pro's will be better placed than I am to recommend them. The important thing is not to add, or delete, too much more data from your PC before attempting to use a data recovery programme.

RE: Split memory

For my twopennorth - neither Gparted nor Partition Magic (or similar programmes) should be used by someone who is not very comfortable indeed with either (a) using such technical software, or (b) starting from scratch if things go wrong. People who know about such programmes will tend to be geeks who should know how/when/why to use them. More normal humans should use the simpler - but, in this case, equally effective - option which has much less potential for disaster.

RE: Split memory

Darren What you will have is two partitions on the hard drive - confusingly the partitions are also called drives. (Memory is something altogether different, although it does seem to make sense that the computer memory holds all of your data.) The C: drive is meant to be used for the system files (Windows, programmes, etc) and the D: drive should be used for the data you create, (Word documents, pictures, etc.) If most of the documents you ever create are stored within your "My Documents" folder you can move all of them to any folder you wish to create on the D: drive. That should free up some space. I am going to assume you have Windows XP. (If you have Vista things are slightly different.) 1. - Copy all of the contents of the original My Documents folder to a memory stick or CD (so you have a backup, just in case things go horribly wrong!) 2. - Create a folder on the D: drive and call it My Documents. 3. - Right-click the original "My Documents" folder which appears on the desktop. Click the "Move..." button and browse to the D:My Documents folder you have just created. 4. A message should pop up asking if you wish to move all of the documents in the old location to the new. Yes, you wish to do so. That should be that - your My Documents shortcuts will now point to the new location. Any data you have saved in any location other than My Documents will have to be moved manually, but there should be no reason you can't do so. As always - back everything up before working on it in this way. Use a memory stick or a writeable CD - and check the data appears on the backup media before carrying on.

RE: is it possible for a virus to put porn videos onto a computer?

Technically yes, this is possible. I haven't heard of any viruses that actually do this automatically though. If you have received an email which contains a link, it could be that clicking on the link would cause a video to be downloaded to the PC. Also, there are some viruses which will continuously re-direct your internet browser to specific porn sites. If you suspect you do have a virus you should ensure you have an up-to-date, reputable anti-virus programme and scan your whole computer. If you don't have an anti-virus programme, (or if you have Norton), then you should buy a good anti-virus. I recommend BitDefender (although other Techies are known to disagree with me on this point.) There are a number of on-line scanners which will scan your computer for free. Kaspersky is recommended at http://www.kaspersky.co.uk/virusscanner

RE: start.up

perhaps.his.space.bar.doesn't.work.and.he.can.only.type.legible.sentences.using.the.full.stop.key? The laptop problems sound terminal to me - or at least he needs someone to actually look at the machine. It could be the hard disk is slowly (but surely) dying. It would be very difficult to say without seeing it first hand.

RE: won't boot up

If you, or your son, are happy working within the PC I would remove everything, including the motherboard, from the case. (Take a photo before you start so you can see where everything goes - and make notes of which wire comes of which pin!) Build the basic PC up out of the case, e.g. motherboard, CPU, Memory, hard drive, PSU. Does it now boot? (You may need to work out which two pins the power button would normally be connected to, and briefly short them to get it started.) If it doesn't boot successfully then your problem is with one of the basic parts, or with the Windows installation. How to tell which is the culprit is where experience comes in - and will be difficult to trouble-shoot remotely. If it does boot successfully then rebuild it all over again, inside the case. Make sure it still boots. Then start adding the other hardware one piece at a time until the problem occurs.

RE: Warning on webpage links

Leo This seems to have been a glitch in the Google search engine today. It appears to have been fixed and searches are back to normal.

RE: complain

I like PC World. I get quite a few clients who have used them - and are so grateful to me for not talking jargon and for actually fixing the problem that they don't object too much when the bill comes in. Up the Tech Guys!

RE: help

My first suggestion would be a virus. Some of the recent viruses come via email in zipped files - thus getting past the anti-virus programme. They ask you to open the file and as soon as you do the virus infects your PC. The first step would be to get the drive virus checked. As the drive won't boot fully through to Windows you could try booting into Safe Mode (as the computer starts to boot press the F8 key repeatedly until you get a menu allowing you to go to Safe Mode). See if your anti-virus programme (assuming you have one and it isn't Norton) will detect the virus. Otherwise you need a known clean PC to introduce your drive into it as a slave drive, then virus check it from there - after ensuring the anti-virus programme on that PC is up to date, of course.

RE: dell inspiron 1520 hard drives

It depends on what you mean by "It seems to jam". Is it the hard drive jamming, or is it simply Windows stops loading part way through? If you get the Windows logo - and the bar moving across the bottom of the screen as Windows loads - then it is more likely to be a software fault than hardware, (in most cases). If nothing at all happens when you first switch on then it is likely to be hardware. It then depends on what your Dell warranty covers. Is it Return-to-Base, (RTB)? e.g. you have to pack the computer in a box and post it back to Dell? Or is it on-site? i.e. they send a man to your house to fix it. If you don't know, or if it was bought as a personal PC and not as a Business Machine, then chances are high that its the standard 1 year RTB. Another thing to consdier is that when Dell replace the hard drive that is ALL they do. They make no attempt to recover your data or to load your software back on (apart from a standard install of Windows). Call Dell Tech Support for them to determine over the phone whether the hard drive is in fact dead or not. And check your warranty at the Dell web site - look for the Support page, then the Warranty Information page.

RE: lap top computer video player.

The video is streamed across your internet connection. The computer needs to "buffer" the video in its memory. This allows the computer to show you the beginning of the video whilst it buffers, or stores, the following pieces of the video. This allows you to watch a steadily flowing video. As Jon says, it could be a slow internet connection (if all video streams are slow), or a slow server giving you the video (if only this particular vid is slow.) It could also depend on the processing power and/or memory you have in your computer. Click Start / Control Panel / System to see the general information on your system. What does it tell you about the Processor speed and amount of memory?

RE: virus problem

If you do order Recovery Disks be aware they may take 10-14 days to arrive. However, as they are being bought over the internet you do have that time plus 7 days after they arrive to cancel the order (so long as you haven't opened the packaging). That gives you time to find other options to fix the problem. However, with 2 hard disks you could always use the new one as the master, to scan the old one as slave for viruses. This may work to clean up the old drive to a useable state.

RE: Changing from dvd-rw to dvd-rom

Depending on where the drive was bought from, they may take it back and swap it for the right one. If they are reluctant you can try to persuade them that they should have asked the question - especially if your friend has bought SATA and needs IDE. (SATA uses thin cables as opposed to IDE which uses much wider, flat ribbon cables.) Amy local shop worth its salt would have made sure the right thing was sold. The larger high-street chains are generally just box-shifters and don't care so much. However, PC World can often be helpful in this way, (despite the howls of anguish I can already hear at a positive comment about PC World!), so it is worth a try.

RE: re booting

It could also be one of the rash of viruses which are out at the moment. I seem to have been flooded by rebooting PCs recently - almost all of which have been virus related.

RE: Adware removal

Michelle The short answer is no. You can delete the cookies today, then they'll return as soon as you revisit certain web pages. In the main they are harmless - and as Alan B says some are actually useful. Super Anti_Spyware sees all cookies as adware I believe. If you are using Internet Explorer I don't think you can get rid of cookies automatically. If you use Firefox there is a setting to delete cookies when you close Firefox (Tools, Options, Privacy). There is also a way to block individual web sites from using cookies - but that would be long-winded!

RE: Computer stops at loading windows

Most likely scenario (of many) is one of the newer viruses. Chances are that you'll need to get help.

RE: Laptop doesnt Start

Difficult to diagnose without many more details or without looking at it. A dropped laptop which is rebooting constantly will generally point to a damaged hard drive. It may be possible to rescue it if nothing else is damaged, but it's unlikely to be a home user repair job. If it's under warranty try getting it repaired under warranty. If not, then it does depend how old it is as to whether it is worth the cost of repair. The reasonably good news is that if it is trying to boot it is possible that the data on the hard drive may be retrievable - but no guarantees.

RE: Memory upgrade on a Advent 7204 laptop from 1gb to 2gb

Geoffrey Aplogies - I didn't realise you were happy to do this yourself. Generally I wouldn't recommend taking laptops apart unless you were experienced - but if you're happy taking PCs apart then laptops aren't that big a step. Good luck.

RE: Memory upgrade on a Advent 7204 laptop from 1gb to 2gb

Geoffrey This probably isn't something you want to attempt for the first time on a "live" system. Your local engineer would be able to do this for you very quickly. Michael

RE: MS Outlook 2002 Error message - Can No Longer Archive

Outlook uses PST files to store all of your emails. There is an upper size limit of 2 GB for PST - close to that things get very flaky. You need to find your PST file and determine what size it is. These files are hidden away in the computer though, so you could do a search for *.pst - ensuring that the Search options are set to search hidden files - or you could ask Outlook where the PST file is. In Outlook click File/ Data File Management and you should see the PST file. Look to see what the path to the file is, then browse to that path. Right click the PST file, choose "Properties" and see what size it is. If it's close to 2 GB then you need a new PST file, which is where you can store new emails.

RE: Dell Inspiron Running slow windows XP. F-Secure installed but is Micro Antivirus a virus in it''s ow

Robert If you have both Trend Micro Antivirus and F-Secure on the same PC then it may well run slowly. They will each see the other anti-virus programme as a virus and they will be having a fight in the background. You should remove whichever one you don't want. Click Start, Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs. Find the programme you wish to remove and uninstall it. Be careful not to uninstall anything you don't recognise - it is likely to be a vital piece of software, just with a name you don't recognise! PC World should be able to give you a breakdown of what work they actually carried out for you.

RE: powers on but i get nothing

The simple thing to check is that the power is getting to the motherboard correctly. When you say the fan powers on - is that the power supply fan or the CPU fan? If the CPU fan doesn't start up but the power supply fan does, that suggests motherboard failure or no power to motherboard. Double check the power lead in to the motherboard. If the CPU fan does start, but nothing else happens, it's likely to be badly seated memory - in which case the PC may be beeping away madly - or badly seated graphics card which is why you can't see anything on the screen. It may be a pain - but try either removing everything and reinstalling into the new case again, ensuring everything is seated properly, or try moving everything back into the original case to see if that works. A long shot, but it could tell you if the parts are goosed or not. And be wary of static while handling the parts.

RE: Ubuntu help! I want windows back

Alison The chances are reasonably high that Ubuntu has not wiped your install of Windows, but has replaced it as the primary operating system. This isn't the end of the world as you could reinstall Windows - but this may affect the data you have stored on your laptop (e.g. files you have created.) It is possible that reinstalling Windows will wipe your data, so you should check any backups you had before continuing - or have the laptop looked at by a suitably qualified technician, (this probably would not include your brother!)