tech geek questions, for the unschooled (me) Options

[coughlin]

for the last two weeks, ad-aware has come up w/nothing every time i run it... i usually have at least 5 items a day or so... whassup widdat? far as i can tell, it doesn't say to update or anything...?

also, this box did a very weird thing tonite, but only for a few minutes... every site i clicked on, it would make this rapid flapping noise & scroll to the bottom of the page & not let me go to the top w/o scrolling back down by itself... is this this dying on me or what?

thank you in advance for patronizing my sheer illiteracy.

[I Play GuitAH]

[coughlin]

thx but too geeky for me to get, i guess

[Dot Matrix]

.. every site i clicked on, it would make this rapid flapping noise & scroll to the bottom of the page & not let me go to the top w/o scrolling back down by itself... is this this dying on me or what?

thank you in advance for patronizing my sheer illiteracy.

Hi- Sounds like you need to run diagnostics- you might have a computer infection.
Run a full system scan ASAP. PM me if you are not sure how (do you have a PC or Mac)..it's too early for me write in public now.

[Bluestreak]

A computer is only as good as its user. Garbage in, garbage out.

Coughlin, try running Spybot (found at download.com), also try Crap Cleaner (CCleaner at download.com)... make sure your virus program is up to date (I suggest AVG).

Spybot will catch stuff that adaware won't... crap cleaner is a great utility (when you fix all, remember to backup whatever they ask you to save).

I'm not 100% about the Mac O/S -- is there something like a safe mode that will allow you to start the o/s barebones?


Also -- For PC/Win people, most single-user PCs are set up as a user/Admin privilege. It may behoove you to set up your own personal account (if you haven't already) and a separate Admin account. I've found lots of virii prefer to set up in an "admin setting," -- so a limited user account may be less succeptible to viruses.

My $0.02

[mgorman]

re-boot

[tynsle]

while we're on the subject...
i've been unable to print anything from my computer; i get a message saying to install the printer driver or that printer driver is missing. (i believe it may have been accidentally deleted while having someone remove spyware from my computer)

anyway, is getting the printer driver back installed something that, say, Circuit City could do?

[anatomicallyincorrect]

while we're on the subject...
i've been unable to print anything from my computer; i get a message saying to install the printer driver or that printer driver is missing. (i believe it may have been accidentally deleted while having someone remove spyware from my computer)

anyway, is getting the printer driver back installed something that, say, Circuit City could do?

I'd suggest checking the manufacturer's website - you might be able to download the driver and install it yourself.

[anatomicallyincorrect]

while we're on the subject...
i've been unable to print anything from my computer; i get a message saying to install the printer driver or that printer driver is missing. (i believe it may have been accidentally deleted while having someone remove spyware from my computer)

anyway, is getting the printer driver back installed something that, say, Circuit City could do?

I'd suggest checking the manufacturer's website - you might be able to download the driver and install it yourself.

[FrankD]

please explain about Crap Cleaner, it sounds refreshing as a colon blow and twice as enjoyable?

Joe, try the free online scan from www.pandasoft.com

Also, that free AVG protection Achick told us about is pretty good

[HereWeGoSouthie]

Another big problem with spyware and viruses is they will place themselves in your "system restore" folder - and XP doesn't allow this folder to be scanned. If you have Xp you need to shut off "system restore" and then re run all your spyware/virus scans.

start>control panel>performance and maintanence>system>system restore>check box "Turn off system restore on all drives">restart>run scans

[Bluestreak]

please explain about Crap Cleaner, it sounds refreshing as a colon blow and twice as enjoyable?

Joe, try the free online scan from www.pandasoft.com

Also, that free AVG protection Achick told us about is pretty good

Crap Cleaner is a total system, utility, and registry cleaner... even does a "7 Pass NSA Clean" deletion routine... if you're really trying to get rid of stuff off your computer. Yeah, I'm looking at YOU.

[kojak musclequeen]

shit I got same thinglast week , open a command prompt (type CMD at the windows run box, then type cd \) Once you do that type FIND /C "trannysupri*.mp*" * let me know what comes back

[tynsle]

one more question about the printer

my printing problem is actually the 'printer spooler'; when i go through admin. tools / services, my printer spooler is 'stopped' and when i try to start it i get an error saying 'unable to start...' (i don't have the exact message).

anyway... is the 'printer spooler' 'part' of the computer or the printer?
what are my options (if any) for getting it to work again?

[Jramone63]

1) Start>Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Services.

2) Double-click Print Spooler.

3) In service status section, click Start.

4) If you get an error about other Services being Stopped, click the dependencies tab.

5) The dependencies need to be started before you can start Print Spooler.