Thank you again Donk, you and Mike have given me a lot of great information and I sure do appreciate it! I'll try the safe mode/Avast and see what I find from that, and if I can't get it running enough to access my drives we have a friend coming by tomorrow and he programs computers, so I might have him take a look at it if he has time. I got my printer to temporarily work, so now I can print your messages and work from them in the morning before our friend gets here - hopefully with all the help you guys have shared with me I won't need his help at all : ) Oh, I'm running Vista - I don't really care much for it - but it was on the computer when I bought it new, and about the time I realized how much I disliked Vista, the company I bought the computer from closed down (Circuit City). I really preferred Windows XP and 98. In your opinions is Windows 7 any better than Vista? Sometimes I wonder if I'd have fewer issues with a Mac? I've never used one, but I've heard good and bad........ Thanks again guys! Wendy
--- On Wed, 3/16/11, Donk <[email protected]> wrote: From: Donk <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [A-1-Computer_Tech] Re: My computer is slow and I'm getting error messages. To: [email protected] Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 9:30 PM Hi Wendy - It sounds like your PC is very seriously infected. If you can't even open your drives in My Computer it's going to be hard to back anything up. First, some AV programs have an option to wake a PC from sleep - I dunno if Avast does, but I kinda doubt it. Windows has a built-in task scheduler which you might be able to use with Avast. But not knowing your version of Windows I can't be sure. What version are you running - is it Windows 98? The thing about your external HD and FAT32. I'm guessing the problem might be that the HD is formatted with NTFS (which is normal for today's drives) - and Win98 or WinME can't access NTFS drives. So, if you're running Win98 or ME you'd have to reformat the HD with FAT32 - and doing that would erase all her music files and everything else on the drive. But if you are running a later version of Windows, like WinXP, Vista, or Win7, you should be able to access the drive just fine. I dunno which AV program is best. A lot of people say Avast is good. You could go with one of the ones Mike Bader suggested. I'm using AVG Free right now, but they do nag you a lot to buy the full version. I've heard good things about Microsoft Security Essentials. It's free with no advertising at all: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/ Whichever one you choose, be sure to look at its system requirements and that your PC meets them. My experience is that NO one AV program will catch everything - you've just gotta be careful when browsing the web, etc. So, you can't really think about backing your files up until you can access the drives to copy the files. And it sounds like you've got a LOTTA infections. I would try going into Safe Mode and running a complete AVAST scan. Safe Mode will prevent some or all of the viruses from interfering with the scan: Press the power button and keep tapping the F8 key until you come to a boot menu that offers Safe Mode. You'll come to the Safe Mode desktop. Just run Avast as you normally would. The scan could take a long time - maybe a few hours - and you'll get a report at the end. Hopefully it'll clean enough stuff so you can access your drives in normal mode and back up your stuff. Good luck, Donk On 3/16/2011 5:10 PM, Wendy Schofield wrote: > Thank you Donk! I think I have some blank DVDs, and I also have an external > USB hard drive. My daughter downloaded some music to my external hard drive > from her computer, but she said that she had to do something (reconfigure it > to fat 32 files? does that sound right?), and I'm clueless as to how to use > it. > Also, when I go to my computer and try to figure out what's on each of the > drives as soon as I click on one my computer just stops and I get a spinning > blue circle. At that point the only thing I can do is use the power button to > shut the computer down, which I'm sure is not good. > I have another question - we have Avast as our anti-virus protection, but > it's missing a lot of viruses. When we did a scan it found 8 Trojans on the > hard drive, then we ran a boot scan and there were pages of viruses on that. > My question is this - is Avast unable to scan while the computer is in sleep > mode? We leave our computer on at night and Avast is scheduled to run at > 3:00am, but I'm wondering if it's unable to scan at that time because the > computer goes into sleep mode ( I think) after 20 minutes of not being used. > Is Avast a good anti-virus program? If not, can you recommend one? And, > should I try to disable the sleep mode if that is what's interferring with > Avast? > > Thanks! > > Wendy > > --- On Wed, 3/16/11, Donk<[email protected]> wrote: > > > From: Donk<[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [A-1-Computer_Tech] Re: My computer is slow and I'm getting > error messages. > To: [email protected] > Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 5:43 PM > > > It's hard to give step-by-steps without knowing your exact setup. First > you need something to put the back-ups on. > Mostly your options are: > 1. another computer (if it's got enough room on the hard drive to hold > your backups) > 2. blank CD's or DVD's that you can burn the backup files onto. > 3. a USB thumb drive which you can buy for maybe $10 to $30. > 4. an external USB hard drive which will cost anywhere from about $50 up. > 5. upload the backup files to a backup website. You'd have to google > "online backup" to find one (I don't know much about them). > > So it's impossible to give exact instructions without knowing which > method you choose. As for "what" to backup - mainly your personal files > - like your pictures. Also any music files you bought or downloaded. > Any documents you've created like letters, or business correspondence. > Also, but not as important, you might wanna backup your internet > bookmarks, and email. If you use an online email like gmail or MS > Livemail, or Yahoo mail, you don't need to back it up since your mail is > all online. > > Personally, I use an external USB hard drive that I plug in about once a > month and copy all my personal files onto. I also back them up onto a > USB thumb drive. (Always a good idea to have 2 backups - just in case). > > So once you figure out which method you wanna use, repost for more > instructions. > > Good luck, > Donk > > > On 3/16/2011 3:10 PM, Shawn and wrote: >> Wow! Thank you Donk and Mike! I sure appreciate the information. I'm going >> to try what you suggested and I will let you know how it turns out. >> I have another question - I know this sounds silly but how do I back up my >> files, and what all should I back up? Computers are great, but I have no >> idea what I'm doing when it comes to the technical workings, and I am really >> worried about doing damage that can't be un-done. I have a LOT of pictures >> on my hard drive that I don't want to lose. Could you tell me please, >> step-by step, how to back my stuff up? >> >> Thanks so much! >> >> Wendy >> >> --- In [email protected], mike bader<mdbader@...> wrote: >>> Belklin IMO is a good router. >>> I agree check for viruses. >>> Use more then one program. >>> Roku sometimes needs to be rebooted as well. >>> Vista and printers have issues. >>> Make sure you have the latest updates. >>> Defrag the hard drive etc. >>> Clean your startup and temp files. >>> Have you contacted AT&T? >>> They have problems in this area and can check it quickly remotely >>> as to speeds and history. >>> There could also be a neighbor with a wireless router on your channel. >>> >>> mike bader >>> >>> On 3/14/2011 6:53 PM, Donk wrote: >>>> Hi - I'm not sure you really have a router problem. You mentioned that >>>> even before the router switch you were getting connection errors when >>>> surfing? So, maybe it could be an At&t problem? Anyway, here are some >>>> things to check about your wireless (I'm assuming it's all wireless?) >>>> network: >>>> 1. If you have any cordless phones in the house (not cell phones, but >>>> cordless land-lines) it's very possible their signal is screwing up your >>>> router's signal. Also, any other similar electronic device - like a >>>> baby monitor, maybe, can mess you up. Also, if you have nearby >>>> neighbors with cordless phones, etc., your signal can be affected. I've >>>> seen it happen more than once. >>>> The fix for this can be either changing the freq channel your phones use >>>> (if possible), or changing your router's channel by accessing its setup >>>> utility in your browser. There should be maybe 10 channels that you can >>>> experiment with - some might make it worse. >>>> >>>> 2. Some of the other stuff you mention - like not being able to attach >>>> pics to email, or just opening pics on your hard drive - wouldn't have >>>> anything to do with your router or At&t. Stuff like that would suggest >>>> either a virus infection, or a dying hard drive, or maybe just some >>>> corrupted Vista system files. To try to sort out which of those 3 >>>> things, I would first try running a test of the Hard Drive. But first - >>>> be SURE to backup any personal files you don't want to lose! If a hard >>>> drive is already going south, sometimes running a test will finish it >>>> off for good. In Vista: >>>> >>>> Go to Start button, click on Computer. >>>> Right-click your C: drive, and choose Properties. >>>> Click the Tools tab, and click "Check Now". >>>> Make sure both options are checked: Autofix errors, and Attempt Recovery >>>> of bad sectors. >>>> >>>> It can take quite a while to finish - especially if you've got a big >>>> drive. You might be asked to reboot, but when it's done you'll see a >>>> report. If you see any errors or bad sectors listed, it's time to >>>> backup and start thinking about a new hard drive - even if the errors >>>> were "fixed". >>>> If the drive checks out 100% fine, then I would maybe suspect a virus >>>> infection. You can run a bunch of AV and Malware apps to try to clean >>>> it. But you might eventually just have to reformat the drive and start >>>> fresh. I think your HP has a hidden recovery partition on the drive >>>> that will restore it to factory default in just a few minutes. Of >>>> course "everything" you've added since you bought it will be lost. But, >>>> try hitting the power button, and immediately holding down CONTROL, and >>>> keep rapidly tapping F11. You should come to a menu giving you options >>>> to restore the hard drive. >>>> >>>> The printer thing might be related to the above mentioned probs. But, >>>> IMO, windows has never been very good working with printers. The print >>>> queue is always getting jammed up and it's sometimes impossible to clear >>>> it - even by rebooting. If you Google something like "how to clear >>>> Vista print queue" you'll find instructions on how to clear the queue. >>>> Other than that, your print prob might be related to a virus or bad hard >>>> disk. >>>> >>>> Good luck, >>>> Donk >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On 3/14/2011 3:44 PM, Shawn and wrote: >>>>> Hello! >>>>> >>>>> I have an HP w1907 with Vista. I know, you're probably laughing and >>>>> thinking that's the problem entirely, but seriously I could sure use some >>>>> knowledgeable help. >>>>> 1.We have AT&T for our Internet service, the second fastest level (the >>>>> fastest isn't available in our area yet), and we've got a Belkin Surf >>>>> N300 wireless router hooked up so that we can watch movies through a Roku >>>>> device. When we first started using the Roku it was great, but then our >>>>> old router quit and we bought the new Belkin. It seemed to work okay at >>>>> first, but now our Internet is painfully slow (not much better than >>>>> dial-up) and the Roku keeps losing the signal from the router. That we >>>>> can deal with, but I guess the biggest problem is something that started >>>>> before the router swap. When we are on the Internet and try to open a new >>>>> page, or click on a link to go somewhere, we get messages saying that >>>>> either we've lost our connection, or that Internet Explorer has stopped >>>>> working and will now close. >>>>> 3. We can no longer attach pictures to our e-mails, or upload them to >>>>> places like Facebook and we sometimes get messages when trying to access >>>>> the pictures stored on our hard drive - I can't remember the exact >>>>> message but it seems like it had to do with comm (?). >>>>> 4. Getting our printer, a Kodak ESP 5250, to work is sketchy at best and >>>>> usually involves shutting the system down - sometimes we have to push the >>>>> power button on the computer to do this because it won't shut down. Even >>>>> after getting it all shut down and re-started the printer still sometimes >>>>> will not print. If we're lucky the printer starts printing whatever is >>>>> waiting in the printer folder(?)when the computer finishes booting up. If >>>>> not, we start the shut-down/re-start process again. >>>>> Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm guessing we need a different router >>>>> - but I really don't know what to look for when we do buy one. For now we >>>>> would only be using the router for the Internet on one or possibly two >>>>> desktop computers and for the Roku player. >>>>> Any help would be greatly appreciated! >>>>> >>>>> Thanks so much! >>>>> Wendy >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> ------------------------------------ >>>>> > > ------------------------------------ > > If you have any questions or problems with any aspect of this site, please > feel free to contact me directly [email protected] Please do not post > personal issues directly to the group. > > To unsubscribe from this list, send an email to > [email protected] > > Thank you for using A-1 Computer TechYahoo! 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