Did you get a BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death... as it's called)? Did you happen to write down any of the error codes or did your computer just lock up where you had to do a hard reboot?
By chance, are you running AVG 8.0 as an antivirus? I recently had to remove it from one of my computers as it is causing BSOD's for lots of people right now. I normally like AVG but can't recommend it right now. I'm using Avast now. Both are free. Your computer has enough resources to handle YM and webcam functions unless you have a lot of other stuff running in the background. If I remember correctly, you built the computer so I'm guessing it's pretty lean as far as junk since most junk comes preinstalled on new computer from the companies like HP, Dell, Gateway, etc.... but it can also come from people downloading and installing things using the default simple install instead of the advanced install of programs. Quite often, when doing a simple install, the program will also come with things like toolbars or other add-ins that you may not want. I ALWAYS use the advanced option when installing new downloads which then gives me the option of what I want to install. I KNOW that almost all Instant Messenger programs (YM, AIM, Windows/MSN, etc.), Media programs (Quicktime, Real, etc.), etc. ALL will try to install junk software with a download if you aren't careful. You know.. I just said you have enough resources but if I remember correctly, you are running Vista Ultimate and I'm not sure if 1 gig of RAM is really enough. 1 gig is fine for Windows XP but Vista is more of a resource hog but still, YM and a webcam shouldn't be that much of a problem unless you have some kind of conflict with drivers, etc.. Open Task Manager (right click on Task Bar and choose Task Manager). Then check out the number of processes you have running when you first start up your computer and look down the list and Google any that you do not recognize to see what they are. You may not need them. To give you an example of Windows XP vs. Vista... when I "Show processes from all users" on both systems, with XP, I have only 46 processes running and I have several apps running right now on the XP system. With Vista, on this new HP Laptop, I have 74 processes running. I still have to go through all of them and start getting rid of some of the junk that HP preinstalled on the computer so I'm sure I can get that down quite a bit but from all I've read, Vista still has quite a bit more going on compared to XP which is why it needs so much more RAM. I have 3 gigs of RAM on this new Vista computer compared to 1 gig on my XP computer. With Task Manager open, you can check to see how many and which processes are running but you can also look at the Performance tab and in the Physical Memory section, you will see your total RAM listed and Available RAM to give you an idea of how much resources your computer is using. When on the Processes tab, click the View Menu and then Select Columns and make sure you have columns for CPU, CPU Time, Mem Usage, Peak Mem Usage, etc. so you can sort things by those columns so you can have a quick glance at which programs are using up all your resources. Often, you will see evidence of some kind of conflict when a program usually runs lean but then starts using lots of CPU or Memory (RAM). It also sounds like you should do a full uninstall and clean reinstall of YM as I outline on my blog at http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com just to make sure it's not the problem. You should also get with the tech support of the webcam and make sure you are installing it properly and also check their website for any software fixes that might have been issued from the time it was manufactured to now. These fixes should be free. Lenny Vasbinder FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Stan Sent: Saturday, August 23, 2008 7:18 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Y!M] webcam My computer is a P4 3.4Gig with 1Gig or RAM. Should I expect it to completely shut down while playing with IM and WebCam with two other guys? I expect the video to be choppy and the sound to be choppy as well but my computer totally crashed last night while playing around. What do most folks have these days if they want to do these things. My last upgrade was in 2005 but I see lots of stuff about "Core 2 Quad" CPU's etc today. Is that what it takes? I am not a gamer but I like "Fast" and I would like to be able to do the other stuff folks enjoy without crashing. Stan ----- Original Message ----- From: LNVTM1 <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2008 2:49 PM Subject: RE: [Y!M] webcam I remember one cam that I had a few years back where the default software download didn't install the drivers into the right place and I had to get tech support from the cam's tech dept. and had to move the drivers to the C: drive instead of the folder they ended up in. That was causing my computer to freeze up when I'd try to start the cam but once I had the drivers in the right place, it worked fine with all app's. The default software had the drivers installed so the cam would only work with the default software webcam service. I don't remember the brand name of that one but I'm sure other cam software might do the same to try and make their software proprietary. Check the cam website for any tech bulletins addressing this issue for the person where it was locking up their computer. This probably isn't your issue since YM is finding your cam without a problem. I haven't used MSN Messenger (or I think they call it Windows Live Messenger now) in a long time since they kept wanting to force upgrades instead of allowing users to keep older versions. I don't upgrade to new versions of software until I am sure they have worked all the bugs out... unless it's a security fix. Same with YM... I'm still on 7.5 on my current computer although I did download 8.1 on my new Vista laptop since 7.5 was designed before Vista. 8.1 seems to be working OK with Vista although I haven't tried hooking up a cam or anything else to it. I have a blog on how I always do a clean re-install of YM at http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com. <http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com.> It's one of the recent blogs. I just started a new blog on the things I'm coming across on my change over to Vista but I haven't added much to it yet. I'll be updating that one more this weekend. Lenny Vasbinder FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI <https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI> Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:[email protected] <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> ] On Behalf Of Stan Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2008 11:50 AM To: [email protected] <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> Subject: Re: [Y!M] webcam Thanks Lenny, I will check out what you said. One of our users on the Y!M cannot even use his camera, his computer locks up as soon as he tries to open the camera. So I am assuming that there is just to much stuff running in the background. Don't know for sure at this point. I to am new to this Vista, I just had some major malfunctions with XP pro so I finally decided to put Vista on a new HD and start over. It is functioning great so far. But it is brand new to me so I don't know nuttin so far... You are probably right about Yahoo servers being at fault for the choppy video, I did not think of that. One of our next moves is to try a different IM, Maybe the Microsoft version. Do you have any thoughts about that? There are 3 of us at this point trying to make it all work. We are all HAM operators and just like to play. Thanks again, I will check out your info. Stan ----- Original Message ----- From: LNVTM1 <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:lnvtm1%40gmail.com> > > To: [email protected] <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> > > Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2008 12:10 PM Subject: RE: [Y!M] webcam You can find the version by clicking on the Help menu, then "About Yahoo Messenger". I know there is a beta version out right now so I'm not sure which version Yahoo is pushing on people downloading from Yahoo. In the future, it's better to go to a site like FileHippo.com or your preferred software download site and downloading the full version of YM. When you download from Yahoo, all they do is install a small installer which then starts downloading the rest of the program in bits and pieces. I've found this results in problems for some people due to security programs that might inadvertently block one or more of the pieces or their internet connection could result in a garbled piece. The installer is only around 500kb but eventually should download the full version where the full version you would get from FileHippo.com is around 10MB from the start. You need to go through and set up your preferences as the defaults from Yahoo are pretty bad. You can access them from the main Messenger menu, then Preferences and go through all of the sections changing them to what you prefer. Pay particular attention to the webcam settings and go into them and tweak them to get best performance from your cam. You also need to go into your sound settings (via Control Panel) and tweak your microphone. I'm not as informed with Vista as I just bought a new laptop with Vista Home Premium and haven't spent much time fooling with the Control Panel and all of the settings yet so I can't help you as much with that. I don't think running in Safe Mode will help with your cam/mic issues as they are either affected by the various panel settings on your computer or in the programs or they could also be affected by the Yahoo servers. There's not much you can do about Yahoo servers. Sometimes you can get a good connection, other times not. Lenny Vasbinder FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI <https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI> <https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI <https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI <https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI> > > Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:[email protected] <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> ] On Behalf Of Stan Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2008 6:27 AM To: [email protected] <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> Subject: Re: [Y!M] webcam I can speak for myself only, WOW, lots of questions! All my computers are homebrew, this one is a P4 3.4GHZ with 1G RAM 32Bit OS MS Vista Ultimate (New install) We both just downloaded the YM so I assume it is the latest version. We are both on DSL, We have not tried another service. What would that be? No chat rooms, would not even know how to do that. The prefs are basically default. My computer is running whatever installed when loaded plus Windows Live for security etc. Probably his is as well. I am thinking of trying to run it in "Safe Mode" but have not done that so far. Thanks Stan ----- Original Message ----- From: LNVTM1 <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:lnvtm1%40gmail.com> > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:lnvtm1%40gmail.com> > <mailto:lnvtm1%40gmail.com> > > To: [email protected] <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> > <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> > <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> > > Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 8:57 PM Subject: RE: [Y!M] webcam What kinds of computers... RAM, processor speed, etc.? What version of YM? Do you both have the same version? What kind of internet connection... dial-up, dsl, cable, T1? Have you tried webcamming and using mics through another service besides YM? Have each of you tried using webcam and mic individually in a yahoo chat room to see if maybe it's just one of you having a problem? How do you have your YM preferences set up for webcams? Do you have your computers running efficiently without a lot of junk using up resources? 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Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:[email protected] <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> ] On Behalf Of Stan Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 1:58 PM To: [email protected] <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:Yahoo_Messenger%40yahoogroups.com> Subject: [Y!M] webcam We are brand new to this toy and this group. Myself and another guy are trying to look at our mugs while talking on the microphone. The video keeps freezing and the audio has a bunch of noise like someone is banging a bunch of rocks. We can hear each other and sometimes see each other but the stuff is not working well. We both have logitech cameras. I expect that someone knows exactly what we are doing wrong. :-) Stan _____ avast! Antivirus <http://www.avast.com> : Outbound message clean. Virus Database (VPS): 080822-0, 08/22/2008 Tested on: 8/23/2008 9:30:48 AM avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2008 ALWIL Software.
