Monday, August 01, 2005

Shoptime

I am so fed up. I took my computer to the shop in July 13. I got it back a few days ago, and I am still having problems. I know, I should buy a Mac, but that is not going to happen.

As soon as I started it up when I got it home from the shop, I got an error message, "The system has recovered from a serious error." Well, was that an editorial comment, or was there something else wrong? I was so downhearted when I saw that message, that I didn't do anything else on the computer for 24 hours. I just let it sit there and see if it would quit working again.

When I finally got up my courage to start using my desktop computer again, I started off by installing Trend PC-cillin Internet Security 2005. After it was installed, I set up the DSL hookup so that I could download updates. That appeared to go along smoothly.

I was curious about how much room it took up on the C drive, so then I defragmented the harddrive. I think that messed up something because after that I started having problems. I think I know what I did wrong. I didn't restart the computer after I installed Trend. Now I am trying to uninstall it using Add-Remove programs in the Control Panel and re-install it, and I get an error message "Fatal error during installation". So I inserted the CD (I am so glad I bought this on CD and didn't download it from the Internet or I would be up a creek without a paddle.) and clicked on "Install". The program asked me if I wanted to uninstall it, I clicked yes, and "Setup has successfully Uninstalled Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security 2005. Click Finish to exit Setup." Now I will restart me computer!

The harddrive was making louder clicks than I had heard from my previous harddrives. Today the repair person said that the noise was in the normal range. That's good.

While I was working on the computer, I saw a folder that said, "Program Files" on the E drive. I thought, "That's peculiar." I don't remember having a Program Files folder on my E drive, my data drive. So I clicked on it to see what it was. That was the beginning of the troubles. The hourglass appeared and appeared and appeared. After it became evident that nothing else was going to happen, I pushed the reset button.

From that point on, I couldn't get the computer to work properly. After rebooting, I got a blue screen that informed me:

Checkin file system on E;
One of your disks needs to be checked for consistency. You may cancel the disk check, but it is strongly recommended that you continue. (You are given a few seconds to decide.)
Windows will now check the disk.
Volume Serial Number is 1000-1000
Windows is verifying files and folders

The first time this process hung at 65%. I pressed reset.

It would start to load Windows, the first two screens of text would go by, the Windows splash screen would appear, and then it would go dark, and nothing would happen. I waited what I thought was long enough and then pushed reset. After a couple of tries, I got the blue screen checking for consistency again. This time it hung at 7%. After that it would try and try to load, but it sounded like it was in a loop. Finally it made it to the main screen, but then my E drive was not recognized by the computer. Well, drat! Now I will have to take it back to the repair shop again! I have no way of fixing this.

When the repair person hooked the E drive up to another computer, up came the blue screen asking to check for consistency. After it completed it check, everything appears to running okay again.

I don't see why the E drive had anything to do with me not rebooting the computer after installing the virus checker, but apparently it did. I will never understand how computers work or what makes them crash, but I certainly have more experience with it than the average person.

I got my computer home and started setting it up, and then the computer wouldn't recognize the mouse. I would get a balloon telling that it found new hardware, but then nothing. I tried plugging the USB connection into different places, and still nothing. After rebooting the computer a couple of times, the mouse started working. Oh, brother... I don't have time for this.

Thursday, June 30, 2005

ErrorGuard

Yesterday, I saw a pop-up for a program. I clicked on the wrong spot of it and it opened a window asking me if I would like to download the program. Ordinarily, I wouldn't mess with something like that because it is usually spyware or adware. But since I am getting my harddrive reformatted, I decided to go ahead and see what it was. The ErrorGuard program downloaded onto my harddrive and then a scan of all my drives. It reported that I had over 200 errors. If I wanted the program to fix the errors, then I should pay them $29.99 and they would send me the activation key. Well, after my bad experience with Un-delete, I decided to pass.

However, I was curious if ErrorGuard was a worthwhile program. I did a Google search on ErrorGuard (no spaces) and ended up at CNet's forum. There was a long thread on it, and a lot of people had had disasterous consequences using it while other users were very happy with the program.

Some people reported losing all their files, crashing harddrives, and several had to reformat their drives. Some people were still trying to get the pop-ups off their system. One person mentioned that the uninstall program might be faulty, so I was leary of using it to get the program off my drive. The program did not appear in my Add/Remove programs in the Control Panel

So I deleted the folder in Program Files. As I continued reading the thread, I realized there were probably other remnants of the program in Windows. So I did more Google searches and found explanations of how to delete the ErrorGuard files from Windows Registry. I actually learned quite a lot from the experience. After I completed that, I did a complete system search for ErrorGuard and ErroGuard and the only thing left on my system were the shortcuts in the Start Up Menu and on the desktop.

Before I deleted the registry entries, I ran AdAware, and it didn't identify any of the elements of ErrorGuard. So I do not know if this program is useful or not. The domain name owner is shielded by Domains by Proxy, Inc. Also when I did Google searches, a lot of the paid ads on the right column were different domain names selling Error Guard. If you check out the owners of those domains, they are also registered to Domains by Proxy, Inc. There is an e-mail to support, but there is no other contact information on their website. There is no explanation how the program works. There is a FAQ, and some people on the CNet forum reported getting replies from the support e-mail.

Personally, I will never buy it.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Back Up Files

I have been procrastinating taking my computer into the repair shop. When I haven't taken it in by Tuesday, then I figure I should wait until the next week because they take 3 days to fix it, and then I won't have it for the weekend. Another reason, I tell myself, is that I need to back up everything. The E drive is a separate physical drive and shouldn't be distrubed, but what if it is? What if I lose all the data on that drive, too? So I have been busy making back-up CDs.

With my track record making CDs, though, I end up making one, ruining one, making one, and then ruining another. I don't know how I manage this record, but that's the way it's been going. I have found out that if I do anything other than making a CD, even playing solitaire, I end up with a bad CD. The first one I wrecked was because I tried to put too much on it. Oddly, the little scale at the bottom of the program did not indicate that I was trying to put too much on the CD. But when I set up the files the second time, the scale was full before I put everything back on it that I had tried to copy the first time.

The only thing I can figure went wrong is that I had added files and then deleted files several times, and somehow the program must have lost track of what I was actually putting on it.

Since it is Wednesday, the pressure is off because I probably won't take the computer in until Monday. Also my car is in the repair shop, and until I get it back, I don't have transportation. So I have been piddling around doing things like dishes and laundry instead of backing up my computer.

Monday I went to Office Max and bought some plastic pages that hold CDs that fit into a 3-ring binder. Then I picked up a couple of 3-ring binders. After I got them home, Keith told me that he had lots of old 3-ring binders that he was going to toss and that I should have told him before I bought new ones. I put all the plastic pages in the new binders and added a CD sleeve for each slot. Now I am all organized to make the back-ups. So I have 4 done so far. I wonder how many I will need to do a complete backup?

Today I asked Keith if he remembered to bring home binders for my next project, and he said, "No."

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Repair Appointment

Just now I called the computer store and set up an appointment to bring it in Monday.

Donna said she would run diagnostics on everything --for me to make a list of what I suspected is wrong and the symptoms.

My harddrive is back from the factory, the one that failed when all this started. So she is going to see if she can install that as a second back-up drive.

I went to the Tripp Lite website and one of their recommendations for my system is to buy a OMNI VS 1000VA 120V LINE-INT. The other two are OMNISMART1050 and the SMART700 but those two don't have UPS outlets.

Matt doesn't think I am overtaxing my video card, and that it might be the power supply. He asked what size it is in watts and how many components are running off it. He recommended using memtest86 to test the memory.

Matt also said, "The hard drive controller(IDE Controller) on your motherboard might be bad as well. It's very rare, but it does appear this is what happened to RivalPro's hardware during the last outtage."

I guess I am going to have to take the computer into the shop to have those things tested, the power supply and the IDE Controller.

Does a power outage damage the power supply? My power supply is less than 2 years old. How long are they suppose to last?

I also have my computer plugged into a BC Pro 600 UPS System.  Isn't that suppose to prevent outages from damaging anything? Do UPS systems get damaged? How can you tell?

Friday, June 17, 2005

Damaged Hardware

I asked Matt from Rival Pro Support Forums for his opinion.  He thought it sounded like damaged hardware caused by a lightning strike, a power outage or brown-out. He suggested that I have someone run a memory test.

When the problems started I checked out the memory myself, and everything came out okay. What else on the motherboard could cause it?

Is there a diagnoistic test that can be done on video cards?

Or is it possible that I am overtaxing the video card by expecting it to do more than it was designed to do? The only games I play on my computer are solitaire so I didn't get a powerful video card.

Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.40 GHz
Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
DirectX 9.0 or better

Nvidia Graphics card
Processor: GeForce FX5200
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Memory Size: 128 MB

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Problems

Ever since I had my new C drive installed and formatted twice, I have been having some quirky problems with it.

For instance, the escape key doesn't work at times. For instance, I open Notepad and then change my mind. I can't use the Escape key to shut it.

My right click won't work on the Start Menu, but it works everywhere else. In fact, when I created a Guest account, the right click worked on the Start Menu. The inconvenience of this is not being able to use the right-click menus or sort the links by name.

The past couple of days I have been having some major display problems that end up crashing the browser, and I have to reboot to regain use.

I tried using Photoshop, and it locked up the computer. When I watch a streaming video, it causes the system to become unstable sometimes, but not all the time.

Are all of this problems related somehow? Do you think I should have Windows reformatted again?

Twice I have updated my video drivers from Nvidia.

I have an intuition that this is a video problem. Does this sound like my video card is going bad? How would I be able to tell if that is the problem?

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Quirks Continue

Today I sat down to the computer and the screen was black. It must have been in super-hibernation mode because nothing would activate the screen. I had to push the reset button to reboot the computer. Then everything seemed to be working fine.

Well, except for the things that have not been working fine since I had my C drive replaced. For instance, there is a lag between the time the desktop appears and the time that I can acutally get anything to work. I can click on anything, shortcuts or programs, and nothing happens. I usually use the Start Menu to connect to the DSL. When I click on Start -> Connect to, the menu says 'empty'. Eventually the menu will update with my connections,

• ACS DSL
• ptialaska and
• 'Show all connections'.

However, the 'empty' menu still appears on the screen. In fact, it appears on top of everything. I tried refreshing the screen (F5) and changing the desktop theme. Still that aggravating 'empty' menu is on top of everything. Finally I tried logging off and logging back on. That worked! This quirk only happens after rebooting the system.

Last night I had to reboot the system after watching a video clip. The whole screen went kaphlooey, and nothing I did would clear the screen. I had patches of every screen that had been used at the time I was watching the clip, including a scattering of cards from a solitaire game. Only the spades were showing. All the hearts had disappeared.

My heart for working on the computer has disappeared, too.

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Quirky Computer

I do believe that I have the most quirky computer in the world. It still does all sorts of weird things (like not letting me right click at times when I am not even on the Internet). Today the mouse quit working for everything except using the Start Menu, but when I clicked on anything, nothing happened. Then after awhile it started working again. (Coffee break, perhaps?) When it happened the second time, I gave it ten minutes (for another coffee break), then I had to push the reset button to get it working again.

ACS DSL is nice. :) I can use it for 4 months for less money than dial-up. I couldn't pass on that deal. That way I can really know if I like it or not before paying the higher costs. Then if I decide to go to a cable modem, I will know what it was like with DSL. I canceled my Earthlink account because I never did get it to work with Eudora. They were so sad to see me go. ;) Earthlink allows you to sign up online, but you can ONLY close the account by calling them during their business hours.

My DSL is quirky, too, but it has been working fine the past few weeks. It only acts up if I unplug the modem for some reason (during a thunderstorm for instance). The only way I can get it working again is to take the filter off the telephone, plug the phone cord back in the wall, and then connect to the DSL. This is not the telephone hooked to the modem, but another phone, a wireless phone in the living room.

Now I have a new problem. My Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security 2005 decided it didn't want to update virus definitions anymore. I have only had it a month. I have written 4 e-mails to support, and they answer once a day. It seems they are on the other side of the world. I am -9 GMT and they are +9 GMT. Everything they have told me to do, I had already done and told them in my e-mail. Oh, brother!

At the same time I lost some e-mail folders. The online House Call virus checker says my machine is clean. I have adware removers, too. What could have caused this? Oh, well... I may be angry, but I am not surprised by it.

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Favorite Links

One of the folders that I lost in my C drive failure was my Favorites folder. I have a back-up copy, but since I backed it up, I had reorganized the links and culled the 404 ones. So today, I tackled that. I like having my Favorites folder in good working order, although I keep a webpage of my most favorite links that I use daily. That way I can take that page with me from computer to computer. I can even use it on other people's computer without adding any bookmarks to their C drive.

As I was sorting links, sometimes the file would not appear in the new folder. It looked like it was still in the old folder. To get it to appear, I would have to back out of the folder and then open it again. Voila! There is the file. This is similar to the display problem I was having recently, but not exactly the same. I haven't had any more problems with disappearing menus or the start menu showing up as a black box.

When I finish organizing my favorites folder, I intend to back it up on a CD. Now, I haven't tried using Nero since all the reformat, so that will be a surprise if it works without a hitch.

If you are wondering how you can back up your Favorites folder, go to
C:\Documents and Settings\
Then click on the name you use on your computer. Then copy the Favorites file (it will have a big gold star next to it) onto a CD or floppy disk.

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Display Fixed

I did a Google search for Nvidia drivers. I saw that Nvidia had their own website. So I went there, and there were drivers to download. The site explained that they test their drivers for backward compatibility. So I downloaded the latest driver, which happens to be a newer one than the computer tech person used.

I downloaded the 18.8 MB driver exe file to my laptop. Then I transferred it to the new Jump Drive. Then I plugged the Jump Drive into my tower's USB port. The tower automatically recognized the Jump Driver. I clicked on the drive from My Computer and clicked on the exe file. It automatically loaded the drivers, and I rebooted the comptuer.

I haven't had a moment's problem since. :)

DSL is working. The video output is working. All is good with the world. :)

I called the computer store to let Al know that I had it working. Rupert answered the phone so I told him the situation. He is the one who put together my system. He said that it sounded like a problem with Windows, and that he thought we would have to reinstall Windows again.

Not again! I just spent three days getting everything set back up the way I like. He thought maybe some of the programs that I installed had messed up the video output. I told him the problems started before I reloaded anything, although the problems were getting worse and more often. Other than the drivers for the printer, scanner, and camera, the only programs I had re-installed were Ad-Aware, Acrobat Reader and Microsoft Works.

Rupert had me check the "Refresh Rate" and also looked at the Page File. It is set at 85 Hertz, and he suggested I change it to 75 Hertz. I decided to leave it because everything is working fine now. He said my Page File Usage was rather high (210 MB). I don't know what that means. Right now it is 266 MB / 2462M. I have 32 processes running. There are 30 running when I first boot the computer. (The two extra are Internet Explorer and the e-mail program.)

Rupert said to keep an eye on it. I said, I use my computer every day, so my eye will be on it. :0
== ==
0 0
/
\__/

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Display Adapters

I called my sister to commiserate about my problems with the computer. She agreed with me that the video drivers were messing up the display. She told me how to replace them which is what I was hoping the tech person would tell me. Go to Start -> Control Panel -> System Then click on the "Hardware" tab and click on the "Device Manager" button.

When the Device Manager window opens, click on the plus sign by "Display adapters". My display is NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200. I clicked on the "Driver" tab and the "Update Driver" button. The "Hardware Update Wizard" opened. I put the Display Drivers CD into the G drive (CD burner). [The computer didn't recognize the G drive, so I had to move the CD to the DVD drive.] I chose "Yes, this time only" for Windows Update to search for software. I clicked "Next" and then left the default checked "Install the software automatically". I clicked "Next".

The next screen said "Cannot Continue the Hardware Update Wizard
The wizard could not find a better match for your hardware than the software you currently have installed."

I clicked on "Roll Back Driver" and there were no previous drivers to roll back. So I uninstalled the current driver. I firmly believed that software was causing the problem so I decided to install the software on the CD manually. I had to reboot to finish the uninstallation. After I rebooted, Windows came up in 640 X 480 screen resolution. Otherwise everything looked fine and the display was stable.

It took several tries to get the old CD drivers to replace the ones installed with the C drive reformat, but I managed to do it. Then I had no display at all. Windows wouldn't load and I got a screen asking me if I wanted to use system restore. I tried it, but there was no restore point other than the one I was in.

I thought, "Well, now I know for sure that the old drivers won't work. I guess I will have to take the computer down to the shop again." At least I had tried everything I could do at home. Well, almost everything. My sister looked up the drivers on the Internet and she downloaded new drivers. She was going to e-mail them to me, but that didn't work. The file was too big. So duh, Pamela, if I can get e-mail with my laptop, I could also use it to download the drivers myself.

I had to stop for the time being to take Todd to work. It was great fun talking to my sister on the phone while we fiddled with the computer. -smiles- While I was downtown, I stopped by Office Max and purchased a 512MB Jump Drive.

DSL Revived

I was awoken by a telephone call from ACS asking me, "Do you have your DSL working?"

"No, the DSL didn't work all weekend," I replied. I was barely awake. Between the DSL, the computer's screen display going haywire, and the toilet overflowing and flooding the basement, I wasn't in the mood to discuss computers.

Later it occurred to me that the DSL was working before I put on the line filters. So I tried several different combinations of line filters on and off, telephone lines plugged in and not, and when I set it up back exactly how it was when I first connected, the DSL started working again!

So I called up the tech support again to tell them that now the DSL was working. I was on hold for 20 minutes before I got to talk to a person. The recording said there were intermittent outages because of the wind. I imagine a lot of people are calling tech support today.

When I told the person how I got the DSL to work again (but removing the line filters), he said, "That is counter-intuitive." Well, I say, whatever works. Although, I have to admit that it could have been a coincidence. He put me on hold again while he checked the signal to our phone. While he was gone, I dashed over to the nearest phone (besides the one plugged into the back of the modem), and put the line filter back on it. Hmmm...the DSL is still working. So maybe he is right. I don't really care what fixed it.

When he came back on the telephone, he said that the signal to our line was not as strong as it could be. So I don't know if that had any bearing on the problem either. I was feeling rather up because I got it to work all by myself. So I decided to call my sister. Then we decided to tackle the display problem.