Computer and tech talk and questions

[TikindiDragon]

well my brother said i need two 2 GB RAM chips? if that helps because my speed is too slow or something?

While I'm all for people building their own PCs in this instance it might be worth getting your brother to do it for you. Largely because precisely which stick of RAM you need to buy will depend on your motherboard. Unless you can give us details of which motherboard you're running?

[kittygrl]

alright i dont really have a clue about my computer except that even norton 360 says its too slow and that its a toshiba satellite, so sorry for bugging yall

[Princess Artemis]

well my brother said i need two 2 GB RAM chips? if that helps because my speed is too slow or something?

You need to know more than that about what you need before you can know how much they'll cost. You need to know what kind of RAM your motherboard can run (DDR2 or DDR3 and what speed).

 

Two 2GB RAM modules don't cost a lot though.

[7Deadly$ins]

Not to mention, which Operating System you're running can affect how much Ram you can use, even if your motherboard could support more.

[Princess Artemis]

Figured it was 32 bit since she said 2x2GB. But yes, 32 bit can't even see more than 4 GB so there's no point in having more if your OS is 32 bit.

Edited July 11, 2012 by Princess Artemis

[kittygrl]

yea the thing is a 32. so theres no point in it? would it be better if i just did one instead of getting 2?

[Dauntingale]

/popping in.

 

I tried to teach myself... Java, C, and Python. Failed. I don't think I'll be going back to that again.

 

But at one point I was passionate about becoming a computer software engineer.

 

It's just not for me.

[Shienvien]

@kittygrl: 2x2GB should work fine with it, though there are other compatibility aspects you must take account of.

Edited July 11, 2012 by Shienvien

[kittygrl]

like what exactly?

[Fuzzbucket]

kittygrl - if you don't KNOW this stuff abotu your machine, you need to get someone who has access to it - who can see it, and who knows what they are doing - you can't just work this out with vague "I think it has this and that"s or you will get the wrong chips and waste your money for sure...

[kittygrl]

i know it has 32 bit thing cuz norton told me that part. im mainly wondering if it would be a good idea or not

[Fuzzbucket]

That is not at all enough to go on. You need ALL its personal details. We have a laptop that cannot cope with modern webpages even though we doubled its memory (we knew it wouldn't be able to, but it can happen...) There is a LOT more you need to know before trying to do this stuff. No-one who hasn't your machine in front of them can tell for sure if it would be a good idea, unless you are able to give full details of the memory chips it has now, its RAM, its processor, what service packs are installed what programmes are on it, how much is on its hard disc - the list is endless....

[wonton55912]

This tells you your specs and stuff, so I recommend it, kittygrl.

 

Also, does anyone else here have so-called "switchable graphics"? I can't get mine to work properly.

[Fuzzbucket]

I don't know. How would I tell ? (Nasty Vista machine here...)

[Princess Artemis]

Looks like a laptop only thing. Get your make and model and plug it into Ye Olde Search Engine along with "manual". Then search the manual for info on how to get it to work. If that doesn't work, Ye Olde Search Engine is a fine place to look for how-to info on things like that. Seriously, Google is my tech support more often than not.

[Jet Raptor]

I wasn't sure whether or not to post this here or in the Q&A thread...

My laptop recently has developed a problem. Every time I start it up, Microsoft Security Essentials has somehow uninstalled itself. Therefore, I have to reinstall it every time I want to use my computer. The setup thing is still in the downloads folder, the shortcuts are still around, but the program itself has been uninstalled. If I click on the shortcuts, they say something like "This shortcut no longer works correctly. Click here to delete it."

I did a bit of searching, but I haven't found any solution yet. I also did a full scan with both MSE and Malwarebytes. They both tell me nothing's there, virus-wise. Anyone know what I can do, maybe?

Runnin' Windows 7 64-bit if that helps.

 

Also, my internet (also on that laptop) has been incredibly slow. It freezes occasionally and sometimes won't load any youtube videos. And some webpages don't load at all. It may just be a Firefox problem, but I haven't tried using a different browser yet.

[Princess Artemis]

Might be worth looking into a registry cleaner (CCleaner will do that, IIRC, and clean up the rest of your computer). I can't say you don't have an odd virus, but there may be a setting in your registry that got corrupt that is telling your computer the wrong things.

 

Or the shortcuts are messed up for some reason and aren't pointing in the right direction.

 

Or, try uninstalling it yourself then reinstalling it. That might kill the goblin.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Uh.. my friend was redoing coding on Proboards and accidentally deleted a vital code so now whenever you click a thread there's nothing under it. Help?

[demonicvampiregirl]

My mouse is messing up and double clicking on it's own. The right click button has been slowly going over the past couple weeks. The thing that bothers me is when I set the mouse over something in Firefox like a tab or something it brings up the name on the tab. When I move away it still sticks and sometimes I have to do that 2-3 times to get it to go away. Is that because of the mouse or is it something else more serious? I think it's the mouse but I'm not so sure.

[Fuzzbucket]

My mouse is messing up and double clicking on it's own. The right click button has been slowly going over the past couple weeks. The thing that bothers me is when I set the mouse over something in Firefox like a tab or something it brings up the name on the tab. When I move away it still sticks and sometimes I have to do that 2-3 times to get it to go away. Is that because of the mouse or is it something else more serious? I think it's the mouse but I'm not so sure.

It's the mouse. Been there and all that. Time to buy a new mouse.... (unless it is so old that it has a wheel, in which case, clean it...)

[Shienvien]

A bit unrelated, but I once came across a keyboard which, on top of mistyping some letters, also made many dozens of windows spawn up as soon as you clicked any program with the mouse. The owner of the computer already feared that the device had caught a some kind of freak-virus, but switching the keyboard out solved everything. (On closer inspection it seemed that they had poured some kind of drink over it at a point of time.)

 

But yes, I agree with the above - time to buy a new mouse. (Cleaning the sensor/ball would probably help if it was freezing and/or jumping the cursor across the screen, but is unlikely to do so when the problem is with the buttons.)

[Nerruse]

I've downloaded lots of various anti-virus programs hoping they would do the trick but none have come up with anything.

I know this is an old post, but I noticed no one addressed this. I really hope you weren't running all of those antivirus programs you downloaded at the same time. If you run more than one at a time, it can cause the sort of problem you're describing as the programs conflict with each other. I recommend uninstalling all but one and reinstalling Malwarebytes, as it does not conflict with antivirus programs. Personally I use Microsoft Security Essentials.

 

Anyway, I'm not a programmer, but I'm decent with computers. I've done a tiny bit with hardware--replacing bad RAM sticks, that sort of thing. I also do a lot of troubleshooting of computers in general; mine, my mom's, the systems at work. I can fix most basic issues, sometimes with a little help from my good friend Google.

 

I'm also currently in college going for a computer forensics certificate, among other things, so I'm slowly advancing my knowledge. It helps that one of my best friends has a masters in computer security, so I tend to ask his advice/assistance on tech-related things. I asked him about programming and he told me to learn Python first. So that's on my to do list.

 

At the moment I'm taking Introduction to Information Technology, which honestly just looking at the textbook will be super easy. There's a whole chapter on computer security-- funnily enough, I took an entire class about information security two semesters ago, which focused heavily on securing computer data. I still keep up on security issues, more or less, because of that class.

 

Also taking Integrated Computer Applications. No idea what it's about, as the textbook wasn't in yet when I got my other books last week. I did take the basic computer apps class in my first semester, which was literally just Microsoft Office. Most boring class ever. I took that exact class in sixth grade. Seriously. Not much changed.

[demonicvampiregirl]

It's the mouse. Been there and all that. Time to buy a new mouse.... (unless it is so old that it has a wheel, in which case, clean it...)

Nope my computer is only 3-4 years old. -lol-

 

Thanks. It's working a bit better now and not being so crabby. Changing the batteries at that time did help it a bit. :3

 

A bit unrelated, but I once came across a keyboard which, on top of mistyping some letters, also made many dozens of windows spawn up as soon as you clicked any program with the mouse. The owner of the computer already feared that the device had caught a some kind of freak-virus, but switching the keyboard out solved everything. (On closer inspection it seemed that they had poured some kind of drink over it at a point of time.)

 

But yes, I agree with the above - time to buy a new mouse. (Cleaning the sensor/ball would probably help if it was freezing and/or jumping the cursor across the screen, but is unlikely to do so when the problem is with the buttons.)

 

That'd be scary! >_<

[gjhhhhhh]

Those of you with slow computers- do you shut them down every night or leave them running but not showing the screen? (like folding down a laptop)

Because if you do, it might be a reason to why your computer is slow. It may be because there are so many programs that are running and have been run that they mess up the computer. Like whenever you click something the computer has to go through ALL of the programs before being able to give you the page. So if you have a laptop and keep them on but the screen down then it's best to shut down your computer fully every two-three days to prevent programs from piling up and slowing your computer down. Other problems may be caused by a very slow internet or if you've ever spilt somethin on it or maybe even a virus or you're missing a download that replaces an older one.

 

I wasn't sure whether or not to post this here or in the Q&A thread...

My laptop recently has developed a problem. Every time I start it up, Microsoft Security Essentials has somehow uninstalled itself. Therefore, I have to reinstall it every time I want to use my computer. The setup thing is still in the downloads folder, the shortcuts are still around, but the program itself has been uninstalled. If I click on the shortcuts, they say something like "This shortcut no longer works correctly. Click here to delete it."

I did a bit of searching, but I haven't found any solution yet. I also did a full scan with both MSE and Malwarebytes. They both tell me nothing's there, virus-wise. Anyone know what I can do, maybe?

Runnin' Windows 7 64-bit if that helps.

 

Also, my internet (also on that laptop) has been incredibly slow. It freezes occasionally and sometimes won't load any youtube videos. And some webpages don't load at all. It may just be a Firefox problem, but I haven't tried using a different browser yet.

 

If your computer uninstalled something on its own and you have to keep reinstalling it, try deleting the installation like the computer asks you to and then install it agian. Then, when it's installed, shut it down if you can and wait a few hours and then login again. If the problem is still not fixed, then you should probably run a few virus scans because it might have one. Some viruses are transferred when you aren't even aware of it and then they delete random things besides spreading. I once had two trojan horses appear in a scan myself *Shrugs* If there are no viruses and you've done everything I can think of right now, then you probably should consider taking it to a repair shop. Good luck.

Edited September 7, 2012 by gjhhhhhh

[KageSora]

I keep getting an error when I try to update Flash. It tells me I don't have sufficient privileges.

 

This makes no sense, however, as my account is the administrator account for the computer I'm having the problems with.

 

What do I do?

 

 

Running Windows 7, I've already done some virus scans and there's nothing there--or if it is, it's not getting picked up.

 

I've been having this problem for quite some time now, and nothing I try resolves it.

Edited October 19, 2012 by KageSora