I Need Help With My Computer
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Do you sometimes I get weary of online Q&A (Questions and Answers?.Really wish you could call and speak to a human being when having troubles with software, shareware or your computer, printer and so on.
But who can you call?
Ever tried calling Microsoft or HP or whomever? Get tired of waiting on hold for someone who never comes or pushing 1 then listening to the instrucions then pushing the next button on the phone then 10 minutes later getting a recording or a hangup.
What makes the company I work for, U.S. Computer, different is that when a customer calls, we answer, we listen and we help them.
We offer our customers free phone in help (you must live in the Tampa Bay, Floirda area) and we offer vistors and customers online help http://www.uscomputer.net/internet.htm, computer related articles at http://www.uscomputer.net/portal.htm and online drivers http://www.uscomputer.net/drivers.htm, a local area blog for our Clearwater/Largo Pinellas County Store and so on.
So we decided to start this blog and invite you to ask questions and we’ll try to answer them and also we ask other visitors to this blog to answer your questions. It may take a few days for us to answer, cause sometimes our staff gets a bit overloaded with tasks.
So please feel free to ask questions here in this blog by posting a comment and just as free to answer questions others have submitted.
Click Comments (below) to add your questions and comments or Read articles & news in our free products & services web portal
Hi, I want to learn about computers but frankly, I’m overwhelmed.
Where do I start? What is the name of a good book for beginners? Where to I find out what all the buzzwords mean?
And so on. Who provides information for computer beginners?
Well, I went to Circuit City and they have a very good price on a computer called eMachine.
I never heard of that brand and want to know if its safe to buy.
Tammy
EMachine is OK I guess, I heard they bought Gateway or maybe it was vice versa. I did hear though that they have underpowered power supplies, so I would buy a Gateway, Dell or an HP instead. You pay a little more and get a good bit more.
I was shopping at MyProgramStore.Com and went to the U.K. store, added an item to my cart and then could not find a link to the shopping cart when I was ready to checkout.
I like your store and prices are great, but its confusing to use!
Billy J
Emachine computer may be getting a little better since they associated with Gateway, but 2 of my friends had problems with them, then just scraped their computers rather than keep wasting money fixing them….
Pete
To learn about computers if you are a beginner, I would hae to suggest your local library or bookstore. There is a series of books that are titles "Idiot’s Guide To xxxxx" which are good starting points…
Thomas
I have a question regarding computer security. There are two computers connected to the same internet router at home. Because of my personal situation I do not want anybody other than me having access to my Yahoo email account or any internet site visited by me. Is it possible for somebody other than me to have access to this information just by knowing my IP address of my Laptop even though they do not have my Yahoo email password?
Response: It is possible, but improbable if you are the only person who uses your laptop and you have the laptop itself password protected so when you boot up it asks for your password. If you don’t have your laptop password protected, add that now…
I need help with a utility I can used to clean out my registry. I believe I have been ‘virused’ and want to clean out my system.
Response: There is free software available from Microsoft that will scan and clean your registry, remove viruses and malware. Go to http://www.uscomputer.net/portal.htm and check the links in the articles about the same…
Lately I have been getting this message when I start my computer.—-The heading is===SmartBridge Alerts:MotiveSBexe Entry Point Not Found—-The message is—-The Procedure Point Get Process Image File Name W could not be Located in The Dynamic Link Library PSAPI.DLL.–Would like to find out what this message means.
Hi:
For about 3 months now I have been getting this message when I start my computer. THe heading is:
SmartBridge Alerts: MotiveSBexe Entry Point Not found. The message is: The procedure Point Get PRocess Image FIle Name W coul d not be detected in the dymanic link library. PSAPI.DLL.
This is annoying and I would like to know how to stop it from coming on and if it is interfering with anything in my computer.
Thanks.
Devika.
The same message as above Smart Bridge Alert, I have been getting for a week now. Is it because of installing IE 7 or is it related to Norton Internet Security 2006 clash with IE7? Norton Antispam is not fully functional after installing IE7 and Norton does not provide support if IE7 is installed. I donot know as to how to get rid of this annoying message. Will removing IIE7 and going back to IE6 will help or not. If there is any solution,please let me know.
Thanks.
Avinash Chandra
I had the message for awhile, I removed IE7 and the message seemed to disappear. I can’t guarantee that will work for others though…
Jack
I have had the same problem as above after I installed IE7 beta, reverted back to IE 6 and problem went, have installed IE 7 again, think it is good so just have to remove the message when I start, I also have Norton Internet Security 2006 so this may be causing conflict. IE 7 is a beta version so Microsoft may sort it out in due course!
Sorry, have just read the note from Avinash, my Norton programmes still seem to be working, I have Norton Internet Security 2006 and Norton System Works 2006 Premier installed and they seem to be OK, as I said have put IE 7 on again, does seem to be quite clever, just have to remove the message on start up, as I said being a beta version MS may well come up with a solution, Regards, Alex.
Devika Giordon, Response: There is free software available from Microsoft that will scan and clean your registry, remove viruses and malware. Go to http://www.uscomputer.net/portal.htm and check the links in the articles about the same…
I accidentally saved some pictures into a write-protected program folder and now I cant figure out how to get them out, I’ve tried everything I can think of.
Ben, Well just copy the pictures to another directory, then right click the directory name, choose properties, then update the properties and delete the files. If necessary also change the properties on the files. If that doesn’t work go to DOS, and use the dos command to change the folders and files properties.
Jack, When I try your suggestion or anything else it gives me an error message saying
“Cannot copy “file name”: Access is denied.
Make sure the file is not full or write protected and the file is not currently in use.
the weird thing is that the rest of this folder is full of text files that are NOT protected in the same way, I can copy them or do anything with them I want. For some reason the pictures became utterly unaccessible when they went into that folder, I can’t even preview them.
Devika Giordon, i am getting this smartbridge alert too, it didnt start until i updated my ie yesterday..beta 7 to be exact…if this helps us in anyway!
AVINASH CHANDRA, OOO, I JUST posted similarly, but i dont run norton..i run mcafee.. and yes getting rid of ie7 helped because i did it earlier this year..ie 7 caused me to be unable to view some sites correctly
Dave, I think that it would also be helpful to mention that Microsoft is not always the best way to go. There are many proprietary software titles available that in my opinion are more user friendly and effective. In this instance I would probably suggest Registry Repair by StompSoft (http://www.stompsoft.com/registry-repair.html) because you don’t have to be an uber-geek to figure out how it works. Of course, you do have to pay some money for this kind of trade off, but in the end isn’t a computer and it’s supporting products supposed to make life easier instead of harder?
Sal, ive been getting the exact same message…have you figured it out yet? Let me know…princessjessey@hotmail.com
HELP??
I have a wireless broadband connection which I can use all over the country. When I connect it shows me two figures, one download counter, and one upload counter. Usually these will increase as I view pages or downloads off the internet.
But lately these figures have been counting up on their own, without me even having to open an internet page or program. In fact just as I have written this between the two they have ticked up over 5mb.
I am on a limit of 1000mb per month, and this is killing me, please help………
Unfortunately you probably have a virus or similar Trojan… such as Downloader. (Symantec name for a particular trojan)
Update your antivirus and run it in safe mode on your computer.
Alternatively someone may be using your connection…
Ben, try right clicking the picture icon or name in explorer, then selecting properties and changing the properties…
Please help me
I am building a computer and I cant get it to start up. I am using a Fatal1ty Aa8xe mobo and an Ultra X-Connect p.s. and a P4 3.6ghz hyper threading 64bit proccessor and 1gb of DDR2 ram. The mobo takes a 24 pin power supply and im using a 20 pin but it says that its backwards compatable with the 20 if i plug it in the right place. Ive checked my power supply and i have sent the motherboard off to be fixed but when i got the new one it did the same thing. On the Post Code display it displays a power error. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about abit fatal1ty mobos and if you could help me with this.
Seems like you need the right power supply!
I’ve had my ASUS desktop for a little over a year now, it has just run out of Warranty and it has started to now break. It turns on, makes all the normal sounds and noises of a turned on computer, fans moving and usual bleeping sounds but on the screen it says theres no “signal input” and it remains blank in this odd state. I leave the computer in this coma like state, 10-20 mins later i switch it off and back on and it boots up fine! Its not the ram as ive tested it in other machines, and its not the bios battery as ive replaced that with a fresh one! Any ideas? Its slowly driving me mad!!
Have you run an updated virus scan and run separately an updated malware program? Have you tried an alternate power supply? Count the number of beeps when the computer boots and compare that with the diagnostics provided by Asus.
Yeh ive run 5 seperate mal ware on my computer, as well as a full safe mode scan and its clean. Yes i’ve also used a different power supply to no avail. The correct number of beeps happen when the computer finally boots up, other wise it just stays in its “coma” state.
Try it with your wireless card removed.
Tom, Nope its still not booting up immediatly
Ben Riley, I’ve run out of ideas…
No worries, if anyone else has anything to try its much apprecitated
Yesterday there was a power failure while i was watching a movie… Afterwards when i started the pc, on the logging screen, i can’t log in as admin. It doesn’t take the password. I can log in as guest. The problem is that even if i format the pc, i’ll loose my files. Do you know any way to retrieve these files, without logingg as admin?? Thank you.
gurnygob,
I have a Gateway laptop and it great. £378.00
mind you in $ that will be a good bit more.
GURNYGOB,
The best way to learn about computers is to get on one. I know they can be a bit scary to start with but trust me you will pick it up. I am 47 years old and only got my computer 2 years ago. I knew nothing about them before that and now I have 5 web blogs up and running. Go on give it a go.
Brian,
You could try getting rid of the Norton Internet Security software. There are free security virus software on the net. I have had problems with Norton myself. When I tried to get rid of it, I couldn’t. I had to go online and download a Nortin removal tool.
I’m not saying it is Norton, but it could be.
Brian,
I also think its the power supply.
This site is really a good one, i like it / Raj
How many beeps does it do….. It will reveal your issue.
So many problems with computer so you need to troubleshoot
your computer online via remote so read once for that
Thanks a lot for all the information…More Power
I’ve got a tricky one for you all; If I open excel and
then open a file, it works good, but when I send that
same file to the desktop, then shutdown excel, then
double click the desktop excel file, it ask me to install
excel program and the 25 digit code. I no longer can
find the original CD with the code on it, but excel
works if I open excel first, then open that same file.
How can I fix the desktop shortcutting, or where can I
dig into my computer to get the existing 25 digit code?
I am using Windows XP, Thanks, Steve
I have lost count of the number of times I have wanted to strangle everybody who has any connection with Microsofts support. It’s so infuriating to have a problem and knowing that you could get it fixed if somebody would jusy answer the damn phone and speak to you.
Let’s find solution to your IT needs.
It’s true that many folks who have never used computers are often intimidated by them, but once they begin using one, things get much easier. After all, they design operating systems so that even folks with little or no computer background can learn to use them.
Have a system with a CD drive & a DVD drive. Music CDs
play fine & sound great. For DVDs the video is fine but the
audio is garbled. I’ve tried multiple DVD player softwares
with the same result. I also attached a USB DVD player with
the same results.
What could be causing the audio issues on the DVD drive?