My I hate computers rant

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scamper340

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Spent the whole weekend setting up a new wireless router so I can use my laptop in the garage. Bought an HP Pavillion a couple of years ago while I was activated with the reserves. This was a pretty expensive computer too. Used it for a year, came home and it crashed on me. Sent it back to HP to have a new hard drive put in, mind you it was 2 months out of warranty, cost me $700 after it was all said and done. Got it back and never used it until now. I spent the whole weekend updating all the software and installing anti-virus software, and spyware programs. Now the damned thing is slow as hell, just hangs forever until it does anything if it does at all. Took the battery out and ran on just the adapter to see if that would do anything, since the battery is stone dead. Now it won't recognize my network. I'm about ready to throw this piece of crap out the 2nd story window! Wasted time that I could have been working on the Scamp. Not to mention the wasted money, over $2000 that I could have used toward the car. Did I mention that I hate computers? :angryfir:
 
Don't throw it out a second story window. To get it into small enough bits it has to hit the ground from at least 30 stories. Been through the same thing with my HP Pavilion. To get through this just keep repeating "Must do this to get to FABO". That's what got me through it. Hang in there.
 
Its all those antivirus and spyware programs (condoms) that are using up the resouces (ram) and making the thing slow. Nothing to do with the battery.
Todays pc needs atleast a gigabyte of double duty ram to keep up.
I've never felt the need for all that protection. No pirating sites, no **** sites, no problems. Online since 1998
 
Yep. memory is the thing. Is your network "secure"? Maybe that's why it won't recognize it.

Then again maybe not. I just recently dumped Norton 360 off my machines for two reasons. #1 it's a resource hog and #2 I wasn't gonna pay to renew the license on it. Dumping it has allowed 1/2 my network to work.

My laptop is wireless, while my shop puter is hardwired to the DSL modem. I can now access the laptop from the shop, but not the other way around. Course, I couldn't do THAT much while Norton was running. And the big problem is I need access that way more than the other due to the printer and pic files.

Remember...."To err is human. But to really screw things up you need a computer"
 
RedFish said:
I've never felt the need for all that protection. No pirating sites, no **** sites, no problems. Online since 1998
Click to expand...

As an IT guy, I must say that this is the worst advice I've ever heard. There are worms out there that can infect Windows XP within in minutes of being online without antivirus protection. You don't even have to go anywhere other than the Windows Update site. If you are online, no matter what site you are going to, you need antivirus and anti-spyware software. These need to be installed BEFORE you go online. Without them it is like leaving the front door of your house open.

If you installed AV software after your updates, your machine is likely infected.

Get any of the "Big 3" Internet Security programs - McAfee, Trend Micro or Symantec.

The free stuff is worth what you pay for it.
 
Thanks for the insight guys. Here's the specs on my POS laptop. HP Pavillion ze5185, Pentium 4, 2.40GHz, 512MB RAM. I'm thinking the RAM might be the culprit. I forgot how long I've had this thing. Anyway, I've installed and run Mcafee Security Suite, Spyware Doctor, and Ad-aware 2008. I cleaned up and defragged the hard drive. It's weird, sometimes it acts fine and other times it hangs while trying to run something. Right now I'm running Ad-Aware and it's taking forever. It looks like I lost my settings when I took the battery out so I'll have to go back and set up my network again. Maybe I should spring for some RAM, or I might just say screw it and start looking at new ones. Thanks grumpus, that's the exact reason I'm restraining myself, lol. I figure since I spent the money, I might as well try and get some use out of it.
 
What Operating System? XP or Vista?

For XP, you want a minimum of 1GB of RAM, preferably 2GB. For Vista, you want a min of 2GB, put in more if you can afford it.

Or better yet, if you have Vista, contact HP and INSIST that the machine be downgraded to XP. It can be done, it is perfectly legal, and will probably cure all of your problems. Vista SUCKS, especially for wireless. Good luck!
 
Thanks lilcuda, my laptop is operating on XP Home, and has 512 MB of RAM. Guess that explains some of it. Guess I should start looking at RAM. Grrrr... I was hoping to have this thing up and running by the end of the weekend.
 
Do yourself a favor and next time get a Mac. PCs just suck, period. Spyware, viruses, Norton, Vista - non issues for Mac users. Plus, they're easy to use and last forever. I've had my current Mac for 4+ years and it still will outrun any PC on the market. 8)
 
My sister installed a firewall on mine, slowed everything down and blocked access to the network. So you could try disabling that to see what happens, if you have one.
 
Well, my rant isn't going to happen, I'll just say what happen and you all will understand.

It went Ka-Put. I don't know what happen period. I just don't have anything but a paper weight currently and this lap top is the only one left.

I have lost every picture of every car related item, lock stock and BBl. ARUGH!!!!!!
 
Rumblefish there may still be hope for your computer. The Geek Squad or any other similar service should be able to image your hard drive and retrieve most of the data. Unless there is something physically wrong with the drive ie it is smashed the data should be retrievable.

On my Dell laptop I had the Biometric Thumb drive security that went haywire one day and wouldn't recognize my thumb print anymore. I called Dell and they said there was no way to bypass. So I took my computer to a shop called the "Computer Surgeon" and he was able to get all of my data off of my computer. He wiped the drive clean reloaded the programs and data for about $200.

Good luck.
 
Ahhh, Scuba, thanks. The wife is going to get on it Tuesday I hope. She works as a RN with 3 - 12 hours days in a row. We''ll see if she's tired or not... LOL She'll be tired. She's preety good as is. Geek squad is last resort.

I think I have a buddy local that may be able to help. He's local and will just need to be contacted for a date if need be.

I'm not sure what happened, but it is a bummer. The best part of it is, most pictures are repeatable and many are on line here and elsewhere.

The ones that aren't are of the kids and family.
 
I would definitely find a local geek shop and have it checked out carefully......

But listen.........I have a P4 512K just like yours, and it runs fine......BUT, it wasn't always that way........ran slow due to adware crap.......got it cleaned with a simple "spyware doctor" download, and it was much better....THEN, we added the free download of "Mozilla Firefox" to run as a browser alternative to Internet Explorer........IE was just MISERABLE........susceptible to constant adware and stuff, and just plain SLOW.........

Mozilla sped things up by about 2 to 3 fold....NO JOKE......For online use, it's the answer for slow responses...........

We still have IE in there, but very seldom use it now. You can download it free when you get up and running...........Add another memory card in the slot if you have one, or maybe double the size of your existing card for better results too........BUT, I would try Mozilla first.

:read2:
 
There is a very simple fix for all of the infuriating B.S. Micorsoft PC problems.

Buy a MAC!

All your problems will cease immediately. I don't think they even have a blue screen.
 
Well, I bit the bullet last night, and ordered a GIG of RAM for the laptop. I already have Firefox and will most likely use that for my browser while in the garage. One thing I did was delete anything unneccessary off my hard drive. It seems to be a little faster now, hopefully with the new RAM it will be even better. Now I just need to set up my network connection again. Once it's up and running, I'll get some new pics of the Scamp up on here.
 
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