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Anyone want to help me kill my computer?

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Anyone want to help me kill my computer?

from JoeUser Forums
I dont' really want to kill my computer but I am having EXTREMELY irritating problems with it. I don't know where the problem lies and I need help.

I have Vonage and get phone service without interuption, so I know the modem and router are working fine. But somewhere between the router and the computer it all goes to heck. The computer says I have a LAN connection, but I can't access the internet. The only think that works is turning everything off and rebooting....to include unplugging the modem and router.

I've tried everythingk I know to figure out the problem. Sometimes i get a warning that no IP connection can be established and than other times I see a warning about a gateway. i am very frustrated. HELP!

And for bonus credit, I could use advice on whether I really need to upgrade. I run Adobe Photoshop CS2 and I'm locking up the computer constantly. I've tried to not mulittask too much, but I'm still running very slow. I have 1gig of ddrsdram and a 200 gb hd I have an AMD Athlon 64 3400+ (Emachines T6520) Do I really need a new graphics card and more Ram? I know I have 2 512 sticks so I'd have to buy 1 gig sticks and lose out on the money I paid for the 512s.......right?

I confess, I'm an idiot when it comes to the magic workings of computers....I know they work, I'm just not big on knowing how. But if you could explain it to me or give me an affordable recomendation.....I'd really be grateful.
125,757 views 38 replies
Reply #26 from JoeUser Forums Top
Has your connection always had problems, or is this a recent issue? If so, what was the last change you made?


ummmmmmm, Mostly recent? but getting worse. I had problems with connectivity before, but forced Time Warner to replace my modem. That sort of stopped the problem and then it started happening again. What change did I make? ummmm, nothing that I can think of.....

Sorry to be so clueless.

just fomat the c drive which xp is there and reinsrall it


hmmmm. i don't know if I want to reformat windows.....that's a bit more than I feel comfortable doing.....
Reply #27 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I'm running on an eMachines T2482 (basically the same machine with a lesser processor and less ram, both of which I've upgraded). My machine is a little less powerful than yours, and I've had similar problems. As for the connection, check your router settings (usually typing 192.168.1.1 into your browser's address bar will do it, if that doesn't work try 192.168.100.1 or 192.168.1.2, otherwise check your manual) and make sure "port forwarding" is completely disabled. If you don't already know, routers distribute the connection by breaking it up into thousands of little "ports", each one (or group of a few hundred) serving a different purpose (for instance, bittorrent uses ports 6881 and up, and many online games use higher, browsers use lower). You can set up your router to selectively allow access from certain machines to certain ports, therefore limiting or eliminating your internet connectivity, while still being "connected" to the network. It's possible that some ports are being forwarded to your phone so that the vonage service never loses its integrity, but that shouldn't be necessary. This was my problem for a while, since I turned on port forwarding to speed up a download by giving it my browser ports, then forgot to change it back. If that isn't the problem, check all your cables. Sometimes if a network cable is pinched or crimped, the internet won't work, but due to the fact that your cable is plugged in, your computer will register a "connection". If this is the problem, you may have to replace your cords. As for the laggyness and freezing up while using PS CS2, my machine isn't as good as yours, and it runs PS CS2 fine (while at the same time running Alcohol 120%, my browser, and various StarDock and Object Desktop skinning programs. Have you considered cleaning out your hard drive? There's got to be a lot of useless crap on there for it to run that slowly. I've got a 300gb hard drive, and in order to keep my PC running smoothly I have to routinely "tidy it up". Another solution is defragmenting your drive. That alone may solve the problem. As for the ram, I'm running on 512mb ram and I still run all those processes flawlessly. (we have the same processor.) Your graphics card has absolutely nothing to do with the speed of your computer. The only time you need to upgrade that is if you get a new game that your card is incompatible with, and that's about it. Reformatting and reinstalling windows should be your last resort, although it's gotten me out of serious jams I otherwise would have been stuck in. Good luck, and if you need any more help or information, just ask.
Galactic Civilizations III
Reply #28 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Another thing you can try is thinking back to the last things you installed on your computer and uninstalling them in backwards chronological order, each time restarting and testing to see if that solved the problem. This will usually help you pinpoint which program is causing the problem (if it's a program). Unfortunately, Windows doesn't allow you to sort your programs by date installed, only by date last used.
Reply #29 from WinCustomize Forums Top
When Was The Last Time You Defragged,Or Cleaned Your Browser Cache,How About Your Java Cache Or Perhaps An Overload Of Zero Files Caused By System Errors,When Was The Last Time You Defragged Your Registry Or Performed Boot Defrag.Its Just Like A Car.If You Don't Maintain It It Won't Work.
Reply #30 from WinCustomize Forums Top
lifehappens, do not run two virus scanners at once. I like the MS Antispyware plus SpybotS&D and AdAware, you're good to go with those if you run the latter two once every two weeks.

If Windows Firewall is all you are using, try finding ZoneAlarm for free (5.1 I think), or even sign up for the Windows OneCareLive, which comes with a nice firewall for those who are not too expert in firewalls.

Your machine seems set up nicely, so upgrading would only be for your personal satisfaction but not really needed. Try checking out how many startup programs you are using, more than 10 and you begin to loose some performance. "Autoruns" at sysinternals.com will be a fine addition and tells you what you have going on. If you want to keep it simple, just "run" msconfig at the run command in your start menu. Click the "startup" tab and uncheck what you don't need, then reboot. You can use this process to figure out which apps are sucking away your performance.

Also, check your page file settings. Personally, I set mine to zero. Seems to perform very well for my setup. But, just to be sure, set your initial to 1.5 times your memory and your maximum to 3 times memory installed. If no gain or worse, try setting to "no page file". With all that memory, you might not need it. All depends on your machine. Each machine has it's own personality. As far as Stardock products, I don't have problems with apps and memory. Except for GIMP, which I use instead of CS2. Whenever I apply a skin and have GIMP running, my CPU usage goes through the roof. REstarting GIMP cures it, but I've yet to find a true fix for it.

Island Dog and Cynder are giving good advice with "uninstall Norton" as quickly as possible. It's a hog and does what it wants without much thought to asking the user. Does things that Windows doesn't get too happy with. Avast for a Virus Scanner would be my first choice, however, in testing the OneCare mentioned above I've come to like it also. AVG would be another good choice for free VS. None of those I've suggested do nasty things to Windows and get along well together. Remember not to run more than one VS at a time.

As I am not familar with Time Warner, I don't have much to add to the suggestions above. If you have a connection, but is sometimes lacking check out cablenuts.com. You might find some good reading and maybe even some tweaking that you can apply to get more out of your connection. My connection has been greatly improved with their free tweak program. You must do a little math yourself to get it all filled in, but it's worth it and not too hard when following the sites' instructions.

Knowledge is power. Read up on your service descriptions. 90% of the time it's a simple and trivial setting that the user has overlooked. Good luck.
Reply #31 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I would doubt very much that you've had the misfortune of two bum modems. Midget has a very good point about checking your port connections, Microsoft's Firewall will similarly block programs from connecting to internet servers and such, but MS Firewall usually alerts you to allow the connection.

If you're running Norton, AdAware and Spybot now, those are enough to keep your system clean of most bugs. Scorpio had a good point in running only one scan at a time, that in itself will bog your system down. I'd also recommend adding SpywareBlaster to your arsenal, check download.com for that. Make sure those programs are always up-to-date otherwise they're mostly useless.

If you haven't already, you should also set up a daily schedule to run a Norton scan, Microsoft Automatic Update, and a defragment. If you've never set up a schedule before, you can find the Scheduled Tasks folder in your Control Panel. The Add a Scheduled Task wizard is pretty straight forward. Pick a convenient time (usually during the night) and place those about an hour apart on a daily basis. This is a nice way to automate most of the grunt work in keeping current. When you set up a defragment, add the drive letter you want to defragment to the end of the Run: field, it should look like this "C:\WINDOWS\system32\defrag.exe C:".

While completely reformatting is always a last resort, it's become much easier recently, most factory assembled machines (I'm assuming eMachines too) come with a recovery disc that'll wipe and reload your basic system. It's probably the most reliable way to nix whatever problems you're having that originate from software issues.

There was a new worm going around a week or two ago, Microsoft released an Auto-update to block it, but if it's on you PC already, there's only one way to get rid of it...
Reply #32 from WinCustomize Forums Top
As a Vonage user, the only time I had connectivity issues was when the router went *through* the phone adapter. Once I used the alternate setup of having the phone adapter plugged into the router, I had no further problems.
Reply #33 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Just for anyone else who really wants to smash up a computer I started a company a few months ago. We charge $10 for you to step inside a plexi-glass room and smash the crap out of an old computer. So far it been fairly lucrative..................
Reply #34 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Just for anyone else who really wants to smash up a computer I started a company a few months ago. We charge $10 for you to step inside a plexi-glass room and smash the crap out of an old computer. So far it been fairly lucrative..................


Where you located? Sounds like it would be worth the trip!
Reply #35 from WinCustomize Forums Top

plexi-glass room

That'd make it America....

Otherwise it'd be 'perspex room'...

Reply #36 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I may have an answer to your network problems....Try this ONLY if you have Windows XP Service Pack II:
Go to the Control Panel and look at it through the classic view.
Select "Windows Firewall"
Make sure it is OFF
Go to "Start"
Select "Run"
type "cmd"
enter "netsh"
enter "winsock"
enter "reset"
You will the have to restart your machine.
This pretty much just sends Time Warner a swift kick in the nuts, thus telling them to get in line...Works like a charm for when you are getting bad connections, or not connecting. It also does well whenever they limit you ISP usage, which they have a tendancy to do. It's a good idea for everyone to do it once in a while.
-TT
Reply #37 from WinCustomize Forums Top
back up

format

reinstall OS

UPDATES ( autoservicepack)
RUN firewalls & antivirrus BEFORE you install any of your backed up files..
Reply #38 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Sometimes it is a good idea to just start fresh and reinstall the O/S, but the problem maybe your router. Having done thousands of home network setups I have always found that you MUST update the firmware on your router (See your routers owners manual and/or website). The routers manufacture comes up with updates every so often and you will need to check back evey so often to see if there is an update.

Good luck!