WinXP Weirdness

[vinylkid58]

I've been using Firefox for the past year, I really like it.

Jeff

[phn]

Thanks guys.

The problems started when the PC refused to start a couple of days ago. Nothing. I first thought the motherboard had fried. In fact, I was pretty sure something major had happened. But before taking it to the dealer I checked all connections and cleaned it. I don't want to have the dealer tell me there's nothing wrong with it. Whatever was wrong was now fixed.

Later the PC started to crash. I used Win 2000 before going XP. The only differences I can see between the two are that it's easier to set up a network with XP (everything is PnP) and that XP is a lot more stable. It had never crashed before. I use the "Classic" Windows look, so there's really no difference in my case.

I do have Ad-Aware and Spybot. But I have no active anti virus program. And I have ZoneAlarm, which is one program I couldn't live without. Without it I wouldn't know what goes on in my PC.

I will check the links you have posted. An active anti virus program wouldn't hurt. I used to have Norton. Unlike others here I never had any problem with it. It does bog down the PC slightly. I would be more concerned if it didn't. The thing is, I don't visit any potentially harmful sites, type Astalavista. I don't use any P2P. I don't download stuff. I now use msconfig, a program I always used in the past but haven't bothered with the last couple of years.

[mosin]

Like you, I have used both Norton's and Zone Alarm. Both Kerio and Nod32 are better options because they not only do a better job overall, they require significantly fewer of the computer's resources. They are definitely worth a look.

[Netlist]

Its never a bad idea to have several virus scanners running. Unfortunately some don't coexist very well.
AVG and Antivir (both free) are permanently installed on my system without problems.
As malware removal, I use hitmanpro, a nifty batch program that runs a bunch of free anti-spyware tools.
A real pest to get rid of are rootkits. One of the best detection tools is RootkitRevealer.

www.free.grisoft.com
http://www.free-av.com/
www.hitmanpro.nl.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sys...tRevealer.mspx

/Hugo

[bulgin]

Hi Guys

I had some close calls over the years and recently changed over from N/S to Panda. No complaints, everything a bit faster. Oh. well - if I HAVE to have a niggle - the pop-up pane informing all is OK IS a bit big...

@ The inimitable, one and only mosin. Regards from the southern tip of l'Afrique du Sud!

bulgin

PS Hell, I love them bakelite plugs and sockets

[phn]

My desktop is dead again. It lights up and you hear the usual start up noises/relay-type clicks. But nothing happens. The "hard drive lamp" lights up (it doesn't blink) and then goes out after maybe 15 seconds. No connection with the monitor. I tried another hdd I have laying around. It's defect, but does sort of work. So it's not hdd related. I suspect it's the PSU, but can't say. I got rather weird measurements from the 5/12V hdd connector (I'm sure it has a name): 12 some volts and 7-something. That may not mean anything. And I did the measuring quite hastily.

[Netlist]

Bad PSU, bad and/or dusty CPU and video card blowers and bad MoBo (capacitors) is what I would check first.

/Hugo

[phn]

The PC's up and running again!

I couldn't say, but suspect it's the PSU. I hope it is, anyway. It makes this annoying high-pitch whining whenever you do something. Have wanted to replace it with one of those silent PSUs for a long time. But I hate fixing with the PC. Now I have the excuse to do it.

[Netlist]

Originally posted by phn
annoying high-pitch whining

A blower that's end of life?

/Hugo