Computer help desk

I have learned more about my computer at the Fort than I ever knew otherwise. We have so many tech-savvy people here. But all the advice is scattered through different threads, so I thought I'd start one general one where maybe people could ask for help with a problem, and you computer gurus could give advice. :)

Um, also, I have a computer problem. :laugh Mine won't shut down. I click "shut down" and it goes as far as a screen that says "Dell" and there it stays. So I have to shut it down manually, and every time I power back up it says I didn't shut down properly and has to scan stuff.
This is a fairly recent development, and I suspect I'm to blame; for a while, I was just putting it on "sleep" or whatever every night. It would go that way for days, till it started acting funny, or not reviving when I clicked the mouse, and then I'd shut down and reboot. I don't know if that's the reason, I'm just guessing here.
So, anyone have any thoughts on what's going on and how I can fix it? :)

I have a kind of similar problem with my laptop...only instead of not shutting down, mine goes beserk if it goes into hibernate or sleep mode. If I leave it for any amount of time and it goes to hibernate (or shut my laptop), I go through the same thing Lucy does. It has to scan because the computer wasn't shut down properly. Sometimes I get the blue screen of death too...never a good sign.

Thanks for starting this thread, Lucy!! I know that sometimes those of us who are less computer literate (read: total dunces) can come across problems that computer gurus just hit a few keys and fix. When I grow up...maybe I will be a computer guru :)

We have been having horrible problems with connection slowdowns, probably because of all adds (even though we have ad aware and spybot, and pop ups supposedly eliminated). My husband downloaded Mozilla Firefox yesterday (a web browser), and the connection is much better (so far so good, knocking on wood). He said that most of the dataminers and whatnot programs are written for Microsoft programs (loopholes in Internet Explorer), so Mozilla should keep the computer cleaner by simply not having those annoying (self installing) programs written for it. I am hoping he is right about this, it has been tiresome to search for information and then have the browser to freeze (or to be suddenly redirected to some search program).

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Originally Posted by Tirlittan

We have been having horrible problems with connection slowdowns, probably because of all adds (even though we have ad aware and spybot, and pop ups supposedly eliminated). My husband downloaded Mozilla Firefox yesterday (a web browser), and the connection is much better (so far so good, knocking on wood). He said that most of the dataminers and whatnot programs are written for Microsoft programs (loopholes in Internet Explorer), so Mozilla should keep the computer cleaner by simply not having those annoying (self installing) programs written for it. I am hoping he is right about this, it has been tiresome to search for information and then have the browser to freeze (or to be suddenly redirected to some search program).

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I use Window Washer (from webroot.com) regularly. It cleans the cache, temp files and other stuff that I have absolutely no clue what they are. My son told me to use Window Washer - so I do. I have to remember my sign on names for the websites I use, since it clears cookies...but I figure a) I rarely sign on to any sites other than FoRT and Quicken and b) keeping the user ID's and passwords straight is excersizing my little brain and warding off old-age feeble-mindedness. :)

Oh ::raising my hand:: I have a question too! :hiya

What do you do when you spill a drink in your laptop keyboard? Yes, I'm a doofus, but I've been drinking beverages over my computer for 15 years now, and never spilled at all until recently. Two weeks ago it was a latte into my son's Mac keyboard, which died completely and did not recover. Yesterday, it was about a tablespoon of diet 7up into my Dell laptop. I blotted it out as best I could with paper towels, but then the keyboard went beserk, then didn't work at all for about 2 hours. It recovered spontaneously, and is ok now, but I'd love to know what I should have done, and what to do next time. :mmm

I keep having problems with disk-clean-up, it stalls and won't run.

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Originally Posted by MalibuPam

Oh ::raising my hand:: I have a question too! :hiya

What do you do when you spill a drink in your laptop keyboard? Yes, I'm a doofus, but I've been drinking beverages over my computer for 15 years now, and never spilled at all until recently. Two weeks ago it was a latte into my son's Mac keyboard, which died completely and did not recover. Yesterday, it was about a tablespoon of diet 7up into my Dell laptop. I blotted it out as best I could with paper towels, but then the keyboard went beserk, then didn't work at all for about 2 hours. It recovered spontaneously, and is ok now, but I'd love to know what I should have done, and what to do next time. :mmm

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Not much you really can do as far as I know... if you drink that frequently you can buy a transparent protective cover for your desktops. I dunno about laptops, though.

Well, keyboards don't cost that much anymore; just keep a spare to use while your first one is drying out! :lol (yes, I do actually have an extra keyboard lying around, it's no joke)

I had a lot of trouble with a trojan and spyware last week. I am finally rid of it, but I have also been using Netscape Navigator instead of Internet Explorer again, in hope of avoiding a reinfestation. Another thing I did was to increase the level of security on my cookies. Now I get a prompt asking me if I want to accept cookie from a particular website or not. It is a little annoying, but its nothing compared to the hell I went through with an infestation in my work computer last week.

Lucy, and Kaicee - I don't know about the shut-down problem, sorry. :shrug I definitely recommend that anyone who is experiencing alot of problems with their computer should burn any crucial documents to a cd before problems progress. You could end up having to reinstall Windows at some point and your personal files could be lost.

I stumbled across a website last week that was very helpful to me in getting rid of my infected files and it also has links to other technical sites, in case anyone is interested.
www.mikemcbrideonline.com

I'm not a computer guru, but I have had a soda or two fall on a keyboard. :blush You turn it upside down and shake out as much as you can and blot with a napkin edge. Then, have one of those cans of air (available at any office supply store) and it will blast out the rest for you.