More Computer Problems

[RogerDuke]

I really do hate computers. I only started using them because I was told I could find Dukes related stuff on the internet. After using the HazzardNet for a few years I started branching off to other things but now I'm going in the other direction and am down to three things. Now all I use this contraption for is HazzardNet, e-mail and fantasy sports. I'm slowly phasing my way out of fantasy sports for various reasons and it looks like I'll end up being where I was when I first started, just HazzardNet. I seem to be a lot happier when I'm on this thing less. One of the reasons is all the problems I have with it. They're constant. Thankfully my son-in-law is a computer engineer and cleans it up several times a year. Right now it's all messed up again. Luckily he's coming over Saturday but the way it usually works is that he fixes it, then a week later more problems develop. Then I'm stuck with this piece of junk for a couple more months until he comes again. Sometimes I think we were better off with our 12 year old Dell.

Anyways, I'm sorry for not logging in but I get so frustrated with computer problems that it's just becoming not as fun anymore since I'm constantly fighting pop ups, disconnections, long delays, and every other imaginable problem. It takes an hour to do the simplest thing. Hopefully things will get better after my son-in-law visits. For now I'm cursing the invention of computers and probably won't be logging in for the rest of the week until my son-in-law can fix this thing and explain why it hates me so much. Maybe it's because I told it the only thing it's good for is the HazzardNet. Oh well, at least it's good for something.

[Meadowmufn]

Sounds like you're having as much fun as I've had with the HazzardNet server the past week, Rog. I think I FINALLY have all the problems ironed out (she said hopefully). At the very least, I've stopped getting emails every few hours saying that the server's down, up, down, up, down.... (Fingers crossed.) It took me forever to figure out what was going on because there were multiple problems, including a site of my sister's that had been hacked and used to send spam. Ugh. I spent a LOT of time deleting spam and bounced emails.... on the order of 100,000 of them. I have upgraded, updated, hardened, secured, and done everything else you can think of to the server this week. Hopefully, it'll be stable for a while.

Computers... you can't live with them, you can't toss them out the window because eventually you'll need them again for something and they're too expensive to replace too often.

[HossC]

Roger, I think there's only one solution :

Hey presto! No more computer problems.

[Roth Potter]

If you do that you won't have computer problems anymore,but you will have problems caused by the computer. Cutting your hands.

Hope to see you back online soon Roger.

[RogerDuke]

Thanks for these responses.

My son-in-law says that we have contracted a virus and he was unable to remove it.

After doing a few procedures the computer is fine for now but he's not optimistic that it will last.

I suspect I got the virus from playing fantasy baseball but I can't be sure so I won't mention which venue I play fantasy baseball in. If the virus isn't their fault I wouldn't want to hurt their reputation....especially since I'm sure that they do everything they can to prevent hackers from doing bad things.

I have decided to quit fantasy sports after baseball season is over. It's not just the concern of viruses. It just takes up too much time and I was a much happier person when the only thing I used a computer for was HazzardNet and e-mail.

Thanks for all the work you've been doing on the server Meadowmufn!

[HossC]

I should have known better than to mock someone with a computer problem. Last night I turned off my laptop as normal, but this morning all it wanted to do was beep at me. This evening I managed to get online via a friend's computer and it looks like I have a known problem with the GPU (the bit that handles the graphics) that requires the replacement of the whole main board. It's out of warranty, so I'll have to weigh up my options. Needless to say, my access and contributions to HNet will be limited until I can resolve this situation .

[Roth Potter]

Hoss, hope to see you soon online again.

But if i can give you a tip, i wouldn't buy a new GPU. i'd go for a new laptop as a new GPU is really hard to come by and are mostly more expensive then a whole new laptop.

[Meadowmufn]

Same thing happened to my brother, Hoss. It was cheaper for him to get a whole new laptop than to replace the GPU.

[RogerDuke]

We all can certainly relate to having a love-hate relationship with our computers.

It's especially frustrating when you don't know much about them. I'm quite certain I'm the most computer illiterate person here on the HazzardNet. Being computer illiterate just makes things 10 times more frustrating.

I was going to try Hoss's idea of putting the computer in the blender but then I realized that I'd ruin it.....the blender that is.

I hope you get your problem fixed soon Hoss.

By the way, if I have a computer virus is there any way I can spread it without knowing I'm doing so? I'm not suggesting that I might have caused Hoss's problems but I do want to act responsibly. I never post links (because I don't know how) so I suspect I can't spread this virus.

My computer's been fine lately though so the news isn't all bad.

[HossC]

Roger, unless you're emailing people infected files, you're not spreading viruses. You should never connect to the internet without some kind of anti-virus program - there are even some good free ones. Having said that, my brother's computer go a virus a week or two back, and he has the same A/V as me (it's all fixed now).

I Googled my problem and replacing the GPU isn't an option. Some people have replaced the whole main board, but there don't seem to be many around (especially the updated version where my problem is unlikely to reoccur). I found a reconditioned unit like mine on Ebay at a fraction of the price of the current equivalent, but they lied about shipping to Ireland . I'll have to see if I can get one sent to my brother and forwarded over to me. In the meantime, I have been offered a loan machine for a few days. I'll miss all my programs and music, but at least I'll be online .

I can't try the blender option because we don't have one. I wonder if a toasted sandwich maker would fix it?

BTW. I'm using Google Chrome on this computer and found it amusing that its built-in spell checker doesn't recognize the word "Googled"!

[HossC]

I wonder if a toasted sandwich maker would fix it?

I wrote this last night as a joke, but I was looking for solutions for someone else's computer problem earlier when I came across a video on YouTube that recommended taking out the main board and baking it in an oven. My suggestion doesn't sound so mad now .

[Roth Potter]

I wrote this last night as a joke, but I was looking for solutions for someone else's computer problem earlier when I came across a video on YouTube that recommended taking out the main board and baking it in an oven. My suggestion doesn't sound so mad now .

That will only work when you have a loose soldering, it will melt them back together slightly. If it already broken i don't see why you shouldn't try it. don't put the oven too high though as you might melt some other parts inside.

But the easiest and safest way is just to buy a new laptop.

[RogerDuke]

I've officially gone back to the future.

In early 2007 I'd never touched a computer because I had no use for them.

Then someone told me that you could find anything on a computer.

Of course my next question was "Dukes of Hazzard?" The rest is HazzardNet history.

In 2010 I started getting into fantasy sports and then political forums and car forums and astronomy stuff. I got overloaded. Earlier this year I started thinning things out until all that was left was HN and fantasy sports. Now I've even quit fantasy sports and I'm back to living like it was 2007 all over again.

Since we got rid of our 12 years old Dell and bought this laptop, fantasy sports has never worked right but I put up with it. It constantly kicked me off and things constantly popped up that were irritating.....and then the viruses came. Six more today alone. So I quit and feel like a big weight has been lifted.

And yes we have an anti-virus program and I have a son-in-law who is a computer engineer but none of that helped. I can't 100% sure blame fantasy sports but everything is pointing to that.

I hope I don't miss fantasy sports. For now I'm celebrating putting it behind me. If I start to miss it I'll put pop in a Dukes episode. That always seems to fix what ails me.

[RogerDuke]

Here we go again. Now the computer has a malware infection (whatever that is) and is completely unusable. I don't often get a chance to use a computer anywhere else so I likely won't be logging much until it's fixed. We have had had more trouble in a year with our laptop than all the years of a big computer combined. All our virus updates are in place and my son-in-law (who is a computer engineer) is always maintaining it but none of that seems to help. I'm so sick of technology. Grrrr!

[Roth Potter]

Here we go again. Now the computer has a malware infection (whatever that is) and is completely unusable. I don't often get a chance to use a computer anywhere else so I likely won't be logging much until it's fixed. We have had had more trouble in a year with our laptop than all the years of a big computer combined. All our virus updates are in place and my son-in-law (who is a computer engineer) is always maintaining it but none of that seems to help. I'm so sick of technology. Grrrr!

according to wikipedia malware is:

software used or programmed by attackers to disrupt computer operation, gather sensitive information, or gain access to private computer systems.

using a laptop doesnt make it more sensitive to malware. a laptop is simply said a computer in a portable exterior.

Roger, can i ask you what anti-virus software you are using?

I hope for you the problems are fixed soon.

[RogerDuke]

Thanks for the response Roth.

I'm not sure if the moderators want me to mention the type of virus protection I have because I don't want to criticize them if it's not their fault. I will say that it costs 130 dollars per year and is paid up until October. I'm finding out that virus protection does no good against malware.

In the meantime, my son-in-law (the computer engineer) has the computer and won't be able to work on it right away. I likely won't be logging in until Tuesday at the earliest. This has been so frustrating. The most frustrating part is that we'll just encounter another problem when it gets back. All it seems to do is move on to the next problem once one gets resolved.

[HossC]

Roger, it sounds like you've been unlucky - computers aren't always that bad.

I have mainly good news to report. My replacement laptop arrived today, and I'm nearly back in business. I just need to tie down what I assume is a software setting that's intermittantly interrupting my internet connection. :)/:(

[Meadowmufn]

For battling malware, I would recommend MalwareBytes and SuperAntiSpyware. The last time I checked, they had free versions. They've gotten me out of plenty of jams when I was using Windows (which I don't anymore). I haven't had a virus or malware since I switched to a Mac (knock wood!!!).

[RogerDuke]

I just found out that my son-in-law hasn't even looked at my computer yet so I'm still playing the waiting game.

[RogerDuke]

My son-in-law wasn't able to fix our computer so we're going with a plan B and if that doesn't work plan C, which is the blender Hoss suggested.

If my wife decides to replace the computer with one of those android phones or iphones or smart phones or whatever it is you call them I might not be around HazzardNet too much. I can't stand those little gadgets. The younger generation has replaced human friends with electronic gizmo friends and they treat those things like they're objects worthy of worship. It's not just the younger generation. I know several people who you can't even have a conversation with because their gizmos take priority over human interaction. I want no part of that kind of technology. Cell phones (and these new gadgets that I call cell phones on steroids) are changing human beings and the change will hurt us all in the long run.

[Roth Potter]

My son-in-law wasn't able to fix our computer so we're going with a plan B and if that doesn't work plan C, which is the blender Hoss suggested.

If my wife decides to replace the computer with one of those android phones or iphones or smart phones or whatever it is you call them I might not be around HazzardNet too much. I can't stand those little gadgets. The younger generation has replaced human friends with electronic gizmo friends and they treat those things like they're objects worthy of worship. It's not just the younger generation. I know several people who you can't even have a conversation with because their gizmos take priority over human interaction. I want no part of that kind of technology. Cell phones (and these new gadgets that I call cell phones on steroids) are changing human beings and the change will hurt us all in the long run.

Android phones and iPhones are smartphones, this means they are small portable computers with a built in phone.

I am from the younger generation (19 years old) and I don't have one (luckly), they take up way too much time and they always need to to stay on to be called to. I'm just using a Nokia i got for free, it got a camera and can play music but i'd way rather use a pc or laptop for that stuff. I always rather have something with a mouse instead of a touchscreen.

As for buying a smartphone instead of a normal computer or laptop. i would so not do that. A Smartphone costs something like 500 euro, I don't know how much that is in dollars. With a smartphone to be able to read most websites you have to zoom in and zoom out a lot. which is very annoying. also, looking at such small screens is very hard for older people, I don't know how old you are Roger so sorry if I offended you in any way.

Anyway, if you are only using a pc for internet and things like word a cheap laptop is more then enough, the reason I say laptop is because it has a big screen and portable. so you can put it on the dining table or so and sit there instead to walk up to a room with the pc. Also, you can easily put it away.

[RogerDuke]

Well, our computer might be fixed. It's worked the last 3 out of 4 times we've used it so I'm starting to feel a little optimistic.

It looks like I have a lot to catch up on here.

For those of you who don't already know......make sure your computer has malware protection in addition to virus protection.

[Roth Potter]

I'm glad for you the computer seems to be fixed.

[CARLOS-ARGENTINO]

hello friends, my computer works fine, my big problem was memory in my brain, I lost the password and could not re-enter HazzardNet, 2 long months i was out of this great group of friends and could only follow by facebook, now I'm here , I closed my facebook because of problems with my wife, nothing serious but it's better that way.

I was impressed with the post-behind the scenes, photos, is something hard to describe the mixture of emosion and sadness at the same time.

BIG HUG TO ALL. WANT THE LOT.

[RogerDuke]

We have had more trouble with this computer in a year than all the 10 years combined with our old computer. It doesn't matter what we do or who helps us with it, it is nothing but trouble. I've gotten to the point where I hate the thing and just want to quit using it altogether. If I don't step away from it and take some deep breaths for a few days I'm going to smash this piece of garbage.

It has basically become unusable again so I suppose we'll need to call in yet another expert to help. I feel so battle fatigued from constantly fighting it.