******** This thread now closed. Please see Volume 50 ********
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=31082
In this thread you may ask any computer related question for which you need help, advice, suggestions or whatever.
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No politics,
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There is a wealth of knowledge in here, much of which is not motoring related, but most of which is useful.
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PLEASE NOTE:
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I've trawled previous posts & none cover quite what I'm asking, which is this.
I have a Dell Dimension with a P3 866Mhz processor. I'd like to speed it up by installing a new motherboard with a faster processor/more memory. Please don't suggest other options, this is what I want to do, as I have pursued most other alternatives!!
I understand that, having changed the motherboard, I need to reinstall Windows XP. My machine was originally Windows ME & I have the upgrade disc which I used to install XP as it now stands. My general question is, if I change the motherboard, can I just reboot & reinstall from the upgrade disc? It seems to me that there are a couple of implications here:
- firstly, it may not boot from the existing C-drive with the new motherboard
- secondly, if I boot from a floppy and try to reinstal XP, will it work as I have an UPGRADE disc & not a full INSTALL disk, will I have to reinstall ME first, then upgrade?
Any suggestions/help gratefully received!
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Upgrade disk should contain everything needed to install a clean installation of XP without having to install ME first. At worst it will ask to look at your ME disk at some stage to confirm that you're using the upgrade legitimately. Upgrade disk should boot from the CD-ROM drive no problems.
I think you're right in that you will have to reinstall XP thanks to MS copyright 'features' which don't allow you to swap HDDs across machines.
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Mike Farrow
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As far as I know, it's unlikely that a non-Dell motherboard will fit a Dell case, so you may need a new case too.
As for installing XP, I think you'll be OK. Certainly it's possible to do a clean installation on your present setup: you just have to put your ME CD in at some point during installation to prove that you're entitled to use the upgrade version. Even with new hardware, I don't think XP will mind that your ME disk is a Dell version.
If you've installed XP very recently, you might fall foul of Windows product activation, but I suspect that isn't an issue for you.
Incidentally, with XP you can boot from the CD. You don't need to use a floppy. Many new PCs don't even have floppy drives.
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As far as I know, it's unlikely that a non-Dell motherboard will fit a Dell case, so you may need a new case too.
I don't know about the motherboard, but the PSU connectors are different slightly. Dell uses an extra plug for their motherboards but most PSUs you can get have this plug just in case anyway.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but your PSU will not have the 4-pin plug that supplies power direct to the CPU for modern processors. So buy a new PSU also. Only about £15 at www.ebuyer.com for 400W.
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Mike Farrow
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Right
Firstly
A new motherboard WILL NOT FIT in the dell case.
The Dell power supply IS NOT SUITABLE*for a new motherboard
*not enough power, wrong pins.
Is your graphics card integrated into the existing motherboard or do you need a new one, or does the new motherbpoard have one integrated?
"Please don't suggest other options, this is what I want to do, as I have pursued most other alternatives!!"
I am sorry this is a foolish upgrade path, and you have obviously not pursued or researched other alternatives properly.
You need a new case, new power supply, new motherboard/cpu/memory.
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£350 will get you a brand new ready built machine (no monitor) with around about:
- 2500 Sempron
- 512 MB DDR RAM
- 120gb HDD
- DVD writer
- 5.1 Sound card
- Onboard LAN
- 32mb graphics
I'm sure you could find a better deal but that's just to give you an idea. My sister needed a computer pronto so I went and bought one of them. Needed to put all the software on myself though.
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Adam
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You can, as you say, do very much better than that...:-)
E-Buyer was advertising an Acer 2.8MHz Sempron system with a superior spec for £279 a couple of weeks ago, but they very quickly disappeared as the price was £60 less than anywhere else.
There is a slightly slower version, but it has an HDD that's only half the capacity plus other slightly less appealling specificatons, although still good value.
E-Buyer also does new MaxView 17in monitors from £47 upwards including VAT.
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Small correction - a Dell motherboard will usually fit in a Dell case. So you cxould buy a Dell m/b that will accept a bigger processor, but this is likely to be cost prohibitive.
Apart from any power and integrated peripheral considerations, the case is "the wrong way round" to fit othere option boards 0 Dell boards usually have a daughter board which fits at 90 degreees to the m/b, then the option cards slot into that. Thus the holes at the back of the case are in the wrong plane...
Keep researching! :-)
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"Small correction - a Dell motherboard will usually fit in a Dell case. So you cxould buy a Dell m/b that will accept a bigger processor, but this is likely to be cost prohibitive."
Not always! its highly likely that a later dell MB will not fit in an earlier dell case!
What you are describing is a 90degree riser card. Takes a single PCI expansion slot and turns it thro 90 degrees for 2, 3 or 4 expansion slots.
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RF, thanks for the advice - I'm glad that several backroomers pointed out that I can't actually fit a non-Dell motherboard in my Dell case. When I said I'd pursued most other alternatives, what I really meant was that I've got 384Mb already & the mother board only takes 512Mb max, and the motherboard will only take a 1GHz processor which is peanuts on top of the existing 866MHz. There didn't really seem any other option to speed up the machine other than more memory & faster processor - hence the need for a new moterboard.
Most newer motherboards have on-board graphics that are fine for what I want the machine for - it's not a gaming machine now that my son has his own, but yes, I do already have a 4x AGP graphics card.
It seems that I can get a reasonable AMD motherboard/CPU/memory bundle for £132, which is a hell of a lot cheaper than a new machine as these are the only bits I need (I already have a DVD-R and separate CD-RW drive which are fine for my simple needs).
The more I hear about Dell machines the more I realise that they're fine for the office but not really suitable for the home once you want to wave any sort of upgarde stick at them!
Once again, thanks for the help and good advice as usual!
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Mike H
Yup dell machines are not made for upgrades.
you all need to add a case (with power supply - can be had for 30 quid or less (stuartli will be along in a tick to say he can get one for 3 peso's) to your amd mobo/cpu/memory bundle and bingo you have a new PC!
Look here for bits (case). www.aria.co.uk
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Over the past 2-3 weeks I have been suffering line drop - sometimes as frequently as four times in a ten minute period.
I complained to my ISP and they have responded by suggesting that I make a new windows connection, reinstall my modem driver, etc., etc..
The point is, as I explained to them, I have made no changes to my setup and this disconnection only happens or is worst at 'busy' times. At other times, I can remain connected without interruption for over an hour.
Before I take up any of their suggestions, does it sound to you like the problem is their end (as I suspect) or with me?
btw It's dialup.
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Hows the phone? does it appear to be any noisier? callers a have a bit less volume?
Pick up the phone, press a single number to silence the dial tone and listen - should be silence.
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If you dial 17070 on your phone you can select from a menu - one of them is the quiet line test.
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Thanks for those, chaps. I tried the suggestion from RF last night and heard no crackles or hum - totally silent. Will try the 17070 when I log off (37 mins uninterrupted so far).
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If it's only happening at peak times it's unlikely to be your line. On the other hand, there's an outside chance that there's a minor line fault that may be temperature or weather-sensitive, so only occuring at particular times.
Get BT to test the line anyway. If they don't find a fault, ask them to increase the gain balance.
It's unlikely that either of these things will do any good, but if you phone your ISP first they will tell you to go away and get them done anyway. You may as well disarm them by saying that you've already done so.
By far the easiest way of dealing with BT is to report a fault on their web site. That way someone will call you back instead of you having to sit in the queue to be answered. The link to report a fault is on their web site at www.bt.com .
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I am running a Pentium 4 2.66 and 512kb memory. When I log on to my DSL line everything runs really fast for the first five minutes, then as I surf things get slower......and slower.....and slower....and slower.
Why?
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Firewall, anti-virus and ad-ware protection ? I'd guess you've got some kind of logger on there.
Get a copy of cw-shredder and see if it reacts. Also search your system for a file called se.dll.
When you're browsing, press alt-ctrl-del and bring up the Task Manager. Click on Processes. Then click on CPU which will sort the running processes by level of CPU usage. When it starts to slow see if you have a process (not system idle) which starts moving up towards the top.
M.
p.s. could the disk be getting full ?
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Yes I've got the latest ZoneAlarm (as of yesterday), Ad_Aware, Search and Destroy, Spyware Blaster, AVG anti-virus. I ran cwshredder but that was geative. Then I ran Spysubtract. This picked up 8 pieces of spyware which the other programs has missed. I deleted all those and there is a certain sense of improvement. Not as fast as I would like though.
I don't seem to have a Task manager with a Processes option anywhere.
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what do you get when you press alt-ctrl-del ? If you are not getting a task mgr, then you still have virus/adware somewhere - although some suppliers did used to disable task manager, this is no longer common.
Go to the Microsoft site and download their spyware catcher - www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=...n might work.
Run that and see what you get.
Then go to www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan/com/acti...m and run the free Panda Scan which will check for viruses and spyware.
Then report back....
You need to use a variety of tools because, especially with spyware, none of them can be guaranteed to find everything on their own.
Did you check for SE.DLL ? You might have a peice of spyware recreating itself, and that's usually either coolwebsearch or se.dll.
M.
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What gets slower? DSL or the PC
When its slow press ALT/CTRL/DEL at the same time. click on task manager, click on processes, and tell us what is consuming the largest percentage of CPU
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soooooo slooooowwwww........
Are you using Growler's DSL RF ?
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Evenin' all...
Our subscription for Symantec Norton Internet Security comes to an end in a couple of weeks.
Rather than pay out, I'm tempted to remove it and find some nice free stuff on t'interweb.
Does anyone have any recommendations on Anti Virus stuff? We've currently got:
Antivirus
Personal Firewall
Privacy Control
Antispam
Parental Control
We're also running spybot to stop spyware, but would ideally like to be as protected as possible!
Thanks in advance,
Steve
DB
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I use the following at the moment. All free versions.
Antivirus - Avast!
Firewall - Sygate Personal Firewall
Privacy Control, Antispam and Parental Control I don't need, so I can't recommend anything.
On the Spyware front, I also use M$ Antispyware Beta and Adaware SE, as Spybot seems to miss a few problems.
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Zonealarm & Grisoft virus software - both free with regular updates.
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DD has it in one
Zonealarm - currently version 5.5.062.011 - you don't need the pro version
Grisoft AVG - again the free version for personal use
also Ad-aware, SpywareBlaster and Spybot Search & Destroy
most of these can be got from download.com or majorgeeks.com
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Zone alarm firewall
Avast anti virus,
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If there are all these freebies available, why does anyone pay for computer security?
What advantages (or otherwise!) are there to what I have, which is McAfee VirusScan and Privacy Service and Webroot Spy Sweeper. Since I'm the only person that uses my computer, McAfee Privacy Service doesn't seem to be of much value to me except that it incorporates a file shredder. (At the moment I rely on Windows Firewall, which I now know is somewhat less than perfect, and I am considering installing McAfee Personal Firewall Plus.)
--
L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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To be honest, we don't need the privacy or parental control - it's just what came with Norton.
Thanks for the recommendations. I am a bit dubious, like L'escargot as to if the free ones are as good as the paid for ones.
One other question. If I download the software whilst still having Norton on the machine, will it cause complications? I don't want to uninstall Norton then go on the web unprotected while I download.
Cheers.
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AVAST anti virus is every bit as good (in fact I think better) than Norton. Avast make a pay version for corporates, but offer the home one (ie single license) for free.
The same applies to Zone Labs. Its extensively used commercially but offers a less advanced one (still works just as well) for free.
You can use those two for free in complete confidence.
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One other question. If I download the software whilst still having Norton on the machine, will it cause complications? I don't want to uninstall Norton then go on the web unprotected while I download.
I recently tried to install ZA on a friend's machine and didn't notice it had been manufacturer supplied with a Norton firewall.
ZoneAlarm immediately pointed this out and said 'it's him or me, not both'.
You could download no problem, but not have both installed.
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If there are all these freebies available, why does anyone pay for computer security? >>
Because they include additional features which are not necessarily of use or interest to home PC users; alternatively, the companies also hope if you like the free version you will upgrade to the paid for variety.
A similar comparison can be made, for instance, with Outlook and Outlook Express - the latter is all that the home user needs (although Mozilla Thunderbird is better!).
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Zonealarm
Ad-aware
spybot
Microsoft anti spyware beta thingy
frequent Panda scans
Although you should bear in mind that there is nothing on my computer I really care about and if it did get infected I'd just blow it away and start again.
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Mark, how good do you find the Microsoft anti spyware beta thingy?
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I dont rely on software firewalls, I use a well configured router hardware firewall.
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No I dont rely on the software firewall either, I have a hrdware firewall, however I like Zone labs as it jumps up and down in an excited manner waving its arms saying "Look some program or item you havent previously allowed is trying to get out on the internet"
Oh really? lets go and investigate.
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just like to add kerio to the firewall list. As above it is the free personal version of an expensive orporate product. Doesnt have all the extras of the paid for version. I like it because its more configurable than the run of the mill stuff.
I am on isdn untill next month when adsl becomes available, so I use an isdn router which is configured to block quite a lot of stuff. When I go adsl I will replace that with a suitable router. Stargazer is right - dedicated hardware beats software any time.
Mark
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Generally excellent. Every now and again there is one that it will not get rid of, even though it pretends it does. On the occasions that happens I either take it out manually or use a.n.other tool.
Bear in mind that I don't get infected, but there are quite a few computers in the village that I clean up from time to time.
Certainly there have been a couple where things like Panda have either just failed or repeatedly blown up which the Micrsoft thingy clears up. That seems to be the about:blank hijackers and se.dll which have to be removed painfully and manually. Fortunately they're reasonably rare.
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Not Mark answering, but just providing an observation.
The reports on various computer forums indicate that the vast majority who have tried it are very impressed with MS's anti-spyware offering (it bought up the company that originally conceived it last year).
In addition, Bill Gates, after much criticism of the fact that MS was planning to charge for the AV which is, after all, intended to sort out security problems it has created itself, has stated that it will be free of charge.
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I have an irritating problem with my all in one. The paper doesn't feed and jams.
The nature of the jamming is that the paper is taken in a little way, but (looking at the printer from the front) it gets stuck on the left hand side, as if something is blocking it.
Any ideas / similar experiences before i get the screwdrivers out?
Thanks
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Try feeding a transparent foil or heavy photo paper (ie something heavier with a nice sharp edge) through first to see if it will remove any blockage
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If it's under warranty call Dell before poking about inside...invalidate warranty etc...
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Try feeding a transparent foil or heavy photo paper (ie something heavier with a nice sharp edge) through first to see if it will remove any blockage
No joy with this, any other ideas. It's out of warranty (i think - it's over 12 months old)
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My home page has mysteriously changed from Freeserve (Wanadoo) ~ which is my ISP ~ to MSN. How has this occurred and how do I get my home page to revert to Freeserve?
--
L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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Try Tools>Internet Options and check Home Page
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As has been said "Tools - Internet Options - General Tab" and then see what your homepage has been set to. I would also do Virus and Adware scan as these sometimes change your "homepage" and even if you change it back, without getting rid of the bug it will chage it back to MSN.
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As has been said "Tools - Internet Options - General Tab" and then see what your homepage has been set to. I would also do Virus and Adware scan as these sometimes change your "homepage" and even if you change it back, without getting rid of the bug it will chage it back to MSN.
Thanks for your help.
I did as you said and peace and calm has now been restored in the L'escargot house ~ or should I say shell! Scanned for viruses and found none but found (and got rid of) an adware which had somehow got past my Webroot Spy Sweeper software.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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L'escargot,
Have you recently been anywhere near the MSN homepage? You might have inadvertantly clicked on "make msn my homepage" type link.
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Messenger installs will hijack it too if you're not careful with the spouse mode "yes, yes, yes, yes..." on the install.
-- Lee Having a Fabialous time.
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Ironically, some software intended to prevent homepage hijacking sets the IE homepage to MSN, even if you've chosen something different.
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I?ve spent a goodly part of today trying to install a 30 day free trial of McAfee Personal Firewall Plus but I?ve failed completely. Because the Information Bar didn?t appear when I think it should have done I had to install McAfee ActiveX controls manually. I?ve configured the IE popup blocker to accept popups from mcafee.com and us.mcafee .co. I?ve set McAfee Privacy Service to accept all popups and, just in case it helped, I?ve configured it to accept cookies from both McAfee sites.
What else can I do?
I?ve come to the limit of my computer literacy and I?m completely stumped. Have I been hoist with my own petard by some computer security that I?ve got but forgotten about?
IE Security and Privacy are both set to Medium. I have XP Home with SP2 and Windows Firewall, and Webroot Spy Sweeper.
It?s a good job it?s a free trial!
--
L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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If you get nowhere I recommend AVG free (from their website).
I'm satisfied with it at home and use the paid version at work.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Life is too short. I tried once and that was enough, plus I know several people who have had a right mare with it.
www.kerio.com download personal edn.
F-Secure have a 6 month free trial on the cover disk of pcw (this month or last month - I forget)
Mark
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Life is too short. I tried once and that was enough, plus I know several people who have had a right mare with it.
And there was me putting it down to my own personal ignorance! I feel a lot better now.
--
L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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Don't think it does anything that Zonealarm doesn't do - but you can't have both on the same computer.
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Dump macafee and run zone alarm. Simple.
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Dump macafee and run zone alarm. Simple.
I'll let you know whether it was simple after I've tried it! What will I have to do about my Windows Firewall? Will there be a conflict, and will I have to disable Windows Firewall ~ before or after installing Zone Alarm?
--
L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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Dump macafee and run zone alarm. Simple.
I've installed ZoneAlarm (and yes, it was simple), but I still have one outstanding question. Should I disable Windows Firewall or not? I'm quite happy to leave Windows Firewall enabled if it is not detrimental to do so.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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>>Should I disable Windows Firewall or not?>>
Yes. In fact it's probably been done automatically.
ZoneAlarm is superior to the Windows Firewall, which is basically aimed at giving at least some protection to those who won't or can't install a firewall.
It was part of the security measures incorporated into SP2 to get such people more in line with the rest of the world and take at least reasonable precautions to protect their systems.
Go to the Security Center either via Programs or Control Panel to Disable it if necessary.
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>>Should I disable Windows Firewall or not?>> Yes. In fact it's probably been done automatically.
Thanks Stuartli.
You're absolutely right ~ ZoneAlarm has disabled Windows Firewall for me. McAfee's rating of my computer's internet security is now 9.5 out of 10. The missing 0.5 is due to the fact that I don't have a spam-killer. Is there anything available free? At the moment it's not critical because I don't get any spam ~ apart from the occasional chopped pork and ham variety!
--
L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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The three main ones are Search and Destroy 1.3 (1.4 is a beta at the moment), Ad-Aware Personal SE and SpywareBlaster 3.3 (which works in the background and stops the little blighters before they get on your system).
Download them all, update immediately and then run S and D (also known as Spybot) and AdAware to find and spot any that may be on your system.
In AdAware, any unwanted objects are listed first - select that they are removed/quarantined. The second batch are nothing to worry about, merely a resume of what you've been doing on your system and just click Finish.
Then do a regular check for updates (twice a week should be enough) for all three.
S and D from www.safer-networking.org/en/download/ ; AdAware from www.grisoft.com (look for the free version) and SpywareBlaster from www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Ignore offerings such as NoAdware - they're a bit of a scam.
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Looking for suggestions as this is driving me nuts. I have a USB printer attached to my 'Home' machine. However despite following all the instructions, doing various Google's I cannot 'add' the printer so that I can remotely print from my work Laptop.
To be honest I should just pull the usb out and attach the printer to the laptop but my pride wont let me ! I have shared the printer, i have fiddled around with Workgroups but still it wont let me do it ...aaagh.
I have enabled File and Print sharing on both machines (suspect the thought police at work will take a dim view) and i have fiddled around in 'Network Places' where I can see my Home machine but I cant access it when i try to open it.
I'm wondering if my Router is blocking access as I am signed in as Administrator on both machines and on the Home machine's Firewall (ZLabs) I have entered the Laptop as a Trusted item.
I'm sure its something really simple which needs switching on or off - any thoughts v gratefully received.
PS Both machines running XP (Home machine dual boots into Xandros which with Window Networking/ Printer sharing enabled still cant be accessed.)
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Its zone alarm. To test - turn it off (zone alarm) and test it..
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Thanks RF you were spot on. I cant tell you what a joy it was to hear that 'M.C.B.' printing off remotely.
Not wishing to push my luck but do you have any advice as to how to get this working with ZL enabled (as I thought I had covered this).
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oops I mean Zone Alarm enabled
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You have to have it set up as a trusted zone, and explicitly allow the ip addy of the pc that has the printer attached in the trusted zone.
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Thanks again , I had done it the other way around......doh !!
P
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Have you made sure that the printer is set to "Shared". Go to "Control Panal - Printers" then right click on the printer you want to use and make sure that the "Share" box is ticked.
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Ok, sorry, missed the paragraph about sharing. Have you made sure that the permissions are set on your "Home PC". You need to make sure that your Laptop can log into your "home pc" you may have to set up a new user with the same name as your laptop on the "home" pc. Make sure you reboot after each change.
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"you may have to set up a new user with the same name as your laptop on the "home" pc."
Nope no need to do that.
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Also, If you are signed in as admin on both machines then it might be worth making sure passwords are both the same. Also if you right click on the printer and then go to "Properties - Security" there are more permissions that can be set in that box.
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Hi guys,
as NTL have increased the speeds of their broadband connections (Gee, thanks for telling us NTL...) and I think I have gone through the upgrade process (not automatic from 300kbs to 1Mb), question is how can I check my connection speed?
Are there any utilities (pref. freeware) to check with. I do have Firefox and the bandwidth tester extention which says... 60 KBPS
and sometimes 38KBPS and 87 KBPS ????
I know speed can vary with traffic etc. but an accurate checker would ne nice.
Sorry, forgot the subject heading...
Regards,
John R @ Home
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Don't forget that there are two ways to measure download speed, one being kilo-bytes per second (kB/s) and the other being kilo-bits per second (kb/s). 8 bits in a bite so when downloading something from a website, say in IE, the download speed will be at least 8 times smaller than what you're max. speed of 1Mbps. Some websites and services aren't quite as strict with there lowercase and captial "B"'s though.
87kBps sounds like a reasonable target, almost 700kbps. The problem with anything you try to test broadband with is that the testing speed is only as fast as the speed the other end. So best to do these things early in the morning when we and half of America are asleep.
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Mike Farrow
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I'm now now showing a fairly constant reading of 277.28 kbps - (34.66 KBps)
Both readings are from a site I found...
tinyurl.com/5cme4
Does this kind of indicate that my BBand is now 1Mb (ish)?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The way I found out about the speed increase is that I was flicking round the cable TV and saw that NTL were offering 1Mb BB to new customers for £17.99 which is what I am/was paying for the 300kbs.
I had heard a roumor about upgrades this spring but there hasbeen (so far) no letter/e-mail/leaflet about this.
Regards,
John R @ Home
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Go to the NTL website's home page and ring the free telephone number - you should get updated immediately if you request it.
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There's a fairly informative speed checker at www.adslguide.org/tools/speedtest.asp . Don't be put off by the name of the site: it works for cable modems too.
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John R, I know what you mean about the NTL upgrade you have to ask for it. You must have one of the newer digiboxs or a cable modem, because the old style set top box(PACE)isnt capable of the new speeds. We waited in for them to exchange the box this week and they never turned up, blaming sub-contractors. Grrr
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Take care with "Free" speed upgrades. YOu suddenly find you have a data cap each month.
My ISP tried to upgrade me for free. "we will double your speed they said" "(and a 30gb cap with £1.95 per gb after, the small print said)"
Poke it I said.
We will cancel you then they said
Fine do that I said
Ok maybe will will not change your terms
What a good idea I said.
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Scratch that - after a bit of a whinge they have upgraded me to 1MB throught the PACE box, until the new Samsung box is back in stock !!
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I did my upgrade a few days after it was announced. There is a link on the NTL page somewhere which I can't reach as I am away from myh NTL connection at the moment. Maybe it's the one called Upgrade Your Speed under the Help menu on their main page. Saves you waiting till they deliver the upgrade...
There is a fairly comprehensive speed tester by a bloke called Dan Ewell (IIRC). Again, I don't have the link here but a bit of searching should turn it up. It tests speed and ping times etc...
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After a long silence from MS, they are now out there..!
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>>
After a long silence from MS, they are now out there..!>>
Are you referring to the monthly security updates?
If so, there were none last month (they are announced and posted for download on the second Tuesday of each month on the MS website); this month there are eight of various flavours, not all for XP.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Mozilla Firefox 1.0.3 now available for downloading at:
www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
Uninstall earlier version (Add/Remove Programs) and then install 1.0.3. Settings and configuration are stored in separate folder so are retained.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I take it that XP sp2 is sensible enough to download only when it needs to ? Thanks for the Mozilla tip, I have now removed the last 3 versions (about 38 mb in all !) before putting the latest on.
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PU - if you have automatic updates turned on (My Computer, Right Click, Properties, Automatic updates tab) it'll get downloaded in the background. Whether or not it is automatically installed is down to the settings here.
If you're running SP2 you'll have a version of BITS which means updates are downloaded from the windows update site only when your internet conenction would otherwise be idle, so as no to impact on your surfing. Of course, prompting Windows update to run yourself will force this issue.
hth
-- Lee Having a Fabialous time.
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>>I have now removed the last 3 versions>>
You didn't need them in any case...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Stuart,
I think you pointed that out to me last time, but I didn't get round to it. Acres more HD space now.
PU
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>>Acres more HD space now.>>
Acres...:-) (?)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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well about 16mbs....not to be sniffed at by someone who remembers when 45mb HD were biiiiiiiiiiiiig.
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45mb, you were lucky!! We used to dream of 45mb hard drives. My first desktop PC in 1983 had a 10mb disk.
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The first PC I used only had a 5.25" 368k floppy drive...
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You had a floppy?! We used to have toggle a switch to enter all the 1s & 0s to program our first PC.
And we were 'appy.
Fowk today don't know they're born.
Lee (Yorkshire)
-- Lee Having a Fabialous time.
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Firefox 1.0.3 appears to be out.
Given I thought this was "updateless", I'm beginning to get concerned.
--
Adam
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Adski,
Read the above....;-)
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OOO no Adam. Firefox is absolutely and completely secure and not at all like that nasty MS stuff. No way. Nooo Its perfect.
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PU,
I am an idiot. Sorry - I accidently skipped over Stuart's post! Oh well - can't hurt to remind everyone. ;-)
RF,
>>Nooo Its perfect.<<
Oh good - once again you've allayed my fears...oh no wait...you were being sarca....
...never mind!
--
Adam
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Adam,
Remember that Renaults are perfect as well....(ooh and BMWs as well) ;-)
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Of course PU! Not forgetting the shameful unreliablity of Fords!
--
Adam
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"you were being sarca...."
Mois?
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I know. Who would have thought it.
--
Adam
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Don't get too worried.
As firefox matures the time between the updates will probably get longer. All reasonably complex software has bugs. The new version 1.03 seeks to address an issue with javascript where somebody may exploit the bug to see the contents of memory.
Anyone who has maintain any system will tell you that patching is a way of life.
My most patched system are my linux boxes, but they have hundreds of seperate programs on them.
For me The security advantages of firefox are the things it does not do (Active X scripting and integration with the shell are two examples)
You can change the security settings in IE, but too much spyware can add itself to trusted zone without you knowing. Are you listening MusicMatch?
Firefox known problems
======================
secunia.com/product/4227/#advisories
IE 6 known problems
===================
secunia.com/product/11/
Hopefully IE7 will address some of the security issues. In a corporate enviroment many misson-critical programs will only work via IE6.
All security approaches should be multi-teired. At home that means :
AV, firewall, Anti-spyware, common sense (not it that order!)
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Thanks for all that info BC. Very interesting.
--
Adam
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