Atnes

Dear Ishan, thank you very, very much for your answer. It helped ! Regards, Atnes

Hello to everyone, I sincerely hope that someone can help me out of/with the following : After my PC (XP Professional) had crashed a few days ago out of no obvious reason, a computing friend of mine managed to fix it, so that everything is back to normal and it works again very well so far, BUT it stopped recognising/detecting my loudspeakers - , so that I thought that maybe my old loudspeakers simply "died away" out of old age... I have purchased new ones (LogiTech) and tried to install them. Again, my PC won't recognize this new hardware - the loudspeakers (as I said before - it recognizes everything else, though: the printer, the scanner, various photo cards etc., my Nokia etc....) What could be the matter? Anyone with any similar experiences? I'll appreciate any suggestion, thank you for your answers very much in advance! Atnes with her MUTE PC

Thank you. I'll stick to CCleaner.

Thank you. DONE

YoKenny, you've just saved me. Thanks. Definittely NO RegCure. BTW: Are you recommending IE7 PRO? Best, Atnes

Hello, I just wanted to ask if anyone of you is familiar with -or has perhaps even used the RegCure (scans, repairs and optimises your PC :-)). e tc) tool; there is a free version, and a registered version for $29, 90. DOes it do more than our CCleaner? Thank you. Greetings, Atnes

Yes, dear YoKenny, you are right, this is Network aservices Slovenia, and that's OK! See, I am from Slovenia, the country that was presiding the EU during the last six months, hehehe . But - I hope you'll be glad to hear it - I solved my problem an hour ago. Listen: Before I had installed SP3 on July 8th, I followed the instructions and made a system backup. (Good girl!) After NOTHING at all wanted to respond to my endeavours to restore the functions of my OE, I suddenly remembered this backup, and made my last desperate attempt: I recovered the system from the backup, made on July 8th. And - miracle, miracle -my Outlook Express resumed all of its functions! Hard to tell how happy I was! But: I would like to thank you and all of you for your help and unselfish support. Without your suggestions, I would have given it up long ago. Sincere thanks to all who helped me with advice! Best, Atnes

Hi, Tarq57, thank you for your reply. I installed ad-aware 8 -free edition. I use Windows Firewall and avast and Spywareblaster.... I've just tried sending a message again. and the error message tells me again that my computer cannot connect to SMTP server 213.161.0.30 - but this is not my DNS; my DNSs are 213.161.0.10 and 213.161.0.20 . Would that be the cause? I've checked eversthing I could -network connections, IP netmask, gateway, DNS...everything seems to work and yet the 'send' function doesn't. And yes, I have disabled avast for a while - nothing happened. Yes, next is my ISP on-phone, I guess .. Thansk again! All the best, Atnes

YoKenny, thank you for your reply and great suggesetions. I'll probably have to check with my provider/technical support the settings of incoming and outcoming email ports. I had uninstalled (by add/remove programs) ZoneAlarm before I installed avast, so taht this ZA cannot be the cause. Maybe it is service pack 3 after all - how annoying! Thanks again, you have been great help! Best, Atnes

Thanks! Best, Atnes

Hihihi, hahaha, so THAT's the blue ball - of COURSE I have it on - down there in the right corner next to the clock. Ya, and it is blue and it is decorated with an 'a' (lower case). And I would never switch my icons off - without my icons I am lost. A completely lost woman, hehehe ! Davey, thank you for your patience. And like YoKenny said (thank you, YoKenny!), I'll go to the INternet Shield now to find the port information and maybe my ISP. Thank you again! I'll let you know how it all ended - with a happy end or otherwise. Best, Atnes

Thanks, Davey, thank you so much: you are a true treasure! I'm going to try all these options - amd I bet there is a solution among them :-). What do you mean by "ball"? Like in : "You can right click the ball ..."? Maybe "the box"? Best, Atnes

Yes, perhaps. What should I do? Remove it? Or is there any other way to fix the problem? I understand that my message cannot be read because of the formatiing, so I am resending it (below) - I have removed all formatting including different colours. Maybe this one can read better. Thank You. Atnes. _________ After I had finally downloaded avast4home, SpywareBlaster, lavasoft and WinPatrolPLUS to protect my computer a few days ago, my Outlook Express went on strike. While it dilligently receives messages addressed to me, it obstinately (as a mule) refuses to send out any messages at all, causing my PC to keep sending me the following (always the same) annoying message: An unknown error has occurred. Account: 'pop3.triera.net', Server: 'smtp.triera.net', Protocol: SMTP, Server Response: '421 Cannot connect to SMTP server 213.161.0.30 (213.161.0.30:25), connect error 10054', Port: 25, Secure(SSL): No, Server Error: 421, Error Number: 0x800CCC67. 1.) Does anyone of you perhaps know what this "UNKNOWN ERROR" could actually mean/be? 2. ) Has anyone had any similar experience after downloading AV tools, etc.? 3) If YES, could you please help me and tell me how I might fix it? 4.) Could perhaps my newly (and successfully) installed SP3 ( I run XP Professional) be the culprit of all this? 5.) Where can I check for more details describing this 'unknown' error? (Stupid question, ha?) A friend of mine advised me that maybe I should find (haha!) the Microsoft OE files "somewhere" in the intestines of my hard disk??? - and then examine the Outbox and Sent Items folder files to see if the used space exceeds the permitted or default size, which seems to be 2 Giga or so? Does this make any sense to any of you? 1. ) Has anyone had any similar experience after downloading AV tools, etc.? Thank you very much in advance for your answers - I really am handicapped without the possibility to send my messages? Best, Atnes

Dear all, [/color][/font] After I had finally downloaded avast4home, SpywareBlaster, lavasoft and WinPatrolPLUS to protect my computer a few days ago, my Outlook Express went on strike. While it dilligently receives messages addressed to me, it obstinately (as a mule ) refuses to send out any messages at all, encouraging my PC to keep sending me the following (always the same) annoying message: An unknown error has occurred. Account: 'pop3.triera.net', Server: 'smtp.triera.net', Protocol: SMTP, Server Response: '421 Cannot connect to SMTP server 213.161.0.30 (213.161.0.30:25), connect error 10054', Port: 25, Secure(SSL): No, Server Error: 421, Error Number: 0x800CCC67. 1.) Does anyone of you perhaps know what this "UNKNOWN ERROR" could actually mean/be? 1. ) Has anyone had any similar experience after downloading AV tools, etc.? 3) If YES, could you please help me and tell me how I might fix it? 4.) Could perhaps my newly (and successfully) installed SP3 ( I run XP Professional) be the culprit of all this? 5.) Where can I check for more details describing this 'unknown' error? (Stupid question, ha... ) A friend of mine advised me that maybe I should find (haha! ) the Microsoft OE files "somewhere" in the intestines of my hard disk??? - and then examine the Outbox and Sent Items folder files to see if the used spaDear all, After I had finally downloaded avast4home, SpywareBlaster, lavasoft and WinPatrolPLUS to protect my computer a few days ago, my Outlook Express went on strike. While it dilligently receives messages addressed to me, it obstinately (as a mule ) refuses to send out any messages at all, encouraging my PC to keep sending me the following (always the same) annoying message: An unknown error has occurred. Account: 'pop3.triera.net', Server: 'smtp.triera.net', Protocol: SMTP, Server Response: '421 Cannot connect to SMTP server 213.161.0.30 (213.161.0.30:25), connect error 10054', Port: 25, Secure(SSL): No, Server Error: 421, Error Number: 0x800CCC67. 1.) Does anyone of you perhaps know what this "UNKNOWN ERROR" could actually mean/be? 1. ) Has anyone had any similar experience after downloading AV tools, etc.? 3) If YES, could you please help me and tell me how I might fix it? 4.) Could perhaps my newly (and successfully) installed SP3 ( I run XP Professional) be the culprit of all this? ce in either does not exceed the permitted or default size , which seems to be 2 Giga or so? Does this make any sense to any of you? Thank you very much in advance for your answers - I really am handicapped without the possibility to send my messages . Best, Atnes

Aha, I get it. A scan is never wasted time, right? I'm keeping Avast - though the free version is - to me - rather stingy with service; it doesn't let you schedule your scans, it doesn't fix infections (I believe it does not even quarantine infected or dangerous files?) and so on... Maybe I find yet another fine scanner to add to my collection, heheh. Tarq57, thanks again for your exhaustive and kind help! Regards, Atnes

Thank you, Davey! I think I'll go for alternative 2: Do it at some unknown time when the odds are that I shall not be properly prepared . Noooo, just kidding, hehe ! Thanks for wishing me luck - I absolutely need it! And - proceeding from your explanation - maybe I shall not need to "re-install" my stuff at all, right? Great! Thanks a lot and best regards! Atnes

But is SP 3 that much better than SP 2, so much so that you would recommend the installation of SP3 by all means? And why are you speaking of a "re-install" of Windows? In connection with SP3? Forgive me my ignorance... Best, Atnes

Hello, Tarq57, Thank you, thank you, thank you! My Trial ZoneAlarm was the suite, but I have already removed it (by add/remove option) as the trial period had ended. And WinPatrol is really phantastic- following the advice, I downloaded it yesterday (paid version) and spent three hours playing with it and enjoying it. From what I could see in such a short time, it really does what it promises. And thank you for the SpywareBlaster suggestion - I shall take it . But in this case I can do without AdAware and remove it, I suppose? Thank you very much again! Regards, Atnes

Sounds great, thank you. And it helped. Atnes

Thank you. Good news, actually ! Atnes

Hello again, Recently, a Pop-up appeared on my screen, reminding me that I should download Windows XP Service Pack 3, if I was still using SP 3, that is. And I am still using SP 2. Does anyone among you have any excperience with this? Does the download of Windows XP Service Pack 3 harm/change my computer functions, files etc., or in any way disturb the work with my computer? What irritates me is that in the online description it says (among other things): "Windows XP SP3 contains a small number of new updates and should not significantly change the Windows XP experience" - and at the end: "This software update can be removed via Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel." So, obviously, 1) there is a possibility that my computer goes mad after this download, and 2) something MUST be wrong with SP3 - because why on earth would they give you instructions on how to remove the recently downloaded upgrade? Does it mean that SP3 does not REPALCE SP2 - that SP 2 still remains downloaded on the computer? Any suggestions? Thank you! in advance! Best to all, Atnes

Ahm. Thanks. MY OS is XP Pro - like yours. WinPatrol 'sounds' nice - I'll go and have a look at it. As to McAfee SiteAdvisor (and other McAfee products) - not so long ago, I witnessed a rather heated debate about the disadvantages/deficiencies of McAfee tools in comparison to some other brands. Well, I have no idea... Best, Atnes

Hello to All, Following the friendly advice&suggestions&tips I had received from this forum a few days ago, I decided to use avast 4 home (free). The on-line instructions and the description of the product suggest that the version avast 4 home covers/protects so-to-say everything that needs protection, defence or some kind of monitoring. Well, I have been using Windows Defender and Lavasoft Ad-Aware all along, together with Sophos and later ZoneAlarm (trial version), and I think I'll keep the two. But the question is, is my computer properly protected with avast 4 home - in all respects? Or do I need an extra Firewall and Anti-Spy protection? I wouldn't want to overload my computer with (perhaps) unnecessary, superfluous, redundant tools. Now, if anyone of you should think that I am repeating myself with my questions (not so long ago I was "squeezing" the forum on a very similar theme - ALL-ROUND SECURITY, ANTI-SPY. ANTI-VIRUS, remember?) - then such person is absolutely right! Sorry about this, sorry to bother you, but I need to be sure that I have tried&done all I can to protect my computer adequately. Thank you for your answers! Best, Atnes

So do I: Avast Home Edition. Atnes