Jump to content

xbrianx

Experienced Members
  • Posts

    208
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by xbrianx

  1. Hey, sorry for the delay in responding. I've been kind of busy with school, all the hype about getting accepted to a college, and just general laziness. :P I hope this is enough information.

     

    Here are the laptop specs(everything is stock):

    Processor: AMD Turion 64 Mobile MK-38

    Core Speed: 2.2GHz(1 core)

    Motherboard: Acer Navarro

    RAM: 1GB DDR2(Weird, because when I first got it, CCleaner said I only had 768MB :huh: )

     

     

    Slot 1 and 2 are 2 512MB PC2-5300(333MHz) sticks

     

    Windows Vista Home Premium SP1

     

    Desktop(Upgraded RAM to 1GB):

    Processor: Pentium 4

    Core Speed: 2.99MHz(1 Core, 2 Threads)

    Motherboard: Intel i925x

    RAM: 1GB DDR2

     

    Slot 1: 256 MB, PC2-3200(200MHz)

     

    Slot 2: 512 MB, PC2-4300(266MHz)

     

    Slot 3: 256 MB, PC2- 3200

     

    Windows XP Home SP3

     

    In the Desktop, the standard sticks were the 2 256MB in Slot 1 and 3.

     

    And, just to reiterate myself, I'm trying to find out if I could just remove all the sticks in either computer(or both) and just replace them with 2 2GB sticks. I'm not sure about the maximum RAM the laptop motherboard can hold though. Thanks.

  2. I have been thinking about upgrading my desktop RAM(1GB, 2x512MB) and my laptop(1GB, not sure about the sticks), but I would rather remove the old RAM and use 2 or less new sticks. I know that when I upgraded my desktop, I had to figure out the placement on the motherboard for the best results and how much it could handle. I also had to match the MHz speed(clocking speed?). However, if I were to buy 2 2GB sticks, do I need to match the previous MHz speeds and placement?

     

    Also, the same thing about the laptop, but I have not figured out the speeds, placement or anything yet.

  3. I recently had it updated(I don't come here that often anymore ;) ) It updated fine for me, but I disabled the search bar that was added to the bottom of Firefox. But, then the next day, my mom got on and it updated for her and about 10 minutes later she calls me in here to show me how slow pages were loading. I checked the speed and the download speed was at a crawl, while the upload was pretty much the same. I disabled the SiteAdvisor add-on, restarted Firefox, and then everything loaded perfectly. However, I haven't noticed any speed changes for me with it still enabled.. :blink:

     

    I don't use IE at all and the new process, McSACore.exe, is only using 5, 116K on my system. I'd rather not have another process though...

  4. MSConfig is fine, just run StartUpLite as an option/guide to see what you can possibly do without. I maybe should have mentioned that I don't use StartUpLite to do the disabling either. Sorry about that.

     

     

    Oh, no, it's fine. I'm just not big on downloading many programs. :lol:

  5. You could try running StartUpLite from Malwarebytes:

     

    Link:

     

    It's a pretty good guide to useless Startup items, and here's the list of what it deems unnecessary.

     

    Link:

     

    Hasn't been updated for a while, but still some useful descriptions of Startup items. For example, motivesb in your startup which is possibly Motive SmartBridge, and has an explanation in their list.

     

    Thanks for that program, but isn't MSConfig okay for disabling entries too? :blink: I'm going through that list now, and it looks like I can disable the jusched, motivesb, and the ATI control panel. Thanks. ;)

  6. Is it normal to have many processes when you first turn on your computer? I normally have about 47 at first, then it goes down to 42. It would be slightly less, but I just installed Avast! and I have a few extra processes running. I was wondering if anyone could help me clean up some of the Startup entries and maybe Services. I've been Googling some of these all morning, but I don't feel comfortable following some of the sites and user's suggestions.

     

    I only have 15 Startup entries:

     

    smax4pnp

    jusched

    iaanotif

    atiptaxx

    sgtray

    tfswctrl

    regshave

    aoldial

    aolsoftware

    motivesb

    ashdish

    digital line detect

    netgear wpn(wireless card name)

    tabuserw.exe

    adobe gamma

     

    I know atiptaxx is for the ATI Control Panel, but I've disabled the icon from the tray since day one. I don't ever remember using it, so I think it's safe to disable? Also, the MotiveSB is from Verizon DSL, but I'm now using Comcast Wireless. The two AOL entries are from some stupid update that it made me install, and now I have an AOL icon on my System Tray. It's gray when I'm not connected to the internet, and blue when I am. I don't use AOL, can I disable those two too? Thanks.

  7. If you don't want to use the realtime protection why install an AV in the first place. There a may online scanners that will give the on demand scans you want. I would use the realtime protection if I were you that's the whole point of installing an AV app. Unless you are running sanboxed all the time I don't think it's a good idea to shut off the realtime protection.

     

    Oh, okay. I didn't really notice a real-time protection in the AVG AV, or at least not as many options to set it up.

  8. That won't help with the left over reg entries. Thats probably whats causing AVG 8 to indicate that you still have AVG programs installed

     

     

    Is there a way to disable the real-time protection from Avast? I just want a scanner. :mellow:

     

    EDIT: Nevermind, I found it. I disabled:

     

    Instant Messaging-I use Meebo.com and don't transfer files

    Internet Mail- I trust Gmail's scanner and the only files I ever receive are the ones I send to myself to save.

    Outlook/Exchange- Don't use it

    P2P Shield- Don't use P2P either.

     

    I guess the Network, Standard, and Web shields are good... or are they really needed? Also, does anyone use the VRDB thing? I'm running a "thorough" scan right now. I guess it's pretty good so far, it detected AdWare that was removed with HiJack This and it found it in a restore point. Was it a good thing to just move it to the chest? Or should I delete it? I used to always move the infections(I haven't had many, this is probably the first in a year or so) into the quarantine. I need to remove some more processes, theres 44 running right now :unsure:

  9. How are you trying to uninstall AVG 7.5? Using the add/remove programs in Windows is not the proper way.

     

    Go to the AVG 7.5 installation folder. Should be C:/Griftsoft. Look for the setup.exe. Double click it. This will start the installation process. It will scan your system set up and recognize that 7.5 is installed. It will give you several options. Select the option to totally remove the program and all settings. Let it do it's thing and 7.5 will be totally removed from your machine. Than install AVG 8 if thats what you want to use. I much prefer AntiVir.

     

     

    Oh, thanks, but I've already deleted it. I'll go remove the left over files though.

  10. I got those messages the first time I installed AVG8 too. If you uninstalled AVG7, and AVG AS, and Spybot and it still says there are antivirus etc. on your PC, ignore the messages and just go ahead and install.....if it lets you. It should. (You can always re-install Spybot afterward.)

     

    Oh, if you'd rather get another antivirus, I suggest Avast (free Home edition) or AntiVir. (I like Avast better.)

    AVG 8 has been criticized for being "too bloated" (too big for its purpose.)

     

     

    Well, I guess I won't even bother deleting Spybot and try to install then, since the message I got didn't allow me to install anyways and it was really specific. It included things like(not word for word, but it did have the Ewido name) "AVG Version 8 can't install because there are already Ewido Anti-virus or Anti-Spyware programs installed." It also said something about removing Anti-Spyware, since AVG 8 comes with it or something. Thanks, I'll try Avast. Should I just reinstall the old Anti-Spyware, if there will be updates still? Or, would just Spybot be fine?

  11. How did you remove it? Did you just pull it out of the USB port?

     

    I had similar problems like this on my Computer Art class' eMacs(Apple). When I would drag a file to the folder, then remove the drive, it'd give me an error saying that the file was either corrupted or didn't save properly. I found out that I need to drag the drive icon to the Trashcan, then remove it.

     

    Maybe you have to "Safely Remove" it? Worth a try I suppose.

     

     

    Check out NewEgg.com. I bought a 4GB drive for only a few bucks when I saw other, popular, stores have them for close to $100. I've also heard a lot of good things about the site when it comes to returning items.

  12. I just downloaded the Free AVG 8 program. I was originally using AVG Anti-Virus 7.5 and AVG Anti-Spyware. When I went to install, thinking it'd be like CCleaner, it told me it couldn't install because of previous AVG programs still installed. So, I uninstalled the AV, and rebooted, and still got the same message. I uninstalled the AS, rebooted, and still got the error. There aren't any other AVG programs installed on here, or any other Anti-virus/spyware program aside from Spybot. Is there a problem for anyone else or did I do anything wrong?

     

     

    Should I just re-download AVG Anti-spyware, keep Spybot, and just get a new Anti-virus?

     

    Thanks.

  13. That adblocker is not for Windows. It's for the Mac OS only. The guy says he isn't even working on a Windows version.

     

    Adblocking is a must for me on any browser.

     

     

    Ah, I didn't notice that; must read more careful next time. :blink:

     

    Yes, me too.

  14. Well if you like it than great. Some people obviously will. It does the job. All browsers do. It's just my opinion on it.

     

     

     

     

    What add blocker did you find for Safari?

     

     

     

    I think Microsoft will have a new OS out much quicker than it took them to get Vista out. Since they will support XP for a while we will probably be able to skip right over Vista and go from XP to what ever the new system will be. At least I'm hoping for that to be the case :P We would be screwed if they stopped supporting XP before a new OS came out :o

     

     

    Here's the download site: http://safariadblock.sourceforge.net/

    and heres a review(read the comments): http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/12/16/sa...-for-me-please/

     

    Yeah, I hope so too. I'd rather not have to buy Vista, then another OS.

  15. Oh, okay. I really wanted to like it. :P:

     

     

    I noticed it didn't have an ad-blocker when Myspace had their ads on just about every side of the page. I Googled for Ad-Block on Safari and I read that it isn't nowhere near as good as the one for Firefox, so I didn't even try it.

     

     

    Yeah, I hate Vista. I got a desktop with XP and a laptop with Vista... and wooooooooooo, big difference. The sidebar actually bugs me and has been disabled since I got it and getting asked if I want to run a program every time is quite annoying. <_<

  16. I noticed Safari 3 is out for PC now. I like the simplicity of the standard theme and pretty much everything else that comes with it.

     

    My question is, though, is it as secure as Firefox?

     

    I've done research on the speed and it turns out to be faster than Firefox 3 Beta, and older, in many areas. It blocks pop-ups and 3rd party cookies as well. It has tabs and spellchecker too.

     

    I am using it on a laptop and so far, it's nice. I like it.

     

    Anyone use Safari for PC? Somehow, using Safari makes me want a Mac even more. :P

  17. Instead of getting a new fan right away, could I just try to clean the other one with compressed air, or is the dust in a hard-to-reach spot now? I got a replacement fan from Dell not too long ago, I think last Christmas.

     

    Thanks.

     

     

    Depending on the board you have, you may be able to set the fan speed by software that comes with the motherboard. Since this started after you moved it about and blew "out" the dust, it may be that what you blew ended up inside the fan sleeve, causing the RPM's to drop due to increased friction. The software may require the fan to rotate at a given RPM when the CPU is at a certain temperature. I think the easiest thing to do is to just swap out the fan and see what happens. They are not expensive. If you can't change the fan without also changing the CPU heatsink, you might want to remove them both (don't forget to ground your hands to the case first) and then clean them with compressed air. It may be if you have a sleeve fan instead of a ball bearing fan, you cannot lubricate it. The fact that the CPU temp has not changed much leads me to believe this is simply dust in the fan. If you can, get one with ball bearings instead of a nylon sleeve. They will last longer as a rule.

     

    In 2001 when I bought a PC with a 1ghz AMD CPU, I loaded the motherboard CPU temp, and fan speed software, (From Asus) and ended up taking the PC back to the vendor 3 times before they put on a heatsink and fan large enough to prevent the CPU from exceeding the recommended temperature. The fan and heatsink I ended up with were more than twice as expensive as the one they supplied me with originally. That could explain why they preferred not to load the control software with the systems they were selling.

     

    Sincerely,

     

    Mr Paul

  18. I posted something about this in the Spyware section, to see if any spyware or viruses were causing this, but I'm assuming it's not since I didn't get a response and AVG and Spybot haven't detected anything.

     

    The problem is, one of the fans, I'm assuming CPU fan, gets a bit louder when I load programs... which has never happened before. Generally, my fan is really quiet and will only get louder when I'm running over 50% CPU usage. Which, in this case, my CPU usage goes back and forth(unstable, I might add) 0%-5%, sometimes up to 20% depending on what I'm doing.

     

    Say, when I go to check my DeviantART messages and open up two tabs from there, along with Meebo.com, Gmail, and Myspace open in tabs, the fan will spark up a little louder then get quiet again. Same thing when I load a few other sites.

     

    My CPU temperature, according to SpeedFan is 33C, which is how it's always been. I've Defragged, used Disk Cleanup and CCleaner multiple times. I clean out my Temp and Recent Document folders everyday.

     

    This began when I had to unplug everything while the room was having the carpet taken up. While it was unplugged, I took the opportunity to clean it and part of the inside. I didn't touch anything on the inside, I just blew some of the dust off with my mouth. I plugged it back up and started using, and then I noticed the fan noises occasionally and sometimes the Hard drives makes a noise when I use Disk Cleanup(which I've never heard the noise from it before, only on my External Hard drive when I add stuff). Could something be off-balance or crooked? That's the only thing I can come up with as to why it's louder, I mean, nothing else has happened and it didn't start until I plugged everything back up.

     

     

     

    Oh, and to add another irritating problem, Firefox keeps getting script errors and needs to close. It happens usually on Myspace band sites, when they have many videos and pictures on their profile. Could I need to update one of the plug-ins, since I also get something about "The plug-in has performed an illegal action, it is strongly recommended you close and restart Firefox"(or similar)?

     

    Thanks.

  19. Ahh, I see, I just use the one at Wilders as I also have AVG-AS (paid)

     

    You do know that AVG-AS does not recieve automatic updates? You have to do them manually.

     

    Only the paid version does that, also you get them for about a month when you first install it, then it reverts to the free version.

     

     

    Thanks David and Hazelnut. Big_Al moved my thread to the right section and asked if I tried manually updating and if my 30 day trial has run out. It has been off of the 30 day trial for months now and I've been manual updating for a long time. I just downloaded the "last 2-3 day signatures" and installed them twice, but it still says I haven't updated since 12/3/07. :angry:

  20. I haven't been able to update my free AVG Anti-Spyware due to similar things like "Error: Failed to send receive data: 0". It has been like this since 12/3/07, with no updates. It's getting really irritating, considering almost everyday while I'm away from the computer doing things around the house, I run an AVG scan after I update everyday. I Googled for similar problems and most people said that it started working again. I also found on the "wildersecurity" forums that AVG Anti-Spyware may be "neglected" because a new AVG8 suite is coming out, with everything.

     

    Anyone else having this problem?

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.