Start Up Problems

LouLou

Could someone help *me* this time around? Dolphin67 seems to think it's *my fault* he's having computer woes. I wrote the first post in this thread, even though it's in his name. At the time of posting all I'd done was put the programs on his PC and had it ready to go. He still had problems starting up, so I directed him here. The HijackThis! log was fine so I thought he was in safe hands and it'd be resolved quickly.

For a few months I've had endless text messages, phone calls, MSN conversations, and spent hours of my time trying to help.

I hadn't heard a thing from him for days and it turned out he was PMing GunJack (I don't even know what problems Dolphin67 was having at that point, apart from it ultimately ending in blue screens).

Now he's had to pay HP £25.99 for a Vista restore cd-rom as they told him it's a software issue.

I know I can't hold his hand 24/7 online and he's new to all this. But I've *never* had software problems with any PC to this degree (I'm nearly 5 years online), even when I knew barely anything, neither does my 10 year-old niece (though I watch her laptop pretty closely). Security programs only protect so much.

I told him he has to be willing to learn, read about the basics and ask for information online, otherwise he'll continue having problems. Dolphin67 interprets that as me being rude, but it's common sense; I had to do it myself, and I'm still learning!

Last week he said he "didn't know" how to access his emails from an internet cafe, therefore he wasn't going to visit one. Bear in mind he's been online a few months. I can't help feeling exasperated sometimes..

PS: He had previous problems http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=17606563#post17606563 which culminated in his PC trying to do Windows Updates and endlessly rebooting; so I scrubbed his hard disk.

aliEnRIK

LouLou

Dont take it personally. If Dolphin cant look after his own computer thats hardly YOUR fault is it? If anyone said that to me id simply walk away.

Anyways, my general advice is as follows (Assuming its running ok now)

Install PCTOOLS FIREWALL and AVAST ANTI VIRUS for the main protection

Download PC TOOLS FIREWALL (Make sure you click 'DOWNLOAD NOW')
When installing you have the option of installing 'THREATFIRE' too (another antivirus program). Entirely upto you if you wish to or not.
http://www.download.com/PC-Tools-Firewall-Plus-Free-Edition/3000-10435_4-10625321.html


Download AVIRA ANTI VIRUS PERSONAL (Make sure you click 'DOWNLOAD LATEST VERSION')
http://www.filehippo.com/download_antivir/

Install SPYBOT, MALWAREBYTES and SUPERANTISPYWARE as secondary scanners

Download MALWAREBYTES (Make sure you click 'DOWNLOAD NOW')
http://www.download.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html
UPDATE and FULL SCAN
Post the log here AFTER youve deleted everything it finds


Download SUPERANTISPYWARE (Make sure you click 'DOWNLOAD LATEST VERSION')
http://www.filehippo.com/download_superantispyware/
UPDATE and SCAN

Download SPYBOT (Make sure you click 'DOWNLOAD LATEST VERSION' ~ make sure TEA TIMER is UNTICKED on installation)
http://www.filehippo.com/download_spybot_search_destroy/
UPDATE and IMMUNISE (Make sure it reads ZERO unprotected) and SCAN

Use FIREFOX with the NOSCRIPT PLUGIN to be as safe as possible when using the net
Download FIREFOX
http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/firefox/

NOSCRIPT
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722


NOSCRIPT works by blocking ALL website scripts (Which is how dodgy websites infect your computer ~ the easiest way to catch a virus after downloading). So you need to UNLOCK all websites you use for them to work properly (Like this one for example)
I personally set it so that it DOESNT show messages about blocked scripts. Then all you need to do is use common sense. Think to yourself 'does the site work ok'? If so it doesnt need touching. But if you wanted to watch a video on youtube say, youd need to unlock parts of it. Look bottom right, If theres ANY red on the 'S' symbol, then something is being blocked.

(You will also need the other addons like FLASH etc)
http://www.google.com/tools/firefox/toolbar/FT5/intl/en-GB/index.html
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:7

Use CCLEANER every few months to clear the cr*p off it
Download CCLEANER (Make sure you click 'DOWNLOAD LATEST VERSION' ~ make sure YAHOO TOOLBAR is unticked on installation)
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/
Run the top 2 scans (Backup the registry when it asks)

Then theres the general ~
DONT do any illegal downloading
DONT go browsing pron sites or 'crack' sites
DONT go opening all emails willy nilly if they look dodgy
DONT go filling in details on PHISHING pages

spakkker

One of my stepsons is so good at acting daft that most people think he IS as daft as he acts. It took him an hour to fix a bike puncture ,under instruction, and the whole process was painful to endure. Guess who has never been asked to fix one again?

Then ,of course, there are little white lies -get better with practice!

Nobody can stop the clocks but some have an ability to string time out, delay, put off, be dilatory and even completely "accidentally" forget to do some task.

Then there is the step back, scratch head, pull a pained expression and say "Dunno", then keeping mouth open if poss.

aliEnRIK

Spak ~ if I were in charge. Id simply tell him he 'now knows how to repair punctures' and 'if he gets another hell have to repair it himself or ill sell his bike'

LouLou

aliEnRIK, thank you Hopefully he'll see this (though probably not in an internet cafe!) and stop badmouthing me, portraying himself as a victim!

I've told him to find someone else to help, and wished him luck.

spakkker

RIK- stepson left home a long time ago, he's now 29, but things haven't changed that much- I built him a pc, new, last summer and have done TWO re-installs of xp when I couldn't fix it. He mentioned re-installing xp himself- I kept my mouth shut!
At least he has never blamed me, at all, and is really grateful when it is working again.

LouLou

Haha, I've just realised something. Last week he sent me a very snotty text asking me to contact HP's online service for recovery cds: www.best2serv.com (it says here) as he's allergic to internet cafes. With a parting shot of, "if you can't, or won't do it, let me know asap". The text message even woke me up at 2am!!

I phoned him that night and told him the page DOES NOT WORK. It's one of those fake search pages. He insisted doing http:// would make it work! Nope.

It turns out that if you type www.best2serve.com the correct page loads. The silly wazzock spelt it wrong. Need I say more.

aliEnRIK

Why do you even bother LouLou?

LouLou

I'm a softie, and actually quite patient, but he would test Mother Theresa's!

Not bothering any more. At least re-reading that text and finding the "right" page made me chuckle

GunJack

jeez loulou, didn't realise things were getting that bad for you...maybe time to cut loose and save yourself the headaches...I know from the pm session that dolph isn't exactly the easiest bod to deal with, but sounds like it's getting downright nasty...do yourself a favour....