Computer SOS!

[gaypalmsprings]

why do you object to explorer so much?

[psychic friend]

i cant believe there inst at least one pc expert nerd that could help me with this. sheesh.

[TomAz]

you banned him.

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

She already mentioned it

ps. no assholes (you know who you are)

[TomAz]

Yeah I saw that too.

[guedita]

So my laptop has been really, really hot the past few days. I keep it on a hard desk surface...

And when I look at my system processes it says the CPU usage is like ~65% which I don't think is right.

Is there an easy way to remedy this? I have Spy Doctor, but I'm wondering if I need to delete certain .exe things as well? I don't know how to do that, really.

[Wheres the beef?]

So my laptop has been really, really hot the past few days. I keep it on a hard desk surface...

And when I look at my system processes it says the CPU usage is like ~65% which I don't think is right.

Is there an easy way to remedy this? I have Spy Doctor, but I'm wondering if I need to delete certain .exe things as well? I don't know how to do that, really.

Most likely it has dust on the insides that are causing the fans to not work as efficiently. Take a can of compressed air (with the straw) and spray some air into the vents per the manufacturers instructions and you should see a noticeable improvement.

[BROKENDOLL]

I need a smart PC troubleshooting person to help me with an issue. I don't want to play the "you think you know but you really dont" game. i really only want hard core nerd pc troubleshooting here. Please PM me.

I can give you a bunch of random stuff as a present for helping me resolve my issue. I have a bunch of coachella band cds at my desk. I can send you a shirt. Maybe get you into a gv show if you are local.

Problem:
Suddenly during stagecoach festival... my Firefox stopped working but ONLY for the stagecoach website, stagecoach message board and stagecoach CMS (content management system). It works fine on other websites. Other people can use firefox and see the SC website and forum fine. I feel like there must be some weird specific corrupt file or update on MY computer since this problem is ONLY for me. Its more weird because this board is the same as coachella and coachella works fine. the Stagecoach CMS is practically the same as coachella and coachella works fine. The front end has basic same stuff. So it cant be an issue of a flash version.. or wouldnt both sites not work?

It works fine from IE. I hate IE. All my saved passwords and bookmarks are in firefox so I really rather just get this working than change browsers. plus.. i just fucking hate IE. and chrome doesnt work for a lot of my work related internal cms sites.

Things I have already tried:
upgrading firefox
rolling back firefox to previous version
upgrading and rolling back various things like java, flash, etc
system restore
uninstalling/reinstalling
screaming and yelling at computer
begging company IT guy to help
trying suggestions on firefox troubleshooting pages

fucked around with the extensions and add ons as much as I could.. but again, coachella works fine, sc doesnt, same stuff. so makes no sense.

I am on a PC, windows xp, currently have firefox 4.0.1 but it was an earlier version when this problem started. I can send you screen shots of what I see when i load those pages versus what you see which is it looks fine.

PLEASE SAVE ME. I am exactly like my avatar.. it makes my head hurt.

"Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys..."

[RageAgainstTheAoki]

ISP:
Time Warner

Service:
TurboPlus (supposedly, the fastest cable modem speed available from them)

Issue:
Spotty connection (?)

PCs:
Desktop - hardwired (ethernet)
Laptop - wireless router (care of Time Warner)

Situation:
Moved to a new apartment two weeks ago. Kept Time Warner, but upgraded from the "regular" service to TurboPlus. It seems much slower than my original service. Also it appears to go down intermittently for brief periods. Very brief periods -- 5 or 10 seconds at a time. When I say it goes down, I'll open a new tab and go to a new site and I'll get one of those standard 404 or "not found" error pages you'll get when your internet service is down. I'll refresh the page and 5 or 6 seconds later it's back up. Additionally, streaming appears to be much slower than it was before. Be it Youtube, Netflix, Hulu, NPR, etc. Lots of buffering and/or streams just stopping dead and not continuing. And not just during traditional peak usage times.

Speed Tests:
I've done lots of the online speedtests like Time Warner's and SpeakEasy.net and they almost come back with results matching what Time Warner has promised.

Variables:
This happens on both my desktop and the laptop. It happens whether using Chrome, Firefox or IE.

**** Test:
I barely understand "****" and all of the associated concepts, but when I run tests on pingtest.net I consistently receive an "F" score. Is this something I can bring up with TimeWarner or am I SOL?






Edit: also why is the word "P1ng" censored???

[gaypalmsprings]

I would ask neighbors in the apartment complex. I have TW turbo and it works quite well, but only as fast as the slowest part. I'm wondering about the wiring in your apartment. Will TW charge to check out your wiring? Has someone tapped into your line? Just wondering.

[Fourthisto]

Sorry PF, that whole situation blows my mind, especially since you uninstalled and reinstalled Firefox.

Issue:
Spotty connection (?)

My parents had the SAME problem you described with Time Warner's "Roadrunner" service as well, both wireless and wired connections would crap out at random times. They complained to TW on and off again for weeks and finally someone came out and checked the line in from the neighborhood to their house and had to upgrade the equipment (for you it'd be the MDU) that was installed years and years ago. Now they haven't had issues nearly as much, but still on rare occasion. (like when it's down for the entire neighborhood, etc.)

So yeah, I'd call TW every time it goes out until they have someone out there to check things out. Just like the saying goes, "The squeaky wheel gets the better internet."

[gaypalmsprings]

[bartelby]

anyone stuck with the google virus right now? everytime i click a link off google it opens weird links

i can't figure out how to get rid of it....

[PrettyRagdoll]

anyone stuck with the google virus right now? everytime i click a link off google it opens weird links

i can't figure out how to get rid of it....

That's not a "Google Virus" that's a virus on your computer that basically hijacks your computer by redirecting you whenever you click a link from a search engine.

Ways around it: If you know the website url, usually you can get to the site by going directly there.

System Restore: Last Resort, but it takes your computer back to stock and generally gets rid of the minor problems.

Rollback your system to an earlier date, preferably to a little bit before you remember the problem starting. Because most likely, the virus was there before your started noticing problems

[PrettyRagdoll]

already tried. already tried. already tried. already tried. already tried. already tried. already tried. already tried. already tried. already tried. already tried. already tried. already tried. already tried. already tried. already tried. already tried.

Did you try Google Chrome? It may suck having to save all of your passwords again, but ultimately it runs lighter then Firefox, funs faster then FireFox, has add-ons... and can get to the Stagecoach website with no problem.

[Fourthisto]

Can't you import bookmarks/passwords/etc. from Firefox to Chrome? I seem to remember that option upon first install.

Wait, I think PF said that Chrome wouldn't work with all of the stuff she has to manage online - otherwise...

[PrettyRagdoll]

Can't you import bookmarks/passwords/etc. from Firefox to Chrome? I seem to remember that option upon first install.

Wait, I think PF said that Chrome wouldn't work with all of the stuff she has to manage online - otherwise...

Ah, back to the start line then

[RageAgainstTheAoki]

I would ask neighbors in the apartment complex. I have TW turbo and it works quite well, but only as fast as the slowest part. I'm wondering about the wiring in your apartment. Will TW charge to check out your wiring? Has someone tapped into your line? Just wondering.

No, they won't charge me. It took three service visits to successfully install my service so obviously there's some sort of issue going on here they've yet to resolve. I'm definitely calling them again.

Sorry PF, that whole situation blows my mind, especially since you uninstalled and reinstalled Firefox.

My parents had the SAME problem you described with Time Warner's "Roadrunner" service as well, both wireless and wired connections would crap out at random times. They complained to TW on and off again for weeks and finally someone came out and checked the line in from the neighborhood to their house and had to upgrade the equipment (for you it'd be the MDU) that was installed years and years ago. Now they haven't had issues nearly as much, but still on rare occasion. (like when it's down for the entire neighborhood, etc.)

So yeah, I'd call TW every time it goes out until they have someone out there to check things out. Just like the saying goes, "The squeaky wheel gets the better internet."

Thanks, man. Very helpful!

[TheScenestar]

i cant believe there inst at least one pc expert nerd that could help me with this. sheesh.

[weeklymix]

Easy, Ken.

[marooko]

PF, you ever get that issue figured out? Curious what the problem was.

[gaypalmsprings]

PF, you ever get that issue figured out? Curious what the problem was.

I think her eyeball got caught in a USB port. She saw an ophthalmologist and now everything is OK again.

[menikmati]

okay seriously fuck roadrunner internet. I get it here, and all I get every 2 mins is DNS errors and pages not found. What the fuck? It happens ALL THE FUCKING TIME. So what can I do? They gave me some shitty Netgear router...I've tried changing the DNS servers through control panel > network > connection whatever > ipv4 > properties to the openDNS addresses, but that still doesnt help. Its really pissing me off, and I'm wondering if there is a solution before I have to call these motherfuckers and have them tell me I dunno sorry.

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

i get ridiculous shit like that with Time Warner also, but I mostly blame being 70 feet from the router.

yesterday, i was able to browse THIS forum just fine, opening all sorts of topics, but could not open any other website simultaneously. it was fucking weird.

[bmack86]

The forums are always the last page that I can browse before my internet dies. I always find it odd but comforting.

[menikmati]

Being far from the router is not the issue...in fact, i'm hardly more than 10 feet away....I have 5 bars....it's Roadrunner themselves and their servers/settings/whatever, I'm sure of it. Or it's the shitty Netgear router they gave me. Whatever it, it's fucking bullshit...EVERY 2 mins it's page not found. I run ping tests on pingtest.net or whatever, and I get "F" every time. I can't even ping shit in the command line. Like what the fuck, seriously?

[marooko]

You can't even what in the command line?

[menikmati]

haha forgot about that PING!

[Newro7ic]

Being far from the router is not the issue...in fact, i'm hardly more than 10 feet away....I have 5 bars....it's Roadrunner themselves and their servers/settings/whatever, I'm sure of it. Or it's the shitty Netgear router they gave me. Whatever it, it's fucking bullshit...EVERY 2 mins it's page not found. I run ping tests on pingtest.net or whatever, and I get "F" every time. I can't even ping shit in the command line. Like what the fuck, seriously?

Run a continuous **** on the router's ip. **** -t <ip of router>

If you see lots of dropped packets, it's definitely the router. If not, then try running a **** test on say, the DNS servers they have given you. If that fails, it could still be the internet port of the router that's broken, but more likely something on their end.

EDIT: All of this from the command line, but from the sound of things, you probably understood that anyway. These tests might helpe RageAgainst figure out his issue as well.

[JustSteve]

PF, you ever get that issue figured out? Curious what the problem was.

she did. forget what the problem was, though.