Apologies for not being around much
Discussion
I bought myself a new game - Sims2 which seems to be pretty good, but it's such a big game, my little old pc is struggling to keep up.
I decided to treat myself to a new all dancing powerful pc, but i'll be buggered if I can get it set up right.
I've been on now for two weeks trying to get drivers/programs all installed but you can garauntee that the last driver to be installed will f**k everything up.
Every now and again i'll stick the old pc in and have a look to see what is happening, but for now, it's back to the grindstone.
Makes me wish I just bought one from PCWorld now - damn me for trying to save £100. Still, PCWorld ones all come with that new fangled XP stuff and I'm not ready to be dragged that far into present day. 98 for me!
I decided to treat myself to a new all dancing powerful pc, but i'll be buggered if I can get it set up right.
I've been on now for two weeks trying to get drivers/programs all installed but you can garauntee that the last driver to be installed will f**k everything up.
Every now and again i'll stick the old pc in and have a look to see what is happening, but for now, it's back to the grindstone.
Makes me wish I just bought one from PCWorld now - damn me for trying to save £100. Still, PCWorld ones all come with that new fangled XP stuff and I'm not ready to be dragged that far into present day. 98 for me!
I can take a very good guess at what is wrong with your PC! http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q253912/
>> Edited by docevi1 on Sunday 17th October 18:37
docevi1 said:
I can take a very good guess at what is wrong with your PC! http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q253912/
>> Edited by docevi1 on Sunday 17th October 18:37
Hmmm, thats got me thinking I wasted my money buying that extra 512mB of memory.
My problem seems to be while loading a driver or a program, it'll throw out a general error while it's loading. It's especially annoying when it's usually while loading the sims2, the program I bought the machine to run :bangshead:
Since posting this, I've moved the new pc in the bairns room as hers has blown up and I've actually managed to get all the drivers in and the sims2. Heres hoping it works back downstairs.
MickC said:....and don't go anywhere near the internet without first acquiring and installing AVG and Zone Alarm. XP is excellent but hackers don't bother with 98 anymore so you won't be used to their constant attempts to spoil your fun.
Hmmm, thats got me thinking I wasted my money buying that extra 512mB of memory.
Well if you're still running 98 and you've bought a gig of RAM then yes you have wasted your money - it's not going to use it.
Put XP on and join the rest of us in the 21st century!
I had exactly the same problem when I got my new graphics card, 512Mb Ram and the 128Mb g'card simply didn't like each other - I could not get Win98 to run at all.
Win98 isn't a bad OS, it's not bad by a long way but I would strongly advise you to upgrade to at least 2000 as while they use a lot more of your PC the management of that usage is somewhat better than 98 I'm led to believe, and of course they accept bigger and better machines.
As Mick says, the chances are that the extra Ram you bought is simply not been used at all, the performance gains you may see will simply be down to the improved processor and motherboard.
Email me if you need something
Bob, with regard to the internet. Hackers don't exist like that - there aren't people randomly attacking computers trying to get *your* PC, it's more programs trying to access in that is the bother.
Then of course the other problem is programs calling out I have AVG on here, but don't run it. I update it every once in a while and run a scan every other month or when I can be bothered and have never, ever detected a virus in the 8 years I've been online... It's all poppy cock and scaremongering this virus talk (if you excercise some common sense that is), then again, I don't use Internet Explorer
>> Edited by docevi1 on Sunday 17th October 21:42
Win98 isn't a bad OS, it's not bad by a long way but I would strongly advise you to upgrade to at least 2000 as while they use a lot more of your PC the management of that usage is somewhat better than 98 I'm led to believe, and of course they accept bigger and better machines.
As Mick says, the chances are that the extra Ram you bought is simply not been used at all, the performance gains you may see will simply be down to the improved processor and motherboard.
Email me if you need something
Bob, with regard to the internet. Hackers don't exist like that - there aren't people randomly attacking computers trying to get *your* PC, it's more programs trying to access in that is the bother.
Then of course the other problem is programs calling out
I have AVG on here, but don't run it. I update it every once in a while and run a scan every other month or when I can be bothered and have never, ever detected a virus in the 8 years I've been online... It's all poppy cock and scaremongering this virus talk (if you excercise some common sense that is), then again, I don't use Internet Explorer >> Edited by docevi1 on Sunday 17th October 21:42
Stefan, You're either lucky or you don't go on any unfamiliar internet sites. AVG has detected a worm and three Trojans on my PC in the last eight days. I set for weekly scheduled scan and do a complete scan every time the virus guard tells me an attempt has been made. Most people don't even know they have diallers and downloaders on the PC's. They just complain about pop-ups. Many pop-ups are really downloaders from auction and gambler sites. AVG seldom finds them once they're in but virus guard will spot their activity. Without virus guard you may have downloaders any never know they are there. Running a scan often doesn't always find them. It may be that my PC is used by the family so many unusual sites are visited. What has surprised me is that two of the Trojans came from completely innocent sites. These sites probably don't even know they are hosts.
Agree completely with Bob. Probably Stefan knows what he is doing but many people don't. Nearly all the friend's PC's I 'support' have caught a virus or worm at some point, that's even with Norton installed and automatic updates on. Windows firewall in SP2 is now much better, so might help, but I've seen people turn the firewall off cause they don't understand it.
I've seen the havoc Code red/Blue/Nimda/slammer etc caused on corproate networks - the threat is real, and there is no way Micro$oft has found them all yet - a dozen new ones released this month. Although why hackers can find the holes when the biggest software corp on the plannet can't is beyond me.
I've seen the havoc Code red/Blue/Nimda/slammer etc caused on corproate networks - the threat is real, and there is no way Micro$oft has found them all yet - a dozen new ones released this month. Although why hackers can find the holes when the biggest software corp on the plannet can't is beyond me.
Thank you for confirming my fears over XP. Besides owt else, you know when you've been using a PC for years and your used to it's layout and look - anything new just looks wrong.
Even the new machine with 98 on is still wrong - my log on screen with the old one is a nice box where you select the user and password, but the new one has a user logon with only one name in the box - I'll be buggered if I can find out how to change it. Not unless its an upgrade I've d/l'ed over the years but I can't remember.
As the bairns PC has blown up, that extra memory might come in handy when I get her a new motherboard so all's ok. I hope it is the motherboard, it's either that or the chip, I dunno?
Even the new machine with 98 on is still wrong - my log on screen with the old one is a nice box where you select the user and password, but the new one has a user logon with only one name in the box - I'll be buggered if I can find out how to change it. Not unless its an upgrade I've d/l'ed over the years but I can't remember.
As the bairns PC has blown up, that extra memory might come in handy when I get her a new motherboard so all's ok. I hope it is the motherboard, it's either that or the chip, I dunno?
[quote=docevi1
Win98 isn't a bad OS, it's not bad by a long way but I would strongly advise you to upgrade to at least 2000 as while they use a lot more of your PC the management of that usage is somewhat better than 98 I'm led to believe, and of course they accept bigger and better machines.
It's all poppy cock and scaremongering this virus talk (if you excercise some common sense that is), then again, I don't use Internet Explorer
[/quote]
Windows 2000, you either love it or hate it. I personally hate it, as it runs everything I need ridiculously slow and then bogs down to a galcial speed after a few months. On the other hand I have had friends run it for ages and love it. I would always go with XP, but I don't connect my work computer to the internet. I installed SP2, but it conflicted with so many of my programmes I'm going to have to uninstall it. The computer may be safe, but it's also completely unuseable.
I agree with Stefan about the Viruses. But if you are visiting dodgy sites then you will probably have to expect it. A bit of common sense and some regular checks are generally fine for the home user.
Again if anybody needs PC help I'm also happy to help out.
Win98 isn't a bad OS, it's not bad by a long way but I would strongly advise you to upgrade to at least 2000 as while they use a lot more of your PC the management of that usage is somewhat better than 98 I'm led to believe, and of course they accept bigger and better machines.
It's all poppy cock and scaremongering this virus talk (if you excercise some common sense that is), then again, I don't use Internet Explorer
[/quote]
Windows 2000, you either love it or hate it. I personally hate it, as it runs everything I need ridiculously slow and then bogs down to a galcial speed after a few months. On the other hand I have had friends run it for ages and love it. I would always go with XP, but I don't connect my work computer to the internet. I installed SP2, but it conflicted with so many of my programmes I'm going to have to uninstall it. The computer may be safe, but it's also completely unuseable.
I agree with Stefan about the Viruses. But if you are visiting dodgy sites then you will probably have to expect it. A bit of common sense and some regular checks are generally fine for the home user.
Again if anybody needs PC help I'm also happy to help out.
Forgive me for saying it but all this talk about not needing virus protection is worrying me. If you don't have virus protection then you'll end up being a host and infecting the rest of us. Just because nobody has stolen your car doesn't mean it's safe to leave the keys in the ignition overnight. I would estimate this year between £100 and £200 of real money out of my pocket plus seven days without a PC because of an auction site up-loader / Trojan and I had NAV running with a current definition. I find AVG better because the warning is quicker and I can deal with these things before they install. NAV only told me after the install was complete and the damage done. I was running '98 at the time and so couldn't return to an earlier configuration. With XP I would have been able to clear the virus and pick up yesterday's configuration to repair the damage.
Bob, there isn't any chance what so-ever you will recieve Virii from me or Chris.
All these "dialer" and the like aren't virii, they are Spyware or adware and this is an entirely different kettle of fish to a virus. Virii generally are spread via email and usually through Internet Explorer, adware similary.
The point would be that Internet Explorer and Outlook are your main areas for attack from the internet, so why run them and then worry about putting multiple Anti Virus programs, Adware detectors... when you can destroy that avenue by using something different such as FireFox & Thunderbird.
Don't get me wrong, you are still at risk, but you will be truly shocked the amount of sites that suddenly fail to work as they can't get the information they need from your PC (such as your operating system).
Do you remember that law suite Netscape took to MS a few years back regarding the intergration of IE into Windows? Rather than solving the problem it actually caused a few more in that MS simply intergrated IE in tighter to ensure their argument "we can't get rid of it without destroying windows" stood. Firefox and other programs don't have that level of intergration (try deleting iexplore.exe and browsing to the internet via my computer - it still works) and as such can offer much more protection to your computer - for instance you don't get offers to install diallers/crap or popups offering shite...
Then again, it's better to have some form of protection than non at all if you are still using Internet Explorer - just make damned sure you get all of their security updates that are released almost daily!
All these "dialer" and the like aren't virii, they are Spyware or adware and this is an entirely different kettle of fish to a virus. Virii generally are spread via email and usually through Internet Explorer, adware similary.
The point would be that Internet Explorer and Outlook are your main areas for attack from the internet, so why run them and then worry about putting multiple Anti Virus programs, Adware detectors... when you can destroy that avenue by using something different such as FireFox & Thunderbird.
Don't get me wrong, you are still at risk, but you will be truly shocked the amount of sites that suddenly fail to work as they can't get the information they need from your PC (such as your operating system).
Do you remember that law suite Netscape took to MS a few years back regarding the intergration of IE into Windows? Rather than solving the problem it actually caused a few more in that MS simply intergrated IE in tighter to ensure their argument "we can't get rid of it without destroying windows" stood. Firefox and other programs don't have that level of intergration (try deleting iexplore.exe and browsing to the internet via my computer - it still works) and as such can offer much more protection to your computer - for instance you don't get offers to install diallers/crap or popups offering shite...
Then again, it's better to have some form of protection than non at all if you are still using Internet Explorer - just make damned sure you get all of their security updates that are released almost daily!
docevi1 said:
Bob, there isn't any chance what so-ever you will recieve Virii from me or Chris.
Virii generally are spread via email and usually through Internet Explorer, adware similary.
quickest spreading virii are worms which exploit holes in the OS, rather than email or browser exploits which needs a slow human to trigger them. Usually these are buffer overruns in RPC etc or weak password exploits of IPC. Worms which require no user interaction are the fastest and most destructive - nimda is the example which springs to mind.
And it's scarey how many machines there still are out there which have not been patched against it, or have blank admin passwords, or are rebuilt and not patched in time (automatic update are far too slow when building a new machine to be any use).
Chris is right - best defence is hardware firewall, but most home users don't have them. Software firewalls are not nearly as good.
[pedant mode]
OK OK so purists might not class worms as virii[/pedant mode]
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