Need Computer Help

[carlotta]

When I try to access my computer... ((I am currently at a cyber cafe - Tony's - love those Italian cafes!!!)) But here is the problem...

I am on my computer typing all along and then POOOOOF!!! The cursor freezes... & then the WHOLE computer freezes... What is the solution??? I have rebooted over & over... & it does that everytime... After about 10 minutes...

If someone wants to exchange services for FIXING my computer **THIS EVENING ONLY** 12/12/04 FREE FREE FREE hotcarlotta@yahoo.com or message me at yahoo messenger, i have it up right now from 330 - approx 430

Carlotta
Email me w/solution or booking to service my computer for fun

 

[hitrack]

Whats your system specs??

First things that come to mind:

Your power supply is packing it in. You processor fan is loose or completely clogged with dust and causing the processor to overheat. Your ram has gone bad. Some sort of virus has got on there and running some spyware cleanup or a virus scan may fix it. Your whole computer is just harsh clogged with dust and causing heat issues, simply formatting and reinstalling will fix the problem, re-seat all the components such as ram and video card, loose cable may be it.

If something packed it in you can get the motherboard, processor, and memory together now-a-days for 300 or less. If your a hardrcore gamer, photoshop, video editing person you will need closer to a $1000 for processor, mainboard, and mem.

PS: I don't e-mail.

PPS: If anyone has ever helped someone with a mystery problem or even on their own computer they will know that fiddle fukkin around with it can easily eat up 2-4 hrs of time no problem.

 

[carlotta]

I think I explained my problem incorrectly... It just freezes on the SCREEN... itself... everything just sits there... unable to move the cursor??? But I can move the mouse itself and the computer is not shutting down, it is just freezing...

i email LOL

Carlotta

 

[O-Shoes]

Virus, Someone is using your computer to send out messages through your e-mail... It's common. You need updated Norton Internet Security Anti virus software or something similiar.
This may not be the problem but the same thing happened to me and it was because of a virus...

 

[hitrack]

O.K. so the mouse freezes, does the whole computer stop responding. I mean like does the clock stop too??, does control-alt-delete not work, can you press the windows key and the start menu pops up.

Do you physicaly have to reach over shut the machine off and restart it??

 

[carlotta]

hahahaha having fun yet hitrack? thanks for your attempts here the whole computer stops responding... no i can't control alt delete... press anything or make anything pop up... or work... yes i have to move my butt over and restart the computer

carlotta

 

[hitrack]

You need to "grab a geek" There is no way I can solve the problem with out tests, tests and more tests. Unless you just said fukk this old hunk-0-shit and bought new stuff.

I now wash my hands of your computer.

 

[carlotta]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh buy new lol

**sigh**

carlotta

geek geek where's the geek lol

 

[Slatz]

Carlotta,I'm no geek but I have been know to fix the odd computer. If you could provide some information about how old your computer is, type of processor, HD, Ram, or make. Is it on all the time? or a few hours a day? Was it making any weird noises before the freeze up problem?

 

[LonelyGhost]

try something simple like changing the batteries in the mouse ... mine does a similar thing when the batteries get low.

also, have you been using any kind of reg-edit software? this is the stuff that tells you it will clean up your system registry and get rid of old programs and make your computer run faster and typically just deletes the programs your computer needs to run properly and it starts to 'hang' ... simple fix is to re-install your operating system.

you can also do a windows up-date and see if everything is working okay.

run your virus software and spyware software ...

 

[Raging_Geek]

sounds nasty

Hi Carlotta,

It sounds like a virus or operating system corruption of some sort.

Did you install any new software prior to this problem?

Do you have up to date virus protection?

Is it win 98? Is it Win XP? Is it win?

 

[Verb]

well it ain't no virus.

Get ready for a good format on your hard drive.

I had that problem before too. I got a new optical mouse and formatted my hard drive and then BAM......Its started to run smooth again.

 

[Fotura]

Hi Carlotta,

Sadly almost everyone here is trying to say your symptoms are generic. The freezing can happen for a few different reasons. There's a possibility of a virus but I think Hitrack is closer to the answer.

I think the problem is hardware related. Like a car, it takes about 10 minutes for a computer to warm up. Once it warms up, components expand and at that time I think something is causing the freeze. Sometimes you may get the blue screen of death or an overflow error or a divide by 0 error.

I also agree with Hitrack that it's not something that can be diagnosed online. You'll need to have someone look at it and that may cost you some change for parts and labour that may rival your donations.

Good luck,
Fotura

 

[LonelyGhost]

Hi Carlotta,

Sadly almost everyone here is trying to say your symptoms are generic. The freezing can happen for a few different reasons. There's a possibility of a virus but I think Hitrack is closer to the answer.

I think the problem is hardware related. Like a car, it takes about 10 minutes for a computer to warm up. Once it warms up, components expand and at that time I think something is causing the freeze. Sometimes you may get the blue screen of death or an overflow error or a divide by 0 error.

I also agree with Hitrack that it's not something that can be diagnosed online. You'll need to have someone look at it and that may cost you some change for parts and labour that may rival your donations.

Good luck,
Fotura

HUH? so we're a bunch of morons because we think its a generic problem and you're the genius who comes up with the diagnosis that is might be something or something but definitely not the something that we came up with?

rather than running to a comp tech for tons of money, why not try simple things in a process of elimination -- batteries in the mouse? replace them.

i am sure fortura replaces his dvd player everytime the batteries in his remote go dead.

even check the battery in the computer ... no, not the one like a lap-top but the little watch battery that keeps the rom powered (and I never knew there was such a thing until the one in my comp went dead and the high priced tech replaced it for $3.99 for the battery and $60 for the service!).

and playing with your software can get lots of problems as well ...

if you try eliminating all the stuff mentioned in the posts first, then make note of them and THEN take it to a tech, at least s/he won't do the same things and charge you for the lesson.

 

[Slatz]

There is a point of dimishing return on fixing old (4-5 year old) computers. Let us know how old it is, and I'll give you the best advice I can. Paying $50 an hour only to find out you need a $500 upgrade when you can buy a low-end Dell for $349. This is what you want to avoid.

 

[Fotura]

LG,

I was not intending to disrespect anyone. Carlotta mentioned her entire machine freezes. She can't even do Ctrl-Alt-Del so I would say it's a bit more than just her mouse.

What I meant to say was the symptoms she described are generic for several different kinds of problems. Based on added comments she added it started sounding more hardware than software.

Can I say for sure? No because I haven't seen the machine. Is Carlotta able to diagnose it? Most likely not if she can only run her machine for 10 minutes at a time.

Can you be so sure she's using a mouse that requires a battery or are you assuming here too without knowing that? None of my machines use a mouse that require batteries so your suggestion would do squat for me.

I do this stuff in my regular work and sadly also do it for fun, so I think I know what I'm talking about. I rarely ever tell anyone to take their machines in because of the cost. I would rather do it myself but I do in this case because:
1) I do not know Carlotta
2) I may be presuming here but I'm pretty sure she's not comfortable to dig into her machine and crack it open.

 

[LonelyGhost]

well, we were all wrong ... turns out the computer was dirty and needed vacuuming (so you were right about the heat but not the cause of it).

the point i was trying to make is that sometimes people overlook the obvious (like dead batteries) and that can be a simple fix. if her mouse doesn't use batteries then she can say so and the next suggestion can be made.

the biggest surprise i ever got was the stupid little watch battery on the motherboard going dead ... never even heard of it!

 

[Maury Beniowski]

Do like I did; buy a new one...

At some point in the life of every computer, you will need to toss the one you have, and invest in a new one. Unless you never install new programs, updates, and are using the computer for the same tasks, ad nauseam - and who does that?

A few months ago, I tried to install Microsoft XP's new fangled Service Pack 2. My system locked up in the middle of the install, and when I tried to reboot it, found that the core Windows OS was irreparably damaged. So I was basically left with a boat anchor. No telling you how low my opinion of Bill Gates sank that day.

I then piggybacked another drive on the system, but was never able to recover my old drive. The garbage truck going by my house looked really inviting, but I limped along and finally waited until the Christmas sales came along. I bought a nice Athlon 3000 Compaq system with all the bells and whistles, including a versatile DVD-R and DVD+R burner and a nice 17" Samsung LCD screen for about $1,300 including taxes. Did my research beforehand, and before anybody says I could have done better, I'm not a gamer, so this package suits me fine.

And... I piggybacked my corrupted drive onto the new system, and was able to recover all my files... I'm now burning all my files and years of pics onto DVDs.

Ahhh, blissful joy...

 

[buonsapore]

Be careful with that vacuum cleaner!

Conventional vacuum cleaners generate static electricity and can ruin computer components. There are special vacuums made for computers, but even most computer techs don't have one, unless they do a lot of work on printers and copiers.

It's much safer to blow the dust out of a computer that to vacuum.