Any computer wizz's here?

[spacesailor]

WELL I

I got the ' free ' bitdefender installed  but now it wants me to create an '' account '' .

is this normal for a '' free '' account ? .

I'll   wait for an answer before putting my name to a ' BILL ' of unknown size .

spacesailor

[willedoo]

1 hour ago, spacesailor said:

WELL I

I got the ' free ' bitdefender installed  but now it wants me to create an '' account '' .

is this normal for a '' free '' account ? .

I'll   wait for an answer before putting my name to a ' BILL ' of unknown size .

spacesailor

spacey, if you create an account it just enables you to log in to your account online. The online dashboard doesn't have a great deal of use with a free account. About all you can do there with the free version is view any threats they've blocked on your computer. Apart from that, there's some articles of interest on security available to read, and the usual advertising trying to talk you into upgrading to paid features.

[spacesailor]

Thanks 

So can I get around, having an account .

It does seem pointless Or information gathering. 

spacesailor

 

[willedoo]

2 hours ago, spacesailor said:

Thanks 

So can I get around, having an account .

It does seem pointless Or information gathering. 

spacesailor

 

I'm not sure how it goes with just one computer if you don't activate an account. I guess you could try it and see if it works. Activating the free account allows you to install it on up to three Windows devices.

[willedoo]

This computer is driving me crazy. It keeps shutting down and rebooting (no BSOD), often several times per day. Trying to find the cause is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, so I've decided to reinstall. I've spent half the day backing everything up and decided to try the refresh option, installing from my computer and keeping my files minus third party apps. After watching that process for almost three hours, it finally said it encountered a problem and didn't make any changes, so back to square one.

 

All I can say is Linux is looking good. I'm down to two options: 1.try a total reinstall that wipes all old the files. 2. Look into setting up a dual boot situation and trying a Linux distro to look into it. As far as Linux goes, I use Firefox, Thunderbird, Foxit PDF reader and a few other open source apps, but I don't know if it's compatible with other apps I use. Bloody *^##*^#**#* computers

[onetrack]

Willie, have you checked to see if all your fans are operational and the insides of the computer case are clean? (including the PSU). 9 times out of 10, constant shutdowns are caused by overheating of components, which is caused by dust and fluff buildup, or by fans not functioning.

[willedoo]

7 minutes ago, onetrack said:

Willie, have you checked to see if all your fans are operational and the insides of the computer case are clean? (including the PSU). 9 times out of 10, constant shutdowns are caused by overheating of components, which is caused by dust and fluff buildup, or by fans not functioning.

Yes thanks onetrack, I've done all that. The laptop also sits on one of those fan cooler bases which is working ok. It can shut down and reboot after a cold start and only a couple of minutes running time, so It's hard to see how it would overheat in that short time span. Having said that, it hasn't shut down since the failed reinstall attempt and subsequently putting a freezer brick under the laptop. Tomorrow I'll try it without the freezer brick and if it shuts down again, I'll let it cool off then try it with the brick again.

 

For the last week or two it's been shutting down and rebooting without showing the BSOD until this afternoon when I tried a restart after getting the symptoms of a shutdown. I had to power it down then reboot to get out of that screen. Most times it gives no warning; the screen just suddenly goes black and it reboots. Other times you get a bit of warning where the mouse cursor changes from the pointer to a thing that looks like piano keys, then it will slow down, apps become unresponsive etc. before it crashes.

 

I reset it to not automatically shut down and restart after a system crash, but it's still doing it regardless.

 

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

This may give you something to look at: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-test-your-pc-for-failing-hardware/

 

Alternative (and I haven't read thewhole post), you shoul dbe able to set system logging on to a level of INFO or similar and check the logs between reboots.. It may yield something (note, I can do this on Linux; never tried it on Windows, but I would suggest there is something -  I will try and look something up tis eve...

 

 

[red750]

I posted previously, a bit tongue in cheek, that my laptop has a problem of dropping characters when I hit the Submit Reply button. More a problem of me trying to touch type, not watching what I am doing. Another problem I have is that when I type the letter 'n', I often get 'nn'. It already happened in this post. I do try to proofread my posts, but the mind plays tricks and you see what you thought you just typed. Often, it's not until you've pressed the button and come back a bit later, that you notice the error. Then I edit the post to correct it. 

[Jerry_Atrick]

@willedoo - I was in a course when I was tying the previous response. I had a machine, quite a few years ago - I thin Win 95 was still the go, where it randomly rebooted itself. I was mightily pissed off because at the time it was a faily high spec machine, incpuding dual CPUs (mot just multi-core, but proper dual CPUs).. Well, Windows used to reboot all the time. I got jack of it and installed SUSE Linux on it, and it seemed to solve the problem.. but... the logs showed up a hardware fault with memory (from memory - pardon the pun), but Linux was smart enough to basically not use the hardware addresses the error was occuring at.

 

I am sure Windows is much better at handling hardware issues than it was.. it could be you have a program which is written in a low-level language such as Assembler/Assembly or C/C++ that is directly addressing hardware (e.g. memory, GPU memory, controllerrs, or interrupts), which are held by a Windows service that causes Windows to say, "holy poop! I can't work out what just happened. Let's apply the ol' control-alt-delete - that will sort it. The logs may show up what is happening, whether it is a hardware or software fault.. Although if you ar enot getting a BSOD, then my guess is it is more likely a jardware fault.

 

I

37 minutes ago, red750 said:

I do try to proofread my posts, but the mind plays tricks and you see what you thought you just typed

I have to be honest, I am very quick when I proof-read - because I expect my browser to pick up typos and let me know about them. Sadly, my Firefox install seems to not have properly included the spell checker - and I get to typo notifications.

[nomadpete]

I have not seen a BSOD since I turned to Linux.

 

So long, that I had to google BSOD to remember what it was.

[onetrack]

Willie - I'd have to agree that if the cooling side is O.K., then an intermittent hardware fault could be behind your problem. However, in my experience, hardware usually fails outright.

I've had several graphics cards fail, and when they fail, it just stops everything dead in its tracks. But a faulty memory stick could be behind your problem.

Surprisingly to me, I've never had a single memory stick fail, but I've always bought Kingston or Corsair memory, and it has always performed flawlessly.

[willedoo]

I'm looking forward to getting back to a desktop computer. At least they're easy to work on. So far I've run sfc /scannow, check disc, done a ram test and tried uninstalling recently added software. Apart from that, all the usual malware scans, registry clean up and getting rid of junk files. All the drivers seem to be up to date and working.

 

Re: heat. This morning I booted up without the freezer brick and it ran for about 10 minutes and shut down. When it rebooted, I stuck the freezer brick back underneath it and so far, so good. If it gets through the day without another restart with the cold brick underneath, then I might open it up to check whether the internal fan is working.

 

It's no fun working on laptops; I particularly don't like bezels. I prefer the old type that are just screwed together.

[Jerry_Atrick]

You can test if the fan is working by wetting your finger and sticking it next to the air vent..as they should always be spinning even at a lower rpm. 

 

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

This is an interesting synopsis of the Horizon IT disaster in the UK:

 

 

[willedoo]

On 17/01/2024 at 10:51 PM, onetrack said:

Willie, have you checked to see if all your fans are operational and the insides of the computer case are clean? (including the PSU). 9 times out of 10, constant shutdowns are caused by overheating of components, which is caused by dust and fluff buildup, or by fans not functioning.

Thanks onetrack, I think you are right on the money there. I'd assumed the fan was working as it was working when I opened the laptop case recently to clean the dust out. Now that I think of it, it's been very quiet in the fan department coinciding with the time it's been shutting down and restarting. The other thing is that for the last three days I've run the laptop for extended periods with a freezer brick underneath right from a cold start and had no uncommanded shutdowns and restarts. Previous to that I was getting several each session.

 

I can now assume heat is the culprit and most likely the internal fan has stopped working. Next step is to open it up again and check the fan.

[willedoo]

I might have jumped the gun in the above post. I still think heat is the problem, but shortly after posting the above comments, the fan kicked in and started working fairly hard. I hadn't heard it for quite a while, but it's definitely working now. At the same time the fan kicked in the laptop slowed down considerably.

 

After that, I opened the case and there's no dust buildup since the last time I cleaned it. I did find a ribbon connector disconnected and because of it's position, I don't think it would have pulled apart when I removed the keyboard top from the bottom section. I don't know what it does; it runs across the top of the SSD and connects two small circuit boards. I put the laptop back together and removed any clutter and airflow obstructions/restrictions around it. Now it's a matter of wait and see. It's running ok now (without the freezer brick) and the fan sound is obvious but not excessive. The big test will be when I plug an external HD in and give it a good workout. I might do another RAM test; the last couple were ok.

[willedoo]

I'm hoping the battle of the laptop is coming to a close. After finding out the fan is working, opening up the laptop and finding no dust, reconnecting a ribbon cable I found disconnected, and putting it back together, it seems to be working ok with no uncommanded shutdowns so far. The only difference is the reconnected cable and rearranging the position of the laptop to ensure more airflow around the fan vent. I also have a fan cooled base the laptop sits on. It's perforated with air holes on the top (where the laptop sits) and also on the bottom. I jacked it up so the bottom holes are not sitting on the desk and can now get more airflow.

 

So far the GPU is running at 40C to 50C when not working hard and about 70C when playing video, so it's not too bad for heat. I don't think the disconnected cable was related to the heat problem as it was the ethernet cable. The ethernet connection hasn't worked since the last time I had the laptop case opened up, so that's another mystery solved. At this stage it's looking like it was overheating because of restricted airflow. Fingers crossed.

[willedoo]

On 17/01/2024 at 10:51 PM, onetrack said:

9 times out of 10, constant shutdowns are caused by overheating of components, which is caused by dust and fluff buildup, or by fans not functioning.

onetrack, I've given it enough time now to confidently say you win the cigar on the heat issue. The fan is working and no dust buildup, but I'd say restricted airflow was certainly the culprit causing heat buildup. It's been five days now since providing better airflow with a few very hot days and high graphic load with video to test it out. Haven't had a problem so far and the GPU still hasn't climbed over 70C with a high load. It's still operating at 40-50 on a normal load, so it's fairly consistent. Thanks again for the input: I'm glad now I didn't do that reinstall.

[nomadpete]

OK here is my question....

 

I recently had a bit of argy bargy with a Ebay seller. They didnt send everything in the order, then offered me a 50% refund. After a few polite requests they sent me an email which frightened me.

 

How can an Ebay seller get a screen shot of MY Ebay message page?

 

That was sent to me as a attachment, with the words:

"please see this pic, regards"

 

The pic was a screenshot of my message page, with my greeting "G'day Peter" and my username.

[onetrack]

Was the message from you to the seller? It's easy enough to get a screenshot of anything on the computer screen by using the snipping tool.

Complain to eBay if you feel your security has been violated. As a long-time eBay seller (24 years), I can tell you, eBay always sides with the buyer, and the seller will be hammered.

They should give you a 100% refund for such poor customer service. As a buyer I don't buy off any seller with less than 98% feedback.

I've got 100% feedback and have never dropped below 100% all through my eBay dealings.

One buyer in Mexico proved to be a right PIA scammer, complaining that both new Caterpillar solenoids I sent, were faulty and didn't work. One, I could believe, but not two.

He was just a con-artist, so I refunded all his money and marked down Mexico as a place I won't sell to.

 

 

Edited April 2 by onetrack

[Marty_d]

Before you worry too much Peter, I think the message history in Ebay shows messages from both parties.  So have a look at your own history - if it's got your messages to the seller and the seller's to you, then chances are they get both sides of the conversation too.  So it could be their screenshot, not yours.

[red750]

I'm sure my computer is possessed. I type a post, proof read it and send it. Then I notice that the odd letter has been duplicated, or omitted. I edit the post and correct it, post the edit, then find another error.

[pmccarthy]

You have a ghost writer.

[facthunter]

FFS ,  Means FAT  FINGER Syndrome.  Nev