General Problems Thread: 2009 - 2015

[dylan123]

Just reading up about the 'Ants toolbar', many seem to have difficulty clearing it off their PC after use; and thus label it a 'virus'. Not sure I want to go down that path, my comp is running fine at the minute and want to keep it that way.

Are there any programs that I can purchase that could do the same / if not better job?

I'd be assuming that is from people that have got it hidden in their browser yet have failed to uninstall the program from add/remove programs in control panel.

I've used Ants toolbar for 3+ years and I've had no issues with it at all. I'm not sure why anyone would want to uninstall it once they have it on either as you might come across something you enjoy on youtube and want to download it. I was watching twenty the Pearl Jam doco the other day and decided I'd download it with the toolbar while I was watching, luckily enough I did because once I got 75min in the site wanted me to sign up to pay to watch the rest yet I'd already downloaded it all.

On their home page it says this:

This add-on is secure : it was verified by Norton Safe Web and McAfee's Site Advisor . It contains no malware.

http://www.ant.com/video-downloader

So I'd be pretty confident in saying you're safe in downloading it and having no issues.

There is a flash one I tried but wasn't as good because it couldn't download as many sort of things. Doing a quick google search there are a couple but their websites are not that impressive imo:
http://www.binarymark.com/Products/StreamingVideoDownloader/default.aspx
http://www.flashvideodownloader.org/



With a bit more looking into it, firefox have their own add on:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/video-downloadhelper/


Just tried it for a youtube video then, it downloaded although you must close the tab of the video (once you click it to download) for the actual download to begin.

 

[Colin D'Cops]

I've used Ants toolbar for 3+ years and I've had no issues with it at all...
...So I'd be pretty confident in saying you're safe in downloading it and having no issues.

Installed it, got it working and it is just sooo easy to use.

Much appreciated Dyl.

 

[dylan123]

Installed it, got it working and it is just sooo easy to use.

Agreed, I'm surprised not many use it really.

Much appreciated Dyl.

No problem.

 

[grizzlym]

Completely different question, something a mate of mine has been trying to do for ages..

Is there any way of getting songs off an ipod and putting the file on a hard drive. I don't think there is but worth trying I guess...

If you simply want to get files off a protected iPod and onto your itunes then use a program like Senuti.

 

[Ant_]

If you simply want to get files off a protected iPod and onto your itunes then use a program like Senuti.

Or just click show hidden files on your file browser and search for .mp3 etc

 

[Hard Ball Get]

The files were never on his computer to begin with (I'm no expert so I don't know how he got them on his Ipod). As far as I can tell locating the hidden files wont help?

 

[Ant_]

The files were never on his computer to begin with (I'm no expert so I don't know how he got them on his Ipod). As far as I can tell locating the hidden files wont help?

Yes, but if you connect your ipod to the computer and open up its file share like a usb drive you can get to the sound files. You just need to have show hidden files turned on.

Ipods will convert the file name to a random generated name, but the song header file is intact.

I.e it will have W7kHJ.mp3 in the fileshare but when you play the song it will tell you the song title in your player.

 

[Hard Ball Get]

Yes, but if you connect your ipod to the computer and open up its file share like a usb drive you can get to the sound files. You just need to have show hidden files turned on.

Ipods will convert the file name to a random generated name, but the song header file is intact.

I.e it will have W7kHJ.mp3 in the fileshare but when you play the song it will tell you the song title in your player.

Ah ok, thanks I think I understand now!

 

[Dan26]

I've got the new Iphone 4S, but it says the Sim is not valid.

When I got the phone, I rang Dodo, and decided to go with them. I wanted to keep the number from my older crappy phone, so Dodo, said they need to send me a micro-Sim, which they did.

I rang Dodo on Friday to activate the new micro-Sim card. As of today (Monday) my crappy old phone's Sim has now been deactivtaed, so now I can't use my old phone. So I was under the impression that as soon as that happened, the new Sim on the IPhone would activate.

I went through the set-up process, and installed Itunes and all that, but it keeps saying:

"Only compatible Sim Cards from a supported carrier may be used to activate I Phone. Please insert the card that came with your IPhone, or visit a supported carriers store to receive a replacement Sim card"

I rang Dodo and they said it has been activated.

This is really annoying because it means I don't have any phone at the moment. Anyone know what is going on?

 

[standingroomonly]

Who did you get your iPhone from? Sounds like its locked to another telco.

 

[Dan26]

Who did you get your iPhone from? Sounds like its locked to another telco.

The IPhone came with a Telstra Sim. But I elected not to use that, so I went with Dodo. Even If I wanted to go with Telstra I would have needed to get that Telstra Sim activated first, so it shouldn't matter what Sim I have in there, surely?

 

[standingroomonly]

The IPhone came with a Telstra Sim. But I elected not to use that, so I went with Dodo. Even If I wanted to go with Telstra I would have needed to get that Telstra Sim activated first, so it shouldn't matter what Sim I have in there, surely?

No, whatever Telco provided the phone locks it to their network. You can call up and ask them to unlock it. Each carrier has different rules about this. Try your luck

 

[Dan26]

No, whatever Telco provided the phone locks it to their network. You can call up and ask them to unlock it. Each carrier has different rules about this. Try your luck

So, I need to call Telstra?

 

[standingroomonly]

Yes.

Tell them you want to unlock your handset. You'll need the IMEI and maybe the serial number. They are written on your sim card tray.

 

[mojito]

My targus wireless mouse is shitting it. It's only 4 weeks old (bought it with the new laptop). Moving it around on my desk does nothing to the cursor on the screen, yet I can get a response from it if I click either button or the wheel.

Any ideas re solutions?

 

[Dan26]

Yes.

Tell them you want to unlock your handset. You'll need the IMEI and maybe the serial number. They are written on your sim card tray.

Well, I called Telstra, told them the situation.

We couldn't solve the problem over the phone. The girl on the phone said I have to put the Telstra Sim in the phone, get the phone workign with that and THEN I can put the Dodo Sim in there.

But I couldn't get the phone working with the Telstra Sim in there because my phone number was not a Telstra number.

So, now I'm going to go down to the local Telstra shop tomorrow and see if they can solve this problem for me. They better be able to get it working. It's what they do, right? That's their job... surely there must be a way. They put a man on the moon, so they should make my phone work.

What a bloody inconvenience this has been.

Anyway, thanks for your help standingroomonly. You've steered me in the right direction, to the extent that at least I know what the problem is.

 

[dav3]

My targus wireless mouse is shitting it. It's only 4 weeks old (bought it with the new laptop). Moving it around on my desk does nothing to the cursor on the screen, yet I can get a response from it if I click either button or the wheel.

Any ideas re solutions?

Try it on a different surface (mouse mat, your leg, etc.), if that doesn't work check to see (assuming it's an optical mouse) that the light is working on the bottom of the mouse, and that there's no crap blocking the sensor. Beyond that..... chances are it's faulty, get it replaced under warranty (if it's worth enough to bother) or buy something a little better.

 

[Umpa Lumpa]

My targus wireless mouse is shitting it. It's only 4 weeks old (bought it with the new laptop). Moving it around on my desk does nothing to the cursor on the screen, yet I can get a response from it if I click either button or the wheel.

Any ideas re solutions?

Try putting a cat next to it, it may scare the mouse into submission and make it follow ure orders.

You could also try not feeding it, if has nothing in the belly, there will be no shit after a couple of days of not feeding it. But it does run a risk killing the poor mouse.

My final suggestion will be to find the mouse another mouse to mate with, it might be acting up because it is horny. Finding a mate might make him act out so much.

Tell me if any of my suggestions worked, good luck

 

[Tiff]

Turned my on yesterday and now it's stuffed.

A while ago I thought I had problems with my hard drive but running some repair things it all seemed ok after that.

Turned it on, and it went to the blue windows 7 background screen you see just before it properly loads into windows, and just hangs there. I can hear the fan revving it's nut off and the CPU getting hot. I was forced to force shutdown.

Upon rebooting it goes to a black screen giving me two options. Repair startup or start windows normally. Both options take me to the same blue screen that hangs.

I've tried everything I can find, f8, and all the options in there just all end up in the same place, blue screen. Even safe mode does the same thing.

I did f12 and ran dell diagnostics which just runs for a while then turns the pc off.

Windows was preinstalled and looking through the stuff it came with theres no windows disc.

If anyone can help it'd be much appreciated. Ill call dell after work on Monday but if anyone can give me advice for peace of mind would be great.

Windows 7 and Dell Inspiron N5010

 

[dylan123]

First off it sounds like it's overheating, maybe clean the case out as there might be a lot of dust inside which is causing it to do so.

Secondly, if as far as you can get is the loader screen without anything else popping up, then explorer isn't running. You could try: control, alt delete > start task manager > Applications > New Task... > type in open 'explorer' > ok.
To see whether that boots them up or at least gives you an error.

You can run a system restore from windows task manager but it would be good to see whether an error pops up first when you're trying to run explorer or whether that makes it work.

 

[Tiff]

Cheers man.

Yeah I've tried control alt delete but it does nothing. All other options just send me to the blue nothing screen.

I've literally tried everything. Is it stuffed??

 

[dav3]

From memory Dells come with a "recovery disk" and have a partition on the drive to help reinstall Windows instead of just giving you a CD.

If you have another PC maybe try downloading something like "Ultimate Boot CD" and do some hardware diagnostics in case its something simple like RAM. Still..... your best bet (if it's under warranty) is to contact Dell.

 

[Tiff]

From memory Dells come with a "recovery disk" and have a partition on the drive to help reinstall Windows instead of just giving you a CD.

If you have another PC maybe try downloading something like "Ultimate Boot CD" and do some hardware diagnostics in case its something simple like RAM. Still..... your best bet (if it's under warranty) is to contact Dell.

Cheers man.

It is supposed to have dell recovery which I also can't access as it simply does the same thing as everything else, reboots and then does nothing.

No recovery disc either.

Oh well. There's still 35 days left on the warranty and dell does next day home service so I'll do that. Then I'm going to run this piece of shit into the ground then go blow a couple of grand on a Mac.

Done with PC. This things been nothing but trouble.

Mac it up.

 

[dylan123]

Cheers man.

It is supposed to have dell recovery which I also can't access as it simply does the same thing as everything else, reboots and then does nothing.

No recovery disc either.

Oh well. There's still 35 days left on the warranty and dell does next day home service so I'll do that. Then I'm going to run this piece of shit into the ground then go blow a couple of grand on a Mac.

Done with PC. This things been nothing but trouble.

Mac it up.

A bit like Dav3's suggestion, you could try and download a copy of windows 7 online, burn that onto a cd and get your laptop to boot up from that. You will then have two options (well three) in a system repair and system recovery. If neither of those works then I guess you will have to reformat but you may as well try these first to see if you can fix it/get the information backed up. Although if dell will come and fix it then that seems to be the easiest of the options (as long as they don't just wipe it first up as I'm sure you'd rather keep your information).

Also, fight that Mac urge off!

 

[Tiff]

A bit like Dav3's suggestion, you could try and download a copy of windows 7 online, burn that onto a cd and get your laptop to boot up from that. You will then have two options (well three) in a system repair and system recovery. If neither of those works then I guess you will have to reformat but you may as well try these first to see if you can fix it/get the information backed up. Although if dell will come and fix it then that seems to be the easiest of the options (as long as they don't just wipe it first up as I'm sure you'd rather keep your information).

Also, fight that Mac urge off!

Tell me good sir, why should I resist?

Always been a PC man but fed up with tinkering with its inner demons, I mean I've already got one girlfriend for christs sake.

People tell me to Mac it up to spare the worry.

Give me advice. I want care free computing. Or is it simply like having a girlfriend?