Computer Problems and\or Advice 2008 to 2011

[David Nicholson]

Windows or Mac
OK I appreciate the arguments. My son works in the Press/Media industry and Mac is standard for the industry. Lots I need to spend money on this year so I'm going for Windows on cost alone.
Lap Top or not
I favoured Lap top to give myself some flexibility, not sure now given some of the comments, may stick to a desktop.
Cable service
No cable services in my area and not expected to be for some years I'm told. I'm 0.4 miles away from our Telephone Exchange, of course the wires will be longer than that. Tried another speed test at 1955 today:- Download 1.61Mbps. Upload 0.24Mbps. I think neighbours on either side are on wireless connections, both are passworded as my son tried to access a wireless network this weekend whilst he was at home for a few days and couldn't get one.
My System Spec
I looked on System Properties for my kit and this is what it said:- Pentium(R) 4  CPU 3.06GHz
                                                                                        3.06GHz, 448MB of RAM

Various geographical areas in the UK are getting government funding to increase Broadband speeds. My area is one of them so eventually I might have a better service available.

So, from what's been said so far, as I understand it, I have two options really
a) go for a new system either Laptop or Desktop, whatever suits me, with wireless connection, or
b) have some extra RAM added to my existing kit and put up with a slow connection
bits
I didn't understand the "bits" arguments at all, if I go for a new system am I going to be asked how many "bits" I want?

All comments welcomed but please take into account, in my case, it's an imbecile reading them

[Neil]

David

It all depends on what you use the computer for.  If all you do is surf the net and email, there is no need to update. 

I have a desktop that I built back in 2000, pentium 3, 760mHZ, 512 Kb RAM. 160GB hard Drive It does the job of surfing and emailing just fine.

[David Pilling]

All new hardware is 64 bit capable. The 64 bits refer to the maximum amount of memory that can be used. The 32/64 bit thing is to do with software. Probably you need not worry.

If you're offered both 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows that is better than just 32 bits.
Don't expect to be able to use more than 4GB of memory on 32 bit Windows.
If you get 64 bits be prepared for driver problems - printers, scanners that type of thing.

Adding more memory to your current machine would make things substantially better.

Thing about upgrading is the cost versus that of a new machine - how much is a cheap laptop today, looks to me that less than 300 quid gets you 2GB memory and Windows 7.

I had one other laptop thought, I got a 15.6" one, and I found that was big enough, both for visibility and for weight/size.

[Pascal B]

Thing about upgrading is the cost versus that of a new machine - how much is a cheap laptop today, looks to me that less than 300 quid gets you 2GB memory and Windows 7.

Given that it is a Pentium 4 he would need the older DDR memory types and with the current low memory prices it will probably cost ~35 GBP to upgrade to 4 GB memory. David N. probably can't insert the modules himself or know the correct type of memory modules but if he takes the computer to the shop they will do it for him, it's 2 minutes work. It is the cheapest option for him to have increased computer performance. It all depends on the question why he thinks his computer set up no longer suffices and if he wants to be more flexible through a laptop. His internet speed won't change anyway no matter what he does on the computer side.

[Anthony Darby]

Does any of you use any of these? I have "Win Maximiser" which finds and removes 70 - 100 errors every time I switch the computer on, yet when I try one of these 'malware' removers hundreds more are found, and then they suggest you pay then a zillion quid to fix the problem! I have just used the free scan on "Speedy PC Pro" and it says I have 4677 problems, but then asks me to buy their product. Are there any free to use versions?

[Martin Baxendale]

Does any of you use any of these? I have "Win Maximiser" which finds and removes 70 - 100 errors every time I switch the computer on, yet when I try one of these 'malware' removers hundreds more are found, and then they suggest you pay then a zillion quid to fix the problem! I have just used the free scan on "Speedy PC Pro" and it says I have 4677 problems, but then asks me to buy their product. Are there any free to use versions?

Most of the "problems" are probably just tracking cookies and not serious. Try Spybot Search and Destroy. It's a free malware removal tool that will scan your computer and remove a lot of stuff like that.

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

[Rick R.]

Spybot Search and Destroy and Ad-aware are top of the hill free anti malware programs, although not as good as they used to be.  By the way, both of these have knock off bad malware programs with similar names: (just)spybot, adaware(no dash(-)).  Better, in my opinion is Malwarebytes:
http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html

Be suspicious of those that offer free scans and then ask you to buy to rid you of something they found.  As said, often it's not that important, but sometimes these are rogue programs that actually upload bad things into your computer and then want you to pay to remove them.

It's actually a good idea to have two (or more) anti malware programs, as one might catch something another might miss.

[Anthony Darby]

Thanks guys. I'll try them both, if that's what you suggest. Belt and braces. My granddad would be proud of me (he never went anywhere without his raincoat).

[Anthony Darby]

My daughter's Dell laptop required a new battery earlier this year, so I bought her one that was a little more heavy duty. Recently it has started playing up and although it works when plugged into the mains, the battery doesn't seem to charge up and comes up with a message saying "zero % available, plugged in not charging" when she hovers the cursor over the battery symbol.

[JohnLonsdale]

My daughter's Dell laptop required a new battery earlier this year, so I bought her one that was a little more heavy duty. Recently it has started playing up and although it works when plugged into the mains, the battery doesn't seem to charge up and comes up with a message saying "zero % available, plugged in not charging" when she hovers the cursor over the battery symbol.

You have another dead battery - hopefully with a warranty.  After market batteries are a crap shoot, and often a false economy even though they may appear to have higher capacity and lower price than the OEM one.

[Anthony Darby]

Thanks John.

I will check the warranty. She's dropped it a couple of times, so has some interesting "Christmas tree" effects on the screen, so maybe a new one is called for?

[angie]

Can anyone give me some advice on resizing pictures for the forum. I was managing alright and then my computer broke. My husband bought me a macbook, it was nice of him but I would have been happier with what I had before.

Some advice please. The simpler the better for me.

Angie

[ranunculus]

Hi Angie,
Drag or copy your image to your desktop.
Double click it and Preview should open.
Go to Tools and Adjust Size.
Alter Width to 780 pixels for landscape images or 670 for portraits.
Press OK.
Go to File on Preview and Save As.
Give the image a name and change the Where box to Desktop.
If the File size is over 350 kb then drag the slider to the left.
Press Save and your image will be on your desktop ready to send.
It sounds complicated but it soon becomes second nature.
Good luck.
E-Mail me if you have any problems.

[JohnLonsdale]

Thanks John.

I will check the warranty. She's dropped it a couple of times, so has some interesting "Christmas tree" effects on the screen, so maybe a new one is called for?

That sounds like a plan 

[Gerry Webster]

Can anyone give me some advice on resizing pictures for the forum. I was managing alright and then my computer broke. My husband bought me a macbook, it was nice of him but I would have been happier with what I had before.

Some advice please. The simpler the better for me.

Angie

Angie - if your Macbook has iPhoto use that. It is very simple.