26 replies to this topic

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

OK, so I think some of you remember that I mentioned that my Mozilla browsers, Firefox and SeaMonkey, were havng a crashing problem on my work computer. So I downloaded Google Chrome, and for a few days it seemed to work well. But now it's crashing all the time too. Obviously there is something going on that is not related to the specific browser I am using. Is there anything I can check? It's driving me nuts.

[Invicta]

This is your work computer right? What OS? What are the other stats? Any chance it as a virus (do they have anti-virus running)? How is the internet connection (type and speed). Is it JUST that computer or are other computers having similar problems? If you don't know ask around. It's difficult to impossible to diagnose remotely without more information unfortunately, but hopefully we can figure it out for you.

[Thrash]

ya, you prob need a malware scan.

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

I can't tell you much about the internet connection, other than that it is a Comcast broadband network connection. The computer is a Compaq with a Pentium 4 CPU, 1.70 GHz, 512 MB pf RAM. It's running Windows XP Professional (Version 2002, Service Pack 2 if that means anything). I have 62.7 GB of free hard drive space (11.8 GB used). The security program is Microsoft Security Essentials.

[CMerrigan]

Service pack 2, and Microsoft Security?

I think we have found part one of the problem at least.

That thing needs to be updated like someone wearing bell bottoms. As for the security. I think you should look into AVG or Avira for anti virus, and run a malware scan. A malware scan will be included in the XP updates.

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

I ran a malware scan -- nothing found.

Unfortunately updates are out of my hands. The IT guy does that stuff. I don't think I can even get into the necessary control panels to do it.

[CMerrigan]

I ran a malware scan -- nothing found.

Unfortunately updates are out of my hands. The IT guy does that stuff. I don't think I can even get into the necessary control panels to do it.

Really? The IT guy is a few years behind. Service pack 3 came out towards the end of 2008, and I'm pretty sure there were a lot of important updates in there. For security and stuff of that nature.

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

I think he has a lot of bigger picture network crap to deal with. Keeping the school nurse's computer up to date is probably not high on his list.

By the way, the mere existence of all this nonsense is one of the reasons I use a Mac. But that's a separate discussion.

I guess what I was hoping is that someone would say something like, "Oh, just change the setting on the Fraggleplexer to Huffinpop, and it will work fine." Heh.

[Timtacious]

So, used Opera yet?

[Invicta]

Opera won't help. And yeah, there are TWO things in that setup that are ancient; the Operating System, and the computer itself. No wonder you're having trouble. Unfortunately it could be any one of a million things, including a memory leak issue, or data corruption, fragmentation, or just plain iffy hardware.

I can't tell you much about the internet connection, other than that it is a Comcast broadband network connection.

That's good, that means it's a cable modem which means the connection should be stable and decently fast. It's not likely anything to do with that.

And as for the whole "I don't have to deal with this crap on my mac" thing, it's still there, it's just that a mac patronizes you and removes possibilities for configuration, troubleshooting, etc. Everything about the Mac is patronizing, and there is a reason why I don't know a SINGLE IT specialists who likes working on them, they are a pain in the ass. It's like somebody just killed their dog every time someone brings a mac into the shop. They suck. My favorite IT quote related to Macs was from a sketch comedy group called "three dead trolls in a blankie", which said, "Tell your Daddy to buy a Mac, it's a computer especially designed for idiot... I mean Mommies and Daddies."

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

That may all be true, but all I know is that I turn on my Mac and it works trouble-free every time. To me that's way more important than being able to "configure" anything myself. I don't care how it's configured -- I just want it to do what I want it to do and not give me any hassles. I don't call that being an idiot, I just call it having more important things to worry about.

Anyway, I have defragged the hard drive, so it's not that. And this is a relatively recent phenomenon, like in the past few weeks, which is what makes me think that something got in there, as in a virus, but the scans show nothing (ooh, that sounded really "Star Trek!").

I just hate going to the IT guy. It's like supplicating yourself before an unpredictable and moody god.

[Invicta]

That anti virus is A) A piece of shit and Tremendously out of date. Assume it was about as enlightening as not running a scan.

Since I assume you don't want to pay for something, download the free version of a piece of software called "AdAware", it's about the best spyware/malware scanner there is. After that it gets more complicated. You'll need a true antivirus. MacAfee and Norton suck, a lot. Don't use those. Use something better reviewed, personally I'm a fan of NOD32. Hopefully AdAware will find it though.

[Kn1nJa]

Wanna get the IT guy REALLY mad at you? Bring in your mac and plug it in

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

I bring in the MacBook once in a while if I have something I want to work on, but the problem is that since I pick up the school's network all the filters apply. The only one that really affects me is Facebook, and even that doesn't bother me tremendously, it's more the principle of the thing. It's not like I was abusing it.

I'll try AdAware tomorrow and see if it picks up anything. But can anyone tell me a way to permanently disable a computer that won't look like I did it on purpose? If it shits the bed for good I can probably get a new one.

[Invicta]

Aside from the ever-popular magnet races technique I don't know any off the top of my head. But I can do some research. You could probably deliberately download a virus and introduce it to the system via a flash drive or something. It really depends how good the IT guy is.

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

That's what I need! A virus that will destroy my computer!

Does the magnet thing really work? Wouldn't that just erase the hard drive?

[Invicta]

It does work if the magnets are strong enough, and if you do it in the right place it erases other data that's harder to put back (like the BIOS). Again it depends how good the IT guy is.

And obviously I didn't mean for you to download an active virus. Beside the point that downloading a PC virus on your Mac should have no effect (at least if you pick carefully), allowing you to introduce it to your PC without damaging your Mac.

The magnet thing is probably not a good idea, he would notice that. It definitely works though; you would want a neodimium rare-earth magnet. They are extremely powerful for the size.

[Shotgun Willy]

Foolproof solution: Nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

In all seriousness, that's actually what an IT guy will probably do. He'll just wanna get back to work, and so he'll just stick his little system recovery USB drive into the comp, and *boom* all is fixed. Too bad all your data is gone too.

needless to say: backup, backup, backup. Just take the important, work-related files; if it is a virus, chances are that those won't be infected. They usually only effect one set of files. And it sounds like internet browsers are the lucky target. (be thankful it wasn't system32; I had one of those once, and I barely managed to get the bare essentials backed-up before the comp bluescreened and wouldn't boot).

As far as antivirus software? I'm a fan of Avast; the base edition for personal use is free, though you do have to register with them and get a key, regardless.

[CMerrigan]

High intensity magnet!

Or EMP! Sure it might wipe out everything but at least you won't have to worry about some silly usb recovery drive!

[Haflinger]

Use Avast, AVG's updates are no good anymore.