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catscomputer

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Posts posted by catscomputer

    One down, 2 to go!

    in General Chat

    Posted

    @ Ibrad

    Well of course. If you don't need support you don't post in a support forum I guess. Even though it uninstalls as it should for many, that doesn't take away that a lot of people DO have problems getting it to uninstall (judging by the number of posts on the subject). I'm hoping I don't have difficulty removing it (as has been the experience of you and some others here recently), but I'm not going to feel completely surprised if I do..... I hope it goes better than my experiences trying to shift Nortons.

    One down, 2 to go!

    in General Chat

    Posted

    And if I can get online, I know where to go to get help, eh? :) Great bunch of people on this message board. :)

    Yes definitely, to both. :)

    It was thanks to the dastardly Norton Removal Tool that I learned how to do a System Restore, and the restore worked beautifully (of course I still have a ton of Nortons remnants now, but oh well). I'm told this Autoruns thing will sort that out. I'll be posting the log on the PC help forum when I do the big switcheroo. :)

    One down, 2 to go!

    in General Chat

    Posted

    Catscomputer, I agree changing security software IS a big deal for a computer and I hate doing it. Nowadays, though, I think the AV's at least have nice cleanup tools, and I think that helps. When I changed the AV's on my 2 from AVG to MSE, I wrote out all the steps first, and it actually went just fine.

    I'm sure I've written about this on the forum somewhere before, but my experience with the Nortons Removal Tool murdering my computer (and failing to remove the remnants of Norton I might add :)) PLUS the many problems on the AVG Forum about difficulty uninstalling AVG is what makes me nervous about proceeding. I do remember it left politely on your PC though, and I have the help forum here if I run into trouble. Exile wants me to run an Autoruns thing after I've removed AVG to do a clean up of any Norton and AVG left. Really I just need the bite the bullet and DO it! (It will either be Avira or MSE - I change my mind about which on a fairly regular basis.... :) ).

    I think I broke MS Word!

    in General Windows PC Help

    Posted

    Yup, sounds like you somehow activated show paragraphs and formatting. I actually find that quite a useful tool to use at the end of creating a document to check it is 'perfect' - i.e. no extra spaces and everything is how it should be. It's a bit in your face to have on all the time though I find.

    Glad you're winning again there. :)

    I think I broke MS Word!

    in General Windows PC Help

    Posted

    Amethyst I wonder if you inadvertently activated the option to show paragraphing and formatting symbols - because two vertical lines with a black bubble at the top is what you'd see at the start of each line and between paragraphs if you did that. Was there a single dot between each word also? (i.e. one dot per space between words). If it was that there is a button you can press to activate/de-activate it (should be that symbol - two lines with a black bubble at the top). Pressing Ctrl + * will also activate showing those symbols (in Word 2007 - I assume also in 2003 but not 100% sure).

    EDIT - the comment posted twice for some reason, sorry about that! Typos tidied up in this comment too. Hopefully someone can delete the other one.

    I think I broke MS Word!

    in General Windows PC Help

    Posted

    Amethyst I wonder if you inadvertently activated the option to show paragraphing and formatting symbols - because two vertical lined with a black bubble at the top is what you'd see at the start of each line and between paragraphs if you did that. Was there a signgle dot between each word also? (i.e. one dot per space between words). If it was that there is a button you can press to de-activate it (should be that symboll - two lines with a black bubble at the top). Pressing Ctrl + * will also activate showing those symbols.

    One down, 2 to go!

    in General Chat

    Posted

    You should still create your recovery discs should you ever need them, your tech may not be around forever :). Reinstalling with a factory recovery partition is even easier than with a Windows installation disc. Just hit the appropriate key when the PC first powers on (usually F11, but it can vary by manufacturer) and follow the prompts :).

    I will make some recovery disks then too (just incase it can't be restored from my D drive - which I'm told is a recovery drive). Apart from that image being pretty old now, I was not that impressed with the tech chap to be honest, so I'm reluctant to call him back anyway. I do have the name of a very good local company to call now should I need assistance for anything that I can't fix myself via a help forum or something.

    One down, 2 to go!

    in General Chat

    Posted

    Reformatting and reinstalling is easier than you think :). Just insert your Windows installation CD and follow the prompts.

    That's good to know :). I don't have disks though as my OS was pre-installed, so it would be a case of ringing MS and reading them the numbers on the sticker on the bottom of my computer. After that though I wouldn't have a clue (I would hope MS would instruct me).

    I do have an image of my PC on an external hard drive which a computer repair person made for me using ShadowProtect. He said that if I needed to use it I'd still need to call him because it would need his ShadowProtect software to make it work. He said that was a better option than making recovery disks because they only work in 50% of cases. I like the sound of having a PC run like brand new again with a fresh install though, and no crapware! Besides that image is a year old now, and a lots changed on my PC since then, so I'd still wind up having to do a lot of downloading and updating of software even if I used the image.

    One down, 2 to go!

    in General Chat

    Posted

    Exile computers are not my thing. I really know very little about the workings of this beast I'm typing on here. (I'm a nurse - give me broken bodies and I'm cool). When something to do with my PC breaks, I need step by step help from someone with a lot of patience to walk me through repairing it. If it needed reformatting I'd probably have to call a professional, and learn from them for next time maybe. Breakdowns are a part of life though, and I do back up regularly now (have learned to do that much), and learned skills I didn't have before in terms of prevention and repair when I've struck problems (like traceroutes!). And that's all good. :) EDIT - plus I'm a tad on the anxious and cautious side anyway.... :)

    One down, 2 to go!

    in General Chat

    Posted

    I totally get you about being a bit on the cautious side when it comes to making big changes with our 'babies'. (Haha I call my laptop my baby too!) I'm nervous about changing AVs for the same reason - though I definitely will be at some stage either before or when support ends for my version of my AV.

    Hopefully SP3 installations it go smoothly for you with the other two too. :)

    MBAM updating problem affecting some in NZ - esp those with Telecom NZ (xtra)

    in Malwarebytes for Windows Support Forum

    Posted

    This problem has been fixed in NZ in the last 30mins, I am happy to report. :) Just updated and was a whole 17 definitions behind! Am doing a scan now to check if I've been hit with anything in the mean time (better not have been!)

    Thanks AdvancedSetup and Swivel. Was going to give Telecom another day to fix this, and then post on the PC help forum to get someone to walk me through changing to an alternative DNS (since I have absolutely no idea where to start with that).

    I appreciate any input MBAM have had in pursuing this issue with NZ too. :)

    EDIT - all nice and clean. Phew! :)

    MBAM updating problem affecting some in NZ - esp those with Telecom NZ (xtra)

    in Malwarebytes for Windows Support Forum

    Posted

    My last successful MBAM update was on 5th of Feb at 8am. Since then I have been getting constant error 732 (12031,0). I have done some digging around, and I suspect that this could be a NZ ISP issue (Telecom NZ, which are xtra.co.nz). Please see this post, including the comments: http://pressf1.pcworld.co.nz/showthread.php?t=107169

    I also saw this post on MBAM: http://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?s...mp;#entry195382 suenz has put NZ on her location and has been having the same error for the same length of time.

    My AV exclusions & IE8 settings are all as they should be according to the FAQ re error 732s, and I have mbam.exe & mbamgui.exe added to my Vista firewall. I have no problem scanning with MBAM, and I can update my AV and get Windows Updates OK. I can also browse with no problem, including all security websites, malwarebytes homepage and forums. I cannot get this page to load at all though: http://mbam-cdn.malwarebytes.org/database/....check.database & I have emailed the link to a bunch of others in NZ to try, and most of them can't either. We get a "cannot display this page" error. My ISP is Telecom NZ (xtra), but it seems some with Slingshot and Orcon are also be affected.

    Not every ISP is affected, and this could all be a giant coincidence, but I really don't think it is....

    I am happy to PM a traceroute to mod or administrator if you'd like?

    Firefox disables a Plugin

    in General Chat

    Posted

    Thanks for those links Chimpy - esp the blocklist one. It doesn't mention the MetaStream 3 one yet, but I'm sure it'll get added soon. After what I've read on Viewpoint Media player in the wikipedia page I linked to, Viewpoint isn't something I want on my PC at all anyway. It smacks of adware to me.

    I forgot about that Mozilla blocklist page. After getting the blocked plugin pop-up notification I went looking at the mozilla security blog ( http://blog.mozilla.com/security/ ) and the mozillazine forums but there wasn't anything on it. Then I did a search usuing Scroogle and got zip. Judging by how many views this thread has had compared to other posts in this section of the forum, I suspect others have been searching for answers after getting the block notification too. They're probably wondering what the heck the plugin is also...

    Good luck with resolving the Divx issue. Sounds like exile is on to it. ;) (What would we do without him eh?)

    Firefox disables a Plugin

    in General Chat

    Posted

    Yes it probably came with AIM, and AIM came bundled with the computer unfortunately. That was a good bit of detective work finding out what the MetaStream plugin related to, as I couldn't see Viewpoint Media Player mentioned in any of the things I clicked on in my searches.

    OK re WMP plugins. I wondered if it might have something to do with the active x bug that happened last July, and if the Sept version contained the fix for that. As long as it definitely isn't a vulnerability.

    Thanks heaps exile. Much appreciated. ;)

    Firefox disables a Plugin

    in General Chat

    Posted

    @Mountaintree16

    Whoops! I do mean 3.5.7 yes. Slip of the finger there ;) I had no idea what the plugin is for or what it is part of (hence asking in my post), though exile360 has explained in a comment in this thread. So you don't have that in your list of plugins in FF? Tools >Add-ons>plugins (not extensions)

    @exile360

    Thanks. Interesting ... I have never heard of this "Viewpoint media player" thing, and I did a search for "viewpoint" in my start bar and nothing came up, however it does show in my control panel under the list of installed programmes. I suspect came bundled with the computer (HP), or with something I've downloaded subsequently (can't think what though), or it just happened to come with Firefox. I really don't know. Curiously, in the list of installed programmes in my control panel it has exactly the same wee icon next to it as Windows Media Player (The turquiose square with the orange circle inside it & the white arrow in the centre).

    I just looked in my addons in IE8 to see if I have this plugin in that too. I can't see it, but I noticed something else that doesn't look quite right. IE8> Tools>Manage Addons>Toolbars and Extensions (showing all, not just the ones currently loaded) and I have two plugins for Windows Media Player. They are both Active X Controls and both are enabled. One is dated 16-07-2009 and is version 11.0.6002.18065, and one is dated 11-09-2009 & is version 11.0.6002.18111 (which happens to match the version number of my WMP if you look at the "about" tab in the help menu of WMP). Would it be prudent for me to disable the version dated in July 2009 & keep the Sept 2009 one enabled in IE8? They look like the same thing...

    EDIT_ I have just scroogled "what is viewpoint media player" & followed a link to wikipedia. hxxp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viewpoint_Media_Player Among the crapware that came with my HP computer was AOL/AIM. According to this wikipedia article it gets installed without your knowledge with that & other programmes. Hate that! It also reinstalls itself without permission if you have a programme installed that uses it. Hate that too! ;)

    Firefox disables a Plugin

    in General Chat

    Posted

    Hello. ;) I was browsing the fourm here a few hours ago and Firefox popped up with a small window telling me it had disabled a plugin that was a security risk. (Unfortunately I forget the exact words).

    Now in my add-ons under plugins, I see that MetaStream 3 Plugin version 3.2.2.26 has been "disabled for my protection". I remember Firefox did this several months ago with the Windows Presentation Foundation plugin.

    I've just done some Scroogling about what's happened to make Firefox take this course of action, but I have not found anything. I have also doen a search of "What is MetaStream 3 Plugin" and also found nothing. I'm happy for it to disabled if it's a threat to my PC, but can anyone tell me what this Plugin actually does, or is supposed to do? I'm just curious. Using FF 3.0.7 btw (yes I know version 3.6 is out but I'm holding off on updating for a few weeks while they sort out any teething troubles).

    Thanks ;)

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