A Laptop was brought to me that couldn't access the internet. I ran all the standard troubleshooting tests but nothing. But one diagnosis said something about Symantec Firewall from Norton 360.
I tried to open the program to check the settings but couldn't. I tried to uninstall under the assumption that it was corrupted. I couldn't even do that. I went online to find out how to uninstall it manually, but found utilities from Norton to do the job:
http://us.norton.com/support/kb/web_view.jsp?wv_type=public_web&docurl=20080710133834EN&ln=en_US
After removing it I had no problem connecting to the internet after.
A woman called about something coming up on her computer every time they tried to go online. They had high speed or DSL through the phone company but switched over to cable. The dial-up connection box was popping up. In the internet properties, on the connections tab, I deleted the connection that was still listed and that solved that problem.
A relative had problems with a slow internet connection after just having it cleaned out by a computer store. After suggesting a number of solutions he eventually brought the computer to me to look at. After cleaning out handfuls of dust-bunnies out of a couple of other desktops, I thought that was the problem. There was a lot, I cleaned it out but it didn't speed up the system.
I ran a internet speed test at speedtest.net
It didn't even make it up past a half a Mbps this on a 15Mb system. Finally it struck me to uninstall the Ethernet adapter and reinstall it. Worked like a charm.
A couple of computers brought to me with some serious malware/viral infections. I ran through my usual routines, (click here to read my previous post Removefake). I also added a utility called ComboFix to the mix after using it to uncover a RootKit virus. ComboFix can be downloaded here: http://www.infospyware.net/antimalware/combofix/
Someone brought me a Dell computer that wouldn't start up. I suspected an overheating problem and decided to clean out the insides. You wouldn't believe the amount of hairballs or dust bunnies, or whatever you want to all them. I was taking them out by the handfuls.
But it didn't work. I noticed it was beeping after turning it on. These beeps are supposed to help you troubleshoot problems. I counted six and went online to try to find a solution. Went to this site after a Google search: http://www.bioscentral.com/postcodes/dellbios.htm
I couldn't tell if the beeps where short or long, I counted 6. The only one listed with 6 beeps in the first table stated Reset the memory modules. So I took out the memory chip and put it back in. Everything is working again.
Finally, a problem on my own system. Yes I got them to. I've been using CD-RW cds for years. Whatever documents I want to save, I burn of on CD-RW using INCD from Nero. When the CD-RW gets full I make two copies on CD-Rs and then format or erase the contents of the CD-RW and start over again.
All of a sudden putting a CD-RW in my drive caused my computer to lock up. If I forced Windows Explorer to close my system would crash. I would be left with no taskbar, icons, just the background.
After trying numerous fixes mentioned online. I assumed my Install was corrupted beyond repair. And decided to reinstall Windows. It fixed the problem for awhile until it started again. I then started to suspect it was a hardware issue and not a software one, and I still do. Anyway, I again formatted my system but this time I used a Norton Ghost backup of my drive I made from my first install. Again it fixed the issue, for now.
I first had WinXPHomeSP2, then WInXPProSP3, now I'm gone back to WinXPHomeSP2. What makes this problem hard to solve is that there is no error messages and the event viewer doesn't show anything wrong.
When It Rains It Pours