Think I had a virus or trojan

-
blackbomber

I'm fixing to get a motorcycle in which I plan on next year going on some long trips. I was thinking about getting a laptop so I can take it with me to look up road routes, places to camp, send pictures to people while I'm out West etc... on the net.

What do you recommend?
 
blackbomber said:
Chryslerfat: To me this definitely sounds like a hardware problem, either power supply or motherboard. You don't have an ASUS motherboard, as a previous post suggested a bios issue. When I did PC work on the side, I had a client's computer (small form factor HP desktop, no less), where I narrowed the issue to one of those two (can't remember the symptoms). Because HP uses proprietary hardware, either of the parts was hideously expensive. As the PC was a few years old, I recommended replacing the unit with new.
Since your computer DOES power up eventually, I'm almost 100% certain you are looking at a bad power supply. But again, an HP unit might cost $100 or more. Not worth it for a 5 year old PC, in my opinion. My suggestion? Leave the machine running all the time. I think the hot and cold cycling of the capacitors inside the PS is the issue. Let them stay hot, and you might go on for a good long time this way. As always, back up important files regularly.
Click to expand...


Well I took your earlier advice and bought a new computer. It was funny because when I took the info for mine which was the best I could get 6 to 7 years ago the guy looked at me and said our cheapest has way more than yours.
 
chryslerfat said:
For the past few weeks my computer would start when I pushed the button the shut right down. The only way to get around this was to unplug it and plug in again. Sometimes it took a few tries to get it back on. Other times while booting up it would freeze and then shut off instantly and it would have to be unplugged and replugged to do anything. My McCaffe that comes from my internet provider found a trojan a few weeks ago and claimed it fixed it. I had to go online and a fix I found recommended by microsoft called RegCure it had me buy. It claimed to have found a bunch of troubles and fixed them. So far it is working good. Anyone else have this trouble? I figured it was a small fee to fix than replace the tower.
Click to expand...

Seen this type problem a few times on older machines. First off if it does not even boot to Winders it is not a virus/trojan issue, its a hardware issue. Normally random shut downs are caused by lots of debris inside of the case. I would start by opening up the case, take it outside and hit it some light compressed air. Clean it out. You would be amazed how much dust will affect a mobo.
 
I think my other one lasted so long because I did what you suggested and cleaned it with compressed air every few months. Hey now I am running windows 7 and not the XP so it may take time for me to get acquainted with things. I do want to thank all you guys for the help. I have to go with the bomber and say it was a power issue.
 
mullinax95 said:
blackbomber

I'm fixing to get a motorcycle in which I plan on next year going on some long trips. I was thinking about getting a laptop so I can take it with me to look up road routes, places to camp, send pictures to people while I'm out West etc... on the net.

What do you recommend?
Click to expand...
For this purpose I recommend a netbook type. If you are planning on subscribing to mobile broadband, you can get it right through your provider at a very good discount. My company deploys these to some of our field staff. We are buying them (Gateway, and now HP) from Verizon for $20.00 each. That is not a typo. Of course you have a two year service agreement to sign to get that price. Otherwise, they range from $200.00 for a home grade unit (nothing wrong with that) to $400 for one with a "professional" OS. Sometimes you can opt a slightly higher resoloution screen for $30.00 on the HP's. Money well spent. No need for the higher ram / larger HDD.
 
If your desktop is six years old, you may want to adopt the point of view that you've gotten your money's worth out of it and consider replacing it. They seem to have a "Use Life" of around 4-5 years, and then steadily degrade from there. It may be built-in obsolesence by the manufacturers, but IMHO and experience that's about the way things go with them.
If you haven't looked at Kaspersky as an AntiVirus/Firewall, consider it. I've personally had really good results with it, and CCleaner as well.
 
blackbomber said:
For this purpose I recommend a netbook type. If you are planning on subscribing to mobile broadband, you can get it right through your provider at a very good discount. My company deploys these to some of our field staff. We are buying them (Gateway, and now HP) from Verizon for $20.00 each. That is not a typo. Of course you have a two year service agreement to sign to get that price. Otherwise, they range from $200.00 for a home grade unit (nothing wrong with that) to $400 for one with a "professional" OS. Sometimes you can opt a slightly higher resoloution screen for $30.00 on the HP's. Money well spent. No need for the higher ram / larger HDD.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks.
 
If you are looking for something a little more powerful, I would recommend either the Lenovo X series, or the HP Elitebook 2000 series. I have an Elitebook 2k (unsure of the exact model, I loaned it to a coworker) with an embedded Verizon card. I think the retail on it is in the $1200.00 range. It's slightly bigger (and heavier) than a netbook, but is a real computer, replete with optical drive. I have always had Lenovos, but the stainless steel exterior of the Elitebook really got to me. It makes a MacBook look cheap. I originally set mine up with Fedora 13, and recently switched to Windows7. Ran both like a champ (although Fedora was understandably quicker). I'll try to post side by side pics on Friday (if my coworker brings it in).
 
Well since my PC is on it's last leg (it works fine but getting old) I thought maybe just getting a Laptop instead. Portable, more RAM , better operating system (Windows 7) than my PC will ever be able to function.

I watch college football, NASCAR, and movies on my PC (I don't have cable of satellite TV). I have a 17 " monitor. Is it possible to hook a Laptop to my monitor?
 
Every current laptop I have seen, plus every netbook I have seen have DB15 (analog) monitor output. This is what your PC probably used (blue connector). With a docking station (pro grade laptop only) you will get a DVI (digital) output (white connector) as well. Many home grade laptops also have an HDMI port in addition to the 15 pin. I personally use an Asus 24" 1920px1200p display at work and at home. Regardless of form factor, you should be able to configure either extended desktop or mirrored configurations.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top