FAQs
Below are some Frequently Asked Questions that we have received. If you want to search for a specific topic, use the search box.
Internet connection stopped working on one computer but works on others:
C.G. wrote:
My internet stopped working on my Vaio, but works fine on all the other computers in the house. What could cause that?
Brennan replied:
I'm assuming you've already restarted your computer, the modem and wireless router since you're good about that. Do you happen to have Symantec running? Could be a program, a driver error or a bad network card (hardware problem).
Solution: She had Symantec running and an update that morning has caused all her Symantec miniport drivers to go bad. Stopping the services running the background did not help. Once the program was uninstalled, all was well again. To protect her system, other free programs were used in its place. The problem: spam. Solution: a spam filter that can be found at places like download.com or setting up filters to redirect certain kinds of emails to the junk folder.
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Fixing a wireless internet connection:
Ella V. wrote:
My father's wireless internet connection stopped working about a month ago. Could you go to his house to get it repaired if he wants to contact you? I am too far away to help him.
Brennan replied:
Certainly. Whenever he's ready. :)
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Outlook file fix and autofill contacts extraction:
Linda M. wrote:
I need help with my Outook files and contacts. Can you help me with my emails and backup all my contacts, including the ones that auto-fill and that aren't currently in my address book?
Brennan replied:
Consolidating your email files is relatively easy. We'll get it set up so that you can easily backup your .pst (email file) onto an external drive. As for the contacts, it'll require quite a bit of manual labor after the autofill contacts have been pulled out, but we can get them with a program found here: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/outlook_nk2_autocomplete.html.
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Computer maintenance and website update:
Kent P. wrote:
Can you come and look at my computers and give me your opinion on how safe we currently are and give me recommendations on what you would do for security and maintenance? Also, could you give me an idea of what you would charge to help me get my website updated and add the capability to download talks/speeches for my San Diego area business?
Brennan replied:
Absolutely. I suspect the computer maintenance would take about an hour. As for the website, we would charge $30/hour. I'll send you some examples on what we could do for audio. If it's not exactly what you're looking for then we can refer you to someone who can develop what you're looking for.
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Laptop, monitor / picture not correct:
William R. wrote:
It's a Dell Inspiron E1505.
The monitor is never at full brightness (darker on one side than the other), and makes a buzzing noise when it's in use. Then eventually the picture disappears. When I have the laptop hooked up to a separate monitor, and the laptop monitor shuts off, the buzzing sound goes away.
Brennan replied:
Based on what I could find it appears to be the inverter and/or backlight, and is a common problem. I can get a new screen on Ebay for around $70-$90. The inverter by itself is about $30. Based on what I read, it'd be good to replace both. $30/hr. Labor, about 1.5 hours labor total.
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Not able to see pictures on a web page:
Chris W. wrote:
Sometimes when I log on to a website, and sometimes in emails I receive, where it seems like a picture should be there, I get a blank with a little box in the corner.
Sometimes it's a white box with a red "x" in it, sometimes it's a white box with a square / triangle / circle in it.
I've tried left and right clicking on them, but it doesn't do anything. I'm assuming something (Anti-virus, Anti-spam) is keeping them from showing up. Any suggestions?
I gave your card to one of the guys I work with - did he call you? Mail me some more, and I'll get them out there.
Brennan replied:
There could be several things going on. One is that the email program may be blocking or not loading the images. Sometimes you'll see an option or button for 'load images' and then just need to allow them to be loaded. Sometimes there may be a notification near the top bar saying that you need to download an 'add-on' , or 'always allow images' (from that particular person or web page) so that you can view certain types of images. It's probably not related to the anti-virus/spam settings. Can you give me a specific website or scenario?
Chris --- wrote back:
Not off the top of my head. I've done the "click here to allow images to download" - this usually always works. I'll write down next time I have this occur and let you know. Did John call you? Send me some more cards, and I'll try and drum up some business for ya!
Brennan replied:
Yeah, let me know about a specific situation. You could even send me a screen shot of the problem. When you get the particular screen with the problem hit Alt + Prt Scn and then go to your email message, put the cursor in the body area and hit Ctrl + V and it should paste the image in there, for example: And, John didn't call me that I know of, but I will send you some business cards. Thanks!
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Internet connection not working:
Jerry B. wrote:
I purchased a Dell computer for my Mom. She lives in La Jolla. I live in NC. She does not have a car and is having problems connecting to the internet. Time Warner came out and spent about 2hrs. there and could not get it working. (Has been working fine since purchase, which was July 08.) I had an IT friend call her and try to trouble shoot but no success. We need someone who can go visit her on site to make repairs. Can you offer this service? If so, what the cost be? It's a Windows Vista machine. The computer is running, but just cannot connect. Suspect a setting is off, or the network card has a glitch... (but I am an amateur).
Brennan replied:
I would be glad to talk to her first about the symptoms and setup, and then run up there and see if I can help. If I couldn't fix the problem, there wouldn't be any charge, naturally. If I did get it fixed, it'd be $30/hr.
After work was completed, Brennan wrote:
-Internet connection was live (tested with laptop ethernet connection) but her computer was not getting any signal.
-No ping, no ipconfig connection showing (was getting '169.xxx.x.xxx' indicating that there was no tcp/ip signal).
-Reset (unplugged) modem, no difference.
-Put new ethernet cable on, turned off Norton, restarted computer - didn't work.
-Disabled and re-enabled ethernet / Local Area Connection. Unplugged ethernet line. Restarted computer. Upon restart, it worked.
Same job, but common completed tasks to help the computer run more quickly:
- Uninstalled Norton, iTunes (and other Apple software), NetMeeting, Earthlink setup, etc.
- Installed: Glary (showed her how to use it and pinned to start menu), AVG (set for 3 PM daily scan and auto update), Revo uninstaller, malwarebytes, avg rootkit, ccleaner, croosloop.
-Started Windows Firewall and AVG automatically. Windows updates were set to automatically download and install. Left as is.
-Restarted computer probably 5 times and having ethernet line plugged in didn't cause a problem (had read on a forum that on some Dell's a plugged-in ethernet line when starting up can cause problems.
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Can't log into windows:
Alan S. called:
If I bring my laptop in on Monday, can you look at it? I can't log into Windows and when I could, it ran slowly.
Brennan replied:
Sure thing. Whenever you are ready.
After work was completed, Brennan relayed the following info:
- Initially, couldn't log into windows. Solution: Pulled hard drive and ran full chkdsk, which repaired the errors and allowed me to log in.
- Couldn't: copy/paste, open windows not minimizing to task bar, could not run Spybot or AdAware or install Malwarebytes. System was also slow.
- After researching problems, it boiled down to a couple possible issues. Either a registry issue or trojan. Pulled the hard drive again and ran Malwarebytes externally and found one trojan. Removed but didn't fix the problems so backed up all personal data and ran a complete windows restore (back to original state).
- Installed the usual programs and .NET Framework 2.0 for Alan to be able to reinstall TurboTax.
-Created documents partition and put all docs that I had backed up on that Docs partition.
-Cleaned up and defragmented.
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Cable Unplugged error message:
Janet S. called:
She was getting an error on startup that said 'Front Cable not Connected.' There were options for press F1 to 'Continue' or F2 to run setup. Upon 'Continue' would go into Windows, though she said it could take a 1/2 hour to load.
Brennan found:
Checking for problem:
- Took case cover off and checked for loose wires. Found one in front of PC that was attached to one of the drives that was partially pulled out. Pushed that firmly back in and replaced cover.
-Windows then started but would not load properly once it got past the Windows green moving loading progress bar.
Next, to speed it up:
-Turned off and ran in Safe Mode.
- Removed a bunch of entries from the startup list in msconfig. i.e. Symantec, Adobe, Windows live care, etc.
-Backed up all files and bookmarks from IE7. (Docs, Music, Favorites)
-She has a bunch of resource hogging programs, including Symantec Internet Security Suite.
-Turned off almost all add-ons for IE7. Was loading MUCH more quickly after removing those items.
-Installed all the regular cleanup programs and left there with Malwarebytes and Ad-Aware running. She would let those complete and then run Spybot and full Glary.
-I would run disk defrag and AusLogic Registry defrag.
-Checked results of cleaning programs. Nothing highly toxic.
- Installed Revo Uninstaller and removed several programs, including the program to burn cds, etc.
- Reinstalled AVG Antivirus and started it running before I left.
- Had her set up to run Glary Registry Defrag after AVG finished.
- Removed several of the unnecessary Windows options i.e. slide window on closing/ minimize.
- Looked at phone lines but there were several around. One that had been hooked into the computer was dead.
- Did not have a live phone line available to test out fax (on printer) that she has. She didn't want me to mess with it anymore. Did not charge her for the time spent on that.