Computer help thread

[teeny]

well some keyboards has special keys for media players and such. i figure the drivers could be needed in those cases. The driver may also indicate which keyboard you attached. In my case a Danish one. hopefully if I were to attach an English one one day it would be changed pain free.

[denial]

oh okay thanks Tina .. my keyboard has all those extra buttons too .. but not all of them work .. must be wrong driver.. I just never bother by them..

Tina ..instead if removing the keyboard driver, is there anything in keyboard properties is XP where you can just choose to update the driver?


Added:
Oh .. and they already released XP SP2 .. have you install it?

[teeny]

yeah there is a update driver option in properties. Just right click in the hardware menu and click the tab about driver version or so. Haven't really used that option a lot. and the few times I tried it it said that I already were using the lastest driver version. But there is such an option. I normally just delete though. Outcome is the same and makes me feel more sure it has infact installed new drivers for the hardware.

i used to have a logitech keyboard with extra keys. It only worked fully with the mediaplayer program that went along with the keyboard. And it was a bad program. The keys did however work with winamp if winamp was running in the start bar. And not just in the process bar thing to the right. Not knowing the right names right now and too tired to look them up. But the keys can work fully I suppose if one figure out the way to go around the bugs

edit: not installed no. I am waiting for the danish version, and don't think that one is finished yet. Better post the microsoft link for the sp2 pack though. guess it'll be found at: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
Thank you for letting us know, d

[spyretto]

Originally Posted by forre

Probably because it's been turned off.
1. Open RegEdit
2. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\Shell
3. Add a new Key named "OpenWith" by right clicking the "Shell" Key and selecting new
4. Set the (Default) to "Open With..."
5. Add a new Key named "Command" by right clicking the "OpenWith" Key and selecting new
6. Set the (Default) to "C:\Windows\rundll32.exe shell32.dll,OpenAs_RunDLL %1", C:\ being your Windows drive. You must enter the "OpenAs_RunDLL %1" exactly this way.

Thanks

There was no HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\Shell but HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\Shellex...I'm not sure it's the same. I put the command there but nothing changed...
I run WinME ( "why"?? )

I found this on microsoft's website:

Use Registry Editor to examine the file association key for unknown file types:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unknown\shell\openas\command

The "default" value for this key should read:
C:\%windir%\rundll32.exe shell32.dll,OpenAs_RunDLL %1

If necessary, modify the value to match the value shown here.

The only thing is that key "unknown" doesn't exist. Should I add one and see what happens?

[forre]

Originally Posted by spyretto

Thanks

There was no HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\Shell but HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\Shellex...I'm not sure it's the same. I put the command there but nothing changed...
I run WinME ( "why"?? )

I found this on microsoft's website:



The only thing is that key "unknown" doesn't exist. Should I add one and see what happens?

Skip * and search directly under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT for "unknown".

[spyretto]

thanks...I got to the bottom of this

It wasn't unknown or asterisk but allsystemobjects though
It works a bit different for WinME.

Now i'm a happy chappy

It's interesting how "stable" windows are. Things disappear and change without notice. Now the text labels of IE have turned from square to rectangle just like this Something seems to have disappeared from there.

Well, what can you do? It's M$

[goku]

spyretto, You can go linux

[spyretto]

Yes I can, that's a good idea.

The reason for having ME though is that I use the old media player to listen to mp3's with the use of some old windows media audio drivers that make mp3s sound crystal clear and exactly like cds. Any change in that audio department and the new drivers might overwrite the old and make mp3s sound awful... so I use system restore a lot, to go back.
There was nothing wrong with the old media players, or the old directx. They run everything just fine but anything from 7.1 upwards means crappiness.

I'm an audiophile, this is the main reason for having a computer and I need to listen to my music in crystal clear quality. So what kind of audio media player is linux equipped with?

[spyretto]

Well, for Mossopp and all the others interested, this is spy's guide to getting rid of computer spyware crap

It did work, even with those programs that used to be executed and change the IE first page - and then nothing seemed to work - but system restore.

1)ok, shhhh, you don't need to buy a virus killer but need to search for viruses all the same. It's remarkable but -shock! horror! - virus killers like Norton and Avast can't identify all viruses on the system.
I use two online virus checkers, and it's interesting that one might find different viruses than the other ( which goes to prove my point )

This:
http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/indexie.php

and this:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Those were also recommended by my ISP but I knew them - and used them beforehand.

Run a scan with both of these programs, and erase the files they locate manually. If you can't erase a virus ( get the message "the file is in use" ) logon in Safe mode and erase it then.
People say to disable system restore because there are viruses that find their way in the restore directory which can't be modified from windows. Trendmicro finds a lot of those viruses, when it does, disable system restore, then enable it again - if you want to use it. That will get rid of the viruses on the restore directory.


2) You need a good spyware detector. After much consideration and although spyboot is good, the best one for me is Pest Patrol. That is a program that will find more spyware than spybot or adaware and will advice you what to do in those cases. It has some extra cool features. Example: Pest Patrol found the spyware installed with kazaa, the advice was to "delete or ignore". Kazaa comes with spyware that allows spam websites to identify you. The spyware is not malicious - hence the delete or ignore - but you're gonna get a lot of unwanted cookies just by using kazaa. Spybot could not find the kazaa spyware but if you remove that kazaa will not work ( that's why I got rid of it alogether )
Pest Patrol comes with Cookie Patrol too; that, enabled, will not allow the "bad" cookies to be installed in the system.

Only problem is that Pest Patrol is a commercial program. But it is the best.

also be aware of startup/cleanup option of msconfig located at the system directory. So far I'm using this coz I haven't found any reliable registry cleaners. Better leave the registry alone.

Also defrag every now and then
So that concludes spy's guide

I'm currently looking for a program that would identify attacks without being a firewall, kinda like the "immunize" option of spybot, though I'm not too sure that one works...

[crni]

Originally Posted by spyretto

So what kind of audio media player is linux equipped with?

main player is xmms (but of course there are hundreds of different players you can d/l) which looks exactly like winamp, but the catch is in the drivers that linux uses for your soundcard, so imho the sound in linux is a bit clearer (thus better) than in windoz...

[coolasfcuk]

Ok, Im really hoping someone knows Illustrator well enough to help me

this is the problem - I can create all sorts of Gradients with different colors, but I need to create a gradient that fades from white to NOTHING, or more like from white to transparent (but i dont want the white transparent. Is that possible - Ive just read everything in the 'Illustrator Bible' on gradients and didnt find an answer!

anyone... help?

Thanks in advance

[coolasfcuk]

well, nevermind I just found the answer for my own question.... persistence is the key i tell ya

for those who use illustrator and are interested: its the blend tool draw 2 sep. objects and blend them together, then make one of them transparent!

thread closed. thanks to me for finding the answer

haku: Thread merged with this one. Thanks for finding the answer.

[Mossopp]

*sigh*

Usual story - I'm being inundated with virus's and such and since I'm relatively useless in such matters I have a few questions about them:

1. When I run AVG anti virus (I have the free version) it tells me I have 3 Trojan Horse virus's in my system. However, it cannot heal them and it cannot quarantine them either. The scan results describe these Trojans as "embedded". Does this mean that they cannot be gotten rid of and I just have to live with them?

2. I've been having trouble getting online recently and it seems to be due to a couple of items that my Ad-aware anti-virus keeps detecting (they don't show up in the AVG scans). The bugs are from something called "180solutions". What is "180solutions?" And why, everytime I get rid of these bugs, do they just reappear a few days later?

All help/advice is greatly appreciated.

[spyretto]

1. just see where the files are and erase them "manually". AVG might not do it for you. They can often be found on the system dir or temporary internet files dir. If they're located on your restore directory they can't be erased. Use system restore if you need to go back and/or disable it from system/performance/file/troubleshooting and then re-enable it. Your restore folder will be cleared and the viruses will have gone.

2,. Never heard of it before but I think you might have some loader in the registry which cannot be getting rid off with spybot. Get registry mechanic or any other safe registry cleaner and give your registry a checkup. Also if applicable: run/msconfig/startup/cleanup. If you get a message "a setup program was run that requires a restart", there's a pest running from the registry restart and your computer will make the necessary changes. Even check add/remove programs in cases some funny program that shouldn't be there has made its way to your computer.

I hope that helps, it's really a bit of a headache

As a last resort can also use System restore to go back...good luck

[teeny]

try installing spybot aswell and run it (remember to check for updates)
http://www.download.com/Spybot-Searc...5.html?tag=pop

The ad-aware.. is it the newest version and is the definition file thing up to date?
http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10...age&tag=button

If you are lucky spybot will locate and get with of the trojans aswell. I've had a similar problem with norton antivirus and some spyware thing. They disappeared after running spybot and ad-aware.

Good luck to you and let us know if it stays there or not

[spyretto]

If the virus files are so persistent and they still don't wanna go, you may have to do it from DOS

[mir]

If the virus names are known to you (like identified by AVG) then just type it in for a google search.. Often then you will find small removal tool/programs that erase the virus for you
If you care to tell us the names of your lill beasts then I might be alble to point you towards some of such programs.

goodluck,
Richard aka MIR
MSN [rr.schild@planet.nl]

[Mossopp]

I hope someone replies to this ASAP cos I'm going to go to bed in 10 minutes.

I have 3 wallpapers saved on my home computer that I want to use on my comp at work. I can't save any of them to disk because they are too large and I can't send them to my work email address cos I can't remember what it is.
My question is this:
Say I set up a draft email in my Hotmail account, set the wallpapers as attachments and save the email without sending it anywhere. Will I be able to access this draft email from my office computer tomorrow and download the attached wallpapers to my work comp? Or do I have to actually send 'em to my work email addy?

This is probably a no-brainer. But I'm shit when it comes to this kinda stuff.

[forre]

Mossopp, Of course you can access your draft from your work computer if the mail is webbased. For that matter, you can access it from any computer that has an internet connection.

[Mossopp]

Thanks forre. That's what I've been trying to do, but for some reason it won't accept the files as attachments - I either get an error message when trying to attach them, or my comp just freezes up completely.
I hate my shitty comp and my shitty dial-up connection!