Computer people...jnuts, dial tone, etc.....

[HumorMe]

I am having computer problems. I'm don't know computer lingo and things so please try and keep it simple for little ole dumbass me.

I have two fairly new computers. One is mine and one is the kids. Mine is a 2.8GHZ, 768RAM, Sony 19"LCD screen. My kids have a 1.8GHZ, 512RAM, 18"LCD screen.

They are on a wireless Linksys 802.11B router with my computer being the one hooked to the router through the DSL modem. The router was installed about two months ago.

My nephew set it up and it has worked great. About 3 weeks ago, their computer started acting strange. It slowed down to the point that it wouldn't let them sign on to AOL. Internet Explorer worked but it was slow also.

My nephew took it with him to check it out and the kids started using mine and it started doing the same thing. My nephew checked it out and he deleted a few things and said it was running fine at his house(which is in another city).

He brought the computer back and hooked everything up and got mine to working good but could never get their's to sign onto AOL and Internet Explorer was still slow.

My DSL status says mine is running at 100.0mps. Their connection is running at 11.0mps and the router signal strength says it is real strong. I tried to check their conncetion through dslreports.com but cannot seem to complete their testing. I've waited as much 30 minutes for their testing to finish but it had not so I clicked off of it.

In layman's terms, what could the problem be? I've checked a few computer forums to see if I could find someone else with a problem like mine but I haven't had any success so far. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[HumorMe]

Bump for help.

 

[gymtime]

I'm just guessing here, but I had similar problems shortly after I installed my router (which I bought solely for the firewall). I'm running it through a cable modem. The modem will indicate that the connection is running fine, but my internet access would suddenly slow down dramatically, or disappear altogether.

So when the connection starts to slow down, I start by unplugging the router and plugging it back in again. If that doesn't work, I do the same thing with the modem (which leads me to believe I might need a new modem instead.) I currently have to do this ever few days.

I'm going to try disengaging the router for a week or so and see if that improves anything. If not, I'll probably look at getting a new modem.

So I'm not sure if that's been any help, but you might try reseting, or even disengaging the router and see if that makes a difference.

And one more thing, that bathroom wallpaper is way busy.

 

[HumorMe]

yea, mine was doing that. I had to unplug the modem and router then plug the modem in and let it come up and as soon as it came up, plug the router in. That worked fine on my computer but not my kids computer.

It is a wireless router so I don't think if my computer was running fine and there's was slowly working or not working at all, it would be the router but I am probably wrong because I don't know shit about anything.

Wallpaper isn't busy. You are just too idle.

 

[SoreArms]

This has happened to me several times, it has alwasys been caused by spyware or viruses, spyware beign the most common.

Your kids are probably going to certain sites that are installing this spyware on your system.

Download a program called Adware by LAvasoft (do a search and you'll find it quick). they have a free download, install it and update the definitions. Change the settings "Select folderand drives to scan" and pick the entire C drive. This will fish out whatever is bugging you puter.

 

[solidg]

Try SpySweeper

 

[gymtime]

This has happened to me several times, it has alwasys been caused by spyware or viruses, spyware beign the most common.

Your kids are probably going to certain sites that are installing this spyware on your system.

Download a program called Adware by LAvasoft (do a search and you'll find it quick). they have a free download, install it and update the definitions. Change the settings "Select folderand drives to scan" and pick the entire C drive. This will fish out whatever is bugging you puter.

I run this scan about every week or so, but I haven't changed the settings. If it doesn't default to scan the entire hard drive, what does it scan?

HumorMe: Am not.

OWNED.

 

[SoreArms]

I run this scan about every week or so, but I haven't changed the settings. If it doesn't default to scan the entire hard drive, what does it scan?

HumorMe: Am not.

OWNED.

The default settings will only search certain folders, but not your entire drive. A couple of months ago, my room mate told me that he suddenly was not able to open IE and log on to theinternet, I checked it out and confirmed what he said. I ran Adware, it found and delted a few "data miner" files, but the problem was still there. I then changed the settings and had it scan the entire drive and found "malware" in folders that were not being scanned by the default settings (I guess they are getting smart about it). Once these were deleted, the PC continued to function properly. Give it a shot and I'll bet you'll find tons of hidden spyware.

 

[bowling ball nutz]

yup happens to everyone, adaware is great

 

[jnuts]

You probably have a virus and/or some kinda spyware.

Are you running anti-virus software on this machine? If not, get it and scan your machine.

Do you use Outlook or Outlook express for email? Have you been sent any virus infected emails? (FWIW, try out Thunderbird for an email client. It's a freebie that will remove you from Outlook's security issues, yet it looks, acts and smells like Outlook.)

Is this machine up to date with patches? Assuming XP here...

Otherwise, trying installing and running Spybot and Adaware.

Check to see if you have a trojan installed:

http://scan.sygate.com/

Multi-layered defense is best. Firewall, Updates, Anti-virus, scans for spyware and heavy weaponry to hold the serfs at bay.

Let me know how it goes...