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Techy Thread: Post your puter problems in here - Apps 'R' Us!

Started by Neil, January 22, 2010, 01:45:02 AM

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Ambient Sheep

From reading various AV forums over the last year or so, it seems the advice nowadays to avoid AVG as it doesn't catch enough stuff (last I heard, the free version had stopped detecting rootkits, that's only in the paid-for version now).

Most people seem to now recommend Avast or Avira.  Having briefly tried out both on a friend's PC, I plumped for Avast, and once I get the new hard drive for my own PC I'll be uninstalling AVG and replacing it with Avast myself, I think.


Malwarebytes is good, and I use it, but I'd also recommend the naffly-named SuperAntiSpyware as a companion for it.  They'd always seemed to perform about the same, with MWB probably having the edge over SAS, until I was cleaning a PC recently and was shocked to find that SAS found a whole heap of nasty things that MWB hadn't had a clue about.  I now always use both.

Pseudopath

As shocked as I am to hear myself say it, Microsoft's free antivirus app (Microsoft Security Essentials) isn't half bad and seems to be much quicker at detecting new threats than AVG (although whether AVG are deliberately starting to cripple the free version is a different matter).

That said, using Firefox with NoScript to surf the big bad web, keeping Windows up-to-date and refraining from downloading random executables left, right and centre makes you pretty impervious to malware (touch wood).

Wilbur

Quote from: Pseudopath on January 26, 2010, 10:24:51 PM
As shocked as I am to hear myself say it, Microsoft's free antivirus app (Microsoft Security Essentials) isn't half bad and seems to be much quicker at detecting new threats than AVG (although whether AVG are deliberately starting to cripple the free version is a different matter).

That said, using Firefox with NoScript to surf the big bad web, keeping Windows up-to-date and refraining from downloading random executables left, right and centre makes you pretty impervious to malware (touch wood).

Seconded and I'm loathe to recommend MS products. I feel unclean.

Omerta

I ran a Kaspersky online scan and read the report - it discovered 3 threats; for eg

C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\atapi.sys   Infected: Rootkit.Win32.TDSS.y   1

Since it was just a scan, without the opportunity to delete them I don't know what to do with the 3 threats. Am I able to locate the addresses it supplied me with and just delete them manually?

Pseudopath

Quote from: Omerta on January 27, 2010, 09:47:33 PM
I ran a Kaspersky online scan and read the report - it discovered 3 threats; for eg

C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\atapi.sys   Infected: Rootkit.Win32.TDSS.y   1

Since it was just a scan, without the opportunity to delete them I don't know what to do with the 3 threats. Am I able to locate the addresses it supplied me with and just delete them manually?

This seems to be a fairly well-known rootkit and most techy forums suggest running the latest McAfee Stinger utility to remove it. You can download this and find instructions for use here:

http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger

If that fails, ESageLabs have created a one-click removal tool specifically for this rootkit (http://www.esagelab.com). However, I haven't used any of their tools before so I can't vouch for their efficacy. They look legit enough, though.

I'd never recommend deleting system files willy-nilly. That's the quick route to an unbootable computer. Any half decent virus wouldn't let you delete an infected file anyway.


Omerta

Funny you should mention unbootable computer

I've had a unmountable_boot_volume problem, Had to boot up using my XP disk and now have a persistent message saying Must restart because DCOM server process launcher teminated

The advice I've been given is that it's a virus and to just restart my computer from new.

HappyTree

Quotea different system for digitally capturing VHS

I needed to do just this and settled on buying the Pinnacle Studio package for PC. About €90 it cost me I think. You get fantastic DVD authoring and video editing software plus a little external USB doobrie that gives you video and scart connections. Just plug the VCR into it with a scart cable and connect to the PC with the supplied USB cable. Play vid, capture on PC, edit and burn to DVD.

In fact I ended up not bothering to burn anything to DVD and just kept my VHS tapes as MP4 video files on the plooter, since I have the plooter hooked up to my TV anyway. I now use this package to edit videos I take on my camera. It's great!

Pseudopath

Quote from: Omerta on January 27, 2010, 10:10:24 PM
Funny you should mention unbootable computer

I've had a unmountable_boot_volume problem, Had to boot up using my XP disk and now have a persistent message saying Must restart because DCOM server process launcher teminated

The advice I've been given is that it's a virus and to just restart my computer from new.
As the Germans might say, that sounds pretty gefuckten. The DCOM error sounds the symptoms of a Sasser infection, but this shouldn't affect any XP system running Service Pack 2 or later and wouldn't usually appear straight after an XP restore (unless your XP disc is super dodgy). Can you boot into Safe Mode (by tapping F8 as the machine starts up and selecting 'Safe Mode' from the menu which appears)? If the automatic reboot also happens in Safe Mode, you should hopefully be able to abort the automatic reboot by clicking Start > Run > typing cmd and running the following command:

shutdown -a

Once the reboot has been aborted, you should hopefully have enough time to run some cleanup utilities such as SuperAntiSpyware and the aforementioned McAfee Stinger and see if these detect and fix the problem. If you haven't got the latest Service Pack for Windows XP installed, it might be worth disabling DCOM (you can download an easy tools for doing this at http://www.grc.com/freeware/dcom.htm) until you can download and install Service Pack 3.

If none of the above do the trick, I'd say you're looking at a clean reinstall of Windows XP, but I'd recommend consulting a techy friend first to see if he can help you recover any important data from the drive (using a BartPE or Linux boot disk) before doing this.

My Giddy Aunt

I have a new router but now I am having terrible trouble with it freezing up when downloading torrent files. It is almost instant that it freezes.

I know that they can get overloaded but I've reduced the number of connections down to 10 and max upload 10kb too. It still happens so i think there must be another reason.

I'm not terribly good at all this stuff so any tips would be greatly appreciated!

If it's relevant the computer that's downloading is wireless rather than wired.

(also, any recommended Torrent clients for the mac please?)

Baxter

In my experience that's usually do to too many simultaneous connections, I'd go for Transmission but my usage of it is mainly on linux.

Uncle TechTip

How did you restrict the connections, was it in the torrent client itself? You're right that it can often be a cause of this problem. But try restricting the download speed as well, most likely that will be the cause. Wireless ought not to be an issue. Make/model?

My Giddy Aunt

Thanks for replies so far.

It's a Belkin F5D8636-4 v2.

I restricted connections in utorrent.

Downloads are restricted already to 50kb/s.

Uncle TechTip

A google says no-one else is suffering this problem, which is unusual and could point to a glitch on your unit. If download is restricted then it has to be number of simul connections. You could try a normal HTTP download and see if it crashes, try this linux distribution from UK Mirror Service. Just for S&Gs. Have you looked for updated routher firmware at Belkin? Could be worth dropping them a line.

Baxter

Also you may want to try manually forwarding the bittorrent port.

wherearethespoons

Just a quick one, as I've finally got some money sitting about for that long over due camera. I've done a bit of research and so on but am still not sure.  I want something that'll give me a fairly crisp image. Will 12 mega pixels be enough, or is that small league?

There's a 10MP one here; http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fujifilm-FinePix-S2000HD-Digital-Camera/dp/tech-data/B001FOQU7C/ref=de_a_smtd for £160

and a 12MP one here; http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5593543.htm for £150

I don't get it. They seem to have the same zoom too. Any ideas anyone? Also any decent recommendations. I don't want to go down the old shops on Monday and get fleeced.

Thanks etc.

HappyTree

I got the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T90 last year. Touchscreen controls, big screen, fantastically crisp images, masses of cool options that allow you to take photos in any lighting conditions very easily. I'm no photographer but I seem to be able to get great results just from imagining roughly what I want and pressing what I think might work. It does HD video too.

Images[/img]

There's a more expensive model if you need stereo audio for the videos.

Zero Gravitas

Video conversion utilities? Preferably wizard based and suitable for converting 1080p to SD resolutions.

AsparagusTrevor

I use Xilisoft Video Converter, just basically has a bunch of tick boxes and drop down menus. You can go into more detail if needed, but you don't have to bother.


Santa's Boyfriend

The text on CaB seems to have suddenly gone very small, I'm assuming this is a problem on my end and I can't find a settings option to correct it - it's making reading CaB a bit difficult.  No other websites are affected in this way.  Any suggestions?  Thanks!


Shoulders?-Stomach!

If you're using IE, go to Page > Text Size > and click 100%

If you aren't ooh golly bloomin' eck someone else will help!

chocky909

Try hitting Ctrl and the 'plus' sign. You can make the web page and text bigger or smaller using the plus and minus keys this way.

I think this works in IE and FF.

Old Thrashbarg


Santa's Boyfriend

Quote from: Old Thrashbarg on January 30, 2010, 07:37:34 PM
Ctrl and 0 should set it back to the default size.

That did the trick, thanks!

(Not sure how I made it so small before, but my mouse and keyboard are both starting to malfunction so it's probably something to do with that.)

chocky909

What's the best/easiest way to get part of a DVD onto youtube? I just need to rip into mpeg2 or 4 or whatever and also edit or chop up the file into relevent clips.

I've got some DVDs I recorded from some old VHS via my DVD recorder with music clips I want to get onto youtube. Encyryption wouldn't be an issue.

Something free and simple would be tops.

Dusty Gozongas

Here's a handy page that some may find useful or simply worth bookmarking in case somebody else needs it at a later date.

http://suicidemachine.org/

Handy for anybody who dipped their toes in the social networking pool only to find that they've got better things to do and now wish to close their twitter/facebook/myspace account. Check the faq to see the capabilities and limitations ('cos it doesn't actually delete your shit from the servers even though it speeds up the process of paring down your friend lists and email notifications etc.) and take a moment to watch the slightly amusing blurb video.

Ambient Sheep

Quote from: Santa's Boyfriend on January 31, 2010, 12:55:28 AM(Not sure how I made it so small before...

This used to happen to me and it took me ages to figure it out.

Ctrl-MouseWheel will answer your question, I think.  :-)

Guy

Can anyone recommend a free, lightweight program for making fairly basic 3D models with? (The discontinued Adobe Dimensions is the sort of functionality level I've got in mind.)

It's only for still images, not animation or anything.

AsparagusTrevor

Blender seems to be quite popular. I haven't used it myself, I've always used 3DSMax which is none of the things you wanted and is very veyr complicated these days.