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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: HEAVEN: Geek Revival: the computing thread
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Latchkey Kid
Shipmate
# 12444
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Posted
Does anyone know why a bad HDD (or optical drive) can stop Windows working. It is not the drive where windows is installed. It is in a USB housing. On XP it stops windows until I unplug it. On a vista laptop it turns the display into unreadable garbage and I have to force a reboot with the power button.
I have had cases where a DVD drive caused a computer to go excruciatingly slowly, and rplacing it solved the problem. I have an old laptop where the service technicians said the M/B was R/S but changing the HDD got it working again.
I would have hoped that these failures would just end up with the data not being accessible, but the subsystems seem to be tightly linked.
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'You must never give way for an answer. An answer is always the stretch of road that's behind you. Only a question can point the way forward.'
Mika; in Hello? Is Anybody There?, Jostein Gaardner
Posts: 2592 | From: The wizardest little town in Oz | Registered: Mar 2007
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
I'm baaaack!
Okay I gave up and re-installed XP. Now I can't get it to see my built-in wireless NIC. What do I do?
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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monkeylizard
Ship's scurvy
# 952
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Posted
Install drivers from the card's manufacturer?
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The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. ~ Herbert Spencer (1820 - 1903)
Posts: 2201 | From: Music City, USA | Registered: Jul 2001
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
It's not a card; it's built into the computer.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
Okay, I'm going great guns tonight! I found the drivers for my computer and now it's talking to the world. My next problem: installing the video driver. I have the download from hp.com, but when I click on it, all it does is install .NET. It doesn't install any video drivers.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
Very likely the graphics chip, onboard or otherwise, will be made by a third party.
Intel make an onboard chip, ATI as well. HP uses both. If you know which it is, go directly to the manufacturers site.
[ 14. May 2011, 02:52: Message edited by: lilBuddha ]
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
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Posted
I have found Belarc Advisor invaluable for identifying hardware, for which you can then find the exact driver on the manufacturer's website. It's also invaluable for identifying software, including serial numbers and license keys. Belarc Advisor is free for non-commercial uses.
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"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
Thanks, Miss Amanda; I'll check it out!
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Sparrow
Shipmate
# 2458
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Posted
How can I find out which systems i.e. FAT or NTFS, that my PCs are using? I have a desktop running XP and a laptop using Vista.
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For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Posts: 3149 | From: Bottom right hand corner of the UK | Registered: Mar 2002
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Snags
Utterly socially unrealistic
# 15351
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Posted
Sparrow, various ways, some of which may only work under one OS or the other:
a) just highlight the disk in My Computer and the file system is in the "Details" (if you have the Task Pane up, rather than Folder List)
b) right-click on the disk and choose "Properties" and the File System will be given on the General tab
c) go to Computer Management (right-click [My] Computer and choose "Manage") then under Storage go to Disk Management and the file system should be listed next to each disk/volume
And a bunch more ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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Vain witterings :-: Vain pretentions :-: The Dog's Blog(locks)
Posts: 1399 | From: just north of That London | Registered: Dec 2009
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Sparrow
Shipmate
# 2458
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Posted
Great, thanks I found it!
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For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Posts: 3149 | From: Bottom right hand corner of the UK | Registered: Mar 2002
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
Anybody here use Notepad++? I want to create a user-defined language, and it's as anti-intuitive as you could possibly wish. And, like all freeware, the online help leaves out exactly the parts that are confusing, and the geekosphere help pages presuppose so much knowledge they can't possibly be of any use to anybody who doesn't already know how to do it.
Anybody here can help?
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
Okay I gave up on Notepad++.
Here's my problem: I have a intermittent problem that causes Windows Explorer to crash. I was able to get rid of it on my w7 box by removing a "new" version of vbox and rolling back Java (I don't know which of them caused it but they both happened at roughly the same time, after which the problem started -- at least in this incarnation).
Now the same problem is happening in my virtual XP machine inside VirtualBox. That's too weird.
I beat up the interwebs but the only threads I could find were where somebody tried something I've already tried and it magically worked.
Thots?
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Wesley J
Silly Shipmate
# 6075
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Posted
Just got my new Alienware M11x lappie.
Looking good. Will report back later. ![[Cool]](cool.gif)
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Be it as it may: Wesley J will stay. --- Euthanasia, that sounds good. An alpine neutral neighbourhood. Then back to Britain, all dressed in wood. Things were gonna get worse. (John Cooper Clarke)
Posts: 7354 | From: The Isles of Silly | Registered: May 2004
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
Nobody knows what causes Windows Explorer to crash?
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
Nobody knows what causes Windows Explorer to crash?
Running it?
I use Firefox and Chrome, primarily. I do not run IE long enough for it to fail.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
Firefox crashes on me frequently. It's still better than IE. IMHO.
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
Nobody knows what causes Windows Explorer to crash?
Running it?
I use Firefox and Chrome, primarily. I do not run IE long enough for it to fail.
Not Internet Explorer. Windows Explorer. The thing that lets you open folders and see what's on your computer.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
(Slaps Forehead)
Sorry. Yes, it does occasionally crash. Not enough to be as serious problem. I often put heavy demands on my systems, so I attribute the crashes to this.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
(Slaps Forehead)
Sorry. Yes, it does occasionally crash. Not enough to be as serious problem. I often put heavy demands on my systems, so I attribute the crashes to this.
For a while there it was crashing every time I tried to open a folder, or even tried to type in that type-in box in the Start menu. I think it was a Java update; I uninstalled and reinstalled Java, and now it works fine. I was afraid I was going to have to reinstall Win7. THAT would be no fun.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
Anyone know why IGoogle on two machines has stopped showing the gadgets. These are both on my home network. It happened either late last night or today. I am using Firefox 4. It is not a problem on Internet explorer nor on work machine which is Firefox 3.
Any ideas?
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Ann
Curious
# 94
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Posted
Are you using NoScript or similar - you have to allow gmodules as well as google. Every so often, I find NoScript has forgotten bits of my whitelist and I have to re-enable. Any help?
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Ann
Posts: 3271 | From: IO 91 PI | Registered: May 2001
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
solved it.
It is an interaction between Avast Webreports, Igoogle and Firefox
![[brick wall]](graemlins/brick_wall.gif)
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Jahlove
Tied to the mast
# 10290
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Posted
as a very occasional reader of this thread, may I say that I am just left mouth wide open at the incredible amount of *ishoos* people have using windows-based applications. This kind of stuff just never even occurs with macs - what is it that ppl keep on buying microsoft even tho' there are clearly massive problems?
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“Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.” - Mark Twain
Posts: 6477 | From: Alice's Restaurant (UK Franchise) | Registered: Sep 2005
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Drifting Star
Drifting against the wind
# 12799
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Posted
And plenty of people have no problems at all with Windows.
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The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Heraclitus
Posts: 3126 | From: A thin place. | Registered: Jul 2007
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Alisdair
Shipmate
# 15837
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Posted
Jahlove, is that a troll in your pocket or are you just pleased to see us?
Some people have problems with Windows/OSX/Linux because, so help them, they insist on fiddling around, sometimes with settings, etc. they know little or nothing about. That's not a criticism, it's often how we actually learn stuff---as well as breaking it!
Other times there are problems because the software involved is a bit crap, either because it is still very much a work in progress (quite common with open source projects), and sometimes because the distributors actually don't care very much about their product/customers, just so long as the money keeps rolling in (quite common with proprietary software).
I'm afraid your comment about the reliability of Mac computers is most likely just a product of your particular experience. Macs certainly a have a good reputation for 'usability', but in general I think you will find that every system has it's own particular weaknesses and that the more inclined you are to poke around or be demanding of your system the more likely you are to encounter those weaknesses.
Plus, some people really do not have a clue what they are doing beyond turning the machine on and off, so for them everything is a challenge and an experience of frustration, no matter what system they are using. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Posts: 334 | From: Washed up in England | Registered: Aug 2010
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Jahlove
Tied to the mast
# 10290
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Posted
don't be quite so fucking stupid, Alisdair
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“Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.” - Mark Twain
Posts: 6477 | From: Alice's Restaurant (UK Franchise) | Registered: Sep 2005
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
Lightsaber lit
Alisdair and Jahlove, knock it off.
This is Heaven. We do not make comments implying trolling or call Shipmates stupid here.
If you have a problem with each other, take it to Hell.
Lightsaber powered down
jedijudy
Heaven Host
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Jahlove
Tied to the mast
# 10290
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Posted
yes'm, sorry ma'am
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“Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.” - Mark Twain
Posts: 6477 | From: Alice's Restaurant (UK Franchise) | Registered: Sep 2005
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Alisdair
Shipmate
# 15837
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Posted
I apologise for using the 't' word.
Posts: 334 | From: Washed up in England | Registered: Aug 2010
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
Thank you! Apologies accepted.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled Geekiness.
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
Can one of you Geeky types please develop a thought interface in the next week? Thanks.
If I want to do one thing but tell the computer to do another it does what I tell it and not what I want and THIS JUST WON'T DO!!!! I need a PC that does what I want instinctively.
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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
Welease Wodderwick
Before we can do that you need to become completely and utterly logical. Otherwise the interface will be as annoying as a Microsoft spellchecker. However thought controlled computers are not as far away as people think.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jengie Jon:
Welease Wodderwick
Before we can do that you need to become completely and utterly logical...
Jengie
I'm a man, of course I'm completely and utterly logical.
![[Killing me]](graemlins/killingme.gif)
Oh well, perhaps not, then.
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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
What do you know about RapportService.exe?
My connection is currently running like wet cement, and looking in Task Manager, I see this process running near the top of the list. I can't stop it though - access denied.
I feel there must be something running which is slowing/crashing the net. Have AGV and Zone Alarm for security.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Drifting Star
Drifting against the wind
# 12799
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Posted
I think Rapportservice is something to do with banking - security software from your bank - so you probably don't want to get rid of it.
It shouldn't take up a lot of your CPU, so if it is it's probably worth uninstalling and re-installing it. There's some information from the people that distribute it here. They have free support so they should be able to help you sort it necessary.
I've no idea whether they're at all helpful though!
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The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Heraclitus
Posts: 3126 | From: A thin place. | Registered: Jul 2007
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Latchkey Kid
Shipmate
# 12444
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Posted
Just made myself a little geekier by replacing the video connection cable from the M/B to the LCD and inverter for this Toshiba Satellite laptop. Still have a few screws leftover so will have to check the re-assembly. The screen bezel had to be literally squeezed for it to work, and it still kept going white. Don't have to do that anymore. It also seems to have increased the battery life.
When XP crashed on my desktop and the backup image also failed I replaced it with a PC Tech mag version of Ubuntu 10.10 called Peppermint Ice. It is working well, software installations are easy, but I still have to work out how to print to my printer which is attached to my NAS. It boots up in 10 secs and shuts down in 5, much faster than XP did.
Posts: 2592 | From: The wizardest little town in Oz | Registered: Mar 2007
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
Still getting intermittent probs with the computer. I've run virus checks, and diagnostics and found nothing. The connection fluctuates, drops, resumes, shows as 3 or even 4 bars, but nevertheless runs like porridge. And the mouse movements become erratic and difficult to control - usually better if switching to a non net app, like a game. But if it's really bad, that can start to hang and malfunction as well.
Does anyone recognise the symptoms? Could there be some external source of interference going on, and what is it likely to be?
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
Firenze
Is Microsoft trying to download an update? I have an old machine at work and it becomes very slow when that is happening. Unfortunately my method for finding this out was ethnographic. I noted what happened around it running slow and found that often shortly afterwards I was asked to install an update. I am sure there must be a smarter way to find this out.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
It's only been happening recently - while I presume the rate of MS updates is pretty constant, so why should it have become a problem suddenly?
Also, it's not an old PC - less than 2 years.
At the moment, there's a sub-problem of trying to get rid of AGV anti-virus (I decided to buy into Zone Alarm for both that and firewall). You uninstall, but it still hangs around (now, of course, un-uninstallable). However, I have got another programme which should deal with that when I have time to figure out how to run it.
Touch wood, the connectivity is stable at the moment.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
Does anyone recognise the symptoms? Could there be some external source of interference going on, and what is it likely to be?
If RapportService.exe is truly a protection service, perhaps it is conflicting with your ant-virus? Security softwares often do not play nicely together.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
They got on ok in the past - both Zone Alarm and AGV have been on the PC since I got it. Ditto the bank security stuff.
The problem seems much worse in the evening, which makes me wonder about an external source.
I have a signal booster in a box which I must get out and install and see if that makes a difference - though, as I say, the connection is falling over even when the signal strength is quite respectable. Or the connection is up, but nevertheless the browser can load the page.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Mr. Spouse
Ship's Pedant
# 3353
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Posted
If you want to get rid of AVG Anti Virus completely, download the relevant tool from here to your PC. If you have Vista or Windows 7 make sure you right-click the file and 'Run as Administrator' or it won't work fully.
From what I understand of Rapport it intercepts web communications to 'trusted websites'. You probably won't notice anything odd on a bank site, but it's been know to mess around with other sites too.
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Try to have a thought of your own, thinking is so important. - Blackadder
Posts: 1814 | From: Here, there & everywhere | Registered: Sep 2002
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Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
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Posted
*gloatgloatgloatgloat*
I'vegotanewmac! I'vegotanewmac!
After seven years of faithful service (and many, many adventures), Dante the PowerBook G4 was getting a tad long in the tooth—though he'll still be of help, since I could never put him out to pasture, this here is the inaugural forum post of Petrarch the 15" MacBook Pro.
Oh Yeah.
![[Axe murder]](graemlins/lovedrops.gif)
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“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
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Latchkey Kid
Shipmate
# 12444
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Posted
Firenze,
Sounds like it's time to revert to a cleaner version of your installation if possible, or re-install from scratch. Going back a few restore points sometimes can do it.
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'You must never give way for an answer. An answer is always the stretch of road that's behind you. Only a question can point the way forward.'
Mika; in Hello? Is Anybody There?, Jostein Gaardner
Posts: 2592 | From: The wizardest little town in Oz | Registered: Mar 2007
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Pearl B4 Swine
Ship's Oyster-Shucker
# 11451
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Posted
Windows mail problem: this opens my latest piece of mail automatically, which I do not like ! This morning, one of those Nigerian I-want-to-send-you-your-multimillion-dollar-fortune messages was there, already opened, when I asked for my email. How do I prevent this from happening? I want to see the subject & sender BEFORE I open anything.
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Oinkster
"I do a good job and I know how to do this stuff" D. Trump (speaking of the POTUS job)
Posts: 3622 | From: The Keystone State | Registered: May 2006
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
Pearls,
You need to turn off the preview pane. In Outlook 2010 it is under the view tab. Click change view, the preview.
AA, When one has sold ones soul, one shouldn't gloat.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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