Hi all, finally got my laptop fixed!!

The guys who fixed it installed Windows ME and used Firefox as my browser.

I've been trying to get msn messenger but I'm being told that it will only work with XP.

If I install XP will there be any problems such as losing firefox and not being able to use the internet or a complete mess-up of the system?

I'm guessing the second one is unlikely because, well, its made to be upgraded. I just don't wanna lose my access to the internet.

If anyone can help, thanx

Pete =]

Firefox works well with xp I'm using it rite now, but I'm on a PC not a laptop

I can't think of any disadvantage that you will have by installing XP that wouldn't be there and in greater force with ME. Me should never have come out to begin with, so getting rid of it is always a good thing.

Make sure you back-up your information.

No, there shouldn't be any problems at all.

However if you don't want to upgrade to XP for any reason other than to install MSN Messenger, you could always try downloading a previous version from Mess.be (Download>Messenger Clients). You'd probably benefit more from an upgrade, though.

Come to XP, god knows what vulnerabilities that excuse for an operating system holds. Within windows OS's, Me is the black sheep of the family lol

Thanx for the answers. I'm not that keen on ME. It doesn't have many good features and seems to be really slow and jumpy.

I don't have Firefox with me on disc. Will it still be on once I've upgraded? Or does Internet Explorer come with XP?

No firefox doesn't come with an XP install, internet explorer does. You can download it straight away though, it's a pretty small file

So I can download Firefox again, yeah?

Thanx for all the help

If you want to keep any of your current data, it's best to buy an external hard disk, then you can back up all of your files incase you need to format everything. It's pretty useful to have anyway, incase your computer ever gets screwed over by a virus.

But you can install Firefox within a matter of minutes from the official website (Click).

There's no important data on here. I've got no files at all as I only got it back yesterday. When I'm finished for tonight I'm gonna install XP (with confidence)

Hopefully my music won't be all horribly skippy and will play cleanly.

Thanx all helpers

What would I do without all you guys?

I've got XP installed and the laptop runs like a whizz.

Thanx, I love you all

Glad it worked out.

All nice and working now!

the only problem I have is that youtube doesn't go very well and vids are all jumpy. But who cares?! Its the music I'm in for.

And some sort of Spyware has got into the system. I know how it got on there and I think I've figured how to get rid of it - Install Norton!!

Adware, yum! If Norton doesn't get it all here are some good free malware removal tools:
Ad-Aware SE Personal
Spybot Search & Destroy

When Norton expires, you might consider AVG Free. It's all I use at home and it's what we install on new builds at work.

Make sure you have the newest Macromedia Flash. Link and other tips on YouTube help page found here.

Congrats on getting rid of Windows ME!!!!

I'm doing a scan with Ad-Aware SE currently. Lets hope it does the job which I'm sure it will if its what you install at work.

In my experience, no one software can remove every malware program out there. There's just too darn many. With adware and spyware there are even more variants to look out for so it's beneficial to scan with more than one if you have issues. With AV software, the opposite is true as they can conflict and cause some serious problems. If I'm scanning and can't remove a virus with software I have to remove it manually, no fun.

My friend recommended I do a scan with Ewido which I'm doing right now.

I dunno what this adware bs is but its dodgy. I'm using 2 scannings currently and soon I shall install Norton.

So how is it manually removed? Is it a total restoration?

Sometimes we do a full reformat and reload the machine, but usually only if they have multiple infections that take too many staff hours to repair. Often times we work on business machines and the owners can't locate the software or some such silliness, and they are desperate for us to keep the software in tact and fix the machine fast. Then we will generally hunt down the infected files on the machine and get rid of them as well as clearing out the registry. Usually it's not a problem but every now and then we get a new virus that's difficult to pin down. We use google alot.

Hi again, I'm sorry to bring this post up again but for some reason my internet won't allow me to post new topid. Anyways, here goes: I bought an external hard drive about 2 months ago and when I first used it, it worked fine. Now I am having nasty problems.

I'll plug in the HD and turn it on and rather than hearing "da-ding" it goes "ding, ding, ding" or if it does work it comes up with the message "New USB device..." and it then asks me to install a driver which doesn't exist. Can anyone help with this please as the HD have imprtant stuff on it and I need it to store my music on.


Thanx

Hmmm, sounds like hardware failure to me. Have you noticed any clicking or grinding noises coming from the external?

Starting with the least likely but easiest to fix, my guesses would be:

1.) Your USB plug is going out. Plugging it in to a different USB would give you the answer, or plugging something different into that USB to see if it works.

2.) The cable is shot. Some of them are just cheaply made. If you see any kinks it's a pretty good possibility. Wiggle it around some and see if it makes a difference.

3.) The drive or the IDE cable in the drive enclosure is going bad. This one is IMO the most likely cause. The solution isn't quite as easy. I've only taken apart maybe 20 of these drives, but inside (so far) all of them have been normal hard drives with a short IDE cable and an adapter board for the power and USB cable. Sooo... the solution would be to open it up and either remove the drive and set it up in your computer as a secondary or "slave" drive and see if it reads. Or if it's easier, grab an IDE cable and replace the one connecting the hard drive to the adapter board in the enclosure. If you are hearing a clicking or grinding noise, and maybe if it feels really hot, it's likely the drive is going bad. If this is the case your best bet is to turn it off and on over... and over... and over... and over... until if you're lucky you read it and can salvage *some* of the data.

We have one at work we ritually abuse by sticking hard drives in it and taking them out at least 5x a day. This is really rough on that cable and whenever the cable goes out it shows exactly the same symptoms you described. It's an easy fix because we leave it open, but those short cables are hard to come by!