The Windows/PC support thread

[KimZ]

[quote=Who me ?]Right Gents, brain picking time.
OS -Win7 64 .Browser -FF & IE.Mail = Windows livemail.
BB- T-MOBILE dongle.

To get on net ,I have to open up T-mobile and connect . There is an option to open a browser on connection. Great if you're browsing, but not if I want to check e mails .
Any way of configuring FF & Mail to open T Mobile & connect ? Tried the Network options in FF without any difference .
Edit - it's one of the tools options on the T-mobile screen . Problem solved for browser, but not for Mail

[/quote]

Default browser is no doubt configured as FF. Webmail (effectively) is IE. Suggest try opening Webmail in FF? Another possibility is use a decent email client? (£=outlook and free=Thunderbird)

Just found this 'bit' of PH! Hopefully I can be of help to mods.. many yrs hardware/software exp.

[KimZ]

3000GT ANT said:

Hi guys, i'm struggling with hyperlinks and hopefully one of you guys can help.

I have an excel worksheet and i'm trying to hyperlink to a particular page in adobe. I have only got adobe reader is it possible? as at the moment i can only hyperlink to the full document and not a particular page. I believe i can do it by using the bookmarking feature but as i only have adobe reader and not the full version of adobe i've been told it isn't possible, i'm just hoping there is another way.

Many thanks in advance!

Hi 3kgt.. I know time has passed.. no doubt fixed problem else given up! Assuming not fixed, Adobe what? A PDF file?

Edit: ok, PDF file.. reread, sorry. Like so: http://www.mysite.co.uk/myfile.pdf#page=2". Simples!;)

Edited by KimZ on Friday 20th July 22:32

[KimZ]

F1GTRUeno said:

Need a little help.

Think my laptop is on it's way out.

Every so often (getting steadily more regular) the screen will go off and it'll effectively die. The lights showing that it's on are still on, and the light on the disc drive comes on and remains on with the added bonus that you can't open it.

It's fairly old now (2007 I think) so could just be the lasting effects of a few years abuse but I'm in no financial position to get a new one and my Macbook Pro buggered itself sideways a while back so I'll be screwed with no laptop.

Any thoughts from anyone?

Ditto here F1GTRUeno - you have probably fixed prob by now. If not:

UNPLUG POWER SUPPLY FROM LAPTOP AND REMOVE BATTERY BEFORE INVESTIGATING - nasty high voltage (very low current, thankfully)

9 times out of 10 it is the flexible ribbon cable from motherboard to screen (passes through/around hinge, wears through) - easy 1-spanner fix and a few quid only diy.

Other possibility is the inverter, which gives light behind the screen to "show" you what is "painted" on-screen. Apologies if over simplified! :-) This is usually under the screen bezel. Undo piddly screws (often under rubber grommets) around the lappie bezel. Then GENTLY unclip the bezel from the screen backing. Man-fingernails are good for this - be careful not to break delicate plastic tabs. Inverter is usually center bottom of bezel. Little transformers at each end. Damage to cables is usually evident - charring due to arcing - or hinge related wear, chafing.

Let me know if you find the problem then I'll talk you through replacement!

[Who me ?]

KimZ said:

Default browser is no doubt configured as FF. Webmail (effectively) is IE. Suggest try opening Webmail in FF? Another possibility is use a decent email client? (£=outlook and free=Thunderbird)

Just found this 'bit' of PH! Hopefully I can be of help to mods.. many yrs hardware/software exp.

Got it to auto connect -had to tweak the T-MOBILE settings. Funny thing is that this problem never existed on BT/Virgin BB,as I've only got IE8 - tried 9 and don't like it . So I stick with FF,as I like it and the addons .Tried changing default to IE- thanks. Unfortunately, I'll go back to the old ways, and FF.Other way of doing it is to get online and open mail.
Thanks anyway .

[KimZ]

[quote=Who me ?]


Got it to auto connect -had to tweak the T-MOBILE settings. Funny thing is that this problem never existed on BT/Virgin BB,as I've only got IE8 - tried 9 and don't like it . So I stick with FF,as I like it and the addons .Tried changing default to IE- thanks. Unfortunately, I'll go back to the old ways, and FF.Other way of doing it is to get online and open mail.
Thanks anyway .
[/quote]

Np and you're welcome. These 3rd party BB suppliers usually have their own proprietary connect/config apps. There is a way to bypass these, but usually means you loose out on the total hours/mb downloaded that month, etc. I have a 3 dongle when out in the wilderness and the software that 'manages' the connection really is crape - so have tweaked windows normal 'dial-up-networking' to use the dongle. As I said, downside is don't have running monthly totals etc., but at least it connects automatically while on the beach...

[Who me ?]

Kim- update. Set IE as default- mail connected. Reset FF as default- now mail connects . No problem with download- 1G limit/month( fair use policy), but no charges if you go over and though it does at times get funny , reconnect sorts it out .

[KimZ]

[quote=Who me ?]Kim- update. Set IE as default- mail connected. Reset FF as default- now mail connects . No problem with download- 1G limit/month( fair use policy), but no charges if you go over and though it does at times get funny , reconnect sorts it out .
[/quote]

Excellent!

s'funny, I was on t'beach today (ow - strange hot yellow thing in the sky has made skin go red and sore!!) and 3 decided not to connect.. bugger as I thought I'd keep OH happy AND watch the F1! Just as well as SHMBO hates it when I get bored and start playing with technology while 'relaxing' in the sun.. Selfish git that I am .. :-)

[md.]

Hi all. The MIL's samsung laptop has got me stumped. One of our rugrats slapped the keyboard and now no keys are workung when pressed. Probably something simple but completely at a loss!

[sc0tt]

md. said:

Hi all. The MIL's samsung laptop has got me stumped. One of our rugrats slapped the keyboard and now no keys are workung when pressed. Probably something simple but completely at a loss!

Have you tried plugging in an External keyboard to see if it is a hardware issue?

Edit - 6000th Post

[md.]

I'll give that a go tonight. Thanks.

[HRL]

Either that or if you feel comfortable doing so, pop the keyboard out as there's probably a tiny little connector that may have come loose.

[Mighty Flex]

Hi guys,
My parents bought a new laptop last week (Acer 5560g AMD with AMD A6-3420M)...

Anyway it looses battery very quickly in sleep. As in 8 hours or overnight from fully charged. The battery is fine when it's on - It lasted about 6 hours light use today before getting down to 10%.

Their other laptop which is a similar older Acer lasts much longer on sleep - I'm not sure of time scales but it would be close to draining the battery over night.

This has happened 4 times, so not a one off. 3 times overnight and once over a day.

Is there a rational explanation why it should go from 100% charged, then put into sleep, and be flat (0)% after such a short time?

I have check that something like the mouse could not be waking it, and I don't think it switches on, though I haven't watched it thoroughly. If it were switching on it's set to go back to sleep every after 15mins when on battery anyway.

Is it normal that it should draw this much power in sleep, when it almost lasts that long on?

Thanks

Felix

[Jinx]

According to MS you should really be using hibernate for laptops Microsoft says
Sleep still needs to power the memory (at least) and I'd expect DDR3 ram to not exactly sip juice - the low power state of the A6 is probably quite thirsty compared with a dual core i3 as well.

[Mighty Flex]

Thanks for the link.

Microsoft said:

Sleep requires an extremely small amount of power. If your laptop battery charge gets critically low while the computer is asleep, Windows automatically puts the laptop into hibernation mode.

So, would I be right to assume something is wrong if it isn't going to hibernate, instead letting the battery drain to 0%, and giving me the "windows did not shutdown properly" crap on switching it on after its been connected to the mains adapter.

Also, should it be left on charge, or unplugged when full? I appreciate this may be a whole new discussion...

[KimZ]

Mighty Flex said:

Thanks for the link.

Microsoft said:

Sleep requires an extremely small amount of power. If your laptop battery charge gets critically low while the computer is asleep, Windows automatically puts the laptop into hibernation mode.

So, would I be right to assume something is wrong if it isn't going to hibernate, instead letting the battery drain to 0%, and giving me the "windows did not shutdown properly" crap on switching it on after its been connected to the mains adapter.

Also, should it be left on charge, or unplugged when full? I appreciate this may be a whole new discussion...

Leave plugged in, no harm should be done. Obviously will use a minimum of energy even when not 'topping' your battery up.

RE: Other issue - not hibernating, check the system settings: Control panel - power options. You can tell it what to do there!

[KimZ]

sc0tt said:

md. said:

Hi all. The MIL's samsung laptop has got me stumped. One of our rugrats slapped the keyboard and now no keys are workung when pressed. Probably something simple but completely at a loss!

Have you tried plugging in an External keyboard to see if it is a hardware issue?

Edit - 6000th Post

Congrats on the 6k!! - Probably little ribbon cable shocked loose. dead easy fix. Look carefully and you will hopefully see little screws holding keyboard in place. undo and lift, check ribbon cable. If chiclet style kb more involved 'spannering' required! What make & model lappie??

[Mighty Flex]

KimZ said:

Mighty Flex said:

Thanks for the link.

Microsoft said:

Sleep requires an extremely small amount of power. If your laptop battery charge gets critically low while the computer is asleep, Windows automatically puts the laptop into hibernation mode.

So, would I be right to assume something is wrong if it isn't going to hibernate, instead letting the battery drain to 0%, and giving me the "windows did not shutdown properly" crap on switching it on after its been connected to the mains adapter.

Also, should it be left on charge, or unplugged when full? I appreciate this may be a whole new discussion...

Leave plugged in, no harm should be done. Obviously will use a minimum of energy even when not 'topping' your battery up.

RE: Other issue - not hibernating, check the system settings: Control panel - power options. You can tell it what to do there!

I have tracked down the problem.
I set it to automatically hibernate after 2 minutes in sleep, to see if this is the problem.
This works fine when the lid isn't shut, however with the lid shut, it tries to start up in order to go into hibernate, but won't. Instead it tries to boot every second, fails, and continues ad-infinitum until the battery is flat. If it's plugged in, it gets very hot whilst attempting to do this! It is happy to hibernate directly when closing the lid.
I will try to find a fix for this, but I need to do stuff this afternoon, so if anyone has an idea, leave a message here. It will be much appreciated. If it's a hardware fault, I guess I will have to return it...

[md.]

KimZ said:

Congrats on the 6k!! - Probably little ribbon cable shocked loose. dead easy fix. Look carefully and you will hopefully see little screws holding keyboard in place. undo and lift, check ribbon cable. If chiclet style kb more involved 'spannering' required! What make & model lappie??

Sorted but thanks for all the replies. Was a stuck in ctrl key!!!

[Tyre Smoke]

Is my Acer laptop dying? It takes longer and longer to respond to actions when it's booting up. Gets to home screen really quickly like it always has, then can take anything up to five minutes to respond to something simple like the task master opening. Can't see anything working in the back ground, but it is using anything up to 50% of memory apparently doing nothing. Svchost (?) Seems to be the culprit.

Laptop is about 4.5 years old. If it's dying, thinking of getting a netbook. Need word and excel, web browsing and a keyboard. Not much use for mega memory as anything important is on a memory sticks. Any recommendations or advice?

[KimZ]

Tyre Smoke said:

Is my Acer laptop dying? It takes longer and longer to respond to actions when it's booting up. Gets to home screen really quickly like it always has, then can take anything up to five minutes to respond to something simple like the task master opening. Can't see anything working in the back ground, but it is using anything up to 50% of memory apparently doing nothing. Svchost (?) Seems to be the culprit.

Laptop is about 4.5 years old. If it's dying, thinking of getting a netbook. Need word and excel, web browsing and a keyboard. Not much use for mega memory as anything important is on a memory sticks. Any recommendations or advice?

Hi TS!

Could be one of many things... Can you see the HD (hard disk) light flashing frequently while it is "laggy"? How much free space is on the hard drive? Have you run a defrag etc recently? If the above questions are gobbledegook, let me know and I'll walk you through the basics!! A 4.5 yr old lappie is getting long in the tooth, but by no means will be 'past it' for web browsing, office stuff etc. What model laptop is it??

Edited: also the host for services you refer to is a collection of services grouped together in logical erm, groups and cover most of the services necessary to keep your pc running. |A decent task manager will show you lots more info than the default MS one.. Arguably the best at any price (and this one is free) is http://systemexplorer.net/. Essential kit and no nasty spy/othernastyware.

LaterZ

K

Edited by KimZ on Sunday 21st October 21:24