Smal Computer Problem

[SxyTidBit]

1) We have McAfee V4.5.1 installed in our computers (at work). This is sopoused to catch incoming virus' correct?

2) Is there a way to have it run a virus check on command?

3) When I open my Freecell it opens with these HUGE cards and then says it has performed and illegal error. I have done the shutdown and reboot thing. I have done the Scandisk thing. I have done just about all I can think of (knowing nothing about computers) and it still opens that way. What is wrong and what should I try next?

4) Sometimes while working the computer will lock me out of some programs (WordPerfect, etc...) and prompt me that I have no space in my C drive. I deleted some stuff that I thougt was irrelevant but I couldn't delete much cause I didn't know what was attached to a neccesary program. I asked our IT guy to help me with that but as I have said before, he's and idiot and the problem persists. Someone did suggest that I should check the drives that store my "cookies." First of all that ain't none of their durn business and second what "cookies"? Where are these cookies? What are these Cookies? Do I need these cookies?

5) At times I can only run three small programs at a time. What's up wit dat? Is that because of my "cookies"?

6) Help Me!!!!!!

[Wombat]

1) Yes, McAfee is a anti virus program. it must be updated regularly and if setup correctly it should catch most if not all incoming viruses.

2) Launch the program and you should be able to start it on command or have it do a scan at startup, but always have it so it runs in the background. I am not familiar with the controls of McAfee but it should be easy to configure.

3) Try uninstalling and reinstalling the windows games of which freecell is one (you will need the appropriate windows version disc)

4) Cookies are from internet sites they can be found in c:/windows/cookies, they can be deleted. If you want you can configure IE to limit the space for cookie storage, you might also want to delete the temporary internet files. These things can be done through IE and the tools menu.

5) Could be, but we need more specs on your computer.
Windows version, size of HD and ram amount etc.

6) Did this help


Paul

[jamesharvey]

Hi!

I'm not going to attempt to answer question 3 because this seems to be one of those "test-it-and-hope" questions where a lot of fiddling is required to get it to work!

Ok, question 1). Yes, McAfee is an anti-virus program which attempts to detect virus', trojans and other malicious coding. It normally loads up when your system boots and should remain resident in memory all the time. Generally, it is a good idea to update the virus definitions weekly to make sure you are protected against most of the latest viri. Ask your IT guy to show you how: i have never used McAfee personally.

Question 2) There should be a command to scan your system or individual files. However, not knowing about McAfee, i can only guess. Try selecting a file, right-mouse clicking and look at the options it gives you. I will guess that one will be to scan the file for viri. To do a system scan, load up McAfee (probably in your start menu) and mess about inside the program. There should be a big button that says something about scanning system. Press it and hope!

Question 4) If you need to get rid of some files, try clearing your browser cache and deleting your cookies. Cookies are simply text files which a website you have browsed has placed on your computer to store some information i.e. if you have visited the site before. To delete them, load up your browser (i'm going to assume you are using IE judging buy your post), click on Tools -> Internet Options. Then click "Delete Files". This will erase your browser cache (temporary place used to store webpages etc) and should free up some space. If you need to delete any more stuff, use the proper uninstall shields to remove programs you have installed otherwise you may accidently remove files that other programs are linked to. (dll's are the worst)

Question 5) There may be a number of reasons. You may have a lot of programs running in the background. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del and see how many items come up in the box. The more there are, the more programs you have running, but are unaware of. What spec is your machine? If you have a lot of programs loaded into your system tray (the icons beside the clock) you may be running low on system resources. How much ram do you have installed? If it is low, the computer may be trying to page to virtual memory on your hard disk (basically to try and immitate ram) but because of low disk space it has no space it can't meaning you can only run a few programs. Have a look to see what is being loaded at startup (Start Button -> Programs -> Startup). Again, the more programs the less user resources. If you know how to access the registry, or someone else can do it for you, the key you need to look under to see a "proper" list of startup programs is:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Run

I've tried to keep this as simple as poss, if you don't get any of it, post back or email me and i will try and explain again.

Good luck!

[jamesharvey]

p.s.

sorry if my thread repeated a lot what had already been posted - i started writing the reply when no-one else had looked at it.

Sorry!

[Wombat]

Hey James,
Great minds think alike.

Paul

[SxyTidBit]

I just got to work
I will check out your suggestions
If it works I will let you know if it doesn't i will let you know as well
as to computer specs, lets say i am a complete idiot and don't know what is what on the computer (for instance what windows -i think we have 95) how would I find out for sure?

[jamesharvey]

depending on your computer, it should tell you what the spec's are at some point when you boot.

when you turn on the machine, have a pen/paper ready and watch the screen carefully. it should do a memory test and count up how much ram there is. basically just watch the screen and note down anything which might be relevant, especially if it has "AMD" or "Intel" or something like that associated with it. try and get your hard disk size (should show on boot), your processor speed (boot) and memory (boot).

if you don't see any of these when you boot, you can get them from your BIOS, but its a little more tricky.

good luck and post back with your specs!

[PonzSpyder]

Ok, first off this is the fastest and easiest way to see what version of windows you are running:

In this case, it shows I am running Windows 2000 Professional.

AND, you can right-click on My Computer and go to properties. This will give you some general info about your computer, such as how much RAM you have listed at the bottom. To get more info you can try to go to System Information or the Device Manager but where they are depends on what version of window you have.


1 - Update your virus files first, click here and then scroll down and click "download". save it to your computer, when its done run the file to update to the current virus list, then restart your computer and you should be good to go

2 - Use this file to scan your computer for viruses, it is a vscan setting file from MacAfee, I made it with version 5 but it should work for your version also. Just download it to your desktop or something and then double-click it when ever you want to scan your entire computer for viruses, it will automatically run when you click it Make sure you update your virus list first.

3 - Try to repair windows or reinstall the game components by going to Start/Settings/ControlPanel/AddRemovePrograms... I think the tab you want is the second one, it should say Windows or something to that effect. You should probably talk to your IT guy first to make sure that you dont remove anything that is needed for your network or PC setup. I wouldnt want you to cause more damage than you fix by using any of my suggestions since I dont know your setup there at work.

4 - Run Disk Cleanup ( if it was installed with windows ). It should be in Start/Programs/Accessories/SystemTools/. running this will let you remove any unwanted and Un-needed files from your computer.

Cookies are files that tell website about you, usually its just to keep track of you personal settings( for example, the cookie for TechIMO saves my password for me so I don’t have login every time I come back ) To find the location of your cookie files, read this thread.

5 - Get more RAM ( Random Access memory ) , check out Crucial's Memory Selector to see what type you should use and the most you can hold in your board.

Also, (if you have Windows 98), Go to Start/Run and type msconfig. Click on the startup tab, it will show you all the programs that start up when windows starts, these eat up memory and limit you to how much you can do at one time. delete the ones you don’t need and you will be better off. Be careful though... the rule of thumb is if you don’t know what it is, don’t delete it! Come check with us instead.

EDIT: Typos, big time lol

Also, after reading back over this thread ( yeah, I am bored tonight, lol ) I had a thought that maybe #4 and #5 may be related. When your computer runs out of memory ( RAM ) it starts converting your hard drive's free space into memory little by little. Eventually this may or may not run you out of space on your C drive and crash you if your RAM and Hard Drive Space is not enough. Come to think about it, maybe #3 is realted in this issue too. We'll probably come to find out that you are running Windows 95 with only 32MB of RAM or something, this was typical where I work until they made me the "Computer Guy".

Good Luck

[PonzSpyder]

Since today is monday, let us know how it goes

[SxyTidBit]

Mr Spyder:
Which one should I select in the drop box?

Personal Computing
Motherboard and RAID Cards
Digital Eletronics
Servers & Networking
Printers & Imaging
Crucial Clearance Aisle

???????