Direct MP3 Download: Podnutz Daily #172 – Bettter Late Than Never
Today in the shop:
Vista Laptop: hp DV6000 wireless problem
– Machine couldn’t see wireless card
– Downloaded Windows Updates, card came back
– Cleaned malware, then the machine wouldn’t download the rest of the Windows updates
– Had to manually download windows updates. Once all windows updates were installed, the card went away again
– The next step is to try another wireless card, otherwise it’s a software problem.
Steve’s advice: windows updates – get them. install them all. They’re there for a reason and they fix a lot of things!
Malware Doctor
– Recently came out and only the new update malware bytes has the definition.
– Prevents you from going online, making it difficult to fix without the newest malware bytes definitions.
– Had to do a reinstall of windows.
– The system had many other problems to fix, so there wasn’t enough time, otherwise would have tried using the newest UBCD4WIN (updating and running malware bytes from UBCD4win.)
Dell Laptop
– 3.4 amp adaptor wouldn’t charge battery
– Also had a non-dell battery
– Dells are very picky about non-dell adaptors and batteries.
– Get a real dell adaptor if you have this problem.
Gateway Desktop
– Had blown capacitors on the motherboard (needed a new motherboard)
These Gateway desktops have non-standard motherboards. The proprietary gateway motherboards on these machines (about 3 years old) are inverted (all the ports are on the wrong side.)
– Got a brand new motherboard on ebay for on ebay for $85.
Vista laptop w/problem symptoms similar to Virut
– There were 8 items listed in network adaptor list, some with ‘TrendMicro’ in their names.
– Uninstalled TrendMicro
– Couldn’t uninstall any of the items in the Network Adaptor list.
– Had to do a re-install of windows
Voicemails:
Andrew the computer guy:
Looking for recommendations:
– Santa Rosa 2.2 ghz Macbook Pro
– Problem with red hue in display
– Faulty cable from logic board to lcd
– Backlight went out while trying to repair
– The cable in question is hard to find and expensive ($100)
Steve Says:
Test it with a broken screen. Hook it to the Macbook w/ the existing cable and see if the backlight lights up. Also check to see if the red hue is still present. Often, the red hue is an indication of a problem with the connections to the bulb in the screen, either damage to the connections or just a loose connection. Another possibility is that it could be inverter board. Ebay all the way for parts – look for the model # on the cable, try as many search phrases as possible.
D2D Geek:
– Wants Steve’s thoughts on customers who complain after you work on their machine, “My computer runs so much slower now.”
– Had a recent problem customer: She had TrendMicro and WebRoot Spyware Sweeper.
– D2d installed logmein and MS Office, ran CCleaner, Steven Gould’s Cleaner.
– Called back to follow up and she complained her computer was running slower.
– Says he does remote jobs so he doesn’t choke them!
Steve jokes: Don’t do the job remotely…. When you aren’t there in person… you can’t choke them…
His advice: You do have to find out what’s going on. Always stay on good terms with your customers no matter what, and if they are trouble, refer them to someone else!
Emails:
Diesel
Used Steven Gould’s Cleanup at a Customer’s house.
When the program is finished, it makes the sound of a toilet flushing, which was so loud that the customer came into to the room to see what was going on…
You may want to turn the speakers down when running this program!
Howard
Wants to know if anyone can suggest a good computer service nearTarrytown or Whiteplains, NY.
Sam
Still having the problem with BSOD on all of his IBM laptops.
Don’t want to slipstream XP, just wants to create a Drivers DVD. One for XP, one for Vista.
Steve:
I’ve tried it and it was slow and didn’t work very well.
But it was covered in a previous show.
Wendy
Disagrees with people who complain of having trouble installing Win 7.
Quotes Steve Wozniak, “Never trust a computer you can’t throw out of a window.”
John
Wants to know if, as a working computer tech who does on-site repairs, he should get a gun license and a gun.
Steve says: If you are going to work in a dangerous environment, then maybe it would be something to consider, but under normal conditions… no.
Landon
Wants to turn pc into DV-R, due to running out of space on his Comcast DV-R.
Sought help from Comcast, but has not gotten resolution for this issue.
Steve recommends:
– Windows Vista Media Center w/a remote, and get a TV tuner card.
– If you output cable box to tv tuner card, a QAM lets you get your local channels through hd, and you can hook it to your network
– Or just get a tivo.
Landon: Using Yahoo email, wants to know about spamfilters for web-based mail?
Steve: Yahoo offers filters for spam. Use them.
Landon: What can you do about stupid ads that expand over your screen?
Steve: Try adblockplus.
Jack
Wants advice on how to get started with your storefront.
Steve recommends:
An internet connection a very big sign with your phone number, put your rates on the storefront. It’s easier than you think. Use Google AdWords, get a website. Steve stocks Norton
Anti-virus… that’s it. Other good things to have: kvm switches, keyboards, mice.
Bob
70,000 hp laptop batteries recalled for fire concerns. Check here to see if yours is on the list!
Mitch
Virut virus problems.
Had gotten rid of it, except for problems with network connections not appearring, with no firewall due to ICS stopping.
Fixed it!
Get a clean ndis.sys file and place it in c:/windows/system32/drivers folder.
Robert
Problem with Gateway GT 5435e desktop explorer.exe crashing.
Has been an intermittent problem since the beginning.
Ran memtest, ran spinrite, both found nothing
Not an overheating problem.
Steve recommends:
Reinstall. If that doesn’t work, reinstall again. Or try getting latest severice packs and updates. Run MalwareBytes. Run CCleaner, Steven Gould’s cleaner, Dial-a-fix, Smit Fraud Fix, Combo Fix, Super Anti-Spyware. Run them in safe mode wtih networking if you have to.
Blain
Recommends repair4laptop.org for laptop repair info. It has detailed guides, tutorials, & intructions.
Live calls:
Don’t forget to mute the show!
Uncle-Al
Tried to reinsall XP Pro from external hd.
Copied cd to hd, it ran fine, configured everything..
When he went to install windows it asked for an asms file.
Steve suggests: Install it on the same hd, choose the existing partition. When prompted, select to not format, and let it install to a second folder. Or just do a windows repair. It should re-write the os and keep everything else intact. Steve says it actually can be done from an external drive, but that it takes a little hacking and a lot of work.
