computerhelp, posts by tag: internet - LiveJournal

my question: is there an all in one kind of modem and router thing i could buy, maybe with a firewall, that could make my poor old xp computer still safe (or safer) to use?

something i could plug the cable internet cord into and then not have to worry about turning my computer off, so the rest of the house could still get secure wifi if that computer is turned off.


my desktop computer is 10 years old and running windows xp. most of the peripherals i have, printer, scanner, trackball mouse, only mouse i can use) will NOT work with newer windows versions. the manufacturers quit making drivers for them after xp.

i would like to go to an electronics store and buy some kind of modem and router combo that can provide secure wifi for my household (and not the neighbors), without having to be run thru this old computer. currently the way my computer is hooked up to the modem and router requires this desktop computer to be turned on always, or else wifi cuts off. maybe something about an ethernet connection? i dont know.

i've been repeatedly told that since windows xp is not supported anymore, my computer is not safe from hacking.

i AM careful what websites i visit, but i still trigger occasional antivirus warnings when i simply click on results from search engines. i dont download music or movies online. mostly my desktop is used for uploading my music from my cds to transfer to my mp3 player, and uploading and storing my many digital photos that i edit and share online. i DO want to feel safe to use this computer for online banking. but i'm also feeling a little paranoid from all the stuff other people have told me about windows xp not being safe anymore. i'm not sure i have the RAM to update to a newer version. i'm disabled and living on SSDI and dont have the money to buy a newer version. i also dont have the money to buy a newer printer and scanner and trackball mouse.


here are the specs for my old desktop computer:
200 GB hard drive
1 GB memory (i think this is RAM?)
3700+ AMD Athalon processor
HP a1230n
windows xp
avast antivirus
i only use mozilla firefox as a browser, no internet explorer.


i would say i'm mildly computer savvy. i can FOLLOW directions extremely well! i'm a quick learner. but i dont know what i'm doing when it comes to modems and routers or firewalls.

can you tell me if what i'm looking for is available as an all in one thing?(modem/router/cable internet connection/firewall)

can you also tell me, if xp isnt safe, i have a laptop with windows 10. if i use the wifi currently available THRU my old desktop computer, is that secure? or are all the wifi connections only as secure as the old windows xp the modem runs thru?

tell me what to buy?

give me suggestions? anything. somewhere to at least start from?

Question/Problem: Gmail tab icon ramdomly appearing as if reloading

Operating System, Version and Service Pack: Windows XP SP3

Web Browser and Version: Firefox 13.0.1

Your level of experience (we simplify or explain instructions based on how you answer): Beginner

When did the problem start? Has it been going on constantly since then? This week. That would depend on your definition of constantly, but it has happened more than once for me to have my Gmail open in another tab, and the left hand icon to appear as if reloading when the page itself is not reloading. My anxiety goes sky high every time it happens.

Any steps you've taken to troubleshoot? Well, not really. I found this thread on MozillaZine forums, which describes a similar issue (just replace "continually" with "randomly", and you have my case), but the thread is from 2004.

i have no idea what my mom does to her computer, and she expects me to fix her computer, when i don't have the knowledge to do these sort of things! she's using windows xp, and whenever she tries to use her computer, it asks to sign into her online connection. we have an wireless internet connection and i've tried all of them to no avail. this is what it's showing me: ( Collapse )
any suggestions?

edit: i ended up reinstalling windows again and that fixed it, now i'm stuck with a horrible resoulation and the lowest color bit (4), despite downloading the drivers. next step? finding my mom a new computer! this one is ancient.

More of a problem with Firefox, but I didn't know where else to ask.

I'm running Windows XP Service pack 3, I'm having some very specific trouble with Firefox 12.0. I honestly don't know how long this has been going on but it's suddenly extremely irritating.
Basically it can't access any sites that are .gov, .edu, or in some cases job applications and .pdf documents. I'm certain that it's just my computer. I don't know wtf could be causing this, help? Thanks in advance.

I'm having problems with Facebook and Pinterest, both are only showing menu bars.
Given how much I use these sites I really hope you can help.

Pinterest has never worked on this laptop, it only ever loads the menu bar at the top of the page, nothing else. Last night I was playing around with Internet Properties and Chrome extensions to see if I could get Pinterest working, only since last night now Facebook is doing the exact same thing; loads menu bar, nothing else. 

Both sites work fine on my mobile phone - so not a problem with sites or with my accounts.
Tried accessing sites via both Chrome and Firefox - same problem on both browsers. 

I've had odd problems with Chrome not displaying certain things on pages before, but never this bad and in the past I believe it was due to Ad Sweeper causing problems - last night (prior to Facebook problems, in an attempt to fix Pinterest) I removed Ad Sweeper and AVG anti-virus extensions from Chrome so currently there are no extensions showing. I've attempted to re-trace my steps to undo anything I might have done in Internet Properties, but so far no luck - I've also cleared browsing data/cache and updated Java just in case. 

Operating System: Windows Vista Home Basic SP2
Web Browser: Chrome 16.0.912.75 m and Firefox 9.0.1
Level of Experience: Beginner

Behind LJ-cut is what I'm seeing, just to be clear what I mean. 

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Question/Problem: I can connect to the unsecured public school network nearby, but not to the home network. It shows up as "Unidentified network" with network access but no internet access.

Operating System, Version and Service Pack: Windows 7 with SP1

Web Browser and Version: Chrome 10 (or latest version) and Firefox 3.6.18

Your level of experience (we simplify or explain instructions based on how you answer): Seasoned

When did the problem start? Has it been going on constantly since then? Two days ago, ongoing problem.

Any steps you've taken to troubleshoot? Tried flushing the DNS cache, running Windows diagnostics, asking the landlord to reboot the modem.

If you are receiving an error message, please include the entire text of the message. (If you have an error log, please post it under a LJ-Cut):
Ipconfig/all
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Please help! Normally I'd try the google method first, but the next-door school's internet blocks many of the results and I'm a little desperate to get livejournal access back at home.

os: Windows Vista Home Premium
browser: firefox 3.5.16
Problem has been going on for a while now. My fiance got one of the pretend virus protection viruses. (I honestly can't remember the name.) We eventually got it out following the instructions to wipe the virus online. I really don't remember the steps exactly anymore. I just remember transferring the programs we needed via a flash drive and running them under safe mode.

The problem is that now he can't run certain things that connect to the internet. His browsers work, but the downloaded versions of aim, msn, yahoo, and our substiuting program, Jobulator, don't work and some other programs. We've tried uninstalling and reinstalling and running under admin mode. None of that works. Another issue is that he's unable to update anything. Firefox can't update, and neither can Vista. He's been able to get the downloads themselves, but they refuse to install.

Do we need to do a recovery, or can we fix this? I'm not sure if he even has vista recovery disks.

I got a new laptop yesterday (HP), and I am trying to connect to the internet but I can’t seem to connect... I'm not very good with computers.

-I tried trouble shooting and it says “Doesn’t have a valid IP configuration”?
-I can connect to my network but it says no internet access...

Please help me, thanks!

i have a facebook-related question. i have so many videos that i want/need to upload to facebook, everytime i try to upload one, even one that's only a minute long, it tells me that it's going to take HOURS to upload. and sometimes if i try waiting it out, the video just stops uploading altogether.

so i was just wondering if there is any other way to go about uploading videos to facebook that WON'T take half a day to upload. also keep in mind; i have no idea how to use any video editing programs.
 

How do I download videos from Youtube and similar?
Can you recommend me a really good antivirus? I recently suffered from a really bad virus, which is surely still hiding among the memory files I placed in external hard drives, and I must be sure those hard drives can be properly cleaned.