The Digital Surgery (computer questions/problems here)

[caller]

If the screen just goes dark, with a very faint image remaining visible, then it's probably the invertor.

This is a small circuit board located in the lid beneath the screen and powers the LCD backlights.

Try plugging in an external monitor to isolate the fault.

Could also be a loose connection, the screen plugs into a socket on the mainboard which is located underneath the keyboard.

Thanks for that quick response! No faint image though, its as if the laptop is off. However, seems nothing too serious from what you are saying and a relatively quick fix!

[STEVE G]

I even have a problem here that if I turn on the wifi on my phone near a certain building, their network will latch onto it and not let you log onto any other signal. You can turn the wifi off but if you just disconnect it, it will reconnect before you have chance to do anything else which is pretty annoying.

Nokia settings are not very user-friendly.

Changing the connection priority / preferences may help or try changing the settings so that a password is required which will force it to pause and stop an automatic connection from happening so allowing the user to select the desired connection.

Thank you for the advice, I'll try changing some settings and see what hppens.

[Big Boy]

A Thai friend has brought her laptop to me asking for help.

Her 16 year old son was having problems viewing porn because her virus guard was blocking access. His solution was to remove the virus guard . I've taken the usual action, and have loaded AVAST and Malwarebytes, and have been running various scans for most of the evening. I've managed to remove around 200 infections, but I keep getting a virus warning ie:

MALICIOUS URL BLOCKED

Object: various (usually an IP address, followed by an ugly string of random characters)
Infection: URL: MAL
c:\windows\system32\svchost.exe

I've chosen the 'More details ...... >>' option on the warning, and the AVAST web page advises that there's nothing to worry about because it's stopped any harmful process. However, the regular warning is very annoying.

Can anybody help please?

[hhfarang]

My battery backup (UPS) stopped working... The switches still work and the plug ports for equipment still deliver electricity (when the unit is plugged in to the wall), and it still beeps when the power in the house goes down, but the computer dies immediately when that happens so the battery inside the case must be shot as it's supposed to support the attached equipment for at least enough time to execute a normal shutdown.

Is it worth replacing the battery since the switches and everything else on the case still works or is the battery 90% of the cost of the thing anyway so I should just get a new one?

Related questions:
Where can I recycle old batteries? I hate to see them go into the dump.
Is there a recommended brand/model of battery backup with good surge protection built in? We've lost several appliances (even one air con) due to surge either from lightening or power coming back on after outage so I want a good one for my computer and A/V equipment.

[Nereus]

My battery backup (UPS) stopped working... The switches still work and the plug ports for equipment still deliver electricity (when the unit is plugged in to the wall), and it still beeps when the power in the house goes down, but the computer dies immediately when that happens so the battery inside the case must be shot as it's supposed to support the attached equipment for at least enough time to execute a normal shutdown.

Is it worth replacing the battery since the switches and everything else on the case still works or is the battery 90% of the cost of the thing anyway so I should just get a new one?

Related questions:
Where can I recycle old batteries? I hate to see them go into the dump.
Is there a recommended brand/model of battery backup with good surge protection built in? We've lost several appliances (even one air con) due to surge either from lightening or power coming back on after outage so I want a good one for my computer and A/V equipment.

Replacing the battery probably depends a bit on the make or quality of the UPS. They usually have a small sealed lead acid battery similar to a burglar alarm, so providing that it is removable it could be worth replacing.

There are many different models of UPS available, and some of them are crap. You also need to consider the total load you are going to put on it, and allow a bit more in capacity than that calculated. From past experience with these things do not go under 750 VA, 1000 VA is better.

There are also "surge protectors" available which would be more suitable for A / V equipment.
APC is good equipment, but at a premium price.

Do not know what they do with old batteries here, but unless there is a market for the material they are made of, then I suppose they end up dumped somewhere.

Your favorite shop lists APC units with prices, and here is also a Chinese site in Thailand without prices:

http://www.invadeit.co.th/brand/apc/ups/

http://www.cititel.co.th/index.php?opti ... &Itemid=74

http://www.apc.com/site/apc/index.cfm

[hhfarang]

Thanks Nereus, I was looking at an APC one on InvadeIT, but it is only 500 VA (whatever that is ). The cheapest option they have is an off brand, at least I've never heard of it but it is 800 VA; so you would probably go with that instead of the APC 500 VA if trying to stay under 2k baht?

Here they both are:

http://www.apc.com/resource/include/tec ... =BE500R-AS

http://www.invadeit.co.th/product/ups/e ... w-p003170/

As Sargent Schultz used to say on Hogan's Hero's, (when it comes to electricity) "I know nothing!"

[Nereus]

Thanks Nereus, I was looking at an APC one on InvadeIT, but it is only 500 VA (whatever that is ).

It can be very confusing, as an AC current calculation has to take into account a thing called "power factor". This is as opposed to pure DC, where the volts x amps = watts.

All "inductive" type AC loads have to consider this calculation, so it then becomes:
volts x amps x power factor. The power factor varies depending on the load, but only a pure "resistive" load will have a PF of unity, or one, all other loads some figure less than one. In the case in question the PF is usually taken to be a figure of 0.6.

so: 220 volts x 2.3 amps = 506 VA

and: 220 volts x 2.3 amps x 0.6 PF = 303.6 watts

Or in round figures: 500 VA is only 300 watts.

The following may explain it better:

http://www.power-solutions.com/watts-va.php

[Big Boy]

A Thai friend has brought her laptop to me asking for help.

Her 16 year old son was having problems viewing porn because her virus guard was blocking access. His solution was to remove the virus guard . I've taken the usual action, and have loaded AVAST and Malwarebytes, and have been running various scans for most of the evening. I've managed to remove around 200 infections, but I keep getting a virus warning ie:

MALICIOUS URL BLOCKED

Object: various (usually an IP address, followed by an ugly string of random characters)
Infection: URL: MAL
c:\windows\system32\svchost.exe

I've chosen the 'More details ...... >>' option on the warning, and the AVAST web page advises that there's nothing to worry about because it's stopped any harmful process. However, the regular warning is very annoying.

Can anybody help please?

An update on the above problem which is driving me nuts. AVAST keeps displaying a message stating:
ROOTKIT FOUND

A suspicious hidden object (rootkit) has been detected on your system. this may be a sign of malware inection. It is recommended to remove the object immediately.

ROOTKIT INFORMATION

File name
MBR:\\.\\PHYSICALDRIVE0

ACTIONS TO TAKE
Delete Now (recommended)

I say OK to the deletion. I then get a message:

To finish the cleanup process, we recommend running a boot-time scan, i.e. restarting the computer and letting avast! scan all your data before Windows starts. Do you want to schedule the boot-time scan and restart the computer now?

I've tried it numerous times both with and without the boot-time scan (which takes about an hour). The scan always finds infections, which I delete, but the problem remains. If I say No, the following is displayed:
SUSPICIOUS FILES FOUND

Suspicious files have been detected (using a heuristic method). This may be a sign of malware infection. Please allow the files to be submitted to our virus lab for analysis.

FURTHER INFORMATION

File name
MBR:\\.\\PHYSICALDRIVE0 mbr:tdl

ACTIONS TO TAKE
Ignore

I've tried Ignore and I've tried Delete, but the problem remains.

Please, please, please is there anybody out there who can help, and stop me from going totally insane?

[chopsticks]

You could try reducing the 'sensitivity' of the heuristics in the scan settings menu (or turn it off completely) as it may be reporting a false positive from the hard drive master boot record (MBR).

[richard]

Hope you won't get the sarcastic remarks I usually get when I ask for help on this thread

[caller]

Guys, do you think my problem might be more serious?

Switched on okay this morning and trawled around, then it cut out. Waited, switched on, nothing, a light flicker, but otherwise a dead screen. Gave up watched the golf, tried again, still no joy.

I have some buttons on the front of the laptop, control volume and the like and randomly hit some of these and much to my surprise the screen lit up. You will have all seen this, saying a problem with Windows and the reason for shutdown might have been to protect my computer and offering various options, safe mode, last good configuration and the like.

So I pressed last good configuration and it started fine!?

Any ideas?

Thanks.

[Big Boy]

Are you sure it's just the screen? Since my last venture to Thailand, my laptop has been overheating (maybe once a month), and switching itself off - I suddenly get presented with a black screen, an no warning whatsoever. I leave it for half an hour, and all is fine again.

[chopsticks]

May be worth cleaning out the heatsink fins and fan blades / duct assembly if it's been used for several years.
Signs of this are if you notice the fan running more frequently or not cycling anymore.

[Big Boy]

May be worth cleaning out the heatsink fins and fan blades / duct assembly if it's been used for several years.
Signs of this are if you notice the fan running more frequently or not cycling anymore.

Thanks

I know what my problem is. I only need this laptop until I move to Thailand. I'll be significantly upgrading it soon, so I'll live with it for a few months. I was just suggesting to caller that he may be experiencing a similar problem.

[Big Boy]

You could try reducing the 'sensitivity' of the heuristics in the scan settings menu (or turn it off completely) as it may be reporting a false positive from the hard drive master boot record (MBR).

I'm not ignoring this suggestion, just running a couple of additional scans first. Will try tomorrow.