The Digital Surgery (computer questions/problems here)

[Pleng]

Even if you only have one physical drive it's possible to partition that so your data is stored on a separate partition. It's not as good as having two physical drives, but it does make things less hassle when it comes to the inevitable OS reinstall.

[caller]

Can someone kindly explain to me in laymans terms what hs_err_pid884 is and does? I have a desk icon for it, nothing fancy just the page/script one, meaning there isn't a formal icon - I think? I've no idea where it came from but got all sorts of sombre warnings when considering deteting it.

Thanks

[redzonerocker]

Can someone kindly explain to me in laymans terms what hs_err_pid884 is and does? I have a desk icon for it, nothing fancy just the page/script one, meaning there isn't a formal icon - I think? I've no idea where it came from but got all sorts of sombre warnings when considering deteting it.

Thanks

It's a crash report informing you have an error with Java.
Go to Java.com, check what version you have & update to the latest edition, this usually sorts the problem out.
You can delete the desktop icon.

[caller]

It's a crash report informing you have an error with Java.
Go to Java.com, check what version you have & update to the latest edition, this usually sorts the problem out.

You can delete the desktop icon.

Appreciated RZR - many thanks!

[margaretcarnes]

Oh Kaaaay - there's a picture coming together here then because a year or so back I loaded stacks of CDs to C drive before transferring them to the MP3 player - except that I had a problem transferring and took the PC in to a computer mister. He sorted the MP3 player but installed stacks of stuff to the PC, including Windows Media Player for Sony (which I no longer need and will uninstall.)
And although the facility to play the music on the PC had also disappeared, there is still (somewhere) a kind of print out of all the damn lyrics! That needs to go as well obviously.
Photo files will be burnt onto DVD (when the shops open again) and I'll activate the ISPs E mail address and finally ditch Hotmail.
Which leaves just one more problem - how to transfer the Hotmail address list from Hotmail to another address - which will be one from the little known Karoo!

HHF - I have a 1.66 gig drive - so just how much space does Firefox use?

[lomuamart]

Mags,
I've just opened a gmail account up and they had a tool to transfer over all my contacts from other email providers, including hotmail.
Must admit that I didn't bother with that and took the opportunity to do it manually and clean the list up at the same time.
It was amazing how many old contacts I had.

[hhfarang]

Mags, your hard drive has to be bigger than 1.66 gb. Maybe that's the processor speed 1.66 ghz. My machine is 12 years old and it came with a 30 gb drive so yours probably has more than 100 gb.

My complaint with FireFox is that it hogs processor time and slows everything down (not the space it takes), but as Buksi pointed out, none of today's browsers are meant to run on a computer as old as mine.

[margaretcarnes]

Mags, your hard drive has to be bigger than 1.66 gb. Maybe that's the processor speed 1.66 ghz. My machine is 12 years old and it came with a 30 gb drive so yours probably has more than 100 gb.

My complaint with FireFox is that it hogs processor time and slows everything down (not the space it takes), but as Buksi pointed out, none of today's browsers are meant to run on a computer as old as mine.

Yes correction - it's 80 gig ( I was reading the wrong bit of the label - d'oh.)
And as Lomu will know by now I've also opted for a manual update of the contact list, which is working well.

But - still probs. I've uninstalled Media Manager for Walkman - which was actually a bigger program than Firefox. Seriously trimmed the photo file - plus uninstalled a few other bits and bobs. Still getting the 'running out of disc space' warning. Maybe this will sort itself once Hotmail is deleted?

Then as soon as I'd got into the new E address the Acer screen saver programme crashed.

Finally - just signed into the new address again and got a message allegedly from Microsoft that it wants to install Windows Media Player Extension. Daren't allow it of course at the mo. In fact the whole system is like treading on eggshells.

Lomu have you uninstalled your Hotmail yet? If so is there any improvement in PC performance?

Buksi - I can't open those 2 sites you suggested for running a full scan.

[lomuamart]

No. Hotmail still exists but only for as long as it takes my contacts to get used to the changeover.
Quite a few of them don't go back to work until the 3rd.

[buksida]

You can't "uninstall" Hotmail - its a web-based email service

Firefox uses less than 50Mb of disk space, it is tiny.

Mags, it seems you have a world of compounded problems and malware with that computer that probably can't be solved in this thread, especially if you can't even open links now. I would suggest you take it to someone you trust who can backup your data and format/reinstall Windows and your programs from scratch. This should take up less than 20 Gig leaving you 75% of the hard disk empty. All of your docs/photos/music should be on a partition (D drive) or portable hard disk.

Then: stop using IE and Hotmail!

[margaretcarnes]

OK NO NEED TO SHOUT! I'm already stopping the Hotmail... as for IE .. right so while the whole system is being reformated - whats the best alternative?

It's strange though that those 2 links have been the only 2 I can't open. AVG ran a full scan yesterday and came up with zero problems.
One of the issues with changing E mail as well - which maybe doesn't apply so much to people in the LOS using it - is the hassle here of changing details with all the online billing folks. It's been easier to leave things as they were until The Virus to be honest. Tomorrow it will be a day of contacting TV licensing - gas - lekky - ISP (and computer man) Anyway it's slowly getting there!

[PeteC]

If this were happening to me I would try to keep my old email services for a few months to make sure contacts and services are properly using the new address. After a period of no important incoming mail would be the time to discontinue them. And/or.....keep the addresses and set up forwarding to your new address until you see no activity coming from them. Pete

[hhfarang]

As far as replacing IE Mags, I think most will agree that FireFox is best if you have no problems with internet speed or processor power like I do. I think it's the safest and it has the most apps that can be added on as nice little tools. I know a lot of people that use and like Chrome by Google but I stay away from it because Google tracks enough of what I do already.

[margaretcarnes]

As far as replacing IE Mags, I think most will agree that FireFox is best if you have no problems with internet speed or processor power like I do. I think it's the safest and it has the most apps that can be added on as nice little tools. I know a lot of people that use and like Chrome by Google but I stay away from it because Google tracks enough of what I do already.

Certainly one to bear in mind HHF thanks. Having now had a full PC health check (courtesy of the contract with the ISP) there's certainly no more virus. But there's also some issues with Windows which I guess would still persist even with a change to Firefox, since the system runs on Vista.
Plodding on though - with a mental note to self to get a Mac next time!

[margaretcarnes]

Update for Buksi - who will be delighted to know that I've ditched Windows and running Linux Ubuntu.
(Your perseverance paid off Buksi!)
So far so good - it's like running a Ferrari after plodding along in a Moggie 1000. Even just scrolling down here on the forum is super fast by comparison. Has a great option for running 4 x quarter size screens which I think even I can drive given a bit of practice. No intrusive tool and side bars, almost fool proof security - it just looks so clean and simple.
So - early days but I'll let you know how it goes.( I just have to remember to only use one finger on the mouse pad now or everything scrolls out of sight!)