Help/Support ► Want tech help? Here's some information to provide us, so we don't have to ask.

[maryadavies]

Yep Anagram. Beware of the tech support/help line! We're lucky we've been able to have my techie brother around to beat them around the head and shoulders, as in "You IDIOT, it's not a modem problem!" since he knows exactly what he's talking about.

But yeah if you have to call them, insist on a line test, don't be fooled by them saying it might be your modem. Throw a hissy fit if you have to to get those stubborn, no good people to leave your modem alone and test the darned line first! New modems can cost you big time >.<!

Also I did a little more research; Seems the cap is only inflicted on their pure DSL customers at this time. Not Uverse, since that comes with cable TV as well. They may change their minds eventually, but as of now, the Uverse data cap might as well not be there. (There are a few rumors that it gets enforced if you get net only, but I haven't found any confirmation) Just don't go hog wild. ^^

 

[Anagram]

Ohh yeah. It's a waste of time. Uverse doesn't break down nearly as much as our previous thing did- in fact, it's broken down only once- but that one time gave us a VERY clear idea that their tech support is... frustrating. You have to go through a lot of trouble just to talk to a real person and not an automated voice, and then you have to be careful of what maryadavies already mentioned.

Yep Anagram. Beware of the tech support/help line! We're lucky we've been able to have my techie brother around to beat them around the head and shoulders, as in "You IDIOT, it's not a modem problem!" since he knows exactly what he's talking about.

But yeah if you have to call them, insist on a line test, don't be fooled by them saying it might be your modem. Throw a hissy fit if you have to to get those stubborn, no good people to leave your modem alone and test the darned line first! New modems can cost you big time >.<!

Also I did a little more research; Seems the cap is only inflicted on their pure DSL customers at this time. Not Uverse, since that comes with cable TV as well. They may change their minds eventually, but as of now, the Uverse data cap might as well not be there. (There are a few rumors that it gets enforced if you get net only, but I haven't found any confirmation) Just don't go hog wild. ^^

Well I can't get the DSL bit due to reasons and I'm interested in the Uverse itself which the ATT&T people, I went to an actual store to talk to them personally onthis, which said it bounces off towers or something?

But it is noted with customer support. T-T It's such a shame few places give real people to talk too.

 

[redcrown]

For some reason I can' view any video or webpage from youtube, including the front page.

This started last night but since I was on a different account at the time I assumed it was an issue only with that account. It seems my account was affected my this error too. The weird thing is another account on this computer didn't have this issue.

Both accounts with the error were using firefox and this is what it look like.

Spoiler Show

front page

and any video I try to view

I download some updates and an extra flash player and even disabled some but nothing is budging. I'm not a computer wiz of any sort so I'm not sure what to do. I've never had this problem before yesterday.

 

[Dreaded_Desire62]

So, I ran into this problem twice. I was unable to login into my computer, because it said something along the lines of, "profile logon failed." I don't know if anyone has had this problem before. I had to restart my computer through safe mode. I am wondering how do I prevent this from happening. I have a Windows 7 Ultimate.

 

[Cassette-Disk]

Hello friends, I'm hoping I can get some help with upgrading my PC parts. Here's my rig at the moment:

I made this a few years ago. I'm thinking of slapping a brand new GPU but I'm unsure of which one to get. I'm leaning towards the GTX 970 since it's relatively cheap right now and does nearly double of what my current GPU does, but I'm a bit worried about bottle necking since I also haven't upgraded my CPU. Does anyone have any insight on this issue and if I would have any problems or if I should go for a different video card all together?

 

[Professor Ven]

Hello friends, I'm hoping I can get some help with upgrading my PC parts. Here's my rig at the moment:

I made this a few years ago. I'm thinking of slapping a brand new GPU but I'm unsure of which one to get. I'm leaning towards the GTX 970 since it's relatively cheap right now and does nearly double of what my current GPU does, but I'm a bit worried about bottle necking since I also haven't upgraded my CPU. Does anyone have any insight on this issue and if I would have any problems or if I should go for a different video card all together?

pcpartpicker shows no issues with compatibility, but had to assume what your mobo and CPU were because no specifics. Depending on what you're wanting to do with your computer, I'd suggest getting an intel CPU if you're wanting to upgrade (i7's are getting cheaper, Black Friday is coming) because AMDs while decently cheap, intel CPUs are more reliable in the long run (most stuff tends to be throttled by the CPU, RAM, then GPU).

970 graphics card is the best bang for your buck (because now you can play everything in pretty mode minus No Man's Folly). If you have two memory sockets on your mobo, would recommend upgrading to 2 8GB sticks for total of 16GB RAM.

If you fix all that up and want gorgeously small boot and load times for your stuff, would recommend getting a solid state drive at whatever storage size you want/need (samsung is always my go to) - the samsung one should come with an install disc for the cloning drive software and samsung drive checker stuff (super simple). You might need or want one of these to make the transfer simpler (because plugging into USB is easier than opening up and dealing with cords and etc).

Provided that the 970 card can fit in your computer case with no issues, you should be good to go. Make sure your case is compatible (pcpartpicker can help and will probably be accurate, but doing measurements on your own might give peace of mind as well).




Also why didn't you upgrade to Windows 10 for free

 

[Cassette-Disk]

pcpartpicker shows no issues with compatibility, but had to assume what your mobo and CPU were because no specifics. Depending on what you're wanting to do with your computer, I'd suggest getting an intel CPU if you're wanting to upgrade (i7's are getting cheaper, Black Friday is coming) because AMDs while decently cheap, intel CPUs are more reliable in the long run (most stuff tends to be throttled by the CPU, RAM, then GPU).

970 graphics card is the best bang for your buck (because now you can play everything in pretty mode minus No Man's Folly). If you have two memory sockets on your mobo, would recommend upgrading to 2 8GB sticks for total of 16GB RAM.

If you fix all that up and want gorgeously small boot and load times for your stuff, would recommend getting a solid state drive at whatever storage size you want/need (samsung is always my go to) - the samsung one should come with an install disc for the cloning drive software and samsung drive checker stuff (super simple). You might need or want one of these to make the transfer simpler (because plugging into USB is easier than opening up and dealing with cords and etc).

Provided that the 970 card can fit in your computer case with no issues, you should be good to go. Make sure your case is compatible (pcpartpicker can help and will probably be accurate, but doing measurements on your own might give peace of mind as well).




Also why didn't you upgrade to Windows 10 for free

Aw snap I completely forgot about the Part Picker. Which is weird because it basically saved my ass the first go around, and it's doing it again now. Here's the complete part list. I did a bit more research though and found that my CPU in general is pretty damn out of date, so I'll be upgrading that as well. I still need to look into it more though since apparently all Intel CPUs are incompatible with my motherboard and I had initially planned to group it with an i-5 6500. Booo. I'll also keep in mind upgrading my RAM since I did a quick check and my 8 GB is just barely hitting the threshold for Mankind Divided and it'll only get worse from here. Also that Speccy screencap is outdated and was taken before Win10 was released. I've got that now instead lol.

Thank you for the help, Ven! And thanks for reminded me about Black Friday since I was about to just up and buy the parts today when really, I'm in no rush and can wait for a price drop.

 

[KingdomKey]

Okay, I'm on Windows 10.

I've recently noticed Chrome changed itself on me out of the blue. I've tried reinstalling it twice and it won't reset to the old default setting. Like the whole browser isn't the same anymore. I've tried suggestions online, but nothing worked. I was wondering if anyone else who uses Chrome had this problem? Or if Chrome is suddenly doing a new look? Essentially, I want it to go back to normal instead of the address bar having a star on the right and the left with this (i). I don't what I did to it. And if I should be concerned right now about this? :c So any and all help would be greatly appreciated right now.

 

[Kounelli]

Have you tried a complete reinstall of chrome so it no longer shows up on the registry? I typically use programs such as revo uninstaller to do this quickly. Sometimes a browser's files remains on the computer even after a normal uninstall.

Also check to see if there were any recent updates that could cause a change with the interface. Other than that, Windows 10 comes with a plethora of glitches. If something like this is happening with other programs it could be a driver in your graphics card that is messing up with Windows 10. Did you get your get your computer with Windows 10 already installed or did you do the manual upgrade (It's typically with the manual upgrade that all sorts of problems like this happen)?

 

[KingdomKey]

Have you tried a complete reinstall of chrome so it no longer shows up on the registry? I typically use programs such as revo uninstaller to do this quickly. Sometimes a browser's files remains on the computer even after a normal uninstall.

Also check to see if there were any recent updates that could cause a change with the interface. Other than that, Windows 10 comes with a plethora of glitches. If something like this is happening with other programs it could be a driver in your graphics card that is messing up with Windows 10. Did you get your get your computer with Windows 10 already installed or did you do the manual upgrade (It's typically with the manual upgrade that all sorts of problems like this happen)?

Yeah, cause i reinstalled it twice and had the same results both times. I don't know if it was deleted from the registry completely tho. Should I wipe my laptop clean? Or how do I revo uninstaller? :c

I manually upgraded to Windows Ten several months ago. This is the first time it's begun to glitch and cause problems. I don't know where or how to check for recent updates of the interface on my laptop. I'm not sure if any other programs are having issues. I've only noticed a subtle change, when I went onto a chat and the emoticons weren't working fully like before. And actually, neither Skype or Steam popped up like they usually do on my laptop.

 

[Kounelli]

If you go on their website here you can download the free version on the bottom. The directions are very easy to follow and it should work. You shouldn't have to wipe your entire laptop in order to just fix the browser that's a lot of work D:

The only other thing I can think of is maybe you have an extension that's stretching things out. Look at your tools and see if there are any add ons. Sometimes if you download something automatic extensions get added. Look for something that wasn't there before.

Also with revo uninstaller, it will find every hidden program that installed on your computer without you knowing. So if it is anything like that, then it will find it.

EDIT:
Definitely go to your task manager too and see if there are any weird applications running on your computer.

 

[KingdomKey]

If you go on their website here you can download the free version on the bottom. The directions are very easy to follow and it should work. You shouldn't have to wipe your entire laptop in order to just fix the browser that's a lot of work D:

The only other thing I can think of is maybe you have an extension that's stretching things out. Look at your tools and see if there are any add ons. Sometimes if you download something automatic extensions get added. Look for something that wasn't there before.

Also with revo uninstaller, it will find every hidden program that installed on your computer without you knowing. So if it is anything like that, then it will find it.

EDIT:
Definitely go to your task manager too and see if there are any weird applications running on your computer.

I tried using what linked me to except it froze after installing it. Like my laptop couldn't process whenever I clicked to remove a program that I didn't have installed. And my task manager wasn't working or responding through the shortcut I had either. So unfortunately, I went ahead and started wiping my laptop clean again. (Third time, I've wiped it this year. D I'll reinstall the antivirus system I had on there, but is there any other search engine that works better than Chrome?

 

[Kounelli]

Oh I am sorry to hear that, that really sucks :/
What kind of laptop do you have? If it has to keep going through multiple clean installs like this then it might be time to find a better one.

I just use Mozilla Firefox, but chrome is still pretty good. I think something outside of your browser could have been affecting it which is why it was giving you problems. There are all sorts of malware and crappy browser extensions that can implant themselves into your computer's registry and mess it up.

If you are able to I would also recommend downloading an anti-malware program and anti-spyware. These can catch some things that your anti-virus may not be able to detect (I use SUPERantispyware and it works pretty great for me).

Also, if you come across this again, try entering your computer in safe mode and then open the task manager/run the antispyware etc. it helps a lot.

 

[maryadavies]

Hmm. I don't know what could be causing that. (And no wonder you haven't been on IRC. I can PM you with a IRC client for now if you want, I miss you Cinder. I think IRC clients tend to be more stable anyhoos on IRC.)

But I second Firefox. I haven't had many problems with it, tho I do run adblocker plus and noscript too. I DID have one glitch today; Firefox was freezing up lots/suddenly showing up not responding and I only had 4 tabs open. All I had to do is open Ccleaner and do a quick system/cache clean. That solved the freezing issue; If that happens again, I'd suggest trying that, for a browser is a browser. I'll have to relogin places but I'll take that over a not responding browser. ^^

Also with Firefox, I also use a extension to make it look like it used to (I think their new design looks pretty bad); I don't know if there's something like that for Chrome tho.

 

[KingdomKey]

My laptop is an HP Windows 8 Model. I'm not sure how long I've had it for, except that it's been having issues a lot this year. I'll have to make do with it to save some money for a new laptop in the meantime. Furthermore, it feels good knowing Firefox is highly recommended between the two of you. I do plan on installing my usual antivirus to my laptop, but I'll check out the Super Anti-spyware. I might need something stronger than what I previously had.

For now, I'm anxiously awaiting to see how my laptop turns out. I currently can't get on it cause of a wifi password. xD *happens to be using an iPod touch right now*

In conclusion, thank you Kounelli and Maryadavis. And I'll also try out the Ccleaner as well. ;3

 

[Kounelli]

HP is usually pretty good, if you decide to buy a new one make sure to get one with more RAM. Or, you can replace the RAM in your laptop now with more and it can increase your performance tremendously.

You are welcome Cinder, sorry it didn't work out the way you wanted!

 

[Deleted member 36435]

https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/3296214?hl=en

and hp is shit

windows defender / mse with malwarebytes is all you need

 

[Kounelli]

I believe Cinder already stated that she tried that.


I've run several Windows, Linux, and Ubuntu operating systems on HP computers for years and they have been far more stable than other companies such as Dell, Gateway, and Lenovo. My other go to is Asus, but they can be a little bit more pricey depending on what you want.

I'm sorry to see that you've had such a bad experience with HP. Is there a company that you prefer? Perhaps I can check them out.

 

[maryadavies]

You're welcome, Cinder. If you want to adblocker plus/noscript, get on IRC and let me know. I can walk ya though it. ^^ Those two addons prevent spyware/viruses from ending up on your pc as long as ya whip it into shape and use some common sense.

And Kou; I've been thinking about hunting up a used laptop to Linux for a while. I guess I know what brand to look out for.

 

[Professor Ven]

Chrome is the best as long as its up to date (fueled by thousands of sleepless programmers at Google HQ) the Adblocker and other addons for it aren't difficult to install either, CCleaner isn't needed unless you really like pears or a simple all-in-one solution, there's the drive cleaner/defragger/programs in Windows that does the same things. Like Bictor said, all you need is Malwarebytes and Windows Defender.

Unless you're trying to do the no-no's and torrent something without confirming it's free of viruses, laptop shouldn't be bricking unless its a hardware issue (CPU bottlenecking, not enough RAM, etc). In my opinion Samsung are always on the top of my list for stuff, they usually do a good job with their tech (apart from turning American citizens into enemies of the state with exploding Note 7's), 10/10 would recommend. Asus is ok, but meh. I won't comment on HP beyond what Bictor stated.

But to be honest depending on what kind of stuff you're wanting to do with a laptop, you could build a desktop for the same price and get much more out of it power/use-wise, but at the loss of mobility.