Computer Help

[Susan1]

Server Guy - just the name I need!!!!! It's about time!
So, before I hit your quotes - everybody else who has been helping - I went to the library. They have Office 2013 - no computer classes at Miami Township till September. West Carrollton, where that guy I liked taught the classes (of course I don't remember his name, but he would have a real job elsewhere) is closed. And the library clerk who taught the classes at Miamisburg is snooty (graduated from Miamisburg three years after me), so I won't be asking her.
Sidebar - The library has laptops to take out. Didn't want to ask any stupid questions, but would those be portable that you wouldn't have to plug in? Would the "wirelessness" of my cable work with that. The t.v. in the family room is wireless. Obviously the power is plugged in, but it's not connected to the cable box. (Yes, we've already established that I'm a stupid old person. I just have an empty place in my head where technology refuses to go!)

Focus on the basics before investing in docking stations, keyboards, spaceships, etc.

Spaceships! I wish I would have read this post before I went to Best Buy. I was just wandering around the laptops and a "young whippersnapper" (not enough HAs to cover that one) came over and I completely forgot what I was trying to say windows/office/2010 etc. I wasn't planning on going there without things written down. I looked like a flustered, hot idiot. (81*/83* heat index, you'd think it would be nicer than the 107* heat index yesterday, but I had to drive through mall traffic from the library and the air conditioning doesn't get that cold in 10 minutes.)

He steered me to an All-in-One "spaceship". Geez. I think I actually said "geez" out loud. Can you imagine if something goes wrong with any of it. It's like the old combination phone/answering machines. Or a copier/scanner/fax. One part goes you're SOL.

They all had these loose keyboards (still don't know how that works - what if whatever makes it wireless goes bad?) the size and thickness of a piece of bread, and mice. If I had to get a wireless mouse, the white ones are long and skinny! It felt pretty good. Anyway, I said I don't need a keyboard or a mouse or a monitor, so we went to the desktops.

sitting on Windows XP is just compromising your security at this point, especially if you're actually using the machine for things like internet banking, etc.

I don't "bank" online. Sometimes I make sure payment I have to mail, like car insurance, cleared before I get my statement, but that is all. And I turn off the whole computer afterwards. My personal record keeping is in Excel.

Rule of thumb, something with 4GB+ of RAM / memory is a good start.

Oops, that's the one thing I didn't ask. He wrote down the model and I was going to look up stuff when I got home. They didn't have any of those spec sheets that you take with you like Office Depot. He said I could take a picture of the specs on the wall, but I had to be a dinosaur (after saying I had Windows XP and Office 2000) and tell him I didn't have a cell phone. A new computer certainly is going to have a lot of memory, right?

I wrote the rest on an actual piece of paper with an old fashioned pen - Lenovo 310S-08ASR ? Desktop $349.99 w/o office. Miracle of Miracles, while he was writing I was looking at the others and it was the cheapest one they have and I didn't even have to wear a gray wig and call him "sonny boy". It had 4 stars. I will look it up later though.

Anything upward of 500GB

One terabyte (TB?) of storage. All of their computers only come with Windows 10. It had the little round colored ports (ungeek speak) so I could plug in my mouse and keyboard!!!!!!! I don't know about the big monitor plug. My mind was racing all over the place. He said they have adapters.

You'll also want Office 2016 Home and Student edition. That'll net you Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Office 365 which nets you more programs but I'd stay away, seems wasteful for your needs.

Yup - Office 365 (2016) is $50 for the first year, then automatically renews at $70 the next year, who knows after that. It has all the office stuff and Outlook. And there is one without Outlook for $150 straight out. (which probably has to be upgraded to something else after a year anyway!) What does anybody at home use Powerpoint for? Students I guess would make presentations for class? For awhile I was updating org charts every month. And typing every meeting presentation for everybody. I used to have to inbed Excel charts. Other than that, nothing. At Nat City, we had Powerpoint, but I don't remember using it. The department secretary had Publisher for department birthday/holiday, etc. calendars and announcements and stuff, so they let me get it after I did the calendars while she was on sick leave and I got so many compliments, she said I could do them from then on.

Since I had just been at the library, I asked if I could use Office 2013 if I bought that instead of Office 365 and he ASKED ME if it was compatible with Windows 10. so, HA.

You'll probably need a flash drive

you can pay someone to do it for you

He said they do the set up and transfer and all that stuff. I didn't want to know how much it costs, but I would be scared to death to do anything at home by myself. But I don't want to take my computer and leave it and not know what they mess up though.

I'll make better notes and go see what Office Depot has next week.

 

[Susan1]

Scanning through this thread has been quite the roller-coaster. It's quite ridiculous and a bit amusing to assume 20-somethings have never seen Office or Windows XP so I'd really recommend letting that go. Hell, I'm a 20-something and I grew up with these (and Windows 98!) and had to use them thoroughly through my studies, my career and even in my personal life.

But you probably upgraded as new things came along. I probably had Windows 98 before I got the new computer with XP? I wouldn't have even gotten a new computer then, except I got a new printer and the cable didn't fit, so I had to get a different cable and it still wouldn't install. I didn't have enough disk space for a new printer. What did I have back then, 1 gb, which sounded like a lot when I got it? I didn't do that much at home cause I could do any personal stuff at work. And Ryan said I didn't have enough physical area to install more RAM or memory or what-the-flip-ever it was. So he sent me to his computer guy. New computer every ~10 years - June 1999, March 2008, July 2018.

It's quite ridiculous and a bit amusing to assume 20-somethings have never seen Office

I didn't say they've never seen it. I used it 8 hours a day every day for over 30 years. How would someone know if something so old would be compatible with the new stuff. I worked at temp jobs with Office 2007 and it was a nightmare trying to use something after 20 years of something else being second nature. Searching through the bar or going to click on something that wasn't there. It was like back in the day going from years of WordPerfect to Word, but the whole company was switching over and we all got to go to classes during the day.

Easy peasy.

Big fat hairy

 

[Lizziebeth]

I doubt you can buy a new computer with Windows 7 any more.

 

[Susan1]

Finally, once you've got all your stuff bought over, recycle the old one and job done. Easy peasy.

Did I forget to say THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Susan1]

Me again -
specs -
Lenovo 310S-08ASR Desktop: Prepare work presentations with this Lenovo IdeaCentre desktop. It has 4GB of RAM and an AMD A9 processor to smoothly handle multiple programs, and its 1TB hard drive provides storage space for plenty of files. This Lenovo IdeaCentre desktop has Windows 10 installed, so you can start working right away.

( me - since the keyboard and mouse are included, could I have them unincluded and pay less?)

• keyboard
• Lenovo IdeaCentre 310S-08ASR Desktop - AMD A9-Series - 4GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive
• Mouse
• Power adapter
• Power cord
• Quick start user manual

me - It does have 4.3 stars out of 5. I haven't read the reviews yet!

me - New question - I have speakers. I have them turned away and separated as far as I can get them because the AT&T Uverse modem thingy being up on the desk causes static. Do people plug them in to new computers?

Obviously it's going to have a "port" for the internet? It's like a phone jack thing. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo...rd-drive-black-silver/6009010.p?skuId=6009010
What are all the holes in the front in the picture? There are no pictures of the back, where we saw the colored holes?

I have a headache. I haven't had anything to eat since a Boston creme for "lunch" at 11 a.m.

Toodles.

Wait - This is the reply to ALL of the one and two star complaints in the reviews - that say it is too slow, reboots itself, crashed, fried, etc.

"We are sorry to hear you are having issues with your IdeaCentre 310s desktop. This system should be a fast system with its AMD A9-9430 processor, with a clock speed of 3.2GHz and a boost speed of 3.5GHz and 8GB of RAM. Be sure any software you installed is compatible with Windows 10. There is no need to install Microsoft Office software. The software is already part of the operating system, you just need to activate the software with a purchased product key. If you have installed a copy of Microsoft Office, this is conflicting with the existing copy on the system and this will slow your system down. If you have installed a 3rd party anti-virus program, be sure that Windows Defender is turned off and that the trial version of McAfee Anti-Virus software is uninstalled. There can only be one anti-virus program on the system. You may need to restore your system to original factory default settings if any of the programing errors have occurred. You can do that by typing "restore" in the Cortana search window. Just click on the magnifying glass icon at the bottom left of your Windows 10 Desktop. Click on "Reset This PC" Then click on "Get Started" and follow the on screen directions to restore to factory defaults. "

 

[Susan1]

last thing today - of all the days for this, I had a message on my answering machine to call "Microsoft Security" or my computer would stop working. Funny. Now when I get a new one and it does stop working, I'll be scared. Which reminds me, you can get Geek Squad help for $60 a year or something with the new computer at Best Buy. Should I?

 

[Server Guy]

The internet God has spoken!! I would go with whatever he said!!

This is not good for my ego, friend.

Couldn't she update to Windows 7 or 10?

She could but from the sounds of it, she's got something from the stone age so it'd probably make it worse.

He steered me to an All-in-One "spaceship". Geez. I think I actually said "geez" out loud. Can you imagine if something goes wrong with any of it. It's like the old combination phone/answering machines. Or a copier/scanner/fax. One part goes you're SOL.

The all-in-one's I've tried have been crap. Your mileage may vary.

Oops, that's the one thing I didn't ask. He wrote down the model and I was going to look up stuff when I got home. They didn't have any of those spec sheets that you take with you like Office Depot. He said I could take a picture of the specs on the wall, but I had to be a dinosaur (after saying I had Windows XP and Office 2000) and tell him I didn't have a cell phone. A new computer certainly is going to have a lot of memory, right?

Not all the time. 4GB is a decent amount. If you can get more, that'd be good futureproofing. If not, I wouldn't lose sleep over it based on your use case.

I wrote the rest on an actual piece of paper with an old fashioned pen - Lenovo 310S-08ASR ? Desktop $349.99 w/o office. Miracle of Miracles, while he was writing I was looking at the others and it was the cheapest one they have and I didn't even have to wear a gray wig and call him "sonny boy". It had 4 stars. I will look it up later though.

Brief look shows that it's decent. Lots of storage, decent processor and decent amount of memory. If you don't mind me asking, what's your max spend? I can probably point you at something in that budget.

One terabyte (TB?) of storage. All of their computers only come with Windows 10. It had the little round colored ports (ungeek speak) so I could plug in my mouse and keyboard!!!!!!! I don't know about the big monitor plug. My mind was racing all over the place. He said they have adapters.

1TB = 1000GB. Plenty of space for your documents. Coloured ports (usually green and purple) are PS/2 ports. If that's what your old mouse and keyboard use, they'll work on your new computer just fine.

Worth checking and making sure your monitor is supported. I suspect your big monitor plug is this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_connector

He said they do the set up and transfer and all that stuff. I didn't want to know how much it costs, but I would be scared to death to do anything at home by myself. But I don't want to take my computer and leave it and not know what they mess up though.

It's just dragging files from point A to point B. If you feel comfortable letting others do it, that's cool. If you can stand over them like a hawk, even better.

me - New question - I have speakers. I have them turned away and separated as far as I can get them because the AT&T Uverse modem thingy being up on the desk causes static. Do people plug them in to new computers?

Can do, depends if you want to hear things.

What are all the holes in the front in the picture?

Headphone input, microphone input, a disk drive, USB slots and a memory card reader.

There are no pictures of the back, where we saw the colored holes?

I googled and found this: https://brain-images-ssl.cdn.dixons.com/1/7/10163971/l_10163971_005.jpg

 

[mysticchic]

Any time! 20 year olds grew up with this stuff. My son taught me all I know. He was 8 at the time. By the time he was 14 he was cracking, dividing the hard drive and more. Most of us on here are over 50. Well, at least 40.
@Susan1 From working at Amazon, when you look at reviews. You will have people who love it and people who hate it. Look at the dates. The more up to date are the ones you should look at. The ones from the first month or so are schills. There are going to be a few bad ones so you get the 1s. The company is watching the reviews and is answering them. That is a mark of a good company. They want to right the wrong. it has over an 80% satisfaction rate. That is a good thing to go on.

This is not good for my ego, friend.

She could but from the sounds of it, she's got something from the stone age so it'd probably make it worse.

 

[Meredith]

Good information from all of you. Thank you!

 

[Japanfan]

We are not ignorant brainless fools, just young people trying to make our way in the world that your generation has done its best to ruin, and we can help you, if you'll only listen.

I digress, but I think it is both highly unfair and completely inaccurate to blame "your generation" - presumably the late baby boomers or those born in the 60s? - for ruining the world. The younger generation tends to usually blame the older one for all the ills of the world, but that often tends to be short-sighted.

There are plenty of people in their teens, 20s, 30s and 40s who are participating in the capitalist economy and the consumption practices and lifestyle behaviors that have contributed to our current environmental crisis. Plenty of people in those age groups who work for companies that have contributed/continue to contribute heavily to the crisis - or have stocks in those companies.

At the same time, there are plenty of baby boomers now in their 60s/70s who try to live with sustainability as a goal, and plenty of 'old hippies' who are directly involved in environmental activism.

And, I've never called millennials lazy or stupid, nor seen them as such.

 

[Susan1]

She could but from the sounds of it, she's got something from the stone age so it'd probably make it worse.

Yeah, the whole thing was if I just updated this computer to Windows 10 so Firefox would work, none of the old Office 2000 would be compatible. Then I'd have to get a new Office. I've already had to just have the power supply replaced. I was just sitting here doing whatever and it died. I took it to be cleaned for $9.99. He did that and it still wouldn't start, so they replaced the power supply. It had been getting really hot anyway, so he thinks it was the accumulation of dust from sitting on the carpet under the desk here for 10 years that fried the power supply. So that cost another $49.99. Who knows what will go next. The case hums if I don't keep a heavy book on top of it. It didn't before they took it apart.

If you don't mind me asking, what's your max spend? I can probably point you at something in that budget.

Less than $399? I want to spend as little as possible to get what I have to have. And it has to be somewhere I can buy it and have it done in a store. The only possibilities here are Best Buy and Office Depot. Unless they have computer experts at Walmart and Target.

Worth checking and making sure your monitor is supported. I suspect your big monitor plug is this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_connector

Yep. The monitor is only 4-5 years old? I still have the box in the garage - it says AOC E2351F. It came from Office Depot. It's got the same kind of plug (actually two places?) on the back of the monitor. What else would you plug a monitor into at the same time? There aren't any other holes except the power plug.

I googled and found this: https://brain-images-ssl.cdn.dixons.com/1/7/10163971/l_10163971_005.jpg

So that's the back of the one I'm looking at? That big "port" looks like where the monitor would go?

It's just dragging files from point A to point B. If you feel comfortable letting others do it, that's cool. If you can stand over them like a hawk, even better.

But what files? Just My Documents, nothing else? So, I'd have to buy an external drive too to make sure they didn't get lost going over?? I WOULD have be standing over somebody because they'd need to know what I wanted to move. And internet-wise, I remember Ryan saving my bookmarks on the new computer.

Just looking at my desktop, I have Eusing Free Registry Desktop, AVG PC Tuneup, AVG Antivirus Free, Malwarebytes, Screen+ (whatever that is, maybe it came with the monitor), e-Saver (??), Acrobat.com, Adobe Reader 9, and My Network Places. And the only ones I ever click on - My Documents and My Computer, Recycle Bin and Mozilla Firefox, and Calculator shortcut, which I added myself because it's quicker for figuring out ages in genealogy research than opening Excel and calculating!). I also have an Office Toolbar on the right side. I guess Windows or Office doesn't have those anymore? That is what I have ALWAYS used at jobs and home. When *I* set it up here I added Outlook (I still look at my old Outlook emails for stuff even though I can't send or receive. Years of genealogy details passed back and forth before I had to switch over to Yahoo mail. I forgot. Somebody has to save those! AARRGGHH!!!) and Control Panel to it.

Programs has all kinds of junk I don't know what it is, and Accessories and Games. Will those be in the new Windows? I know you don't need to copy things over if the new is already going to be there. But I don't know what is what. I don't know what I don't know.

Can do, depends if you want to hear things.

Duh! I just don't ever see people on t.v. or wherever on the computer with two little speakers sitting next to them. Heck, they don't take speakers with their laptops everywhere. Why wouldn't the volume thing on the computer be enough? I have it turned way down or the twinkly sounds from games would knock me out of my chair. I only turn it up if I have to hear a song or something.

From working at Amazon, when you look at reviews. You will have people who love it and people who hate it.

It got 4.5 stars. And a 90% favorable. I forgot to look at the years, but the "5's", which there were the most of, said something like registered buyers or something (this was last night, I'll have to look again), so it's not like someone just went on the website and gave a bad review for fun. I don't know how old this model is, but they probably get the kinks out and come up with fixes so they get better reviews later.

 

[Susan1]

I DO need to get out and enjoy this weather, but I just checked some things. The reviews - scrolling through some of the 5's, they are from hours ago to 2 mos. It says "verified purchaser" (I was close - not!). There are 124 reviews, 50% are 5's. There are only 4 1's, between 1 and 6 mos. old.

The tower is 13.5" tall, it will barely fit on the desk under the shelf. Will it be able to breathe better than the one on the floor? What happened to the ones you could lay on their sides? Remember putting the monitor on top of it so it was eye level, and putting disks in the slots in front of you? And BOB - big orange button? NCR's WHQ building's help desk was "the doctor's office". The message said "the doctor is out helping other patients...........". And they used to come to your desk and fix things. Sorry, just feeling old and sad................

There's a hole in the back of the shelf where the printer's plug used to go through, but it's too far away from the AT&T thing that is behind my monitor. Then there's the wireless access thing that is on the top shelf of the computer desk. I have the battery backup and the surge protector and it looks like spaghetti down there, even without a printer. How do people just carry around a laptop everywhere?

This Office 365 thing - $50 the first year, $70 the second year = $120. Third year - ? But you can get it forever for $150. But.............the subscription one has Outlook, which I need for my old emails.

I already had to postpone getting my kitchen sink faucet installed because the 4 year old toilet flush valve had to be replaced ($150). I can't afford to fix things, and now I have to replace things that didn't need fixing five minutes ago. I'm so tired.

 

[misskarne]

Don’t put words in my mouth. Nowhere have I said Millennials are lazy or stupid nor have I said it’s acceptable to say that.

No. But the OP has. On more than one occasion.

The modern day hippie, huh? Never trust anybody over 30?

You kind of proved my point. I hope you aren't in customer service. Maybe I should get a gray wig and some padding and hunch over and limp (that one is entirely possible some days) to look all grandmotherly to be treated with respect and compassion.

As opposed to you? Assuming that everyone under 30 is stupid?

 

[Susan1]

o.k. - I went to Office Depot/Office Max. It's been just Office Depot there for years; Office Max was in 2 different strip malls; so "OD" from now on. Nobody asked to help me. There were some clerks opening boxes and three guys in the copy center (not all "kids"). A customer or two wandering around. So I wrote stuff down. I would look up the particulars online, but after I compiled everything in Excel, I don't need to. I'll try to copy over here, but I can't do it in columns. Bottom line - I'm going to buy the computer at Best Buy as soon as they go on back to school sale.

Best Buy Lenovo IdeaCentre 310S-08ASR $349.99 w/o office AMD A9-Series Windows 10 4 GB memory 1 TB Lenovo's 13.5"
*Best Buy - Office 365 (2016) is $50 for the first year, then automatically renews at $70 the next year w/Outlook. And there is one without Outlook for $150 straight out.

Office Depot Lenovo 510A $399.99AMD processor Windows 10 Home12 GB memory 1 TB storage (HPs - 11" tall)

Office Depot HP Slimline V8P51aa#ABA $269.99 Intel Windows 10 Home 4 GB memory 1 TB storage (I would have gone with this one, except for the lack of help, and the fear of inferior tech support

Office Depot HP270-A016 $399 AMD A99430 Windows 10 Home 8GB memory 1 TB storage
**OD - Office 365 separate - $100 on sale for $$80 and/or $20 off with comp. Purch. Did this one have Outlook?

And I looked at what I guess were external drives, since I couldn't ask. -
Sardisk Flash drive$84.99
My passport Auto backup 2 TB$80

 

[Susan1]

o.k. - I went to Office Depot/Office Max. It's been just Office Depot there for years; Office Max was in 2 different strip malls; so "OD" from now on. Nobody asked to help me. There were some clerks opening boxes and three guys in the copy center (not all "kids"). A customer or two wandering around. So I wrote stuff down. I would look up the particulars online, but after I compiled everything in Excel, I don't need to. I'll try to copy over here, but I can't do it in columns. Bottom line - I'm going to buy the computer at Best Buy as soon as they go on back to school sale.

Best Buy Lenovo IdeaCentre 310S-08ASR $349.99 w/o office AMD A9-Series Windows 10 4 GB memory 1 TB Lenovo's 13.5"
*Best Buy - Office 365 (2016) is $50 for the first year, then automatically renews at $70 the next year w/Outlook. And there is one without Outlook for $150 straight out.

Office Depot Lenovo 510A $399.99AMD processor Windows 10 Home12 GB memory 1 TB storage (HPs - 11" tall)

Office Depot HP Slimline V8P51aa#ABA $269.99 Intel Windows 10 Home 4 GB memory 1 TB storage (I would have gone with this one, except for the lack of help, and the fear of inferior tech support

Office Depot HP270-A016 $399 AMD A99430 Windows 10 Home 8GB memory 1 TB storage
**OD - Office 365 separate - $100 on sale for $$80 and/or $20 off with comp. Purch. Did this one have Outlook?

And I looked at what I guess were external drives, since I couldn't ask. -
Sardisk Flash drive$84.99
My passport Auto backup 2 TB$80

That's Sandisk /\ - can't read my own writing.
They have the My Passport /\ - 1 TB - thing on sale at Best Buy for $50.99. (Can you use something like that over and over - to back up files anyway?)
I looked for the cheaper HP above online to see if they have it at Best Buy. They don't.

 

[Justlooking]

Did you try to install open office https://www.openoffice.org/download/index.html on your actual computer and opening your files ? ( to know if you need to buy office)

And before that have you trie the browser Opera (the last version for XP will be Opera 36, but support will continue with security and crash fixes ) www.opera.com ?

 

[Susan1]

Did you try to install open office https://www.openoffice.org/download/index.html on your actual computer and opening your files ? ( to know if you need to buy office)

And before that have you trie the browser Opera (the last version for XP will be Opera 36, but support will continue with security and crash fixes ) www.opera.com ?

I wouldn't be able to test Open Office to see if the Office 2000 files open with Windows 10 unless I had Windows 10?

I'm afraid to try any other browser now because I might not be able to go back. I used to use Explorer, but they stopped supporting (or whatever) Windows XP and Office 2000, so I went to Firefox. Everything is going to stop supporting Windows XP and Office 2000 eventually. And it's probably a good idea to update Windows and Office and everything anyway. It's been 10 years! I'll probably be too sick to use the computer if I even make it another 10 years.

 

[Simone411]

I doubt you can buy a new computer with Windows 7 any more.

I don't think you can. When I purchased my newer Dell in October of 2012, I was still able to choose Windows 7 instead of Windows 8.1. I had no problem upgrading to Windows 10, either.

@Server Guy, I'm also glad you mentioned Windows XP. I still use my older Dell with Windows XP for making videos. I did disable the internet last week since that's all I use it for. I had mentioned in another post I made regarding disabling the internet because I realized it would be a disaster waiting to happen when it came to security.

@Susan1, I did try Opera out before I disabled the internet and it worked pretty well with Windows XP. I uninstalled Firefox after I installed Opera and as @Justlooking mentioned, Opera will still continue with security and crash fixes.

I'm still using Student Home and Office 2010 with my newer Dell, and it's working just fine. I mainly use Word and Power Point 2010.

I wouldn't be able to test Open Office to see if the Office 2000 files open with Windows 10 unless I had Windows 10?

@Susan1, it would work with Windows XP or maybe even Windows 7, but if you want to try it with Windows 10, then I believe you would need to have Windows 10.

 

[Simone411]

last thing today - of all the days for this, I had a message on my answering machine to call "Microsoft Security" or my computer would stop working. Funny. Now when I get a new one and it does stop working, I'll be scared. Which reminds me, you can get Geek Squad help for $60 a year or something with the new computer at Best Buy. Should I?

Just saw this. That call you received is more than likely a scam call. All you have is the PC with Windows XP, and you definitely don't have a warranty or security plan with Microsoft since Windows XP isn't supported whatsoever.

Microsoft would have no idea about what security you have or if you've even had a security breach. The only way they would know about your security is if you had given them remote access to your PC. There is no way that Microsoft or any other company like Dell can see your info on your PC unless they had remote access, and you had given them permission to do that. They would give you a website to go to where remote access could be used, and then you would have to agree to it and type in a pass code that they would give you.

I've received several calls of the sort where it's usually from "Dell tech support" and they're claiming that "signal" errors are coming from my laptop. I've even asked them before are they using a tin foil cap with antennas sticking out to see those signals. That's usually all it takes, and they hang up, or I don't even answer the call if it's a number I don't recognize.

 

[Lizziebeth]

Best advise is to not answer any emails, phone calls or smoke signals from people wanting to 'help' you with your computer. If you are having trouble, you need to call them. If you answer the phone for one of these callers, I would hang up right away.

I get emails all the time from someone pretending to be from Microsoft. Never open them.

Caller ID is your friend. I never answer the phone unless I know who is calling. If they need me, unknown callers can leave a message - they hardly ever do.

I have used Geek squad for fixes when I brought the computer in and also called the local Geek squad and got help over the phone. I think you would really find it useful since you are buying a new computer.

 

[mysticchic]

You can reverse browsers if it doesn't work. I have 3 browsers on my computer. My nephew in law works for geek patrol and many years ago he told me to install CC cleaner for free. I can use it to do almost everything and to clean the browsers for cookies. A couple of years ago, I upgraded to pro. It works well for me.

 

[Simone411]

You can reverse browsers if it doesn't work. I have 3 browsers on my computer. My nephew in law works for geek patrol and many years ago he told me to install CC cleaner for free. I can use it to do almost everything and to clean the browsers for cookies. A couple of years ago, I upgraded to pro. It works well for me.

Another free utility that I use is Glarysoft Utilities Free. I've used it for around 3 years. It comes with several tools including a tracks eraser, registry cleaner, disk defrag, shortcut fixer, etc.

I tried CC cleaner free before I found out about Glary utilities. CC cleaner may have improved since the last time I used it which was around 4 years ago. I uninstalled it when it somehow removed a registry component that I needed for my volume and sound.

 

[Susan1]

@Susan1, it would work with Windows XP or maybe even Windows 7, but if you want to try it with Windows 10, then I believe you would need to have Windows 10.

o.k...................I was trying to say that it wouldn't do me any good to see if I could use Open Office now because I can already "open office" 2000 having Windows XP. I would not know whether I could "open office" 2000 with Windows 10 unless I had Windows 10, which I will not be able to open Office 2000 with......................

Just saw this. That call you received is more than likely a scam call. All you have is the PC with Windows XP,

Duh! I just thought it was funny they would actually call and leave a message on the very day I was talking about computer stuff. I hardly ever answer the phone unless I am expecting a call, especially if I can see the phone number come up on the t.v. screen. Heck, the phone is off the hook right now because the ringing 5-8 times a day makes me jump out of my skin. I leave it on the hook till after 9:30 a.m. if I have a library book on hold so they can call. I check the caller ID screen later in the day to see if I missed anything. If something looks different, I will check online and half the time one of the "unknown" numbers is "microsoft". If I do answer the phone, and it is them, I hang up immediately. One time I yelled "I don't have a computer"! Maybe twice in the last 10 years have they actually left a message to call them back "immediately". It doesn't do any good to put them on the Do Not Call list because they just change one digit.

I've been seeing calls lately that shows "directory assistance" with a Columbus, Ohio area code. What kind of scam is that? And a couple times I have picked up and it's "Jenny" or whoever who asks if I can hear her. FYI - if you get any, you are not supposed to say yes because whatever this is will use that to say you agreed to something. What a bunch of desperate losers.

CC cleaner may have improved since the last time I used it which was around 4 years ago.

wooooo - blast from the past. Is that still around? It's actually CCleaner - for "Crap Cleaner". I used to use that once a week when I was scanning files all day every day to make it run smoother.

 

[Susan1]

I get emails all the time from someone pretending to be from Microsoft. Never open them.

For some reason since I've been looking up all this computer stuff, my spam email is full of viagra and erectile dysfunction offers. Computer stuff = guy (named Susan?) advertisements?

 

[Diane Mars]

Ok... Real question here : do you really want to buy a new computer ? Find a solution ? Because all I read, since the beginning, is you, complaining for whatever reason / excuse, but not doing anything wich could have helped !

Sorry, but........................

 

[Simone411]

I, myself, was only trying to help with some of the questions that were being asked. Since I'm apparently not doing a good job and receiving "duh" comments as a response, I feel it's best to just leave this thread alone and bow out diligently.

Good luck with your problems, and without further adieu, I bid farewell from this thread.

 

[Susan1]

I check the caller ID screen later in the day to see if I missed anything.

Not computer buying related, but Rats - a number keeps coming up that has the abbreviation "inform elect". I was thinking it was referring to electric because I am always getting calls about switching from DP&L. (I even had a guy come to the door who wanted to see my DP&L bill!) Anyway, I looked it up on the robocall site. It's Informed Electorate and they ask you if you think donald trump is doing a good job. I'm answering the next time I see it come up in the corner of the t.v.!

 

[Susan1]

Did you try to install open office https://www.openoffice.org/download/index.html on your actual computer and opening your files ? ( to know if you need to buy office)

And before that have you trie the browser Opera (the last version for XP will be Opera 36, but support will continue with security and crash fixes ) www.opera.com ?

I just installed Opera and tried two different places to import my bookmarks and they aren't there.

 

[loulou]

I thought I could maybe write in here too: my desktop Mac won't let me shop or post in any store or forum. Frustrating. Anyone knows what it could be?

 

[Susan1]

I figured out how to import the bookmarks using html. I tried to open this site from Opera. This is what I got:

"This site can’t provide a secure connection
www.fsuniverse.net uses an unsupported protocol.

The client and server don't support a common SSL protocol version or cipher suite. This is likely to be caused when the server needs RC4, which is no longer considered secure."