Computer Troubles

[rob56789]

Anyone know why everytime i use internet explorer and write in a web sites address it brings me to the site and then brings up another pop from an aol search engine saying that the site can't be found.

 

[BeanoNYC]

Don't know how to fix it but the two terms that are raising a red flag for me are "Internet Explorer" and "AOL Search Engine." You may want to download a different browser such as Firefox.

 

[bvibert]

Don't know how to fix it but the two terms that are raising a red flag for me are "Internet Explorer" and "AOL Search Engine." You may want to download a different browser such as Firefox.

That's pretty much exactly what I was going to say.

Do you have AOL? If not then see if you can uninstall the 'AOL Search Engine'.

 

[skidbump]

internet explorer home page has been changed...easy...But
may be inbedded in registy so no matter what it will keep goin to said web pag untill u find in the registry

 

[knuckledragger]

uninstall aol

 

[tcharron]

Anyone know why everytime i use internet explorer and write in a web sites address it brings me to the site and then brings up another pop from an aol search engine saying that the site can't be found.

Get and run a spyware/unwanted software tool like adaware. There may be something that's infected your IE settings to cause it to be attempting to bring up phishing/ad/otherbadthings sites in a popup I'm guessing.

I recomend Spybot Search & Destroy:

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

It can generally find almost anything, and gets updated VERY regularly. Don't be allarmed if it finds a beeeeelion cookies for ad tracking sites, etc. It finds the cookies for the little banner ads that appear on web sites and are used to track you. Annoying, and perhaps worrysome, but not dangerouse to your machine at least. Just run it and let it go house cleaning stuffs.

 

[dmc]

uninstall aol

Thats the answer... AOL has highjacked you browser...

 

[NYDrew]

A long time ago (high school) in a galaxy far far away (3 towns over) I used to be a computer technician. On my computers I have one rule....NO AOL. I just got a Dell, it had AOL pre installed, the first thing I did before I even looked at it was a format.

my point being...erase your computer it has been corrupted by AOL.

you can access aol via the WWW
you can use AIM via a third party program such as GAIM

 

[ajl50]

firefox.
uninstall AOL.
Make sure never to use internet explorer.

 

[dmc]

A long time ago (high school) in a galaxy far far away (3 towns over) I used to be a computer technician. On my computers I have one rule....NO AOL. I just got a Dell, it had AOL pre installed, the first thing I did before I even looked at it was a format.

my point being...erase your computer it has been corrupted by AOL.

you can access aol via the WWW
you can use AIM via a third party program such as GAIM

yup... AOL = Army Of Losers

 

[NYDrew]

firefox.
uninstall AOL.
Make sure never to use internet explorer.

not good enough, it embeds into windows. your computer is evil until you completely erase it.

 

[ctenidae]

You're also going to have to make a sacrifice of the AOL CD's. Grind them up, burn them, and sprinkle the ashes in your worst enemy's yard. You'll still ahve AOL, but then so will he.

 

[rob56789]

Is there a way that i can completely erase my computer and start from scratch with just windows?

 

[bvibert]

Is there a way that i can completely erase my computer and start from scratch with just windows?

Yes, if you have your Windows CD and the know how...

 

[rob56789]

I have the cd what do i have to do?

 

[bvibert]

I have the cd what do i have to do?

You'll need to make sure that you also have the drivers for all your hardware too. Most importantly for whatever hardware you need to get back on the internet so you can go looking for any drivers that might be missing. You'll also have to make sure that you can boot off of your CD-Rom, unless your computer is really old that should be a problem. Once you have everything you need you'll need to format your hard drive. You can usually do this from the windows CD. Then you need to run Windows setup from the CD which will guide you trough the setup procedure the best it can. It'll take a while though. Then you'll need to re-install EVERYTHING.

That's a pretty simplified explanation. I'm sure there are more detailed resources on the internet somewhere...

 

[Greg]

I have the cd what do i have to do?

Basic instructions:

1. Backup your data to another hard drive or other media
2. Gather all other application CDs and any newer device drivers
3. Reorder your boot sequence to boot from the CD first in your BIOS (usually a message will appear when you start the system that tells you how to access "setup"; normally F2 on newer Dell PCs; setting the boot sequence varies from PC to PC)
4. Load CD
5. Restart machine and pay attention to any instructions for booting from the CD (again on Dells it will prompt you to hit any key - hint: there's no "any" key...
6. Once in setup, follow the Windows install instructions. I usually delete and recreate the partition and then to a full format using NTFS.
7. The system will restart and going into a GUI mode to finish setup
8. Load drivers for any newer devices (network/video cards, etc.)
9. Once Windows is reloaded and you're networked, fully patch the machine by visiting the Windows Update site
10. Install an Antivirus application
11. Update your virus definitions
12. Install your applications
13. Update your applications if applicable (e.g. Office)
14. Restore your data from backup
15. Perform any final reconfigurations (e.g. Email, etc.)

See? Nothing to it... :blink:

This is how to load from a generic Windows CD. If you have a restore CD that came with your PC, most likely device drivers are all on it. Good luck! Set aside several hours for this.

 

[NYDrew]

Before you do anything, you should feed the monkey inside. If you don't he will starve and your computer will never work.