Computer Experts?

[daughtersrus]

I have an old desktop running XP. I updated Adobe Flash and Reader yesterday. After that, it took forever for Firefox to load. I deleted Chrome (never used it). After that, it took even longer to load Firefox. I reset Firefox and now I can't connect with either that or IE. I tried to restore to a previous date but get a message saying it can't do that. Besides getting a new computer, any suggestions?

We switched from AT&T DSL to Uverse last Friday but we didn't have any problems until yesterday. Laptop, iPad, phones...all connect. They did put a D-Link Range Booster (USB) on the desktop since the modem is in a different room.

Thanks!

 

[Domo]

This will sound really outlandish, but have you considered changing operating systems to a distribution of Linux such as Ubuntu, Mint or Debian? You'll have less software at your fingertips but a faster, more secure (and some would argue prettier) computer.

Me personally? I love Ubuntu. When my old PC died a death on me, I wiped everything and installed Ubuntu. Suddenly, new computer! I was free to upgrade my Windows PC at my leisure and had a perfectly functional one in the mean time.

And you know what? I never went back to Windows

 

[Imzadi]

I have an old desktop running XP. I updated Adobe Flash and Reader yesterday. After that, it took forever for Firefox to load. I deleted Chrome (never used it). After that, it took even longer to load Firefox. I reset Firefox and now I can't connect with either that or IE. I tried to restore to a previous date but get a message saying it can't do that. Besides getting a new computer, any suggestions?

We switched from AT&T DSL to Uverse last Friday but we didn't have any problems until yesterday. Laptop, iPad, phones...all connect. They did put a D-Link Range Booster (USB) on the desktop since the modem is in a different room.

Thanks!

Firefox usually has an add-on that goes with Adobe Flash. You may have to update the add-on.

Also HOW did you update Adobe Flash? It is notorious for NOT updating properly. You HAVE to uninstall it from the Control Panel, and then install the new one. Thy uninstalling the update and any old version, then install the latest version.

And when you tried to do a System Restore, what date did you pick? Did you try different dates? Sometimes you have to jump around the calendar to see if it will allow one date.

 

[daughtersrus]

Firefox usually has an add-on that goes with Adobe Flash. You may have to update the add-on.

Also HOW did you update Adobe Flash? It is notorious for NOT updating properly. You HAVE to uninstall it from the Control Panel, and then install the new one. Thy uninstalling the update and any old version, then install the latest version.

That may be the problem. I downloaded the new one but forgot to delete the old one first. Since I can't connect to the Internet, is there a way to fix the damage I've done?

 

[Prose]

Can you download the new version to a flash drive on your laptop then copy it to your PC and run it that way?

 

[Imzadi]

That may be the problem. I downloaded the new one but forgot to delete the old one first. Since I can't connect to the Internet, is there a way to fix the damage I've done?

Uninstall the Flash Player. Firefox & IE should still work even without the flash player. Then check to see if either browser connects.

When you installed Firefox, did you download the installation file somewhere on your computer? Check to see if it's still there.

Also, check your wireless network connection. maybe you have to reconnect it to the D-Link Range Booster again. OR take the Booster off and see if you can connect then.

LAST, you probably have a yellow ethernet cable laying in some drawer. It looks like this with ends bigger than the USB:

You should be able to hook up one side directly into your PC and the other into your modem/router, (not to the D-Link Range Booster.) It bypasses any wireless setup. If you can't get on the Internet that way, then there is something wrong with your modem/router. The Internet isn't even coming though.

 

[daughtersrus]

Thanks for all the suggestions but we're still unable to connect.. I spent about an hour with a great rep from Uverse just to be sure it wasn't a problem there. A friend is going to come over and look at it. My DH hates when people call with car problems so I wanted to try and fix it myself but that didn't work. I probably made it worse He's a good friend of ours so I don't think he minds.

 

[sam_gordon]

Thanks for all the suggestions but we're still unable to connect.. I spent about an hour with a great rep from Uverse just to be sure it wasn't a problem there. A friend is going to come over and look at it. My DH hates when people call with car problems so I wanted to try and fix it myself but that didn't work. I probably made it worse He's a good friend of ours so I don't think he minds.

One thing I didn't see mentioned, did you reboot the computer?

After that, my next step would be checking my router to see if it has an outside connection. You access that from your web browser (probably 192.168.1.1) and there should be a status page showing the external connection.

Oh, I guess I should ask, do other devices connect to the internet? If so, ignore my previous paragraph.

 

[daughtersrus]

One thing I didn't see mentioned, did you reboot the computer?

After that, my next step would be checking my router to see if it has an outside connection. You access that from your web browser (probably 192.168.1.1) and there should be a status page showing the external connection.

Oh, I guess I should ask, do other devices connect to the internet? If so, ignore my previous paragraph.

All othe devices work (iPad, phones, laptop) so I'm sure it's something I did yesterday.

Uverse reset the router to factory just to be sure. They also had me do some stuf to make sure we had an IP address. The rep ran out of ideas since everything but the desktop works.

I'm sure it's something I did so ill never hear the end of it from our friend.