[Channeal]

Thanks very much for your really informative reply, Paws.

I seem to have been spending a lot of time here just lately, reading posts. I have been really extremely stressed out recently and - perhaps strangely - reading about some entirely different problems helps a bit!

I have actually found myself doing what you suggest and reading the first post and trying to predict what the person with the problem will be told. I cannot really imagine myself in a position where I would ever feel confident enough to answer myself. Although, I have helped out once or twice with really simple problems and also, on a couple of occasions, joined in where I could see that the person is struggling a bit carrying out simple instructions. I especially enjoy doing the latter, as I can remember how for a very long time I was so scared - when trying to get help in a forum such as this - in case I would not be able to carry out the instructions given. I seem to have an amazing talent for making the other person disappear though (I know this is a problem for everybody here; I just seem to be particularly good at it!)

Ah! We return to the topic of me running Windows XP! Nobody seems to understand that I do not feel able to buy a new computer without my husband's blessing!.... I may be able to shut the XP Police up soon though, as my computer could (it seems) have finally reached the end of its life. Not sure yet though.....

Thanks for the list of tools used. I have heard of them all, but have not used them all. Scannow is a bad subject for me, as I attempted to use it back in 2014 but was unable to. From memory, I believe the reason was at first thought to be because the computer shop which had previously put in a new hard drive for us had used their own CD to do so. I wrote to the shop and they said that once an update such as SP2 has been added, then scannow will not work. Or something like that, anyway!

As stated previously, I have searched for computer clubs in my area but have been unable to find one I could get to by public transport. By coincidence though, we have just recently joined our local U3A (in order to join a Greek Conversation class) and I did see that they are planning to run a one-off session on Microsoft Packages. Am not exactly sure what that topic embraces, but it does not exactly inspire me! Maybe there will be others in the future though.

Btw, can I take it that you yourself are from the UK, Paws? There seem to be one or two of us here!

Thanks again for taking the time to write such a full and helpful reply.

Chris.

[Advertisements]

Hi again Channeal,

Btw, can I take it that you yourself are from the UK, Paws? There seem to be one or two of us here!

I am sure we have at least one member to represent every country on the world globe. And some from countries so small you have to zoom in to find it on a map and many you may have heard of. I like to go snooping around in peoples member profiles to see where they are from. I have learned so much about other countries and their cultures by doing so. Click on the member name just above the avatar and you will be directed to their member profile. The majority of members that are regulars will have all their Community Stats filled in.

About a new(er) PC. I have never bought a brand spanking new computer in my life. Check out your local computer tech shops. I know the ones in my area of the U.S. will resell the ones that are brought in for repair and never picked up. A friend of mine who owns a tech shop does this. If they are not picked up after a couple months after several attempts to contact the owner, he re-installs the Operating System and sells them for what they are worth at low cost. I bought a brand new HP Windows 7 Home Premium from him and a little ASUS Windows 8 netboot that someone had left behind, and I paid half of what they would have cost if I had bought them new at the store. Just thought...

[DonnaB]

Hi again Channeal,

Btw, can I take it that you yourself are from the UK, Paws? There seem to be one or two of us here!

I am sure we have at least one member to represent every country on the world globe. And some from countries so small you have to zoom in to find it on a map and many you may have heard of. I like to go snooping around in peoples member profiles to see where they are from. I have learned so much about other countries and their cultures by doing so. Click on the member name just above the avatar and you will be directed to their member profile. The majority of members that are regulars will have all their Community Stats filled in.

About a new(er) PC. I have never bought a brand spanking new computer in my life. Check out your local computer tech shops. I know the ones in my area of the U.S. will resell the ones that are brought in for repair and never picked up. A friend of mine who owns a tech shop does this. If they are not picked up after a couple months after several attempts to contact the owner, he re-installs the Operating System and sells them for what they are worth at low cost. I bought a brand new HP Windows 7 Home Premium from him and a little ASUS Windows 8 netboot that someone had left behind, and I paid half of what they would have cost if I had bought them new at the store. Just thought...

[paws]

Hi Chris
Yes Uk and on the North Downs, not too far from the south coast.
 
That was good to hear about looking for computer clubs ( keep at it they are there!) and also U3a, As to Win XP its  fine as long as you keep it fully isolated.. with no Internet email or exposure to other sources of data.
 
Linux is fine and good for use on the Internet, and keeps many older machines running, and of course is free.
 
 I'm sure your husband would not want you to be placed in difficulties by using an obsolete operating system on the Internet whilst he goes off to pay golf!
 
If you explain to him simply why its so dangerous for you to have to cope with it and the consequences  and how much it means to you and how its well over 10 years old, .then surely he will understand and want you to do something about it.?
 
good luck and don't be afraid of sfc /scannow its a useful tool and is unlikely to have caused you problems .
Regards
paws

[terry1966]

a good way to learn about computer hardware is to read tech review sites, over time you'll be surprised what you pick up and learn.
just a couple.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/
http://techreport.com/
 
another good way is to build your own, you'll learn a lot whilst preparing the parts list for the build, and the actual build process is not as complicated as a lot of people think, mostly it's just a question on simply plugging in things to the correct places.
 
as to learning something new on the software side i really would suggest you learn how to dual boot your old xp system with a new linux os.
that way you won't have to worry about the security risks of xp and can use the linux os to get on the internet.
of course i only use linux so am biased and my linux os is a suse variety. 
Linux best bets:- http://www.zdnet.com...esktop-for-you/

 

in my experience learning with pc's usually means having a problem you want to solve in the first place. eg. wanting to stream all your video content to the tv, and then doing the research to find out what is needed off the internet.

 

personally i built my first pc in 1982 and had a couple of years learning how they worked and programming them before my life took a different course and i never touched a computer again until late 90's where they became a hobby and not the professional career i had originally planned for.

 

don't be afraid to experiment, pc's are usually hard to break and of course you'll always find someone here to help with a problem if you do.

 

i hit my 50's recently and live in oxfordshire by the way. (and i don't think any of us really grow up, it's just our bodies get worn out.)

 

Edited by terry1966, 25 July 2016 - 07:21 AM.

[Channeal]

Hello again!

 

Many thanks for your latest messages, DonnaB, Paws and Terry1966.

 

I must apologise for not replying before, it has been an incredibly stressful week with problems ranging from computers that wouldn't boot, to an invasion by an army of mice (live ones, not the computer kind! ) To round off this perfect week, I went for what I thought was a routine eye test, only to be told that the pressure in one eye is slighty elevated and that I might have to go to the hospital to have it checked out. I guess that at the end of such a week, all you can do is laugh and hope that next week will be a little bit better!

 

DonnaB, it is great that so many countries are represented here.

 

With regard to buying a secondhand computer, I am not sure I know enough about what is a good buy and what isn't to do that.

 

Once again, knowing somebody else who knows a bit about such things would come in very useful at such times!

 

 

Paws, the North Downs is lovely. We were at Box Hill (which I think is part of the North Downs) at the beginning of July and had a meal in a pub not far away to celebrate my birthday.

 

I am still investigating ways of getting to the Computer Club I was interested in. It would take me so long to get to it though, as I would need to get 2 buses and the connections don't work out too well.

 

I don't know anything much about Linux, although I have used Puppy Linux. It is a bit of a pain though, because I couldn't find a way to use my printer from it. Extremely annoying!

 

I don't think my husband really knows how serious the consequences of running XP could potentially be!. To be fair, we as a family have had so many different problems over the past year or so, that new computers are way down at the bottom of his list of priorities.

 

As regards to Scannow, we discovered back in 2014 that it just was not possible to run it on this computer. This from my 2014 topic:-

 

 

 

When I attempted to run the System File Checker, I got the message telling me to insert my Windows XP Professional CD Rom. Here's the thing.... when we got this computer, it came without a disc but we requested (and got sent) one later. So, I got out my 'Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Version 2005' disc and put it into the CD Rom - only to be told that it was the wrong disc! Then I realised that when we had the new hard drive put in last year the guy in the shop didn't take our CD, but presumably used his own. It wouldn't let me proceed any further without the correct CD.

I subsequently contacted the computer shop about this, but they told me: -

 

 

 

Us using our own discs should make no odds to your PC – any disc will work on any system; then part that makes it unique is the license code affixed to your machine.

 

I too have been faced with similar problems in the past when running SFC scans, where it will not accept the disc, when it is more than clearly the correct version of Windows. Over time we have just put this down to a bug within XP that is sometimes present. As I’m sure you are aware, support for windows XP is stopping in the next couple of weeks, as it has come to the end of its existence. Over time, and since Vista, 7, and 8 operating systems have come out, it has become harder and harder to make a PC work from scratch with Windows XP.

 

Godawgs then got me to copy some registry files to the desktop and we tried to run the scan from there, but I was still asked to insert the disk.

 

 

 

 

Whatever the reason, we had no success in getting Scannow to work!

 

 

Terry1966, hello again. I suspected that you were probably another Brit when you helped me a month or so ago!

 

I often look at tech review sites. Not sure I am anywhere near being able to build my own computer though. Scary thought!

 

 

don't be afraid to experiment, pc's are usually hard to break and of course you'll always find someone here to help with a problem if you do.

 

Maybe a good day for me to read that again! I have acquired my daughter's old laptop and was hoping to put a new hard drive in and upgrade the OS. Got cold feet earlier today though, as Phill told me the following: -

 

 

the reason that notebook repairs and upgrades are normally expensive is because they can be time consuming and tricky, an incorrectly placed screw on reassembly can short out and ruin the MB and that is one good reason that the task should only be undertaken by a suitably trained/competent person who will be obliged to put things right should they make a mistake

 

Am definitely not in any way a suitably trained/competent person..... so this scared the living daylights out of me!

 

Perhaps I should take up crochet (or some other old-lady type interest) instead!

 

~~~~~~~~

 

Once again, thanks to each and every one of you for all your replies.

 

Chris.

Edited by Channeal, 30 July 2016 - 09:23 AM.

[terry1966]

phil definitely offers the best advice, but sometimes i think he may be a bit over cautious (not a bad thing.).

 

in my opinion though you are more than competent enough to change a hard drive in a laptop (not that you need to, just to install a new os on there.) and new ssd will certainly give you a nice speed boost on an older laptop.

 

just remember to do the research first and then take good notes and even pictures so you know what goes where.

i like to place the screws on a piece of paper in the locations they came from.

best advice i can give probably is have the right tools for the job, and don't force or over tighten things.

 

some laptops are easy and the hard drive has it's own little back plate which only has 1 or 2 screws to remove to get to the drive, others are more of a pain where you need to remove the complete back with loads of screws but like i said nothing i don't think your more than capable of doing if you wanted to.

 

Edited by terry1966, 30 July 2016 - 08:42 PM.

[Channeal]

Hello Terry,

Yes, it is certainly not a bad thing to be cautious. I think I am probably just somebody who can sometimes get discouraged too easily though.

Thanks very much though for saying you think I am competent enough to achieve this if I want to.

Have a good week,

Chris.

[Channeal]

Hello there!

 

For those of you who kindly replied to this topic back in July, I thought I would tell you that on Wednesday I did - at long last - get the opportunity to try out a Computer Club in a village a few miles from my home.  

 

It seems to be a really great club for beginners, but I am not sure whether it is going to be so good for someone like me who is a little bit above the beginner level.  I was told that they have members of all abilities, but it seemed to me that the mentors who spoke to me all just assumed that I knew virtually nothing.  One guy spent a bit of time with me installing shortcuts for the BBC news site and another site for viewing newspapers!  Another guy was asking me a bit about the notebook I had with me and I told him that I might be reinstalling the OS which has only been on there for a month (no, please don't ask about that chapter of disasters if you don't already know!   ).  He said 'We can't help you with that here, you need to take it to a shop'.  I replied: 'Oh okay.  I don't want you to anyway, as I am going to do it myself'.  I guess I must look really stupid, because he looked at me in complete amazement, as if there was no chance at all I would be able to do something like that!  I had to tell him that I had done it previously, though am still not sure he was completely convinced!  

 

One guy did spend some time showing me a 9-year-old desktop they had there which had a Linux Mint OS installed on it.  I was quite interested, so he gave me a CD for it......  but although it loads okay on my notebook, it refuses to load on my 10-year-old desktop which is still running Windows XP.  No idea why.

 

The thing is, it is going to be a problem getting buses to go there (I got a lift from my husband this week) and I would have to really get something out of it to make it feel worth the effort.  The club sessions do not seem to have any real structure and I spent quite a bit of time there feeling bored, without anything particular to do with myself apart from reading the news online.  I thought at first that it would be best to go only if I had a particular problem, but now I am not too sure that they would be willing to help with complicated problems, if installing an OS is not possible.

 

Perhaps I should give it at least a second chance....  the main reason I wanted to go though was because I just wanted to get to know (and maybe make friends with) other people who are interested in computers, but somehow I did not feel that that was likely to happen there.

 

Anyway, thanks once again to all of you who replied to this topic before.  It is great to have got to know a little bit more about one or two of you, so that when I see you on here you are no longer just anonymous names.  

 

Take care,

Chris.

Edited by Channeal, 28 October 2016 - 11:48 AM.

[paws]

Hi Chris, It looks like you are on the right track!!!

 

Dont worry about the computer class just tell them what it is you want to be able to do... give them a list ask them if it falls within their bailiewick.... if it doesn't then move on to the next one!

 

Don't forget on line forums, they are a wealth of information

 

As to the buses and getting a lift etc.... that should be a piece of cake, just put your "lift needed" dates on his calendar and confiscate his golf shoes until he is ready to oblige!

 

Regards

paws

[Channeal]

Hello Paws and thanks for replying.

 

 

Dont worry about the computer class just tell them what it is you want to be able to do... give them a list ask them if it falls within their bailiewick.... if it doesn't then move on to the next one!

 

The more I think about it, the more I think that the club is not going to be right for me...... especially at the moment, when I do not have anything specific I want help with.  Don't want to sit there feeling bored every week. 

 

Most of the time if I have a problem anyway, I get more than enough assistance here on GTG anyway. 

 

Btw, I have never come across the word 'bailiwick' before and had to look it up. So you taught me something new today! 

 

 

As to the buses and getting a lift etc.... that should be a piece of cake, just put your "lift needed" dates on his calendar and confiscate his golf shoes until he is ready to oblige!

 

Don't think that would go down too well with my sports-mad husband! 

 

Thanks for making me laugh on this boring, gloomy Saturday morning. 

 

Have a great day,

Chris.

[HolyCowZ]

Try these open university courses you'll have to look through them to dig out the computer ones you want

http://www.open.edu/...q=free computer

Edited by HolyCowZ, 29 October 2016 - 11:18 AM.

[Channeal]

Thanks HolyCowZ.

Am not sure this is quite what I am looking for, but will take a look.

Gotta go now, it's my daughter's Birthday!

Chris.

[HolyCowZ]

The OU has many computer courses and many which are free for beginners and the tech savy and does things as simple as how to use a computer  learning word processing, computer basics to security, networking, programming, computer forensics ect 

It also does non computer stuff but you just have to find what you want that's all just a matter of sifting through. 

Edited by HolyCowZ, 31 October 2016 - 04:35 AM.

[Channeal]

Hello again HolyCowZ,

 

I am not really looking for a formal course - and to be honest, these would probably be way above my capabilities! 

 

In any case, something more sociable with the possibility of getting to know people with similar interests is more what I am really looking for, not a course studied online at home. The computer club I went to is probably my best option - or would be if I didn't think I would probably be sitting there twiddling my thumbs and wondering what to do with myself most weeks! 

 

I guess what I really need is a magic wand to make all the people in my life suddenly become amazingly interested in computers - but such magic wands seem to be in very short demand, even on the internet! 

 

Thanks very much for taking the time and trouble to reply to me with your suggestion though.

 

Have a good day,

Chris.

[HolyCowZ]

I guess you'll have to make your own magic wand in the form of something to impress your friends so they say ohhh ahhh ohhh then maybe a few will take interest.

good luck with whatever you do