Come on, admit it...you're a tech geek!

[sam]

macs have plenty of hacks...i completely destroyed my sawtooth with hacks:

was a g4 400 and i overclocked it via bios editing to 533
hacked in a microsoft wireless G pci card...fuck airports.
used my hauppauge wintv go card on it
used my dell gfmx2 400 in it

and a few other things i was working on but i ended up selling it. i consider a mod where you increase functionality. fuck 'looks'

"modding" for looks is just for the wannabes that don't understand electronics and wish they could.

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com

[Yume_Taira]

I didn't want to start a new thread, and this was the only logical place to turn.

To put it in short terms, I need computer help. It's being stupid and laggy, and I think it might be because of WMP, when my mom got it updated to 10.

Any attempts at fixing the problems don't seem to be working, and I'm sure I'm probably doing the wrong things.

Anyway, another opinion and/or advice would be greatly appreciated.

(If you're wondering how I'm making this post, I'm on my school's computer. I'm not even sure if my home one will let me online.)

Speaking of which, if you have any helpful hints and I can't seem to get online, my number is 595-0958. I can't really pay too much if you're a "professional", but maybe I can return the favor with tokens or a listening ear sometime. ^_^

Thank you for taking the time to read this and consider helping me out,

~Yume

[Gatekeeper]

The first thing I would try is to download and run Adaware. It should help clear up any extra ads and stuff.

But in all honesty, what the computer probably really needs is a reformat. What that means is you drag all your important data (email, bookmarks, documents, etc.) off onto an external storage device (cd-r, external hard-drive, etc.) and then wipe the machine clean.

Then install Windows from an original CD (not the vendor OEM cd those tend to come with a lot of strings attached) install all security patches, reinstall programs, and restore data files. Depending on various factors this takes between one and six hours.

I know this sounds drastic, but believe me I do this to my Windows machines once every six months and while you can stand to go a lot longer (unless Internet Explorer is in active use on the machine, as it tends to get things screwed up much more quickly with malware) it helps put a dent in 'Windows rot'.

[LikeableRodent]

I install a new copy of Windows about every other month! Whoohoo I win the... Windows reformatting contest.

To answer your question, I sincerely doubt that it has much, if anything, to do with WMP 10. It sounds more like you probably have some worms/viruses/spyware/etc that's eating up resources. If it won't even let you get online it may be some worm attempting to make a massive amount of incomplete connections, thus not letting legitimate traffic through.



What Gatekeeper suggested would be your best recommendation to fix things, which in more detail would be-

1. If your computer can access the net download Adaware and, if possible, the newest virus definitions for your Antivirus program (you do have one, right?). Burn these to disc.
2. Disconnect your computer from the web (if it's broadband then unplug the ethernet cord from your computer)
3. Back up all important data to another drive or removable storage.
4. Reformat Windows using a dedicated Windows CD, not the vendor CD that came with your computer, as it probably contains a lot of junk.
5. Install the previously downloaded Adaware, Antivirus program, and the new virus definitions
6. Reconnect to the internet
7. IMMEDIATELY go to Windows Update. You'll most likely have to reboot after installation then immediately go back to the site to see if you have everything. Repeat this until it says you're fully patched. Failure to do this will result in your computer quickly becoming infested again.
8. Once you're fully updated to a freshly patched Windows Service Pack 2 make sure that you have the built-in Windows Firewall enabled (by default if it's not enabled you'll see a little red shield in the system tray you can click on to bring up the settings)
9. Download either Firefox or Opera (Firefox is free and more popular, but I personally prefer Opera). Make sure whichever one you choose is set as your default browser, then for the love of god never use Internet Explorer again, except for Windows Update.
10. In the future make sure to keep Windows patched and up-to-date (SP2 has a setting to do this automatically, use it), make sure your antivirus always has the newest definitions (most have a setting to do this automatically), run Adaware every once in awhile, and don't download stupid things/programs. Be smart about your computer usage and your computer will continue to run fine.

Now then, if for some reason you can't reformat then make sure Windows is fully patched, do a system-wide scan with a fully updated Adaware, and do a full system-wide scan with updated antivirus software. It may not fix everything, but that's at least a good start.

[MonMotha]

One more piece of advice if you can't do an XP install with a slipstream service pack 2: Turn the firewall on up front with whatever you start out with. Failure do to so will mean you'll get nastiness before you can finish clicking on windowsupdate. The firewall exists in the older versions of XP: it's just slightly hidden and a bit overzealous about what it blocks, but for this purpose it'll help a lot.

[Potter]

I reformat whenever I get extremely bored, or I have a major problem, or If my setup just gets to cluttery. That ends up to be about every 6 months also. In fact...........*looks for xp cd*

EDIT: Monmotha, I agree. In fact i don't even plug in my lan cable until i have sp2 installed and the firewall on.

[malictus]

Turn the firewall on up front with whatever you start out with. Failure do to so will mean you'll get nastiness before you can finish clicking on windowsupdate.

I'll second that. I went through tons of headaches trying to install appropriate Windows Updates over the web with a bare SP1 install, while I was getting slammed with every virus known to man in the meantime from the second my comp was connected..

[MonMotha]

EDIT: Monmotha, I agree. In fact i don't even plug in my lan cable until i have sp2 installed and the firewall on.

That is the other option: Install SP2 up front before you connect at all. To do this, you'll need the "network installer" of SP2 that Microsoft really doesn't want you to find since it's big, and you don't normally need all of it.

However, if you're going to go to this length, it's almost worth it to just look up the procedure for slipstreaming it into your old windows install disc and reburning a copy that will have SP2 installed from the get-go. Then all you need is a handy disc of patches and you're set. Obviously, if this is too much, you can just use whatever XP disc you have and put SP2 on the big disc-o-patches as well, but it'll take a few extra reboots (yea windows!).

[Yume_Taira]

Update: I think I found the problem. After running a start-up with nothing but the essentials, it worked just fine. I have every reason to believe that one of the programs at start-up is to blame for my troubles. My prime suspect is currently my Insight Broadband Service Activator.

I'm going to try and uninstall and reinstall those programs before jumping ship and re-formatting. ^_^

So, if it works and the horrible lag stops, I'll post tonight. Otherwise, it'll take me a while to take care of everything, considering how horrendously slow and/or nonresponsive everything is.

[Yume_Taira]

I am back in business! Apparently, my guess was right about the source of the problem. No re-format required.

I'd like to thank x5060 and Grubb for their help in this venture. *searches library for computer books*