Hi....this is my first problem ever so hope i explain it right!

I ran my Avast Antivirus...i actually looked at a tutorial for it on here and adjusted it to do a thorough search as was suggested......at the end of it all...a box came up with programmes it said it could not scan...sorry i havent recorded what they were...mainly windows stuff i think...(apologies for my lack of computer speak!)....anyhoo...i went to close it and it wouldnt close..nor could I close the skin that was there..it had appeared to have frozen on the screen.......in my panic...i just closed down the computer...

Question is...have i done something to the settings by altering it to do a thorough search and how come i couldnt close the box or the skin? Sorry...2 questions there..assume they are connected!



I hope i have posted this in the correct place...please point me in the right direction if i havent....!

Thanks! Dolly

Not knowing precisely what you changed, I cannot tell you if the change caused something to happen, but I suspect not.
Applications will sometimes "freeze" for a multitude of reasons.

Try this experiment. Boot your computer into safe mode by tapping the f8 key whilst it boots up. Choose "run in safe mode" option when you get the ugly choice screen. This will then start Windows with only the essential parts of Windows actually running. Then run Avast with your new settings.
Regards,
John

Hi..............thanks for the reply.will try that.....erm..was thinking tho........do you think stuff happened cos I have the free version of Avast..ie not the complete version?

Anyhoo.will try what you said ....rebooting in safe mode...thankyou for your advice........much appreciated......

Dollyx

The free version works as well as the paid version, so that has nothing to do with it. I am hoping that running it safe mode will speed it up and prevent any programs from interfering with it. If this doesn't work, we will have to look for other causes, and try different parameters.
How much of your hard drive is full? Have you done routine maintenance such as cleaning out crud and temporary files, running scandisk, and defragging recently?
Regards,
John

Hi.....!

Er...okay...every week i do a weekly clean up...i run Ewido Security Suite...and Ad Aware..and Sypbot.... and Clean Up all in Safe mode...was advised by one of your members to do so.... very helpful he was too...and patient... and i also reset and re-enable my System Restore.... ...as a complete novice with puter stuff i have no idea what you mean about defragging....sounds complicated.....gawd..hope it isnt..... I havent as yet done another anti virus scan in safe mode but will soon...before i do my other weekly cleaning up stuff.

I hope im not sounding too damn stupid.....

Thankyou for taking the time tho...one day..a light will come on..and there will be someone home in my brain.....

PS...i have some prompts come up on start up ..telling me about a runner error and an error..can you point me in the right direction as to which forum I should go to?

Many thanks jgweed

Defragging your computer, in simple terms, places the files of each program together instead of having them scattered here and there throughout your hard drive; this allows access to the contents to be faster.
MS provides a defragmentation utility to do this; you can most easily find this by using your Windows HELP. If you have not defragged before, do so in Safe Mode(this prevents the program from stopping and restarting itself because something is accessing one of the files it is trying to rearrange) and expect it to take some time (this will also depend on how much of your hard drive is filled). Generally, you should defrag on a periodic basis, the more files/applications you add, delete, or move from one folder to another, the greater the fragmentation will be.

Runner errors. You will need to provide the EXACT wording of these errors and put them in a separate post all by themselves, and be sure to tell us exactly when these show up.

Here is something to remember about posting problems in forums such as this. If you have several problems that do not seem to be obviously related to one another, make each one a separate post. Putting a bunch of problems all together usually results in one of them "falling through the cracks" or getting forgotten, or not being read by some member who has some expertise in that particular error.

Let's get your computer ready to scan with Avast---which was our original problem and project- - - before working on these error messages.
Cheers,
John

Hi.... Yes....the anti virus first....im getting carried away arent i?

I shall run the anti virus in safe mode tomorrow and will let you know what happens....

Many thanks for your advice...

DOLLEYES

Be sure to run scandisk and defrag FIRST. We want to give Avast every chance to do its job!
Regards,
John

Hi!! Ok....I looked in Disk Defragmenter and followed instrutions in the Help Menu and analysed Presario-RP (D:) and it informed me i didnt have to defragment that volume. But i did same for Presario (C:) and it said i should defragment that. I printed off reports for both after analyising them.

Looking at the report for © it looks like its mostly music files..am i right in thinking that they are repeated so therefore taking up space? Or do i not have a clue.....sorry...really am green when it comes to computers!!

You mentioned running scandisk...where is that? I cant seem to find that and do i do that before defragmenting and in safe mode as i do all the others?

Dollyeyes xx

1. Most likely, the D: drive is where Compaq stores all the files necessary to do a recovery (instead of supplying a disk, they put it in its own drive) and since these files are never touched, they would not need fragmentation.
2. I am not sure what you mean by music files being repeated, and not having the report, cannot comment. Unless you have downloaded zipped (compressed)files and these remain after unzipping them, or you have the same file with different file extensions, I do not see any way files could be repeated.
3. Scandisk is also called checkdisk. The program is generally located in Accessories/System tools. Try searching your Windows Help File to find it.
Be sure to run a standard scan of your D: drive (for the reason above, you could pass up running it on C:); when you launch scandisk, be sure you have the box checked next to "automatically fix errors." Make a habit of always running scandisk before defragmenting; you can do both in Safe Mode.

If you have XP here are the instructions for running scandisk:



# Double click My Computer
# Highlight a local hard disk drive by clicking on it once.
# Right click the highlighted local drive
# Click properties
# Click the tools tab and click check now to check the drive for errors. (note: you can also get to the defrag program the same way).

For further reading:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/tut55.html
http://www.putergeek.com/scandisk_defrag/index.shtml

Regards,
John

Hi! Many thanks....will try all of this out...xx Dollyeyes

Hi....okay..........its taken me most of the afternoon to do all of this but it is now done.........I first went to Presario C...clicked file..clicked Scan C...Avast Quick Scanner came up...it scanned that drive (at this stage I was unsure if I was actually running Scandisk!!). Nothing came up after the scan finished so then i went to Disk Defragmenter and ran it for drive C -tried to print a report but it wouldnt do it..assume it was because I was in Safe Mode.....it took over 2 hrs to do..... !
Then i ran Adaware - Spybot - Ewido - Clean-up and then.........because i wanted to test the Avast, I did a thorough scan with that....and.... Horrah! I was able to close the skin at the end! Then, I did System Restore..........
I have just logged on to here to tell you what ive done and i saw your instructions for running Scandisk....so I have just done that on Drive D .. it said something about Windows and did I want to run it on Drive C when i restart computer when i wanted it to scan C drive...so I said Yes anyway, I hope I have done all the things I should have done...Im exhausted!!! think i need to lie down!!
Dollyeyes

I hope by "doing system restore" you mean that you set a restore point that reflects all your hard work!
I suspect that when next you defrag your hard drive, it will take less time. You have accomplished a great deal, if you think of it, and the things you have done this week will result in a faster, more trouble-free computing experience.
Regards,
John

Hi jgweed!!!!

I did mean restore system points...Starbuck very kindly told me how to after running all the spyware/malware/anti virus stuff!! Was up till 1.45 am!!!! My partner has lost me to a computer....
One thing tho...how often do i do the scandisk and defragmenter....I do the other stuff once a week....do I need to do these at the same time?
I cant tell you how helpful you have been...Im thoroughly enjoying myself...never thought I would!!

You lot at BC are amazing!!

Dollyeyes xx

OOO...forgot to say before...the problems i have with a Runner Error and Error that appear on start up of computer..where do I post that?

Thanks xx

Dollyeyes xx

1. How often you run scandisk and defrag really depends on how you use your computer. If you download, move around, or delete a lot of files, whether programs, or video and audio files, you may need to defrag anywhere from once a month to once every quarter. Understanding what defragging does and comparing it with your use helps guide you. For example, I do a lot of pictured editing, word processing, and downloading from the internet, and a lot of moving files between drives (I have one hard drive for archiving); I generally defrag at least once a month. You may need to do this only once a quarter if you do not do much of this.

2. Post about your error in the forum for your version of Windows. It will be very useful for you to tell us precisely when these errors show up (what you are doing at the time) and to copy very precisely the EXACT wording of the errors as they are shown.

If I detect a note of pride in what you have accomplished and learned in so short a time when you now post, then BC has made a difference.
Regards,
John

Hi....jgweed...yes you do indeed detect a note of pride...I never thought I would understand anything about computers but the patience you have shown me has made me feel im not so 'blonde' after all!! Mind you..I do still have my moments...dont want folk thinking Im brunette now do I??
I shall post the runner probs in the Windows XP forum....

Again..cant stop thanking you...but a big THANKS!

Dollyeyes xx