PCSurgery

Glynneath PC Surgery has famous clients

2009-02-04T10:55:00.004Z

We had a busy PC Surgery in Glynneath once more last Friday. Two of the clients were well known to Glynneath: Max Boyce and Hugh Lewis (AKA Sean Connery lookalike).

It was very interesting to listen to them both talk about playing golf with famous people and travelling the world. We managed to fix Hugh's computer, but ran out of time to fix Max's PC, it needs a reinstall.

USB Annoyances

2008-12-04T17:00:00.009Z

One of the biggest problems that we have seen occurring in the past couple of weeks (apart from missing elves) has been a possible infection of USB Flash drives by rather nasty worms. These can infect host computers, and cause the infection to spread - rather reminiscent of the early days when viruses were spread by floppy disks. I'm sure we will be looking at this problem again and again.

A possible example of this infection was a

laptop that we had in. According to the

client, PC World Tech Guys wanted to bin it (and probably sell the them a new computer), but Colin had other ideas. This is an ongoing problem, and at present important information has been saved from the hard disk by using Dai's wonder HDD connector prior to the reinstalling of Windows.

Busy - it must have been a record!

2008-11-29T14:01:00.009Z

What a busy Friday it was, with 9 computers to sort out or to give advice, ranging from a laptop with water spilled on the keyboard (insurance job) to one with a blown power supply and outdated anti virus protection (AVG 7.5 which is no longer supported with updates). The client had to dash down to Maplin to buy a new power unit which was then fitted, and further work could be done. While all this was going on there was frantic activity in the centre preparing for the Christmas Craft Fayre on Saturday, with everyone really looking forward to the appearance of the most important person there, together with his little helpers (Colin and Steve were unfortunately not available)

The Joe Calzaghe PC Surgery

2008-11-21T09:30:00.003Z

Welcome to the Joe Calzaghe PC Surgery. We all know of Joe's success, and this seems to be rubbing off on us all in the PC surgery. We must keep this merry banter going(although it can be dangerous at times)!! Our first client had a query about Sign Language - obviously another of Joe's strengths.

After that it became very quiet apart from a continuous exchange of ideas(!).

We then took the opportunity to become acquained with some of the new parts of Vista, and some useful toolls from the Ultimate Boot CD 4 Windows which we had updated last week

Christmas Fayre Time!

2008-11-20T13:06:00.004Z

Morning started as usual with an Internet problem. A Belkin modem had been reset, and was not allowing a wireless connection. Although we could not access the computer involved because the lack of a password, it was possible to log into the wireless modem to reset the WEP encryptation, and consequently allow wireless access. The client was then spplied with the new WEP key and instructions how to log in. At 12.00, the Christmas Fayre opened (yes, November 20th - well over a month to go!!!), and we had a stall to try to involve more people in the community and persuade anyone with computer problems to use our services. Here we are at the fayre!

cd/dvd problems code error 39

2008-11-18T17:41:00.003Z

the problem was that the cd drive was not showing. tried running disks but no joy. changed the cable and put a new cd rom in ,but same problem with code error 39.Run a google search and came up with this.run regedit from start,HKEY-LOCAL-MACHINE,SYSTEM/CURRENTCONTROLLER,CONTROL/CLASS/(4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318.

this folder is the dvd/cd-rom rive class description in the registry. look for any of the following names in the right hand column.UPPER FILTERS,LOWER FILTERS, UPPER FILTERS.BAK,LOWER FILTERS.BAK

if any are listed right click and delete them. reboot computer and you will have cd/dvd drives back.

Busy at the Dove

2008-11-13T13:03:00.005Z

Michael hit the track running today as he had already advised two clients by telephone before we had actually started.

When we arrived nicely wet, we had a client with two computers, a Dell desktop which was displaying the Blue screen of Death, and a laptop which needed some files recovered.

The Dell was sorted out(ish) by

Running the PC Check disk, which did not find any problems, then

Using the CHKDSK/r function from UBCD4Win which seemed to be working well before I accidentally removedthe plug without noticing.

An old copy of McAfee was also removed, leaving the PC apparently working well but with warnings.

Remove XP Antispyware 2009

2008-11-06T13:50:00.003Z

In PC Surgery in the ARC on Tue and DOVE today we have seen XP AntiSpyware 2009. Antispyware XP 2009 is an useless piece of application to scare innocent people. Don’t trust it. Antispyware XP 2009 usually come up after you installed a video codec that come with Trojan, malware and virus. Antispyware XP 2009 normally generates fake and misleading system popup error messages so people will be tricked into purchase Antispyware XP 2009 or XP Antispyware 2009. Stay alerted!

To remove it we downloaded free version of Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware from download.com, the basic version is free, the pro version is paid for, and has more features.
Installed it on the infected laptop, and scanned the laptop, which had 45GB of data, so took 2 1/2 hours later the fake software was removed.

Well done to Doug and Dai for there effort today.

cpu fan error

2008-10-14T16:09:00.002+01:00

well today i had to fit and check a new cpu fan as the previous one stopped working and ive also copied all the user documents to re-install once the the computor is running smoothly

cpu fan

2008-10-14T16:08:00.003+01:00

we had a pc in today with a cpu fan failure error so we change the cpu fan over to a new one and it solved the problem. plus we ran a disc clean up and ran ccleaner to speed up the pc and we ran check disc.

hard drive

2008-10-14T16:03:00.003+01:00

Put 1gb of ram into computer and rebuilt the computer from parts of old machine. Re-installed XP and updated AVG and Belarc

IT surgery

2008-10-07T15:50:00.001+01:00

No jobs booked in to day, but stripped down old PC to re-cycle the parts.

only joking

2008-10-07T15:48:00.002+01:00

haha well we tried installing xp and vista on andys computor so it wasnt so boring afterall so until nextime see ya later....

no work

2008-10-07T15:46:00.000+01:00

well today we had no work so pretty boring but we amused ourselves haha

pc surgery

2008-09-30T15:27:00.003+01:00

Customers PC failed to start. Checked all the electric connections, all OK. checked and tested components of PC and found graphics card was U/S

replace h/d

2008-09-23T16:02:00.005+01:00

Removed hsrf drive from customers computer and put it in his replacement computer. Put shortcuts on desktop to acess his files on replacementt set

norton removal tool

2008-09-23T15:45:00.003+01:00

hey all well today i had to remove norton of a laptop which the customer was havin difficulty removin herself and also removed games also unchecked some of the programmes in start-up and last installed avg 8.0 so good result.

virus

2008-09-09T16:06:00.003+01:00

hey all today we worked on several pc`s the main one i worked on had 2 hardrives and the wrong fan on cpu which myself and j put the correct one back on and copeid all the pics to our external hdd

slow start up

2008-08-05T15:55:00.003+01:00

this computer had over 7gb of music on desktop . Files transferred into my music and short cuts placed on desktop. AVG installed and computer scanned

PC Surgery

2008-07-29T15:44:00.002+01:00

Virus problem. The computer would not boot up, Tried all the usual remedy's. this computer will need to re-install Windows 2000 to fix problems

xp install

2008-07-15T15:18:00.004+01:00

today we had a pc which needed a clean install with xp home so we tried a recover cd which the client had with the pc so once we installed xp we installed open office and avg and the system is up and running perfect.

error messages popping up

2008-07-15T15:15:00.003+01:00

Problem, files missing from installed programmes causing problem. clients files need to be downloaded, and re-install xp and anti virus AVG installed. Client will return next week and we will complete the job

psu failed

2008-07-08T15:27:00.002+01:00

we had a pc today with a faulty power supply unit so i changed it with a brand new one and i tested the pc for other errors and the pc was running fine.

helping hand

2008-07-04T12:10:00.004+01:00

To-day we melded, a toshiba laptop was brought in not logging on. After checking Power supply and finding it o.k.Found that that the Motherboard was u/s Ewain did a sterling job configureing a wireless to a laptop. Pc crashing, run pc check disc all seems to be o.k. wondering if its an internet problem.

Routers and Viruses

2008-07-04T12:05:00.008+01:00

Client came in with a borrowed laptop and router asking for advice about whether she could set up a system chez elle. At the moment there was a problem with the phone line, but hopefully, this was being sorted. Initially there was a problem setting up the connection, as the laptop would not recognise any wireless connections, and we could not access the administrator account. This was sorted by going into safe mode and setting up an additional Admin account, from where we were able to enable the wireless connection. We were then able to allow the laptop to recognise the router. The router's IP address was found by looking at the properties of the wireless connection, and accessing it using internet explorer. Again a login problem was encountered, but fortunately, it had not been changed from username - admin, password - admin!

Client was then told how to log into her internet at home, and given written instructions.

While this was in progress it was seen that the computer had an outdated version of Norton 2006. This was removed, and a copy of AVG 2008 installed, the computer was connected to the Centre internet, and updated. Hopefully the client went away satisfied before going off on a Hen Weekend to Benidorm!!!

laptop problems

2008-07-04T12:05:00.005+01:00

Toshiba laptop would not post, checked power supply and that turned out to be ok . also the battery was ok . came to conclusion that motherboard was shot.

Also another computer was brought in and we run pc check disk but all seemed ok everything passed the test. could be an internet problem so advice was to take it home and try it for a week or 2.

advantages and disadvantages

2008-06-27T10:57:00.002+01:00

can be used and read by anyone with a computer, store info

need a computer, internet access required

strengths and weakness

2008-06-27T10:44:00.002+01:00

strong points
are alot of people can view the information and also other people can add information.

weak points
people could give you the wrong info
also you would have to have a computer and internet conection to access info.

pro and conn

2008-06-17T14:55:00.002+01:00

advantages: the advantages of blogging is that you can send and read and communicate with blogs because you can send pictures flash video and links which are all ways of communicating

disavantages: you have got to have some experience with apc and the web and you have to log in and sign up and you need a pc or laptop

adv & dis of blogging

2008-06-17T14:46:00.002+01:00

passing on information relevant to the particular course you are working on & receiving information back.
disadvantage receiving wrong information

my blog advantages/disadvantages

2008-06-17T14:37:00.002+01:00

hi everyone well i think there are a lot of advantages to writing a blog u can share alot of useful information that could be of great advantage to another person aswell as others a bit like yr own diary share yr opinion to others but the disadvantage there could be technical or server problems meaning other sharing the same server wont be able to look up yr blog.

The Advantages and Disadvantage of the Blogg

2008-06-17T14:23:00.003+01:00

The blogg allowes you tell other memers of the IT Club about the problems you have encountered and& ask if there other ways of doing it. The disadvantage there are problems logging in.

Busy at Glynneath

2008-05-09T11:17:00.004+01:00

Full Complement here today with full backup from Mike and Nicky (thank goodness!). It was manic from 9.30, with two XP reinstalls(one because of a virus, and the other because of dodgy drivers), one printer problem (sorted)and Mike sorted the video problem from last week.

This was that video files from a DVD camera took hours to upload onto the computer, although the files uploaded quickly onto the centre computer. The USB port was the obvious suspect - was it a 1.1 in disguise? Apparently not! Mike then discovered the true problem Kaspersky!! - it was scanning all the files before allowing them on the computer, this took time for large videro files. Once Mr. Kaspersky was disabled during the upload, things then worked as they should, with a quick upload. Another problem that was a rather ancient computer (133 MHz Processor 32MB RAM!!!) hoping to install XP. In the end Steve volunteered to take the only good part out (a DVD re-writer - the rest being treated with Colin's sledge) and put it on another old, but better computer for him. I'm sure he will be pleased!!

Corruption at the Dove

2008-05-08T11:21:00.002+01:00

A Client came in with a bad case of corruption on his hard disk. The computer was running XP, but only had 324MB of RAM, which was just about sufficient to run it properly. A warning sign popped up to show a corruption on the hard disk. The solution (I hope) was relatively simple - run checkdisk from windows. This took a bit of time, but seemed to work, as it was checked to repair problems. We await results with bated breath.

MacBook duel boot with Vista

2008-05-02T10:11:00.002+01:00

Quiet day in DOVE PC Surgery, no clients today, so the volunteers; Steve and Mervyn reinstalled Windows Vista on my Mac Book, it now has the option to boot into Mac OS X or Microsoft Vista Ultimate.

AVG Problems

2008-04-25T13:06:00.006+01:00

By ourselves today without Mike or Nicky to back us up. My time was limited by the fact that once again I had to make a visit to my favourite dentist. One problem hopefully solved although temporarily was one with AVG/Vista. The client had a bought a copy of AVG Internet Security (£39.99), but was unable to install it because of a corrupted version of AVG Free 7.5 on her computer. It was not possible to remove it by the use of "add and remove programs" in the control panel, so it had to be removed by using the AVG 7.5 version on a pen drive, and choosing the option "uninstall program" rather the "install" option. This seemed to uninstall the corrupted version satisfactorily, so the 7.5 version coluld then be reinstalled on her computer. The major problem we had was the fact that without Michael or Nicky, we have NO ADMINISTRATOR RIGHTS, so we were unable to help by downloading a new version of the AVG program that she had paid for, and had the valid (I hope) code. When I left, however she did seem happier, as she now had her free protection at least! A new version of AVG Free is now available (AVG 8), seems to have good reviews. See details on:

http://www.download.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10320142.html

Wheres my pictures?

2008-04-24T13:41:00.004+01:00

We had three clients in the DOVE today:
One client had problems viewing her pictures using a card reader, after allot of troubleshooting USB devices we found the drive letter had a conflict, changed to card reader drive letter to W: and her pictures were found.

Another client had a scanner problem, we tested the scanner, but the lamp was to dim to scan the image, unfortunately it may not be possible or economical to repair the lamp.
Finally we had a regular problem, PC was slow, virus scan found nothing, so unused programs were uninstalled and the hard disk was scanned for errors. Hopefully the PC will be faster now.

Recognition for Colin!!!

2008-04-11T11:58:00.006+01:00

AT LAST Colin has had his certificate of recognition for all the hard work he has done with his sledgehammer and make-up kit over the past year. It was so sad that he could not attend the function and be a member of the victorious quiz team. (By the way where is the prize? - we're still waiting)

To work, however. First problem was a relatively new laptop not charging. We considered that it might well be the battery, which was manufactured by LG. The client was advised that he might need a new battery which would cost about £62.00, but if it was possible, he could take it back to his supplier to try a new battery just in case the problem was more serious.

The next problem was trying to download some precious pictures from an old Windows 98 computer on to a memory stick. This was not so straightforward, as he had used some Olympus software, which for some unknown reason placed the pictures deep in an application folder rather than in the normal My Pictures folder. Having found them, it was an easy job. It was recommended that he destroy the hard disc before scrapping the computer - that's where Colin's sledge comes in handy!

Fairly Quiet Day at the Dove

2008-04-10T11:16:00.005+01:00

Two laptops brought in, both with suspected spyware problems. One, brought in without the power supply ran our of juice before the scan was completed, so all we could see was that there were at least 70 issues. This would need to be brought back to confirm that it was OK. Please bring power in next time preferably as a power supply unit, not as the picture above!!!

The other computer had also some spyware problem, which might already have been sorted. We uninstalled Adaware in case there were problems with conflict, updated AVG and ran a scan. So far, so good! Mervyn and Mike have now gone out on a home visit.

SLOW STARTUP

2008-03-19T15:28:00.003Z

MSCONFIG Remove unwanted startup programmes this helped to speed up the computer. Checked the Desktop too many files , sent the selecyed to the C drive and created shortcuts. Loaded AVG and scanned, found 979 critical items and removed them. .UP dated the Modems

stop found new hardware message/virtual memory

2008-03-19T15:23:00.003Z

hey everyone well today i had to use the device manager to disable a constant message on paddys computor and alter the virtual memory as it was low and we did it successfully well thats all for today folks until nextime lol.....and i almost forgot i also uninstalled mcfee on a ladies laptop then installed avg and then scanned with ad-aware......

internet explorer not opening

2008-03-19T14:27:00.002Z

I uninstalled internet explorer 7,also symantec anti-virus as well as AVG.Then re-install AVG and check for updates.Everything is now working fine.

Communites at One Conference

2008-03-17T10:29:00.002Z

Leighton Andrews AM, Deputy Minister for Regeneration, Welsh Assembly Government gave a speech at the Communities @ One conference in Cardiff last Friday, there was no news on extending our project, but money will got to communities @ One brokers to continue their work, lets hope we will get funding too.

Annoying Laptops and Scam anti Virus

2008-03-14T18:34:00.004Z

Had a very frustrating time with a Dell laptop, whose keyboard would only bleep, but not do anything constructive - I suspect it might have been used on holiday like the one in the happy picture above! The laptop seemed to work fine with an external keyboard, but as a keyboard is vital to the running of the PC Check CD, all tests tended to show OK, as the keyboard tests tended to show only the external keyboard. The internal keyboard was not recognised at all.
The laptop would need to be dismantled to get to the bottom of this!

An interesting problem was a computer that had failed to work after a power cut on one of our stormy days last week. A process of elimination showed that the problem was a burnt out Ethernet card - can be obtained from Maplin at £6.99. This computer also showed that it had a program that called itself "XP Antivirus Protection" Did not show up on Add and Remove Programs. It appeared like the screenshot below.

This "Program" is a SCAM which is introduced by a trojan, and shows hundreds of "infections" which it will only "remove" after payment of a ransom. More details can be seen by following the link below. This is NOT something that we have tried, and is therefore NOT guaranteed. A Google search will reveal other similar sites.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic111715.html

no internet connection

2008-03-12T17:46:00.003Z

hi all we had a pc in today which would not connect to the web we tried shutting down all firewalls and checking for viruses and it still wont connect we check the drivers and run check disk and we uninstalled web browsers we tried dos commands and internet diagnostic software and it will not connect we checked everything possible so we asked the woman to bring the pc back next week so we can have another go we ran out of time this week with the scans and trying various options we were missing two jedi this week mike and nicky and they will resolve the pc problem next week.

blue screen uninstall virgin media

2008-03-12T15:06:00.002Z

hi everyone today well today we didnt have our mentors with us so we went were no mans been b4 haha actually paddys taking the mick he`s calling me supervisor cindy haha anyways lisa brought her pc in blue screen but what looks like had happened virgin media and bt had conflicted so once removed virgin media lisa`s pc was working fine job done so until next week folks....

virus removal/anti-virus conflict

2008-03-12T14:58:00.003Z

7/3/08 hi everyone well today a customer brought her pc in which had very bad virus problem i was able to fix most of the problem but it was so bad i advised the customer to bring it back the following week as it was taking to long and the rest of the team were waiting for me haha....... ps i also did an ad-aware scan and put it on the the customers desktop....

Back Again to a Busy Day

2008-03-07T11:47:00.005Z

Came back after some time in the North to a very busy schedule. First job was rather a failure with Nicky's milk sodden laptop. The screen would not display properly as the milk had caused problems with connections - the cat should have been set to work much more quickly to lap it all up. Colin worked very hard to dismantle the screen to find the problem, and found all the cheese! Pity about the spare screw when we put it together! (actually we found where it went!!)

keyboard problem

2008-03-05T14:49:00.002Z

The keyboard was flashing but not working. After check it was found to be plugged into the wrong connection, and that it required a Belkin Pro Series AT to PS/2 Converter Adapter.

pc slow start up

2008-03-05T14:46:00.003Z

we had a pc today which had a corruption in internet explore 6 so we unistalled it and re-inistalled it. and the pc was taking too long to start up so we stoped and remove a few applications which was crashing and makiing the pc slow. and then we run two anti-virus scans avg and adware -se and there was 550 viruses found and now the pc seems staple

PC Surgery ARC 5-March

2008-03-05T14:43:00.003Z

Busy PC Surgery, as usual, the volunteers are doing a good job, Nick and I are training next week, so the volunteers will run PC Surgery on their own.

virus/laptop

2008-02-27T15:50:00.002Z

hi every1 well today ive had a laptop to look at definately a virus problem had to wait a longtime today for the virus scan to finish now checking what virus and spyware are on the laptop incase theres a conflict on either hopefully its sorted

no display on screen

2008-02-27T15:33:00.003Z

we had a pc in today which wouldnt post or boot so we tried everything changing the ram cpu power supply and i checked everything in the pc and it still wont boot with no display the only conclusion is that the motherboard has had its last day and needs to be replaced.

PC Surgery DOVE 21-Feb

2008-02-21T12:33:00.004Z

A good day in DOVE today, Doug and I helped two clients, one was viewing a security warning about macros when opening an Access database, which is not a virus warning, only a warning that macros can contain a virus, and be careful, disable macros if your not sure. The client was reassured.

The second was a problem with a modem / internet access, we checked the modem, using query modem button, which worked fine, advised the client to check all the connections and retype the password and try again.

pc wont start/install smartboard

2008-02-20T15:25:00.004Z

hi everyone well today i had a pc that wouldnt start fortunately for me i switched it on and had a windows message stating it had recovered from a system error i clicked ok it was working so i restarted the pc to make sure it was working it was then i went over to to one of the arcs laptops and successfully installed the smartboard

cd-rom

2008-02-20T15:20:00.003Z

had a pc in today which the cd-rom wasnt working it was making a loud grinding noise and it wasnt reading cd discs and the cd draw could not open so we replaced it with a new one and now all seems to be well

APOLOGIES

2008-02-18T10:27:00.004Z

Sorry I was not available for surgery this week, as I first had to get my teeth sorted before going on a choir trip to Torquay (not very successful, unfortunately, but a good trip all the same). I am now writing this in a library in Holyhead, and I really do not know when I will be back, so if I am not in surgery this week also, I apologise again - I know that you will probably get along much better without me!!

Quiet PC Surgery in Glynneath.

2008-02-15T14:00:00.005Z

Another quiet day today, we had three clients booked in, two of them had left their PCs for us to look at, Steve was the only volunteer today. Steve checked the donated PC and wiped the hard disk, the notebook had the wrong power supply so we couldn't check the password. The e-mail was a major problem! After two hours of checking different settings, turning two anti-virus' off and researching using google and Virgin media help we still couldn't send e-mails. There must be a conflict between the anti-virus programs or a corruption in Vista. The client will return next week and we will re-install Vista. He was shown how to send email using web mail for the next week.

DOVE PC Surgery

2008-02-15T11:01:00.003Z

PC Surgery in DOVE was quiet yesterday, one client and one volunteer; Doug helped a client uninstall Norton anti-virus, which was not updating, he reinstalled and ran AVG anti-virus, which worked fine. Another satisfied client :)

fit soundcard

2008-02-13T16:15:00.003Z

hi everyone well today i brought a pc in that my friend gave me supposedly it needed just a new soundcard but jamie took it apart and cleaned it as it was dusty then tried the new soundcard but it turned out there is either a cpu problem or motherboard as it beeped 7 times each time we tried so i gave up if i remember anything else today il fill it out later haha..

virus scans

2008-02-13T16:12:00.000Z

computer slow to open web pages
uninstalled norton, install avg and run scan also ran ad-aware scan.

Web Cam

2008-02-13T15:12:00.003Z

Customer said web cam not working. Booted computer, system would not load properly. Virus check found 66 critical Objects these were removed. Installed AVG and compeated stress test, Passed test. Suggest re-install opperating system

Well I`ve done something right

2008-02-09T07:23:00.001Z

This is Old Claire Praying to Mecca that I`ll do something right to-day. Claire believe`s that it`s worked, but I think it was the kick in the ankle that did it.

Well I`ve done something right

2008-02-09T07:23:00.000Z

This is Old Claire Praying to Mecca that I`ll get something right. Her Praying has worked to a certain extent, she think`s. I think it was the kick in the ankle that did it.!!!!!!!

just another friday,Eh michiel

2008-02-08T10:44:00.000Z

Got another laptop to-day, a dell it would not boot. Run the checkdisk, everything O.K. so got into repair bootup found fault`s and repaired same. Advised client to buy more memory as he only had 512mb. Oh and by the way Old Cla ire IS NOT ON MY BACK to write this.

watch these videos! dead funny!

2008-02-07T13:52:00.000Z

you've got the check out these videos! dead funny, the volunteers were on top form today in dove....and as cheeky as ever!!! hehehee.
they did do a brill job though. they learnt how to up load photos to flickr and add them to their blog posts! colin was very patient with me as he got his mind exploded by the wonders of digital technology! lesson two tomorrow in glynneath!!! he seems to be looking forward to that one! lol.

heeehehehheee!

2008-02-07T13:43:00.000Z

2008-02-07T13:39:00.000Z

2008-02-07T11:30:00.000Z

Dear Old Claire has been an ANGEL this morning.
Anyone who could get me to get something right in ONE and a HALF hour`s is GOOD belief you me. Anyway I can now move photo`s from flicker to my blog. Of course Owen had to come along and really complicate thing`s BIG TIME. He really know`s how to confuse me, the mind boggles.

A Learning Curve

2008-02-07T11:29:00.000Z

Had a very interesting time this week, as we had a fascinating lesson from Claire on how to upload pictures to Flickr and the Blogger. As can be seen, Colin was absolutely fascinated, while Claire is scratching her nose/picking her nose/pushing her specs up (Note to Admin (i.e.Claire) - Delete as applicable). That's why this picture was published!!

On a more pragmatic note, a copy of an HP driver was dwnloaded and copied to CD for a client.

pc build

2008-02-06T15:41:00.002Z

today i had to replace a old motherboard with a new one the old motherboard was broken and fried because of a power surge whiched damaged the components on the board so we replaced it with a new one and we check that all the other componets was working like cpu hard drive ram and they were perfect so we used them and built a fresh new pc

Re-install and re-format hard drive

2008-02-06T15:41:00.001Z

Error 800b0100 to fix. re-formatted hard drive and re-installed Windows XP

re-install xp error

2008-02-06T15:36:00.000Z

hello my fellow friends well today myself and paddy tried several times to re-install windows xp without sucess due to an error 800b0100 code so we looked it up on google and found a forum which gave us our answer which was to re-format the hardrive so we did just that whilst jamie who we have now named jamie dissasemble got himself in a right 2 1 8 haha and billy watched on with interest then a customer brought her friends laptop in with to many virus programmes 9 all together but we soon discovered there was alot of corruption and it was easier to re-install windows although we didnt have time today and thats all for today foaks.

Internet and Advice

2008-02-04T08:11:00.000Z

One of the most common problems faced is that of Internet connections. Today a customer came in with a new laptop running Vista, but was unable to connect to the internet via his Netgear router suppliedby the Post Office. In fact he was unable to connect with his router, but his laptop was picking up all the other wireless routers in the area! This made it clear that

The laptop's wireless system was OK and

There was an incompatibility between the computer and the router.

The router was connected to one of the centre's computers by ethernet cable, its IP address found and it was possible to log in and check the security settings. These were changed, and the connection then could be made between the laptop and router. No test, however could be made with the customer's own phone line - this is always the case!

Another quite common query that we have is advice for potential computer customers. It is useful to give them some basic information, such as is found on the Tesco Direct website -

http://direct.tesco.com/buyersguide/computing.aspx

Although many sites offer a "buyer's guide", care is needed even from sites that appear to be absolutely dependable. Oxford University, one would think would have been able to produce a good site for students wishing to buy a computer. This is what I found -

http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/pcbuy/

A medieval site for a medieval University!

At least the second half on Saturday was good

Grav would have been delighted!!

photos!!!

2008-02-01T12:43:00.000Z

check out the new link on the top right of this blog to all the pc surgery photos!!!!

here's alittle glimpes for you!!! lol.

My new hero

2008-02-01T12:05:00.000Z

I just wanted to say thanks to Owen for all his sterling work helping me today!
Downloaded drivers for a DELL what a job half the sites were obsolete.
Got the sound card working. installed avg. and run same.

Found clients a computer that suited them, and also a broadband package.
This is where OWEN came into his own, HE printed out the broadband packages.
DID`NT HE DO WELL.

Dove does the ton

2008-01-31T18:44:00.000Z

We had a full PC Surgery in DOVE today, three clients, which lifted the stats to 100!

recent events

2008-01-31T11:19:00.000Z

If anyone has or is thinking about using the Post Office broadband and email system. Think again. I have it and what a pain it is proving to be. Seemed a good deal but very unreliable and the help desk is not very clued up. Since December 13 I have had about 14 full days of complete service.
Had a good weekend in Wrexham [yes it is possible], especially when your nephews rugby 15 [Yorkshire U17] beat North Wales 22-0.
Plenty of interest this morning here at Banwen. Problem solving and installing various bits and pieces.
Now looking forward to a weekend of six nations.

A Miserable Failure

2008-01-31T11:17:00.000Z

Client came in with a Lexmark Z617 printer which would not work with his Windows98 computer. As usual we tried to research the driver on the internet, but woe and again woe!!, we found that all Windows98 drivers for this printer had been pulled and it was not possible to download a working driver. This is really upsetting as we do not usually fail on what would really be thought to be an elementary task.

At least we did something useful by installing i-Tunes to other computers in the workshop.

virus and pc check

2008-01-30T15:51:00.001Z

hi everyone today myself and paddy my friend in the pic did some virus removal and pc stress checks on 2 pcs today and had fun with the camera and we changed the bios battery over in one of the pcs roger helped me with that one as the tower case was quite tricky to open had to set the time and date on both pcs as both were incorrect aslo ive brought my own router in to reset as i fixed my daughters pc last week and its still askin for ip renewal so nicky helped me with that and hopefully when i go home it will be sorted

hard at work!!!

2008-01-30T15:36:00.000Z

A LESSON TO BE LEARNT!!

2008-01-25T11:48:00.000Z

Quiet day in Glynneath today - no Michael or Nicky! Only three problems (Colin, Steve and Iwan!!!).

1. Software could not be installed from a DVD. Client was told how this was done.

2. AVG was installed and updated. on another regular Client's computerUNFORTUNATELY, we forgot to delete the installation file from the client's Desktop after installing, and on returning home and connecting up her computer, she immediately clicked on this file on the desktop and all the good work that had been done evaporated. She then contacted the centre, but by then I was the only volunteer left! She was advised to be careful of her surfing until AVG could again be enabled.

NOT a happy bunny!

3. This computer was more of a problem, as two of the three USB ports on the laptop were not working because the computer had been blown up in Iraq!

As one was still working a hub was recommended rather risking dismantling the whole computer

AVG not Updating

2008-01-24T17:15:00.000Z

AVG was not updating on a PC, we explained the Internet had to be on to allow AVG to update, the setting where checked and AVG was manually updated. The client was shown how to manually update in the future, but it should work automatically now.

BT Help Notifier

2008-01-24T17:11:00.000Z

Colin and Doug worked on a PC with error messages appearing when Windows starts, BTHelpNotifier.exe was removed from the registry Run section.

dead psu

2008-01-23T14:47:00.000Z

pc wasnt powering up we done various tests but the pc was still dead and we check the power supply and it was faulty so we open the power supply and we found that a capacitor was broken off the main circuite board and the only way to fix a power supply is to buy a new

Graphic card error

2008-01-23T14:45:00.000Z

No screen when booted up. Used Ultimate boot up disc for Windows.Did not work. Re launched CD for windows , awaiting results. If this doesn't work reinstall windows XP.

2008-01-18T12:16:00.000Z

Is this a typical day at the Glynneath PC Surgery? Whose bum is this?????

Odd problem!???!!

2008-01-18T12:07:00.002Z

As Iwan just said this Pc proved to be a bit of a problem! really odd that the OS re-installed on the dvd but would'nt run once booted in to Xp???? nyway the Geek Squad sorted it out and another happy Client! :)

error message win32 crashing

2008-01-18T11:49:00.001Z

pc had a clean install of windows has it was crashing. we run pc check disc. run individual checks eg. processor, hard drive, motherboard and dvd/cd. all passed very strange. so run the system stress test and hard drive failed. Problem solved new hard drive needed.

Very Strange Error

2008-01-18T11:49:00.000Z

Worked on the computer pictured above. Although it was possible to use the DVD reader/writer to reinstall XP, An error message started appearing when DVDs were put in-
ERROR : only part of the readprocessmemory or writeprocessmemory was completed
Having done some Googling, we found that there was a possibility that there might have been a problem with the positioning of the IDE cabling.
The computer was then dissected, and it was discovered that the HDD was primary master, and the DVD was primary slave. A new IDE cable was introduced, leaving the HDD as primary master, but the DVD reader/writer was reassigned as a secondary master.
This seemed to work

2008-01-18T11:03:00.000Z

if this happens to your computer its probably broke!!!!

secret web cam!!!!

2008-01-18T10:54:00.000Z

finally!!!

2008-01-18T10:34:00.000Z

Over the last few weeks we've seemed to be having some problems getting some of our volunteers posting on this amazing blog..........you will all be happy to know that the problem is sorted!!!! For those of you how have never done this before...welcome to the world of blogging!!!!!you're gonna love it!
I've been sitting in a very wet glynneath this morning, being entertained by the volunteers make themselves busy! While Iwan works hard trying to fix a pc with Michael (it all looks very complicated!) the others seem to have given up!!!! come on col...put the tea down.lol.

Wot-a-Day 17/01/08

2008-01-17T11:33:00.000Z

Had a wonderful morning, Visited Bev TWICE, and actually fixed the install. With a minute bit of help off Michael, Emlin`s problem`s were overcome. I instructed Emlin to set his IP address to next number (192 .168 .0 . 2) and default gateway to (192 .168 .0 .1)

Cakes

2008-01-17T11:22:00.001Z

A very interesting problem today involving a cake business. Outlook needed to be configured to accept e-mails from different accounts. This was important for the business, so we showed the client how to configure his e-mails. For this we were promised some Welsh Cakes next time!! For more details of the business see:
http://www.cakesfromwales.co.uk

re-install windows

2008-01-16T14:59:00.000Z

hi everyone well today so far ive re-installed a customers pc which means theyve had a virus problem and re-installing the operating system via the installaition disc which usually solves the problem unless the harddrive is badly damaged ive had 2 cups of tea from the cafe while waiting for the set-up process and installaition hopefully this customers pc will be fixed and another happy customer.

Picture Problems

2008-01-16T14:44:00.001Z

I showed how to open pictures from memory sticks and memory cards. Showed the client how to insert pictures on to a Word document. I then let him do it himself, showed him how to format his pictures

cd disabled

2008-01-16T14:44:00.000Z

had a problem with a customers cd drive today and the problem was that the cd drive wasnt reading or writing cd disks and the error was that the cd drive was disabled in the bios and to resolve the problem we set the cd drive option to default which fixed the issuse.

new posts!

2008-01-11T12:37:00.000Z

dont forget to add your labels at the bottom of your posts so that we can find and filter them later!!!! i know i'm a good nag........its a womans job!!!!lol.