General Chat

Hi, I am hoping that someone with computer knowledge better than ours is looking in. This is not really to do with family history but is causing me a lot of aggravation. In the last week I have been getting innumerable 'illegal operation programme shutting down' messages when on e mail, and occasionally Internet explorer messages when on a web sight, which also then closes down. At first we thought it was a new programme Family Tree Genealogy suite version 4 was to blame (I already had version 2) But I have now uninstalled both programmes and it is still happening. It sounds stupid but the only other thing we have done is to put in an anti surge mains connector block. Tony has put one on his computer and his is OK. The only difference between the computers is that he has Windows XP and I have windows 98. Colin, if you are around have you any ideas please? Ann Glos

Ann - l have had a simular prob,no idea why though - think Colin tried to sort it before(not sure though) Are u free this Thursday or Fri and see if Daphne is also,we could meet up??? Jude

Hi, Judy Lewitt would, I'm sure, be able to help you. Di.

Hi Ann, I have been getting a similar problem both on email and after getting into GC. I haven't installed anything so did wonder whether it was a virus. Everything scanned and nothing showing up. Jacky

Hi don't think it is a virus as my Norton is pretty good at weeding them out. Jude, Friday would be fine with me, prefer it to Thursday as Tony plays golf on Fridays. Let me know what you decide. Ann

Colin, the message is that something has caused an invalid page fault in module unknown. It only so far has happened on mail and Internet. I have I Explorer 6. Cheers Ann

Thanks for the plug Di (and the confidence!) LOLOLOL!!! Ann I am at work now but will send you a few things when I get home tonight, via e-amail, that may help. There's, I think, a 5 hour time difference between us so you may not get e-mail until tomorrow. Judy

Hi Colin, I have been trying to download IE6 and have been onto the website, click for download and waited while somehting was happening but at the end of it I still do not have IE6! I can't install my latest virus software either without being updated. Any tips please?? Thanks, Jacky :-)

Hi Colin I have checked that and do not have that programme anywhere. I forgot to say that I also installed the register of electors 2000, and have not uninstalled that, also photo album, both of those came with the genealogy programme. Judy Many thanks for any help you can give. Ishould add that my temp int folder is emptied regularly (I learnt that one last September when my computer crashed fatally). It has also recently been defragged. Don't you just love computers when they are behaving? Ann Glos

Oh dear, sorry Colin I seem to have started a helpline hear. Ann Glos

Colin, Anyway, forget computers, I haven't been on the site much over Christmas and New Year, did you have an enjoyable time. We spent Christmas at home and New Year with our daughter in Colden Common and had a lovely time. Ann Glos

Colin, I would say that two thirds of drive C are free and nearly all drive D

colin, sorry to hear you have been poorly, thought I hadn't seen you around, just thought I had missed you. Pleased you are feeling beter anyway. One thing about being our age is that we get the flu jabs. Well Tony qualified by age and because I was with him when he made his appointment they grabbed me too!! Ann Glos

Colin, Please don't lose any sleep over it. As it happens I haven't had a problem since I reported it on this board so maybe we have scared it off!! don't worry, lets hope Judy has some ideas. Thanks for your efforts anyway, much appreciated. Ann Glos

OK Colin, Goodnight now and thanks again. Ann Glos

Ann: After getting home and reading your post again, I think the problem may be the fact that your computer has a lot of spyware on it. I am still going to e-mail you directives to fix some of the other problems you may be experiencing (ie, unable to access websites, slow running computer, etc...) but I will post the spyware removal directives below as you can try this first and if problem persists, we'll find a solution by ruling out the spyware and go from there. The program below is easy to use. I tend to be a bit wordy.....LOL....so don't let all my typing intimidate you. Once installed it takes all of 30 seconds to start the scan. You can do other things while the computer is scanning...it may slow the computer down slightly while computer scanning though. ADAWARE Spy-ware Removal 1. Go to www.ada-ware.com. 2. Download the free version. 3. Install onto your computer. 4. After installation, an icon will appear on your desktop. Click it to open. 5. Click on CHECK FOR UPDATES NOW. Follow the NEXT prompts. (This updates any definitions to the program since the download was posted on the internet. Do this right before scanning your computer each time you use it to be sure the software is always up to date.) 6. After definitions are updated click on SCAN NOW. 7. Click NOW to start the scan. 8. When the computer is done scanning it will display all the spyware it’s found. Click on NEXT (or if you want to view what it found you can click on SHOW LOGFILE first. After viewing logfile click on close and it will return you to where you can click on NEXT.) 9. You’ll now be looking at SCANNING RESULTS and here, too, you will see what spyware has been found. Using your mouse, click the small empty box, in the first column, in front of each item found, so that a check mark appears in front of it. (For some reason sometimes the check marks are there automatically, sometimes you have to put them there manually.) 10. After everything is checked off click on QUARANTINE. 11. A small box appears and asks you to name the file….I use the day’s date. Then hit OK (or whatever the prompt is.) 12. Click on NEXT and you’ll be advised or asked if it’s OK to remove….click OK and the spyware found is “quarantined.” The reason for quarantining over deleting is because if by some freak of nature, something on your computer needs is removed by accident by the program, you can go back and “restore” what was removed. In a day or two, you can open the adaware program if you want and completely delete the quarantined items if all is well….and it should be. This is just a safe guard for you…..In all the computers I’ve worked on I’ve never had a problem with this program. I also use it on all 5 of my own computers. To delete quarantined items: 1. Click open the Adaware icon on your desktop. 2. Click on OPEN QUARANTINE LIST 3. All quarantined items will show. Simply right click on it and choose the option DELETE ARCHIVE. You will note here, this is where you would also choose RESTORE if you needed to.

A thought....sometimes the quickest, easiest fix to many problems is simply rebooting (restarting) your computer. I am not one that turns my computers off. After a few days, wierd unexplainable things happen....with a quick reboot, all returns to normal. So if you're one who tends to leave computer on all the time, try rebooting. Judy

Sitting here reading this thread again....another cause for your computer whoa's may be the fact that you need to visit the MICROSOFT WINDOWS UPDATE site. (This and the other things I've suggested all need to be done.) Most over look this important maintenance chore as they are not aware how important it is. Windows XP users can: (You have to be online) 1. Go to START. 2. Click on CONTROL PANEL. 3. On the left of the screen is a link called WINDOWS UPDATES...click on it. 4. You'll be directed to Microsoft webpage. On this page is a link that says SCAN FOR UPDATES....click on it. 5. The site will then scan your computer for three types of updates and then list how many of each type there are: a. Critcal Updates - Download all of these. Critical updates are just what they say....critical (for the good health of your computer.) b. Recommended Updates - Download the ones you want. If you don't understand the lingo, don't worry about it....there's nothing you can download here that will hurt your computer....it only enhances. Looking at the small explanation of each download you can probably pick out keywords that you are familiar with. There are only two I can think of off the top of my head that you may not want and one has to do with sending reports to microsoft when an error occurs on your computer and the other has to do with the messenger service. Both are a pain in the butt. One of the downloads here will send you a small pop up once in a while advising you that there are new critical updates. This is a good one to have so you won't have to go back to the site as often to check for updates....you'll be advised when they become available. c. Drivers - Update all of these. The day you brought your computer home is was antiquated.....this keeps you up to speed. Some of the downloads can be downloaded at the same time as others....meaing check off, say 10 of the ones you want and they will all download one after the other automatically. There are a few though, that you have to download seperately, one at a time....most require you to reboot (restart) your computer after the restall and installation are finished. Windows 98, as far as downloading the upgrades works the same way....finding the link on your computer is slightly different and since I haven't worked on Windows 98 computer lately, where to find that link is slightly cloudy at the moment so I'll have to direct you to the internet..... you can search on the internet for it by typing in "Windows Updates." It will list sites....look for the official site. If you're on AOL.....that is one of their "Keywords" as well. You'll get the link to the site this way. Scanning and Defragging also need to be done to your computer as well as emptying cookies and emptying temporary internet files. Any questions or problems, give me a shout......I've had a lot of requests for help doing the above a(nd then some) and have all written out, step by step, for anyone who needs help....Judy

Judy, Thanks for that. My computer is scanned, is switched off each day and has all cookies deleted regularly. Microsoft is up to date. The only thing left to do is to follow the spyware instructions. This I will leave to Tony to do later. Icidentally it has just 'performed and illegal operation' and shut down. again two minutes after I accessed mail. I will let you know how it goes after we quarantine the spyware. Ann Glos

Colin, Thanks. I will get Tony to try that as well as spyware. Come to think of it I have not had any notification from Norton for ages re Trojans whereas at one point I was getting loads that they had tracked. Strange that. Ann