More stupid Windows Vista problems

[Irving]

So this morning I logged into Gmail and I get a message saying that my network administrator is blocking chat. Pretty irritating considering I'm in my living room. I tried opening up Windows Defender (I noticed it was running) and Windows Firewall, but don't see anything that would immediately fix the problem.

Oh yeah, I also got that BS screen telling me that gmail and my online bank access were unsafe when I first tried logging onto them.

I also suspect McCaffee, but when I try to start it so I can see what's up, it tells me I don't have internet access.

Is this something any of you computer guys are familiar with? I hate when my machine tries to make decisions on its own.

[Irving]

Well, I did install two programs last night, but neither are anything I would assume would cause problems.

I had to install DaemonTools lite, so I could mount an ISO file and install another program. I had to restart the computer, and when I did, I had this problem and noticed that Windows Defender is now running in the background when it usually is not. Even when I turn it off, I still can't access Google chat. Need any more info?

[Zundfolge]

McCaffee is crap ... uninstall it and get AVG.

Vista is crap, its worth the cost to upgrade to Windows 7.

Maybe this would help? http://www.google.com/support/talk/bin/static.py?page=known_issues.cs

[henpecked]

I use ccleaner and malwarebyte

http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=34331#McAfee

[Irving]

I've already uninstalled McCafffee since I have Malwarebytes.

This is my first computer with Vista and I immediately hated it. Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.

[henpecked]

Some programs will corrupt your antivirus software. It will need to be uninstalled and then go get a new one and reinstall

[Irving]

You guys have been helpful so far, thanks.

I went through that gmail problems link and cleared my cache but still no luck. I might just shut down the laptop for today and run Malwarebytes on it (and get rid of DaemonTools since I only used it for that ONE thing).

Thanks for all the free help. I realize that some of you guys make your living giving out the same advice.

[blackford76]

Personally I hate 7 more than Vista, I really miss XL.

[Irving]

Oh yeah, I also forgot that I changed my date to May 2020 last night. I'll change it back and see if that helps.

[Irving]

Update, changing my date back to the correct date has fixed the problem. Thanks for all the help as usual guys.

[BadShot]

You can look here for info on Windows Defender: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/Using-Windows-Defender

Are you using Internet Explorer as well? If so you can turn down the default security for the Internet (that is one of the specific zones) Security Zone: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/Windows7/Change-Internet-Explorer-Security-settings

Windows 7 is a worthy upgrade if you don't mind spending the money. Then again, if you haven't had the laptop too long, the manufacturer might have a "Free Upgrade" seeing as so many people hated and refused to use Vista.

Win 7 is a great step up that addresses what most of us considered to be the major faults with Vista. Would be worth taking a look at. Also don't go without an AV program if you're surfing. AVG is on option so is Avast (my preferred free AV solution). I'm sure someone will chime in as well with something along the lines of a recommendation to dump Internet Explorer. If you chose to go that route (you cannot, repeat CAN NOT uninstall it) look at both Firefox and Chrome.

[Zundfolge]

Another option is to dump windows all together (unless there's some program you just absolutely need but can't do under Linux).

A lot of folk will recommend Ubuntu, but I'm going to recommend a Ubuntu based distro called Mint (http://www.linuxmint.com/).

On a lark I installed it on one of the extra laptops here at the office and one of our sales reps ended up with the laptop and didn't realize it wasn't windows until I explained what it was. Open Office, Thunderbird and Firefox did everything she needed (and setup with our networked printer and file server was cake).

If all you're using the laptop for is web and basic office functions its really a viable option.

Only reason I haven't dumped Windows at work and Mac OSX at home is because I need Adobe's products to feed myself, so I understand if you're stuck with Windows.

[Irving]

I don't use that piece of shit Internet Explorer. It didn't even function on the last two work computers that I've had. I always use Firefox, and since many insurance websites required that you use IE with their websites, I would just get the "Render in IE" add-on through Firefox.


Zunderfolge: Yeah, I plan on using this laptop for work (unless they give me one) so I think I'd have to stay with Windows. Everyone I know who is a computer buff has been singing the praises of Linux to me for a long time. One day it will happen. One day.

[Zundfolge]

I've also found that Chrome will often work with sites that require IE ... one of our vendors requires IE I've been successfully using Chrome to access their CMS.

Its worth a try (especially if you decide to dump windows as there is no IE for Linux ... although I do believe you can get it to run well enough under WINE (http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/page/Main_Page))

[Hoosier]

There are plugins for Firefox that let you set your User Agent string to match IE. This is how sites determine what browser you're using, and since that information is supplied by the client (browser) it can be forged.

Linux runs very well on old computers. Even old Pentium II's will run most linux variants splendidly.

H.

[Zundfolge]

The only problem with spoofing your User Agent ID is that sometimes these sites require IE because of IE specific functions that Firefox does not emulate.

[BadShot]

Which "Render in IE" add on.. I'm seeing several. I'm kinda curious if this will resolve some issues I'm seeing with SharePoint sites

[Irving]

Umm, honestly, I just picked the most simple one. After the latest version of Firefox came out, I got one that just opened the a new window in IE, and that wasn't what I wanted, and had to wait a few weeks until the add-on made it to the new version. Let me check for you real quick.

I can't find exactly what I was using. The one they have now (IE View) sounds like it just opens a window in IE for you, which isn't really what we are talking about.