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View Full Version : My computer hates me.



imported_Taja Loraan
Jul 15th, 2003, 09:47:18 AM
For the past few days it's been very moody with me, anyway. At first it was just the monitor (flat panel, less than a year old) that was acting funny: every now and then the screen would go dim, then blank, but the computer itself seemed to be fine. I'd have to it switch off and then back on to get it working again. I thought it was a problem with the monitor but now it's perfectly alright again... but now my keyboard's half dead ! Several of the keys mysteriously stopped functioning, which is very irking because I can't use most of my smileys and the left Ctrl button refuses to work.

If anybody could help me figure out why my computer is so mad at me, I'd be very grateful.

Charley
Jul 15th, 2003, 09:53:24 AM
New keyboard = 20bux

:)

Tech support rate = 30bux

:cool

imported_Taja Loraan
Jul 15th, 2003, 10:00:55 AM
Yeah but first my monitor goes evil for no apparent reason, is mysteriously cured, and then my keyboard turns sick ? It's like my computer's conspiring against me or something.

Besides. If I tell my dad to get a new keyboard or whatever, he's gonna blame it all on me and how I got some weird virus into the system.

Ace McCloud
Jul 15th, 2003, 10:02:12 AM
I assume its fixed now?

Charley
Jul 15th, 2003, 10:02:41 AM
Tell him that you can't put a virus into a keyboard, and that by thinking such, he is old and obsolete, and should be replaced by a robot.

imported_Taja Loraan
Jul 15th, 2003, 10:03:12 AM
What, the keyboard ? No, still messed up. The letters are fine (duh) but a few of the numbers, other characters, and the freakin' left Ctrl button isn't. :mad

imported_Taja Loraan
Jul 15th, 2003, 10:06:18 AM
Originally posted by Agent Charley
Tell him that you can't put a virus into a keyboard, and that by thinking such, he is old and obsolete, and should be replaced by a robot.

Can you put a virus into a monitor ? I tried telling him something along those lines and, after convincing him that it wasn't some sort of monitor attacking bug, he started going on about how it's cuz I stay on the computer more than anyone else in the world and so somehow frelled it up due to over usage. :|

Ace McCloud
Jul 15th, 2003, 10:08:07 AM
Well they might be stuck, did you try plugging it in tighter?

And charley I think maybe you can get a virus for that, it may not affect the keyboard itself, but what it inputs, messes with something. I owno.

Try pressing num lock, I had a problem with that yesterday o_O

Ace McCloud
Jul 15th, 2003, 10:09:26 AM
Originally posted by Taja Loraan
Can you put a virus into a monitor ? I tried telling him something along those lines and, after convincing him that it wasn't some sort of monitor attacking bug, he started going on about how it's cuz I stay on the computer more than anyone else in the world and so somehow frelled it up due to over usage. :|

Yes that can be the problem, over usage. If you leave it on all the time it can frell up. Trust me I know. Sometimes it burns the picture into the screen or just dims and such.

imported_Taja Loraan
Jul 15th, 2003, 10:12:09 AM
Thanks for siding with my dad. :grumble

And NumLock is my friend. It lets me type in numbers and stuff because the other keys aren't working.

Ace McCloud
Jul 15th, 2003, 10:15:17 AM
Lol sorry.

But I dont think it would have done it in less than a year... Ive had mine for 2 and half and i rarely turn it off and its fine.

Do you have a screen saver or turn off your monitor much?

imported_Taja Loraan
Jul 15th, 2003, 10:18:27 AM
I turn it off whenever I'm not using it for a little while. The rest of the time the computer itself stays switched off.

Ace McCloud
Jul 15th, 2003, 10:20:15 AM
Well then disregard what i said before...it should be fine, unless its just a bad monitor, I don't think its your fault. Got no idea about the keyboard though. Computers are whacky.

Charley
Jul 15th, 2003, 10:20:38 AM
Its possible to have a virus that attacks the drivers, true.

Or it could just be an issue of bad drivers. Try to upgrade for both your monitor and keyboard?

Ace McCloud
Jul 15th, 2003, 10:22:17 AM
I dont think you need to spend money on it yet, it will probably clear up soon. Just kick it, thats what I do =)

Keyboards are cheap though...monitors...eh...not really

Morgan Evanar
Jul 15th, 2003, 10:24:28 AM
What version of windows are you running?

Ace McCloud
Jul 15th, 2003, 10:25:02 AM
::Waits for her to say "Linux":: XD

imported_Taja Loraan
Jul 15th, 2003, 10:29:05 AM
XP, Professional.

Shawn
Jul 15th, 2003, 10:42:47 AM
Yes that can be the problem, over usage. If you leave it on all the time it can frell up. Trust me I know. Sometimes it burns the picture into the screen or just dims and such.She has a flat-panel display... "burning" the picture into the screen is not an issue. And I'm pretty sure that there's no way to overuse a monitor in one year.

Just for clarification: When your monitor dims and blanks out, this is while you are using it, correct?

I've had similar troubles with keyboards. Usually, it's because a small amount of water or moisture got inside of it. In these cases, it usually means you need a new keyboard.

imported_Taja Loraan
Jul 15th, 2003, 10:48:50 AM
Originally posted by Shawn
Just for clarification: When your monitor dims and blanks out, this is while you are using it, correct?
Yep.


I've had similar troubles with keyboards. Usually, it's because a small amount of water or moisture got inside of it. In these cases, it usually means you need a new keyboard.
This happened while I was using it too. It was working perfectly fine and then all of a sudden some of the keys just went kaput.

Ace McCloud
Jul 15th, 2003, 10:49:08 AM
Oh ok, well Im pretty sure she couldnt have burned it anyway in 1 year. But I've gotten water, coke, crumbs and everything else stuck in my keyboard and its fine. Ive had it for 2 and half years. You could just wait a few days, it might be a fluke. Or you can just save yourself some trouble and get a new one.

imported_Taja Loraan
Jul 15th, 2003, 11:19:24 AM
Getting a new one would mean having to explain it to my dad who, old and obsolete or no, is gonna blame it all on me. I think I'mma wait it out to see if it gets cured on its own, like the monitor. Annoyingly enough, some of the keys I use most are the ones that got keeled. Blah.

Ace McCloud
Jul 15th, 2003, 11:23:15 AM
Pat pat

Good luck

imported_Taja Loraan
Jul 15th, 2003, 11:27:18 AM
Or... what if... it's actually an epidemic of sorts and if/once the keyboard is fixed, the weird thing attacks some other part of my PC ?! :eek

Ace McCloud
Jul 15th, 2003, 11:30:19 AM
No, next it moves to you, soon your toes will stop working. Trust me, its one of those Government/hacker Conspiracy things. Somehow its related to Watergate

imported_Taja Loraan
Jul 15th, 2003, 01:44:01 PM
...

My monitor just did the blank thing again. Twice. In a row. Shoot me please.

*EDIT: And again.

Morgan Evanar
Jul 15th, 2003, 02:10:29 PM
Originally posted by Ace McCloud
No, next it moves to you, soon your toes will stop working. Trust me, its one of those Government/hacker Conspiracy things. Somehow its related to Watergate Please shut up.

You could have power problems, but I had an LCD with the same behavior, and I just RMAed the thing (returned for a new one.)

imported_Taja Loraan
Jul 15th, 2003, 02:15:59 PM
This whole computer was a gift thing from the Chinese embassy. I can't contact the manufacturer, return it, or anything of the sort.

Charley
Jul 15th, 2003, 03:04:04 PM
Ooh and international intrigue to boot. This is the best tech support case ever.

(PS Don't get shot by the Reds, plz)

Darth Viscera
Jul 15th, 2003, 04:36:12 PM
Originally posted by Taja Loraan
This whole computer was a gift thing from the Chinese embassy. I can't contact the manufacturer, return it, or anything of the sort.


New keyboard for $5.88 (http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=234718&pfp=BROWSE)

Look at the brand name of the monitor, then go to their webpage, get their phone number, call them up and tell them that your monitor is broke and you'd like to RMA it, then give them the number of the monitor.

Say that you can't get a $6 keyboard because your dad will get mad at you and I will toss you into the intake of a turbojet.

imported_Taja Loraan
Jul 15th, 2003, 04:44:36 PM
I live in Bangladesh, and over here, I believe keyboards would cost slightly more than just $6. :mneh It's not that he'll get mad at the cost, but he'll wind up blaming everything on me, and consequently forbid me from using the computer once we do get a new keyboard.

Monitor update: it seems to have calmed down somewhat but a while back it went blank over 20 times in quick succession. Oh and the brand name is Legend. Anybody heard of that ?

Morgan Evanar
Jul 15th, 2003, 05:01:46 PM
No, but Google probably has. =/ I wish I could help you but my advice usually on applies to the US/UK/EU

imported_Taja Loraan
Jul 15th, 2003, 05:18:59 PM
It's okay, I appreciate your trying anyway. I just basically wanted to confirm it's not a virus or something... it's not, right ? o.o;;

Ace McCloud
Jul 15th, 2003, 05:40:17 PM
Originally posted by Morgan Evanar
Please shut up.


Whats your problem?

imported_Marcus
Jul 15th, 2003, 07:13:04 PM
Originally posted by Ace McCloud
Whats your problem?

Your being an idiot and completely unhelpful? Now if you dont have anything useful to add, shut up and let people who know what the hell they are doing solve the problem.

right.

a) Keyboard. while it is possible there are virus to attack a driver, I have not seen a virus like that in 10 years. Most virus these days are of the scriptign sort that attack Outlook / IE and dont touch drivers. They may put on a keylogger, but that does not affect the driver. i say you need to change keyboards, it'll be a hardware problem. Unfortaunantly, cheap keyboards screw up too easily, which is why I have an old Compaq one - good quaility and tough as.

b) Monitor. by the sounds of it, it's a monitor fault you cant do much about - the only thing I can suggest is find another monitor and see if it behaves the same. (I can think of it being a power supply or electronics problem inside the monitor itself, seen it before). I doubt it will however. If it does, I bet it's then the vid card.

Hope that helps

Morgan Evanar
Jul 15th, 2003, 07:45:25 PM
a) Keyboard. while it is possible there are virus to attack a driver, I have not seen a virus like that in 10 years. Most virus these days are of the scriptign sort that attack Outlook / IE and dont touch drivers. They may put on a keylogger, but that does not affect the driver. i say you need to change keyboards, it'll be a hardware problem. Unfortaunantly, cheap keyboards screw up too easily, which is why I have an old Compaq one - good quaility and tough as. I recently junked my old ergonimic keyboard for this new MS one. Its pretty nice but rather pricey. I had similar issues, to a point. Most of my problem was the shift/enter keys started to stick, but sometimes the damn thing would flake. I'd unplug the computer, unplug the keyboard and usually get it to behave for the next four hours or so. Sometimes the PC wouldn't pick it up on boot, I'd unplug and plug again, with the PC power off, of course.

b) Try the monitor in another outlet too. I've seen monitors behave oddly with inconsistent power. I had an LCD that would turn off after 20 or 30 seconds, which I sent back to the manufacturer (not power issue.) I've also seen the same behavior out of a PC that had a dying video card. If I were around I'd give you my GeForce 2 MX anyway, since its faster than your TNT2 M64,

7/10 times it will be the monitor, unfortunately, IME. Video cards tend to flake out in different ways, like screen artifacting and crashing under 3d apps.

Then again, this is an m64. Unfortunately I'm under the impression you only have one PC, which really eliminates the ability to test with known working parts.

Ace McCloud
Jul 16th, 2003, 02:30:35 AM
Originally posted by Marcus
Your being an idiot and completely unhelpful? Now if you dont have anything useful to add, shut up and let people who know what the hell they are doing solve the problem.


Unhelpful? Frell you, did you even bother to read the thread? I've been discussing it with her for 30 minutes trying to help. Dont be such an <smallfont color=#ff00ff>-butterfly-</smallfont> hole, theres no frelling reason for that. And I had one screwy post, B I G F R E L L I N G D E A L. Geez. You people need to take some chill pills.

Park Kraken
Jul 16th, 2003, 12:21:45 PM
You live in Bangladesh? Being in the field of meterology, I have heard of cyclones that kill some 250,000-to-500,000 people over there at a time. Anyways, with the computer, when your dad is away, smash it with whatever you can find, do the same thing to your keyboard, or...........No, wait, better yet, give it to someone who takes it away, and do the same thing to every electronic device in the house, tell Dad we were robbed, and you get a spanking awesome new system.

Morgan Evanar
Jul 16th, 2003, 01:57:28 PM
Anyways, with the computer, when your dad is away, smash it with whatever you can find, do the same thing to your keyboard, or...........No, wait, better yet, give it to someone who takes it away, and do the same thing to every electronic device in the house, tell Dad we were robbed, and you get a spanking awesome new system. A paragon of virtue and good advice, wrapped into one. :rolleyes

Seteth Morters
Jul 16th, 2003, 02:26:50 PM
id go for setting up the jeyboard in such a way that he thinks he's broken it, such as giving him coffee laced with sleeping pills so that he crashes out on the keyboard, and gets coffee all over it. You can supply more coffeee if one cup isnt enough to break it.

As for the monitor, I dunno.