MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Any Computer Experts Out There?

Any Computer Experts Out There?

posted 4 years ago by BillHicksFan (10246)
36 replies | jump to latest

I would have posted this days ago, but I hate asking for help, but I've had the flu for almost 2 weeks, and my laptop is really screwed up, and it's kinda my life, especially during this quarantine and all this free time.

I've done all the scandisks, windows defender, anti-virus and it all comes clean. I've tried to do a Recovery, but it keeps failing, and its screwed up search settings and other things I'll hold off for another time. I've uninstalled programs, resets browsers, cache, cookies (so many password, ugh) defrag, optimize, disk cleanup.

It's odd how I can't play a song on winamp (it keeps freezing, sometimes for a short while, sometimes for a really long time where I have to restart), which takes no RAM, and the videos that I have on my desktop for example, yet... videos work much better on YouTube. It was always the other way around, because of my slow internet connection. I can't even play a simple game like Age of Empires II, which I've had for many years.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I don't have the resources (or even a debit card) to find some sophisticated program online, so if you know something, I'd be very thankful in this very stressing time for me. Thanks!

[–] Theman (1095) 4 years ago

I read on Yahoo a few days ago that there is a Windows virus going around.

[–] dmac8 (5050) 4 years ago

other than the audio/video thing, you haven't really described the problem. "Screwed up" isn't enough. Spell it out from the beginning.

[–] Quasimodo (16388) 4 years ago

First if you haven't already done so back up your data. Second how old is your laptop ?

[–] BillHicksFan (10246) 4 years ago

Barely over a year.
AMD A-9-9420; Radeon R5, 5 Computer Cores, 2c+3G... 3.00 GHz
64-bit, x-64 based processor

I have a few things backed up, but I don't have anything more than a thumb drive. I get a lot of "No Responding", and when it comes to music or videos (not online), it freezes up for a while, and then resume for a few seconds, sometimes for up to a minute. Same with a game I used to play. A few nights ago, I went about 5 minutes straight with no video interruptions (I use GOM player, and have tried others, no difference).

I've only had this laptop for a little over a year, and the Norton expired not too long ago, which is what I initially thought. I installed malwarbytes, did a scan - nothing.. I uninstalled and installed AVG - same thing. I've used the RUN command to get rid of worthless programs I couldn't uninstall simply with Control Panels ,but still no difference.

[–] Quasimodo (16388) 4 years ago

If you have data that you don't want to lose then I suggest you buy an external hard drive and back it up. Your laptop is probably out of warranty if you've had it for over a year but you could check and see, if you bought it new.

I am no expert but I've been assembling and maintaining my own desktop computers since the 1990's. If I have a fault I go on to Google and do a search describing the problem as precisely as I can and then read the results and try the remedies one by one. It is a painstaking and time consuming process but it usually works.

Your problem could be software related or hardware related it seems to me so it could be a pain to pin down. Anyway that's how I would go about trying to fix it.

If I am unable to fix the problem in that way then after having backed up my data I reformat my hard drive and reinstall the operating system etc.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

I would recommend installing something like Avast or another antivirus. Just watch out when you're installing any of those programs so you're not adding unnecessary add-ons to your web browser.

[–] BillHicksFan (10246) 4 years ago

Right, I think I'll do that now.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

And try VLC as your media player sometime. I kind of fell out love with Winamp a long while ago. But it's ultimately just a matter of choice.

[–] BillHicksFan (10246) 4 years ago

I tried that, no difference, but thanks.

[–] nyctc7 (41995) 4 years ago

What brand is it? I ask because with my Dell I can go to their website and run diagnostics on my computer, this is more comprehensive than scandisk.

[–] Mrmojo4700 (20766) 4 years ago

Don’t ask me. I don’t have any great skills like nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills or computer hacking skills.

[–] GlenEllyn (21241) 4 years ago

Sounds like your computer might be what I call "constipated." Frustrating because there's no explanation for it. Changed nothing, didn't download anything abnormal. It could be a Windows update that messed with things. (I'm currently struggling with an issue that causes my laptop to intermittently drop my wifi signal. I know it's something with my laptop because my Roku never falters during these episodes. VERY frustrating indeed.)

Have you tried AdwCleaner? It's free.
https://www.malwarebytes.com/adwcleaner/

Also CCleaner:
https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner
I use the free version. Watch yourself as you proceed to the download as they will try to divert your attention to a paid version. Run the Custom Clean from the left side menu. I also suggest running the Registry cleaner just below that.

[–] robocat893 (14359) 4 years ago

You should dump Winamp because it's known to be buggy. Instead install MusicBee. https://getmusicbee.com/ MusicBee is free and does everything Winamp does and more and you can customize MusicBee exactly how you want it. I used to use Winamp but it caused some of my other programs to not function properly until I uninstalled it. I hope this helps.

[–] kukuxu (5409) 4 years ago

MusicBee is a pain in the ass.

It's my favorite music player, and it's the one I use. And it's still a pain in the ass.

There's more simple, but far more user friendly options. I'd say AIMP, which is like Winamp on steroids, or Wynyl, which has a very well designed interface (MusicBee being as user friendly and well thought as Wynyl would be the perfect player).
http://www.aimp.ru
https://winyl-player.github.io

[–] robocat893 (14359) 4 years ago

I've been using MusicBee for years so I guess I'm used to it but I'll look at your suggestions. Thanks for the heads up.