BeeCeeBee

Please try the same thing in IE7 if you have it so we can see if it is a general problem or a firefox issue.

Screensaver? I don't know what you mean. Also when you say the flag screen which screen do you mean? Is it the one where XP seems to be loading?

Ok there may be other issues but we need to see if you can get into the PC at all. Have you tried to boot into safe mode or try the "last good configuration" option. Just restart the pc and begin tapping on the F8 key when it starts to boot. If all goes well you should see this screen http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn266/FPCH/win2ksafemode2.jpg Just navigate through it suing the arrows and enter key. Try "last know good configuration" first and if that doesn't work then safe mode. Safe mode will look different, the sceen will have large icons and will not be set to your resolution. That is normal. Please try this and let us know how you make out and we will go from there.

I take it from your reply that ctrl + Alt + the arrow did not work. I do not know what keyboard you use but sometimes using the other ALT key will work. So if you tried the one on the left and it did not work then try the one on the right. (or vice versa) If you have a keyboard with a gr key try that instead of Alt along with ctrl.

I am really curious as to why you can only find the one restore point. It is clearly not disabled or you would have had none at all. What exactly were you doing in movie maker when these problems began?

You have probably managed to switch your keyboard language to English United States instead of UK. If you have a UK keybord are your @ and "keys reversed as well? What are the details of your printer and how old is it?

Hi Lallybags and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help! :) Just post your issues in the appropriate forum and we will try to speak as plainly as we can.

There is nothing to back this up but a gut reaction, but the one constant in all this is the keyboard that you have used both on its own and as a "hub" for the mouse. I would suggest that you try a different hard wired board as well. Preferably one that connects using a ps2 connector rather than usb. (not usb with an adapter)

Good decision, my experience is limited to servers with heavy heatsinks usually with a thermal compound already applied. I doubt there is much to choose from between major brands but lets get it right.

If you are planning on running out now to buy something I would go to a reputable shop and explain what you need (heatsink paste or compound) to be used in a laptop. Since this is not expensive stuff just go for the best. Then wait for someone here to tell you how to apply it in your case. Otherwise I would wait for Tootech, Dalo Harkin, DirtyPolo or a knowledgeable member to suggest a specific brand or quality.

Tootech is the expert here but I am pretty sure what he will say. You are going to need to apply some heatsink paste or the pad material that he mentioned. If there is no seal to keep heat escaping into the body of the laptop and onto your motherboard the likelihood of overheating is enormous. This is true no matter how tight the heatsink appears to be. This can be a far greater problem with a laptop since space is confined and excess heat not expelled by the fan has nowhere to go. Since there has been an overheating issue suspected from the beginning, this may either be the cause or, at least, a major contributor to the problem.

Thank you spools! Members helping members is what we are about. I have had a quick look at your links and the program looks, well.......Super. I am looking forward to caskin's input as well as that of other members.

Welcome back caskin! You can only download what the sending server is uploading. What you are looking for is software that will convert if after it is received and saved. I know that if you google you will find converters but I am not prepared to say which is best , safe etc. Perhaps others here will make recommendations.

Keep in mind that a speed test is nothing more than a snapshot. Failure to load a page one minute and then the same page is perfectly fine the next is an indication that the problem lies with the ISP or with the line. The length of the cable was a good thought but yours is not particularly long. We all wish we could find a solution that we can do for ourselves but, in the end, we are simply at the mercy of the providers.

Sorry I told you I was being lazy! Personally yes that is what I believe. If you want to go to the trouble or expense of trying a different router or connecting a different pc you may be able discover something else. But my guess is that the result would be the same.

Assuming there is nothing wrong with your hardware, and there is no reason to assume otherwise, there really isn't much you can do but keep checking at various times. I have always found speedtest.net to be pretty accurate and consistent with others. Have you noticed any difference if you connect by way of ethernet? Sorry if you have already been asked that. I am being lazy. If Tiscali is of no help your only hope may be to have your telephone line checked by BT or whoever the provider may be. As I indicated, your line attenuation is not great but should be able to provide speeds higher than what you are showing. But again, that is just one of several factors.

Welcome to FPCH, Spools! No problem with your 2 cents, if you really want to get involved feel free to go for the whole nickle.

Do you have the XP disks for this machine and if so what do they say on them? It seems to me that while you may have a heavily infected machine, you also have a serious hardware issue. You should be able to get to your bios (set up) screens. Your inability to do this suggests a motherboard failure. I will leave that to the Hardware experts as they come on line.

The first thing you need to do try to get into safe mode. This will allow you both to retrieve your files and, quite possibly, actually get things back into working order. Restart your laptop and as the very first screen is coming on tap, and keep tapping, on the F8 key. If all goes well you you will get a black screen with a number of choices available to you. Before anything else try selecting the "last known good configuration" option and then enter. If that does not result in a successful reboot, shut down by holding the power button and retry the same process but this time select Safe Mode. If you have never used safe mode before, the screen will look very odd with large icons and minimal colour. This is normal. Save your files to an external source and get back to us.

You never did indicate whether you tried connecting the mouse directly into a port on the PC. I take it you were connecting it to a port on your keyboard.

Welcome to FPCH, davo! We will be glad to help out where we can.

I just want to qualify one thing I said about upload speed. A slow upload speed will mainly go unnoticed while surfing the net except for the fact that when download is slowed, usually there is a corresponding slow down of both. Not always however. Where you will notice a slow upload is when you are sending email with attachments, filling in forms or uploading photos, basically any time that you are transferring any data "away" from your pc.

Have you checked the boot sequence in your bios? Also how new is this hard drive. When you go into the bios will you also check to make certain that the hard drive is being recognised?

Upload speed is nothing more than a measure of the time it takes for data to go from your computer to the server while download speed it the exact opposite. Both are dependent on many factors including the line quality, distance, amount of bandwidth being used in your service area etc. Upload speed will always be considerably slower than download speed. However, you will be hard pressed to notice that. When you are experiencing a slow connection it will be the download speed that you are noticing.

Ok Found it now. Can we please make sure we are defining all the issue. As I understand things, the PC boots up as far as your desktop whenever you start it up, correct? Most times you are unable to move the pointer with your mouse, but you can see the pointer, correct? About every other time that you boot your PC everything seems to work, correct? Do the keys seem to work for you? It you press the windows key will the start menu come up, or is that frozen too? When you say you get no noise do you mean NO noise at all or do the fans just seem to be just running quietly?