Hi guys. I'm pretty much at my wits end. I got this refurbished Gateway computer a few months ago, and right away it had issues. For one thing, it would not turn on AT ALL..and I couldn't figure out why. Until I reinstalled the RAM. Then things were fine until recently.

Question/Problem:
The first few months were great..like any PC/human relationship, but then things went south. Now it shuts itself off automatically without warning. And I don't mean shutting down or giving me the BSOD. I could be doing anything really. It mostly happens when I'm surfing the web on Firefox. But when it's idle it doesn't shut off much.

Operating System, Version and Service Pack:
Windows XP Professional Service pack 2.
Intel
Pentium 4 CPU 2.80GHz
2.79 GHz, 1.98 GB RAM

Web Browser and Version:
Firefox 18..although I don't think this matters

Your level of experience:
between seasoned and expert

When did the problem start? Has it been going on constantly since then?
A few months ago. It's getting more frequent. At least 5 times per day. My computer can't be on for more than 3 hours until it shuts off..unless it's idle

Any steps you've taken to troubleshoot?
Yes, lots. virus scanning..turned up nothing. "last known good configuration"..nada. system restore..didn't do squat. reinstalled the RAM..nothing. letting it cool down..nope! updated the display driver..negative. i'm not sure what else i can do. i don't think reinstalling windows would do it.

If you are receiving an error message, please include the entire text of the message.: n/a

please...i beg of you..HELP!! :(

i have no idea what my mom does to her computer, and she expects me to fix her computer, when i don't have the knowledge to do these sort of things! she's using windows xp, and whenever she tries to use her computer, it asks to sign into her online connection. we have an wireless internet connection and i've tried all of them to no avail. this is what it's showing me: ( pictureCollapse )
any suggestions?

edit: i ended up reinstalling windows again and that fixed it, now i'm stuck with a horrible resoulation and the lowest color bit (4), despite downloading the drivers. next step? finding my mom a new computer! this one is ancient.

More of a problem with Firefox, but I didn't know where else to ask.

I'm running Windows XP Service pack 3, I'm having some very specific trouble with Firefox 12.0. I honestly don't know how long this has been going on but it's suddenly extremely irritating.
Basically it can't access any sites that are .gov, .edu, or in some cases job applications and .pdf documents. I'm certain that it's just my computer. I don't know wtf could be causing this, help? Thanks in advance.

Question/Problem: This morning, my computer wasn't starting. That is, it sprung on but the screen remained blank. I re-booted, and it worked fine for a few minutes, then re-booted itself (again the screen remained blank). This happened two or three times. I finally booted in safe mode and it runs fine. Next I tried a system restore. Now when I boot in "normal" mode, the desktop seems to have been wiped clean - no icons, no task bar, no nothing. I can only use it in safe mode, and then it seems to be stable. What can I do?

Operating System, Version and Service Pack: Windows XP SP 3.

Web Browser and Version: Firefox 3.6.21

Your level of experience: Completely clueless.

When did the problem start? Since this morning (about 12 hours now).

Any steps you've taken to troubleshoot? Virus scans (Avast, Malwarebytes, PC Housecall and Superantispyware - nothing was detected). Thoroughly vacuuming out the inside to eliminate dust. Next I did a system restore. Yeah, told you. Clueless. :|

If you are receiving an error message, please include the entire text of the message. (If you have an error log, please post it under a LJ-Cut): No error message.

Thank you in advance! :)

Hello, I've recently been dealing with computer trouble, and now that I'm past the worst of it, I've come to ask about something that's making me nutty: my display settings.


Problem in a nutshell: My programs (e.g. Internet Explorer, iTunes, Microsoft Word) don't seem to want to follow my designated screen resolution of 1024 by 768.

OS: Windows XP SP3

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This problem isn't dire, but it's MADDENING. If anyone has good ideas how to solve this, I would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

x-posting to computer_help

Hey guys,
I left my computer running overnight while it downloaded some movies through MegaManager. When I got up this morning, the computer was in a state of constant restarts. It would get to the desktop, the blue screen would flash for about a split second and then it would restart again.

I turned the computer off, left it for a while & turned it back on. It's running ok now, has been on for about half an hour. But I've lost the Windows XP theme (it's currently running Windows Classic) and whenever I try to open gmail, I get a security error page in Chrome that doesn't give me the option to proceed to my email despite the warning. However, in Firefox I get no such error.

Does anyone know what's up? I know how to get back the XP theme, but it all just seems rather odd.

Oh & the details;
I'm on Windows XP with service pack 3. Running both Chrome & Firefox, with Chrome as my main browser (both updated regularly). I'm an intermediate user and so far my trouble shooting as gone as far as googling to see if anyone else has had the same issue.

Thanks in advance for any help.

For a while, opera has been doing this very annoying "hanging" thing where it freezes while loading some pages, and then unfreezes while it's done loading. I'd like to know if anyone else has this problem and how to fix it, before I obliterate it from my computer or shoot my computer and my entire room with a machine gun.

I have the latest version, 10.60, Windows XP home. Thanks.