Author: admin

Let me start by saying, this is not the only solution, as there may be different causes for this problem. In this post, I am talking about a specific issue:

Why do I have a “Flash Crash”? Because RealPlayer download button is enabled.

I’ve been banging my head against the wall recently with a mystery issue: my Flash Player kept crashing. I would go on re-installing flash, only to find out that it would crash again – sometimes within minutes of the reinstall. In addition, these crashes kept “freezing” my Firefox. Extremely annoying, as you can imagine.

I Googled this issue and found various ideas on what to do. Sadly, most of them still recommended reinstalling Flash and hope for the best. Then, when updating my IE browser at home and responding to simultaneous request to upgrade my Flash I saw it – the message straight from Adobe that explained it all:  Adobe Flash Player crashes when exiting a page that has SWF file content and the RealPlayer “browser download button” feature is enabled.

This crash could be the result of installing and enabling a RealPlayer browser download button. The RealPlayer browser download button feature changes the way Flash Player interacts with the browser, and is not a supported configuration for Flash Player. So, simply put, there is a clash between RealPlayer and Flash Player. I will not go into an argument as to why I have to be forced to do so (I would think the big boys should learn to play together), but since I never used that button anyway, and I have all kinds of other players to use for my media files, I chose to sacrifice the RealPlayer’s download button in my browser.

I followed the link in the Adobe pop-up window, and here it is:

A Solution:

Remove RealPlayer or disable the RealPlayer browser download button in your browser’s add-on preferences.

Here is a step-by-step on how you disable this RealPlayer Browser Download button:

Firefox

1. Choose Tools > Add-ons.
2. In the Add-ons window, select “Real Player Browser Record Plugin.”
3. Select either Disable (or Uninstall).
4. Close, then reopen your browser.

Internet Explorer

1. Choose Tools > Manage Add-ons.
2. Choose Enable or Disable Add-ons.
3. In the Add-ons window, select “Real Player Download and Record Plugin for Internet Explorer” (which I find to be an odd title – can Internet explorer add-ons window control other browsers? I should look into that.)
4. Click Disable in the settings area at the bottom of the window.
5. Close and then reopen the browser for this change to take effect.

Extra tip from my experience:It is important to check for this when upgrading to a new browser: I don’t think it keeps this setting automatically. I recently upgraded one of my browsers; the upgrade required a restart of my computer. Upon restart, Adobe informed be that a new version of Flash player is available. Once that install was complete, I had to go back to my freshly upgraded browser and disable the Real Player plugin to make sure my Flash performs. When upgrading, just double check.

I hope this helps you out!

Computer virus symptoms are a not cast in stone, but rather a moving target. Just like with the human viral conditions, they evolve through generations – which in computer technology terms may mean weeks or even days. Some symptoms may not necessarily mean an infection – for example, if you are sneezing, you do not necessarily have a flu, it may be just an allergy – which means different cause, and different treatment methods. Same with computers – if your system seems to be slower than usual, it may be a symptom of a virus, but it may also be a symptom of “program overload” – when you have too many programs running at once, and it crashes  your computer system’s performance.

With that in mind, let’s go over some of the most common symptoms that can alert you to the potential virus within your computer system, or even your computer network, presented here in no particular order.

1. Hardware Troubles – It’s Alive!

If sudden sounds of the CD-ROM tray opening completely out if its own will give you the heebie jeebies, I don’t blame you! If your hardware – computer, printer, etc. – started acting up on its own, without you requesting any action by means of keyboard or mouse, you are likely having a virus in your computer system. When you work on the computer, especially if you are performing some actions by using programs,your hard drive is expected to be making some noises.

If you are not doing anything, and your computer seems to be putting in extra effort and looks like it is communicating with 8th dimension completely by itself, consider an emergency antivirus scan.

2. No Response – Is Anyone Home?

We’ve all been there: working away, and then BAM – nothing happens! You can’t move your mouse, the keyboard does zilch, you go into panic mode “ouch, did I save that document I was writing for the past 2 hours?”…. (Now, in the voice of “desperate housewives narrator: “Yes. We all had the frozen iceberg for a computer before”). Lockup alone may not necessarily mean you have a virus – it could also be a symptom of a desperate need for a cleanup (we will be going over it in another article) – but if it presents itself in array of other symptoms, be on a lookout for a virus.

3. Slow Performance – Are We There yet?

If you notice that certain actions take much longer then usual, you should be concerned. As in the previous paragraphs – you must account for specifics of certain files and programs when making a judgment of the slow performance: one PDF document may take much longer time to open simply because it is of a much larger size, and it will not be indicative of the computer virus. However, keep in mind that some viruses can reproduce and multiply your files and overcrowd disk space, overloading disk usage. In another example, when you are browsing your documents folders and you notice that it takes – unusually – longer to browse from one folder to another, or if it takes more and more time to open the same program, you should be on a lookout for other computer virus symptoms.

4. Slow Startup – Easy doesn’t.

Another important symptom of a computer virus is a slow startup. Do not confuse it with wishful thinking. As a collective, we are impatient beings. Did you ever catch yourself pushing an elevator button, mumbling to yourself, “It must be the slowest elevator ever”? My point exactly! When considering the startup process – think of the typical (however slow you may feel it is) to the actual startup time. Does it seem to be much slower then usual? Does it seem to just sit there, and not even a blink or a squeak happens?

If it takes way too long, then it may be a symptom of a viral infection in your computer.

5. Crashing – Crash and Burn, Baby!

When your computer crashes spontaneously, be careful. After computer restarts, you may notice it does not seem to run normally. If it self-restarts frequently, every few minutes – beware of a virus. This symptom alone may indicate that your system is infected. If your computer crashed, best course of action – Do Not Resuscitate and call your IT support company.

6. Missing files – Gone With the Wind…

When you notice that applications on your computer do not work correctly, you may also notice some of your files are missing. That includes different types of files. Some may be the files that you created, such as images or documents you had saved on your drive. You may physically notice absence of those when you actually look for them and can’t seem to find them anywhere. As a result of computer virus infection your computer may also be missing system files. As a user, you may not know what they are and may not notice they are gone, however, if you are trying to use certain applications (browser, email client, document editor, etc.) sometimes those application will refuse to run properly and pop up a warning for you that “critical file is missing” – usually accompanied by the name of the file that is MIA – alerting you to a loss of some files.

7. Disks or Disk Drives Are Not Accessible – Who Ate My Porridge?

If you are loosing the network connection – or worse yet cannot connect to the USB drive you just plugged in, or you go to My Computer and only see one drive instead of your usual X number of drives, you may be in trouble. If you cannot connect to all, some of the drives or cannot access your CD-ROM, it may be one of the symptoms indicating your computer is infected.

8. Extra Files – Who Sat In My Chair?

You may visually notice extra pop ups and extra programs that seem to be running on your computer, especially on startup. You may notice (if you check for it) that your disk space suddenly quadrupled in size without you making 200 copies of your vacation photos folder on your C: drive.

9. Printer Issues – Is This Thing On?

If you cannot get your documents to print correctly, or cannot print at all, you may be dealing with a virus. First, rule out your printer not being turned on. Next, ensure it is connected to your network and is not offline. If it turned on and it is online (connected to your network), and you still have problems with printer, your computer system may have a virus and may affect not just your drive, but you network, as well.

10. Unusual Error Messages – Did You See That?

This may include gibberish messages, messages you hadn’t seem before, undesired ad messages and such. Special attention must be paid to messages that disguise themselves as anti-virus warning messages. They are designed to trick you into thinking that you are at risk, and must take action to protect your computer system. Sometimes that is how the virus introduces itself into the system, and sometimes it may already be in your system, and that is how it takes over it, making your more and more vulnerable, and doing further damage to your computer. Again, when you are in doubt, it is best to call professional computer support company.

[tweetthis]Top 10 Computer Virus Symptoms Checklist: from hardware troubles to unusual messages. #pcvirus #malware [/tweetthis]

In Conclusion

Remember, when your computer demonstrates symptoms of the computer virus, it is usually too late: you can just hope that damage that was done to your computer or the whole network is not irreversible.

So, here is what you can do to keep your computer system safe from viruses:

• Have a legitimate antivirus program installed on your system.
• Remember to renew your antivirus software on time – if it isn’t renewed, its not active.
• Make sure you are always up-to-date with latest virus definitions – if it is not up-to-date, it is useless.
• Ensure that your antivirus updates are running automatically – or as a minimum, make sure you install antivirus program updates as frequently as you can to make sure that your system has a defense line against most recent viruses, too.

Computer software, including antivirus programs, comes in such various shapes and forms, and are sized to fit different needs in terms of size and budget. If you are not sure about what you need or if you feel your network system has been compromised and your organization needs help with computer virus issues – consult with your trusted IT support adviser first.

So, your computer is running slow or  just keeps  hanging there? There are several things to be aware of when looking for reasons as to why your computer slows or freezes.

Before you look for any specific fixes for your computer troubles, consider age of your computer. If  your system is older than five years come to terms that it is likely the age of the computer that is causing it to be slow, and it may not be worth it to worry about “fixing” it. Computers evolve at an exponential rate, and new software and core updates for programs increase their minimum requirements for the computer systems. Older, non-compatible computers may not be able to catch up… Not to be funny… Not every grandpa is meant to outperform in a marathon, even if they try to stay in shape. If your computer is very old, we suggest retiring it, purchasing a new computer or just realize it is going to run slow even if slightly improved.

Reasons for potential causes of computer slowness and freezing

1. Your computer does not nave enough of free hard drive space
2. Your PC requires a memory upgrade
3. Your computer has been running for a long time without a reboot
4. Computer’s hard drive corrupted or fragmented
5. Too many applications running at the same time
6. Your computer is infected with a virus or malicious program (malware)
7. Fatal or not, hardware conflicts and outdated drivers
8. Your version of Windows (or other platform you may be using) or other software is out of date.
9. Computer or processor is overheating
10. Hardware Failure

How often do you feel frustrated with your computer acting up, being slow, freezing up? This list does not cover all the reasons, but when it comes to personal computers it should give you a head start on understanding what causes slow performance – specifically for Windows-based machines. You should get some useful tips (and we’ll use a common-sense approach when discussing them.)

Reason #1: Your computer was running for a long time without a reboot.

What is a Boot? What’s a Reboot? Is it the same process as a Start and Restart? There are lots of explanations, definitions, and plain nonsense. Some are great valid technical definitions hard to digest for someone not involved in IT. I’ll give you the super easy answers.

First of all, Boot and Reboot is the same as Start and Restart. Just more “technically inclined” of a phrase.

What it means to you, the User:

Boot/Start is when you turn your computer ON after it was off for a while.
Reboot/Restart is when your computer was already on, and you are manually choosing to reboot it again.

• Cold Reboot/Cold Restart is when you just plain push the Power button until computer turns completely off.
• Warm Reboot/Warm Restart is when you manually navigate to the Restart option from your taskbar.

What it means to your Computer:

Boot/Start process loads an operating system and starts the initial processes, from the powered-off state.

Reboot/Restart process is usually required after activities that affect functionality: installing, uninstalling, implementing Windows updates, etc. make changes to the PC’s registry and after reboot Windows runs the PC with the new registry entries. ( This is not necessarily the same as a Reset, in which case the BIOS data may not be reloaded.)

So, what’s the deal with slow computers?

It comes down to organizational skills and discipline. Consider this: very few of the software installations and updates do not require a restart, while others do – and often (Adobe, in particular, drives me a bit crazy with their updates.) Some of the changes require a force restart, while others just “request” a restart now versus a restart later. And let’s be honest, sometimes users like you and me brush it off because we are eager beavers – we have things to do, emails to send and want to save some time now, meaning to restart the computer later… And sometimes that “later” takes place A LOT later. In the meanwhile, there is some unfinished business going on within the PC, especially when multiple updates, patches, and ignored restart requests are being mounted on top of each other.

We have to remember that all of the activities mentioned earlier (installing, uninstalling, etc.) will benefit from a Reboot/Restart. It will make the PC to clear the cache, clear RAM (Random-Access Memory, a form of computer data storage your PC needs to operate properly), and force a new registry read, “tuning” your computer up a bit.

Practical Advice: Remember not to arbitrarily shut your computer off from the power source. Use cold reboot only if all else fails – improper shutdown is the main cause of disc corruption, and should not be commonly used. Perform a Warm Reboot – Go to Start > Turn Off your Computer > Restart. If you want to be super-sure, go to Start > Turn Off your Computer > Turn Off, and Boot computer manually after a reasonable period of time – 10-20 seconds.

Reason #2: Not Enough of Free Hard Drive Space

Free hard drive space is simply the amount of space on the hard drive that can be written to and thatisn’t in use. While free space is used to stores files and data, it also functions to allow swap file space and virtual memory required for the programs to operate, for example, while creating temporary files.

Practical Advice: Verify that there is at least 20% of free hard drive space, and increase, when possible.

• How to Determine Amount of Available hard drive space (Windows).
• How to Increase Free Space on Your Hard Disk (Microsoft Support)

Reason #3: Hard drive corrupted or fragmented

There are several causes for the hard drive to get corrupted. the most obvious being an improper shutdown. Many of us don’t take care of this fact and wonder what could go wrong with an improper shutdown. But the truth is that most of the time, the sole reason for corrupted hard drives continues to be a sudden switching off the power supply of the computer. Again, consider the situation, that you are having problems with one of your hard disks and there are chances that it is corrupted. Maybe the reason is a computer virus, but scanning a corrupted drive, can only further complicate the process of recovering the data later. Avoid scanning a corrupted computer hard drive. Let’s get into a little more detail. When we format our hard disk for the first time, we select one of the file allocation systems, FAT or NTFS. Of course, if you are using Linux, then you will be using ext1, ext2, ext3, etc. Let us consider that while formatting your hard disk, you had selected the FAT 32 format. The FAT (File Allocation Table) is nothing but a database that stores the respective address of each file in your system. A corrupted disk drive may simply mean that the FAT in your system has got corrupted and the computer processor is thus unable to access the files that you want.

Practical Advice: Diagnose and repair your hard drive. (Note, do not do it yourself if you are not familiar with the process described below. Ask a professional IT Tech to assist).

• Run ScanDisk or something equivalent to verify there is nothing physically wrong with the computer hard drive.
• Run Defrag to help ensure that data is arranged in the best possible order.

Reason #4: Too Many Background programs

Remove or disable any startup programs that automatically start each time the computer boots. If you have a security utility, malware and spyware protection program or an antivirus scanner on the computer, set it up not to scan your computer in the background. Often when these programs begin to scan the computer it can decrease the overall performance of your computer.

Practical Advice: To see what programs are running in the background and how much memory and CPU they are using open Task Manager. Establish a schedule to run your security and other programs that require scanning of your hard drive when you have the lowest activity on the computer.

Reason #5: Your computer is Infected with a Virus or Malware

If you suspect your PC has been infected , you need to scan your PC. Today, spyware and other malware are a big cause of many computer problems including a slow computer. Even if an antivirus scanner is installed on the computer we recommend running a malware scan on the computer.

Practical Advice: Try the free or trial versions of antivirus to scan your computer for malware.

Reason #6: Hardware conflicts and outdated drivers

A hardware conflict occurs when two devices try to use the same resource, such as an IRQ or memory address, producing an error. For example, if a hardware device in the computer shares the same IO port as another device that would result in a hardware conflict. In modern day hardware conflicts are less common because by using plug-n-play (PnP) manages each of the hardware devices installed in the computer for the user.

Practical Advice: Use your computer’s Device Manager to verify that your computer has no hardware conflicts and to troubleshoot, if necessary. If any exist resolve these issues as they could be the cause of your problem:

Step 1. Open the Device Manager, select System from the top of the list, and click Properties.

Step 2. From list of resources, you should be able to determine which ones are being used by which devices, and if there is a conflict, which devices are causing it. When you pinpoint the conflict , refer to the specific device’s manual for information on changing configuration to troubleshoot the conflict. If that resolves a problem, there is no need to go to next step, otherwise:

Step 3. Remove or disconnect all non-vital devices, such as sound card or CD-ROM from your computer, except for the one that isn’t working. If the device still doesn’t work, in may be plain broken or in the conflict is with a vital piece of hardware, for example, a motherboard.

Step 4. If problem is not resolved, it can also be a driver problem. If the driver is flawed or outdated it can interfere with computer communicating with a specific piece of hardware. In this case you may want to contact your computer/device manufacturer for a most recent drivers – most are available for a free download. Even when your older driver is not flawed, a newer driver can improve overall device performance.

If the problem seems to have been fixed, start adding devices one-by-one. Hopefully problem will not reappear; if it does, reconfigure that device so that the conflict is eliminated, as in step 2 above.

Reason #7: Your version of Windows (or any other platform you may be using) or other software is out of date.

• Make sure you have all the latest Windows updates installed in the computer.
• If you are on the Internet when your computer is slow also make sure all browser plugins are up-to-date.

Practical Advice: Link for Windows users – more information about Windows Update

Reason #8: Computer or processor is overheating

The processor is one of the most energy-intensive and literally hottest components. The electrical current constantly passing through the circuits of a CPU creates heat. ( The temperature of your CPU depends on the model and its usage.) Make sure your computer and processor are not overheating. Excessive heat can cause a significant decrease in computer performance some processors will even lower the speed of the processor automatically to help compensate for the heat related issues. The optimal temperature range of a CPU generally resides between 70 and 90 degrees Celsius in modern processors. The smaller the computer, the higher the temperature. Without a fan, some computers may suffer irreparable damage. Make sure your computer’s fan is not flawed, you can also add more fans in addition to your regular power-supply fan.

Practical Advice: Most motherboard manufacturers include CPU temperature-monitoring software. If you are not sure if you have one, contact your computer manufacturer.

Another reason for overheating on your computer, which can also cause a computer to overheat. Make sure your computer case is clean and fans are not obstructed.

Practical Advice: Use common sense when cleaning your computer

1. Turn computer off before cleaning
2. Never apply liquid or solvent liquid onto any computer component. If a spray is needed, spray the liquid onto a cloth and then use that cloth to gently rub down the component.
3. Use a vacuum to get rid of dirt and dust around the computer on the outside case.
4. Do not use a vacuum to clean inside of your computer. Vacuum generates static electricity. It can damage the internal components of your computer. You may also get hit by “static” charge from a generated back voltage. Instead, we recommend using compressed air.
5. When cleaning fans be careful when spraying compressed air into a fan, especially the smaller fans within a portable computer or laptop. Hold the fan to prevent it from spinning.
6. Watch out for turns, knobs, wires and plugs. Try not to touch or adjust them.

Reason #9: Your PC requires a Memory upgrade

If you’ve had your computer for more than one year it’s likely your computer is not meeting the memory requirements for today. Today, we suggest at a minimum the computer have 1GB of memory.

To determine an amount of available system resources, including memory, and performance/usage, open the Task Manager. In the Processes tab, you will be able to see what programs are using what resources. In the Performance tab, you will have can see an overall picture of all the system resources.

Practical Advice: Find out how much memory you have, then check your computer manufacturer’s website to determine whether there are open memory slots on the motherboard. Compare your current memory with the maximum. From here, you can:

1. Add new memory in open slots, if you have them or;
2. Replace the existing memory with new, greater capacity models.

Reason #10: Old computer

If your computer is older than 3 years come to terms that it is likely the age of the computer that is causing it to be slow. Computers progress at an alarming rate as new programs and updates for programs come out their minimum requirements increase and will cause older computers to slow down. If your computer is older than five years we suggest purchasing a new computer or just realize it is going to run slow because it is old.

Practical Advice: Buy a new computer – but consult with IT professional about buying a new PC BEFORE heading to the store.

Reason #11: Hardware Failure

Finally, if your computer continues to be slow after going over each of the above recommendations it’s possible that your computer is experiencing a more serious hardware related issue such as a failing component in the computer. This could be a failing or bad hard drive, CPU, RAM. In this case, it may be best and more cost effective to simply buy a new computer.