Computer question, no DC content?

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giggler

Sous Chef
Joined
Dec 4, 2007
Messages
715
Location
Austin, TX.
Is it Ok to ask a general computer question here that has no DC content..

or do I need to find a (hopefully as friendly and knowledgable) forum other than this one..

Eric, Austin Tx.
 
Is it Ok to ask a general computer question here that has no DC content..

or do I need to find a (hopefully as friendly and knowledgable) forum other than this one..

Eric, Austin Tx.

Go ahead and ask. If no one knows the answer, I'll make one up for you.
 
That's why this is called "off topic". You'd be amazed at how much advice I've gotten that had nothing to do with food here. If there isn't a reader who is an expert in the area, someone will direct you to a site that is appropriate for your questions.
 
Awright, I'm Telling My Mom on y'all about the bacon..

but seriously ,

My elderly Mom, early 80's, lives in a very small town outside of Austin Tx.

a few years ago I gave her my old computer when I upgraded.. her's is about a 2005 model runing XP that was pretty good at the time..

she gets cable tv. but not HD, and my cell phone barely works when I am there..

she has taken to this computer like a Duck on Water, loves to e-mail me and her friends, and also (Shockingly) plays Video Poker and Slots!

but when you try to Surf, it seems that the load of Dancing Kitties ads and stuff seem to Overwelm her conection Baud Rate... (do we still use the term Baud Rate?)

I've turned on Pop Up blocker on her Firefox browser, tried stopping Java Script, ( though that really ruins the whole Browsing Experience)..

do I need to buy here a newer computer with more memory?

Thanks, Eric Austin Tx.
 
good that she's using Firefox - check for AdBlockPlus - that's very effective at killing the dancing pigs.

>>baud
no, with broadband it's bits per second (bps) or kbps or mbps (multipliers.....)

as for overall speed, the "promised" service speeds is the first issue
next is possible physical connection problems from the pole to the computer
next is cable modem speed
and if it's wireless, there's (old) 10 mbps and (new) 50 mbps varieties - but frankly other than downloading feature length movies, this is not likely an issue for simple stuff like email and surfing.

"the slows" - but not related to dancing pigs - can also result from viri and malware.
hopefully she has a good anti-virus active, the XP firewall is entirely adequate.
MalwareBytes and Spybot are two free for personal use and highly regarded 'checker programs'

but more RAM or faster processor is not going to solve the issue of the dancing pigs. even ancient computers can "run" ten to twenty times faster than the internet delivers.

edit: oh, forgot to add - do research those on-line games she's using. not all of them have sparkling reputations . . .
 
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A screen saver can slow things down quite a bit. If she uses one, try having her use it with it off and see if that doesn't speed things up. It did for me when I was using a slideshow of photos as my screensaver. Now I just use a wallpaper image that looks nice in my living room.

dcsaute is right about AdBlockPlus. If I do see an ad, I can block it easily and it won't bother me again.
 
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A screen saver can slow things down quite a bit. If she uses one, try having her use it with it off and see if that doesn't speed things up. It did for me when I was using a slideshow of photos as my screensaver. Now I just use a wallpaper image that looks nice in my living room.

dcsaute is right about AdBlockPlus. If I do see an ad, I can block it easily and it won't bother me again.

I'm going to have to see if that's available for IE.
Yes, I'm still using IE :rolleyes:

The ads I mentioned a few weeks back, just on this site and encroaching on my screen, have started cropping up as videos playing in front of the topics :mad: And some of the ads in general are quite offensive.

I've been trying to nail down a pattern so I can report it, but they are very haphazard on what I click on and when they appear.
 
Ad block plus is a Firefox add-on. Don't know if there is an IE equivalent.

Fred, you should really reconsider switching to Firefox.
 
You're right, Andy. These pop ups have got to go.
I'd just feel much more comfortable changing my internet browser if I was having this problem everywhere, instead of just here. Like I said before, Discuss Cooking must have some pretty nasty ad stuff. It's gettin'past my filters anyway.
 
Have her delete cookies and cache.
Delete temp files
Download (free) and run malwarebytes and remove anything that they recommend

It sounds like she may have some tracking cookies that need to be removed or maybe some malware.

Finally tell her to be careful - video poker sites are often infested with computer cooties and a predictable way to lose money :)
 
No IE equivalent. Back when we still had IE7, there was IE7pro which was pretty good with lots of features including an ad blocker, but it's no longer available for IE (I think).

I have to use the new version of Internet Explorer for email only, because Firefox 4 does not support Yahoo where I have my email account, and I hate the ads. I use Firefox for everything else.
 
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pacanis, what you are experiencing might be an effect from ads that run their script if you simply run you mouse over them. you don't have to click on them to have their ad run on top of everything.
 
I will see if that is the case, BT.
They typically appear right after I click on something, such as New Posts or on a thread, so if what you say is the case, the ad must appear on the next page under where my mouse last was. I'll have to click and scoot, lol.

Sorry for the semi-hijack, but it's kind of similar in nature to the OT. Mysterious ads appearing.
 
Not really a hijack, Pac. Ad control has been a constant complaint. I'm sure any discussions will help the OP, or if not her, others.
 
Surprisingly, both the video pop up and offensive (to me) ads haven't shown up all morning. How nice!
 
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