Computer problem

[jttheclockman]

Once again a new computer problem has arisen. This just started about 3 or 4 days ago. I click on a web site, ones that have been doing for years such as this one, and sometimes I get the words site can not be found. This can happen any time of the day. Sometimes I can click off it and then click right back on it and it shows up. Has been happening quite frequently now.

Also sometimes I come to a site and again such as this and photos in people threads do not load and I get that blue box with some symbol in it. I can go to ebay and click on a subject matter and not all photos load on the page. Not sure if this is all related.

I am using windows XP 64 and I do realize it is not supported any more but this has not affected me in any way before now. I did a disc clean, defrag, malware scan, and virus scan and cleaned all infected items. Still having same problem.

Any suggestions?? Oh yes I am on dsl connection.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Leatherman1998]

What browser are you using?

 

[CREID]

There a few things to try. I don't know your habits but I have this problem from time to time and what I usually do is either close my browser ( because I never do and it get kinda clogged ) you could try clearing your cache and sometimes my computer itself (again because I never shut it down) I shut down and let it start up again and this actually solves a lot of memory problems. Personally I use Chrome as a browser because I got tired of having problems with Edge. I realize you are still using XP which should be ok, I have a laptop that still uses XP. I am now using 10. Just what I do when these things happens. I used to have a friend that constantly had internet problems and he would call me and I would tell him to turn off his computer and turn it back on and he would call me back and say I was a genius, at least about the tenth time and finally started doing it by himself Hope you get it fixed, I know computer problems can be taxing, especially with an older computer.

 

[Timbo]

Malware may have altered your browser in ways that your malware and virus programs cannot fix. Try uninstalling your browser, rebooting, then reinstalling.

 

[jttheclockman]

What browser are you using?

I am using Chrome. I at one time had Firefox but had too much trouble with it.

 

[jttheclockman]

There a few things to try. I don't know your habits but I have this problem from time to time and what I usually do is either close my browser ( because I never do and it get kinda clogged ) you could try clearing your cache and sometimes my computer itself (again because I never shut it down) I shut down and let it start up again and this actually solves a lot of memory problems. Personally I use Chrome as a browser because I got tired of having problems with Edge. I realize you are still using XP which should be ok, I have a laptop that still uses XP. I am now using 10. Just what I do when these things happens. I used to have a friend that constantly had internet problems and he would call me and I would tell him to turn off his computer and turn it back on and he would call me back and say I was a genius, at least about the tenth time and finally started doing it by himself Hope you get it fixed, I know computer problems can be taxing, especially with an older computer.

I shut my computer off every time I am done using it. I may put it back on 3 or 4 times a day or if I am away it won't get started for a day or 2. After i ran the Malwarebytes program I had to restart. I am doing nothing different than I have in the past. I do not like to mess with settings.

 

[jttheclockman]

Malware may have altered your browser in ways that your malware and virus programs cannot fix. Try uninstalling your browser, rebooting, then reinstalling.

How do I do this???

 

[jeff]

I'm not sure I'd uninstall. You may not be able to reinstall. Google has dropped support for XP. I found this out the other night when I was trying to install it on an older iMac running a similarly ancient OS.

You might get a message that says to upgrade your operating system or switch browsers.

Others may have better advice.

 

[jttheclockman]

I'm not sure I'd uninstall. You may not be able to reinstall. Google has dropped support for XP. I found this out the other night when I was trying to install it on an older iMac running a similarly ancient OS.

You might get a message that says to upgrade your operating system or switch browsers.

Others may have better advice.

You are a computer guy Jeff, have any suggestions as to what is happening???

 

[jeff]

Have you rebooted your DSL modem and (if you have one) your router? It sounds like a DNS problem, and the DSL proxy in consumer routers sometimes gets honked up.

Disconnect the power source for both, leave unplugged for about 10 sec, plug in the DSL modem and wait till its lights stabilize, then plug in your router and let it restart. Finally reboot your computer and see if that helps.

 

[jttheclockman]

Have you rebooted your DSL modem and (if you have one) your router? It sounds like a DNS problem, and the DSL proxy in consumer routers sometimes gets honked up.

Disconnect the power source for both, leave unplugged for about 10 sec, plug in the DSL modem and wait till its lights stabilize, then plug in your router and let it restart. Finally reboot your computer and see if that helps.

My man you are a genius. A genius I tell you. I am flying in an out of sites again. If we ever meet I owe you a beer. Now that one goes in the memory book. Thank you sir.

And thank you to all who took the time to read and try to help.

 

[Skie_M]

Is your connection being shared with ANYBODY else in the area? For example, streaming video or audio, downloading, or torrenting ... especially torrenting, can adversely affect everybody else sharing the same connection.

I've had issues where I'm downloading via bittorrent at 100kbps on a 1.5Mbps connection at McDonald's wifi, and THE RESTAURANT CANNOT PROCESS CREDIT CARDS AND NOBODY ELSE CAN GET ONLINE. This was a regular occurrence, back when I had no internet a few years ago ... so I'ld always make sure I went at non-peak hours and saw nobody using wifi in the place. Even if they could get online, things were not loading properly or pages wouldn't even respond ... connections dropped left and right.


Beyond that, making sure you have the latest video and audio drivers for your hardware is a good idea ... making sure you have the latest updates for your browser and operating system should be simple, even if XP is no longer fully supported ... and last, but not least, make sure you clean your registry and clear out your temporary internet files.

(Ccleaner happens to do both of those last things ... I like it.)

 

[CREID]

Glad you're flying around the Internet again.:biggrin:

 

[jttheclockman]

Glad you're flying around the Internet again.:biggrin:

Oh I am a happy camper again. I really believe things are faster. I can now go to sleep peacefully

 

[Skie_M]

Awesome ... glad to see you're a happy camper!

 

[jeff]

Have you rebooted your DSL modem and (if you have one) your router? It sounds like a DNS problem, and the DSL proxy in consumer routers sometimes gets honked up.

Disconnect the power source for both, leave unplugged for about 10 sec, plug in the DSL modem and wait till its lights stabilize, then plug in your router and let it restart. Finally reboot your computer and see if that helps.

My man you are a genius. A genius I tell you. I am flying in an out of sites again. If we ever meet I owe you a beer. Now that one goes in the memory book. Thank you sir.

And thank you to all who took the time to read and try to help.

Glad that helped!

 

[leehljp]

Have you rebooted your DSL modem and (if you have one) your router? It sounds like a DNS problem, and the DSL proxy in consumer routers sometimes gets honked up.

Disconnect the power source for both, leave unplugged for about 10 sec, plug in the DSL modem and wait till its lights stabilize, then plug in your router and let it restart. Finally reboot your computer and see if that helps.

My man you are a genius. A genius I tell you. I am flying in an out of sites again. If we ever meet I owe you a beer. Now that one goes in the memory book. Thank you sir.

And thank you to all who took the time to read and try to help.

And, this works for the rare, done everything, deleted and re-installed printer drivers but can't get the printer to print.

 

[jttheclockman]

OK I tried everything this morning and all is still good. I believe something must have been happening even before it got so bad because I can not believe the speed I am moving in and out of threads and web sites once again. I know it is not fios or cable fast but for me this is fast. I may have to do this just as maintenance thing in the future too.

It is funny you talk about copiers. Just about 4 days ago my copier stops working. I hear all the workings spinning and adjusting for color and paper and all that but an error shows up and I have to consult the manual. Well I try all the normal fixes. Nothing is working. So I hear this ping as if something let loose. So now I am peed off abit because I just spent money and good money on getting ink refills. So the mechanical me starts to take covers off and I try to find a simple problem when on the bottom of the copier I see a small nylon gear. That had to be the problem but now where did it come from. start the copier up and now I got covers off and I am watching everything moving and adjusting when I spotted a gear just spinning and doing nothing. Make a long story longer I find where this small gear goes and reinstall and back in business. I was happy then but am happier even more now. Replacing a copier is easier than a computer.

Thanks again Jeff and everyone else.

 

[Rick_G]

Glad Jeff's fix worked for you, I've had weird problems like that in the past and for some reason the lan settings had got changed to use a proxy server, changed them back to automatically detect settings and everything back to normal.

 

[JimB]

Glad you got it fixed. For many electronics, unplugging, not just turning off, can fix many problems. With our old router/wifi I would unplug them every couple months and I would notice a big improvement in computer performance.

Once had an older laptop that ran slow at times. Cleaning all the caches and stuff helped a little. I unplugged it and removed the battery. Put the battery back in and it ran great.

Same thing with our TV one time. It was doing weird things. On and off didn't fix it. I unplugged it and also unplugged everything that was connected to it. Plugged everything back in and it worked just the way it should.

 

[jttheclockman]

I guess I should have some sort of inkling to this because when I was still working in the field we use to run into funky problems many times working on electronic panel boards such as security and fire alarm systems and many times we would do a complete shut down and reboot and things just started working again. Not a computer person so this stuff gets past me but then I always have the intelligent people here. After that it goes to the shop. Did not want to miss anything here so we are happy. As I said it is filed in the memory banks for next time.