Hi Icehouse, still doing well I see. ;)

I tried holding the power button down a couple of times this morning and it didn't work. I left it alone for an hour and when I came back I was able to restart it. I don't know exactly what I did but tried to shut it all the way down and then restart. It still had lights flashing on the bottom (where the battery light is) with a dark screen so I don't think it shut down all the way when it died?

Its Windows 7 and no, I don't have dreaded Dial Up anymore. I have Centurylink with my phone, I don't know if that is nation wide and sometimes I think they slow it down during busy times.

I think I might have a virus or some kind of malware too but Avast and Malwarebytes don't find it. It was running fine until I accidentally hit the free trial of paid Avast instead of the update. I started having problems after it reverted back to free version and I wonder if they did that on purpose.

I don't know if its related but I have to block fbstatic-a.akamaind.net and s.ytimg.com in Flash player all the time, I know the former is FB stuff. At first I just had those but they have been bringing their friends lately and I get a bunch of junk.

thanks
judi an icon for helping me with computer stuff :Thats-Funneh:

If it were me I would be un-installing ALL the virus software on that thing and then install one of them properly and just be careful of future button pushing. :)

I could manage the Flash Player but not the whole mess. I can however let the

little computer guys have a go at it.

I shall attempt to refrain from indiscriminate button pushing in the future.

Thanks Icehouse, and Lara and Jo too.

judi: :mf_swordfight: (computer battles)

For the error and firmware this might be helpful-
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/96...-graphics-card

Physical problems, mental issues, health tips, recipes and even tech advice! Is this the best Community anywhere?

Dave.

OOOOO..the Black Screen Of Death. :D You know I like that one. I looked at a lot of the posts and several seemed to be Windows 7. I wish I could do what they suggest to check each component but it is too complicated for me at this stage. I think I may have caused it myself by trying to turn it off however my keyboard has been freezing up once in awhile and that was mentioned too. I did some kind of a Windows/Microsoft scan not long ago and it said it was all working but not sure what it scanned, I think drivers were mentioned.

I am having transportation and mobility problems and its hard for me to get it in right now but guess I will have to bite the bullet and do it at some point.

Thanks again, even if I can't fix it by posting I always learn something to better define it and it helps.

judi

judi, do you have the black screen now?

I'd probably re install. Can you get to safe mode or just nothing now?

No, its fine now. It slowly came back to life yesterday. Its running pretty well now, for some reason it is better in the afternoon.

Do you mean reinstall Windows, etc? I would have to buy a dvd and they would probably work on it cheaper. They said they gave a repair discount on the used ones they sold, I doubt they would reinstall everything cheaply though and I don't know how well they could remover the cooties.

If their prices are the same I could almost get another laptop for the price of a Windows dvd but they may have gone up.

thanks,
judi

If the code is on the computer -laptop might have it on a sticker underneath??
my refurbished/used ones all had the code sticker on the bottom..

If it has that code , all you need is a windows cd from a friend to reinstall then enter the code on your sticker. Perhaps the place you bought it from will give you a copy..you don't need to buy a new windows cd/DVD.

but often there is a restore section on the hard drive, and you are supposed to burn a disk of that before the system has a problem..
I don't know if yours has that option or not..

When you buy a used or refurbished pc the seller usually has a generic copy of windows that they put on all machines, then enter the separate code for each machine to activate it...

Or if you have a large library or magazine book store that has computer books/magazines - some might have Linux Live cd inside to try......
all you do is put in the cd and reboot it will load and run from the dvd drive so you can test it to see if you like it..
rarely need anti virus software - the disk will find all your hardware and set it up.. rarely need to install any drivers like windows..
The only issue might be if using wireless , sometime the wifi card/chip is an oddball one so may not connect to wifi easily, but wired will work fine.

My Dell laptop had a problematic wifi chip/card so changed it out for an intel wifi chip and all works great..

My fav Linux is Mint Mate 17.1 newest version - long term support (LTS)
http://desktoplinuxreviews.com/linux...amon-and-mate/

Top Ten Distributions of Linux- info pages-
http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

There is a sticker that says Windows XP Professional and Dell under it with some numbers, I think that is the original sticker? I can't think of anyone with a disc, most of my friends are old and computer challenged too.

My sister has Ubuntu and she said she would set it up for me when she comes over next but I'm not sure when that will be. I do have Wifi so I might need a chip. Your Mint Mate looks better.

I must have some kind of malware, my searches aren't right, I am trying to research my wretched medication and Medscape, PubMed, etc aren't coming up like they should, its almost all popular sites.

I will look for a disc at the library.

thanks,
judi