Computer Help

[BenDover]

the home PC has finally kicked the bucket after 7 years. Looking for a bit of advice on a replacement nothing too exceptional it is only used for general surfing and a few of the MS Office tools mainly word and excel, not much downloading or playing games. Had a look on ebuyer.co.uk (http://www.ebuyer.com/283001-extra-value-desktop-pc-7873-1046) about buying a tower and then installing windows 7 onto it.

My mum went to Currys looking a new PC and was told that she can have one for £389 inc a 20" monitor. There's a 19" monitor at home which I'm assuming will connect to a new Tower with no problems.

[Main Street]

You can also just buy the computer without the monitor from Currys.
Check out 'desktops', not the 'all in one'.

Is your 19" monitor a LCD?  It could be on its last legs as well?
Is your Mum just nosey or is she putting up some of the cash?
What do you want to pay? how much money is on the table for this?

The £190 affair is using a dog slow processor.
Even if you don't use a computer for much, buy a bit better than that

[BenDover]

She'll be buying it I'm just trying to give her some advice on what to buy, the monitor is LCD. She seemed happy enough forking out the £390 or so that currys were asking for a PC though I'm not sure what the technical info is on that I'll try to find out later.

[Main Street]

The better advice is go for newer stock.
This one here I think is better as they are getting in computers with updated components for the christmas.
These ones have the i3 processor

£350 for the tower and the option of a Samsung 20" for a £100
http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/hp-pavilion-p6-2010uk-desktop-pc-black-11264361-pdt.html

This one, same price,  has smaller a HD but an extra bit of memory
http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/lenovo-h420-desktop-pc-11290847-pdt.html

screen option for £85

[tbrick18]

the home PC has finally kicked the bucket after 7 years. Looking for a bit of advice on a replacement nothing too exceptional it is only used for general surfing and a few of the MS Office tools mainly word and excel, not much downloading or playing games. Had a look on ebuyer.co.uk (http://www.ebuyer.com/283001-extra-value-desktop-pc-7873-1046) about buying a tower and then installing windows 7 onto it.

My mum went to Currys looking a new PC and was told that she can have one for £389 inc a 20" monitor. There's a 19" monitor at home which I'm assuming will connect to a new Tower with no problems.

If you only do some browsing and some word processing, why not go for a netbook instead of a pc? You can do all your word processing, excel type stuff on Google Apps/Zoho which means you do all that on the web too requiring less software to be installed on your pc.
Just an option....would be cheaper than buying a pc anyway.
My personal opinion is you dont need a high powered pc for simple web browsing and word processing, but if you go into currys or pcworld they'll baffle you with jargon on processors, RAM, HD space etc etc, so that you think you need to buy the top of the range.  I would look at what I'd be using it for, and then buying something that will fulfill that need rather than buying top of the range with all the latest components. I know a lot of people disagree with this and say you need to buy the latest for longevity and all that, but I  that's my opinion anyway.

[Main Street]

the home PC has finally kicked the bucket after 7 years. Looking for a bit of advice on a replacement nothing too exceptional it is only used for general surfing and a few of the MS Office tools mainly word and excel, not much downloading or playing games. Had a look on ebuyer.co.uk (http://www.ebuyer.com/283001-extra-value-desktop-pc-7873-1046) about buying a tower and then installing windows 7 onto it.

My mum went to Currys looking a new PC and was told that she can have one for £389 inc a 20" monitor. There's a 19" monitor at home which I'm assuming will connect to a new Tower with no problems.

If you only do some browsing and some word processing, why not go for a netbook instead of a pc? You can do all your word processing, excel type stuff on Google Apps/Zoho which means you do all that on the web too requiring less software to be installed on your pc.
Just an option....would be cheaper than buying a pc anyway.
My personal opinion is you dont need a high powered pc for simple web browsing and word processing, but if you go into currys or pcworld they'll baffle you with jargon on processors, RAM, HD space etc etc, so that you think you need to buy the top of the range.  I would look at what I'd be using it for, and then buying something that will fulfill that need rather than buying top of the range with all the latest components. I know a lot of people disagree with this and say you need to buy the latest for longevity and all that, but I  that's my opinion anyway.

Curry's don't appear to be successful in trying to sell the top of the range in this instance but what they are doing is tying to sell off years old stock.
So why not get the newer stock for a similar price, which will still retain basic function after 5 years?
Even using web browser software consumes processor power and memory. And the likelihood is that those demands will increase. Software updates do not progress along a path of minimalistic use of computing resources.
A netbook is not satisfactory for home use as compared to desktop functionality.

[BenDover]

i put the option of a laptop/netbook to her and she was having none of it lol "I need to print stuff out etc" was the line I got think its her mindset as well as her PC that needs changing, thanks for the advice MS I'll let her see the 2 links and see what she thinks

[gawa316]

The last few days when i search anything it redirects me to monstermarketplace or variable. Anyone know how to get rid of this or fix the problem?

[amallon]

Get MalwareBytes on the job.  If you are a more advanced user download comboxfix from bleeping computer.  Depending on which AntiVirus you have installed Combofix might throw a load of warnings but ignore these.

If you want to fix the problem manually do the following:

If you browse to c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc there should be a file called hosts   If you don't see the file then System files are hidden, so go to tools folder options and go to the View tab.  Tick Show Hidden Files and Folders, Untick Hide Protected System Files.  If you can see hosts Open it and check if there are a whole load of websites listed in there.  I have posted a sample hosts file below if you have more than this then you need to clean it.  To edit it click on hosts and select properties and remove the read-only attib.  Click Start, Programs, Accessories and right click on Notepad, click Run As and select Administrator.  Browse to c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc and open the hosts file.  Delete all the entries and leave the file looking like

# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
# For example:
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
127.0.0.1 localhost

Save the hosts file.
Click start programs, acessories, and find command prompt, right click it and select Run As and select Administrator
Type the command nbtstat -R

Open Control Panel and Internet Options
On the connections tab click Lan Settings
Make sure Use a Proxy Server is Unticked
Go to the advanced tab and click the Reset button

[Gaffer]

Is there a device where you can show your computer screen on your TV  screen?

Someone mentioned someting about a wireless device you can buy but I can't track down anything anywhere.

[Ulick]

Is there a device where you can show your computer screen on your TV  screen?

Someone mentioned someting about a wireless device you can buy but I can't track down anything anywhere.

Yeah, its called a cable. You plug one end into the computer and the other end into the tv.

[amallon]

Some TV's have a VGA input and can be linked to your PC in just the same way a monitor can.

If you want to watch downloaded movies on your tv you go setup Windows Media centre on your PC and use an XBox to stream to the TV. 

If you want to see the PC desktop on the TV then these look like they might do they job
EZAir - http://www.amazon.co.uk/EZAir-Wireless-EZVIEW-Ready-Transmitter/dp/B004RG6Z16/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1319276718&sr=8-11  £109
KanaaN PC VGA to TV Composite Video http://www.amazon.co.uk/KanaaN-Composite-Video-Converter-3-5mm/dp/B003U0PHC8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1319276718&sr=8-2 £15

[Gaffer]

Is there a device where you can show your computer screen on your TV  screen?

Someone mentioned someting about a wireless device you can buy but I can't track down anything anywhere.

Yeah, its called a cable. You plug one end into the computer and the other end into the tv.

Where would I get a wireless cable, Ulick? 

Thanks amallon. That's what I'm after.

[Ulick]

Wireless desktop streaming?    Remember to come back and let us know how you got on with that.

[Gaffer]

Wireless desktop streaming?    Remember to come back and let us know how you got on with that.

Ah, but  I never mentioned desktop at all. You see, it was for my laptop that I wanted it for and the device caters for that which is why I would be interested in it.

Read product description below....


"Ideal for both home and office, EZVIEW by EZAir Wireless allows you to take whatever you see on your laptop or PC and view it on a large screen HDTV or projector. Boasting wireless connectivity with no latency, EZVIEW eliminates wire clutter and cable limitations while providing owners with the highest quality in-room picture and sound. Whether you're viewing content such as downloaded movies, Eurosport Player, YouTube, LoveFilm, and personal photos, or whether you're using it at work to show presentations, powerpoints, and documents, or just plain surfing the web on your sofa, EZVIEW is a simple and affordable solution to your connectivity needs...and it's all done Wirelessly."