(no subject)

[gwynhefar]

Ok, so hopefully my computer problems are fixed. Although the Dell support guy didn't exactly fill me with confidence at first when he tried to suggest that the freezing was due to malware and send me to a fee-based malware support line. Not that it *couldn't* be malware, but I am usually pretty careful with my machine (I have a firewall, I run virusscan and Spybot frequently, etc.) and it seemed suspicious to me that I only had problems with freezing immediately after installing a new video card.

I managed to convince him to at least check the video drivers to make sure everything was working properly before I wasted my money on the malware support line, and when the computer froze in Safe Mode he finally admitted it might not be malware. So we uninstalled the video driver and then downloaded a new version from the website and installed that one.

So far it's been about an hour and a half with no freezing, which is longer than I got any other time since I first installed the new video card, so I've got my fingers crossed. I won't really consider the problem resolved until I make it a few days with no issues, but for now, things look good.

Comments

[harkalark.livejournal.com]

Cool. I hope it's okay now. My computer has been being kinda weird on me lately, and I really hope it's not time to buy a new one (I got this one in 2004) since I don't have the money for it. I mean sure, I'd love a new shiny, but I'd love to pay rent more.

[robertlyon.livejournal.com]

the best virus protction in my opinion is webroot.

[kaitouace2750.livejournal.com]

When it comes to the newest malware I've had some good experience with "Malwarebyte's Anti-Ware". Before I got my new computer I had a few infections that Spybot, Ad-Aware, etc. couldn't get rid of but Malwarebyte killed it no problem. Won't necessarily "swear" by it but it's one of the best freeware programs I've used (I believe you can pay for a more robust version but there is no real need if you use it for just virus scanning and the like).