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Post by DangOlJimmyITellYouWhat on Jul 29, 2018 19:07:44 GMT -5
Ok my dad gave me an OLD laptop - it’s Vista ffs-because I want to be able to do my Udemy classes from the couch rather than at the desktop in that crappy chair, jacking up my back even more. Literally all I need it for is the internets.
Guess what’s not working?
It shows connected to my home wifi. If I open Explorer, it doesn’t go to my current home page, BUT if I manually type in Gmail or Google or anything, it takes me to a search results page, like it’s working fine. However, if I click a link, it does nothing, & if I right click open in new tab, I get ye olde Internet Explorer cannot display webpage error. System restore did nothing.
I haven’t connected directly to the modem yet, because my modem is an asshole & any change causes it to kinda freak out & I have to set it all up again, so I’ll try from work tomorrow. In the meantime, I thought I’d see if youse guys have any ideas.
It’s an HP Pavilion TX1000 Notebook, Vista service pack 2. Any ideas? I just want internet, y’all.
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fab
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Post by fab on Jul 30, 2018 8:21:44 GMT -5
has the browser been hijacked by malware? that can also get into the system and screw with any attempts to use the internet. my go to recommendation is to... not use Internet Explorer. especially whatever godforsaken version you're stuck with on Vista.  you can load a bunch of tools with a few clicks using Ninite (www.ninite.com). I'd recommend a MalwareBytes scan if you suspect it's jacking your search results. toss an alternate browser in there (such as Chrome -- I use Google for my email so I don't really give a shit about them skimming my history), and if that works, well... IE's messed up. |
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Crash Test Dumbass
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ffc what now
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Post by Crash Test Dumbass on Jul 30, 2018 9:35:59 GMT -5
Seconding fab , I'd wonder about malware. I would say to install malwarebytes and a couple of anti-virus programs on a flash drive from a clean computer and run those on the laptop; maybe grab Firefox or Chrome and put them on the flash drive too. |
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fab
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Post by fab on Jul 30, 2018 9:41:36 GMT -5
you can also use a recovery CD to run anti-malware tools from outside of Windows. (due to its complexity and backwards compatibility, Windows is chock full of security risks and holes.) I like Avira's recovery disc. you'll have to burn that to a CD though, and scans can take many hours. |
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Post by DangOlJimmyITellYouWhat on Jul 30, 2018 15:42:14 GMT -5
has the browser been hijacked by malware? that can also get into the system and screw with any attempts to use the internet. my go to recommendation is to... not use Internet Explorer. especially whatever godforsaken version you're stuck with on Vista. you can load a bunch of tools with a few clicks using Ninite (www.ninite.com). I'd recommend a MalwareBytes scan if you suspect it's jacking your search results. toss an alternate browser in there (such as Chrome -- I use Google for my email so I don't really give a shit about them skimming my history), and if that works, well... IE's messed up. lol the very first thing I tried to do was download Firefox & that’s when I realized I couldn’t get my internet. I ran scans with whatever’s on there ( I don’t remember right this second) & it came up clean. I’ll have to put Malwarebytes on a flash drive; I’m sure I have one around somewhere. |
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Post by DangOlJimmyITellYouWhat on Jul 30, 2018 15:43:57 GMT -5
Seconding fab , I'd wonder about malware. I would say to install malwarebytes and a couple of anti-virus programs on a flash drive from a clean computer and run those on the laptop; maybe grab Firefox or Chrome and put them on the flash drive too. I’m also going to get a wifi dongle & see if that helps at all; they’re pretty cheap on Amazon. |
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Post by Floyd D Barber on Jul 31, 2018 23:52:01 GMT -5
If you feel comfortable doing so, you might want to check the network settings on the network card or WiFi adapter, in case someone has them set to a static IP address. You want it set up for DHCP for home use. I copied this, but I think its accurate.
Setting Up Wireless Ethernet click Start, select Control Panel. Select Classic View from the menu of the left and then double-click on the Network and Sharing Center item. Select Manage network connections from the menu on the left. Right-click on the Wireless Network Connection item and then select Connect/Disconnect. A list of wireless access points appears. Select your WiFi connection and then click Connect.
Configure for DHCP
The default configuration that comes with the Operating System is the correct configuration for DHCP. To check this:
Click Start then Control Panel. Select Classic View from the menu of the left and then double-click on the Network and Sharing Center item.
Select Manage network connections from the menu on the left. Right-click on the Local Area Connection item and then select Properties.
Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and select Properties. Verify that under the General tab, Obtain an IP address automatically and Obtain DNS server address automatically are selected. If not, then check those settings.
Setting up a wired connection is basically the same, just select the Ethernet card settings instead of wireless adapter settings. (copied from a different source, so the wording is a little different)
Click on Start and select Control Panel; Depending on your View (Classic or Control Panel Home), either Open Network and Sharing Center (Classic View) or View network status and tasks under the Network and Internet category (Control Panel Home);
Pick Manage network connections from the menu on the right;
In the LAN or High-Speed Internet section, identify the Local Area Connection referring to your network controller (its name may differ from computer model to model), right-click on it and choose Properties (be sure to click Continue in case the UAC – User Access Control – message pops up).
Please Note: many adapters/controllers are generically named Local Area Connection. Under the same name, for example, you may find as well the Cisco Systems VPN Adapter or the 1394 Network Adapter. The settings of those adapters/controllers should NOT be changed!
Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)then click Properties;
Configure as follows:
Obtain an IP address automatically = checked
Obtain DNS server address automatically = checked
It isn't as complicated as they make it sound. Good Luck!
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Post by DangOlJimmyITellYouWhat on Aug 1, 2018 9:39:27 GMT -5
If you feel comfortable doing so, you might want to check the network settings on the network card or WiFi adapter, in case someone has them set to a static IP address. You want it set up for DHCP for home use.
Ok, cool, I'll try it. Thanks! |
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fab
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Post by fab on Aug 7, 2018 6:53:23 GMT -5
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Post by DangOlJimmyITellYouWhat on Aug 7, 2018 12:15:32 GMT -5
NOT GREAT, BOB.
I did Floyd's thing, and it was all already set up okay. I ran...AVG maybe? That was so many days ago I don't remember  and came up clean I put Avira on a flash drive (because I didn't have any CDs big enough), and the machine refused to boot from the flash drive, no matter what I did in BIOS I searched randomly on the internet and tried some stuff that did not work I could not run Malware Bytes because Vista and was growing too annoyed to go search for a Vista compatible one
Then I got frustrated and angry and have ignored the machine for several days and I'm thinking I may just wipe it and put Ubuntu on it for fun (even though it probably won't fix the problem).
And also to show it who's boss.
Thank you guys for all your suggestions, though!
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fab
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Post by fab on Aug 7, 2018 14:49:45 GMT -5
re: being unable to run stuff on older OS, the website Old Version is your friend here! here you go: www.oldversion.com/windows/malwarebytes/if you have an older laptop, it probably can't boot from USB. tons of motherboards are dodgy with that stuff. try running Ubuntu from a LiveCD environment first. I've found shit randomly breaks when upgrading major versions and I'm not Linux savvy enough to know (or care) why a useful feature has suddenly broken for no apparent reason. (e.g. laptop brightness setting will default to something ridiculously low, or the bespoke function keys which used to work no longer do, blahblahblah) depending on how old it is, you may want to use something more modest. not sure if Xubuntu cuts the mustard. Linux Mint was pretty easy to use, but Ubuntu and various Debian flavours seem to have really good software compatibility without too much faffing around required. |
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Post by DangOlJimmyITellYouWhat on Aug 8, 2018 9:56:52 GMT -5
re: being unable to run stuff on older OS, the website Old Version is your friend here! here you go: www.oldversion.com/windows/malwarebytes/if you have an older laptop, it probably can't boot from USB. tons of motherboards are dodgy with that stuff. try running Ubuntu from a LiveCD environment first. I've found shit randomly breaks when upgrading major versions and I'm not Linux savvy enough to know (or care) why a useful feature has suddenly broken for no apparent reason. (e.g. laptop brightness setting will default to something ridiculously low, or the bespoke function keys which used to work no longer do, blahblahblah) depending on how old it is, you may want to use something more modest. not sure if Xubuntu cuts the mustard. Linux Mint was pretty easy to use, but Ubuntu and various Debian flavours seem to have really good software compatibility without too much faffing around required. Good to know!
A friend has just loaned me a Chromebook she wasn't using, and it works beautifully so far, so now this machine is a lower priority. But I will keep all this in mind when I go to tweaking the other one. Thank you so much for your help! |
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and came up clean