Help, laptop V netbook ?

[ryan1835]

im a sucker for blackberry phones and would gladly trade my sony in for another one

[Zed]

im a sucker for blackberry phones and would gladly trade my sony in for another one

Ive always wanted a blackberry so will get corals galaxy when she gets her blackberry bold, although ive no real interest in phones as break them all in the end 

[N_N_R]

Okay.... I bought a netbook, it's about 6 days old....and it started freezing from the first day What the hell...... I asked whonot, everyone has a different opinion on what the reason might be. I read online that people have that problem,too. Checked if the antivirus is the problem, it doesn't seem to be. One guy said he had the same problem, then uninstalled some Intel thing, I did it and the netbook hadn't frozen for several hours, but now it did twice.

Basically everything freezes, you can't use ctrl/alt/del , everything is blocked. If a video's on, the sound turns into a constant... humm/distorted thing. It freezes randomly, it doesn't matter if I'm using only one instant messenger or several applications at a time. One of my friends keeps saying that Windows 7 Starter is a crappy OS and that's the reason. However, Ichecked online and it reads it can't be uninstalled %) That's on Microsoft's site.

SO..... WHAT the hell to do? It freezes randomly for 20-60 seconds. I wouldn't bother much, but I wanted to be able to work online with it and my work involves speaking to people for 2hrs non-stop daily. When the smurfing thing freezes, I feel awkward and embarrased.

I'm thinking of taking it to a PC Service Centre and asking if they could install the good old Windows XP on it... but then, what if this ISN"T the problem?

Tried to check what could be the process that makes it freeze using the taskbar manager, but none o the processes seems to take up much ... power. Then ran some online programmes by Microsoft which are supposed to fix errors, didn't help. Installed a Registry Cleaner, whcih did find many errors, fixed them... but now after several hours it froze again. Well, that's better as it used to freeze multiple times within just one hour...

It's an Asus netebook, 1GB ram.... Just... do you think the reason is the OS or what.... I hate that, the thing is brand new, what can go wrong that early??

[Zed]

Sorry to here about your netbook. Coral went for a blackberry play book in the end and she loves it,I'm actually using it today after my nightshirt and find it really good,lol here iam using a tablet and got my smart phone next to the bed I've actually entered the modern world  .   

[dks]

Take it back to the shop! I assume the netbook is new, so they should fix it. The more you do to it the more likely the shop people will blame you for the problems.

My netbook required a re-install of windows but that was after 3years, not 6 days.
Similar to yours (Acer), runs XP.
Maybe 7 is too much for 1Gb memory only.

[dks]

Next thing you know Zed you will move up from a Bycycle to one of them new Motorised horseless carriages... 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I doubt very much that it is Win7 Starter that is the problem.  I have two netbooks running Win7 Starter, one of which sees almost constant use and I don't recall either of them ever locking up.

I would take the netbook back to the store and exchange it for another one if I were you.

Def

[N_N_R]

Okay, thanks, guys.  : ( 

Today it's been freezing a lot less, i.e. something like twice for four hours, but it's still annoying

[GNandGS]

Any recent installs?  Updates?  External hardware change?

There can be a lot of reasons but without specific data (errors etc) or seeing in person its just guesswork.  Without digging through the thread I'm assuming this is a new system... if so, take advantage of any support options you have.  (As always) backup your data just before any service work - either at a shop or remote support as sometimes they like to restore the system if no obvious cause present. I doubt it came with a drive bay but likely has a restore partition.

Does the system seem hot?  Most cooling systems take in air from the bottom and a lot of folks like to place computers on pillows or beds or blankets.

[N_N_R]

Any recent installs?  Updates?  External hardware change?

There can be a lot of reasons but without specific data (errors etc) or seeing in person its just guesswork.  Without digging through the thread I'm assuming this is a new system... if so, take advantage of any support options you have.  (As always) backup your data just before any service work - either at a shop or remote support as sometimes they like to restore the system if no obvious cause present. I doubt it came with a drive bay but likely has a restore partition.

Does the system seem hot?  Most cooling systems take in air from the bottom and a lot of folks like to place computers on pillows or beds or blankets.

It started going it before I'd installed software, I had installed only qip2012 and Mozilla Firefox.. It doesn't get that hot, it's without a fan {at least it reads so} and without a CD drive. I {lace mine on a hard-cover book and then on my knees. I'll see how it works for another day or two and if it keeps doing that, I'll take it back to the shop ... Wise Registry Cleaner found about 350 issues which needed fixing yesterday. I wonder how there can be that many on a brandnew computer. With my previous laptop I've had no more than 200 after years of usage and no "cleaning"

[Zed]

Next thing you know Zed you will move up from a Bycycle to one of them new Motorised horseless carriages... 

now way thats the devils work     

[landwomble]

Okay.... I bought a netbook, it's about 6 days old....and it started freezing from the first day What the hell...... I asked whonot, everyone has a different opinion on what the reason might be. I read online that people have that problem,too. Checked if the antivirus is the problem, it doesn't seem to be. One guy said he had the same problem, then uninstalled some Intel thing, I did it and the netbook hadn't frozen for several hours, but now it did twice.

Basically everything freezes, you can't use ctrl/alt/del , everything is blocked. If a video's on, the sound turns into a constant... humm/distorted thing. It freezes randomly, it doesn't matter if I'm using only one instant messenger or several applications at a time. One of my friends keeps saying that Windows 7 Starter is a crappy OS and that's the reason. However, Ichecked online and it reads it can't be uninstalled %) That's on Microsoft's site.

SO..... WHAT the hell to do? It freezes randomly for 20-60 seconds. I wouldn't bother much, but I wanted to be able to work online with it and my work involves speaking to people for 2hrs non-stop daily. When the smurfing thing freezes, I feel awkward and embarrased.

I'm thinking of taking it to a PC Service Centre and asking if they could install the good old Windows XP on it... but then, what if this ISN"T the problem?

Tried to check what could be the process that makes it freeze using the taskbar manager, but none o the processes seems to take up much ... power. Then ran some online programmes by Microsoft which are supposed to fix errors, didn't help. Installed a Registry Cleaner, whcih did find many errors, fixed them... but now after several hours it froze again. Well, that's better as it used to freeze multiple times within just one hour...

It's an Asus netebook, 1GB ram.... Just... do you think the reason is the OS or what.... I hate that, the thing is brand new, what can go wrong that early??

1gb ram. That's your problem.. Return it and get a better spec pc.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

[N_N_R]

1gb ram. That's your problem.. Return it and get a better spec pc.

I have a friend with the same brand, but a different model of a netbook, with 1GB ram, but using XP. She's never had any problem with it.

[landwomble]

Blackberry doesn't have full access to the Android Market, plus I have my doubts as to how effective programs written for another operating system are.  Remember trying to run Microsoft programs on a Mac ten years ago?

I think the Blackberry is also a single core processor which means it's already outdated. Better to buy something current than to get something that is already obsolete.

Def

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

cheers Def, ill take a close look at all the options when we get to the shop, 

playbook vs nexus? Nexus is lovely, cutting edge hardware. Playbook is a dead end. Don't buy one.


Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

[landwomble]

1gb ram. That's your problem.. Return it and get a better spec pc.

I have a friend with the same brand, but a different model of a netbook, with 1GB ram, but using XP. She's never had any problem with it.

That's an observation but 1gb ram and a crappy cpu is going to give a horrible experience on any modern OS. given I can buy a reasonable spec laptop brand new for under 300 GBP, it really makes no sense to buy such a low spec machine... And you certainly can't ame the OS for sluggish performance on o e, particularly when dodgy "registry cleaners" etc have been used.
It might be worth trying a lighter weight AV if you currently have some fat resource hog like Norton installed I guess...

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

[N_N_R]

Hm... thanks 

[Zed]

Blackberry doesn't have full access to the Android Market, plus I have my doubts as to how effective programs written for another operating system are.  Remember trying to run Microsoft programs on a Mac ten years ago?

I think the Blackberry is also a single core processor which means it's already outdated. Better to buy something current than to get something that is already obsolete.

Def

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

cheers Def, ill take a close look at all the options when we get to the shop, 

playbook vs nexus? Nexus is lovely, cutting edge hardware. Playbook is a dead end. Don't buy one.


Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

In the end it boiled down to her money and what she wanted, personaly for a 13 year old and the the price they are now i think its fine but then im no techno wiz lol , 

[Sazabi]

N_N_R, I'd return the netbook as a defective unit, if I were you. :/

IIRC, isn't Win7 Starter just a fancified version of XP in a new skin?  While 1GB of RAM is a bit of a hit, especially with modern computing requirements, my CULV net/laptop has just 2GB of DDR2 ram and it runs extremely nicely, though I don't put it through any major hoops.

[landwomble]

N_N_R, I'd return the netbook as a defective unit, if I were you. :/

IIRC, isn't Win7 Starter just a fancified version of XP in a new skin?  While 1GB of RAM is a bit of a hit, especially with modern computing requirements, my CULV net/laptop has just 2GB of DDR2 ram and it runs extremely nicely, though I don't put it through any major hoops.

No. Starter edition limits number of open apps you can have at same time to 3.other wise, standard win7. Definitely not xp.
2gb is ok. 1gb is NOT.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

[GNandGS]

That and a few other bits... but the issues reported are not likely due to amount of ram.  Bad ram maybe.

You need to pursue the support options.  Warning: your "return" option if avail is likely a shorter window than the full warranty term. Some outlets give 1 week or maybe even 30 days but beyond that you have to "take it in" or send it to a service depot.  Exceptions are there but generally this is what to expect.

The longer you wait the more hassle it is.  Now if it were ME running the support for you and I had the details presented I would be restoring the system to NIB status and testing from there.  You probably shouldn't run registry cleaners unless familiar with what you are looking at or know how to config a safe scan OR how to undo.  That said, you should not have needed it!  Either your registry cleaner went rogue or your kids are installing stuff you don't know about.

[N_N_R]

Okay, took it to the Service Centre where they work with Asus Warranty, but htey said the problem was with some software that I'd installed, i.e. the antivirus programme and one instant messenger programme... so they had to repair something, I paid about $12.....  I hope the freakin thing will work now.


** Thanks for the support and ideas, everyone.

[dks]

For antivirus I use AVG on my netbook etc; no problems.

[N_N_R]

For antivirus I use AVG on my netbook etc; no problems.

THIS IS exactly what I had as an anti-vir. I suspect that those guys just took my money for nothing.... But as I'm not an expert at all at PCs, I can't argue or do whatsoever, but trust them..... I only hope that they DID fix the problem even if they lied about its "origin".

They said it was AVG and QIP that hindered some system performance... while I have friends who're much more competent at the PC stuff than me and they've never had problems with these.  I've had AVG and QIP on my other laptop for years as well... Oh well. I only hope it was fixxed.

[landwomble]

Seriously, 1GB on 7 (or xp for that matter), will never be a nice experience. Imagine buying a car that "worked" , but ran out of steam if you added a bag of shopping to the load carried...


Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

[GNandGS]

The issue with AV software is it can be buggy.  No perfect solutions, mileage may vary.  If you are shy for AVG now you can try others (I use MS sec essentials).

Keeping data backed up would be a good habit for the kids to start and if not removed from Starter ver, enable the system restore feature.

As for 1GB of Ram... once booted up it will be ok.  My suggestion here is not to get crazy with the number of browser tabs open.  Since the system cannot multitask the same as other versions the memory demands are usually less (based on user type) but you CAN try to multitask like a boss and drag performance down.

[N_N_R]

The most important thing for me is that it should be able to have three tabs open and one word file. This is what I need for my part-time job 2hrs a day. I have to talk to people, though, via their special site i.e. not Skype. Anyway. The freezing occurred regardless of how many applications I ran simultaneously. After yesterday's intervention of those guys from the Service Centre, the netbook froze only once for about 5 hours of work. If this is what it will be doing, I'm ready to forget about the problem...

As for AVG, last night I decided to search the internet and it seems that there are indeedd many people who complain about AVG. I was really surprised as I'd used it for years on my previous laptp.

[GNandGS]

Antivirus programs are tricky to recommend as "what is best" depends on too many variables AND changes.  What was the best yesterday may not be the next day.  I'm not even talking about detection rates or even touching the debate on whether you need av or not.

I used to use AVG now I'm on MSE (unless its an old XP system).  If you do not like one, try another.

[N_N_R]

  I'm going crazy.

It didn't freeze the entire day yesterday, but then, after work, did it three times in half an hour. grrr. I've been reading online that many people say these have similar problems- that total freezing and locking up of the system. So I'm now wondering if to take it to the shop once again or to get used to the idea that Asus just COME with such problems...

[Sazabi]

Asus actually does make decent laptops - I wouldn't trade my long-discontinued-but-awesome Aspire 1410 consumer-ultra-low-voltage laptop for anything.  Why can't you return the laptop, if it's still in the 30-day return period, and try a different computer?

[N_N_R]

Asus actually does make decent laptops - I wouldn't trade my long-discontinued-but-awesome Aspire 1410 consumer-ultra-low-voltage laptop for anything.  Why can't you return the laptop, if it's still in the 30-day return period, and try a different computer?

I wasn't offerd any such thing... If you've read my Squirt PS4 failure topic, you must be familiar with the customer service in my country, lol. Today I brought it to the very shop where I bought it from. Three days ago I took it to the Service Centre nearby, who said they worked with Asus warranty, too. They charged me money, but couldn't fix the problem as it later became clear. Today at the shop the guy also offered me to bring it to the same Service Centre as it was close to my address. I told him that I'd already done it and explained the situation. The guy was genuinly surprised that they'd charged me money, said that they'd take it to Sofia then and that it wouldn't cost me anything. Unfortunately, it will take time and I'll have my netbook only on Monday.... I so often wish I lived in the States. 

The chances are they'll again blame me for installing some software that didn't come with the netbook and put the blame on it, hehe. Either QIP, or Skype, or the antivirus installed in that Service Centre, or Firefox, or Google Chrome? Haha. Not fun at all.