Connection to Internet: Unable to connect to the Internet? (Ie. Connection to the Internet was working ... and now it's not.)
Unplug each device, modem and router, and turn off computer. Power on modem first, be sure lights on the front of the modem are lit. Lights will blink and flash for a few seconds and then settle. Power on router. Lights will blink and flash for a few seconds and then settle. Turn on the computer. Open Internet Explorer. Normally, your home page would load. If not, enter www.google.com in the address bar. If the problem persists, your cable or DSL provider may have an outage, the modem or router may have failed, or there may be an infection within the computer denying you access to the Internet. Software firewalls and virus protection may also cause a problem.
Changing your default printer: If you have more than one printer, and you use one of them more then another, you can set your preferred printer as default. You can set the default by going to your control panel. Select "printer and faxes." Single right click the preferred printer, select "set as default."
Printer Installation: Every printer has drivers that need to be installed. Drivers are simply software that controls a specific hardware device. When you purchase your printer, there will be a CD or floppy disk which contains the drivers specific to your printer. If you are installing a printer and have misplaced the disk, you can go to the printer manufacturer's website and find the downloadable driver for your model. Some printers require you connect the printer to your computer first and then install the drivers. Others require the drivers be installed first and then connect the printer to computer.
Printer Problem: If your printer has been working and has stopped printing, there are a couple of things you can do. (NOTE: The following suggestions do not apply to networked printers.)
Check to make sure a document is not stuck in the queue. To check the queue, go to control panel, select "printers and faxes," double left click the printer. If there is a document listed, highlight the document, right click and select "cancel all documents." This may take a few moments to cancel, depending on the size of the print job.
If there are no documents listed in this window, select "printer" from the menu, top left of this window, and make sure "pause printing" is not checked.
If these steps do not fix the problem, reinstalling the printer drivers would be the next thing to try. (See Printer Installation above.)
If nothing you have tried has resolved the issue, call LeaderChip for service.
Lightning & Power Surges: One of the challenges we face living in Florida is damage to computer equipment by lightning. Even brief power surges can cause equipment failure. Household appliances such as air conditioners, washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, fluorescent lighting, copiers and even laser printers can be the source of these power surges within a home or office.
No matter what a manufacturer may claim, no surge surpressor can survive a direct lightning strike. After every rainstorm, people find their computers have been zapped by lightning. Power supplies fail, modems are zapped through the phone line or, in the worst case sanario, the surge runs through the equipment to damage the most critical devices in the computer with resulting data loss.
Be sure to protect all electronics with a good surge surpressor. An inexpensive surpressor will not protect as well as a high-end UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply), but it's better than no protection at all.
What to look for when shopping for a surge surpressor? Joule rating is the answer! The higher the Joule rating, the better. The Joule rating indicates the surpressor's ability to absorb surges. However, surge surpressors do not last forever. Unfortunately, there is no way to predict exactly how long the protection will last.
It is recommended power strips be replaced every two months in the rainy season and again at the end of summer. This final summer replacement should last through the winter. (NOTE: A high-end UPS has a significantly longer life span as well as "Save and Shut Down" capability for unattended computers.)
The absolutely best protection is to unplug all connections from back of the computer and accessories. This includes power cable, phone line, printer, broadband connection (Cable/DSL) and monitors.
Emergency Patches
If you are experiencing the following error follow the link below for a patch."The system DLL user32.dll was relocated in memory. The application will not run properly. The relocation occurred because the DLL C:\Windows\System32\Hhctrl.ocx occupied an address range reserved for Windows system DLLs. The vendor supplying the DLL should be contacted for a new DLL."
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/935448/en-us
|
