Lockin' Up My Computer

[racingstudebakers]

Hey Guys!

Haven't been able to be here too much, usual stuff ya know.... BUT, the BIG reason I haven't been staying too long is because the Smokin' Meats website keeps lockin' my computer up, TIGHT! In fact, TWICE tonite! I gota say, it is reeeeeal frustrating!

I'm using Windows 98, (yep, old and dependable, like me!

). Have the SMF set as a "Trusted" site. Not blocking much that "emits" from the website, I do have a mostly lame firewall, but it's set to not mess with the SMF too! I DO notice that "Join Something", sign or whatever that is appearing on and floating in my face, over the website, and I think that that thing is flubbing me up! Heck,

I dunno what the problem is, but it's kinda hard to enjoy myself when I have to keep rebooting to unlock my whole computer....

Any sugestions?

OH! Did I mention that I have a nice, fat turkey breast brining in the fridge as we speak and am making ready a couple of supercharged fattys for the "box" for the 4th? Mmmmm, MMMM!

 

[gypsyseagod]

i have vista & hate it but you can go here for help it might work. http://forums.majorgeeks.com/index.php these people know their stuff.

 

[pigcicles]

Do you ONLY have problems on the SMF site or does the computer lock up intermitently. How about some basic hardware info such as what processor m/board are you running? How much RAM do you have? What browser are you running? How old is your hard drive? Have you ran or do you run any kind of anti-virus software. Do you have any kind of anti-spy software? When was the last time you vacuumed the dust bunnies out of your system - you may be getting heat build up around your power supply / processor. Are your ribbons pulled back to allow good air flow?

Really there are so many things that can cause a computer to lock up. If you have problems with this site, honestly I'd have to say you are probably having problems with other sites. There aren't a lot of flashy banners here to cause your processor to over work your video.

I'm no computer genius but if you give us a few details maybe someone can direct you in a good direction to help out.

Keep Smokin

 

[low&slow]

Just guessing. But it sounds to me like you have some spyware.
I use Ad-aware and Spybot search & destroy to clean my pc of spyware.
Both programs are free and work really well together.

 

[gypsyseagod]

you can also download avast personal protection free version. it works very well.

 

[crawdaddy]

hey racing, I wouldn't blame it on the smf site, sure sounds like the computer is in need of a good cleaning, and the turkey and fattys need a good smoking.
does this only happen when viewing this site or what?
dang, just when I thought i could provide some useful input there were several posts headed my direction.

 

[mossymo]

gypsyseagod
I have Vista also. I think like every other new Windows program, it just has a few bugs that need to be worked on. So far, I really do like the new features..... Only bug I am experiencing is occasionally I get a mouse hang up or hesitation in what the mouse should do..... This is agitating but if I can keep up with technology, I am willing to give time for technology to keep up with me.

 

[gypsyseagod]

well if vista can keep up (i've trouble shot microsoft since win 95- give them 4 years on a product after the fact- they even gave up on millenium)i give vista until 2009 to be 85% bug free.

 

[racingstudebakers]

WOW! Now THAT is what I call QUICK service!

My computer just locks up on the SMF website, no kiddin'. I have a website myself, and administrate it every day. Ol' computer is actually mostly new inside, (build 'em myself). Plenty of ram and video capability, just a little something that it doesn't like about cruzin' here.... Grrrrr.... (One-o-my-favorite places too!)

Not a real big problem, I'll figure it out, I'm sure. Actually just wondering if anybody else had the glitch? Thanks a MILLION for the quick response guys! Love it here!

Keep on smokin' everybody! Happy Fourth!!!

Semper Fi to all you veterans!!!

 

[richoso1]

Looks like Pigcicles is on the right track. You need to breakdown what and where it's happening. Memory plays a large part in any version of Windows, Windows is known as a memory Hog, not related to pork.

 

[stillcajun]

Ouch..Just break down and get a linux distro. Works w/ out any problems. I recommend ubuntu or SLED.

 

[cajunsmoker]

In your original post you mentioned a pop up floating across the SMF site asking you to "join something".

I don't know about anyone else, but I have never seen that before on my computer and it may be the problem.

 

[watery eyes]

If it is web related it very unlikely that your hardware is an issue.

You probably have a Trojan in your system.

First thing to do is load Spybot Search and Destroy. Run a complete scan and delete everything that it finds. Don't quarantine - delete.

Next get your firewall working better than a pass-through. You don't need ultra security, but you need to be sure it's not allowing permissions for everything. I use Zonealarm because it is a set it & forget it system. Just select the Free Download and follow the tutorial.

Finally - delete all of your Cookie entries for IE except for the index file. Here is the process....

1.Exit Internet Explorer, and then exit any instances of Windows Explorer.
2.Click Start, click Run, type inetcpl.cpl, and then press ENTER.
3.On the General tab, click Delete Cookies in the Internet Properties dialog box, under Temporary Internet Files.
4.In the Delete Files dialog box, click to select the Delete all offline content check box, and then click OK.


I went through a bad case of the Ultimate Defender Trojan for about 4 weekes before this all did the trick.

If you are having a tough time keeping IE clean on a WIN98 install - you definitely don't need to double your load by taking on Linux. Just fix what you have or upgrade to XP. XP has some great tools that you don't have in WIN98 and you can upgrade without having to upgrade your hardware.

Don't give up......

 

[beertender]

Try this, free and it works well.
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html

 

[virgo53]

After all of the above are accomplished, Do a disk cleanup and defrag, This usually sppeds things up and "cures" some ills.

 

[TulsaJeff]

Got to RE reading what you posted and I have no popups floating across on the SMF since it is for the most part user supported and I am committed to keeping it virtually ad free.

Now...the other site at Smoking-Meat.com has a newsletter prompt that does float across the screen but only shows up to NEW visitors unless you have cookies turned off.

When you visit the site, it places a small cookie in your computer that simply tells the site you are a person who has already seen the prompt and should not be shown it again.

If you have cookies turned off or set to erase at the end of the session, then it will view you as a new user each time.

It is javascript only and should not be causing problems.. it is also a very popular tool used by thousands of websites and as far as I could tell the script is very basic.

You might consider telling your browser that Smoking-Meat.com is a trusted website and that it should allow the cookie and save it for future reference.

I am not sure right off hand what browser you are using but if you need any assistance with that just shoot me a PM or email and I will be happy to do what I can.

Additionally, If your browser is having problems with the javascript then this leads me to believe there is a deeper problem.

I will do some research and see if the float across popups are causing problems anywhere else,

Meanwhile.. if you come directly to www.smokingmeatforums.com you should not see any floating popups.

 

[racingstudebakers]

WOW! ALL great suggestions guys! This IS the place for great people! No doubt about it! Thanks a million everybody!

Jeff...

I think you may have hit the nail right on the head! My software is set to erase all cookies and my Zonelabs firewall "cleans" everything in the middle of the nite too. That's probably what's happening, the website "sees" me as a brand new user, every time. I don't have any problem with cookies from SM, as I use a cookie for my website too. I noticed that it takes a while to load the website when I first bring it up too. It must be re-loading the java script too. I'll check out the java too. Oh, I have had the SMF set as "Trusted", of course.

Once again, no real big deal, EXCEPT that I reeeeeeally enjoy this website and the great folks who gather here.

Who could feel any different?!

Thanks a million again guys!!! I'll DEFINITELY let everybody know when I get it sorted out.

 

[chris_harper]

hate to tell you this, but Win98 was the worst windows there is. major memory problems, locks up like crazy. i got so pissed at win98, i switched to win2000 and never looked back. now i have winxp. i like win2k the best for stability. i threw my win98 cd in the trash. on any pc i build, it gets win2k or winxp.