Mr Darn

yes its subsidised with a toolbar addon that is completly optional, just like ccleaner. those that want the toolbar, get it, and everyones happy, those that dont want the toolbar, uncheck a box, and get it for free.

good good

lol, i like free. it works for me! i even use open office instead of microsoft office

are you using avast and AVG together? if so, uninstall one or the other. you cant run 2 antivirus programs at once. unlike antimalware or antispyware programs, which you can have many of. do you have the option to download to another pc and transfer? also, try this: click start > my computer right click the C: icon select 'properties' in the pop-up window, select the 'tools' tab select 'error checking' check both check boxes and click 'start' a warning will appear, saying files are in use, and should you schedual a boot time scan, click yes, or ok, whichever is there. the computer will restart, then the screen will go black. it will go thru 5 stages, the first 3 pretty quickly, but 4 and 5 may take hours depending on your hard drive size/level of corruption. at times it will seem like the scan has frozen, dont be tempted to restart, just let it do its thing. if it comes up with anything you have to respond to, agree to whatever it asks. after its done, windows will boot normally. re-try your download after this.

i hope your not using those instead of AVG... i thought you used Avast?

where the hells merlins kitchen?

Gay Bars

The very fact you find that funny suggests to me you have a better knowledge of the inner workings of St. Georges than any of us realise! Whats wrong with not trusting a website that has been found to state something is spyware free, and given an award to a product that was put there as a test to see if programs are even checked?

Dun Cow

Just to re-instate advice from a moved post: the above mentioned program has a good review HERE but seems to be a 'pay for' program. another free program reccomended for defragging is JKDefrag (download from here ) but i guess these will be useless till you get your download working again

do you get any error messages when you try to download anything? have you overlooked the 'information bar' IE loves so much? this is an orangy-yellow bar that appears when IE tries to download a file. its normally accross the top of the screen, and will have an 'options' or similer button at the end of it. Are you able to download the files required from another pc, and move them to yours via a usb drive or cd?

as stated, i'm not 'running' them. they are there as and when required. hijack this, i agree, is not for novices, as the results can be dangerous if misinterpreted, but is a VERY usefull tool to find out whats running on your computer. i dont use download.com. i go to the manufacturers websites. all the above with the exception of peerguardian, are used and recommended by spyware removal experts in one form or another. Also, there are many reviews on windows itsself being add/spyware, and how bad it is. does this mean you wont be using that also? i'm moving these posts to the disscussion section with a link to the thread they came from as we are digressing from sleepy's main problem.

Quite right, all these programs do slow your system down, especially if you have them all running at startup. my recommendations would be 1 antivirus running constantly such as avast, and other programs on an 'as and when needed' basis. i have: superantispyware addaware malwarebytes hijack this peerguardian and ccleaner all installed on my computer for if/when i ever need them, but i dont have them running at startup. i just access the program, update it and run it as and when i feel i need to do a check.

i disagree, completely. yes, there are programs out there built to scare you into buying them, and only remove crap they put there first, but this is not the case with either avast or malwarebytes. All programs have strong points and week points. some are designed specially to deal with certain problems and cant help with others. Even being told by AVG that you have a problem is surely better than not knowing at all. at least if you know theres a problem you can research a solution.

Malwarebytes is a very good program. its recommended by many helpsites along with superantispyware and ccleaner. Common sense is a good way to prevent infection, but once you have it, you need programs like these to help the novice remove the threats. the fact IE is not letting you download anything is a sure sign of an infected pc. you have a few options. 1, download the relevant programs on a seperate computer, then transfer the files using USB. see if they will then install. 2, complete reinstal of the operating system using a repair install from your system disk supplied with the computer. this will keep all your files intact, just reinstalling the operating system. i advise a backup of any important data before you do this tho, just in case. 3, destructive reformat. this will completly wipe the drive leaving the laptop as new, with a new, clean operating system. all programs you added after you got the laptop will need reinstalled. with options 2 and 3, you will need to download all windows updates again, and this will take time on an XP machine. If sleepy is a bedlington resident, i could offer to take a look one night if needed... there are several programs i'd recommend to help clean up if option 1 is the way you want to go, and could download them for you and put them to disk, if its easier, or get someone to do it for you. any further help/advice, you know where we are! even if it is conflicting!

Excelent advice there monsta! thanks for the input! theres many reasons why these 2 programs wont work, but we need a bit more info sleepy. firstly, is this windows we're talking about? if so, which version? '98? ME? XP? Vista? it'll also help if you let us know which version of the operating system is installed, ie home, professional etc, and which service packs are installed, if any. If you need help finding out these details, post back and let me know, i'll take you thru it step by step. whilst your looking, check to see how much free space is on the harddrive your trying to defragment, as windows needs at least 15% free space to work. A step by step process of what you've tried so far will also help us locate whats going on. ie how your trying to start the defragmenter, and from what location in windows. Also let us know if there's been any hardware or software changes since this started occuring, such as new programs, or a RAM upgrade etc. Sounds like a lot, but i'm sure we'll solve this one for you!

happy birthday!

yeah, not many getting married these days.... ...plenty planning it, but not many go thru with it.

i hate it when people know me but i dont know them! au contraire! as i stated, i too have bought cheep beer, but its sitting there going to waste. i'd much prefer a pint in a pub. me either, but the reason the pubs cant lower prices is because of the likes of punch. go back to the good old days of landlords actually owning the pubs and dealing directly with the breweries! you know, you'd think the likes of punch could afford to bulk buy beer, getting it cheaper, and selling it cheeper, not driving a stake thru the very heart of their enterprise! better to sell 20 pints at £2 than 10 at £2.50 is what i say!

as explained before, i dont have any powers in this part of the forum, i was merely making an observation. i'll shurrup in future.

It IS! i'd have put this in chat central tho. but thats just me.

not all pubs! that would just be silly! i dissagree. the price of things at the moment is just unreal, and lots of people are strugling to make ends meet, never mind pay for an overpriced pint! i agree on this point, everyones diffrent, and looks for diffrent things in their social life. i prefer a bar with more than 3 people in it. its my preference. i agree, the likes of punch are doing themselves out of alot of trade with their high prices and ways of doing business. EG: i worked in a bedlington bar that had a new guinnes pump fitted. the nice guinness guy gave us a pack of beer mats and towels, and some t-shirts for the staff to wear. then, when he asked why we never had these anyways, he was shocked to hear that Punch CHARGED the pubs IT OWNED for these items. Imagine how shocked we were when informed punch recieves the stuff it sells landlords FOR FREE from THIS VERY SAME BLOKE! Guinness have always gave their premotional gear away for free to the likes of punch, and punch cant wait to rip the eyes out of anyone who's stupid enough to sign up for one of their so-called 'deals' I dissagree. Theres nothing like going out with the lads down the street for a few beers and a few games of pool. yes, the occasional night in/barbeque is nice every once in a while, but its the price of the drinks IN pubs that keep people out of pubs, not how much they can get a few cans from the supermarket. i have several cases of lager in my house, i have done since new year, and i've only drank 4 cans in that time. I prefer to go out, even if that does mean i have to stay in for the other 3 weeks of the month whilst i save for it. And countless more are the same as me! Pints at £2.50 were only ever heard of in newcastle in the days when the pubs were packed! Lower the prices, and you'll get more customers. that guy down south proved that point when he started serving the cheepest pint in england and changed a struggling pub into one that was packed every night of the week.

Unfortunatly i'm not the groveling type, but i do have a sence of right and wrong, and me showing my face in there would, in my eyes, be a slap in the face for all concerned. Plenty more pubs to enjoy (at the moment!) Many of the regulars are members, it was Sarah's father and Ian whom i was talking too. I think pubs closing may actually be a good thing. this would concentrate the drinkers who frequent bedlington (who are at the moment, spread out amongst loads of pubs) congregate in the few pubs that are left behind, creating a better atmosphere and perhaps entice more to come out! i return to my previous statment, if the pubs had more of an atmosphere, we would! the reason the club is doing so well in the poll is because it's cheep, and has a good atmosphere. Were in the middle of a credit crisis, and £2.60 a pint is just too rich for my budget, except on an odd occasion once a month. Now, should there be an offer of £1.50 a pint for cheep piss in a glass, i'd be there every night, £10 note in hand and a shiny 50p piece in my pocket!

Technically, no. i have been told i can go back in, as long as i go see her first, but i think it'd be best me staying away. and...before anyone asks, i was a bad lad on my birthday night out and ended up taking something i shouldnt have. all was returned, and pennance was paid, but i'm far too embarressed about the whole thing to show my face in there.

i wouldnt know