Category: Most read

AVG upgrade to 2011 gives a frozen desktop with no icons

PCRepairMan

avg-discount-coupon-code-renewal-2017I have seen a frozen desktop and menu immediately after an AVG upgrade to 2011 version on MANY customer PCs and, though it can be relatively straight forward to sort out, you will need to carefully follow my method below to avoid any issues.

First off, if the PC is frozen, make sure there are no lights flashing on the tower denoting that there is hard drive activity.  If you switch off and the drive is being written to you WILL compound the problem by adding bad sectors to the hard drive.

When you are happy the PC is not ‘active’, you can power it off.

PCRepairMan’s top tip

You can power off most PCs and laptops by holding in the ‘Power on’ button for 5 seconds

Right, now we need to restart the computer in Safe Mode. If you are not sure how to do this, check out my article on Starting a Windows PC in Safe Mode

Note: If you are having a blue screen on startup after attempting to install AVG read my article here, this is a different fix required:

AVG blue screen of death on startup after installing 2011 version

Onto the fix for the frozen desktop…..

Once in Safe Mode, we login using an Administrator’s account. This may be yours or another one with Administrator permissions.  We can see a message stating that you can use the PC in Safe Mode or perform a System Restore.  The System Restore is what we need so select this.  Now we’ll restore it to a date before the AVG installation. No matter if you have deleted the old AVG version 8 or 9 install, we can deal with that later. Let the computer restart and your icons should reappear.

There is also an issue where the frozen desktop and missing icons are caused by a hard drive with errors on the surface. These can generally be fixed bya good quality drive scanning and repairing tool such as the one I reviewed here:

HDD Regenerator review

Hope this helps and you should now have a proper desktop with icons again!

 

Livedrive review and free trial – secure online file storage

PCRepairMan

Livedrive review and free trial. livedrive-review-secure-online-file-storageLivedrive offers a very good secure online file storage service that ranks highly here at PCRMB Towers. So good that we actually use it ourselves.  Livedrive automatically backs up your files safely online, monitoring your computer(s) for new files and detail changes. You can restore files (even deleted ones) quickly and easily. It’s totally secure, easy to use and quick to setup. Users get unlimited online storage space as standard which means you can choose this service and never have to upgrade.  You can sync files, stream music and access your files from anywhere.

PCRepairMan’s Verdict

Offering a 30 day free trial, you can choose if it’s right for you or not. Current pricing is very keen – you pay nothing during the trial and then get a 10% discount for life.  Highly recommended.

 

Secure online file storage with Livedrive

Here are some of the advantages of this service:

  • Many online file storage services will cap the amount of storage to a measly few Gigabytes. With Livedrive there is literally no limit.
  • Version history is included. Say you mistakenly save changes on a ducument, you can ‘roll back’ to an older version as Livedrive will store up to 30 versions of your file
  • Deleted files can be restored (up to 30 days later)
  • Iphone and iPad access is included by default
  • Windows and Mac compatibility
  • Livedrive will monitor all of your files while you are working. If you modify then save something then it will be backed up immediately. This way there is no need to back it up manually!
  • External hard drives can be backed up too
  • You can download your files at any time and from any computer
  • Backed up files are encrypted with incredibly strong algorithms
  • A high quality streaming facility allows iPhones and iPads to view photos and listen to music

All in all, an excellent service that costs very little and gives peace of mind. Highly recommended.

Try Livedrive unlimited online storage free for 30 days or Visit the Livedrive Website to learn more

If you liked this Livedrive review, please leave a comment below.

 

What is jucheck.exe and should I allow it?

PCRepairMan

You have probably got a pop up box saying that jucheck.exe is trying to connect to the internet. This file checks for Java updates and is perfectly safe (jucheck = JavaUpdateCheck – get it?). Because of vulnerabilities in older versions of Java, you should install the updates whenever prompted.

It will be a pretty seamless installation. When asked if you wish to install the Yahoo toolbar I would suggest you untick the box, it’s yet another toolbar that adds into your Internet Explorer or Firefox browser.

Otherwise, once installed (and it only takes a few minutes) you will have a better, safer version of Java on your PC. If you want to get the latest version for other computers and don’t want to wait until prompted, visit this official link:

https://java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

Client service for Netware has disabled the welcome screen

PCRepairMan

Novell Netware ErrorHad this one today on a Windows XP PC, a pretty easy fix but had been annoying the customer for months before he mentioned it to me:

Client Service for Netware has disabled the Welcome Screen and Fast User Switching. To restore these features, you must uninstall Client Service for Netware

This happened when he tried to access the User Accounts tool in Control Panel. It is often realised when trying to enable the Welcome Screen or Fast User Switching.

THE FIX:
Importantly, bear in mind that if you need to access a Novell network you can’t use the Welcome Screen or the Fast User Switching features of Windows XP.

If you are using Classic view in Control Panel, double-click Network Connections. If you are using Category view, click Network and Internet Connections, and then click on Network Connections.

  • Right-click on each connection that you have, and then click Properties
  • On the General tab of each Local Area connection, highlight Client Service for Netware, and then click Uninstall
  • In the Dial-up Connection Properties dialog box, click the Networking tab, highlight Client Service for Netware, and then click Uninstall
  • Restart the PC

Now to set the user accounts, open Control Panel and then double-click User Accounts.  Pick a task then click Change the way users log on or off and you should find that you can now use the Welcome Screen or Fast User Switching.

Time for this fix: 10 minutes

Applies to: Windows XP all versions