Computer Issue Help

My son uses U Torrent or some such thing.

DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!

IMHO if you are going to do the torrent thing you should do it on a separate, non networked, computer.

I see a huge problem in combining these three:
1) torrent downloads (malware city)
2) a son
3) your computer

JMHO

I happened to notice that there was a hardware upgrade for my Dell monitor, so I included it in a round of custom updates..

all hell broke out after that - blue screens, conflicts, errors, “reload windows” prompts - somehow I got it to boot into safe mode and backed out of the update...

moral of the story - if it’s all working, do not upgrade hardware or firmware....

Hi hsmomx3,

Update or unistall Roxio. It’s CD-ROM device driver is conflicting with Vista’s CD-ROM device driver.

I will tentatively agree with Justa, though Roxio's PX Engine includes their filter driver, which will be the culprit, IMHO. It will conflict with many different things, to include (to answer your question) USB drives.

It is a great possibility that your MP3 player being plugged in is causing the problem. Shut down the machine, remove the MP3 player, and restart the machine. if no joy, then restart the machine into safemode. The diagnostic start for safemode should fix any associated problem. Once fully up in safemode, just restart normally. if still no joy, the MP3 player was not the problem.

Roxio is notorious for interfering with other software, so any newly installed or newly updated software that streams or interacts with hard drive could have caused the problem, especially DRM, anti-virus/anti-spyware/anti-trojan, or low-level utility software used for monitoring the machine.

While one can update the PX Engine, which might fix the problem, or uninstall/reinstall Roxio (which would be the next attempt), I would recommend uninstalling Roxio, and going with a CDburner that doesn't use a filter driver (only necessary for digital rights management), like CDBurnerXP. CDBurnerXP is very simple to use, and quite feature packed. Or for a more technically oriented burner, IMGBurn is quite good. I recommend CDBurnerXP to my clients, but use IMGBurn myself.

If problems persist, write back for next steps.

[hsmomx3:] My son uses U Torrent or some such thing.

[freedomlover:] DANGER WILL ROBINSON!! IMHO if you are going to do the torrent thing you should do it on a separate, non networked, computer.

I see a huge problem in combining these three:
1) torrent downloads (malware city)
2) a son
3) your computer

JMHO

There is great wisdom in your statement. I regularly recommend that clients with teenagers in the family begin supplying those teenagers with their own systems for exactly the reason that you are alluding to. Teenage children seem to do every sort of thing that causes infection. Give them their own, and make them responsible for upkeep, maintenance, and repair. They learn VERY quickly how to practice "safe hex."

And in turn, I will not just fix their boxes. I teach them how to fix their own, including (if needed), a complete reload. They get to come sit in the PIT of DOOOM!!! and do the work themselves under my direct tutelage... (an horrible punishment in it's own right). And I set up a (reduced, but painful) payment plan for my time, working with the child, and not the parent... though the parent agrees to ultimate responsibility... Straightens them out rather quickly when they must stand up and take the hit themselves. In fact, they generally wind up able to take on the normal IT responsibilities for the house.

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