Computer problems and/or advice 2013

[David Nicholson]

I'm moving my ISP from Virgin Media to BT at the end of the month. I use Thunderbird now for dealing with my emails there's no reason why this should change is there?

[Peter Maguire]

With regard to this discussion about the speed of emails, it's worth remembering that only a few years ago we had to stick a stamp on a letter (remember those?) then walk to the post box (exercise!) before entrusting our message to The Royal Mail and crossing our fingers in the hope that they wouldn't lose it. 

We have a similar problem with text messages between my wife and I (we're both O2 customers). Most messages are ok, but the odd one can take much longer - over 24 hours! 

[ranunculus]

We have a similar problem with text messages between my wife and I (we're both O2 customers). Most messages are ok, but the odd one can take much longer - over 24 hours! 

Try getting back to the good old days of 'speaking' to your wife, Peter!!!   Remember those evenings of sweet nothings, those days of plans and platitudes, those mornings of discussion and discourse ...   

[David Nicholson]

   Remember those evenings of sweet nothings, those days of plans and platitudes, those mornings of discussion and discourse ...   

He's making it up

[Peter Maguire]

Remember those evenings of sweet nothings, those days of plans and platitudes, those mornings of discussion and discourse ...   

They never stopped!   

Actually the latest occasion I was thinking of for a late text was when I was talking to her. The phone beeped and she said "who is the text from?" The reply - "You, apparently you've just left the shops - yesterday" 

[Anthony Darby]

My children's school, which is also where my wife teaches, uses Windows 8, so I decided to upgrade. Big mistake. Last week my son tells me if I upgrade to 8.1 all the problems associated with Windows 8 will be solved. Bigger mistake. Most of my shortcuts on my desktop, including my SRGC Forum one, don't work. I even tried reloading the software for my Olympus 810 camera. The disc won't load. It totally messed up my pictures by hiding the photos taken by the Olympus camera and removing them from the folder with my Nikon photos taken the same week. They had been in the same folder until I upgraded. 

[Alan_b]

The desktop shortcuts issue is probably a problem with File Associations so the shortcut does not launch your web browser of choice any longer.  And you should be wary of loading any software from a disk that predates Windows 8.1; download the latest version from the manufacturer's web site.

I would consider an upgrade from Vista to Windows 8.1 but an 'upgrade' from Windows 7 to 8 feels more like a downgrade.

[Tony Willis]

I'm moving my ISP from Virgin Media to BT at the end of the month. I use Thunderbird now for dealing with my emails there's no reason why this should change is there?

David all I can say is 'lucky you' If you think it is difficult dealing with Virgin wait until you try BT.

Always remember that if you have a problem and have to phone them it is you or your equipment that is at fault, theirs is always working perfectly.

My best advice is to chose the 'I want to close my account option' it sometimes gets their attention.

Good luck!

[Anthony Darby]

The desktop shortcuts issue is probably a problem with File Associations so the shortcut does not launch your web browser of choice any longer.  And you should be wary of loading any software from a disk that predates Windows 8.1; download the latest version from the manufacturer's web site.

I would consider an upgrade from Vista to Windows 8.1 but an 'upgrade' from Windows 7 to 8 feels more like a downgrade.

After a week the problem seems to have sorted itself out. Download seemed to update itself several times, so perhaps that was the problem?

[David Nicholson]

I'm moving my ISP from Virgin Media to BT at the end of the month. I use Thunderbird now for dealing with my emails there's no reason why this should change is there?

Well, changeover of ISP from Virgin to BT went really well. New Router installed; wireless connection established; Forum Profile amended to new email address; security email received from Forum and acted upon, and email notifications of Forum posts started to arrive. Cracked it I thought! But NO, I then tried, from Thunderbird, to send an email and the system refused to send it. Then followed two conversations with BT Call Centre (Mumbai?!) one of an hour, the other just under an hour, to explain problem and for very pleasant blokes in call centre helping me to set up new accounts in Thunderbird--- NONE OF WHICH WORKED--- and there it remains. The only way I can send an email is from BT Yahoo (which I detest).

So, if anyone has had the same problem and can offer a solution, I'm yer man. Maggi has offered Ian's services when he gets back from across the pond but he's not back until 4 November and he's sure to be shattered for some days after that, so if anyone can help would much appreciate it.

[Gerry Webster]

Well, changeover of ISP from Virgin to BT went really well. New Router installed; wireless connection established; Forum Profile amended to new email address; security email received from Forum and acted upon, and email notifications of Forum posts started to arrive. Cracked it I thought! But NO, I then tried, from Thunderbird, to send an email and the system refused to send it. Then followed two conversations with BT Call Centre (Mumbai?!) one of an hour, the other just under an hour, to explain problem and for very pleasant blokes in call centre helping me to set up new accounts in Thunderbird--- NONE OF WHICH WORKED--- and there it remains. The only way I can send an email is from BT Yahoo (which I detest).

So, if anyone has had the same problem and can offer a solution, I'm yer man. Maggi has offered Ian's services when he gets back from across the pond but he's not back until 4 November and he's sure to be shattered for some days after that, so if anyone can help would much appreciate it.

David - you obviously need the attention of Ali - "I am your friend" - who telephones me every Monday to offer his services.  Unfortunately he is not very patient as a brief expletive results in his rapid departure.

[David Nicholson]

 

[Tony Willis]

David

from a full page rant the other day in the Telegraph I understand it is Bangalore,I am sure that is helpful to you!

Virgin (also NTL and Blueyonder) emails are still taking up to two days to be delivered to BT customers and the web is full of rage about it but do they care NO.

[David Nicholson]

As I mentioned earlier I've changed my ISP from Virgin to BT and whereas before I had unlimited, but very slow, usage I selected a BT package that gave me 10GB of usage per month. This I thought would be ample for my needs as I never download films, DVD's etc., and apart from occasional music from Itunes (always via my Ipad) don't stream or download music. This leaves me with dealing with emails and Forum stuff that might mean some downloading.

I've had a message from BT that I'm in danger of exceeding my usage for November. I appear to have used nearly 7GB of my allotted 10. This period coincides with a lot of my work as advertising manager for the Club that entails a lot of email work and handling some pretty large files from clients which I need to pass on and discuss with our Editor and our Printers via email and I am wondering if this is likely to be an ongoing problem.

Is there anyone out there using BT and with a similar 10GB package whose usage is similar to mine, but obviously without the added advertising work,  who could give me an indication how they fare with the package please?

[Martinr]

David, I'm on the same package and I've only got close to/ over the 10Gb 'limit' twice and that was due to using a cloud storage system (since discontinued) which kept 'updating' stored files every few hours. I find using BBC iPlayer or lots of YouTube surfing can use up a lot of the allowance.

I have a free bit of software I've had for years, but it is still available, called NetMeter which monitors your upload and download traffic and gives use by day, week, month. You can also set alarms so that it tells you if you're using more than you expect

Those adverts must be big files! mind you every receive and send counts so it could well add up.

BT sometimes let you off the first time you exceed your limit but after that they will charge for the excess.