General Computer Questions, Etc.

[MitchC]

I have a problem with my computer, and was wondering if perhaps someone would have an idea of how to remedy it. The computer itself is working okay, and I can do work online, access sites, etc, but, this morning, I clicked on something, that caused my blue toolbar that is supposed to be on the bottom of the screen, to end up on its side, with the green start button on top, and the other icons in the middle. I called Comcast, and spoke to a tech, who could not help me. He said that there is some application on the computer, that is locked, which caused the taskbar to end up like this.
If anyone would have an idea of what I might be able to do to remedy this, it would be appreciated. Thank you.

Mitch

[annie]

Mitch...

I just duplicated the problem on my system (now only hoping the systems are enough alike that that matters! lol)

I left clicked on the tool bar and a pop up window came up that had several choices. One of which was "Lock the taskbar" which was checked. I unchecked it and was then able to pick up the tool bar and move it to the side with my mouse. After I put the taskbar when I wanted it I went back to the left click and reclicked the "Lock the taskbar."

[MitchC]

Thanks, Annie. I have Windows XP. I'll try what you suggested, and see if it works.

Mitch

[MitchC]

Annie, I just tried it. The problem seems to be that the bar is frozen. When I left click on, no options come up, it is completely frozen. I'm pretty sure the guy at Comcast told me to do something similar to what you suggested, to no avail. He said there is some application that locked, thats preventing the application from taking effect.

Thanks for the advice anyway,
Mitch

[_ID_]

Have you done a restart? If you have not, power the computer down by removing the power (shut off the power strip). This will prevent any settings in appearance from being saved. As a normal shut down saves the location of the task bar, and desktop icons. If when you start the computer back up, and it is still to the side, just click on it and drag the task bar to the bottom. If this doesn't work, take a look at your task manager, there is a resources tab, see if any of the tasks are a program you recognize, one that you could shut down. Don't shut any down that you don't know what it is, many of them are required to run windows.

[MitchC]

Thanks, Dawg. Actually, I did do a restart, twice. I did the kind where I just shut it off at the little green button, and also did an unplug, and plug back in. No dice.
Thanks for the advice.

Mitch

[Thorne]

Mitch,

Move your mouse OVER the Start button and right click. A short cut menu should appear. Click on "Properties" then select the Taskbar tab. Make sure that the "Lock the Taskbar" selection is NOT checked. Then, click and HOLD the left mouse button somewhere in the toolbar area and drag the toolbar down to the bottom of the screen.

Sorry if this sounds a touch condescending. I don't mean it to be, but I'm not sure of your computer abilities.

Hope this helps.

[_ID_]

Well my next question would be to ask if you have done a back up of your system prior to this happening. If not, then that really limits the possible remedies. If you don't have a back up available, check your system restore, as that might also be available, depending on if it was enabled. Then the last thing I would ask, since you say that there seems to be some program that is preventing you from moving the task bar, are you able to use the start button? If you are, then I would say your system might have been hijacked, and you need to run a spybot search program, as well as an anti-virus program.

[MitchC]

Thorne, I will try it. Dawg, to be honest, I dont remember if I did a system backup. I do have Antivirus. I just ran my weekly scan on Friday night, and it said no Viruses or spyware was found.

Thanks for the advice, guys.

Mitch

[H Dean]

Mitch, as thorne pointed out, the taskbar is "drag and drop". This means you can put it either in the top of the screen, the right or left side or the bottom.

What has happened is that you accidentally (or windows arbitrarily acted) put the task bar on the right side of the screen and locked it in place. As he stated, you merely have to right click the task bar, uncheck the "lock task bar" option and then left click, hold and drag. It's that simple.

[MitchC]

Dean, thanks for the advice. Actually, I have tried what you suggested, many times in the last several weeks. It has not worked. I called Comcast, and they told me that there is something locked in place, that is preventing the taskbar from moving, and that I probably need a technician. Right now, money is an issue, so, I live with it as is. I have learned to compensate for the situation with reading e-mails and such, and hope to be able to get it fixed soon.

Thanks again.
Mitch

[_ID_]

Mitch,

I think what you have is a locked task bar. I have attached a photo that shows the option. You right click the task bar, and UN-select the option, and then you should be able to drag the task bar.

ID

[MitchC]

Dawg, Thanks again. The task bar option is unchecked, but the thing still isnt moving. It looks exactly like it did in the picture you posted, but no dice. I think there is something else keeping it immobile. At least thats what the people at Comcast seems to think.
Thanks for the help and advice. It is appreciated.

Mitch

[Domination King]

If this is still an issue, I may be able to offer some help. Unlike every other post here telling you to do the self same thing I have a different idea. The first thing I would do is press Ctrl+Alt+Delete (only once). It will bring up the Windows Task Manager. Look in the Processes tab and organize by User name. (To do this click the tab that says User name.) This will sort out exactly what you and running and the system is running. Most of these will be abbreviated, look for anything unfamiliar. Right click the unfamiliar item and end the processes of it. Be careful though, make sure you aren't ending something you are currently running (i.e. tskmgr - is the task manager.)

If this does not work, then try this method. Click START>Programs>Accessories>System tools>System Restore. You want to restore your computer to an earlier date. Pick something about a week before this problem started and restart. This should take care of it for you. I hope this information helps.

Regards,
DK

[MitchC]

Thank you, DK. I will try this. I spoke to a tech support person at Dell the other day, and he advised me that my Windows program might have been corrupted, and have a problem. He told me to reboot the whole Windows XP program.
When I'm more awake, I will return to this thread, follow your steps, and try it. Thanks again.

Mitch

[Alex Bragi]

MitchC, if all else fails, do what I do--restore your system to an earlier time when your computer setting were what you wanted. The tool is there on XP (Start/all progams/accessories/system tools), for little problems just like your expreriencing.

[MitchC]

Thanks for the advice, Alex. I will look into it.

Mitch

[cadence]

This is an SOS problem regarding my laptop.
It is an Acer so I don't know if that makes a difference, I do know that these laptops are notorious for breaking down.

This problem is my fault entirely, I spilled pop (not a lot) on the keyboard. I mainly hit the lower board and the mousepad.

I quickly cleaned it up and turned it over to dry out. The computer did turn on and worked for about five seconds. Then it started to hang up, and I could not manipulate the mouse.

I had to shut it down, and waited a day to turn it back on again. It does turn on but occasionally beeps. The keyboard will not work at all, but I can plug in a keyboard, however it stills hangs up. I am able to use the mousepad again.
Sometimes when I move cursor to type in something, it automatically types the letter z and won't stop.

I don't know if this can be fixed or do I cut my losses and look for a new one.
Any advice is greatly appreciated

[Torq]

Common occurance with any laptop,, the pop is sticky,, suggestion go to local electronics store and get "Contact/Electrode" cleaner, should be about $3-4 its a spray in a can. Spray to crap out of keyboard from all angles. Most of the time does the trick,,, Otherwise time for trip to Geek Squad for repair,, that will run $35-50+

Good Luck
T

[~Snake~]

Oops!

Same thing happened with my daughters lap-top and because of the sugar
in the drink......the keyboard quickly sticks!

You did the right thing trying to clean it up (hopefully with a dry cloth) and
leaving it to dry out for a day or two.

Before you do anything else, check the warranty....if it's still in date, just take it back and put the blame on the kids! lol

If it is out of warranty and your not covered by any insurance you may need
to open it up, clean it with a vacuum cleaned...no don't put it on the carpet
and run over it.......attach the hose and work between the keys!

You can also use cotton buds babbled in a small amount of hot water, to dissolve the sugary syrupy goo that you will find.

You will also need to clean the underside of the keyboard, hence, open it up.
But if you really not comfy taking the lap-top apart....then don't.

Find a good repair shop and let them do the work for you.

Good luck....hope you get it working soon!

snake.
x

[cadence]

Thanks for the tips, unfortunately my laptop is no longer under warranty, and even if it was, it doesn't cover pop accidents.

I think I will find a repair shop and try to get it fixed up there. I just didn't want to pay to find out it couldn't be fixed at all.

[Rowen]

Thanks for the tips, unfortunately my laptop is no longer under warranty, and even if it was, it doesn't cover pop accidents.

I think I will find a repair shop and try to get it fixed up there. I just didn't want to pay to find out it couldn't be fixed at all.

Same happened to me, at work, they exchanged the keyboard, told me it was an "affordable repair".. Hope it works out

[crazy_grrluk]

Thanks for the tips, unfortunately my laptop is no longer under warranty, and even if it was, it doesn't cover pop accidents.

I think I will find a repair shop and try to get it fixed up there. I just didn't want to pay to find out it couldn't be fixed at all.

do you have accidental damage cover on you house contents insurance? if u do you can claim and still blame it on the kids

[Thorne]

do you have accidental damage cover on you house contents insurance? if u do you can claim and still blame it on the kids

Only if your insurance agent isn't a member of this forum! (Wouldn't that be a kick in the head!) Plus, the deductible on the insurance would probably be higher than the cost of repair.

It should be a relatively simple cleaning, nothing major, and certainly under $100. Get an estimate first, though.

[_ID_]

Exchanging the keyboard is a good option, and to fix the mouse problem having the touch pad removed, and using some 90% isopropyl alcohol on the tip of a Q-Tip to get the sticky will help.

One big recommendation..... DON'T TAKE IT TO GEEK SQUAD!

[cadence]

do you have accidental damage cover on you house contents insurance? if u do you can claim and still blame it on the kids

I wish I had kids to blame things on, but like Thorne said, my premium would be ruined. It would be cheaper to buy three new ones than pay a new premium afterwards.

One big recommendation..... DON'T TAKE IT TO GEEK SQUAD!

LOL, I almost called them.

It's in the shop now awaiting assessment, rather than try and fix anything myself it's safer there. I hope it's just a keyboard replacement.

[lockedup737]

Try and use that new stuff they have to clean LCD screens and if that doesn't work, you can remove those little plastic key covers (the part with the letter on it) quite easily and then clean the contacts under them.

[JimmyJump]

Simply open it up and take the keyboard out to clean the micca layers and the iron plate.

There's usualy 2 to 3 micca layers with electronic connections sitting on top of an iron plate. The latter serves as a negative as opposed to the positive that's feeding the micca's connections.

When hitting any touch and the letter "z" comes up, that means that there's a false contact at that spot, somewhere between the layers of micca/iron plate...

Of course, should you be a tad technically challenged, things might look much more complicated than they really are.

There's a layer for three parts of the keyboard (left side, right side and the special touches), so just make sure you remember the order in which you took out the layers.

Good luck Cadence


JJ


Btw: there's no better laptops around than Acer's, xept for their shaky power supply...

[Cutter]

Hi there

I tried to browse here using Google Chrome today.

Chrome didn't like the site very much. It gave me a big warning message instead of opening the page.

According to it's statistics it said that 21/67 tested pages here installed trojans on the computer. There were 40 different trojans intalling 5 new processes on the computer.

Anyone know what it's all about? Is it the banners installing trojans... if so methinks you need to slap your sponsors around.

[Thorne]

I've been coming here to the forums for more than 2 years now, longer than that for the stories, and I've never had a problem.

That's not to say that following some of the ad links would be perfectly safe, but that's not the fault of the admins. I've never seen anything to suggest that any area of this site is dangerous to your computer.

As for the mind....