Do you have a problem with your laptop? Before contacting the Technology
Reference Desk or your computer’s manufacturer, you can check
this page for insight into what the problem could be. For additional
help on computer-related issues, please check the IST Department’s
Information for Students webpage, located at http://www.law.georgetown.edu/ist/ISTInformationforStudents.htm.
Problem: Computer is slow and popups
continually plague Internet browsers.
Your computer may be infected with spyware. Spyware is software that
hides itself somewhere on your computer collecting information about
you and what you do on the internet. Spyware is often downloaded onto
your PC when you download other free software or when you visit certain
websites. Spyware is not a virus, and therefore will not cause serious
problems for your computer. However, it can be a great annoyance.
The easiest way to remove spyware is to use a removal tool such as
Spybot or Ad-aware. Guides for downloading and using
these programs are available at http://www.law.georgetown.edu/ist/spyware/spyware.htm.
Problem: Computer is frozen, fails
to respond to inputs from keyboard or mouse, or fails to respond to
efforts to restart.
This can happen from time to time, especially with laptops.
The easiest way to solve this problem is to disconnect the laptop’s
power cord and then to remove the battery from the laptop, reinsert
it, and then try turning the computer back on. The computer should
then be usable. NOTE: There is no way to save programs you are working
on after the computer has frozen. A backup copy of the Microsoft Word
or WordPerfect document that you were working on may exist, and will
automatically prompt you to view it when the program is reopened.
Problem: Windows does not boot properly;
instead, a blue screen appears with an error message.
This could be an indication of a host of problems. If this
happens intermittently, it may be a good idea to make a backup copy
of important files on your computer. In general, the only way to solve
this problem is to reload Windows on your machine. Your computer’s
original documentation should include a Windows installation disk
and instructions on how to do this. If not, contact your computer’s
manufacturer. If this does not help, you may have a problem with a
piece of hardware in your computer, such as the hard drive, which
may need to be replaced. Contact your computer’s manufacturer
in this instance.
Problem: Computer acts strangely. For
instance, it may shut down unexpectedly, not connect to the internet
via Internet Explorer, or run unexpectedly slowly.
Your computer may have a virus. You may want to download Stinger,
a freeware program available at http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger.
This program searches for and destroys common viruses on your computer.
If this does not help, you may need to install a more powerful virus
detection software. Information on doing this, as well as more detailed
information on viruses, can be found at http://www.law.georgetown.edu/ist/students/virus.html.
Problem: Unable to send emails from
home through your default email client (Microsoft Outlook, Outlook
Express, Mozilla, etc.)
Some internet service providers, such as Verizon, Earthlink
and Starpower, require that you use their outgoing email
server and no one else’s. If you encounter this problem, contact
your Internet Service Provider to determine the proper settings for
configuring your email client.
