[Captain L]

I got the PC second hand, but I assume it's around 5 years old.

And I don't dust the area it's sitting in, but it's usually pretty clean.

[LocalH]

Captain L, on 08 July 2012 - 12:32 PM, said:

I've just decided to change the name of this thread for another problem of mine. My keyboard and mouse have stopped working. I was just trying to get my gamepad working (which used to work, but suddenly stopped), and following Microsoft's help advice. Suddenly, my mouse and keyboard stop responding. I just assumed the computer froze, so I reboot it. Nope, still doesn't work. So I grab another mouse to test it out. Nope, doesn't work.

If USB, are you having problem with any other type of USB device (flash disk, camera cable, etc?) If your gamepad is USB and it suddenly stopped at the same time as your mouse and keyboard, this points to your USB controller going bad.

If PS/2, you usually have to reboot to be able to unplug and replug a mouse. Keyboards tend to work fine when hot-swapping though.

[Captain L]

My gamepad stopped working a while ago, while the computer worked fine. And my USB controller apparently still works, seeing as how the bottom of the mouse still glows red and the gamepad receiver still flashes, but the keyboard doesn't show any lights.

[Captain L]

I hate PCs. Besides the fact that I've had more problems with it in 6 months than I've had with Macs in 6 years, at least when the Mac breaks down, there's an explanation. I decided to just open up the side of the PC to look at the USB stuff on the inside (I had no idea what I was doing). I poked the silver boxes on the inside, looked at it, closed it back up, and plugged it back in. Guess what? It works fine now.

[WheatThins]

Captain L, on 22 July 2012 - 08:10 PM, said:

I hate PCs. Besides the fact that I've had more problems with it in 6 months than I've had with Macs in 6 years, at least when the Mac breaks down, there's an explanation. I decided to just open up the side of the PC to look at the USB stuff on the inside (I had no idea what I was doing). I poked the silver boxes on the inside, looked at it, closed it back up, and plugged it back in. Guess what? It works fine now.

Take it to a computer repair shop, ask them to format and reinstall Windows. There's no good reason to hate a PC that hasn't already been fucked up, whoever you got it from secondhand may have fucked it up. If you don't feel like paying for someone to reinstall it, reinstall it yourself using some guides online. Furthermore, I recommend just buying a new computer. 5 years is a bit outdated regardless of the OS you're running. Post your specs here if you want to change my mind. (Start menu -> control panel -> classic view (or view small/large icons) -> system

As for dusting the computer, open it up again and take a tire compressor to the fan. Blow out all the dust and crap inside (I recommend doing so outside.)

I recommend you defrag at least once every few months, or get a program that will automate that for you.
(Start menu -> all programs -> accessories -> system tools -> system defragmentor)

Check your machine for any malware.
Download MalwareBytes, then run a flash scan and a quick scan, remove any threats.

Run CCleaner, remove any junk that shows up.

This post has been edited by WheatThins: 09 August 2012 - 02:11 AM

[Captain L]

Once again, I must say, I hate PCs. Now the problem is the internet has points where it barely works. I mean, it doesn't cut out or anything, but it's slow. As in, Speedtest is giving me 91ms Ping, .28mb/s download speed. YouTube videos are a pain to watch, and Blip/Springboard is even worse. I haven't even played any online games on Steam for a while because of it. I was hoping the problem would go away on its own as they usually do, but this one goes away for a few days, comes back, and so on. So, what's the problem here? It's not the wireless in my house, because my iPod runs fine. And the icon on the toolbar is telling me my internet speeds are 52mb/s. And standard internet browsing is usually fine, except for Know Your Meme image galleries.

And just for any future reference, my system is as follows:
Windows XP Professional SP3
Intel Core 2 Duo 6600 2.4GHz
2GB RAM (I was sure I had more)

And I'm not going to replace this computer. Not only do I not want to buy a PC, but aside from the problems this one faces, the only thing it can't do that I have is play Assassin's Creed II. Other than that, it's better than my 6 year old Macbook Pro, which runs fine mostly.

This post has been edited by Captain L: 30 November 2012 - 05:06 PM