Computer problems- help? | Golden Skate

Computer problems- help?

skateluvr

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
I have had a couple problems with this macbookpro. sometimes, it does not charge. the ac adapter wasn't lighting and I was losing power. it did start charging when I changed outlets, but there is nothing apparently wrong with the outlet as other thinhs work. the little lite on the plug is sometimes green, sometimes orange. it is 595 charged and is orange right now. anyone know what it should be? I also had problems turning it on, so I have left it on. A bout with bronchitis has kept me from the Best Buy, where I got no help last visit. They did not test the ac adapter, and the computer turned on. I think I will ask for mgr next time as two cracks have appeared near the on button. The Geek Squad guy saw it but said they "wouldn't do anything about this." I know great service. I called the mgr a few weeks back and illness has kept me from returning. It seems there are two separate problems. One maybe with Ac adapter not charging the unit, and a minor fall maybe affected the on/off switch.

It is my only puter needed for hiring medical/household help so I have not wanted to bring it in-they can send it out 4 times before replacing it-under warranty. I just can't deal with the hassle, but I will have to, I guess.

When should the tiny charge light be green, and when orange. It started green, now is orange. I don't have a manual, as computers don't come with them anymore. It is very stressful when you don't have computer (apple esp) knowledge. Any ideas as to what to do. If it charges and turns on in the store (and of course it did first time I went) they just look blank and hand it back. :think:
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Probably the problem is with the computer, but just in case it's not:

If there really is a consistent difference between outlets (say the bedroom never/sometimes charges and the kitchen always charges, or it always charges in the store, but never/sometimes at home), check whether the bedroom outlet is properly grounded/installed. In older homes, especially those with remnants of knob & tube wiring, or ones that were wired by somebody's uncle rather than a licensed electrician, sometimes there is a floating ground. They sell testers for this in the hardware store for about 3 to 5 dollars.
.
http://www.google.com/products/cata...X&ei=gytkT-etOObd0QHKyqGRCA&ved=0CIIBEPMCMAA#

If the difference is not consistent, the problem is almost surely the computer.

If your outlet is bad, don't use it; it's a fire hazard. Get an electrician to rewire it. If the whole house is a an electrical mess, and you can't afford to rewire it, have an electrician put in a ground fault interrupt outlet, and use it for charging.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Doris, I hope Skateluvr still has power and can read your post, because it sounds as if it could address several of the most likely problems--and could probably help a lot of other people troubleshoot, too. I'm going to copy and paste this and keep it on hand to help buddies of mine as well.
 

skateluvr

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
Thank you all. I think it truly is puter- I am reading for my macbook. How i pray they'd just take it back and replace but they did it once -that mgr left for staples. I am exhausted from hospital-ER visit and I was alone-my mother won't come, so, my cup during Lent overflows.

I will attempt to sho it to mgr. I ask your prayers. I am thinking of buying an acer-back to PC-much cheaper. As I must have internet access /document access. I am very neophyte on puters now esp Apple. Maybe a net book or ? I hesitate to buy used off craigslist as I likely won't be lucky. A freind said get a cheap(er)acer from Walmart. Renting laptop adds up quickly, so, having one puter is hard when things go wrong.

I love this boards-someone always knows something above and beyond IJS.

After my ER visit, I will relax-cat was overjoyed to see me-we left my keys, had to wake mom at 4 am-she is 90 but out having corn beef and cabbage today. (Canadian french she is- I'm halg Irish/proud of it). Med procedure has challenged me head to toe.

Since recent odd pain episodes it is not clearly heart,? I opted not to have some dye perfusion scan. The nice doc 'rarely does the test-so doesn't recall possible risks/side effects! So I signed out against MA. Strangely, I was stressing re computer, so today I am resting, I am resting and will I hope get to best buy-under warranty-they still get to torture me 4 times (2 months!) tomorrow. God willing. Being half irish and a non drinker, I think B&K Riverdance will be my celebration. LOL I may even watch my old original Riverdance video to get in the mood. I did see Emerald Isle for 4 days in november 1978-very rainy. I was young and planned a life of travel. I never got back, but I was enchanted with UK.

I will beg forputer replacement. But prolly unlikely. Looks like I could rent, or maybe buy PC from Walmart-Acer brand. I can always sell one or other on craigslist. It's just so hard when illness makes everything a chore. I will be watching soothing videos instead of Applebees! My elderly Orthodox preist friend was kidding we'd miss green beer! (we don't drink, and I hate beer. So mum (90 and lucky is out having corned beef and cabbage (i like it but can do without.) I have learned to try not be afraid of every sympom, issue but I've had a tough month.

Thank heaven for youtube as my tapes mostly 2000-2003 are all in boxes in cellar. I taped everything. Thank God everyone uploads. I bet we have 75% of MK performances.

So thank you for links and electrical advice. HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY to our irish and those who wish they were, as they say. Enjoy a parade, a beer if you can or a look back at Riverdance. One of those memorable skates we all have.

I thank you ladies for being so nice. it is nice to find caring, very knowing folks here. GS is a gem. Thanks much as always. Blessings to all. Wish I knew a Gaelic one!
 
Last edited:

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Just to move a little more up to date, try watching Aldridge & Eaton's Riverdance along with Shae Lynn & Victor's to celebrate. (Four minutes is way too short a celebration.- make it 8 ;) ) And I hope you feel better.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
skateluvr, I hope your symptoms clear up. I understand how easy it is to fear every odd heartbeat or strange pain. You're right to look for skating videos! They can get you through a lot. There's also a lot of great classical music on YouTube. And you as an activist might share my fondness for Joan Baez and Judy Collins--hunt them up, and you'll find some good performances. YouTube also has Irish folk music galore (galore is an Irish word, did you know that?--and so is smithereens), including groups like Clannad. I don't drink either and I don't even eat corned beef, but hey, we're all Irish today.

I'm far from an expert on computers, but I can report that I've had an HP laptop (PC) for quite some time, and it's been pretty kind to me. I don't use it wireless but keep it connected to an outlet. Once when I had a problem, I worried about being computerless (because I need to take work home frequently), so I got a little notebook as a backup. I gather they're going out of style, but I still see them at the local Staples (where I do my computer shopping), and the one I decided on was an inexpensive Acer. It also has done pretty well, connecting easily to all my Internet haunts, including YouTube. (You still have to get security ware installed, which costs a bit, but it's worth it.) It doesn't take disks, but it takes flash drives, so you can transfer all your documents to it easily. It's so lightweight, another plus. I don't know anything at all about the new tablets, but a notebook has the advantage of its own keyboard (albeit small). Good luck with your computer woes.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
skateluvr, I put up a St. Patrick's Day skating show for you in The Edge folder.

I hope you like it :)
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Battery tip - do not keep your laptop/netbook/tablet plugged into an outlet all the time. The battery needs to be 'excercised'. So, make sure you use it unplugged at least part time. Your battery will last longer.

Here's a link to a battery tip site: http://www.ehow.com/way_5378888_laptop-battery-maintenance-tips.html

In general, tablets and netbooks won't do everything that a desktop/laptop will do. They are nice as secondary devices.

With regards to tablets, you can buy a wireless blu tooth keyboard. It's handy if you will do a lot of typing on the tablet. If you're just going to use it for streaming videos, games or reading, then you don't need a keyboard. If the keyboard is in a folder, it will be small - make sure you select a keyboard where the key's aren't flush to each other to reduce typos. There are also full size keyboards which are handy if you are going to leave it at home/office.

Personally, I don't care for netbooks. Keyboard is too small and they don't respond as quickly as a desktop/laptop/tablet. They are less expensive than full size tablets - as mentioned, they are aok as a secondary device.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Thanks, Heyang! I did not know that about batteries. I will now unplug.

Tricky little devils, computers. They have all sorts of secrets that their humans might not find out for years. On the whole, I prefer cats.
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
LOl - one of the tech guys at work told me about the battery. At work, they are constantly on docking stations and when I used it at home, I would always plug in. Then, I started having problems with the battery running low during meetings when I couldn't plug in - and we get new computers every 2 years. So, he told me to take it home and not plug in to let the battery drain a couple of times....... I guess it forces the battery monitor to recalculate and not expect 100% power levels, etc.
 

skateluvr

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
skateluvr, I put up a St. Patrick's Day skating show for you in The Edge folder.

I hope you like it :)

thanks and I thanked you in edge folder -had questions re if we could have ISJ tutorials at some point-moninated MM, but he seems to be hiding.:)
 

spikydurian

Medalist
Joined
Jan 15, 2012
Hi Skateluvr, popping by to check out how you and your computer are faring? I have been wondering where you were and your comp problem when I found this thread! ;) (I hardly check out Le Cafe threads).
Sorry to hear you are not well. Take care and be back in tip top condition in time for Worlds 2012 chat. :)
 

skateluvr

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
Hi spiky, still having charging problems and also yesterday with my phone, which was well. So I can get the phone replaced, under a year old, but I have no sim card, so I had to take all the numbers off (2 hours) if I replace the phone. I think i am going to first ask an electrician to check my outlets. Maybe a light bulb is no problem, but now charging both puter and cell are issues. Og, God. I pray a lot, but am extremely challenged. I had bronchitis (chronic issue-non smoker!) for almost a month, so puter never got to Best Buy. I have til August on puter warranty, and there seems to be a charging problem and turning on problem which might be related? I plan to check my outlets ad then buy a cheap PC and let them take the apple in for service. If it works for them and gets good bill (ie it does not replicate the problem -which has happened once already) i will sell it. I know PS's have more virus, but for what i do on puter, I will get good virus software. I have found Apple very hard to adjust to after just PC's. I do not have good luck with modern day appliances. I remember when my mom's vac worked 25 years. Her appliances in Kitchen are from the 70's! So I have bad luck, yes, but we are being @#$%%^ as consumers. The very young helper looked me in the face and said "Well, they're made to last three years, you know."

It is diabolical really that a 2,000 (their replacement idea-I appreciated it) turned out to be made in sweatshops in China. Then why the high price? This is not the world I grew up in and I am not the most ancient poster here. But as a child, doctors made house calls and none were rich, just well off! I do believe in God and wonder if our severe capitalism has lost our favor with him, among other controversial issues not for the cafe.

I need my stuff to work, being disabled is a full time gig. So I hope to read the comp threads and see what I can see, then puter goes in after I shop for a low proced laptop or notebook. I still have not had the chance. If anyone has done a similar search and purchase recently, what do you suggest? I have pretty fast internet speed, don't need gobs of service, but need reliability and I like a fast PC. Any suggestions very gratefully appreciated, as I think selling the Macbookpro when fixed or at least checked out thoroughly is the plan. back to the land of microsoft!
 

skateluvr

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
I have bought an Asus a week ago. Having forgotten everything I knew (not much about PC) I was happy I could set it up and figure out how to connect , so it's not bad but just loading Webroot virus software caused it to virtually freeze a lot-loading pages became like 45 seconds or more. I restored it and put the Bing add-on back! It speeded up. I tried Google chrome browser and did not go well. Deleted Chrome. As usual I have had some odd things at sign on! It tells me there are not enough resources! and I can't get past password! This is why I hate computers. I can bring back before 30 days. It is the same as Toshiba or HP for same price. Cheapest pc at best buy 350.00. So I am still waiting for "friend" to come by who spends all his time on his PCs. He hates Apple. So far he hasn't showed. Such a friend, she said ruefully. I had never heard of Asus, but I guess they are well lknown as mfg motherboards.

So, I must get serious and write letters. Muhc more fun on Goldenskate. As anyone seen this "you don't have enough resources to sign on" thing? There are no programs on this computer. I haven't even downloaded openoffice.org for fear it will slow down. I should have w\Webroot or Nortonloaded, I think, but since Windows has Defender and another malware/spyware program built in, will this be enough? Everyone here seems so computer literate, so any suggestions helpful. Thanks ;)
 
Last edited:
Top