eee-PC bigpond solved (I hope).

I ended up reimaging the computer incase this was the problem. This actually fixed a lot of problems I had with the eee-PC. I don't know whether the original install was faulty or I got overexcited uninstalling things from the eee-pc.
The main problem was the eee-pc freezing, even using the various speed ups I have found on the web.
Anyway the modem still disconnected when plugged into the right hand side port but when plugged into the Left hand side port it was okay. I could be that the other two USB ports do not have enough power to support the modem.

*** Update ****

I have given it a beating and it has worked without a problem.

XPAntivirus 2008

I just had anothe computer with the XP Antivirus 2008 (the customer actually bought it as well). After cleaning the obvious junk out of the computer, I still had a problem with the desktop icons and taskbar not appearing and when you tried to run explorer.exe the system tells you it can’t find it (even though it is still present). I found the following reg key
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\explorer.exe

had a key DEBUG pointing to a program that doesn’t exist. I removed the entry and I got the entire desktop back when I rebooted. Note that I found one similar entry in Google but their key was different although it had the same effect. So pretty much anything in this entry could be suspect.

Bigpond NextG Wireless and eee PC

My eee PC arrived yesterday and I have been busy getting it ready. One thing I absolutely need is to get Bigpond's NextG wireless working on the computer. I downloaded the complete installation files. I tried to run the setup.exe but I kept on getting permission denied errors. I ran the HTML files directory and found that the problem was with IE. I dropped security to a minimum in IE but I still got the same problem.
I then manually installed the drivers for the device and found an MSI file which installed the client.
Using the secret options menu (shift-options) I managed to get the device to connect. Unfortunately it only connected for a few seconds before disconnecting. I've compared the install with the install on my laptop which seems to be okay. I've tried installing and uninstalling (I've been through this process on behalf of a lot of customers) and still no good. I may have to get the machine back to factory condition and try again.

Cleanning up XP Antivirus 2008

This virus has been popping up a lot lately with a number of variants. Up until my last clean I had been pretty lucky and a combination of a few of my favourite bug killers has cleaned it up and any other nasties that have infested the computer.
The latest one cleaned up okay but it trashed the network connection. The computer would connect for awhile and then give up the ghost.
On the internet I found that there was a problem relating to DHCP address leases and a reboot of the modem/router would fix the problem. I tried this and it did for awhile. The computer would not let me disable the network adapter either.
I rebooted into safe mode and uninstalled the adapter and rebooted into normal Windows and the computer is fine now.

Simple Fix

Sometimes the problems are simple. A customer called and could not connect to the internet. I started the usual by going to Control Panel->Network Connections. I noticed that the network connection was set to disabled. I reenabled the connection and it restarted. It's not often that you can solve a problem in 5 minutes. Although like most customers she got her money's worth with a few "while you are here" items.
The client was around 70 and it warms the heart when she said she could not survive without her Google. This beats hands down my grandmother's generation of watching "Days of Our Lives".