OT: Computer Help needed.......

Ruth I am not sure about the cause of your problem, but I rarely use Explorer. My personal favorite is Netscape. Just go to

and follow their download instructions. Any questions just holler.

Ruth, it is never off topic when we are deprived of your special way of commenting. Your 'non-aggressive' input always hits the mark.

I know some computer whizzes who use a WebTv or similar at home for family/recreational use. I don't know if adding the monthly fee for your abandoned WebTv, about $0.70/day, can be a justified business expense? As with keeping carbon tools, mini-lathes or monotubes when we 'upgrade', old reliables are often just that.

If your setup blocks some posts and you return to WebTv, the group might raise funds to buy it for me. :) All best, Arch

Fortiter,

I don't use OE, but most newsreaders have a setting that limits the number of headers that will be downloaded.

I can access that by right clicking on the news server name (looks something like news1.ns.sympatico.ca), then Properties...., Server Settings....., and there is a box that says Ask me before downloading more than xx messages.

Sounds more like a bug or a memory problem. Again, in Server Settings you might find a parameter that allows you to check for new messages at given intervals. You could turn that off and see if the problem goes away.

I'd blame Microsoft for that:)

I have recently started using Mozilla Thunderbird and like it a lot. There are a few minor issues, like the cursor sometimes disappears while you're typing, but nothing as dramatic as the problems you are seeing.

I've never seen a whole screen jump for any reason. I can think of only two things...

1. You're having power problems. Do you have a UPS for your computer? If not, get one - they're cheap these days and they'll pay you back more in sanity than you paid in cash.
2. Your computer has been infected with a virus which is playing with your screen. If you don't have an antivirus utility, get one. Also make sure your IE security settings (tools->internet options->security) are set to HIGH.

Sadly, fixing computers is something the internet isn't good at, because it's hard to describe what's happening to you. Time to find a local computer repair person. If you're using a local ISP (as opposed to a big one like AOL) they can sometimes recommend someone.

Ruth,

As you have been using it, and asked specifically about Outlook Express, I would ignore the posts to download this or that other newsreaders for the time being, and try to resolve your present problem because you are at least familiar with OE. The exception is to have a good virus checker installed if you don't already have one. There are many good free ones available. Search in Google.

It does not sound as though what you describe as the "screen jumping" is likely to be caused by Outlook Express unless you have it set to automatically download new messages whenever they are ready to be received by your computer. In any event, you should not lose the responses that you are composing at the time. Are you sure that they have really disappeared and have not just been minimised to the task bar at the bottom of your screen?

Go to Tools/Options/General and in the "Send/Receive Messages" section make sure the only box ticked there is "Send and receive messages at start-up". This will prevent OE from trying to download any new stuff while you're using it (although I don't really think this is the cause of your problem, following this advise will eliminate this as a possibility).

As another poster suggested, there is the possibility that you've become infected by a virus. Try going to Trend-micro site and using the online virus checker "Housecall".

.This link is to their a European site but it should work for you, butthere is bound to bea US site as well. On the other hand it could be a power supply problem but I would expect that to crash your whole PC rather than just OE.

Good luck.

subscribed).

A couple of questions I would ask are: Do you use a laptop with a "TouchPad?" - this is a common occurance if you do. As you're typing, your thumb or another finger might casually brush over the touchpad - and it can cause a "click" as perceived by the computer. This can throw your cursor in a different area, close a window, bring a different window to the front, etc.

Using Outlook Express as a newsreader has been both cheered and jeered - depending on the community. At the top of your screen - how are the messages sorted? - if you see the down arrow above any column - that's the column it's sorting by. So, if you're sorting by the Sent column - it will keep all the new posts together - that's how many sort. Others like to sort by Subject, or even by the From column. It's all a matter of personal preference.

Hopefully, this can give us some insight to your dilemma.

OE is a poor program for Newsgroups. Forte makes Agent, which is really nice, or free agent, which is also good, and is free.

Personally, I use Mozilla Thunderbird, it does mail very well and news without too much trouble, and is also free.

As far as antivirus software - AVG is good, updates regularly, and is also free.

Something not mentioned yet - Spyware. Not as nasty as a virus, but can certainly screw things up and slow things down. To scan your system and remove any of these critters - use Spybot Search & Destroy , available at:

Adaware, available at: NOT PAY ANYTHING FOR THE ABOVE PROGRAMS! The free versions of the above software are all fully functional, and wholly adequate for personal use. They are all small enough downloads to be possible to get via dialup. Beware - other programs claiming to remove spyware are actually spyware themselves, so ask before you leap if you are not sure!

All of the other recommendations and setup hints are on track, fundamentally, OE is just not a good newsreader.

Hope that this helps.

Mike

Click "Tools" then "Options" Then "Read". Down near the bottom of that window, there is a box that reads "Get XXXX headers at a time" with a number in the box beside it. Uncheck that and you should download all the headers each time you access the group.

If that box has the number 25 in it this is why you only get 25 posts. The jumping is because new posts are arriving...

Mark

subscribed).

Hi DJ,

I was hoping you'd have some input on this one. Yes, I have a UPS (that is the power surge prevention outlet thingy right?........see I'm learning puterese!)

I set the security to HIGH. I just had the Norton AntiVirus Security system installed (please tell me that was a good thing because it cost me $98).

When I say the screen jumps, it's just the center where the posts are, not the whole monitor screen. If I'm reading a post and am scrolling down, there's a flash or jump and the post goes back to the top and I have to scroll down to where I was reading. This is Not easy to explain, as you said and I may have to take it to Best Buy where I bought it and have them check it out .......... again.

Geoff,

At the "send/receive messages", it was checked for retreiving them at "start up" and there's another box that says check every 1 min. I changed this to every 3 min. just to see if that is, indeed the problem.

Thanks, Ruth

Having read the good advice here, I would agree with the comments herein to try to resolve the problems with OE before jumping to a new piece of software.

Configure a larger number of messages as described, because *possibly* your screen might jump if it affects the sort-order of the messages displayed. If what you mean by *jump* is the data (messages) moves but the screen stays lit the same, the above might be relevent. If there is a similar *jump* while using other programs, it might be more of a power problem (see UPS suggestion). This is quite possible for more rural users and you might have noticed this on your TV or other situations.

If NEVER other programs then it's probably not your PC or a virus (but you never know for sure until the problem is resolved) If NEVER your TV it's probably not your power If ONLY outlook express, then try to figure out that problem --

PS, if you are on a CABLE network to the internet, you should have and frequently update your AntiVirus software, and if you don't have a router or wireless network (like this is your only PC) then a personal firewall like ZoneAlarm blocks many attacks on your PC from hackers. They offer for free Version 3 at

which will install easily and protect a lot. (Not affiliated, just a satisfied user)

Stephen

Here are a few hints that may help out. I assume that you subscribe to more than a single newsgroup. Depending on how you have set up the program you can click on your news server. That would be at the top of the screen on the left side window pane. As Derek mentioned, it'll have a name like news.pukeyduck.nz or whatever. When you click on this on the right you may see something like 3 tabs that state Synchronize Account - clicking on this downloads all the latest posts. Newsgroups - lets you see a list of all the newsgroups your news server subscribes to. Also used to actually subscribe to these groups. Settings - gives options on what to download New messages only, headers only, all messages.

There is at least 1 way to get more messages. Click on tools and you may see an option - get the next 300 messages. (or some number) Clicking on this downloads the next # set of messages. Or you can go to Tools>Options>Read and near the bottom you can set how many messages you want to download when you first start the newsreader.

Another thing to consider is after clicking on your news server. On the pane that shows what newsgroups you subscribe to,you can slect New Messages Only. The way I learned was just clicking around on the menus and seeing what happened. This experimentation is perhaps best done either immediately after reinstalling the OS, when you have little to lose from messing things up; or immediately before reinstalling, as your gonna wipe everything anyway.

-k

subscribed).

I'm afraid I'm not much help on computers. Most techies with the ISP's aren't much help with newsgroups either. When I switched to Bellsouth, I called tech support and asked how to set my computer up to access newsgroups and the response was, "I dunno!" So, I am as amazed as anyone that I am reading any of anyone's messages. But welcome back. Haven't seen much of you lately.

Barry

subscribed).

I use Outlook Express. It may not be the optimum program for NG's, but it is quite capable.

Barry

Ruth

I have used outlook and outlook express for years. for problem 1 go to tools, options, read and under news you can change the number of downloads to 1000 max. for the next problem. Outlook is buggy. There are as many different versions of outlook as there are people working at Microsoft. The version I have at home is different than the version at work, is different than the version I used at the last place I worked, all on the same version of windows. Each version has bugs and each version is different. What you are describing has happened to me in the past sporadically. The best bet is to go to Microsoft.com and see what updates are available. If that doesn't work try a different, non-microsoft, product.

Good luck

Ruth, try every 10-15 minutes. You don't realy need to check for messages more frequently. While I was reading about your problem I was thinking that this setting, too short an interval, could/ would be the 'probable cause'. You should see an improvement with your current 3-minute setting; if not, that probably was not the cause.

Cheers, Tom

Tom

Hi Ruth,

Having it download new messages so frequently was probably where one problem originated, with the screen "jumping" every time it did so. You only need to set this to a short download time if you want to maintain a more or less instant dialogue back and forth with other posters.

Setting the download time to a longer interval just means you don't get to see other peoples replies etc for a little longer. It's no great hardship. Un-ticking that box altogether means you will only send and receive each time you open Outlook Express, or by doing this manually (e.g. Tools/synchronize newsgroup etc).

Changing this setting will overcome the "jumping", but I'm still at a loss as to why you're apparently losing unfinished messages. Is this still happening?

Don't take the adverse comments about Outlook Express too seriously. Many of the people who make them are anti-Microsoft products as a matter of principle. It is a perfectly adequate newsreader for most peoples' needs, which is why many millions continue quite happily to use it. True, it doesn't have some of the features of the other newsreaders, but having tried most of them, I've found I can live without them. I've always returned to OE as it is what I am most comfortable using.