Way off topic. Can a techie help me please?

[bigjimaz]

I apologize for asking as I know that most of you are home and the last thing you want to do when you get home is help out a computer noob, but I have a couple issues I need help with and cannot seem to find out anything.

1. This should be simple, or at least you would THINK it should be.

I want to create a simple alphanumeric list. Basically, I want to have a program that I gan type in random numbers and words and have them automatically alphabetize themselves. If I type in 67890, 12345, zealot, nerd and billy goat, I want to see them as they would appear alphabetically and numerically, as in:

12345
67890
billy goat
nerd
zealot

Sounds simple, but does something like this exist, preferably in freeware, or even better, already available on Windows XP and I simply can't find it?


2. When I close IE7, I am getting this:

After I get rid of that, this pops up:

I started getting this after downloading Norton 2007. I have contacted Norton and they suggested that I delete and reinstall, which I've done twice with the same results. Any clues?

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Pedersen]

I want to create a simple alphanumeric list. Basically, I want to have a program that I gan type in random numbers and words and have them automatically alphabetize themselves. If I type in 67890, 12345, zealot, nerd and billy goat, I want to see them as they would appear alphabetically and numerically, as in:

Sounds simple, but does something like this exist, preferably in freeware, or even better, already available on Windows XP and I simply can't find it?

Well, for this, I've got some ideas: Do you have Microsoft Excel? If so, you can type the entries into a column of cells. After that, go to the Tools menu (or is it Data menu? I can never remember), and click sort. You can then sort the column.

Oh, and even better: The way sorting works using English on computers: Numbers will be sorted before letters.

If you don't already have Excel, http://www.openoffice.org/ is an open source competitor to Microsoft Office, and includes an Excel type application named Calc, which has the same features for sorting.

Outside of that, you start to get into stuff that's either custom or unknown to me. Mind you, I'm not even claiming to know everything about computers. I know my fair share, and do the work for a living with them, but there's too much, and too many programs, for me to know even a small fraction of what's out there.

I started getting this after downloading Norton 2007. I have contacted Norton and they suggested that I delete and reinstall, which I've done twice with the same results. Any clues?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Why do you use Norton? I ask that to provide alternatives:

If you use it for AntiVirus, check out http://www.avast.com/ for a free (and high quality!) anti-virus solution for Windows.

If you use it for the Firewall, check out http://www.sunbelt-software.com/Home...onal-Firewall/ for a very cheap firewall that is, in my experience, the very best software firewall available for Windows, bar none. At $20, it's better than a bargain. My experience also says to avoid Zone Alarm. There are people who really like it and swear by it. It's not my first choice.

Oh, and final word of advice, and one that will be the most annoying: Ditch Norton. Each successive version has been getting worse and worse reviews. More and more techs are flat out uninstalling it when they get a machine that has it, because it has been known to cause so many problems for them. I know that it cost somewhere between $60 and $70, but it is not worth it to try and get things working right with it from everything I've read.

Hope this is of some help, at least.

[Chanlin]

Question 1:

Microsoft excel and yes it is the Data menu that has the sorting options. It also has alot of other nifty bells and whistles.

Question 2:

I'm not familiar with that exact error, but one thing to try is to uninstall Norton and then try to duplicate the problem without norton installed. If the problem goes away you know Norton is the cause. If the problem persists its something else causing the issue which can be any number of things.

Here is a copy paste from a tech forum from simply googling "Runtime Error 217"

"Have you tried disabling run time errors in the Internet Explorer> Tools> Internet options> Advanced > Browsing > "Display notification about every script error" ?
If it already has no tick in it and is already disabled, I would suggest that you uninstall any "Toolbars" that you have in IE. View > Toolbars. You will have to uninstall the toolbars in Add remove programs in the Control Pannel."

I'd say try the uninstall test first, if that doesnt fix it then go on to the disabling of error notfications and uninstalling toolbars and such.

[JustADude]

Since we've already got an off-topic thread started here involving anti-viral programs...

What would you guys say THE best AV program out there is? Price isn't really an issue for this, since I'm upgrading and reinstalling a tower for a friend who specifically told me to get it as locked down as I could without cutting him off from the usual net activities.

[CancelMyService]

I used Kaspersky to disinfect my wife's old computer from back when she didn't know better than to go clicking on links willy-nilly. The thing had so many bugs it was like I went outside and lifted up a rock. Kaspersky is the only thing that got it completely virii-free.

http://usa.kaspersky.com/

[Alephcat]

just to get even more off topic I find the best anti-virus to use that does not stop you doing things on the net is, not using windoze

[JustADude]

just to get even more off topic I find the best anti-virus to use that does not stop you doing things on the net is, not using windoze

Yes, but that also defeats the designated function of being an uber-nasty gaming rig.

[Alephcat]

Yes, but that also defeats the designated function of being an uber-nasty gaming rig.

Not really, you can run most games and all popular games on alternative operating systems http://www.winehq.com/ http://www.transgaming.com

[LostMyMind]

You don't need anti-virus, you just need not to connect your computer to the internet. No internet, no virus. Even easier solution

Personally, I never understood how people would get virus any more. Trojans sure, but viruses? Viruses pretty much died out with floppies. And if you don't download or access sites that you shouldn't be doing anyway, you won't get trojans.

@Alephcat: Why get an alternative OS, when you got the real thing? The only thing those "other" OS got going for them is that they're not popular enough to get attention of trojans writers. So it's actually in your best interest to keep Windows the primary OS, so Microsoft can spend their time and money on security holes plugging and your favorite alternative OS writers won't have to spend their time fixing their security holes.

[volatile]

Since we've already got an off-topic thread started here involving anti-viral programs...

What would you guys say THE best AV program out there is? Price isn't really an issue for this, since I'm upgrading and reinstalling a tower for a friend who specifically told me to get it as locked down as I could without cutting him off from the usual net activities.

I, personally, like NOD32. If you google around you will find that it has one of the highest detection rates. On top of that, it was programmed at an assembly level so it is more efficient and leaves a smaller footprint.

[volatile]

I did a quick google of your error message and it seems to be that Norton's Confidential Helper add-on is the source of the problem. Try disabling this add-on. If that doesn't solve it...try stepping through each of the add-ons and disable one by one. Kind of a brute force method of solving the problem, but it is the only way to narrow down the cause.

[LonelyStr8manInSF]

Preface: I managed a computer repair shop in SF for a while, so I'm not talking out of my ass =)

I highly recommend Avast. Very effective, easy to use. The downside is moderately high overhead. Still, it's free for home use and great to install in the background on the computers of the technologically-challanged.

For fixing virus infections, I have found nothing better than Trinity Rescue Kit - a CD-bootable Linux distro that is entirely free, and contains four differnet anti-virus apps: ClamAV, F-Prot, BitDefender, and AVG. ClamAV is the most effective, but give it 4-5 hours to run (or a day or more, if the hard drive has any significant amount of QuickTime compressed movies). By running all 4, I've never had trouble clearing any infection, except PurityScan....but that's another beast entirely.

[Ms. Pounce]

Woo hoo, this thread rocks -- it's answered all my questsions/problems that I've been having with XP + Norton's + ZoneAlarm.

I actually had to unintall ZoneAlarm... even at the lowest settings it wouldn't let me connect to the internet at all. What the hell did they do to it? *cries*

[technical.angel]

They wouldn't have to do much...

I dislike ZoneAlarm. Of course, I work for a uni, and it's pointless/more complicated for a student to have a firewall on their computer since they're already behind the school's.

[LostMyMind]

I use a firewall just because in the tiny chance that a spyware program sneaks on my computer. My firewall will let me know that some "other" program is trying to connect to the internet. Something that the "XP" firewall don't do.

I used to use zonealarm, however I had way too much problems with it locking up (thus locking up my computer). So I got rid of it and found a nice free firewall called Comodo that seems to be perfect. It will even notify me when a program try to use IE as a backdoor to the internet.