Computer not booting up properly

[seahermit]

I think you have been lucky, Richard! I would still love someone to tell me why my updates went on for so long - bit of a nightmare really.

The outages on my broadband often last for a couple of hours, sometimes for a whole evening. Sky just deny that there is any problem at their end.

I'm not sure what advantage WhatsApp has over ordinary text messages - presumably works in the same way that "instant messaging does, and there is video of course. When I try it, I will report back as to how easy/horrible it is to use!

[Richard]

seahermit, if all else fails just sit back, relax and listen to some music on your computer speaker set-up.
I am still searching for a good speaker but confused by the offerings and their ratings.

[seahermit]

Well, it depends what kind of set-up you want .. I have little interest in fantastic sound quality/surround-sound etc. from big stereo speakers cluttering up my room. I listen to music on the computer sometimes but chiefly wanted a good, portable, basic (and compact) single speaker unit so that I could watch films and videos. Such a device is very versatile - can be used with a mobile phone or other sound-sources.

I did a lot of research and ended up with this one (below). It has been outstandingly good (it is always in the top models recommended on review websites). About 8“ long, heavy and solid in a rubberised casing, so very stable and durable, very easy to operate and very good sound quality/volume.

From Amazon: "Tronsmart Force Bluetooth speaker 5.0 - 40W Portable Speaker With 3D Stereo, Extra Bass, IPX7 Waterproof,15 Hours Playtime,TWS,Voice Assistant,100ft Bluetooth Range For Travel, Party, works with Alexa". Price £59.99.

That may be more than you want to pay for a small speaker but in my opinion it is worth it, for my enjoyment of films. There are one or two other versions, one slightly cut-down model with fewer controls calls itself the “Tronsmart Mega Bluetooth Speaker” - I didn't bother to compare all the specifications because my one has been so excellent.

Well, atleast that will give you some ideas about what you want to aim for!

[Richard]

Thanks seahermit,

I have several unpowered speakers and thought I could just connect one to my computer via a typical jack-plug.
I am wiser now and know powered amplification is needed, a power amp, like that which is built into units such as the one you mention.
Of course I could buy a basic sound-surround system for watching the TV, DVD, etcetera.
The sound is immersive and seductive/impressive.
But that is a project for another day.
A simple plug and play 'box' for listening to audio-books or music from the computer will do quite nicely for now, thank you!

[seahermit]

Well, I have bitten the bullet and splashed out on a tablet computer - Samsung Galaxy Tab A7, one website called it the best tablet they had ever reviewed (and half the price of Apple products!). It looks nice and is absolutely beautiful to use compared to my Samsung Galaxy smartphone. You can prop it up on the stand (to watch a film etc.) or lay it flat on a desk to do typing (as I am doing now). Probably better to sit at a PC with a proper keyboard to do lengthy work, although this on-screen keyboard is very comfortable to use.

Hopefully it will serve several purposes for me. The PC's broadband connection should be the most dependable one but it ain't .. I am tired of the connection keep disappearing at awkward times, so now I have several alternative options - the tablet on Wi-fi (will be on 4G too shortly) and the Samsung phone likewise (but on a different network). The tablet will be great to take to a pub or cafe (especially if I want to show stuff to someone else) and I might at times take it away with me.

I love the convenience and portability, but will keep the little phone around for now - on a very cheap tariff for occasional use!

Phew! The last month been quite an upheaval.

[seahermit]

I have a copy of Office on my PC and, as far as I remember, you are allowed to use it on two or three other devices. Would be really useful on the tablet for my writing, but I have no idea how to copy it (or whatever you do). More research ..

[UncleB]

I have a copy of Office on my PC .. Would be really useful on the tablet...

You should be able to download the app from the app store (Google Play?) and on installation it should ask for a license key - this is the one you use on your computer. This will unlock the functionality of the app.

Microsoft do allow you to have up to 5 activations of your license, so in theory 5 devices.

[seahermit]

Thanks for that. I got a copy of Office from a computer shop some time ago - on a disk (not sure they do it that way anymore). But the box displays a product key, presumably I can use that again.

However .. big upsets with the tablet. It's a lovely-looking device but I have had severe connection problems. At first it seemed easy enough to set up, like a smartphone tho more complex, and it connected with my wi-fi hub. But then my broadband and wi-fi connection went down (been bad for two days) and repeated diagnostic messages said that there was something wrong at my end (which I don't believe!). So instead, I inserted new SIM cards from two different phone networks but they absolutely refused to work (one has £10 credit on it). Eventually, I did a factory reset on the tablet and started again - that seemed to do the job, an Asda Mobile SIM got listed in the "connections" settings and it is just waiting for some credit to be applied. An O2 SIM still won't work.

But that raises one last issue and I would be grateful for an answer to some dumb questions! The Asda mobile literature said that a debit card had to be registered by phone (doesn't seem possible to do online) - but I have difficulty using a phone! In any case, what phone? Usually on a mobile you register a card, top up etc. via the same phone you intend to use afterwards (and the system recognises your device) - but can I use the tablet to phone Asda mobile? I did some research and the answers were very contradictory - some people said it worked, others said it was complicated, needed the tablet to be hooked up to another device etc. (even tho the tablet does have icons for calls, contacts etc.!).

I won't be able to phone the network anyway without some kind of amplification device - ordinary headphones don't work for me. It's a great nuisance but that's what happens when you get older .. or it will just have to sit in a cupboard for a while until I can get some help registering. After that, should be easy enough, just top up on the network's website.

[UncleB]

You can communicate teitho support at asda via their "contact us" part of the website:
https://mobile.asda.com/contact

scroll down to the Got A Question form on the middle left of the screen and fill out the form with the question - advise them you are unable to use a conventional audio call and only have a tablet, not smart phone - that should get them to formulate a response by email that can help.

I recall with setting mobile phones up, even with data access only they still connect to the mobile network and for the data only contracts they only access that part of the service. You need to set up the tablet with the network specifics to connect to them in some cases, but the support team can tell you what to set. Just remember to tell them you have an Android (or Windows or Apple) device which has the sim card in it.


On the general WiFi connections front - in your shoes I would be contacting the broadband supplier and asking them for a new router as the one you have seems to be quite unreliable. After a year of being a customer you can normally get one free.

Since you have connection issues on your PC and tablet and the tests on your line are good, then it points to the router as being suspect. I have seen it where they warm up after a while and this can overload a faulty chip, causing it to reboot or drop services such as WiFi.

At the least it will rule out one more possible cause of the issues plaguing you..

[seahermit]

Thanks very much for the advice, I didn't reply straightaway in view of the difficulties of using the PC.

It's really dumb of me not to have thought of contacting Asda Mobile through some contact form on the web site, but all the bashing my head against a brick wall has had that effect on my brain .. I did search through all the info which came with the SIM and there is no mention whatsoever of the website nor any means of contact except a phone number.

I think I have taken it as far as I can for now, I am not an IT expert (why should Asda Mobile or Sky or anyone else expect me to be?), I am just an ordinary customer and not in a position to understand why I am getting all these problems. I have had Samsung and Motorola smartphones for several years, they were all easy to set up and I don't recall ever having any serious issues with them - so my Samsung phone has for now returned to being my only reliable means of internet access.

I naively assumed that the Samsung tablet would be as straightforward to set up. It is marketed as a Wi-fi/4G device, capable of connecting to mobile broadband - but yesterday PC World at Ravenside said that "We do not sell any 4G tablets". Can anyone make sense of that?

In addition, there are icons on the Home screen for calls, contacts and text messages - yet I am being told that the tablet cannot make phone calls or do text messaging! Are the icons there for some future upgrade to the technology?

On the PC, it could well of course be the router at fault but it could be other things. Sky just deny there is any problem at all, so it is pretty unlikely that they would be willing to send me a new router until I can gather some real evidence and force the issue. I am trying to find people who understand these things to come in and actually check over the devices for me - the only way.

The last time I had continuously-reliable internet access (apart from my lovely smartphone) was several years back when I was still using library computers. Maybe I should just give up trying to get internet at home and go into the library again?!