Sick computer

July 22, 2009 10:59 AM

Last night, the volume control on my computer started acting up -- every few moments, it would turn itself down to zero. Can the hivemind hope me?

I installed AVG's free antivirus software, which seems to have caused further problems -- since installing AVG, I cannot get on the internet with my laptop. The page either comes up blank, or I get a message saying "the connection to the server was reset while the page was loading."

I know the wireless connection is not the problem, because other laptops in the house work just fine.

While AVG was scanning my computer in safe mode, there was a lot that was not scanned: AVG claimed the files were locked. AVG doesn't find any guck on my computer.

Is there anything else I can do to fight this thing, or do I have to pay somebody to get rid of this for me?

posted by wandering steve to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)

Laptop might be the magic word here.

Whenever we have had audio problems like this with laptops, it's been due to the physical volume control buttons built into the thing, rather than any kind of software issue. Might there be a 'decrease volume' or 'mute' button somewhere that is stuck?
posted by FishBike at 12:56 PM on July 22, 2009

Response by poster: Hm. The audio issue seems to have resolved itself; uninstalling AVG gives me back my internet access. So, there's that.
posted by wandering steve at 11:48 PM on July 24, 2009