Searching for Very Smart Computer Saavy People!!

[NJMom]

I will be posting this same question in two or so spots where I think the most brilliant of you might be hanging out reading posts. I used to "log on" here when I was researching computers and was struck by how smart many of you are & how comfortable you are with computers and thats the kind of person I need right now.

My husband has walked out the door after 20 years of marriage and due to this I need to use the internet to look up all kinds of thingsnew vehicle-I lost mine in an accident, home rentals, SUPPORT GROUPS! etc.) The problem is that we had/have two computers in the house. One is the ancient and VERY SLOW computer I'm typing this on with only 32 mb. of ram- UUUGGHH -(One web page can take 10-15 minutes to load )& God forbid you open two or three windows like I like to!

For one week we had a second computer -DO NOT LAUGH PLEASE -It was my fathers old "Compaq 5008US that was old itself but at least it was running Windows Me (not Win 95) and it had 128 mb. of Ram. I had it up and running and it seemed fast compared to what I'm used to.

Anyway......

One of the kids shut down the Compaq by turning the power off, not shutting it down. Oh my, what a mistake!!!!!!!

It is now telling me that it cannot load the mouse/driver because it is missing the file vmouse.vxd (I think thats the extension.) Someone said this is a core operating file?
It also is only appearing to be in safe mode (bad graphics) although it does not say it's in it.....
I CANNOT RE-RUN SETUP BECAUSE MY FATHER DOES NOT HAVE THE STUPID WINDOWS ME DISK!!!!! I also cannot "restore" to a previous days setup because it says it simply CANT DO THAT!!
Maybe it's just NOT IN THE MOOD to restore, I dont know.....

I can navigate around the stupid desktop with the keyboard but its strange& awkward and slow.

Can one of you "computer guys" or "computer girls" out there tell me if I should walk around town asking if someone has an old Windows Me disk and ask to copy the file off it or is not that simple?? (could I simply COPY the file into the system somewhere.)
I do not have a credit card to order Windows Me on the internet and have no idea where to find it locally.
Is it better to simply format the whole computer and buy it and setup Win Me from scratch? (dont think this computer is new enough to run XP)
I'm sorry this is so long and I'm sorry if my computer illiteracy is showing. I'm just a MOM who does her husbands business work from the house with Quickbooks, which does not require much computer know-how!!! LOL.

I would love to buy a brand new computer, more than ever now, but without a credit card and without $1500-$2000 saved up my only option to make PAYMENTS appears to be Dell
and I remember what you all said about that!!

Thanks in advance.
Barb

 

[sobelizard]

WinME is NOT any better than Win95B. Both suck either way.

One approach is garage sale the Compaq paper weight and use a public pc/internet cafe while you do the research that you mentioned. Save your $$$ and buy a new pc. Lots of deals under $500. Since you don't seem to run power-hungry apps, you would be safe with a budget cpu based pc.

I will look through some old boxes if you truly want to torture yourself with WinME and will send you an OEM disc and license if my archaeological expedition turns one up.

<font color=green><b><i>Lizards</font color=green></b> do <b>not</b> taste like <b><font color=yellow>chicken</font color=yellow></b>,<b> <font color=yellow>chicken</font color=yellow></b> tastes like <font color=green><b>lizard.</b></font color=green></i>

 

[mozzartusm]

First question is; do you know how many memory slots you have available? Next, WIN ME is full of problems! DO NOT spend money on this version. I have some old compaqs, so if you can give me a little more info, I may be able to help you. If you happen to look inside the case don't touch any of the components, even when unplugged it can kill your system. You can reply back here or send me a PM. If your system will work with one of these sticks of MEM that I have you are welcome to one. They just collect dust, and I have quite a few saved up. Almost forgot, if you can find out which driver it is that you need, I can probably dig that up for you as well.

 

[jammydodger]

I believe that vmouse.vxd is a vertual device drive for your mouse. When you turn off your computer without shuting down this can damage you hard drive and destroy files. Which sounds like what has happened to you.
Have a look here: <A HREF="http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=316544" target="_new">http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=316544</A>
If you have nothing important on your computer just reinstall windows..or even better get a new computer.

 

[jammydodger]

Have you thought about building your own computer? Make a thread titled "Need cheap ass computer" or similar and get people to try and design for you the cheapest computer possible.

 

[sobelizard]

Should actually read:

Cheap Ass, Need Computer
*donations appreciated, unless it's Apple

<font color=green><b><i>Lizards</font color=green></b> do <b>not</b> taste like <b><font color=yellow>chicken</font color=yellow></b>,<b> <font color=yellow>chicken</font color=yellow></b> tastes like <font color=green><b>lizard.</b></font color=green></i>

 

[fishmahn]

Anyone notice the original question is more than a month old? And IIRC, her problem was resolved on one of her posts in another forum (yah, she cross-posted the same question to almost every forum...)

Mike.

 

[RichPLS]

Could be some fringe benifits with NJ Mom on the rebound!

<font color=red><pre>\\//__________________________________
And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>

 

[fishmahn]

Hmmm....

Gonna hafta find another old thread of hers to resurrect

Mike.