I may. be some time...

[Petrushka]

Got a big problem on my computer. I get an error message saying 'User profile cannot be loaded'. I've looked on the internet via my phone and putting it right looks beyond me so in it goes.

Supposed to be booking Proms next week.

I might be away for a while.

[Bryn]

Got a big problem on my computer. I get an error message saying 'User profile cannot be loaded'. I've looked on the internet via my phone and putting it right looks beyond me so in it goes.

Supposed to be booking Proms next week.

I might be away for a while.

One suggested source of such a problem is that an anti-virus program might be temporarily stopping access. Have you tried waiting a while, then restarting the computer?

[teamsaint]

If i may suggest a little back up, for folks when the inevitable happens to the PC,a kindle fire at around £100 can be a great and usable, if not perfect, standby. Easy to use, allows browsing, emails, and can be a useful music backup with stuff like I player, amazon cloud , youtube.

Bought ours on a bit of a whim, and its been great. I know it is from the dreaded amazon......

Hope you get it fixed soon, Pet.
We really seem stuck without all this kit these days.

[Petrushka]

Yes I've tried restarting but it's been like this for 24 hours now.

Using phone at mo.

[richardfinegold]

If i may suggest a little back up, for folks when the inevitable happens to the PC,a kindle fire at around £100 can be a great and usable, if not perfect, standby. Easy to use, allows browsing, emails, and can be a useful music backup with stuff like I player, amazon cloud , youtube.

Bought ours on a bit of a whim, and its been great. I know it is from the dreaded amazon......

Hope you get it fixed soon, Pet.
We really seem stuck without all this kit these days.

I use an ipad, but I agree with the sentiment. This may be a great time for you to spring for a relatively cheap tablet like the kindle and discover the yjoys of surfing without a PC. Not to mention that you can load boks and music on it as well...

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

... and play Freecell!

[Petrushka]

Well, I'm back in business again! In the end the laptop had to go to my local computer shop who had to delete everything, so it was goodbye to some things. I was told that a virus had caused the shutdown. I'm also having problems logging back into my Hotmail account as it doesn't recognise the password I set up several years ago and was never changed but the really good news is that I'm ok to book my tickets for Saturday's Proms booking.

The Forum page has lost some of its colour as well - the usual bright red looks washed out. Just got to reset all my favourites, or those I can remember.

[teamsaint]

Great to have you back, Pet.

At least you are up and running. Hope the financial damage wasn't too bad.

Good luck with the proms tickets.

[Petrushka]

Great to have you back, Pet.

At least you are up and running. Hope the financial damage wasn't too bad.

Good luck with the proms tickets.

Thanks ts. I got hit in the wallet by £50 which was pretty much what I expected. Still can't get into my e-mails but will hopefully soon. Rather had my confidence in computers dented.

[teamsaint]

Thanks ts. I got hit in the wallet by £50 which was pretty much what I expected. Still can't get into my e-mails but will hopefully soon. Rather had my confidence in computers dented.

I am impressed that you had any confidence in them !£ 50 doesnt sound too bad, as it goes. My excellent local man charges about that. Having had 3 kids at uni in the last few years, somebody to repair laptops at a sensible price is utterly invaluable .

Next decent win, buy a kindle hd to play with is my advice .

[richardfinegold]

Well, I'm back in business again! In the end the laptop had to go to my local computer shop who had to delete everything, so it was goodbye to some things. I was told that a virus had caused the shutdown. I'm also having problems logging back into my Hotmail account as it doesn't recognise the password I set up several years ago and was never changed but the really good news is that I'm ok to book my tickets for Saturday's Proms booking.

The Forum page has lost some of its colour as well - the usual bright red looks washed out. Just got to reset all my favourites, or those I can remember.

Macs don't get viruses, Pet. At least, not on this side of the pond...

[amateur51]

Good luck with your Proms booking, Pet

Thanks for the Kindle HD advice, teams - I'm afraid that my trusty Dell PC (2006) is coming to the end of its life and really I only use it for web browsing, e-mails, bits of writing and Spotify. Your suggestion sounds very sensible and remarkably ... cheap

[teamsaint]

Good luck with your Proms booking, Pet

Thanks for the Kindle HD advice, teams - I'm afraid that my trusty Dell PC (2006) is coming to the end of its life and really I only use it for web browsing, e-mails, bits of writing and Spotify. Your suggestion sounds very sensible and remarkably ... cheap

I would certainly have a play with one first, Ams. They ARE good, IMO, but one drawback is that, although you can do email, post on here etc, they are relatively small and can be a bit fiddly for typing.
There are upsides though. The speakers are pretty decent for such a small machine, certainly good enough to use as a portable radio for casual listening.

My son swears by his equally cheap Kobo arc, much the same thing, but which has a 64 gig memory too.
Obviously you can read books on them too. Handy little chaps and a lot cheaper than an ipad mini, which apparently does roughly the same stuff.

Edit. I havent used one, but i think that if i was going to go for a kindle to use a lot of the time, i would certainly have a look at the 8.9 version at £159. I suspect it would be a good deal easier for typing etc.

Another money saver is to go for a budget price cover and screen protector. No need to pay for £30 waterstones cases, should be able to pick them up for less than £10 on Amazon. And you will definitely need to buy a mains charger, again available for a couple of quid.accessories should have to cost more than around £12 in all.
The ordinary kindle hd only comes with a laptop trickle charger, which charges very slowly

[Lento]

I suppose £50 is minimum charge and probably quite reasonable these days to save one the time of reinstalling the OS oneself.

[Dave2002]

Re msgs 12 and 13: Some people swear by various forms of tablets and mobile devices, while others swear at them and threaten to microwave them.

Cheaper ones are not too expensive if one wants to try - the Nexus seems very good, but seriously you can spend quite a lot getting something which really doean't fit in with your style of working or living. If you do a lot of typing then something with a decent keyboard - such as a good laptop - is far better than a tablet, and if you don't need the mobile/mobility features, then a good desktop machine with a decent large screen will do a lot better than a laptop. OTOH, if you're out and about and you want to find out where you are, or what nearby points of interest are, or to send an email while you're on the move, then you are unlikely to find wheeling a trolley around with your desktop machine and a battery pack (!!) very convenient, and they might not let you on some trains!