PC Doctor February 10, 2010

    I clicked a selection that blocks the profile pics of all my friends (by mistake) and I can't figure out how to get them back. Any ideas?

Jim

Dear Jim,

 

    I have a feeling that Facebook isn't the culprit here, though depending on your internet latency Facebook might not be simply loading the pictures as you use more broadband to load them. That said, I think your problem is an internet browser setting. Both Firefox and Internet Explorer have settings that prevent the loading of any pictures on websites, including the profile pictures on Facebook. This is useful as I described above for slower Internet connections, as it saves loading time. But it is rather annoying, especially in Facebook, so here's how to undo it.

     If you’re using Mozilla Firefox as your Internet browser: open Firefox > Click "Tools" in the upper tool bar > Select "Options" from the drop down menu > Click the "Content" tab, from the resulting open window > Check the "Load images automatically" option > hit "OK" to apply the change.

     If you are using Internet Explorer: Hit "Start" > Open "Control Panel" from the Start menu > Open the "Internet Options" pane from the Control Panel selection > From "Internet Options" click on the "Advanced" tab > Scroll down to the Multimedia section > Check the following option checkboxes: "Show image download placeholders," "Show Pictures," and "Smart image dithering." > Hit "OK" to apply the settings.

     This should do it for you. If the problem is still occurring with these options checked, try it on different web browsers. If you are using Internet Explorer, try Firefox, Google Chrome, or Safari, or vice versa for whatever browser you currently use. If you're still having problems on multiple browsers, try it on a different Internet connection if possible. It could be that your Internet connection is too slow. Swing by the Athol Public Library if you use a laptop. If it’s still not working, I would suggest contacting Facebook. Chances are it's a bug related to your account. Visit www.facebook.com/help/ for info regarding contacting Facebook and reporting bugs. Good luck, hope this helps!

 

PC Doctor

 

PC Doctor's Tip of the Week: SUPERAntiSpyware 

 

    Ever run into one of those infamous fake anti-virus programs? They tend to go by various generic, but legitimate sounding names; such as Advanced Virus remover, Antivirus Live, and Internet Security 2010. Most of them look trust worthy enough; some of them will even run mock virus scans, to appear as the real thing. How can you identify them, if they look so much like the real thing? No matter what name and form an anti-virus program goes by, trust your gut. If you did not buy it with your PC or specifically install it, then it is not something you want on your computer. 

    Now to get rid of it. This, unfortunately, is usually much trickier than identifying the rogue program. The typical uninstall procedure will not remove them, and they're impossible to delete by the typical methods. Furthermore, most of these fake programs block the installation of good applications that would remove the rogue program. This is where the awesome program, SUPERAntiSpyware, comes in. Unlike normal Anti-spyware software, SUPERAntiSpyware is very hard to block. What it does is generate a completely random string of characters to serve as its name. The fake anti-virus doesn't recognize the random string of characters, so it will let the installation and the running of SUPERAntiSpyware complete. Pretty sweet! On top of being smart enough to sneak past a fake anti-virus program, SUPERAntiSpyware is a very good, up-to-date anti-spyware application. No matter the situation, SUPERAntiSpyware has always done the job for me. You can find it for a free download at www.superantispyware.com/ Though it's great at penetrating the block of most rogue programs, I still would recommend downloading it now. Better safe than sorry.