teknikill.net

[Kaelethar]

A few months ago I was forced to dump my computer and start all over again due to a virus. When I rebooted, the program for the IMFree handheld told me updates were available, and I have the suspicion that I put it off for later. The alert never came back, even though all the support I've read said updates should be automatic. I was wondering if anyone knew where I could go in, manually, and start an update. I recently found my handheld after cleaning my room, and, no surprise, it won't work. It says there's an error connecting to the internet, which the updates are supposed to fix, according to troubleshooting. It would probably help if I could find the disk for the computer program and take the whole prgram on and off again...but...I can't find it. Go figure. Soooo....where are the updates? Thanks for helping a newbie!

[joecr]

You can download the official package from the following link.

http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/support/default.asp?SupportSection=PeripheralsAccessories

[Kaelethar]

I downloaded the installation package and it unzipped 5 files to the folder andwrote them over old ones. I think. I'm not that great with that stuff. Anyway, it still didn't work. Did I do something wrong?

[joecr]

Are you getting an error message?

What in the world do you mean by this quote.

[Kaelethar]

When I try to log onto AIM with the ImFree, it says "There has been an error openning a connection to the AIM service. Please press Exit to try again."

What I meant by "Anyway, it still didn't work" was that what you told me to do before didn't work. The only thing on the page you gave me that made any sense to download was the installation package. I clicked that, and then it unzipped files to my computer. I don't even know what that means! So I just did it and tried my INFree again and I still got the same error message. It didn't work.

[joecr]

Well if you paid attention to where it unzipped the install files you could update it. One other thing they have not released any updates for the IMfee.

Please pay attention to what you are actually doing & stop getting next happy. At this point because I'm sure you are one of those people who get next happy I'll give you a standard bit of advise.

-- Begin standard answer for this question --

This sounds like spyware/malware/adware running on your computer & possibly a virus or two.

First I'd download Ad-Aware & Spybot - Search & Destroy. The default install should take care of most problems. Also make sure you Download all the updates for both programs & immunize the computer with Spybot - Search & Destroy. Also on the immunize screen in Spybot - Search & Destroy make sure you check the box that says "Enable permanent blocking of bad addresses in Internet Explorer" as this will cut down on the spyware from getting into the computer. Also if any components will not remove in normal mode I strongly suggest restarting the computer into safe mode to remove the other components that won't remove in normal mode.

One last note several programs that are removed by both of these programs are hidden from them in normal mode, to detect them just restart into safe mode after downloading all of the updates for them.

http://www.download.com/3405-8022-5153545.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5 (This is for Ad-Aware)

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html (This is for Spybot - Search & Destroy)

For information on starting is safe mode you can check out the following Microsoft KB articles.

180902 How to Start a Windows 98-Based Computer in Safe Mode

202485 Description of Safe Boot Mode in Windows 2000

315222 A Description of the Safe Mode Boot Options in Windows XP

If you have problems getting either of these programs installed I'd recommend using clean boot to disable the spyware & possibly viruses that are preventing it from installing. This also applies the the virus scanning online. Just be careful about disabling any of the Microsoft services as they are needed.

Also these articles can be used to help troubleshoot this kind of problem as it might be cause by something running in the background. This means if the online virus scan didn't find any viruses (remember your antivirus software is the first thing most viruses attack now) & both Ad-aware & Spybot Search & Destroy didn't find any critical components you should do the clean boot troubleshooting to see if it is another piece of software.

181966 System Configuration Utility Advanced Troubleshooting Settings 9x

192926 How to Perform Clean-Boot Troubleshooting for Windows 98

267288 How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows Millennium Edition

272960 Error Messages Occur When Using Msconfig.exe ME

281965 How to Troubleshoot Using the Msconfig Utility with Windows 98

281995 How to Troubleshoot Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows ME

310353 How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP

310560 How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP

314448 Msconfig.exe Stops Responding if User Is Not an Administrator XP

316434 HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows XP

One more thing if you do use msconfig you may want to check out the following site as they list a ton of stuff that shows up on the startup tab of msconfig.

http://www.sysinfo.org/startupinfo.html

To check for a virus I recommend using an online virus scanner as the installed anti-virus software is the first target of most viruses. Here is a list of 4 different scanners.

Trend Micro's free online anti-virus scanner (I currently can only get this to work in Firefox)
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Panda Software's free online anti-virus scanner
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/

BitDefender Free Online Virus Scan
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/licence.php

Symantec's free online anti-virus scanner


-- End standard answer for this question --

Now you get to see my sig from newsgroups as you really need to read several of the things on it.


Don't pay malware vendors - boycott Sony & Symantec for helping them

Please do not contact me directly or ask me to contact you directly for assistance.

If your question is worth asking, it's worth posting.

If it’s not worth posting you should have done a search on http://www.google.com/ or http://news.google.com/froogle?hl=en&tab=nf&ned=us&q= before wasting our time.

If I sound hostile or arrogant you need to read the following before posting a question "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way" at http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html (The site I've linked to just has this article I think people should read before posting a technical question.)

One last note I now consider helping you a lost cause unless you are able to educate yourself enough to understand the instructions I gave you earlier. If you can't figure it out RTFM or call Motorola for support.

[Kaelethar]

Okay, first off, I don't even know what next happy means.

Second, I think I made it pretty clear that I'm not that great with computers or technology. That's why I'm here. To have a question answered in a simple manner by more experienced people. Not to be called things that make no sense to me and given directions that I can't understand, and then be ridiculed for my lack of knowledge.

Again, lack of knowledge: the reason I'm here.

If I don't know what it means when files are unzipped, how do you expect me to know what to do with it? I mean, do you honestly think I'm just going to randomly start fooling around with my computer's programs so that I may not be able to fix them?

And posting rules for asking questions? Last time I checked, there are no rules in life for going up to somebody and saying, "Hey, do you know where manual updates are?" I mean, it wasn't really a very complicated question. But instead of a simple "yes, it's here" or "no," I get "Next time you ask a question, read this 10 page list of things you should and shouldn't do, and by the way here's a couple links and programs that you probably won't know what to do with, and then when you ask about them, I'll make fun of you some more."

I guess this is one of those expert technology wizard forums where somebody who doesn't know something comes on to ask a question, and it's like, "Ahhhhh! Alert! Somebody who needs help because they're so stupid and have a life other than sitting on the computer all day and making fun of less experienced people!"

Just because technology isn't my life doesn't mean I don't deserve to be helped. The reason I came here was to get help from an expert or an experienced person. I'm not even claiming to know what I'm doing, like some idiots do. But apparently, instead of helping people, experts waste their time telling people who know less than they do that they are incompetent. Greeaat use of your skills guys. Yep. Real productive. I'm overwhelmed by the wondrous applications and demonstrations of knowledge that you've showed me.

Want everybody to know how smart you are? Stop bashing, get off your high horse, and start doing some good.

Advice to you next time someone new comes in and asks a question: Don't throw 10 page websites about how to ask a question at them. You learn that when you learn to talk. Some people just don't have the time for ten pages worth of alternate universe ettiquette. They just want to ask a simple question.

[Whyaylooh]

Kaelethar, in defense of joecr, my understanding is that this is not the place for people who are new to computers and technology who are just trying to figure out the basics of how to use these devices. These forums are for hacking the MX240, not basic how-to. So, assuming that, because we know how to hack these things, we must "get off of our high horses" and help those who are "so stupid and have a life other than sitting on the computer all day" is as arrogant as joecr telling you to RTFM and tossing you the canned dumb-enduser script. It's sort of like going into an automotive company's research & development facility, and demanding one of the engineers come down to give you driving lessons, or going to the company's accounting department, finding the top accountant, and demanding that they stop what they are doing to teach you how to do long division. In short, while it's true that just because technology isn't your life does not mean you don't deserve to be helped, and certainly does not warrant your being treated like an idiot, it's also true that just because technology plays a large part of my, joecr's, and most of the other folks here's lives does not obligate us to drop everything to help you.

So, BOTH of you, back ten paces, take deep breaths . . . Good.

Now, then . . .

What you'll want to do is the following seqence of events. Do NOT try to jump ahead because you think that you can guess what needs to be done next (what joecr referred to as being "next-happy", which will make sense why he calls it this by the time we get to step 18 ). I'm not trying to talk down to you here; just alerting you to a common problem that gets folks -- techs and regular endusers alike -- into trouble. Anyhew, here goes:

1.) Go to the web page given earlier (http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/support/default.asp?SupportSection=PeripheralsAccessories). Sounds like you've already done this part.

2.) About halfway down the page, you'll find the IMfree. To the right of it, you'll see FAQ, User Guide, Installation Package, Warranty, etc. Right-click on Installation Package. A little menu should pop up. Select "Save Target As..."

3.) A "Save As" (or something to that effect) window should come up. On the left side of the window, you may have some icons, including ones for "Desktop" and "My Documents". If so, click on "Desktop". If not, toward the top of the window should be a "Save In" drop-down box (the kind with the down-pointing triangle that you click on, and a list of options drops down). Click the triangle, and select "Desktop" from the list. Click the "Save" button now.

4.) After a few moments (depending on your Internet speed, this could be anywhere between a few seconds and an hour), the file transfer should complete. Close the transfer box, if it does not do so automatically.

5.) Close any and all programs you are running. Internet Explorer, everything that shows up as a little rectangle on the Start Bar (usually at the bottom of the screen). Yes, this means you'll want to print this out first.

6.) Among the icons on your screen should now be one called
IMFREE_Install (or IMFREE_Install.exe, depending on how your system is configured). Double-click this.

7.) You will get a box that says "WinZip Self-Extractor" at the top. About halfway down, you'll see "Unzip to folder" with "C:\Morotola_IM-Free" underneath it. If so, all is well. (If not, type C:\Motorola_IM-Free in the box.) Then click the Unzip button (should be the top button on the right side of the box).

8.) You'll get the message about "5 file(s) unzipped successfully". Click OK. Then, back on the "WinZip Self-Extractor" box, click the Close button.

9.) Click on the Start button (usually on the lower-left corner of your screen, unless your Start Bar has been moved to a different edge of the screen), then select Run.

10.) The Run box should come up. In the text box next to "Open:" type the following exactly:

C:\Motorola_IM-Free\Setup.exe

Then click OK.

11.) You should get the MX240a Setup welcome box. Click the Next button.

12.) You should get the Morotola/ECI license agreement, hereby signing all your worldly possessions over to me. Click on "I Agree", then click the Next button.

13.) You should get the AOL license agreement, hereby taking all of your worldly possessions away from me, and giving them to TimeWarner Corporation. (Darnit! So close!) Click on "I Agree", then click the Next button.

14.) You should get a User Information screen, asking for your name, organization, and who should be authorized to use the application. 99.9% of the time, what is in there is satisfactory, so click the Next button.

15.) You should get a Shared File Access screen. If you have multiple users on your computer (say, the wife and kids all have different account on your computer), and you do NOT want all of them to be able to use the MX240a, OR you are the only one using the computer onto which you are installing this, click the Next button. If you DO want them to all be able to use the MX240a, click on "Allow other users of this computer to use MX240a", then click the Next button.

16.) You should get a Select Installation Folder screen, with "C:\Program Files\MX240a" already selected. This is fine; click the Next button.

17.) You should get an Options screen, asking you if you want to make a shortcut on the desktop screen to launch the MX240a program, and if you want to start the MX240a program every time you boot up your computer ("when Windows starts"). Generally, I uncheck the option to create the shortcut on the desktop; it will still create a program group under Start -> Programs from which you can run the program. Also, unless you will always be leaving the MX240a transmitter hooked up to your computer, and will be using this frequently, I would uncheck the option to start the MX240a program when Windows starts, and just run the program manually when you want to use the MX240a (in which case you might want to go ahead and leave the option to make a desktop shortcut checked, for convenience's sake). At any rate, once you have selected the options best for you, click the Next button.

18.) You should get a Confirm Installation screen. Just click the Next button. This will perform the actual installation of the updated program onto your PC.

19.) Once the program is done installing, you will get an Installation Complete screen. Click the Finish button.

20.) Even though the program does not prompt you to do so, you should reboot your PC at this time, just to make absolutely sure that the install completely takes.

21.) Go ahead and delete the "IMFREE_Install" (or "IMFREE_Install.exe") icon from your desktop. It doesn't hurt anything to leave it there, but it does clutter things up and wastes space on your hard drive. Same thing for the C:\Motorola_IM-Free directory, so if you're comfortable using Windows Explorer, go ahead and delete it.

22.) Plug your transmitter module into a USB port on your PC. If you opted not to have the MX240a program start automatically on Startup, you will want to run it now. A little grey square with a green circle will likely appear in your system tray (should be in the lower right-hand corner of your screen, next to the time, though, once again, if the Start Bar has been moved, this position may be different). NOTE: If you instead get a grey square with a red triangle, then there is a problem with your transmitter. Check the cabling and make sure the USB cable is firmly seated, try a different USB port, etc. If none of these things fixes it, then you either have a serious problem with your PC's configuration (which, sorry, but I'm not going to type up how to troubleshoot this, as that can be any number of things), or you have a malfunctioning transmitter module.

23.) Turn on the MX240a. You may be prompted to enter a "base ID". This is a six-character code printed on the underside of the transmitter module. Enter this in on the MX240a, then hit the Send button. A message box will then pop up on your computer, alerting you that an MX240a is attempting to register, and asking you to name it. Call it what ever you want, as long as it's something short ("MyMX240a" works), then click the Accept button.

24.) Now, remember that grey square with the green circle I mentioned earlier? Right-click on it, and a litte menu will pop up. Click (by the way, if I just say "click", I mean "left-click", unless you're using the mouse in left-hand mode, in which case the buttons are swapped . . . sorry to clarify that so late into things) on Setup.

25.) You will be asked which handheld unit you want to set up. From the drop-down list, select Default, if it isn't already selected.

26.) A screen should appear with a number of tabs you can click on (Connections, Alerts, Options, etc.). Click on Options.

27.) On the Options tab, there should be a "Select A Service" box. Select "AOL Instant Messenger". You should be prompted for your screen name and password. Enter your AIM screen name and password here.

28.) Click on the Buddy List tab. Look through the list and make sure everything looks as it should. NOTE: If you have a lot of buddies (say, more than 80), you will need to pare down the list! Ditto for if you have more than five groups! The device will not support more than that. (Alternative Option: Create a second AIM account for using only on your MX240a, with only the bare minimum number of people you need as buddies on that account.)

29.) You should now be good to go! Use your MX240a to sign on to your AOL Instant Messenger account.

For more thorough information, a very nice reference guide can be found here -> http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/IMfree/downloads/IMfree_User_Manual_E.pdf

If you still can't get things connected after this, and the reference guide doesn't help, you can contact Motorola at Monday through Friday, 0800-2000hrs Central Standard Time, or go here -> to send a message to Motorola Support.

I hope that this helps get you back up and running!

(*heads back up to engineer some more cars, compute a few more digits of pi, and figure out why two servers he's working with aren't talking nice to one another* )