Flash Won't Work Unless Mouse Moves
In researching this problem, it appears that you're not alone. It also appears that opinions and possible solutions are all over the place. For example, some believe that this is an ISP problem related to bandwidth restriction and "traffic shaping." Other users have overcome the problem by disabling and re-enabling the Flash plugin. With these two theories in mind, we can try a couple of different things.

Since switching ISPs is more drastic than fiddling with browser plugins, let's start with your Web browser. Flash Player isn't a standalone piece of software; it's a Web browser add-on / plugin. When you download it, it integrates with your Web browser and allows you to watch Flash content directly within webpages.

Try Using the Chrome Web Browser
Flash is a separate download for most Web browsers but it comes integrated with the Chrome Web browser. If you haven't tried Chrome, you might want to try it. Its Flash-related files and DLLs are stored in different folders than your traditionally downloaded Flash Player files for Internet Explorer. If Flash works fine in Chrome but not in Internet Explorer, that will tell us that the problem isn't the ISP but rather an issue with the local installation of Flash Player. From there, you can decide whether to stick with Chrome or try to fix the Internet Explorer Flash issue.

Disable and Re-enable the Flash Plugin
If you're currently using Internet Explorer and want to fix Flash, you can disable and re-enable Flash by going to the Gear icon > Manage Add-ons and clicking the disable/enable buttons. Perhaps this will refresh Flash, though it's doubtful (but worth a try). The more likely solution will involve a complete uninstall followed by a clean install of the latest version of Flash Player.

Clean Flash Player Installation
Adobe provides specific steps for doing a clean install at: http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/clean-install-flash-player.html.

In general, Adobe recommends:
• Downloading the Flash uninstaller
• Exiting all browsers and programs that run Flash Player
• Running the uninstaller (and deleting specific files)
• Verifying that FlashPlayerCPLApp.cpl, FlashPlayerApp.exe, and FlashPlayerInstaller.exe have been deleted from the C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ folder (64-bit computers) C:\Window\system32\ folder (32-bit computers)
• Downloading and installing the latest version of Flash Player

Trying an Alternative ISP
Since your computer is a laptop, you might want to try connecting to a different ISP to rule out issues with your Internet Service Provider. Try a few different free Wi-Fi spots in your community and see if you can play Flash videos when connected to a different network. Your public library or local coffee houses are two to try.

Antivirus Software for Cell Phones

Unfortunately, virus and malware developers have kept up with the latest trends just as the rest of the world moves toward a mobile Web. Viruses can and do infect cell phones. While not nearly as rampant as viruses targeting the Windows operating system, there are malicious programs that target the operating systems of popular mobile phones. Just as the best defense in a PC virus attack is antivirus software, the same is true of antivirus software for cell phones. Most antivirus software for cell phones will include solutions for wiping out know virus infections, making getting your hands on one of these programs a must.

First, you'll need to know what operating system your phone runs on such as Android or Windows Mobile. From there, start your search at well-known antivirus developers such as Kaspersky, Bit Defender, or AVG. Many of the major computer security developers are creating antivirus software specifically for cell phones. Like their PC cousins, these solutions have a variety of desirable features such as real-time blocking and automatic updates. Some also include useful functions designed specifically for the mobile nature of these devices such as remote "find" and remote "locking" should your phone be misplaced or stolen.

As with PC-based antivirus tools, costs vary from one developer to the next. If you already own a computer Internet security tool, you may want to start there as your existing program may have some mobile features built in. For example, Trend Micro's Titanium Security (Maximum Security edition) protects mobile devices as well as PCs.

Flashing Your Cell Phone

Another option is to "flash" or reformat your cell phone which essentially resets it to its factory condition. This is a drastic measure that will remove all of your custom settings and any apps you may have installed. If you don't have many customizations, such as if the phone is relatively new, then this might be the easiest option. Refer to your cell phone's user manual for instructions on how to perform a "factory reset."

Restoring Pogo Games Sound

Most Pogo games feature a mute button, allowing you to mute the sound if desired. This is accomplished by clicking an icon that looks like a tiny speaker inside the game window of a Pogo game. Unfortunately, muting a single Pogo game actually mutes all of them. Fortunately, getting your sound back is usually as easy as clicking that speaker icon once again.

While the solution may seem obvious once you find that icon, sound issues in Pogo games have tripped up plenty of users. Some think it's an issue with the computer and start looking in the computer's sound settings for a solution. Others search their Pogo accounts for settings that might affect the sound. Meanwhile, the icon remains elusive. To turn your sound back on, you'll need to open an actual Pogo game and then look for the speaker icon.

When the sound in a Pogo game is on, the speaker icon will show little curved lines representing sound waves coming out of the speaker. When the sound has been muted, these lines disappear. Toggling back and forth should turn the sound on and off.

Troubleshooting Other Pogo Game Issues

Hopefully the speaker icon trick will restore your Pogo sounds. If you need help troubleshooting other issues with Pogo games, Electronics Arts' Help page recommends several initial steps such as clearing the browser's Java cache (go to Start > Control Panel > Java and click the General tab. From there, find Temporary Internet Files > Settings and click Delete Files), updating or installing Java, and running Microsoft Security Essentials. Sometimes these initial troubleshooting steps will resolve problems such as errors with games loading.

The Earthlink Toolbar

The Earthlink toolbar is a free browser add-on that includes a number of useful features such as pop-up blockers, privacy tools, spyware scan, maps and driving directions, and even a "fast sites" tool that quickly loads slimmed down versions of websites without slow-loading graphics. The Earthlink toolbar was originally made available for various Web browsers including Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Today, however, the current download featured on Earthlink's support page is for Internet Explorer only.

The Earthlink Toolbar and Firefox

In the case of Mozilla Firefox, the Earthlink toolbar is known as an "add-on." Therefore, tasks related to managing the toolbar are handled in the Manage Add-ons section of Firefox.

Why Did the Firefox Update Disable the Toolbar?

According to Mozilla Support, add-ons are automatically made compatible with new versions of Firefox whenever possible. However, not all add-ons can be automatically be made to be compatible with each update. When Firefox encounters an add-on it can't automatically change during an update, it will disable it.

When this happens, you will need to manually check for new updates to the add-on in question. If an update exists, you will need to update the add-on manually.

Checking for Add-on Updates

To check for an update, go to your Mozilla start page and click Add-ons. Click the gear icon and choose "Check for updates." If Firefox finds the Earthlink update, it will automatically download and install it.

If it doesn't find an update, the next step is to go to the add-on's website. Do this directly from the Add-on manager by clicking the Earthlink toolbar description, clicking More, and clicking the link to the add-on's home page. If all goes well, you should see an updated Earthlink toolbar and instructions on how to load and enable it.

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear as though Earthlink has updated the toolbar for some time. You might want to contact Earthlink support (866-383-3080) about an update. In the meantime, you could enter the website addresses to your online banking and other important accounts the old-fashioned way by typing the URL in Firefox's address bar. Alternately, you could use Internet Explorer with the IE version of Earthlink toolbar installed.

If you prefer to rollback your Firefox to the way it used to be, you could try using Windows built-in System Restore (if enabled) to roll your computer's settings back to their pre-update settings.

Acer Aspire One BIOS Blank Screen

Blank screen errors with the Acer Aspire One AOA110 and AOA150 can be resolved by using a USB stick to "flash" the BIOS. If you have one of these models, an update to BIOS version 3310 or above will likely solve the problem. However, it is crucial to get the correct BIOS version for your exact model. Whether you have one of these models or a different Aspire One model, the best place to go is to Acer's support website at Acer.com.

Selecting the Acer Aspire Model

Once you arrive, choose your country from the list and then navigate to the Support > Drivers and Downloads section. Using the U.S. site as an example, this will take you to a section where you are prompted to enter the model name or serial number of your computer. Alternately, you can select your computer by choosing the product family (in this case Netbook > Aspire One) and drilling down to find your exact model. Make sure to select the exact model and the exact operating system because downloads are product-specific. Choosing the wrong download could be disastrous.

Finding the BIOS

From there, you'll see a table with a series of tabs labeled Application, BIOS, Document, Driver, and Patch. Click BIOS and you should see a series of downloads with the newest version listed at the top. Click the newest version and click the download button.

The download file is usually a zipped file containing an executable BIOS file as well as a Readme file. In some cases, you may need to rename the BIOS file before copying it to the USB drive, so check the Readme file for instructions. For example, if you have an Acer Aspire One AOA110 or AOA150, you will need to rename the 3310.fd file to ZG5IA32.FD (in all caps). From there, you will need to copy the renamed file and the Flashit.exe file (which is included in the download) to a USB stick. However, that particular instruction is specific to those particular models, making it important to follow instructions specific to your computer's exact model.

Assuming you need to flash either an Acer Aspire One AOA110 or AOA150, you can find step-by-step instructions on Acer's Support page. If you have a different model, use the Acer Answers section to search for BIOS update instructions specific to your exact model.

What is Windows Picture and Fax Viewer?

Windows Picture and Fax Viewer is a built-in utility that comes with Microsoft Windows including Windows XP. It is used to work with photo files without having to open an image editing program such as Adobe Photoshop. It is primarily a viewer that allows you to quickly view, save, print, or delete photos. You can, however, perform some minor changes to files including changing a file's size or rotation. You can also use Windows Picture and Fax Viewer to view slideshows of your photos as well as view incoming faxes which typically arrive as TIFF files. When viewing fax files, the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer's annotation toolbar allows you to add textual notations, draw lines, and highlight portions of the fax.

Is Windows Picture and Fax Viewer the Default Photo Viewer?

Windows Picture and Fax Viewer is normally the default photo viewer for Windows XP. However, it's not unusual for newly installed software to change Windows XP's settings so that the new software becomes the new default. This is great if you like the new software better than the built-in utility but no-so-great if you'd prefer to use Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.

Making Windows Picture and Fax Viewer the Default

To change it back to the default, you'll need to go into the Control Panel (Start > Control Panel) and click the Folder Options icon (you may need to switch to Classic View). Once opened, click on the File Types tab and scroll down until you see JPEG. Highlight JPEG and look under "Details." What does it say the file opens with? If anything other than Windows Picture and Fax Viewer is listed, click the Change button and choose Windows Picture and Fax Viewer from the list. Look for additional settings (such as "always use this") that prompt you to make this the new default and confirm your choice. Repeat this process for other image files such as JPG, GIF, BMP, and TIFF.

Common Memory Hogs

Phones often have internal storage and removal memory such as SD cards. In general, when you install apps on the phone, those are stored on your phone's internal memory. Like software, apps vary in size. Some can quickly take up large chunks of space. Not only can an app take up space, so can the information it downloads. Other common memory hogs include photos, videos, ringtones, and audio recordings. For example, if your phone is equipped with a high resolution camera, the photos it takes could be much larger than you realize.

Remove Unwanted Apps

To free up space on your phone, start by removing any app you now longer want or use. It's not uncommon to download an app only to find it's not as useful as you had hoped. Some users delete them right away while others allow the unwanted apps to accumulate.

Clean the Phone's Cache

Like computers, phones store temporary files in a cache to improve performance. The cache can become cluttered with junk, so it's not a bad idea to clear it once in a while. Doing so will also free up some of your phone's memory. The process varies based on the type of phone you have. In general, look in your phone's menu > settings > privacy section for a clear cache option. Similarly, it's not a bad idea to look at the cache for individual apps to see if there's an option to clear the data.

Remove Large Files

If you take a lot of photos and videos with your phone, transfer those to your PC using your USB cable and then remove them from your phone. Video files can quickly fill up memory space, so pay attention to those. In addition, you may want to remove unwanted ringtones and music files.

Currently, Facebook has an option for "archiving" messages rather than deleting them. If you have deleted a Facebook message, there's a good chance that it's not really deleted but archived. If so, you can get it back. On the other hand, if you choose "delete" rather than "archive" or if you delete an archived message, then that deletion is considered permanent.

Archiving Facebook Messages

In order to avoid potentially deleting messages you want to keep, it's smart to get into the habit of archiving your messages. To do this, click on Messages and open the message you want to remove from your list. Click on Actions and choose Archive. This will move your message into a hidden folder. Using the archive feature is handy in that you can keep your list cleared of older messages, yet you'll also be able to retrieve the message in the future if desired.

Unarchiving Facebook Messages

In order to view an archived message, you will once again click Messages. Since the folder the archived messages are stored in is hidden, finding them isn't overly intuitive. They're hidden after all! However, if you scroll down to the bottom of your messages list, you'll see a tiny link in the lower left corner labeled Archived. Click Archived and you'll see a list of all archived messages. Alternately, if you click the magnifying glass next to the + Messages box, you can select Archived Messages.

From there, find the message you want to restore. On the far right, you should see a tiny gear and arrow next to the message's date. Click the arrow to unarchive the message. Once unarchived, it will appear in your regular message list. Alternately, when viewing the actual message, you can also click on Actions and then choose Unarchive from the list.

Deleting Facebook Messages

Note that you can delete both archived and unarchived messages permanently by choosing Delete rather than Archive.

Reformat and Reinstall Windows XP

Hopefully the shop where you purchase your refurbished PC will have already wiped the disk clean and reinstalled the Windows XP operating system from the original discs as part of the refurbish process. If not, and if the computer comes with the installation discs, you can reformat the drive and reinstall Windows XP on your own. The University of Iowa has a decent tutorial outlining how to do so on its IT Services Help site. By doing this, you will get rid of all of the original owner's personal settings, programs, and files and reinstall Windows XP.

However, you will also need to update Windows XP after reinstalling it to make sure it has the most current patches from Microsoft. Microsoft officially stopped supporting Windows XP with Service Pack 2 on July 13, 2010 and will stop supporting Windows XP with Service Pack 3 on April 8, 2014. If the refurbished computer comes with Service Pack 2, you will need to manually update it to Service Pack 3 in order to receive the latest updates. The Service Pack 3 download is available in Microsoft's Download Center. This Microsoft article explains exactly how to download and install Service Pack 3.

Create Backup and Recovery Discs in Windows XP

After installing Windows XP and updating it, you'll want to create a recovery disc. If only it were a simple matter of inserting a disc and clicking a few buttons, but alas, it isn't. PC Magazine wrote a detailed tutorial on how to create a recovery disc for Windows XP Service Pack 3 here.

As you can see, a lot of work goes into reformatting and reinstalling Windows XP and creating a recovery disc for it. As you search for a refurbished PC to buy, the current status of the disk should be an important factor. Most computer shops will have already done this as part of their service. If buying from a private party, it would be in the seller's best interest to wipe their hard disks clean for the sake of their own privacy though not all take the time to do so. Ideally, you'll want to select a refurbished computer with a fresh installation of Windows XP Service Pack 3.  

The downloaded file has a DOS folder and a Winflash Folder. The previous instructions say to rename the BIOS file to ZG5AI32.FD. I have done this. It also says to put the FLASHIT.EXE and the BIOS file in the root directory. The problem I am facing is that there is no FLASHIT.EXE file.

In the Root Directory of the downloaded file there are two folders: DOS and Winflash. In the Winflash folder there is a single file named 17CP126.EXE. In the DOS folder there are two subfolders, a BIOS and a KBC, and a single DOSFLASH.BAT file.

The BIOS folder contains the following files:

• ACERACDC.EXE
• BIOS.BAT
• JE70126.ROM
• JE70126.WPH
• phlash16.exe

The KBC folder contains the following files:

• config.ini
• config.ini.bak
• DOSFLASH.EXE
• E08AC117.BIN
• FLASHROM.DEF
• KBC.BAT
• VERIFY.BIN

As you can see, there is not a FLASHIT.EXE file in any folder. I really need to get this computer up and running, even if it is only for a short period of time. There are some irreplaceable pictures on it. Can you help?

You are correct that the Acer Aspire models tend to experience problematic issues related to black screens and blinking cursors. While the directions that you have listed are accurate, it is just as common for the FLASHIT.EXE file to play hide-and-seek with you. One of the best ways to eliminate this game of "where did my FLASHIT.EXE file go" is to use a USB memory device to save the downloaded files.

BIOS Recovery Using USB Memory Device: The Acer Aspire 7741z-4643

1. First, obtain and format a bootable USB memory stick to FAT.
2. Once you have completed step 1, go back to the website for Acer and download the latest BIOS for your model, the Acer Aspire 7741z-4643.
3. When it is time to save the FLASHIT.EXE and the BIOS files, place them in the memory stick's root directory.
4. Be sure to rename the BIOS file to ZG5IA32.FD. Double check that you did this correctly, reading over the numbers and letters to ensure that you have the file name typed in correctly.
5. Temporarily remove the USB drive from the Acer Aspire.
6. Turn off the AC power to the Acer Aspire, so that you can see if the notebook has a good battery. If it does, reconnect the AC power.
7. Insert the USB memory stick into a USB port.
8. Press all of the following "Fn" and "Esc" and "Power" buttons at the same time. Wait about 3 or 4 seconds; release the "Fn" and "Esc" buttons.
9. Your power button should be blinking now. Press the power button once.
10. The BIOS should flash.
11. Do not press any buttons or interrupt this process by turning off the power. Eventually, the power button should stop flashing, and your Acer Aspire 7741z-4643 notebook should reboot on its own.