PC Problems? I am a PC TECH.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

By this time most of you have probably seen me, either as a joker or very serious.

This said, in my professionnal life i am a PC (ONLY) technician, one of the best i know, and i do know quite a few, i specialize in hardware problems i can do software problems too.

VERY IMPORTANT, I WILL NOT ANSEWER PASSWORD BYPASS QUESTIONS, and other hacking posts.

Also, you should read the next few posts they conatain alot of usefull info.

JohnDowe.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

About installing Windows...

Installing windows isn't just popping in the win DVD in and letting the cpu go until it displays the desktop, that's only the first step.

Then you need to get and install your processor board's drivers, your audio, video, modem, network card drivers, and drivers for all the other cards you have in your cpu, some of the interfaces are integrated in your main board but they still need drivers, windows comes with GENERIC drivers that DO work but only only for simple applicationd like the ones that come bundled with windows, if you want to play music or videos or play games you WILL need the proper drivers for all your cards and integrated interfaces.

You will also need some players and support software, like Quicktime (iTunes) to view apple files like .MOV videos, although they are getting rarer and rarer you will still need it, you will also need JAVA, for alot of internet sites, there are many more but those 2 will suffice for now as an example.

So in conclusion, windows shouldn't even be avaliable to the general public, it should be installed by pros who take the time to do a good job installing all the drivers and the software you will need to begin to use your PC.

Unfortunately, there are some people who have cpu stores and install win but do not do a thorrough job, they don't install all the drivers, and don't install any of the software that is required to use the pc more effectively, but what they do is not illegal, but it should be, some people are more conciencious than others, on the other hand it isn't a cpu field exclusive, it is true for almost every field.

JohnDowe.

[randolph]

Hi John,
Speaking of drivers, My HP laptop with Vista will not operate my HP Scanjet 4470c. HP has no driver to run it on Vista. I searched the internet and got some drivers that don't work.
Any suggestions?
Randolph

[johndowe]

Hi there.

A bit of help on burning CD & DVD's.


If you have burned CD and DVD you probably have made at least a few bad copies, and i don't mean copy protected software, but data disks from files on your CPU, why does this happen?

Well, that question is not that easy to ansewer as one may think, computers are the most complex pieces of equipment ever crerated by man.

First: The burner, some burners are more selective about the discs they "like" or "dis-like" one disc brand may work great for your drive but not on your freind's drive, it is not a quality problem as much as a compatibility problem, but i have found that "MAXELL" and "MEMOREX" discs usually work with most drives, but for music cd's for your car cd player, MEMOREX do not perform so well, so if you have a brand that performs well for you and your drive stick with it, if not try other brands until you find one you make the least amount of bad copies.

Second: The speed of the drive and the disk can influence the outcome of the burning session, if your drive is 12X and the disk is 16X you should not burn any faster than 12X, the best speed would be about 10X, to make sure your drive's hardware can do the job properly.

Third: The cpu system, if you have an older cpu with a new DVD drive you probably won't be able to make a good copy at maximum disk/drive speed, you will have to slow down a bit.

Fourth: What are you doing? With the computer when you are burning discs? The right ansewer should be nothing else than the burning software, within reason of course, why? Because the disc writing process is very time critical and if the cpu is buzy with another program while the burning process needs the cpu's attention but doesn't get it, you will have a bad copy.

Fifth: Make sure your disks are clean and free of contaminants aspecilaly the source disc.


PS Some burners are more compatible than others, i haven't even come close to testing them all i only tested 3 brands and i like LG's the best for DVD's they take any brand of CD and DVD's, but their CD drives suck, go figure.

JohnDowe.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

Hey Randy that was QUICK i wasn't even finished with the posts i was working on, but no problem.

Ok, went to HP no drivers, i'll have to go look elsewhere, and contact people that hold banker's hours.

I'll get back to you.

But did you plug it into your laptop and have the cpu search for drivers on the internet? It sometimes works.

VERY IMPORTANT: Please let me know when the problem is solved, so i don't waist my time solving a solved problem.


JohnDowe.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

The required software for a new PC to be "functionally literate" are:

iTunes/Quicktime @ www.apple.com FreeWare, but you shouldn't use it as your main player, aspecially with MP3/4 players it erases music files it thinks you didn't pay for, it used to do that i don't have an mp3/4 player to check with every version, usefull to play ".mov" and other apple format files, other players use it's codec's.

Real Player @ www.real.com FreeWare the original internet streaming audio and video player, still as good as ever and it'd codecs are also used by other players.

DivX @ www.divx.com FreeWare one of the most used video format for long videos like hollywood movies, and the codecs are also used by other players.

Winamp @ www.winamp.com (optionnal) one of the best players IMO, the playlist system is the one i like the most.

Java @ www.java.com FreeWare used by many if not most internet based programs, also used for internet games.

WinZip @ www.winzip.com used to be FreeWare but it still is almost, used to create, compress and decompress .zip and .rar files, there are others but this is the most popular.

Avast anti-virus @ www.avast.com one of the best, and the best i have tested, but haven't tested them all, the virus database is updated almost daily, 6 months free pay after, but it is one of the best, worth the price, also protects against spyware.

Adobe Flash player @ www.adobe.com FreeWare, for internet explorer to display flash animations.

Adobe (acrobat) Reader @ www.adobe.com FreeWare, used to read ".pdf" files, which most technical documents and e-books are.

Silverlight @ www.microsoft.com FreeWare, in the sence that if you have windows you already paid for it, allows you to see silverlight animations.

Messengers, (optionnal) they allow you to chat with other users, there are several, most common are windows messenger @ www.microsoft.com and/or Yahoo messenger @ www.Yahoo.com both do the same thing roughly the same way and are FreeWare.



Burning software & DVD player, those are manditory if you have a DVD drive and/or recorder, you should use the one that came with your recorder, but if you bought your cpu second hand, or store assembled, you might not have the cd, but the software SHOULD be installed, otherwize you will have to buy it, WinDVD was the best DVD player until Correl bought it, now it's ok at best, burning software for most uses i like NERO @ www.nero.com and ez cd/dvd creator, nero is more down to business, while ez is easyer to use.


JohnDowe.

[Mel Asher]

Originally Posted by johndowe

Hi there.

By this time most of you have probably seen me, either as a joker or very serious.

This said, in my professionnal life i am a PC (ONLY) technician, one of the best i know, and i do know quite a few, i specialize in hardware problems i can do software problems too.

VERY IMPORTANT, I WILL NOT ANSEWER PASSWORD BYPASS QUESTIONS, and other hacking posts.

Also, you should read the next few posts they conatain alot of usefull info.

JohnDowe.

JD

Although I know we have a few technical members in our forum, it's great to have someone offer their services as a PC Troubleshooter. So we'll all forgive your slight immodesty and all queue up for your services. To take a little of the pressure off you, folks might also try Webuser's Advice Forum.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

Mel.

Immodesty? When most techs have trouble finding drivers, because they didn't bother opening the case and looking for the maufacturer and the p/n. and too lazy to install programs that come with the hardware they installed or disabling a device that doens't have a driver installed instead of looking for one, doing a fast format that doesn't check the hard drive while installing windows in a used system just to save time, there is too much ignorance and incompetance in most technical fields, not only by the end user but by suposedly knoledgable people who should know their products and how to take care of them, but as it stands a good consciencious tech in any field is HARD to find.

Most people want fast, fast, fast, but fast, fast, fast, is usually botched that's why i don't do fast i do good, if my customers are in such a hurry, i tell them to go elsewhere, then when they aren't satisfied with fast, fast, fast, then come back to me, and they are happy with my slower but consciencious work.

Also i have been in the computer industry since 1978 when i went to colege in electronics and had some computer programing courses.


PS What's up doc?

JohnDowe.

[johndowe]

Originally Posted by randolph

Hi John,
Speaking of drivers, My HP laptop with Vista will not operate my HP Scanjet 4470c. HP has no driver to run it on Vista. I searched the internet and got some drivers that don't work.
Any suggestions?
Randolph

Hi there.

Went to HP even sent then an email they're too lazy to lift a finger to help you, i am not a programmer so i can't program one for you.

But if you UPGRADE to XP, there would be some drivers your scanner, and as a bonus you'd get a virtual RAM, Hard Disk & CPU upgrade, you'd have to contact the manufacturer of your CPU DIRECTLY to get the drivers, but it would be an improvement over vista, cause it sucks big time, but since your cpu is so powerfull you don't realise it.

HP used to be one of the best companies for products and support, but no longer, now they are slave to the allmighty dollar and F*** everything and everybody else, sad isn't it.

JohnDowe.

[Tread]

If you setup and install windows, you probably have worked with Windows 7. What's your opinion compared with XP? We all know Vista is crap and you don't have to name general Windows weaknesses. I want know if it is better to keep XP as long as possible or switch to 7 soon?

[randolph]

Originally Posted by johndowe

Hi there.

Went to HP even sent then an email they're too lazy to lift a finger to help you, i am not a programmer so i can't program one for you.

But if you UPGRADE to XP, there would be some drivers your scanner, and as a bonus you'd get a virtual RAM, Hard Disk & CPU upgrade, you'd have to contact the manufacturer of your CPU DIRECTLY to get the drivers, but it would be an improvement over vista, cause it sucks big time, but since your cpu is so powerfull you don't realise it.

HP used to be one of the best companies for products and support, but no longer, now they are slave to the allmighty dollar and F*** everything and everybody else, sad isn't it.

JohnDowe.

Hey John,
Thanks for checking for a scanner driver. Your right Vista sucks, is it difficult to convert back to XP?
Randolph

[johndowe]

Hi there.

Tread, i have not had the chance to dabble with win 7, i work fixing used cpu's and UPGRADE from vista to XP, but if it follows the trend you're better off with XP, i'm told the requirements are quite high, and you'd have to re-install all the software you currently have, save all the files you created, the pics, videos and zip files you saved, save all the game's save files AND look for win 7 drivers which in all probability do not exist yet (if ever), and to close, there is the old saying: If it ain't broke don't fix it.

As i said in a the first few posts, they shouldn't even sell win retail, cause very few people know how to do the job properly, go see them if you haven't already.

JohnDowe.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

Randolph, read the previous post to Tread, and my second post about installing win, if you have a good copy of win XP sp2 or better, with a GOOD KEY, microsoft (notice the lack of capital letter) has been cracking down on keys and many keys that should be good have been blacklisted, that beeing said, there are ways around that, the real problem is the drivers, but do not fret i can help you with that, post your cpu make & model #, or if it is a clone find the board Manufacturer and model #, and all cards too, and i will see if drivers can be found, and if they are i will post the links to them, if they are avaliable, you will have to save all the files you want to keep, pics, videos, saved web pages, real player and other downloads, your contacts, your favorites (internet explorer's and other if you have them) savegame files etc. etc. onto cd or dvd, and read the first post i entered if you haven't already.

JohnDowe.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

More for Tread, At first i wrote Randolph a little mistake on my part (sorry).

I went to microsoft and got the system requirements for win 7 they are pretty high:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/...b-9f54bca70c5c

P4 2GHz (probably poor performance since it IS microsoft) or Dual Core 2GHz...

2GB ram THAT IS ALOT OF RAM FOR JUST AN OPERATING SYSTEM.

20-25GB Hard Disk space, it is alot...

Video cards, need a top of the line card or close to top of the line.

But on the up side if you can't find win 7 drivers you could use vista drivers.

I reitterate that i have not touched win 7 but, form what i see it is nothing to write home about, XP still seems to be the best choice to me.

For resonable performance: (XP)

CPU: Celeron 300, or P3 400MHz
RAM: 256MB
Hard disk space: 8GB Fully upgraded with Office XP.
Video card: Pretty much any card AGP or PCI Express interfaces including integrated video "cards" with ram sharing.

When installed properly (with ALL the appropriate drivers and software) the system is quite stable and reliable, and microsoft still supports it, but for how long i do not know.

JohnDowe.

[Tread]

First I got a shock of the requirement, but that wasn't the min. It is the run best at full installation and all effects requirements.

I don't want to fix a not broken XP with win 7, I want a new notebook and don't want to format it completely and install XP on it. 7 seems not to suck as vista, and at some point Microsoft and other software producer drop XP anyway, and then I would have to install win 7 anyway. I think I will wait some month and look first how 7 works before I'll buy a notebook.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

That's what i suggested.

JohnDowe.

[modman1996]

I have a 2 year old machine enpower ense10 here are the specs
2.4 g quad core processor
4 gigs of ram
160 gig hard drive
navidia gts 8600 video card
dvd burner,
N series wireless card.

I am thinking about upgrading to windows 7 from xp. My computer came with vista and I hated it and I went to xp. vista made a lot of my older soft ware not work.

Should I upgrade to 7?

[johndowe]

Hi there.

Modman, your Computer is above win 7 requirements, so it will run fine, but it's weakest link is it's hard drive, 160 gig is a bit small, it was huge when it first came out, 3 years ago, if you were to upgrade to win 7 i would suggest you get a 500 gig drive, then upgrade, if you must, if xp works great for you, why fix it if it anit broke? Is there a piece of software you really need or want that ONLY runs on win 7 ?

I have not touched win 7, but microsoft is a company, and it's main goal is to be profitable, this being said.

There are 2 reasons microsoft launches a new windows, first to make money, secondarely, to support new hardware, but supporting new hardware only requires new drivers and maby a new piece of software or two, not a whole new windows.

So since XP works well, and is still supported, keep it, save your money for your next cpu, in a few years, which may come with win 8 or whatever they will call the next win.

Should you decide to go ahead and buy win 7 ($$$) you will have to save all your files, pics, movies, FAVORITES, saved games, work files, real player downloads, other downloads onto CD or DVD, and win vista drivers will work with win 7, will your older software work under win 7? i don't know, and usually they will say "some softwere may not work" so goto WWW.MICROSOFT.COM and ask them if your most important older software will run under win 7.

JohnDowe.

[Excaliborg]

greetings mr johndowe, i believe i can be of assistance, by your leave of course.

to my knowledge MS have actually extended support for XP for a few more years. as to programs that work with Windows 7, the majority that work with Vista work with Win7, with the exception of daemon tools. you might also experience some issues with older games, mainly games dsigned for XP.

now as to the whole Vista debacle. if the final release of Vista had been as good as the betas or release candidates, all would have ben fine. but MS being a for profit company, they messed it up. as johndowe says, if you have a stable working install of XP, dont change. Vista is a very resourse hungry beastie, so if you dont have the recommended specs, dont waste your time and ignore the minimum requirements. what "minimum requirements" actually mean is the bare minimum to get the os to successfully load without crashing. in my experience i have found Vista to be mostly stable, but there are more than a few gremlins that can hamstring your pc. one thing i can not stress enough is that your pc should always be up to date with the lastest patches and updates and anti-virus, anti-spyware.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

Welcome, my fellow tech, and i appreciate your help, i as every one on the planet, do not have all the ansewers, and i see that we concur on microsoft products.

If there was a new operating system that would run all my apps (office, games, acdsee, cd/dvd copy programs etc,) programmed in assembler i would change in a heartbeat, but vista & win7 aren't it.

JohnDowe.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

Excaliborg, since we will be sharing this thread, i would like to see your views on hard disk partitions?

Also i wrote 3 posts about computers, posts #2, 4 & 6, so you agree with them?


JohnDowe.

[Excaliborg]

post 2 you have on the money. there are some nefarious types who only install the bare minimum and let the people inexperienced with technical matters fend for themselves.

for the most part i agree with what you say but the rest just a matter of opinion. one prgram i would advise people to stay away from is itunes, as it has a habit of slowing down your machine.

winamp can handle just about any audio format and it hardly ever breaks for no reason at all.

i find that winrar is better than winzip, as it can open way more formats and can even be used as a replacement for windows explorer.

anti-virus is a matter of personal preference, some are better than others but whatever you do, you gotta be protected.

i have never been a fan of divx. a good codec pack to use is Combined Community Codec Pack, http://www.cccp-project.net/. plays everything and includes zoom player and media player classic, two of the best movie players.

anything else i missed?

[Excaliborg]

hard disk partitions? eish. the only reason i would partition a drive is if i were to create a recovery volume for my machine, beats the hell out of having to install every application you use when rebuilding your machine. but im a rather lazy bum so i dont it.

other than that i just add more drives. bigger is better

ive been typing and deleing trying to make my mind up one way or the other. so let me just say this, i dont partition my drives cos i dont need to and havebt had the need to for a very long time.

[sissygirl]

I need to upgrade from ms2000 pro to XP. anything special I need to do?

[Excaliborg]

Originally Posted by sissygirl

I need to upgrade from ms2000 pro to XP. anything special I need to do?

first things first. make sure you back-up all data that you want to keep, this includes favourites, lonks to frequently visited sites.

second, make sure you have the installation disks/files for your applications that you use and the drivers for all devices that are attacked to your pc, sound, grafix, printer, etc. or at the very least know where you can get them.

next make sure that the xp disc you are going to use is in good condition. no excess scratches and whatnot. and remember kids, piracy is not cool

next make sure your pc is able to boot from cd or dvd drive. also you got to make sure your pc meets or exceedsthe RECOMMENDED requirements for xp:

300 MHz CPU *
128 MB of RAM *
1.5 GB of available hard disk space *
Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher-resolution video adapter with at least 8 MB of video RAM and monitor
CD-ROM or DVD drive
Network adapter
Sound card and speakers
Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device

* Actual requirements will vary based on your system configuration and the applications and features you choose to install. thats from the chaps over at MS. but i would suggest something more in the region of a P4 and above. a higher spec comes in handy if you are going to be using the media centre edition of xp or if you are oing to install fancy themes and whatnot. reason being is that not many people have a clear idea as to what they are going to be using a pc for and may end up with a slow machine. so ask yourself, "what am i going to do with this machine?"

if you require further assistance dont hesitate to ask

[johndowe]

Hi there.

Hey, Excaliborg, i agree, partitions are useless, unless you have a hard drive that is bigger than the max partition.

And, win 2000 to xp, i concur.

JohnDowe.

[Naked Freedom]

Originally Posted by johndowe

Hi there.

Hey, Excaliborg, i agree, partitions are useless, unless you have a hard drive that is bigger than the max partition.

And, win 2000 to xp, i concur.

JohnDowe.

i prefer to have 2 partions on one hard disk...one smaller (about 10 Gb) where i load the os and the bigger for other purposes....
i have multiple hard drives and have partioned the master only to separate 10 Gb space for loading the OS.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

BACK-UPS

One often neglected aspect of computing is making back-ups of one's data, yes computers are very reliable, and getting more and more reliable all the time, but they do fail eventually, and even prematurely sometimes, also some retards, make viruses, why? Just to cause mahem, and inconvinience as many people as they can, so the more important your info, the more you need to make back-ups and the more often. There has been a few companies that had their accounting on their computer, and it was stolen or broke down and the companies died because the billing info was lost, their supplyers sent new bills, but their customers didn't recieveany bills and did not pay because of that, so if the files on your computer are important to you, wheather they are pics of your kids, or your businesses accounting you have to safeguard that information, you can use CD's or DVD's and do it manually, which is my prefered methode, but there are many back-up software packages, and NERO, and EZ-CD/DVD CREATOR, have a back-up option, and shouled your computer fail, you can recover with your back-up, and you RESTORE your files, you may lose a little, (the files that you changed before you did the new back-up, but a little is way better than loosing all.

Also, the more important your info you may consider making several backups one on premesis, one at a freind's or budiness partner's, and maby in the bank's safety deposit box, should your info be VERY important, avluable or sensitive.

JohnDowe.

[johndowe]

Originally Posted by Naked Freedom

i prefer to have 2 partions on one hard disk...one smaller (about 10 Gb) where i load the os and the bigger for other purposes....
i have multiple hard drives and have partioned the master only to separate 10 Gb space for loading the OS.

Hi there.

Partitions seem like a good idea, but they aren't, the problem arises later, and the problem is that often one of the partitions is full and the other has a lot of free space, to solve the problem you have to save all the data and reformat the hard drive, so where's the advantage then?

If you want one drive for the OS and another for data, buy a decond drive more expensive but far better in the long run.

And 10Gb for XP is minimal, when fully upgraded with office, it takes about 6-7 gigs, add your favorite programs, no more space! Then what, backup and reformat, do win, drivers, software, restore, install the programs you couldn't...

The reason partitions were created was when the PC was the new kid on the block, hard drives were very small 5-20Mb, MICROSCOPIC by today's standards to be sure, and DOS could only handle a maximum of 32Mb drive, so to handle the increading drive size microsoft offered partisionning as a solution, before they came out with FAT16+ and later FAT32, and NTFS which can handle 100's of TeraByte drives or more, it wasn't elegant then it isn't now.

JohnDowe.

[Naked Freedom]

do you think CDs and DVDs are reliable.....
Cyclic Redundancy Error , i don't know why it happens but it left me quite unsure of the optical disks....so i stopped creating backups on them....i think blu ray disks will suit the purpose better....but they are quite expensive comparatively.
what do u think of the static external hard disks? are they reliable??
but here also the cost is way too much...what to do???

[johndowe]

Originally Posted by Naked Freedom

do you think CDs and DVDs are reliable.....
Cyclic Redundancy Error , i don't know why it happens but it left me quite unsure of the optical disks....so i stopped creating backups on them....i think blu ray disks will suit the purpose better....but they are quite expensive comparatively.
what do u think of the static external hard disks? are they reliable??
but here also the cost is way too much...what to do???

Hi there.

CD's and DVD's are reliable, but bad burns do happen occasionally, read my post on burning CD's & DVD's post #4 on this thread, if you use NERO, you can have it verify the disk right after the burn, if your data is important, it would be very wise to check the verify box, and follow my instructions and you should make very few bad copies, over the last few months i have made over 1000 CD & DVD's and only made 5 or 6 bad copies, i always use the same brand of disks that work well with my burner to minimize the number of bad copies.

Blu Ray is essentially the same technology as CD's and DVD's, only the write density is increased, and the light emiting diode is blue instead of infra red, so the reliability should be the same, but you will have to have a more powerfull computer to burn a disk, because the burn speed is higher, you will need at least a 2GHz dual core computer, the Blu Ray recorders are expensive also, the capacity is 25Gb single layer 50Gb dual layer, so you will have to have at least that amount of free hard disk space free to make a 1:1 copy, but less if you copy files that are on your computer, in DVD drives i like LG, they will burn almost any CD & DVD BRAND, i would ASSUME that they would put the same effort in their Blu Ray drives as they did for their DVD drives, but it is just an assumption, maby mr.Excaliborg can have more practical info about Blu Ray drives.

JohnDowe.

[Excaliborg]

blue-ray? i'd rather take a death-ray gizmo thank you very much. but anyway if you really want to find out the nitty gritty of blu-ray go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc.

i have burnt one cd and one dvd in the last year and i only had about ten faulty burns since i bought my first writer. so yes optical storage mediums are reliable. but the thing is that you have to take care of your discs. put them in a case, dont leave them in a cd/dvd drive for extended periods, no excessive heat or cold. and dont touch the recorded surface.

i always tell people when it comes to pc parts and accessories, you get what you pay for. so dont buy cheap blank discs or components. it sounds silly to do it but one of the best pieces of advice i can give anybody is that before you buy something computer related, google it and read more than one review of whichever product you are going to buy. it may save you from buying a lemon.

[Excaliborg]

first off let me say that at one stage or another we were all n00bs. someone who knew nothing when it came to technology. we learn by looking, reading and asking. lucky for me only two people saw me as a n00b, and they fixed that by giving me a stack of pc mags and a pile of hardware and telling me to have fun.

but i digress. all too often i see people asking help in an infantile manner, using excessive question makrs and exclamation marks(not here though). the only thing this does is piss everyon else off. so dont whine, cry, moan and groan. state the nature of the problem in the best english(or whatever language you use) possible. also include what you have done to resolve the issue. provide as much detail as possible, what you were doing at the time the error occured, etc. remember that google is your friend, use it wisely.

the same goes for walking into a store and buying a pc or pc components. dont just walk up to the nearest salesperson and plonk down your cash and shout "GIMME PC!". you should have a clear mental picture of how much you are willing to spend and what you are going to use the pc for.

i hope these rambling thoughts of mine help in some way.

[johndowe]

Originally Posted by Excaliborg

first off let me say that at one stage or another we were all n00bs. someone who knew nothing when it came to technology. we learn by looking, reading and asking. lucky for me only two people saw me as a n00b, and they fixed that by giving me a stack of pc mags and a pile of hardware and telling me to have fun.

but i digress. all too often i see people asking help in an infantile manner, using excessive question makrs and exclamation marks(not here though). the only thing this does is piss everyon else off. so dont whine, cry, moan and groan. state the nature of the problem in the best english(or whatever language you use) possible. also include what you have done to resolve the issue. provide as much detail as possible, what you were doing at the time the error occured, etc. remember that google is your friend, use it wisely.

the same goes for walking into a store and buying a pc or pc components. dont just walk up to the nearest salesperson and plonk down your cash and shout "GIMME PC!". you should have a clear mental picture of how much you are willing to spend and what you are going to use the pc for.

i hope these rambling thoughts of mine help in some way.

Hi there.

Great advice, in computers the First piece of advice i give to some one who's looking to buy a computer is: DON'T BUY A MAC, BUY A PC.

WHY? 2 reasons: 1- $$$$, with MAC's and anything APPLE you have to pay for EVERYTHING, iPhone, iMac & iPod. 2- Software, this is the most important one, 99.9% of the Mac software is avaliable for the PC, BUT about 70% of PC software is avaliable for the MAC, and not just the cheap stuff as some MAC enthusiasts will tout.

JohnDowe.

[johndowe]

Originally Posted by Naked Freedom

do you think CDs and DVDs are reliable.....
Cyclic Redundancy Error , i don't know why it happens but it left me quite unsure of the optical disks....so i stopped creating backups on them....i think blu ray disks will suit the purpose better....but they are quite expensive comparatively.
what do u think of the static external hard disks? are they reliable??
but here also the cost is way too much...what to do???

Hi there.

External hard disks, there are 3 sizes, the microminiature ones, that can fit on your key chain, 40gigs or so, bigger than flash drive but much more fragile, then there are the medium and large size, they are made with laptop and regular computer hard disks, so they are just as reliable, they are housed in a small case with a USB to hard disk interface, the laptop version uses the USB power, the bigger version uses an external power supply, they are a good media for back-ups and are very easily updated, the price is a bit high ($150) but, what is the price of losing your data? If your data is VERY importand and valuable you should have multipls back-ups, external hard disk AND CD/DVD.

JohnDowe.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

Hey Excaliborg, I like your avatar, cute kitty.


JohnDowe.

[tslover586]

is there a software that i can get my hands on for free that will allow me to watch live tv over the internet.
if not what is the best priced best quality software that i can get to do this.

[Excaliborg]

Originally Posted by johndowe

Hi there.

Hey Excaliborg, I like your avatar, cute kitty.


JohnDowe.

yeah me too. thats stoner cat. he and i are alike in some ways.

[johndowe]

Originally Posted by tslover586

is there a software that i can get my hands on for free that will allow me to watch live tv over the internet.
if not what is the best priced best quality software that i can get to do this.

Hi there.

Yes there are, very many, there are 3 types:

First: The pay per month, type you install the software, select the chanels you want, the quality is usually pretty good, some charge a base monthly rate and you can watch 24/7, others you pay a fixed amount and you have so many minutes after you have to buy more.

Second: The pay the software once an watch for ever no additionnal charges, the software is not that expensive and it works well, the quality is pretty good, but varies depending of the source.

Third: FREE internet tv uses internet explorer, and either Real Pleayer, Quick time (iTunes), Win's Media Player, and/or Winamp See POST #6 on this thread, the programs are FREEWARE, but the quality of the shows and visual quality vary greatly, and there are literally thoughsands of chanels to choose from and from EVERY country on the earth.

The only bad side is internet usage, if your internet limit is low, it will be over very quickly and you MAY get a LARGER bill than you expected, aspecially with mobile internet where you get only a few 3-6 gigs per month at $50-$100+ every month, and it gets REAL expensive to exceed those limits.

To find the sites that offer these services you google: "tv on the internet" without the quotes and you will get the usual google millions of results...

None of these require any special hardware, other than a P3+ computer and hi speed internet access.

As for the best quality, because of internet and other media and software limitations, the internet TV picture quality is at the moment inferior to regular TV, so you have to try to find what you want and see itf the quality and reliability is acceptable.

ADDITONNAL: if you have a hi quality video card with all the bells and whistles, and a TV with Video in, you can connect your TV to your computer and watch internet TV on your (hopefully) big screen TV, or play your favorite game, it won't increase the quality but it will allow the whole family or freinds to watch, or even watch regular TV on your PC, only expensive video cards do that, but there are some inexpensive ($20) TV in cards that allow you to do this, AND record TV also, i have one of those cards and it works fine, with an antennae or cable tv.

JohnDowe.

[twistedone]

Microsoft has a download you can get to see if your computer can handle Windows 7. I downloaded it, ran it, and it said my hardware was fine for Windows 7, but I may have to uninstall, and reinstall some programs.

With that, Windows 7 just lost me as a possible upgrade.

Originally Posted by johndowe

Hi there.

Modman, your Computer is above win 7 requirements, so it will run fine, but it's weakest link is it's hard drive, 160 gig is a bit small, it was huge when it first came out, 3 years ago, if you were to upgrade to win 7 i would suggest you get a 500 gig drive, then upgrade, if you must, if xp works great for you, why fix it if it anit broke? Is there a piece of software you really need or want that ONLY runs on win 7 ?

I have not touched win 7, but microsoft is a company, and it's main goal is to be profitable, this being said.

There are 2 reasons microsoft launches a new windows, first to make money, secondarely, to support new hardware, but supporting new hardware only requires new drivers and maby a new piece of software or two, not a whole new windows.

So since XP works well, and is still supported, keep it, save your money for your next cpu, in a few years, which may come with win 8 or whatever they will call the next win.

Should you decide to go ahead and buy win 7 ($$$) you will have to save all your files, pics, movies, FAVORITES, saved games, work files, real player downloads, other downloads onto CD or DVD, and win vista drivers will work with win 7, will your older software work under win 7? i don't know, and usually they will say "some softwere may not work" so goto WWW.MICROSOFT.COM and ask them if your most important older software will run under win 7.

JohnDowe.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

If your cpu works fine, don't fix it, you're just looking for problems, if you HAVE TO, reinstall win and you don't have XP or the win you had before, (and your cpu CAN handle a newer win) and you can find all the drivers and all your software will work, then upgrade, otherwise chill, there is no rush, XP will run almost all software, exept Halo 2, only because they wanted to force gamers to buy vista.

BTW - Funny story:

Someone asked microsoft why Halo 2 didn't work on XP, they said it was a hardware problem, so he asked if he installed vista, would halo 2 then work on his cpu, the tech at microsoft said: YES, so the hardware problem is BULLSHIT, they just want to make profit, and F*** everybody, nice guys, don't you think? Don't they know there's a recession going on and not everybody could or can pay ($279 in Canada) for vista.

microsoft software; inferior products at a premium prices.

PS. microsoft only publishes Halo, other companies designed and programmed it, but microsoft did put in their 2 cents on the vista thing.

JohnDowe.

[Excaliborg]

Originally Posted by twistedone

Microsoft has a download you can get to see if your computer can handle Windows 7. I downloaded it, ran it, and it said my hardware was fine for Windows 7, but I may have to uninstall, and reinstall some programs.

With that, Windows 7 just lost me as a possible upgrade.

c'mon fella. this one has been floating around teh interwebs for many moons now. when you have your existing operating system and a new operating system that you would like to try, install on a different drive, dual-boot if you have to but one thing that is hardly ever advisable is to upgrade the existing os to the new os. while it works just fine and dandy in theory and in lab environments, real life application works way differently. a fresh install is always the better option compared to upgrading, as it means that your os has no baggage and little niggles from the previous os. and of course the previous os is still there, just waiting to wreak havoc.

as to windows 7, i can honestly say the MS have done good this time round, and hopefully the final release will be better than the release candidate. what i can say about win7 is that overall it has a slicker feel than vista and its a whole lot faster.

you might also want to try out the following:
How to install Windows 7 on VirtualBox:
http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-in...on-virtualbox/

if you have any further questions about windows 7, ask and i'll do my best to answer.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

I almost forgot that win can be upgraded instead of reinstalled, the reason is because it IS a bad idea, and i never do it, a fresh install is the best, everything is new and any viruses, spyware and questionable software is erased, the results beeing; minimal chance of getting the same problems as before, of course if you go to the same sites you KNOW you got problems with, you will have the same problems again, so be carefull.

As for bad sites, if you went to a bad site and got some virus or spyware, or some other nasty piece of software, don't go back to it when you have fixed the problem, the internet is a BIG place, whatever you are looking for, there are way more than 1 place to get it, and there is one magic tool to use and it is called "GOOGLE", you can find everything with it, but sometimes you have to be very specific and patient, usually google gives millions of results, but it has the very usefull "search within results" function to do more filtering but WORDING is very important, it often will make the difference between finding what you are looking for or not.

JohnDowe.

[lindas]

Hello
I have a problem with Firefox.
As soon as I have openedit, I get a page poping up.
I also get new pages coming up, all opening in new windows,they arelike Russianwomen, Adulr firends, No Game, Find Beautiful RussianWomen.
I have tried to get Norton to block them but it doesnot work. Norton alsofound a program which areseeking up cookies.
Have you got a suggestion to what I can do to stop this.

Friendly greetingsform Linda

[johndowe]

Hi there.

I do not use firefox, define "openedit" is it an editing function or a web page?

If it is a function check the programs/pages it opens, if it is a webpage those are pop-ups, a pop-up blocker that works with firefox may stop them but there are so many ways to make a pop-up that it is very hard to block them all.

Mr. Excaliborg may have a better ansewer if he uses firefox.

JohnDowe.

[Excaliborg]

Originally Posted by lindas

Hello
I have a problem with Firefox.
As soon as I have openedit, I get a page poping up.
I also get new pages coming up, all opening in new windows,they arelike Russianwomen, Adulr firends, No Game, Find Beautiful RussianWomen.
I have tried to get Norton to block them but it doesnot work. Norton alsofound a program which areseeking up cookies.
Have you got a suggestion to what I can do to stop this.

Friendly greetingsform Linda

someone has been very nawty tsk tsk. only play. i havent used firefox in a while but i shall do my best to assist. sounds like you have a browser hijacking infection. and that can be very nasty. what you need to do is this:

> disable your internet connection
> open firefox and clear all private data and diable any add-ons>
> also check the security settings, make sure radio boxes regarding installation of add-ons and suspicious sites
> pay a visit to your temp directories and remove all items found therein
> next restart your pc and boot into safe-mode by pressing F8 immediately after the BIOS info is displayed
> once you have logged in, run a full scan using norton av. what this does is only the core system components will be started and everything else can be scanned
> next i would recommend that you find another anti-virus, something like nod32, AVG, avast or anti-vira. i recommend nod32 or AVg as these two the ability to actually scan for malicious links and notify you of items trying to install without you knowing. these products also have internet security versions with firewall. but for most people the normal anti-virus and the windows firewall is sufficient

i think once i get the damn dsl working properly, i should do a write-up on anti-virus and firewall programs for informational purposes

[johndowe]

Hi there.

Good job Excaliborg, i never used Firefox, i was thinking to wack it, (un-install & reinstall)

Good idea on the firewall & antivirus tutorial, go for it.


JohnDowe.

[Excaliborg]

hello my good friends, i bring you greetings and hope you are safe in the love our lord. i am coming to you via special ways of internets. google prince obi for a good laugh

anyway, to the anti-virus...almost AV companies have business editions of their products but i will not be mentioning those. one thing you must understand is that no AV product is perfect and that the majority of AV programs are incompatible with each other, so install one only.

AVG: http://www.avg.com/

this program comes in a few flavours:
free edition thats just a basic AV and you can t set your own scan parameters
complete paid for version where you can define your own scan parameters, has anti-rookit (searched for root-kits hidden in your OS), anti-spyware, link scanner (blocks dodgy websites and checks links for threats), web sheild (monitors your network connection for threats and stops dangerous connections) and resident shield (works in the background scanning all files that you access).
and avg intertnet security version that is the same as the above but has a firewall built in.

i have used the free edition and curently have the paid for version installed. both are easy to use and simple to understand. the resident shield in the paid for version might slow your machine down when you access files as each file is scanned (i have disabled it cos speed is important to me). i havent used the Internet Security version but whichever version you choose, you will be getting a great product that will keep your protected.

nod32 http://www.nod32.co.za/ppc/download_...FVtm4wodskbE3Q

the acronym NOD stands for "Nemocnica na Okraji Disku" (hospital at the edge of the disk), a pun related to the Czechoslovakian medical drama series Nemocnica na okraji mesta (hospital at the edge of the city). little joke:D

this is another great AV program but it does tend to get a bit paranoid when scanning files. again this program comes in a fewflavours:

ESET Mobile Antivirus is aimed at protecting Windows Mobile Smartphones from viruses, spyware, adware, trojans, worms, rootkits, and other unwanted software. It also provides antispam filtering for SMS messages (bit silly but ok)
ESET Smart Security incorporates anti-spam and a bidirectional firewall along with traditional anti-malware features of ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
and the not normal AV but no free edition, just 30day trials.

CA http://shop.ca.com/virus/antivirus.a...FUQA4wodhQ6f1w

havent used this program extensively but it does what it says its going to do and the support people ar friendly.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus http://www.kaspersky.com/

this is a little more confusing as the below producs are for home and small businesses. but anyway.
Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 combines antivirus protection with a personal firewall and an anti-spam filter.
Anti-Virus 2010 solution provides complete antivirus protection that allows you to surf the web safely and keeps your PC free of viruses, Internet and email worms, and Trojans.
Internet Security
Special Edition for Ultra-Portables special edition of Kaspersky Internet Security is designed and customized to work on small and ultra-portable PCs, also known as Netbooks.
Kaspersky Mobile Security is a convenient and reliable solution that protects smartphones from Internet attacks, malicious programs and SMS spam. It also provides protection of data stored on a smartphone should the device be lost or stolen.

another great program to use, my second best in fact. it is a lttle more complicated to use but once you get to know it, it becomes a lot easier.

these are the AV programs that i have used and would recommend to someone looking for a good AV.

Avira Anti-vir is another but i havent used it. http://www.avira.com/en/pages/index.php

there are many AV programs out there, and which one to use can be difficult to choose. your best bet would be to do some research on the AV of your choice.

google search results for the most popular:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...aqi=g1g-s5g-m4

you will notice i havent said anything about firewall programs, as i havent used any stand-alone firewall programs. i've either used an AV with a firewall or i've used the built-in firewall that ships with windows. not the smartest choice but then again i dont like waiting for the firewall to learn my surfing habits, but thats just me.

again google search results for the most popular:
http://www.google.com/search?client=...utf-8&oe=utf-8

if you require any further help, ask johndowe or myself.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

Good job, but what about AVAST av?


JohnDowe.

[Excaliborg]

um i forgot about that one. i havent used it as extensively as Kaspersky or AVG but is still a good product to use. nut for some reason it rubs me the wrong way. im not sying its bad, but it could be better.