******** This thread now closed. Please see Volume 42 ********
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In this thread you may ask any computer related question for which you need help, advice, suggestions or whatever.
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Our firm has two offices. We'd like to set up videoconferencing between them so we can "meet" more often and with less hassle. There is a good routed link between the two (512k IIRC).
We'll put good speakerphones in the two conference rooms but would like to see each other, too. One option is to clip a webcam to a laptop at each end - anyone have experience of this? Of the two candidate laptops, on is XP prof and the other is Win 98SE.
The other option is to fix a webcam to the wall where it has a decent view and plug it into the cabling system. Presumably we can just give them an IP address and then someone on the network can log into them and pick up the image? Is it this easy? Or am I being widly optimistic?
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(bing)
You've hit on a specialist subject of mine.
If you wish to mount a camera in a room, it can very quickly get very expensive.
If I were you, I'd go for the cheapest option to begin with and see how it goes - webcam is the best bet. If you're considering using Windows 98SE I'm guessing you're not looking to spend a lot of money on this(!)
So, the easiest option is to use MSN messenger to establish the link, and assuming there's not too much else on your connection (like people downloading large files or listening to web radio), the results can be pretty good. Certainly works fine for me at home with just a normal soundcard and webcam.
If you want to do it properly, you can move up to Polycom or Tandberg type kit that can be a lot easier to use and simpler to integrate into normal work. But they ain't cheap.
If you're looking for a fixed IP webcam, these can be very simple to setup and use - BUT - if you're looking to just see and talk, go webcam & messenger first. <£100 and you'd be up & running.
Let us know which way you jump
--
Lee
Having a Fabialous time.
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Echo everything Lee says. Couple of webcams & good quality mics at each end and use one of the IM carriers MSM or Yahoo chat.
Fixed IP webcams may pose a problem to set up depending on your link, routing and IP configuration.
Your 98 machine needs to be 98se and have USB ports working.
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To save money on the webcams, look out for the D-Link NetEasy 350 model.
I have one (my son persuaded me to swap my Creative VideoBlaster for it as it has a snapshot button) and its performance, specification and general function is exactly the same as the Creative, including a proper CCD sensor; it also works with the Creative applications including a monitoring utility.
Yet the NetEasy 350 costs less than half the price of the Creative and you buy one for around £15-£17. D-Link NetEasy website:
www.neteasybydlink.co.uk/
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It's the 350 Pro USB version.
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I am a bit fed up with things going wrong with Windows (long story)!
Now I know that there is another system called Linux, but I do not know much about it, other than it is touted as the bee's knees by enthusiasts.
Would it be worth the trouble and expense of taking on, and would I be able to do the same sort of things - HJ for instance -presumably it could sit in the box along with Windows?
Just to try not to look completely clueless, here is a digital joke..........
An ASCII character walks into a bar.
"How are you today?" asks the barman.
"Not too good, I have a parity error" says the AC.
"I thought you looked a bit off" the barman replies.
Oh, dear.
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If you look through the previous editions of these threads there are quite a number of threads on Linux and answers to your questions. (or use the forum search)
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I am a bit fed up with things going wrong with Windows (long story)! Now I know that there is another system called Linux, but I do not know much about it, other than it is touted as the bee's knees by enthusiasts. Would it be worth the trouble and expense of taking on, and would I be able to do the same sort of things - HJ for instance -presumably it could sit in the box along with Windows?
It could indeed sit alongside Windows. Most distributions install a program called Grub or Lilo, enabling you to choose Windows or Linux when you start the PC.
An easier way to dip your toe in the water would be to try one of the 'live' Linux CDs. These need no installation at all: everything just runs from a bootable CD. The drawbacks are slowness and the need for a decent amount of memory.
One of them, Knoppix, can even save your settings on a floopy disk, your hard drive, or a USB pen drive.
There's a huge amount of info on the web, but try:
www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html (Linux that happily runs from a CD. Highly recommended.)
www.ubuntu.com/ (Available as a live CD or a version that you install on your hard disk. Uses a different desktop from Knoppix.)
www.mepis.org/ (Haven't tried this myself but I've seen it recommended here.)
www.mandrakelinux.com/en-gb/ (I've used this for a few years. Very easy to install.)
As these are available as free downloads, there's no harm in trying more than one, especially the ones you don't need to install.
See also the reviews at www.osnews.com/ .
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Many thanks, Welliesorter, I've saved this to a folder.
Sorry I did not think to search for old threads, the old brain is basically an analogue machine!
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Just to support what Welliesorter has said, try a live cd first. Mepis, Knoppix, or Ubuntu would be my favourites. I run Ubuntu (installed version) on our household machine and it's very slick despite being their first finished release. Ubuntu is owned and run by the guy who paid millions to the Russions to go into space a few years back--he's said the OS will be free in perpetuity.
Have a look at www.distrowatch.org for the full range of choices.
Chris
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Tomo, based upon recommendations here I have done just this. I tried Mandrake but didnt really get on with it. (Knoppix is great but I'm not sure it is a permanent solution, but a great toe in the water and a file recovery option if your OS dies).
However I am now using Xandros (free edition) which i have taken to and I cant even remember the last time I used Windows, and anyway you can still see your Windows partition and access files on it EG mp3s, jpegs etc.
One word of warning - for an average user who is not used to command lines it is not as refined as Windows and setting up hw or sw that is not autodetected can be a challenge. However if you fancy a challenge go for it !
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Well...after months and months, the lovely people at Dixons Mastercare have decided my faithful laptop is beyond repair and have sent me a voucher to buy a new one, for £648.
It has to be a laptop, but apart from that I don't know what I want. I mainly use it for Office things (I have Office Pro 2000? so not bothered if it doesn't come with it) and the internet (must be able to do AOL 8 and broadband in future without falling over like the old one). In future I might want to put some adobe software on there too, but it will be the really memory hungry ones like illustrator and photoshop - think that might be pushing it at this price? (I don't mind adding a bit to the voucher if it was going to get me a significantly better laptop, but as I haven't had my first pay cheque yet - haven't started in fact! - I'd rather not.)
I don't really play games so not really bothered about graphics, but again it would be nice to think I could put Sim City on without it dying.
I'd like a CDRW if possible, but don't know if that's within budget, otherwise it must have a floppy drive for backing stuff up as I've been caught out in the past (thankfully not this time as I'm told I can't have the old laptop back!)
Any suggestions welcome, I'm going to drag the Passat Driver out tomorrow. Incidentally he has a toshiba laptop with a cool thing where you just drag files over to a certain place and it burns it all onto CD for you and I'd like something similar as it's so easy to use.
Thanks!
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Incidentally he has a toshiba laptop with a cool thing where you just drag files over to a certain place and it burns it all onto CD for you and I'd like something similar as it's so easy to use.
That's a standard feature in Windows XP so any recent PC with a CD (or DVD) rewriter would do it.
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Go for a brand you have heard of. Toshiba, Sony, HP and IBM (and if pushed Dell) All are durable. The others are not as you have found out.
You want CD writer, as much main memory as you can get (go for 512mb), and look for ATI or Radeon branded graphics chips with as much graphics memory as you can get (64 mb is ok)
If you want to use it in BT open zone or other wireless hotspots go for a Intel Centrino chipset.
(ATI/Radeon/Intel/Intel centrino stickers will be all over the beast)
Best value? The tosh.
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Just had a look at the Dixons website - your £648 won't go too far with the laptops there, but there is a decent Compaq (same as HP) laptop for £649.99 - same price instore. It's got the CD (DVD) rewriter but only 256Mb RAM. Be sure to get this up to at least 512Mb (try crucial.com/uk) It's Model R3307
I'd echo RF about branded kit; I find we have nothing but bother with the cheaper stuff.
Might be best to have a visit to a _large_ dixons and see what you like in there.
Just a note on processors - Intel do Pentiums of different speeds, Centrinos and Celerons.
The Pentium is more powerful than the equivalent clock speed Celeron - so a 2.4Ghz Pentium is better than a 2.4Ghz Celeron.
However - there are some big advantages to Centrino. Better power management and built in WiFi for starters. But as they are more efficient, the clock speed are less important
a 1.7Ghz Centrino will perform on a par with a Pentium 2.4Ghz and use less power. Confusing, but well worth keeping in mind. My Sony Z1 has a 1.7Ghz Centrino and it's more than equal to a lot of the power laptops at work, lasts longer on batteries and is quite a bit lighter..
Have a trip to Dixons and see if they've got any deals on. BE careful with the iMac - beautiful kit, but software is less readily available for it.
--
Lee
Having a Fabialous time.
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PG
Does this Dixons voucher allow you to buy stuff from PC World? If so, have a serious look at an Apple iBook. Currently £699, with a decent graphics card and wireless capability built in. In real life they run for over four hours on a single charge even when wirelessly surfing the Internet and are almost completely silent--spookily silent next to my ancient HP laptop. They are also among the lightest, smallest, and best-looking laptops you can get for under a grand. They have a DVD-Rom/CDRW drive built in. Few if any Wintel laptops are as tough as the iBook and Apple flat screens are extemely good too.
Don't worry about compatibility either. For text you can get MS Office for Mac, use Apple's new iWork suite, or use Abiword, or NeOfficeJ, the last two of which are both free downloads. Thethree alternatives are all Office compatible.
In my opinion the Mac OSX operating system is currently the best and easiest to use desktop OS available and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.
My O/H has one and my next laptop will be one of these too I think. They are excellent value for money.
Chris
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"Few if any Wintel laptops are as tough as the"
Nothing - I repeat NOTHING* is tougher than an IBM thinkpad. Mine was dropped from 6 feet onto a concrete path, and escaped utterly unscathed.
*except a ruggidised PC, but they weigh a ton.
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Nothing - I repeat NOTHING* is tougher than an IBM thinkpad. Mine was dropped from 6 feet onto a concrete path, and escaped utterly unscathed.
Not if the T21 I'm currently typing on is anything to go by: Cracked keyboards surround which moves when the display opens, which now doesn't clip down, oh and don't drop them onto their corners when you exit a bus, otherwise you get to look at exposed metal and bits of plastic littering the carry-case when you next take a look.
On a more positive side, IBMs are a lot more future-proof than the other brands. The "Ultrabay" concept allows easy hot-swapping of drives and extra batteries so you can easily upgrade to a DVD writer at a later date. Also spare parts can be ordered and priced from the website.
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You might have missed the best opportunities with Dell as their end of year is Monday, but they have some kit around your target price and, being a Dell user for some years, it seems just fine to me.
tinyurl.com/3uky4 shows they are offering double memory until 23/2 and free delivery until 2/2.
They also have a "factory outlet" where some bargains can sometimes be found. Bit of a nightmare to navigate though... tinyurl.com/22dq4
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Thanks - have printed and am digesting along with my Special K as we speak.
You have no idea how much I want an ibook! I wanted a pink Imac when they came out and we used them at uni, but I'm worried about things not working the same on a mac as they do on a PC - I've got friends who are still stuck on the basic version of AOL for example and can't use MSN messenger etc, things that I use every day. I also need to there to be no compatibility issues when I send documents from a mac to someone with a PC.
I think it needs to be a non apple laptop. I forgot to say it needs to come from a Dixons group store (the link, currys, pc world, dixons)and not online.
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>Nothing - I repeat NOTHING* is tougher than an IBM thinkpad.
Ah, but did it cost seven hundred quid? These iBook things have a Titanium frame.
My HP laptop has been dropped a couple of times in the last four years and has a few scars. A couple of months ago it was running really slowly and had me worried until I found a memory module together with the bottom panel in the car. It must have been missing for over a week.
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>>and it burns it all onto CD for you>>
My mate has a laptop - as a touch typist I frankly think they are a pain to use and when he brings it round I attach a corded mouse(!) - and it was set up for him by my son after being acquired secondhand.
Among the software the offspring installed was EasyCD Creater, which requires only a click on Desktop icons to either copy or use to transfer data, programs etc for burning onto a CD-R or CD-RW disk. He can also use the program in multisession mode, which saves wasting CD-Rs unnecessarily.
Personal preference is for Nero and still is after using the EasyCD Creater on the laptop, but my mate is happy and can do as he wishes with the click of a mouse button.
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Evening...
Well the shopping is done! :)
It came down to a choice between these two, both in PC World, and both £648:
tinyurl.com/4y2r3
tinyurl.com/5hlgv
In the end I've gone for the Toshiba. The Fujitsu Siemens had more memory, and a better processor in terms of wireless networking, but I don't do wireless, and can always buy a card for not much cash if I want to, same with the extra memory. The Toshiba has a better DVD drive - something to do with layers or something. And well, I've heard of Toshiba making decent laptops!
We all agreed (Me, the passat driver, his IT manager and the surprisingly helpful man in the shop) that the Toshiba was the better laptop for what I need. And I had a McAffee security suite for £25, which I will install tomorrow.
Thanks all for the advice.
Now, onto my first problem! I have the all singing all dancing AOL9 on this laptop, which loaded up and is great (currently blocking 8 pop ups and 2 moving images on this site!). All was fine the first few times I signed on, but then it popped up a warning telling me if I didn't download this SP2UKFix, I wouldn't be able to connect to AOL anymore. I did this, and restarted as requested, but now everything is sooooo slooooow. Do I really need this file, and can I take it off again?
Thanks!
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PG,
Sorry got to this rather late, but check the warranty on the Tosh...they are usually very good....worldwide for 3 years. It is definitely worth registering it. Mine went back for new psu and to fix the video out/usb/ps2. All free of charge which isnt bad for a 2.75 year old laptop.
StarGazer
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Hi all,
Sorry to detract from PG's post (sorry PG) but I have a problem of my own.
I've had to reformat so everything's gone back on and I came to listen to some music via Windows Media Player 9 and, when each track is first played, it drops a key and sound awfully out of tune but stays constant after that. This happens on tracks that I know are fine and happens on every single track. Interestingly, when played on something else, such as MusicMatch, it's absolutely pitch perfect however, I want to stick to Media Player as I like the Music Library feature.
I'm guessing it's some sort of codec but anyone have any ideas?
Thanks,
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Adam
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Do you mean when playing mp3s or CDs? Try both.
I think codecs are common to all programs (could be wrong, someone can confirm) but if they are, then you'd get the same result in all programs.
So a de-install and re-install of the product (which won't take too long) has to be a good starting point.
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Hi Smokie.
I tried a reinstall and it still does it. Interestingly, it did this ages ago but I resigned myself to using Musicmatch.
It does it with MP3's but not CD's.
Most strange
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Adam
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Try media player 10. Its on the MS website
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I did but I'm running 2000. I only found out the incompatibility after I downloaded it though!
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Adam
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Oh Adam, Win2K & a booted focus.......
you sad sad student!
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>>Oh Adam, Win2K & a booted focus.......
Oh dear... ;-)
Can't do much with the boot, but unless you've got a GREAT! reason for keeping to 2k, get yourself onto XP. Big jump in everything consumer based....
Lee.
--XP & Striking gold Fabia (not the booted one though)!
--
Lee
Having a Fabialous time.
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I think there are only 2 members left who haven't had a dig at me about my car!
Anyhoo, I had XP (in fact, I'm looking at the disc now) but it will be a cold day in hell before I go back to it. I found it unstable and buggy and 2000 has hardly ever let me down. I'm sure the service packs have seen to that but I like the functionality of 2000 plus the tools and stuff for networking. I often tinker around as I'm told we're doing a networking degree at Uni although I'm yet to see any evidence of this.
Thanks for your 'help' anyway guys.
--2000 & Amazingly beautiful gold Focus (the booted, and so best one)
:-)
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Adam
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I found it unstable and buggy>>
I've been using XP Pro for around 15 months. It's the most stable, trouble free operating system I've ever used apart from Windows 3.1.
In fact I almost miss the constant tinkering, updating and problems curing required with Windows 95, 98 and 98SE.
The same goes for Internet Explorer and Outlook Express, which have given way to Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird.
In fact I just might go back to Windows 98SE and Internet Explorer just to keep myself occupied through the long, miserable days of winter...:-)
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PS
The XP experience includes a smooth incorporation of SP2, a fact that also applies to installing it on two friends' systems.
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Mum's laptop and my sister's computer have XP on both with SP2 but I'd rather have 2000 to be honest. I will concede though that Firefox is infinitely better than IE although I still haven't made the jump from Outlook to Thunderbird.
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Adam
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still haven't made the jump from Outlook to Thunderbird>>
Very quick to do, OE settings quickly imported when installing or later, no constant updating (i.e. none to date) and the Junk filter alone is worth the switch - to see it in action after being "trained" is wonderful to watch.
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Looking at Thunderbird now, am I right in thinking it doesn't support http based mail?
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Adam
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Looking at Thunderbird now, am I right in thinking it doesn't support http based mail?
Do you mean Hotmail? If so, only Outlook and Outlook Express do, but Microsoft are going to charge for that facility if they haven't started to do so already:
www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/28/hotmail_from_outl.../ .
If you're using Yahoo! Mail, try yahoopops.sourceforge.net/ .
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I'm on Hotmail and this is the first I've heard of any charging. I take it I can carry on using OE until they ask for some dosh?
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Adam
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I'm on Hotmail and this is the first I've heard of any charging. I take it I can carry on using OE until they ask for some dosh?
Presumably you can. There was a related article at www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/20/ms_subscription/ .
I seem to remember that when Yahoo! started charging for POP3 access they forgot to extend the policy to those with .co.uk addresses. I wonder if Hotmail have done the same.
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I don't like the sound of that at all. It reads as though they've already started but like I said, I havent heard a thing.
I'm most unimpressed I must say. I can't just give up my hotmail account as a matter of principle because I use MSN Messenger too.
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Adam
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You can keep the hotmail account and access it with a browser for free, but you'll have to pay to get mail from it via Outlook (Express). This will happen increasingly as software becomes commodified and services are where the money is. For example my O/H's employer offers a service to employees called Citrix, which enables you to run MS Office apps on any platform (Windows/Linux/Mac) over the Internet. The application isn't actually installed on the computer, but runs as if it is. We use OpenOffice.org on Linux and Mac round here, so we haven't used the service after an initial play, but it works well; the paperclip is just as annoying as I remember it. It's expected that MS itself will offer something similar soon.
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I'm most unimpressed I must say. I can't just give up my hotmail account as a matter of principle because I use MSN Messenger too.
MSN Messenger doesn't require a Hotmail address. You just need a .NET Passport account. This can be associated with any e-mail address.
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>>http based mail>>
If you go to:
www.boolean.ca/hotpop/
and
sourceforge.net/projects/gotmail
you'll find the means to collect such mail.
Questions of this nature are answered on the Mozilla Thunderbird FAQ page:
texturizer.net/thunderbird/faq.html
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Que ?
http mail - do you mean webmail ? If so use the web browser
If you mean html formatted mail, thunderbird does support it but has various options for blocking bits of it. This is because html mail is in general a bad thing. Lots of spam is html and references a small image on a spammers server that identifies to them that you saw the mail , therefore your email address is a real one and they can send more spam. Also often get embedded virii etc.
Im not sure how the options are set up by default, I certainly have all images and objects blocked in my setup.
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Adam
Just waiting
I think there are only 2 members left who haven't had a dig at me about my car!
StarGazer
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Adski
Have you got the latest driver updates for the soundcard and possibly graphics card? We had a similar problem of graphics making the sound funny, these things can be related.
As an aside, I've a friend who worked in a computer shop and once had a computer in with a dodgy modem. Updated the graphics card drivers and it worked!
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Can I just say thanks to everyone who's posted on both the Hotmail issue and the original query. I'll be seeing what happens with the Hotmail issue and if needs be, I'll be ditching the account and using something else. I do have my principles after all!
mfarrow, I thought that but why does it sound fine in every other music program? Musicmatch, WinAmp, Nero Audio something or other all play it fine. However, given what happened to your friend, it couldn't hurt to upgrade the drivers. I'll give it a shot now.
Again, many thanks to everyone. I don't know how I mamanged before this forum!
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Adam
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Adski : keep your Hotmail A/c going. Its useful for giving to sites that require email address and may generate some unwanted spam. You can access it thru your Firefox Browser on www.hotmail.com with no bother.
Phil I
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Have you checked from WMP's Tools>Options>File Types that all types are Enabled?
You might need to download the Windows Media Player 9 codencs pack (serves all versions) from the WMP home page at www.microsoft.com; another method would be to download the K-Lite codecs standard pack from:
www.k-litecodecpack.com/
which will cover virtually every video and audio codec you will be likely to need.
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Thanks for that Phil. Worst case scenario is I have to access it through the browser.
Stuart, for some reason, I missed your post and uninstalled Media Player 9. It now has the Media Player on that comes with 2000 (7 or something like that) and ...yep...you guessed it. Absolutely perfect. I'm going to put 9 back on, then try that K-lite codec pac k you suggest.
Thanks,
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Adam
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This isn't funny any more.
9 went back on and guess what....exactly. So I thought "I know - I'll try Stu's idea" but OH NO. I already have that apparently so Windows Media Player is now only being used for AVI's as to be perfectly honest, I've given up..
Thanks again Stuart and to everyone else who's helped but I think this one's beaten us this time.
Thanks again,
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Adam
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I've got a Toshiba laptop (Satellite 1800-814, Pentium 3) which is inclined to just close down and turn itself off without warning. It doesn't go into standby - it turns off, so that I lose unsaved material, and when I turn on, it starts from scratch.
It is an intermitent fault. Used to happen once in a while, then didn't happen at all for months, then in the past few days has done it about once a day.
I phoned the Toshiba helpline. They suggested it might be a virus or spyware. I've got Norton antivirus and update it daily, and a full scan indicated no infection - so I don't think that's the problem.
Any idea what it might be - and whether it's likely to be hardware or software? (I should add that it doesn't seem to matter what programmes I am running at the time.)
Thanks in advance.
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If it does it on battery power its likely to be the battery connections. If its on mains power its likely to be the pwer supply or the internal regulator. It could be a thermal shutdown - does it feel hot?
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RF
If it does it on battery power its likely to be the battery connections. If its on mains power its likely to be the pwer supply or the internal regulator.
It is on mains
It could bea thermal shutdown - does it feel hot?
Well, certainly warmish. (By "it" do you mean the laptop, or the AC adaptor? Both, needless to say feel pretty warm!)
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Laptop - Bottom hot enough to be uncomfortable?
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Laptop - Bottom hot enough to be uncomfortable?
Well, I didn't lift the laptop off the desk and check. I'll try it next time - though intermitent faults being what they are, there probably won't be a next time for 3 months.
Anyway, if the answer is "No, not uncomfortable?" what is the next step?
And for that matter, if the answer is "ow - that's hot" - what do I do then? Get one of these laptop coolers one sees on ebay?
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The AC adaptor will probably feel warm at any time.
Many laptops have a small fan at the rear - is it working as it should as it's very easy for laptops to overheat due to their very cramped interiors?
Hence the "scare" recently about risks to a particular part of the anatomy when using a lap top on (surprise) your lap and the clever IT mag's headline: "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Firewire."
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OK - it's now done it again, and no, the bottom of the laptop did not feel hot. Warm, yes, but not uncomfortably so.
I booted up again, and resumed word-processing, and the thing shut off again, this time within moments. Sounds like it must be hardware rather than software.
Any more thoughts?
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this time within moments.
Sorry, I mean within minutes - about 10, I guess
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Presume you mean it just cuts straight off, not closing down properly etc?
If it's XP or Win2K have a look at the system log to see if there are any errors (recoverable) during normal operation.
Shut down's shortly after boot ups are often heat related, check the fan as someone already said.
Also if your memory is accessible through a trap door in the bottom (mine is!) whip it out and reseat it.
Do you have a battery in it? I.e. if the AC went off it would trip to battery - you might notice less bright screen - but if you have no battery it would go off if there was a problem with the AC adapter itself.
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As smokie says it could be a Windows unrecoverable error, though I would have expected this to restart the computer rather than just shut it down. To put your mind at rest, goto Start, Control Panel, System, Advanced tab, (startup and recovery) Settings. Uncheck "Automatically restart". This will then give you a blue screen of death so it'll tell you the problem before it reboots.
From what I've experienced in the past it's either one of three things. Either a dodgy power supply as RF suggests, a dirty internal connection, or a mechanical/electrical problem. It could be that the harddrive or motherboard are on their way out. I had a problem in December on my desktop PC where the HDD kept cutting out, and eventually got worse and worse. Cleaned everything I could see/think of, including the motor contacts on the drive itself, and still to no avail. It could be that the motherboard or Windows is detecting an HDD outage and shutting the PC in response.
Get your data backed up now onto your other machine (I presume you have another machine, otherwise you wouldn't be posting).
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One other possible source is XP's Hibernate/Standby modes (the former closes down after saving all settings, Standby doesn't and data can be lost if power is lost for any reason).
Some laptops can be set to go into Hibernation when the screen is folded back down and all the programs etc being used at the time are retained; they reappear when the machine is switched back on thus saving time.
I use Hibernate during the day when I have to leave the system for longer than usual - I know others who use permanently use Hibernate at the end of the day for a quicker startup the next day.
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Thanks all for your thoughts.
Smokie: yes, it does just cut straight off, not closing down properly.
It is XP - not sure about how to look at the system log.
The fan appears to be working properly, i.e. I can hear it going. I presume this means it is working OK?
It does have a battery in it. If the AC power cuts out, the battery cuts in.
Don't know if memory is accessible thru a trap door - or how to reseat it - or what that means, or why one would do it. Could you explain more fully?
mfarrow: have done as you suggested to check if it is Windows unrecoverable error.
If the problem is harddrive or motherboard on way out, I take it my laptop is terminally ill?
(I can still work on the machine by way. I leave it a while, and then start up as normal.)
Two things may be significant. The fan always seems to be running flat out when it turns off - and this tends to happen when I am typing /word processing, not when I am surfing web.
Stuartli - I don't think it's anything to do with standby / hibernation. When I'm in standby, the on/off light flashes orange - which doesn't happen when it just turns itself off.
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System log is in Conmtrol Panel/Administrative tools. Click Event Viewer and there are three logs. System log is of most interest. Just scroll down it and look for Errors and Warnings. You can double click the specific error to see more detail. However this probably won't glean much, unless it shows a particular piece of hardware with persistent warnings (or errors). The log probably won't get written to with the actual problem as the machine is crashing abruptly.
The problem isn't with the AC adapter then, if the power switches to battery when AC goes off.
In the bottom of my Dell there is a lid held by a screw. If you unscrew it and take it out then there is the memory. Carefully (and preferably using anti-stat precuations, although I never have!) remove the memory and replace it, making sure it is properly and evenly pushed home.
Someone already suggested trying to get a dump file. This link leads to a M$ article which describes how to save Stop messages to file. tinyurl.com/6pllc. This means that if XP crashes then a dump file will be produced at the location you specify - it may take a while of apparent inactivity so be patient (disk light should flicker).
If you get one of these, you could try Googling for the Stop Code and following data, or post back here and we'll see if we can help. But more importantly, if you don't get one then it's most likely that your hardware has died abruptly, and XP didn't see it coming. It will certainly narrow your problem further.
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Well, I've added the memory, cleaned out the garbage (including the Sasser worm!) and it's running as it should be.
Except I still can't get it to dial!
I have removed the previous ADSL installation (just in case) and installed both of the dialup variety that I have here. It goes through the motions, 'connecting....', but it doesn't dial, so nothing happens except the data lights flash briefly.
It's driving me nuts and it's sure going to leave an indellible (sic) scar.
Who's got the coat....?
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Dial? Data lights? as in dial up modem?
If the lights flash briefly
You have it set to the right comms port BUT its not "seeing" the modem ie not getting an "ack" from the modem after sending it an AT command
Win 98 yes? it needs modem drivers for that make of modem.
Try using the terminal emulation programe built into win98 (cant remember what its called) and have it in echo mode to see what comes back
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hyperterminal ?
in Accessories -> Communications
if you type at then return you should get an OK back - if not then maybe echo etc isnt on
ate1 will turn on local echo of what you type
atv1 will get verbose mode
atq0 turns quite mode off - you see responses
atm0 turns off speaker
atm2 turns speaker on all the time - even after connection
I always start with atq0e1 so that you see whats going on
Just a thought but lots of people have problems because of cable issues.
Is it an internal or external modem ? Where did you get the cables from the PC to the modem and from the modem to the phone socket ? Some modems use different wires in the phone cable - (pain or what!)
Also are you plugging in to the main phone socket for your house or an extension ? try using the master socket sometimes the extensions dont have all wires connected and if they dont have the ones the modem expects then nothing gets through.
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Have you checked the m/b settings this caught me out for a day once!
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Thanks for all the suggestions and my apologies for not noticing we're on CRQ41, whereas I started this in CRQ40.
It's running on XP, and last night I installed Dunmanager in the hope that might shed some light. It reports that there is a networking problem, but helpfully doesn't say what! It also shows a terminal window, which shows an OK response to AT.
During my searching for nasties, I discovered a premium-rate dialler (!) and I'm wondering whether that took some revenge for my removing it?
Now considering reinstalling XP, but I don't want to....
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well at least the modem is alive.
In the terminal window can you type atdt folowed by a convenient phone number ?
ie atdt0123456789
then it should dial that number, so if you put your mobile no in you can at least prove that the modem is working.
then try your isp number and see that that answers.
then we are into looking at the network settings rather rhan the modem setup - but that would be progress.
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>>Now considering reinstalling XP, but I don't want to....
before you do that, try
help.expedient.com/dialup/winxp-reinstall-dun.shtml
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Frostie..
This system is deeply flawed. you have been bashing away at for weeks. Bite the bullet, format and reinstall XP. You know it makes sense, if you had done it at the outset............
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"you have been bashing away at for weeks"
No, it just seems that way. It arrived here on the 22nd.
I tried sending ATDT and the modem did its usual brief flash of the data light.
That link looks interesting, Dalglish, thankyou for that.
I've also done something stupid (seemed like a good idea at the time) - I decided to use the 'update windows' facility on the MS CD! Should have known with the MS name on it it would be bad news!
First, had to enter the 25 digit product key to start the thing, then, when it finished, it announced that it had to be initialised before running XP again or, it claimed, I could do it later.
In fact, it instantly refused to run unless I "conveniently" initialised it on the 'net (hah!) or telephone MS with a 50? digit code it threw up for me to quote so I could get a similar one back!
I will never ever have XP on any machine of mine!
At least it's given me a rest from the beast until tomorrow.
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That should read 'ATDT+number'.
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Maybe the modem isn't hearing a dial tone.
Someone already said a new cable might help.
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That link looks interesting, Dalglish, thankyou for that.
yes, worth nvigating around that site for other useful pointers.
First, had to enter the 25 digit product key to start the thing, then, when it finished, it announced that it had to be initialised before running XP again or, it claimed, I could do it later. In fact, it instantly refused to run unless I "conveniently" initialised it on the 'net (hah!) or telephone MS with a 50? digit code it threw up for me to quote so I could get a similar one back! I will never ever have XP on any machine of mine!
>>
strange that, never happened on any of 4 pc where i have updated to sp2 using ms update cd.
also, ms have instructions on their knowledgebase on how to bypass the "Yes, I want to telephone a customer service representative to activate Windows" stage.
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Weekly maintainance yesterday and checked for downloads at Spybot (free version) and went to download. It started then stopped and advised !!! bad check sum !.
Uninstalled and re downloaded programme from Spybot site and tried again on 6 downloads to update.
Four - English language 2005.1.28
Main skins 2005.1.28
Start up info 2005.1.28
English help 2004.9.30
all started then aborted with the legend !!! bad check sum !
Seems I have a system whicl previously was in the 21,000 mark and now down to 12,000.
Any suggestions as to what is happening ? Could it have been searching for files from the paid up version?
Norton AV, Ad-ware doesnt show anything untowards.
DVD
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You probably know that a checksum is a way of checking that two files are identical. Depending on how they set their system up, the fault could be theirs. They may checksum the dowload file then write the result someplace which is read when you download - then the checksum is performed on your computer and compared. If they have written a duff value somewhere (i.e. had a checksum problem at their end) then your file will always appear to be different. It's possible, maybe not likely...
Not sure that the wrong version would cause the problem, as even within the same version the checksum will always be different if the file is just one byte different.
One thing you could try is to clear your internet cache - if your system thinks it already has the file you are asking for, it may grab it from the cache rather than bother downloading it all again. (Tools/Options/delete files, or something like that...)
Or just leave it a couple of days then try again, in case it's a problem at their end
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dvd
when you get a bad checksum error, the spybot people advise that you try this normally:
select a different location from where to download your update.
personnally, i always select a country which is likely to be past the midnight hour - as their servers will be less busy.
let us know if that works.
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here is the link:
www.spybot.info/en/faq/20.html
When updating, why do I get an error message that the "update is forbidden" / "bad checksum!!!"? [link]
Some users have reported they are not able to download updates. The 'Search for updates' reveals updates, but they cannot be downloaded. Often a 'HTTP Error 403' or 'bad checksum' is displayed. This has a simple reason - thousands of people trying to download from the default server, which can't handle such a burden. If you try again, have a second look at the menu bar. It has a pull-down item to select a mirror. Click the arrow beside it, and select a different location, where you'll most probably have better chances to download. (Spybot-S&D 1.3 will set a random mirror as the default to better distribute the load)
Current problems with the main installer download have the same reason - the servers not being able to handle such large amounts of visitors. Even the University isn't able to deal with many thousands of downloads at the same time. Please have some patience; more mirrors are being added again.
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Thanks gentlemen.
After uninstalling and using the PC World download to re-instate it reminded me that I still had Spyboy programme on my machimne so I installed over the top of it. Getting the fault I again uninstalled and this time re-installed from a site on Spybot page. Same thing.
The programme does run so what might have happened is that the old definitions are still in there and affecting?
Will as suggested leave for a couple of days. Only time it brought anything up was first couple of times used after that Congratulations - no problems found. But Ad-ware- yippes on data miners etc.
DVD
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ARe you downloading the latest version of Search and Destroy (1.3) from:
www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html ?
You can also download the definitions from here if you wish.
Data Miners are nothing much to worry about, just delete them - there are far more serious examples around.
Re unwanted premium dialers. This small utility, once enabled, will sit in the background and watch for any suspicious dialling out:
www.antidialer.co.uk/
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PS
S and D 1.3's DSO reporting bug can be cured with this patch:
www.majorgeeks.com/download4392.html
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PPS
A first class website for all things to do with sorting out or optimising XP can be found at:
mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/OptimizeXP.html
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We are considering a house move in the fairly near future.
The problem - we live in Spain on the Costa del Sol, right on the coast. You may, or may not, be surprised to hear that Telefonica, Spain's national telecoms provider is where the UK was 30 or more years ago! Do you remember when a VERY long wait for a 'phone was commonplace? Well, in very many places, even in the tourist belt where we are, it is impossible to either obtain a 'phone line, or even to have an estimate as to a possible waiting time. New apartments all have builder installed 'phone points, but Telefonica can't or won't pull out their digits to install the cabling!
We have close family in the U.K. and we also use our current ADSL line a lot. Withdrawal symptons would be severe!
At last, the questions - what are the pros & cons in internet connection via a mobile? Is it possible or practical with a desktop PC? What would we need to use a mobile to conect? Any experience of using a mobile on such a basis?
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Roger. (Costa del Sol, España)
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Roger,
Yes its possible either via bluetooth or data cable to a mobile phone using GPRS
After ADSL its very very painful. Slow would not be the words to describe it. And the cost? HUUUUGE
Alternatives
1/ Satelite internet, quite dear downlink fast butuplink via telephone at 56k
2/ Buy a laptop with wireles and use any areas or cafes with wireless hotspots.
3/ Nice slow cup of coffe and a cerveza or two at your local internet cafe.
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Sattelite Internet/Phone is grossly costly to instal - C3,600 Euros plus a download/upload link charge of up to 190 euros per month depending on speed. Phone can then be by someone like Net 2 Phone.
Wireless hotspots in the western Costa del Sol - Ho! Ho!
Internet cafe IS possible, but not very convenient.
Mobile costs to UK, even with a phone card "prefix dialler" are expensive, but there are mobile deals where one can choose "free" minutes to local OR national calls. The phone card providers have a local number one can set as "favourite" I think.
I don't really understand Bluetooth, although I have heard of it!
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Roger. (Costa del Sol, España)
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Bluetooth is short range (10 metres max) wireless data communication. Basically replaces a connection cable. Both your pc and phone need to have bluetooth. PC bluetooth can be a usb device, and phone needs to have it as a standard feature
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Aircard - one of the many solutions our IT people have come up with to that "I didn't get your e-mail I was out all day" Slow in comparison to Broadband. But not slow enough IYKWIM (!)
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"but there are mobile deals where one can choose "free" minutes to local OR national calls. The phone card providers have a local number one can set as "favourite" I think."
Oh forgot to mention - this "free" or "cheap" rate will not apply to GPRS data calls - which is what you will be using.
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Often get called to fix ! family and friends computer problems despite me constantly telling them I?m far from having any expertise and only know the basics. However I still go along and try to help with limited success. This last week looked at both the SIL and a friends and they both have the same problem. They are so slow its unbelievable. Both modern computers with fairly fast processors, reasonable memory and good size hard disks. Both Win 2000
They take forever to boot up and changing from programme to programme takes a couple of minutes.
Looked at the basics. Plenty of space on the hard disks.
Ran scandisk, or whatever its called on 2000.. Ran the defragment system. They both have Norton anti virus (one without a firewall). And downloaded the latest definitions. Ran a scan for any virus and none showing.
All very time consuming and running out of ideas.
I then become reluctant to go any further. Its OK with my own computer cause at the end of the day if all goes wrong I can always reinstall my win 98 and start again, but always have a dread of leaving someone?s computer with just a blank screen. Putting my coat on and saying ?that?s it then, there?s no payment needed? and going home..
Any advice please why a computer slows to a crawl.
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whats "reasonable" memory?
Windows OS always slows to a crawl, usually caused by loading lots of memory resident progs that the user installs, these all load at startup. The registry gets bloated and fragmented, orphans appear (these are progs installed and later wiped out)
All in all it gets gummed up.
People will shout at me but I say 512mb min is required for all windows 2k and xp, and should be reloaded from scratch after a format every 18 months to two years. Only *guaranteed* way to recover/maintain performance
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I'd backup RF on that one. I try to reformat every year and I'd recommend 512. However, my sister has been running XP on 64meg of RAM since it came out with no reinstall.
Anyone want to help me sort that mess out?
--
Adam
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Adski, I'm surprised her computer runs at all! I've just put extra RAM in my GFs laptop because it only came with 128MB.
If you're familiar with the registry you can try removing programs that load up on startup. goto HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. Delete what you know to be spyware/adware. If you're not confident though, don't do it as you can end up deleting something important! Before you start, right-click on the key name (Run) and click on Export, to export the file. If you get problems on the next bootup, just double-click on this exported file and it will reload the registry values.
Also make sure the computers are up to date with microsoft patches, I was personally surprised at how much more stable XP with SP2 is compared to XP 'first generation'.
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or use msconfig (missing from 2k but back for XP)
--
Lee
Having a Fabialous time.
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RF is of course right about the registry. Over time it gets in a real mess as many of the posts to this/these thread(s) will testify. I'd also be worried about spyware, especially if these people download a lot of "free" software. The computer with no firewall is unlikely to belong to them any more if it is on broadband--that one definitely needs a reinstall with a firewall this time.
My solution to the "leaving them with no computer" problem is to give them a live Linux disk and show them how to do a few basic things with it. At least then they can have a working system to do basic tasks (wordprocessing, maybe web browsing, IM etc.) while you go down to the pub and weep into your beer and swear "Never again" for the umpteenth time.
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