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Computer Related Questions - Volume 130 - Dynamic Dave

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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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Any of the above will be deleted. If the thread becomes difficult to maintain it will simply be removed.

There is a wealth of knowledge in here, much of which is not motoring related, but most of which is useful.

This is Volume 130. Previous Volumes will not be deleted.

A list of previous volumes can be found here:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=20892


PLEASE NOTE:

When posting a NEW question, please "Reply to" the first message in this thread, i.e. this one. This keeps each question in it's own separate segment and stops each new question from getting mixed up in amongst existing questions. Also please remember to change the subject header.


MAC Code (From Volume 129) - Welliesorter
I think there's a bit of confusion as to what a MAC is. It's only needed when moving from one provider to another while retaining the same line. Your former neighbours wouldn't have any reason to request one as they weren't doing that.

See tinyurl.com/36t6nd for an explanation.

It's likely that the problem your new neighbours have encountered is that BT Wholesale's records show a 'tag' from the previous provider, indicating that the line already has broadband. This will prevent a new order being placed until it's removed.

See tinyurl.com/ywoy9f for the information that your new neighbours need.

Accessing website to edit - PhilW
Several years ago I did a simple website of my grandfathers's Great war Diary-
www.soar100.freeserve.co.uk/
I kept it simple because it was my first attempt but would now like to go back to it to update with new info and to add photos. Trouble is, I did it via Freeserve, which changed to Wanadoo and then became Orange who say they have no website registered to me.
I also used (I think), a program called Terrapin.
Anyone got any simple instructions (and I mean simple!)as to how I can access it?
I've looked on Orange help pages with regard to this and can't find any answers.
Thanks
Phil
--
Phil
Accessing website to edit - Altea Ego
Probably your web page was created and uploaded from your machine. A tool called FTP was used, and a puser id and password was required. If you do not have this user id and password you will not be able to update it.

Create it again elsewhere?

You can capture the current pages by opening with word ( or open office ). (I just tried it works ok)

what does your current ISP provide in the way of providing web space?



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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Accessing website to edit - Kuang
That particular chain of ownership caused endless hassle to freeserve users, many of whom lost their email accounts and site access completely (my dad included). It might be easier to use a site ripper program to save the entire site and images 'as is' and then find yourself a new place to upload it.. possibly a free host if you don't mind the banners, or to any free webspace granted by your current ISP.

My site ripper of choice is WinHTtrack, which is completely free. Just tell it you want to make a new site mirror, point it at the address of your site and then wait a few minutes - it'll reconstruct the whole thing in a folder on your hard drive instantly.

I'm not best placed to advise on free webpage editors as I'm a confirmed Dreamweaver fan, so I'll leave that to someone who knows what they're talking about :)
Accessing website to edit - PhilW
Wow, those were fast responses! - thanks very much.

TVM, I have the user ID and password but I did create the site on my last (but one?) computer which went kaput, so haven't got original "creation" on my current computer.
Orange provides about 20meg free web space - not much I fear?? especially if I want to add photos. So recreate elsewhere sounds good advice (though I don't really want to pay!!
How do you mean "open with Word"?

Kuang,
Thanks for the suggestion of a site -ripper, which I had never heard of - might be worth a try!

Thanks again, guys. Strange how what appears to be an insurmountable problem suddenly appears easy when knowledgeable ones explain!

--
Phil
Accessing website to edit - PhilW
"capture the current pages by opening with word"

Ok, just done that - I see what you mean!
--
Phil
Accessing website to edit - Altea Ego
20 megs is enough for a good web site.

As long as you are not too flash with your formatting and effects (probably not needed with your choice of subject matter, sober and simple fits the bill) and you dont send up high quality photos (640 x 480 is good for web work, about 200kb each) then you have have quite comprehensive pages for 20mb,
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Accessing website to edit - PhilW
Thanks TVM - you are right - no need for flashy stuff on a WW1 diary
--
Phil
Tom Tom blank SD 1gb cards. - graham woods
Does any-one on here know if you can buy blank sd cards (1Gb) for tom toms.And if so, what price, and where from. Thanks all. Graham.
Tom Tom blank SD 1gb cards. - jase1
SD cards? All over the place. 2Gb for about £8.50 on ebay, delivered from HK.

Do you need software on them though?
Tom Tom blank SD 1gb cards. - tr7v8
I use www.7dayshop.com anything under £18 is VAT free, delivery is pretty quick as well. Beware some cheap slow memory cards won't work in TTs!
Tom Tom blank SD 1gb cards. - PhilW
sd cards should be all the same whether for tom-tom or your camera. There may be differences in quality I guess which others will advise you on but have a look at top of this page
www.digitalmediastore.co.uk/index.php
or
www.expansys.com/n.aspx

Or go into PC world?



--
Phil
Tom Tom blank SD 1gb cards. - jase1
There are only around a dozen or so manufacturers of static memory in the world, and the quality of the output is all much of a muchness.

Any newer card will be at least 50x speed, which is more than adequate for a TomTom. The cheap card I recently bought from HK is 66x (10MB/sec) -- as fast as you'll ever need for your needs.

As all cards are nigh on indestructible I wouldn't be too concerned about price or brand -- the one I bought is a Samsung OEM, one of the best manufacturers anyway.
Tom Tom blank SD 1gb cards. - Peter D
Do not buy a card capacity greater then the Tom Tom can address or it may fall over. Ask Tom Tom what the upper limit is. www.7Dayshop.co.uk Regards Peter
Tom Tom blank SD 1gb cards. - tr7v8
No not all the same some cheapys are quite slow, this screws up the TT booting up & it locks.
Yup go into PC World & be seated when they tell you the price! I laughed out loud when Maplin told me what they wanted for one.... 7Dayshop aren't the cheapest but are much cheaper than the high street!
Tom Tom blank SD 1gb cards. - jase1
No not all the same some cheapys are quite slow this screws up the TT
booting up & it locks.


This was true about 18 months ago when the cards were much slower than they are now.

As I say there is no difference in quality -- what the cheaper manufacturers sometimes do though is multiplex two faulty memory devices together (one with half the switches designated "faulty" -- in practice only one or two physical switches will be duff -- and the other with the complementary set faulty). There is nothing wrong with this practice, but it slows the card down by about 20%. They also tend to use older devices than the more expensive cards.

Two points about this : Firstly, the cards are now so fast that a "cheap" card is merely 50x rather than 66x -- big deal. Secondly these are becoming rarer now since it's actually cheaper to make a card with one "good" piece of silicon than two "bad" ones. It must be pointed out as well that a "faulty" memory device does *NOT* degrade any more quickly than a good one.

Finally, just because you pay more doesn't mean you get better product -- the tiny profit margins on these cards mean that one reseller may well be selling a better card for less than the next one is selling for a "cheaper" one -- and the brand makes no difference either!!

Seriously, go for the cheapest you can find -- there is no point in wasting more cash than you have to.

I will agree though that you shouldn't buy a larger card than the manufacturer specifies -- 1Gb cards are routinely available for a fiver anyway. Buy from a computer specialist rather than a camera shop -- ebuyer.com is probably as good as any, or SVP.
Tom Tom blank SD 1gb cards. - jase1
www.digitalmediastore.co.uk/index.php
--
Phil


Just had a look at this store -- they're actually still selling the old 2MB/sec cards? WTH? lol.
Tom Tom blank SD 1gb cards. - PhilW
"Just had a look at this store -- they're actually still selling the old 2MB/sec cards? WTH? lol. "

Dunno mate - just happened to be an old link on my computer and saw the 66x high speed at top of page for about £8 - not a bad price?
--
Phil
Tom Tom blank SD 1gb cards. - jase1
the 66x high speed at top of page for about £8 - not a bad
price?


Yeah that's a fair enough price for a UK store. It's within about a pound or two of the cheapest I've seen so if the firm is reliable I'd buy one there.

Just couldn't get over the old stock on that site -- the irony is that the far cheaper HK suppliers stopped doing the slower cards months ago.
Tom Tom blank SD 1gb cards. - graham woods
Thanks all for the super fast replys. Cheers, Graham.
Tom Tom blank SD 1gb cards. - John S
graham

Worth considering www.directfoto.co.uk/ for such items.

Good prices which include postage.

JS
Tom Tom blank SD 1gb cards. - rtj70
The OP mentions 1GB SD cards. If you want a brand you recognise (internals could be one of the few that make flash memory) then my personal choice (nearest physical store) which is Microdirect (been using them for over 10 years) is a Fuji 133x SD Card at £10.69! Okay delivery on it for most - but not me as I leive near enough.
Tom Tom blank SD 1gb cards. - Stuartli
My favourite supplier is 7DayShop - best prices around for most computer related items. SD cards:

tinyurl.com/ds86q
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Abacadabra - PU
Tom Tom blank SD 1gb cards. - SpamCan61 {P}
I've used 7dayshop for years, recebntly tried this lot, similar channel islands based set up, delivered SD cards to me here in the New Forest within 24 hours of order:-


www.mymemory.co.uk/

Play.com are another fairly cheap alternative:-

www.play.com/Search.aspx?searchtype=ELEC&searchstr...h


Tom Tom blank SD 1gb cards. - Stuartli
I thought that mymemory.co.uk had some connection with 7DayShop - but I could easily be proved wrong...:-)

Ordered a new webcam from 7DayShop last Wednesday (on special offer) and it arrived yesterday morning (Monday); similar speedy service for top brand blank CD and DVD media and at prices that are hard to beat.
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Change your Windows XP language for FREE - Billy Whizz
How to change your Windows XP language for FREE

You will need:
[1] A Genuine & valid product key
[2] Any CD-ROM of Windows XP in the language you want

I recently bought a new Dell in Holland. It was a great offer and, unlike in the UK, was available without a screen (which I already have). I had it delivered to a friend's house and picked it up the next time I was over. Of course XP was loaded in Dutch. I needed it in English. I had assumed it was a simple case of changing the basic operating language as with a Mac. I was wrong. Dell told me I had to buy an English copy of XP. The local Dell guy told me the same. I thought this was an absolute rip-off.

However, they neglected to tell me that there was another (legal) alternative that was free. After searching fruitlessly on the internet, a friend mentioned the following:

I simply reformatted the hard drive, used the English XP CD-ROM that came with another computer but entered the new Dell machine's product key that was stuck to the top of the casing. The system passed Microsoft validation and then downloaded all the many Windows Updates.

This may be too late for Andy Bairsto but I hope it might be of help to others!
Change your Windows XP language for FREE - Baskerville
It won't work unless you have a full install copy of XP. Many (most?) PCs are now sold with a CD that installs only on a specific machine. Quite a lot of hassle just to change the language though.
Change your Windows XP language for FREE - Altea Ego
Dont buy PCs abroad, Its a stupid idea.

The keyboard will be wrong, the OS language will be wrong, the power lead will be wrong, and if its a desktop there will not be pan european warranty.

If its a laptop, you may get a pan european warranty, but your modem cable will be wrong.

There are no good reasons for buying a pc abroad unless you know what you are doing.


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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Change your Windows XP language for FREE - cheddar
IME German language installs of Windows going back at least to Win 2000 have the option to switch to English, I would have thought the same from Dutch and most European languages.

You can by a Dell without a screen in the UK, in fact you can by any combination of components you so wish from Dell in the UK, you simply call them and tell them what you want. On-line ordering has comprehensive though ultimately limiting options.
Change your Windows XP language for FREE - Altea Ego
IME German language installs of Windows going back at least to Win 2000 have the
option to switch to English


It depends on how its installed. It needs to have multilanguage feature installed, and the required install files (in the i386 directory normally) to flip flop language. Some preinstalls wont have all the required features.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Change your Windows XP language for FREE - Billy Whizz
Mmmm. I think that is a bit harsh, TVM.

I have 4 PCs here at home, all bought abroad; two in USA and two in Holland, the oldest from 1999. I have saved hundreds of £'s by buying abroad so am happy to spend £1 or £2 on a couple of power cables. And I can't remember the last time I used a modem! Sure the keyboards have no £ but Alt-0163 is fine on the rare occasion I need it. As far as warranty is concerned, I guess I have been lucky. I am no IT expert but I do all the maintenance and upgrades myself learning on the way and my machines have been reliable. Only had one hardware failure (on an 8-year old laptop bought new in 1992).
Change your Windows XP language for FREE - Altea Ego
Mmmm. I think that is a bit harsh TVM.

I did say unless you know what you are doing. you obviously do, however I couldnt live with a stupid US keyboard - Using Alt /ascii codes is no fix and a PITA for normal use.


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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Change your Windows XP language for FREE - cheddar
I couldnt live with a stupid US keyboard - Using Alt /ascii codes is no fix
and a PITA for normal use.


To be fair you can get a decent keyboard for £4.99 from PC World.
Change your Windows XP language for FREE - Stuartli
Providing you have XP Pro, 2000 or Server 2003, Microsoft has Multilingual User Interface Packs (MUI) available. There's also an Office version.

Details at:

www.microsoft.com/globaldev/DrIntl/faqs/muifaq.msp...1




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Change your Windows XP language for FREE - Altea Ego
Not that simple, that is for an English language version of windows.

(dont forget in MS LAND the world spins around seatle)
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Vista Repartitioning - Baskerville
In some earlier CRQ that I can't be bothered to search for now I asked for advice to help out my MiL who had bought a PC from a well known Worcestershire PC builder which was supplied with insufficient RAM to run Vista Premium (and came at a shocking price too). Well the good news is that after threatening them with "You are in breach of your agreement with Microsoft" (thanks TVM) an "engineer" was sent to install extra RAM. They flat refused even to do a deal on 2GB, so she is left with 1GB on two 512MB sticks. Good enough, just about, for what they want it for though I have yet to witness the difference this has made.

However the engineer also told her that in addition to the RAM isssue, Vista was "wrongly installed" and that the disk needed repartitioning. Being unwilling to take advice or ask for help from her dutiful son in law, especially since her failure to take advice has now left her in such a shameful mess, she has repartitioned the drive into two partitions (as far as I can make out from her garbled explanation) and reinstalled Vista on the new partition. Unfortunately after pulling the old settings over to the new install she can't now remove the old install. I suspect this is because Vista thinks it is deleting itself. The Vista partitioning tool apparently refuses to reformat the old partition as well--probably for the same reason, though I don't know for sure.

My own preference would be to use Gparted on a live Linux disk to kill the old partition, but I feel that isn't wise for her to attempt on her own. Does anyone have any ideas or is she stuck with it until I next visit with Gparted? Assume utter cluelessness on the part of the old dear and "helpful" son who was her partner in crime; they thought DDR2 was a RAM manufacturing company.

Oh, and thanks for letting me get that off my chest.
Vista Repartitioning - Altea Ego
The vista install has been screwed royally It sounds like its now been installed dual booted. I dont know vista well enough, but does it still have the volume management snap-in you can use?
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Vista Repartitioning - Baskerville
The machine is 200 miles away so this is difficult (don't even think about desktop sharing). The new install does seem to be functional enough for now so I need a prognosis to know whether to say "blow it away" or "wait until I visit". If it's installed dual booted (I think your are probably right and it is) what are the implications in terms of being able to use it for a couple of months, apart from the waste of disk space? FiL is a pro writer and uses the machine every day. I assume that one of these installs is now an "illegal" one; is there a time limit for its survival?

I'll ask about the volume management snap-in.

Incidentally I think what the "engineer" meant by "wrongly installed" was that it was set up for the minimal RAM and needed to be reinstalled to take advantage of Aero.
Vista Repartitioning - Altea Ego
At a guess I would say its probably going to be OK till you get there with a partitoning and MBR writing tool. Machines these days normaly have shed loads of disk. I have never done a Vista install so dont know the registration process, but i suspect it will be OK from any license checking tools. The license says you can use it one one machine. And you have!
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Vista Repartitioning - Baskerville
>>i suspect it will be OK from any license checking tools. The license says
you can use it one one machine. And you have!


I thought as much but thanks for the reassurance. I don't know if they are able to boot into the other install. If they are then I suppose there might possibly be an issue if the registration process knows whether that specific machine has already downloaded an update, so I'll find out and tell them not to. I think it has 160GB of disk space so they will be ok from that point of view, though as a general point I'm not sure why it doesn't have more.
Just had delivered.... thanks ! - cheddar
Just had the following delivered from Dell, haven't turned it on yet:

Core 2 Duo E6700 Processor (2 x 2.66GHz)
4096MB DDR2 SDRAM
2x250GB - 7200rpm SATA h/d (non RAID)
NVidia Geforce 8600GTS 256Mb PCI Express graphics card
Internal 13-in-1 Media Card Reader
v92 Data/Fax Modem
IEEE 1394 Firewire PCI Adapter card
16x DVD +/- RW
16x IDE DVD ROM
Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music Sound Card
Dell A525 Speakers with Subwoofer ( to use with kid's PC, I will keep my Boston Acoustics)
Dell 17" Black Flat Panel ( to use with kid's PC, I will keep my 19")
XP Professional
Office 2007 Small Business Edition
4 Year next business day On-Site service


Thanks for advise, report to follow.
Just had delivered.... thanks ! - Altea Ego
Price?

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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Just had delivered.... thanks ! - cheddar
£1220 inc vat, del. That includes Office 2007 SBE and 4 years NBD service.
Just had delivered.... thanks ! - bell boy
picks self up off floor
will it let you fly to the moon then?
my work computer was £35 plus a new windows xp at £65 job done
Just had delivered.... thanks ! - cheddar
will it let you fly to the moon then?

>>

Virtually ! ;-)

my work computer was £35 plus a new windows xp at £65 job done

>>

XP on a 286?
Just had delivered.... thanks ! - Altea Ego
does your xp come with a cheap vista upgrade vooucher?

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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Just had delivered.... thanks ! - bell boy
s/h local auction, a company went bust, they had 40 all the same,i bought 2,wish i had bought them all and started a nice little sideline
pentium 4 chip a full 1.8 gigsawotsits
Just had delivered.... thanks ! - Stuartli
A dialup modem and a 16x DVD-RW...:-)

I bought the latest 18x Sony DVD-RW GA170 in February for £22 and it's already behind the times...:-(

Good stuff though from Dell (my best mate bought a very respectable business machine from it a few weeks ago for around £350) and, hopefully, you won't require the four year on-site warranty to be put to the test.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
Just had delivered.... thanks ! - Saltrampen
My Mother in Law and a guy at work have not been impressed by lastability of DELL PC's nor warranty. No need to go into details, but keep a record of all warranty correspondance verbal or otherwise between yourself and DELL, because they wish they had with hindsight.
Just had delivered.... thanks ! - cheddar
A dialup modem and a 16x DVD-RW...:-)


Dial up for me is business back up, if my ISP has an issue or my router fails I can still get e-mails in and out.

16x is more than fast enough, yes you can 20x now though that might save me 90secs in a month!

Overall price for spec was hard to beat, no, it was impossible to beat without building it myself, can be bothered with that, as I said before I dont mind building motorbikes but I leave computers and cars to other people and just enjoy tinkering and using.
Just had delivered.... thanks ! - Stuartli
What I was really trying to convey was surprise at not using the very latest OEM components, which are probably available at the same price to system builders, especially in view of the overall cost...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
Just had delivered.... thanks ! - cheddar
does your xp come with a cheap vista upgrade vooucher?


No, MS stopped that in March, I got one with my Acer notebook bought in Feb, it is XP Pro and I have a Vista Business upgrade DVD.
Just had delivered.... thanks ! - cheddar
Also just to say there is/was a special offer on the 4 years NBD support, a no brainer at about £80 for two years and an extra £39 for four years, depreciate it with the PC over four years, after all it might not be a mainstay PC in four years (though could be) though will be is use almost certianly.
Just had delivered.... thanks ! - cheddar
Just noticed it has a Firewire port on the front panel, useful, perhaps would not have speced a Firewire card if I had known, or perhaps you only get the front port with a card.
Just had delivered.... thanks ! - JH
c
it's apparently not unusual to get a firewire port but it's not connected unless you pay the extra tenner for the card! Don't get excited until you've plugged it in and used it.
JH
Just had delivered.... thanks ! - cheddar

Thanks, I have the card so it should work.
Connectivity to router. - cheddar
Ignoring wireless, if a PC is to be wired to a broadband router any thoughts on the pros and cons of USB v network cable?


Thanks.
Connectivity to router. - Pugugly {P}
Network is much much faster. (no doubt RF will enjoy telling me I'm wrong)
Connectivity to router. - bell boy
i find network is better
i assume you mean the cable with the phone type looking ends on?
Connectivity to router. - Stuartli
..my wired modem router is capable of up to ADSLMax+2 - USB modems can rarely better 8MB.
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Connectivity to router. - Stuartli
>>i assume you mean the cable with the phone type looking ends on?>>

I presume you mean Ethernet cables?
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
Connectivity to router. - bell boy
I presume you mean Ethernet cables?


probably, i usually go to maplins and put my googly googly i no nowt look on, or go to my local computer fair and say i know nowt but need help,it usually works
Connectivity to router. - Falkirk Bairn
Network is much much faster. (no doubt RF will enjoy telling me I'm wrong)


If we assume the only connection is to the internet and not a local server(which would see a difference).

Both will be much faster I believe than the connection to the outside world and therefore is academic. Network connection 10 / 100Mbps, wireless 54 / 108Mbps, Broadband connection up to say 8Mbps if you are lucky - more likely 4/6Mbps
Connectivity to router. - cheddar
Network is much much faster>>


Ultimately yes and also USB is shared bandwidth, so if all USB ports are in use the bandwidth is shared across devices however with USB 2.0 at 400Mbps v ADSL at 8Mbps it should not be a problem, unless perhaps when transfering video via USB.

Any other pros and cons either way?
Connectivity to router. - Altea Ego
Network will be 100 megabits / sec minimum -
time to transfer 50 megaBYTES = 4 seconds theoretical = 5-10 seconds in reality.

USB2 will be, for network tasks - not bulk transfer - about 40 MegaBYTES / sec.
time to transfer 50 megaBYTES = 1.2 seconds

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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Connectivity to router. - Altea Ego
both of course much faster than your connection to the outside world
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Connectivity to router. - Altea Ego
Pros and cons?

well USB uses more cpu cycles than a NIC.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Connectivity to router. - cheddar
both of course much faster than your connection to the outside world


So which is best TVM, I am in two minds, I have a wireless router sitting next to a PC and want to wire the PC in to it, I have a spare USB and ethernet port on both the PC and the router and I have a spare USB and ethernet cables !

USB is more CPU intensive, though minimal on a contemporay PC. USB is shared bandwdth (accross all ports) as I said above though what is 8Mb within the 400 Mbps bandwidth available.

Used to be indecisive, now not so sure !
Connectivity to router. - Stuartli
Ethernet and LAN setup.

You may have to Enable LAN in the Bios and download the latest LAN drivers from the motherboard manufacturer's website.

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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
Connectivity to router. - bell boy
do what i dida try both
the ethylnet works better for me
Connectivity to router. - Altea Ego
Its simple Ched.

USB is not designed for network only tasks.

Ethernet NICs are.

Use the correct tool for the job.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Connectivity to router. - cheddar
do what i dida try both
the ethylnet works better for me


I have installed LANs and switches and set up USB to routers before however faced with the straight choice it is not entirely clear which is actually best for a PC to router connection where the PC will actually sit on a wireless LAN via the router with three other PCs and a wireless printer.

Probably erring towards ethernet now though.

Thanks to all for quick replies.
Connectivity to router. - Kuang
An alternative reason to go for ethernet over USB is that your spare USB port may have many future uses, but your ethernet port probably won't. Simple, but worth considering :)
Connectivity to router. - Stuartli
The only reason is that Ethernet is superior..:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
Speaker hum upon replacing power supply - Tim Allcott
Have just replaced the power supply in junior's computer and the machine is now producing a background "hum" through it's sound output. Tested with another pair of speakers and headphones; same result. Should I return power supply to supplying dealer and ask for replacement?


Tim{P}

{Subject header amended - DD}
Speaker hum upon replacing power supply - Victorbox
In the days when I had a greater interest in Hi-Fi this usually meant some component was poorly earthed to the metal chassis - not sure if this applies to computers as well. No doubt someone will be along with a better answer shortly.
Speaker hum upon replacing power supply - bell boy
i would have put the same answer victorbox but then thought ,cheap smoothing power in the transformer (those cooling tower thingies),take it back and get a better make
later ones dont even have cooling towers but use silicone dips
maplins do a good range and they do an unnamed aldi type version in plain boxes ,check out that bruv
Speaker hum upon replacing power supply - Altea Ego
Tim,

It indicates a poor quality power supply. Poor smoothing on the +5v line probably. You could try re-routing the leads inside, make sure everything is plugged down tight, but at the end of the day, logic says you should not be able to buy a power supply for the price we pay today.
How much did you pay?

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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Speaker hum upon replacing power supply - Tim Allcott
errr £13.69.
Time to move up a notch? I'll pop it out tomorrow, take it back and see what happens...
I do take the point that, sometimes, we shouldn't be able to buy stuff for the price it retails at...
--
Tim{P}
Speaker hum upon replacing power supply - Altea Ego
Its probably a bit low quality at that price. 25-30 quid might be a better investment.

We are at the moment, at Schloss TVM, eating pineapples at 99 pence each from Tesbury.
How, I mean how, can pineapples be grown, cut, packed, shipped and sold at 99p each.
I am distinctly uncomfortable about that.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Speaker hum upon replacing power supply - Stuartli
>>How, I mean how, can pineapples be grown, cut, packed, shipped and sold at 99p each.>>

I have two or three retail packs of refillable piezo electronic lighters, each pack housing eight lighters, that I purchased for the sum of 88p per pack.

That works out at 11p per lighter.

How does any company manage to make a profit when you consider the manufacturing costs, shipping, wholesaler's margin and, finally, the retailer?

The standard disposable type are even cheaper...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
installing Skystar on vista! - billy25
Good afternoon folks!
An aquaintence, who is a ?silver surfer? and unfortunately a techno-meddler, has been playing with his machine again, and last week tried to install a - SkyStar2 tv pcl card, which uses the ?Hotbird? satellite, and a viewing prog called ?ProgDvb? on XP. He got it wrong, and after several attempts at setting it up, asked me to have a look. Twas bit of a nightmare to set-up, but eventually I got it working ok.
Today, he phoned to say he has installed Vista home premium, (doh!) and the skystar system won?t work again, I?ve downloaded the windows vista drivers (all in beta mode at the moment) and loaded them, got message ?drivers update successful?, tried to install several versions of Progdvb, which appear to install and load ok, but halfway through the sattelite set-up phase, I keep getting a red X against the skystar device, (pcl card) and a message saying ?error - device not started?
My finger-ends are now full of splinters after much head-scratching! Any ideas at all would earn you a virtual pint! From a grateful me.
Thanks folks
Billy
installing Skystar on vista! - bell boy
go back to xp and try again in 12 months ?
"asta la vista baby"
installing Skystar on vista! - Altea Ego
You will have to re-install windows xp and dump Vista. The TV tuner card is not supported under Vista.

Come back to it in 12 months time when compatible tested drivers are available

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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
installing Skystar on vista! - billy25
Thanx both, i thought i had convinced him NOT to load Vista last time i struggled with it on XP, but apparently not! take a pint each for the taking the trouble to reply, and another one if you want (dare!) to tell him to go back to XP.
he's one of those folks that firmly believe that newest is best, and if it don't work, someone will (had better) fix it! today.
He's also a keen radio-ham, with a home built system, every room is covered by self-built cctv, and his home built alarm system, when triggered, not only locks down the house, but the drive gate, and literally releases "the hound" from its pen!!!, and all in a semi-detached town bungalow.
As i said "techno-meddler" so beware mr Gates if vista don't work - you have been warned!!!!!

cheers all
Billy
installing Skystar on vista! - Baskerville
Alright, for a techno-meddler, here is a solution. Reinstall XP and then install Virtualbox. This is a free system for making virtual machines. He can run Vista (or pretty much anything else) in a virtual machine as long as he has enough RAM. As long as he saves copies of the VM before changing anything then if something goes wrong he can just blow away the VM and go back to the known good copy. He can play with the VM and leave the main system alone. Really, this is a good solution:

www.virtualbox.org/
installing Skystar on vista! - billy25
Thanks Baskerville,
Printed off your reply and popped around to show it to him, also offered to re-install XP and try and get Skystar working on it again, whilst I was there.
Was told, (very politely, but firmly ) that I there was no need to, He?d solved the problem himself. After I?d gone yesterday, he?d decided to rip the computer out of it?s very snug built-in pod unit, and opened it up to see if he could ?fix? anything!!!!!.
He said he had removed all the PCL cards, cleaned the contacts, and put them back in different PCL slots, when he re-booted, hey-presto, everything worked????
Feeling about 1? tall, I congratulated him on his success, and tried to salvage something for myself by pointing out that I did find and install the correct Vista drivers for him, but somehow, me still thinks there was pity in in his eyes when he said not to worry you tried your best!!
At least I may not have to go back there anymore. ;-)

sometimes i just hate computers.
Cheers
Billy.
installing Skystar on vista! - Altea Ego
Dont worry about it.

I know old radio hams, they think cleaning contacts and re-seating stuff fixes the world. It will stop working or go west on him any time soon, you have my word for it.

You can smugly say - "oh you didnt fix it then"
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Disk cleanup on WinXP - Boggy
When I do a 'disk cleanup' (Windows XP standard) I can clear everything except 'compress old files' which will not clear, even though I de-select everything else and just leave the check box next to Compress Old Files ticked. Do I need to look somewhere else to tidy this up?

{Subject header changed, as per the "PLEASE NOTE" message at the start of this thread - DD}
Disk cleanup on WinXP - Victorbox
I believe there is a bug with "compress old files" in XP, but it can also take ages to complete the action. I never check "compress old files" because most of us now have large hard disks making this action pointless. The files selected are chosen by XP on the basis you haven't accessed them for a number of days & it can take time to uncompress them each time you may use the file in the future.
Disk cleanup on WinXP - Boggy
Thanx Victorbox, I'll just leave it alone then.
Sorry DD, I posted my message and then realised the subject header hadn't been amended. D'oh.
Norton Internet Security - bintang
I have received from a dealer (who does not respond to emails or the telephone) what, according to the packing details, is "Norton Internet Security 2007 (Upgrade Edition)" To me, the "upgrade" part implies it is an upgrade of some existing version of the 2007 issue. What I need is a substitute for the 2006 version, which I have but which is about to expire. Is the new disk lilkely to be a satitfactory for this? I don't want to break the seal and try it in case there is the possibility of a refund.
Norton Internet Security - Stuartli
This particular edition of Norton IS is on sale generally.

However, you can check whether you can update your 2006 edition free of charge by visiting this Symantec website link (you have to use Internet Explorer; sorry for the non-tinyURL as I only have it installed in Firefox which refuses to tinyURL the link). You will have to join up the link from after special/ as I don't wish to mess up the HJ page...

www.symantec.com/en/uk/home_homeoffice/support/spe.../
upgrade2007/vista/migration_start.jsp?site=nuc
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
Norton Internet Security - Pugugly {P}
Stuart,

It might be me but I can't navigate to this site on Firefox or IE7 - can you e-mail the link to me and I'll try and sort it.
Norton Internet Security - Kuang
It's because the link points to the support section, which is a subscriber area - delete everything after the home office bit and it'll work.

Personally I wouldn't use norton/symantec products as they tend to be very intrusive and can quite easily stop machines booting at all if they fail. I stick with AVG and Zonealarm, running Spybot on the side - all very effective and completely free.
Norton Internet Security - Pugugly {P}
www.symantec.com/en/uk/home_homeoffice

That's the amended link, Stuart let me know if it doesn't navigate to where you intended on the site...otherwise I'll edit into your original post.
Norton Internet Security - Altea Ego
www.symantec.com/en/uk/home_homeoffice/support/spe...s
ta/migration_start.jsp?site=nuc


is the link
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Norton Internet Security - Altea Ego
You just have to join up the two lines for the complete address
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >