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Edited by Dynamic Dave on 11/11/2007 at 03:39
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Morning All - any help gratefully received.
As I get older my memory keeps failing...and of course I cannot remember where i put the instruction book....
Off on holiday next week so I thought it would be a good idea to free up some camcorder tapes and eventually put them onto DVD. After much struggling I realised that i was not using the DV output on the camcorder, when I had sussed this out - hooray I can now capture the output.
So far so good. I captured a 1 hour tape (onto an external hard drive)and it took up 13GB of space !! Too much to put onto a single DVD.
I am capturing the video in DV format - the software I have (It is 4 years old) only lets me capture the whole tape in one session in this DV mode. If I capture in MPEG mode or AVI it chunks up the tape into individual scenes (the control to disable this is greyed out).
I guess I need some better capture software - does anyone have any suggestions? Or am I just being a plank and I need to re-encode the DV files into MPEG(2??) so that they will be compressed enough to fit an hours worth of taping onto a single DVD. Again how would I do this?
Plan B is to buy a load more tapes.......
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>>Plan B is to buy a load more tapes....
Given the minimal cost of tapes I'd do this anyway, I always keep the original DV tape anyway, as a last resort backup if the PC dies.
What software are you using? I usually use ye olde Windows Movie Maker ( included in Win XP for free) for downloading / editing DV footage, I'm sure that allows me to capture what bits I want, and I can disable auto scene detection.
Is the software really breaking up the DV footage into individual files? Even if I use auto scene detection the DV is still converted into a single AVI, the scene information is stored in the movie file (.wmm format or whatever)?
Edited by SpamCan61 {P} on 15/10/2007 at 13:16
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There is a more up to date version of Windows Movie Maker available on the Microsoft website.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Does anyone know of a soloution to repairing scratched cd's. The scraches are fairly minor - but cause skipping (not major whereby the scrathes are deep into the disc). I once saw a product on a shopping channel - a soloution that filled the scratches in (a bit like a polish / filler / wax). I have seen a few cd repair kits retailing upto £25, but not sure how good these are.
Does anyone know of any product or technique (diy method) that can repair them?
Thanks!
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04 Alfa Romeo 156 SW JTD 20v - Loving it.
{subject header changed}
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 17/10/2007 at 13:32
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Assuming it's clean (free from fingerprints, etc) will it read OK on another player, eg. your computer? I'd try to make a fair copy first...
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I normally do try this, but some cd's in the car are quite bad, so was trying to repair them and then make a copy.
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04 Alfa Romeo 156 SW JTD 20v - Loving it.
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Toothpaste works fairly well, applied with your fingers. You must make sure you wipe from the centre outwards and back again, not in circles, or around the disk. The best toothpaste to use is one without 'stripes' in it. The stripes are non-abrasive and just add gunk. Afterwards wash it in warm soapy water, then rip and burn a new copy asap.
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I'm told that Brasso is another suitable abrasive. Probably gentler than toothpaste.
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Depending where the damage / scratch is if polishing fails try ripping each track and reburning a copy ommiting the damaged track.At least you might safe the majority of the music.
--
rustbucket (the original)
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See:
www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/77 (advice re toothpaste method)
Bananas:
tinyurl.com/3xppgc
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I'm pretty sure that this topic has been raised in the past...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Thanks for your replies - found a few websites with varying degrees of success reported.
One reports Hair gel works!
www.om3ga.co.uk/2006/07/27/scratched-cds-no-problem
Brasso another one reported often, tested here:
www.burningissues.net/how_to/scratchrepair/scratch...m
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04 Alfa Romeo 156 SW JTD 20v - Loving it.
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Beware of Brasso. It can leave residual deposits which make the plastic more easily scratched/tarnished in the future.
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Mike Farrow
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I am trying to decommission our Windows 98 Dell and start using our laptop with XP. I thought transferring files from My Documents using a stick, was the easiest way. However, SWMBO has created numerous files- mainly Word, over the years with ridiculously long file names, and using very few folders.
Trying to batch copy the files from My Documents to a stick results in message- 'directory or file cannot be created' which I presume means the file naming characters have been exceeded? Short file names seem to copy OK, but going through one at a time seems bonkers.
Copying to CD will probably take as long as using a stick; and I'll get same problem?
I am sure there is a simpler solution to what I am trying to do; appreciate your views.
thanks
Mark
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If it was me I would do a Search (or is it "Find" in Win 98) - Start button > Search > for Files or Folders on the old hard disk. Type *.doc in the search box (or *.xls for Excel or whatever file extension you require) and Windows will list the lot in one go allowing you to copy the lot (click on first file listed, hold down shift key while clicking last file listed, then right mouse click, then click copy) so you can copy the lot to a memory stick and onto a folder of your choice on the new PC.
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Thanks Victorb I'll give that a go.
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Can anyone recommend a good prgramme that will run on OSX?
I use naomi on my pc which is excellent but (suprise surprise) finding software that is mac compatible is proving to be a frustrating process.
What I like about Naomi is that it isn't simply a list of banned URLs, it actually filters the content that's there.
Thanks
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If you're using OSX Tiger, parental controls are built in.
Open System Preferences-->User Accounts-->Select the account you want to restrict and click the Parental Controls Tab.
To add more granularity Mac Minder costs $29, so not free, but very cheap.
Edited by Baskerville on 20/10/2007 at 17:27
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OS X 10.5 has much better parental controls than 10.4, btw....
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Hi,
I'm having trouble with my pc and I'm not sure if it's h'ware or s'ware. I'm planning to do a software re-install to see if that cures it but I'm dithering between wiping the current partition and installing in a new partition.
If I install in a new partition how do I subsequently get rid of it? What I mean is, how do I get rid of it from the boot sector, getting rid of the partition itself is the easy bit.
Thanks,
JH
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I'm assuming Windows?
Easy answer when playing with partitions is Partition Magic - you can do a lot yourself with Windows computer management - disk management (start - run - compmgmt.msc)
BUT
Be careful, very easy to delete paritions and huge amounts of information without much effort, be sure to have backups before you embark on partition changing.
Finally, if you want to get right to the root of the disks, get a DOS boot disk from bootdisk.com and use fdisk.exe - this is a very simple tool and very effective, but not easy to use (command line based)
If you're just after changing the partition that windows boots from, you can change the hidden system file in the root MSDOS.SYS or dig around the GUI, iirc the same options are also there.
Be careful, make sure you've got back ups!
Have fun
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Dahonist
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Thanks C, yes Windows. I'm an Acronis Disk Director user myself and it may be that it will sort out Boot.ini (?) for me, but as I've created but never deleted partitions before I'm being careful. Yes, I'll be sure I have backups! Acronis True Image this time.
Thanks for the pointers to the other utilities.
JH
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If you install another copy of Windows on a separate partition, all of the boot files will still be on the original partition. Therefore if you delete the original partition you will lose:
- boot.ini
- the Windows boot files (e.g. ntloader, ntdetect.com)
- The master boot record (MBR) which loads up Windows - i.e. bootstrap code
And along with losing these you will lose the ability to startup the new copy of Windows. It's fixable but there'd be fair bit of work.
Now if you install the new copy on a separate hard disk then things are easier. By making the new hard disk the default boot drive an install of Windows will install all of the boot files and install a boot record in the MBR for this drive.
Hope this makes sense.
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any tool (even windows itself) will let you drop a partition.
If you mean remove it from the windows startup list then you just need to change the attributes on boot.ini to make it editable and then edit it. The really paranoid will change the text first to make it clear which one they're deleting.
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If the OP wants to delete the original/broken install and it's partition then you cannot because the boot files and boot.ini used by the second install are on it.
If you want to delete the new/temp install then any partition manager including windows can delete it. Then remove the line from boot.ini using notepad.exe or msconfig.exe for XP but for Vista it's BCEDIT.EXE.
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It's time to buy a laptop. I'm very happy with XP Pro on my desktop, and I really don't need another OS to learn. Can I buy a new laptop with XP Pro still? I had heard Dell were still supplying them, but they are not my preferred mfr of laptops.
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Lenovo still ship XP with the lower spec laptops. (R models ) But then they might not be on your prefered manufacturer of laptops list either. ONly you know that at this stage.
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< Ex RF, Ex TVM >
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I bought a Lenovo N100 for #1 son a few months ago with XP on it. He's still very happy with it. Seems well constructed, no creaks and groans from the casing when picked up, boots up quickly; does all a guy in 2nd year at Uni requires. WiFi, webcam, decent speed and memory size and a very gimmicky fingerprint recognition security system...
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Levono laptops are well regarded (used to be IBM models).
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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VMT - I had a look at dabs.com and it seem they still sell some with XP bundled, inc Toshiba and Lenovo. Dell laptops seem to have had some build quality issues, from what I've been told.
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Levono laptops are well regarded (used to be IBM models).
Doesn't this just apply to the ThinkPad range? I don't know how far they've got at integrating the technology into the 3000 series.
But even so, yes, buy a ThinkPad. I've recently persuaded someone to buy one for his business, though forgot to recommend the T series, which are better built (doh!).
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Mike Farrow
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Mesh are offering some of their notebooks with XP Pro installed
tinyurl.com/yteffc
Link shrunk as if by magic, well by using the TinyURL widget in the stickeys above
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 29/10/2007 at 17:58
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"Mesh are offering.."
Don't see any with XP now. I notice the usual 'Mesh recommends Windows Vista' banner, to presumably MS has stepped in... :-(
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I've noticed that next years Bank holidays are not showing in Outlook 2003. The 'help' says that Outlook 2003 has holidays for 2003-2007.
Is there any alternative to keying next years bank holidays manually ?
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There's usually a download. A quick search found this:
support.microsoft.com/kb/924423
Does holidays 2007-2012. For some reason my genuine version of Office is failing the genuine advantage verification so I cannot download it at the moment.
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Can you easily convert standard .ics calendar format to the proprietary Outlook format? If so you are in luck:
www.icalshare.com/
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What's the easiest way to rename a directory full of .jpg files, typically 200 or so at a time?Where a camera has given them sequential filenames like IMG0001, 0002 I'd just like to rename them Sept070001, Sept070002 etc.
There's plenty of downloads available that will do this but I'm always wary of downloading stuff like this when a simple batch file should do the trick.
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Should be quite easy for you without having to download anything. Step 1 select all the files that you want to rename. Go to the top file in the list hold your cursor over the file name and right click the mouse. From the menu choose 'rename' and type a new name for the file, make sure you don't change the extension, e.g. img001.jpg gets changed to newfile.jpg- then press the return key. Hey presto all the files selected have a name change with an extra (number) in their name e.g. newfile(1).jpg, newfile(2).jpg, etc.....Hope that helps
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Indeed it does - thanks for that.
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Aaargh.
Word of warning to anyone upgrading to Leopard OS 10.5 from Tiger OS 10.4. we bought the 5 pack licence to do our machines.
Did an upgrade of the iMac last night and it worked fine, very pretty it is too.
Tonight I've done my MacBook Pro, but decided on a clean install as I use this the most and thought it would be handy to test my backups. That too went very well.
HOWEVER
The clean install has wiped my iLife applications and doesn't look to keen to reinstall them. No doubt I can dig out the old Tiger install disk and reinstall them, but this seems like cheapness on Apple's part - and hassle I could frankly do without!!
My warning is to be careful if you're doing a full wipe/install, you might get the new OS but lose some stuff you didn't expect to lose.
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Dahonist
Edited by Citroënian {P} on 31/10/2007 at 01:35
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The way to do it is to archive the lot to an external disk first, using Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper!. Do the clean install, then at first boot import the users and applications. Best way by far and very simple. A clean install is what it says it is--clean.
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I'd SuperDupered this disk, still have a bootable image of Tiger from last night. Initially started with CCC but after trying twice it was so terribly slow I moved to SD.
My groan is really that the applications I'd thought were part of the Operating System, aren't. Didn't think that Garageband, iMovie and particularly iWeb weren't part of the OS.
Can you run the migration wizard after the initial install? That might be the easier fix for me - does it let you choose which apps to bring over?
Cheers
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Dahonist
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I'm pretty sure you can, because you can do the same with a new Mac with the OS installed, taking stuff from the old one. In Tiger at least the migration assistant is in Applications/Utilities. Just connect the disk and point the assistant at it. You might have problems if you have already moved some stuff to the new user account you no doubt created in Leopard. It might be best to delete the non-admin user account(s) from the new install and just pull across everything.
I'm not sure if you can select. last time I did it was when I migrated to Tiger about a year ago and I just moved everything. It worked perfectly. I don't expect to install again with this machine (G4 iBook).
The iLife suite is sold separately, so not part of the OS, though of course it comes with every Mac so I can see why you might have thought that. Still installable from the Tiger disk though as you say.
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Doing Christmas shopping for wifey's pressies online this year - thought I'd use some savvy and clear the history so she can't follow the trail and find out what she's getting and it won't go away! Using IE6 on XP, tools>internet options>clear history and it's all still there every time I check the history tab.
Short of right clicking on every link and deleting manually, is there any way I can remove the links out of history?
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 01/11/2007 at 10:29
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I use CCleaner and CtrlH.
Clk Sec
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 01/11/2007 at 10:29
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I use this (not just for covering the Xmas shopping trail)..
tinyurl.com/2rdxq5
You will be amazed how much space it clears the first time you use it!
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 01/11/2007 at 10:29
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just tried this clean up program on this work pc and it cleared nearly 1Gb of junk off it. It's maybe just me but it seems appreciably faster now.
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The history and autocomplete are different things - clearing as you have will get rid of the websites visited as shown in the internet history option.
I think you need to clear out the auto complete list : tools - options -content - autocomplete, clear addresses, forms, usernames & passwords
This removes entries from the drop down list as you type web addresses or the auto complete form filling in Google, etc
Means you don't have to install anything either!
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Dahonist
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I suggest installing Browzar - a stripped down internet browser which stores absolutely nothing on your machine and does a full cache clearout when you close it down.
It's also useful to have for the times when IE decides it doesn't want to play anymore, but you need to access MS sites for assistance in sorting out IE.
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I have just bought a 720; took it home, tied it into my Vista laptop for backups updates downloads etc. Despite carefully using Safely remove hardware it was then totally locked and unbootable, the TomTom that is. Had a screen with a big flashing red cross. Took it back to H---fords who gave me a new one and 3 hours later I was back there with a second locked unit! I took my laptop in as well and went for a walk and some wizz on the staff got it unlocked and working. Well done that man! I am now very dubious about trying to do anything more to it with my Vista Computer. I have a desktop with XP and I may try that when I get back from a trip abroad where I really need a funtioning satnav. Have any other BR members had TomTom/Vista issues, please? BTW, I had 50 minutes on the TomTom 0845 number without getting the problem resolved!
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I have just installed a 2nd hard drive on a desktop so the children can play the sims 2.
It's only a 20GB as I raided another PC for it.
The approach has been to load the sims 2 on the 2nd hard drive as its virtually empty.
The disk is working fine in itself but there are problems with loading the Sims 2 expansion packs. Sims 2 base loads and works fine but the expansion packs seem to fall over when loaded
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 04/11/2007 at 16:34
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is there a way I can get my pc (Windows XP) to automatically shut itself down at a certain time of day ?
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See:
tinyurl.com/2qqdas
Also see:
support.microsoft.com/kb/814761
in case of problems.
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Edited by Stuartli on 05/11/2007 at 10:57
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nice one Stuart - does exactly what I want.
:-)
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Just to add to earlier suggestion, Giveaway of the Day is offering this free for the next few hours:
www.giveawayoftheday.com/ (RShut Pro)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I would like to start using my PC?s fax console to send various letters/documents and would be interested in any views on the security aspect of this method.
I tend to be careful with emails; are faxes any more secure?
Thanks.
Clk Sec
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I tend to be careful with emails; are faxes any more secure?
In general yes. If they're not encrypted, e-mails are bounced around the internet in plain view, and could potentially be read by anyone with access to the machines that they pass through. How likely this is to happen in practice I don't know, but you'd still be crackers to entrust things like credit card details to an ordinary e-mail.
A fax should be more secure because you're sending directly from one machine to another, with only the phone connection between them.
I say should because you won't always know where the fax is going. If, as often happens, you're sending to a machine in an open plan office you don't know who's going to eavesdrop on the received message.
Also, the issue is complicated by the fact that many people now use internet fax services, where at least part of the message's journey is via the net. See efax.com for an example of such a service.
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Without stating the blindingly obvious, you should consider that you will still need a dial-up fax modem to send/receive faxes from your computer and that broadband is ruled out.
Unless, of course, you use a fax to e-mail/e-mail to fax service, which would perhaps make you wonder on the security side.
I've used both methods and each has proved reliable and secure.
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As stuart says, you will need a modem to use fax. Modems and broadband lines can coexist on the same phone line but they are never really happy with one another and cause al sorts of agro.
consider gettting a scanner, and scanning into a document or pdf and sending with encryption. Like PGP for example
------------------------------
< Ex RF, Ex TVM >
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Seem to be up and running now!
I?m not using the internet, or an internet fax service, just my PC and Microsoft Fax Console (Window XP) as there?s an internal fax modem lurking somewhere.
I?m only going to enable the sending facility as and when necessary, and probably won?t bother with receiving as I understand it can play havoc with the phone line.
It?s reassuring to know this method offers greater security than non-encrypted emails.
Thanks Welliesorter, Stuartli and Altea Ego for your kind advice.
Clk Sec
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I use Opera as my internet browser. Up until a couple of weeks ago, when I clicked on a web link in an email, it simply opened a new tab in Opera which I have open all the time. Now, when I click on a link, it insists in opening Internet Explorer which obviously takes a while and is not what I want. Despite looking high and low, I can't find an option anywhere to reset it to using Opera as the default when I open from Outlook. Does anyone know where it is? I'm using Outlook 203.
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Check from Start>Set Program Access and Defaults that Opera is configured as your Default browser - sometimes (and occasionally more frequently) Windows will establish IE as the Default.
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Hmm, just tried that - a very confusing menu. Opera seems to be set as the default browser. I tried selecting "custom" and then set Opera as the default again - but it still opens IE when I click on an email link.
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On Friday Outlook 2007 (running on a Mail2Web Business Exchange Server) failed to start up. It lets you log in to Exchange, then just sits there and never populates the blank background of the Outlook window. I left it for more than an hour and nothing changed, and no processor use.
On killing and restarting, it claims that Avast (antivirus) is not initiallising, freezing the process.
I've uninstalled and reinstalled both Outlook and Avast, and Outlook will run in safe mode. Avast tech support claim that they use this combination all the time, so they've no idea. It worked perfectly for 6 months, no programs were installed on Thurs that might have contributed.
Antivirus scan and spyware scan (Adaware) both come up negative for any problems.
Any ideas?
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A new version of Avast! has just been released, 4.7.1044 (Home Edition):
www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
or:
www.majorgeeks.com/Avast_Home_Edition_d1968.html
Might be worth installing this latest version.
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It was a literal by me - it is/should be 1074 - however it's detailed at MajorGeeks, along with the professional version, as having been released today.
I've haven't seen it anywhere else nor on the computer forums, where such information is readily posted by forum members within minutes of new versions of all types of software and utilities.
The version on Avast's own product history roundup is, as you have noticed, 4.7.1043...:-)
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Edited by Stuartli on 06/11/2007 at 16:01
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I have some Windows Live Messenger files (version 8.1) that I want to recover, forgot to save them, but there are files still on the hard drive that appear to relate to the conversation.
I can't open them, does any one know how to do this?
Thanks
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Are they logs of conversations? Do they have the extension .xml?
If so, any modern web browser should do the job. If they aren't associated with a browser, either drag and drop them onto the browser window or use the File - Open file menu.
Alternatively, right click on a file and select 'open with'. You'll probably find that this gives you a choice of programs.
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Unfortunately not!
It appears that MSN records the conversation in another format - whether or not I keep a log - having turned the log off I was hoping to be able to read these files, useful information is within - they all seem to end with "=" and don't have a visible file extension - they do not seem to have a file extension, and are kept in the 'Messenger Cache/Temp' folder.
(As far as I can recall as I am not at the correct computer at this moment in time ....)
Thanks
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they do not seem to have a file extension, and are kept in the 'Messenger Cache/Temp' folder.
I vaguely recall someone saying that these files can be read with the "Windows Picture and Fax Viewer".
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copy them to a .txt file (blank name of your choice - copy orig.name newname.txt) and then see if you can extract the contents with a text editor
------
< Ulla>
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In Outlook Express, is there a way of deleting attachments without deleting the email text? We get CAD drawings emailed to us which can mean as a worst case emails can come through at 20 to 30 meg each.
We save the drawings to a different folder outside Outlook but do not want to delete the email as we often need to keep the text for reference.
I can save emails to a different folder as .eml files but it saves the attachments with it
Does Outlook 2000 let you do this? I have resisted using Outlook as I always thought it has far more functionality than I need (have been working on the K.I.S.S. principle!). Maybe I ought to start using it..
Cheers,
Rich..
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If all else fails delete the attachment and then forward the text part of the message back to yourself.
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Open the email and then select the attachment and hit delete. Then when you close the message it will want to know if you want to save changes.
You now have the email message without the attachment.
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Hi rtj70, is that in Outlook Express or Outlook proper? I have Outlook Express 6 and if I follow your method it will not let me delete it; if I right click the attachment the 'remove' option is greyed out and the delete key does nowt..
I think I will configure Outlook 2000 and start using that, and see if its do-able on that.
Thanks Spamcan for your suggestion, I didnt know you could send emails to yourself (doh)! In all these years I've only ever sent emails to different addresses.
Cheers,
Rich.
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I didnt know you could send emails to yourself (doh)>>
It's done to check that the service is actually working, especially if you change ISPs, through sending test e-mails to yourself.
They should come back to you within a few seconds.
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Having had the muppets at BT fail to supply a new line at my new flat, I took a deep gulp and shelled out for a £15pm broadband subscription with "three"
I need no fixed line. I get a USB modem with a sim card, 3gig a month limit and speeds of 2.8mbps. I can use the net in the flat and when travelling.
Now, it ain't as fast as a fixed line broadband, but it is pretty fast especially when in HSDPA mode. I can imagine lots of people on the move signing up to this service (either thro' Three, O2, Voda, T-Mob) Saves on the need for a phone line.
Interested to know if anyone else uses this system whilst on the move?
Moved to Computer questions - no real motoring link.....! - And a change to the subject line
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 07/11/2007 at 22:52
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Been using it myself for a while - even before three officially offered full web access (tunnelled out via port 80), surprisingly good coverage and works pretty well, even in the car.
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 07/11/2007 at 22:53
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I use a similar service through T-Mobile, except I get 10+ Gb of data a month and can use Skype etc over the connection.
It's very good, excellent in London, and was my only interweb connection for a couple of months when I moved. It's a stable connection on the train, and VoIP works just fine.
Can't say anything good at all about the MDA Vario 2 I have on this tarrif tho. It's by far the worst piece of unreliable, unstable, clunky, short battery life'd piece of rubbish I have ever owned. That's not naming and shaming by the way, I can provide specifics to back up every one of those accusations.
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I think the Nokia N80 still holds its own in poor battery life - managed to empty the battery in just 1hr20mins in VOIP calls despite being 10m from the wifi point! Piece of ....
Edited by smokescreen on 08/11/2007 at 00:08
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Been happily using Firefox until yesterday. Click on the icon, the big box appears and says, connected to en-us mozilla etc but goes no further. Can access the net using IE so re-downloaded Firefox but same result - any ideas please as to where to look to find out why IE works but firefox doesn't?
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You may have a corrupted profile. See:
support.mozilla.com/kb/Profiles
tinyurl.com/2c2vm7
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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is it possible to format a cell on the basis of its contents and those of another cell -
i.e. format only if the cell has a value of >89 AND the cell to its left has a value of 2 ?
cheers
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don;t know if you saw this in an earlier thread, but it may help!
>>i'ts a free download (16mb) of an excel tips manual, as questions about Excel often appear in here i thought someone may benefit from it.
it can be downloaded here:
mrexcel.com/pod600.html
Billy<<
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I think this can be done by adding a second criteria to the conditional formatting, using 'formula is' rather than 'cell value is' as the basis for the second condition. Then type a formula for the second condition which, when it returns a positive, formats as appropriate.
Not sure how much sense that makes, but it seems to work on your example.
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My fathers computer is connected to BT Yahoo Broadband. Today he had a second computer connected to the first but the engineer did not know the internal connection details and password. Neither did we, so I rang tonight, got the details, but had to reset the password. I then changed the password in BT Yahoo and OE to something we know and love.
Anyway, after setting everything up, it seems to work fine except that it drops the connection every so often and OE and Explorer need to be shut down and rebooted to work again. Any ideas?
It seems to want to use the reset password to connect up, rather than the one we set it to - don't know if that make much difference.
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espada
we need to know your connection equipment. Is there a router involved or is the second pc piggybacked off the first using Internet Connection Sharing?
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< Ulla>
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E,
If you are using ICS (Internet connection sharing) get over to Morgans in Piccadilly and splash out on router! Suspect most of the problems would disappear immediately!
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Dahonist
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Yes, use a router and plug each pc into it separately. Then switch to a decent ISP who don't make you install software on your pc. Go to Zen, just down the road in Bolton.
JH
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BT doesn't make you install anything. I'm connected via BT Broadband and don't have a single piece of BT software on my PC. Admittedly, I am using a BT Hub, which is their brand of wireless router.
If still using a USB modem (and still calling it BT Yahoo! for that matter) your father has probably been with BT Broadband for some time.
It would be worth his while speaking to BT and asking what they'll offer to prevent him jumping ship. It may be possible to blag a BT Hub out of them. If you do, I'd suggest ignoring the set-up guide and CD that come with it. Just plug it in, and connect it to the Ethernet socket (or connect wirelessly) as you would with any other router.
Ducks to avoid the torrent of pleas to avoid getting a BT Hub at all costs.
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W
apologies, I must be out of date. I had a BT USB modem and somewhere along the way I got a rather feeble router from them. Probably as a sop to the complaints from me about the line forever dropping. The USB modem needed software installing, some of which seemed reasonable, some of which did not. The router appeared to require software installing too though it never got used, I'd bought my own (in fact there's an idea E, you're welcome to it).
When your BT contract reaches the end of it's 12 months just ring them up and ask for your MAC. You'll be offerd a £5 reduction to stay. And if you're happy with the service and the script bunnies when something goes wrong, why not?
JH
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You don't need any special software for a wired router. Before making everything wireless, BT did offer such a thing. I know someone who has one, and has reconnected it until she gets round to asking for a replacement for her faulty hub.
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Thanks to you all. I think it was a temporary blip that seems to have sorted itself. The second computer was installed by a paid and experienced professional geek, so all the equipment should be up to speed.
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My PC was supplied with a free subscription to McAfee Personal Firewall Plus which is due to expire shortly, and I have now been offered a twelve months renewal (McAfee Security Center) for around £50.
While I?m quite happy to remain with this company, I would welcome any advice or recommendations.
Thanks.
Clk Sec
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I had problems with McAfee and switched to Webroot Spy Sweeper with Sophos Anti Virus as a package on subscription service and I'm completely satisfied. A 2-year subscription is currently £50. It's updated regularly which I think is an important feature to have regarding antispyware "fingerprints". I also have ZoneAlarm free firewall.
--
L\'escargot.
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subscription to McAfee Personal Firewall Plus
The free Comodo firewall, or Zonealaram which now works with Vista too, should be sufficient.
Free products from Avast and AVG are pretty good for anit-virus protection.
Free Spybot S&D, Spywareblaster, and Ad-Aware cover the rest of the protection you need.
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I'm with jbff - I use Avast! plus Search and Destroy, SpywareBlaster and Ad-Aware 2007 (all free) and have only had the occasional virus (quickly nabbed by Avast!) over a number of years now.
The essential point, however, as with all such security utilities, is to update them on a regular basis; Avast! updates itself automatically and announces in both written and spoken form that it has done so.
EDIT:- I've forgotten SUPERAntispyware - the reasoning behind having several malware utilities is that one can detect something that another misses.
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Edited by Dynamic Dave on 10/11/2007 at 13:50
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C
£50 is outrageous and is one of the reasons I left MacAfee many years ago. I'm currently on a 180 day free trial of Kaspersky Internet Security. Seems ok. Avoid Zonealarm Security Suite (not the free firewall) if you're running Vista, it is a shadow of the XP product with a substantial number of features missing. It also takes ages to load. It looks like Checkpoint have bought the company and are milking it.
Don't touch Norton with a barge pole - you will never get it off your pc by all accounts.
So the freebies look like the best option!
JH
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>>,,you will never get it off your pc by all accounts. >>
You can, but it's a thankless task to do it properly.
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