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Edited by Dynamic Dave on 17/03/2008 at 19:16
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Have inherited a laptop, ACER TravelMate 246LC, which is fully serviceable and running XP Home at this time.
Find however, that previous owner installed a BIOS password ( Pheonix 4.0 release 6.0 ) which is preventing access to the Setup menu.
All the usual " Backdoor passwords " fancy gimmicks from the NET, quick fix solutions, etc have been tried with no result. Removing the RTC battery for 72 hours, shorting the pins with wire, all to no avail.
Understand that the password could be stored in a part of the system/motherboard/CMOS which power down will not affect, can anyone give definative confirmation on this please?
If there is anyone out there who has hands-on experience of ACER laptops or has seen this problem before, we would welcome any constructive input.
Thank you.
Edited by Petel on 24/02/2008 at 15:21
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Hi,
I know you state that you have tried all the backdoor passwords, but i just wondered if that included the words:- BIOS, PHOENIX, CMOS, and phoenix? These are all recognised Acer bios backdoor passwords used by techies.
Failing that, there is also a well-known program called CMOSPWD that will shift the "user" password for the Pheonix 4.0 release 6.0 bios.
Sorry cant be of any definate help,
Billy
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Thank you Billy for the reply.
Can confirm that the generic passwords that you mention have already been tried and did not work.
This could be because, I am now told, that the password on a laptop would be stored in an Eprom on the motherboard and that I will need to find out which one and to have the required equipment to access it.
Am also told that CMOSPWD does not work on laptops for the reason stated above.
Unless someone out there knows different?
Thanks again.
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Grateful thanks and several virtual pints to Stuartli for providing the two links, the second of which provided the answer to my question.
The password screen has gone and pressing F2 goes to the Setup Menu. This was done by moving one of four tiny switches ( jumpers ) from OFF to ON and back after powering up and down.
Now I will be able to change BOOT priority to FDD, run Caldera and write zero's to the 30 Gig HDD in the machine. I can then start with a clean sheet when I have loaded XP Home.
Once again, my thanks to Stuartli and to Billy for responding to my post. Now at 02.23hrs ( good thing I am on 2 till 10 shift this week ) I am going to bed.
Many thanks. Petel
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My 6mth old Compaq laptop seems stuck in some sort of loop since it did the last auto update of Windows Vista (Home Premium) about a week ago.
When you turn it on it boots to almost starting Windows then says "Configuring updates, 3 of 3, do not turn off your computer". Then after a minute or so it shuts down itself. Then it restarts and carries on through the same loop never getting to the desktop.
This laptop has the setup where all the Windows and other programs as on the PC when new are held on a seperate part of the hard drive and there is no recovery disk to try.
I have tried interupting the boot up to get safe mode and it still does exactly the same loop.
Any ideas before it goes to the local PC shop?
David
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"Configuring updates, 3 of 3, do not turn off your computer".
It is a well known problem, as a google for the above quotes will show. eg.
answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=2008021719341...q
I have actually repaired one PC which suffered this problem in January. It took 12 hours to research and apply the solution, for which you need the repair/install DVD. As you do not have that, your quickest fix is to
1. try to leave the laptop running 24 hours - do not switch it off. let it loop endlessly.
2. take it back to the Seller or to your local PC shop (who may well charge as much as the value of the laptop to fix it!)
for the benefit of those who may be so inclined, the long winded process is here:
Repair procedure if you do not have a DVD -
forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=120228/
As the forum explains, the DVD is identical and universally suitable for the majority of PCs and Laptops. (Anytime Upgrade Disc This disc contains all versions of Vista, unmodified as Microsoft is shipping it. It is sometimes included for free with your system, or can be purchased online for under $10. This purchase price does NOT include a license or serial number, it is only the installation media. It is intended so you can upgrade from one version of Vista to another by purchasing a license online. This is the type of disc you need to do a clean install.)
You can get a repair/install DVD one either by asking HP-Compaq (I think they may be required to supply one if you ask for it). You could also try HP/Compaq to check if they provide a download link to for their recovery disk. Search for "Enhanced HP Backup and Recovery Manager for Microsoft Windows Vista "
Failing that you could try to buy a "vista anytime upgrade DVD" without the Licence - in the past it was available from Microsoft by paying around £3 to £4 :
www.hotukdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=119487
I don't know whether the trick to remove the purchase of the Licence still works.
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Many thanks for that info... I'd googled but on the wrong search words!
I'll give all the various ideas a try tonight.
David
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Just an update that one of the methods on those links worked with our laptop. It was to keep tapping F8 while it was in the boot part of the cycle and that forced it into a Windows repair mode.
This was a bit sluggish and went through a few options and then did a re-boot to a correctly working Windows. Following advice on the links I then downloaded the Windows patch KB937287.
Then it asked to complete installation of some auto-updates. I crossed my fingures and allowed this... thankfully all is well now.
Cheers,
David
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one of the methods on those links worked with our laptop
M.M - Thanks for the feedback, as it is worth knowing when a solution works.
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I'm looking for an alternative to Roxio Easy CD Creator - something that will make back-up data CDs - preferably free.
Thanks.
(I deleted the Roxio program because of a possible conflict with AVG. There was an update, but it was only for versions 7.5 or above, and the computer had version 5.)
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 27/02/2008 at 13:25
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Sorry, that should be "Roxio Easy CD Creator"
{Sorted}
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 27/02/2008 at 13:25
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I don't know what OS you are using, but if all you need is data CDs Windows XP ( and presumably Vista?) will burn CDs without any need for 3rd party software.
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Thanks for that. Yes, I'm using XP.
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IIRC, the XP burning plug-in is from Roxio.
To Enable it, you will have to go to My Computer>Explore>right click on your rewriter optical drive>Properties>Recording tab and tick the Enable recording on this drive box.
If, by any chance, you need more help. then use the links in this Microsoft article:
tinyurl.com/6nnxx
Edited by Stuartli on 27/02/2008 at 17:38
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The Nero burning plug-in for Windows Media Player 10 can be found at:
tinyurl.com/8yos3
The point made earlier about Roxio is that it came/comes, IIRC, as standard with XP, whereas the Nero offering has to be acquired. It's not compatible, as far as I'm aware, with WMP 11.
Edited by Stuartli on 27/02/2008 at 18:34
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Standard Windows XP Home Edition.
When first using the Favourites list, there are several ( three ) pre-set folders found, one of which is " Links "
Deleting these folders will remove the other two but the " Links " folder re-appears regardless of how many times it is removed. I understand that this folder is either, set up to repeat or is so deep in the sysyem that normal methods will not remove it.
Can anyone please say if they know of or have found, a method of removing this folder where it will stay deleted in the same way as the other two? I would of course, expect the folder to re-appear if a full system reload was performed.
Thank you.
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In Explorer, if you right click above the address bar you should see a menu with a number of options, one of which is called 'Links'. Is this ticked on the menu that pops up? If it is, untick it, THEN delete the 'Links' favourite from your favorites list.
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Thank you very much VR6.
So much for all my local armchair experts, I should have asked here in the first place.
Thanks again.
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Use Firefox - far less intrusive, and a far better understanding of how favourites can be managed.
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Evening all.
Now that ( thanks again Stuartli ) I have my ACER laptop relaoded and running, I would like to see if it is possible to run both it and my ESystems from the same single internet connection.
When I used to use a PC, I had a dual head graphics card which allowed me to have two 15" flat screens side by side. This proved very useful but took up a lot of physical space and the PC made far to much noise.
My internet connection comes in by a USB plug and my question is,
Should I try to " Tee " the connection, in order to serve both machines or would I be better off connecting to one machine and then using a " network cable " to the other?
Any thoughts would be much appreciated.
Thank you.
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You cannot "tee" a USB cable. What broadband connection do you have? Ad with which provider?
If you share the connection both sytems need to be on which is a downside. And you might like wireless for the laptio.
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ICS - Internet Connection Sharing is the easy answer! Give one computer the modem and network the other one to it. Set up the network between the two computers first and then set up the ICS. Not too difficult but if you feel like splashing out on a modem router I've found that to be the better option as both computers have an even crack at the whip!
Edited by Webmaster on 02/03/2008 at 15:22
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Thank you eProf, much appreciated.
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A better solution though would be to bin the usb device and buy a router.
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We're moving our home PC from one end of the room, near the phone socket, to the other. We use a ADSL modem/router, so we can either buy a phone extension lead and move the modem/router as well, or buy a longer network lead and leave the modem/router where it is.
Moving the modem/router is better from a WiFi point of view- it moves it nearer where I use my laptop, but I'm worried that a phone extension lead might have a detrimental effect on the internet connection. (We're only on 2Mb, but that's as fast as (or faster than) it will go according to the line speed checker on BT's website.) I don't think using a longer network lead will affect the connection.
Do you think using a phone extension lead (I think it neads to be 10m) will be a problem?
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I'm sure the telephone extension cable will be fine, an extra few meters over the mile or two from exchange to house will make no difference. You could always wire in a proper extension socket if you want a more permanent fixture.
If you decide you need to use a longer ethernet cable, screwfix is a cheap supplier if you have one of their counters nearby.
Chris
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I'm sure the telephone extension cable will be fine
Thanks Chris- I've ordered a phone lead.
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Lots of advice here from Solwise. tinyurl.com/2n4axx
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I posted in volume 148 regarding a Sony laptop that would only give a boot menu, followed by a blue screen, and then repeat the cycle. The main obstacle to fixing the problem was the lack of a Windows disc.
Just by way of an update, now that I have the use of a Windows disc, I'm hoping I've fixed the problem. I used the CD to boot to a command prompt. Typing 'help' gave me a list of available commands and the most obvious one to use was 'fixboot'. I hesitate to say this, lest the thing should burst into flames, but it seems to have fixed the problem. I'm using the laptop to post this.
Thanks again to those who responded to my original post.
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Our three year old Dell desktop needs replacing due to problems and I'd wondered about a laptop?
The desktop is a Pentium4 3.0 with 512 ram and a 80 gig hard drive running XP, has a 14" 4:3 flat monitor. It's in a small room and with seperate printer and scanner, sub/speaker setup, external usb camera card reader, wireless router for our laptop etc there are a lot of wires and clutter.
For 6mths now we've had a laptop as a second machine and that has proved so so useful. It is a Compaq with Intel duo core 1.66 processor, 1024 ram and 60 gig hard drive running Vista home premium, has a 15" widescreen.
The performance of both have always been fine for everything we wanted to do... both would just be a little short on hard drive space as time (and the camera image files) went on.
My idea is to replace the desktop with another new laptop... perhaps a Intel duo/quad core 2.0 with around 240-320 gig hard drive, 2048 ram, 17" widescreen and Vista home premium.
We'd replace the printer and scanner with an all-in-one unit, move the wireless router to near the phone away from the computer and run both laptops on wireless. The new laptop would have a integral card reader so the outboard one could go. Also we could lose the sub/speaker setup and run the laptop through the adj hi-fi. This is going to lose so much cabling and clutter plus not having a large tower.
Any thoughts on this idea from the performance, reliability, practicality points of view??
Thanks,
David
Edited by M.M on 04/03/2008 at 10:49
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For:
A laptop takes up little space and can be tucked away when not in use.
Plenty of laptop bargains around. Have a look in the forums on moneysavingexpert.com and hotukdeals.com where you'll often find people posting details of surprisingly good cheap ones.
Against:
Ergonomics: a laptop keyboard and trackpad aren't recommended for prolonged use. More risk of repetitive strain injury and problems caused by bad posture.
With a laptop you get less for your money (less true than it used to be).
Apart from adding memory, laptops are harder to upgrade.
Laptops are hard to fix when they go wrong.
At one time I'd have said don't even think about getting a laptop unless you really need it to be portable but I think the argument is more finely balanced now.
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Thanks Welliesorter, your thoughts were very much along the lines of ours once we looked seriously. As it happens things moved on at a pace and we purchased last night. The good lady (who uses a desktop all day at work) was reluctant to have the laptop keyboard as our main one with the need to work over the touchpad, we were surprised that £700+ laptops had keyboards that looked and felt like they cost £1. Also realised we wanted a 19" widescreen monitor and that really limited laptop choice.
In the end the desktop that suited us was almost £200 cheaper than the best laptop so that swayed it and we bought the desktop.
At least we have an integral card reader now so that's one bit of kit junked... and we bought a wireless keyboard/mouse set so two more cables saved.
Cheers,
David
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we wanted a 19" widescreen monitor and that really limited laptop choice...and we bought a wireless keyboard/mouse set so two more cables saved.
All of the above would work with a decent spec laptop.
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Unless you need expandability and games I'd personally have gone for a smaller laptop and attached to an external TFT widescreen and mouse/keyboard. And when you needed the laptop to be portable best of both worlds.
Laptops are very good value but not expandable enough for me - have about 1Tb internal storage and play games at times too so need good graphics. But I also have about 0.5Tb external storage for backups too so some of the 1Tb could also be external.
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Welliesorter has summed up very well indeed the main reasons why I, for one, have always been against using a laptop for personal use in the home.
Edited by Stuartli on 05/03/2008 at 13:12
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When I open up Excel the only menu available is \'File\'. All the others \'Edit\' \'View\' etc etc are greyed out.
I was using it yesterday to complete a form with lots of macros, protected cells etc etc - could this have caused it to do what is it doing now? Any tips for sorting it out?
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Are you actually opening Excel itself, or a shortcut to a particular workbook? If you are doing the latter, try opening the actual Excel program first (from Start menu) then open the workbook you have been working on from the ?open? icon on the excel task-bar (folder icon).
If this doesn?t change anything, it is advisable to make a copy of your workbook, and use that to experiment on whilst you try to fathom out what the problems maybe.
Billy
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Found this in the help section, may solve your problem.
Why are the auditing commands unavailable on my worksheet?
The auditing commands are not available on a protected worksheet. To remove protection from the worksheet, point to Protection on the Tools menu, and then click Unprotect Sheet.
Billy
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I'm opening the program, not a document.
I can't click on 'Tools' as it's greyed out. Opening a chart by pressing the F11 key enables the menus, but when I go back to worksheet they grey out again.
Edited by daveyjp on 06/03/2008 at 15:57
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To make sure it's not a macro wobble then disable automatic macros by holding down the shift key when starting Excel. If you type 'startup' into the Excel help function there are various other things that may be worth trying.
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My Excel Guru tells me this will work! ;-)
Right-click anywhere on any toolbar or the menubar.
Click on Customize... from the popup menu.
Click on the Toolbars tab in the Customize Dialog box.
Highlight Worksheet Menu Bar (right at the bottom of the list) in the list of toolbars.
Click your friendly Reset... button
HTH
Billy
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Excel - thrown a wobbly
The symptoms are also experienced when using a trial version that has expired!
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My Excel Guru tells me this will work! ;-)
SNIPQUOUTE!HTH Billy
Thanks to the Guru this worked.
The document with the macros had a bug which caused excel to crash before closing properly. One of the macro functions was to disable the menu bars and as it crashed it stayed in this state.
Thanks again
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 10/03/2008 at 12:51
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I have today connected the "home" desktop PC to the second (red) LAN socket on my Livebox and connected it to the Internet, (I don't use the wireless connection).
Is it possible to have my laptop (which is always connected to the Livebox when I'm at home), networked to the "Home" desktop PC via this link? If so what do I need to do?
If it is, it will give me the option to back-up my laptop to the desktop (which has a big hard disk) and this would be very useful.
All advice appreciated.
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If they are both on the LAN side of the Livebox then the answer is yes. If they cannot see each other then maybe you have firewalls enabled on the individual machines?
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Is it possible to have my laptop (which is always connected to the Livebox when I'm at home), networked to the "Home" desktop PC via this link? If so what do I need to do?
As with he motoring technical questions, it is helpful to know the "engine" details - in this case your operating systems. Assuming that both are on XP, then it should be very easy. If both are on Vista, it may still be very easy to set up. If one is Vista and the other is XP, you may need to do a bit more fiddling. Plenty of advice via the built in "help & support" on your computers, and also on the net if your search, but if it is XP+Vista, then here is one for starters:
www.pcadvisor.co.uk/forums/index.cfm?action=showth...8
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Hi. I've got nero 6 and I know its all working. The pc I have is dell dimension 4600 and its running windows xp.
The problems I'm having are the 2 drives do not recognise blanks discs, except one drive, one kind of disc. I'll try and explain...
I've tried new discs in drives and swaped the discs around (incase theres a bad one) but this is the out come I got...
i've put a new dvd+rw disc in e drive = 0 bytes
dvd+rw in d drive = 0 bytes
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a new dvd + r in e drive = 0 bytes
dvd+r in d drive = 0 bytes
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a new cd-r in d drive = 702 mb free space
cd-r in e drive = 0 bytes
-------------------------------
I hope this makes since to someone.
Thank you for any help.
Edited by Pugugly on 09/03/2008 at 20:03
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Have you tried writing to a disk? Your post tells me little I'm afraid. But little old me onl ystarted with computers in 1980.
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Have you tried writing to a disk? Your post tells me little I'm afraid. But little old me onl ystarted with computers in 1980.
I can burn music on a disc. I can butn a small film onto a cd-r. I cannot burn onto the dvd+r or dvd+rw and the drives do not recognise them.
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Are you sure that the drives are both capable of writing to DVD+R and DVD+RW disks and not just to the - versions?
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My PC came with what should have been a DVD drive capable of DVD+/-RW and also dual layer DVD+RW. Well for dual layer it froze the PC on the layer change and needed a power down. Tried other media and still a problem.
If it was a "normal" PC for me I'd have gone and spend £18 on a new drive. But this has 3 years at home on-site maintenance so called and logged a call. Initially an engineer was to be sent but they couriered a new drive and the old one sent back.... and then all working for DL media :-)
Sounds like your drive either never did support this, media not compatible or stopped working. For less than £18 you can get a new DVD drive that will write everything.
If you're near Stockport SK4 I am happy to help.
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Thanks for the help. I'm sure they are ment to burn dvd. If I go to properties on each drive and then click on hardware it will say DVD/CD-r.
I have tried putting new DVD-R in both but it still doesnt read them.
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Further thoughts. If you insert a blank disk there is nothing to read on it, for obvious reasons.
Have you checked that one of your rewriters is configured as the Master and the other as the Slave - if both are set as Master or Slave, only one drive will be recognised by Windows.
Nero6 (definitely at least the latest version, 6.6.1.15c) will burn both DL and LightScribe disks.
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Further thoughts. If you insert a blank disk there is nothing to read on it for obvious reasons.
But it should say disc space... but I dont get anything with dvd-r+/-
Have you checked that one of your rewriters is configured as the Master and the other as the Slave - if both are set as Master or Slave only one drive will be recognised by Windows.
Can you tell me how I would do that please?
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If you open your Nero program, and click the "next" button until you get to the "burn" page, see if Nero is recognising your drives as DVD burners in the "current recorders" box, if you've got two DVD burners installed on your machine, they should be listed in the drop-down list along with "image rcorder", if they aren't showing there, then Nero isn't configured quite right, you will have to troll through the "settings" and tweak it till it "sees" them.
Billy
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Yes it recognises my dvd drives
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I am trying to copy some photos from my hard drive to an 2Gb SD card . Most of them copy over without problem, but some won't go over and an error message pops up saying "The directory or file cannot be created". The card is about 15% full and all the photos are JPeg, although some are old and were taken with different cameras than more recent photos.
How do I copy them across?
{moved from IHAQ to comp related - seeing as it is the latter and not the former}
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 11/03/2008 at 00:39
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If there aren't too many, open them, copy them, paste them into a new document, save and try again.
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THere are about 500 of them of which about 410 copy over. I have reformatted the SD card several times, and tried copying from different ends of the file, so I know its not the photos themselves. Its as if the caard will not accept more than so many photos, even though the amount of data is small.
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I've had similar with a USB pen in the past. I think you're guess is correct - there's just a limit of some kind on the number of files it can take. Whether this varies according to the quality or size of the receiving article, I don't know.
Edited by BazzaBear {P} on 10/03/2008 at 21:12
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Try and create several new folders on your SD card and label these, accordingly and then transfer or drag your photos into these, apportioning them accordingly.
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Espada. What file format on the memory card and are you using sub-folders or all in root.
I won't say what I'm thinking yet... worst case is you live close to a route to an office for me so can take a look.
Edited by rtj70 on 10/03/2008 at 21:53
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Try and create several new folders(...) then transfer (...) your photos into these
Make sure you delete all the "stuff" from the card first (may be worth formatting it).... I'm with OG on this.
Edited by FotheringtonThomas on 10/03/2008 at 23:17
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If you are using a memory card reader/writer to transfer the files, earlier models wouldn't/couldn't handle more than 512MB or 1GB sized memory cards.
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To check if it's a problem with the sheer numbe rof files why not stick all the JPgs into one ZIP file and copy that to the memory stick? The file sizes won't be reduced significantly, but maybe the memory stick will prefer one big file to lots of little ones.
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Hi E,
If you're trying to copy to the root of a drive and it's FAT (maybe NTFS too, but certainly your card will be FAT) then there's a limit to the number of entries there can be in total in the root.
Try copying to a sub folder where this restriction doesn't apply
Lee
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Having clicked on a link in someone's post re Cambridge congestion charge, and getting a fail, I commented and was told by someone else that it was OK for him. I now find that no 'tinyurl' link will work for me. Other fuller length links do work. Windows Xp, SP2 in use - any ideas please?
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How does the failure manifest itself? Error messages? Blank screen? Browser lockup?
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Sorry, senility at Work! IE7, Zonealarm Professional Firewall no problems until this week
The IE response is "Page not available, make sure you are connected to the internet, refresh the page etc. I just tried Mozilla, on the Camrbidge Congestion charge link and got
The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading.
Mozilla can access the internet as I am using it to be on this site and post this reply
Edited by Armitage Shanks {p} on 11/03/2008 at 15:58
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Windows Xp, SP2 in use - any ideas please?
Which browser? Which firewall? Security settings?
Quick and easy answer - as many will tell you - change to Firefox.
But, if you want to stick with IE7 - as I do, get the latest IE7-WindowsXP-x86-enu.exe from www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/ie/getitnow.ms...x and reinstall ie7. While you are at it, you may then just as well add www.ie7pro.com/
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AS, not running Zone Alarm's toolbar by chance? Mine has an issue with tinyurl in that it reports the site as using spyware and thus blocks it. You can manually override by (I think) right clicking on the tooldbar and selecting from the menu drop down.
That aside, why does zone alarm think that tinyurl is spyware?
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That aside, why does zone alarm think that tinyurl is spyware?
forums.zonelabs.com/zonelabs/board/message?board.i...1
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I have never, ever known ZA (the free version at least) to have any problems with TINYUrl links.
Nor have I ever been directed to problem websites through using such links.
Edited by Stuartli on 11/03/2008 at 23:42
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>>Nor have I ever been directed to problem websites through using such links.<<
Me niether! but i have had folk with a few problems connecting to perfectly "harmless" sites whilst usinfg the full security suite or pro versions of ZA. Sometimes they feel "unhappy?" when i delete a program they've paid for, and replaced it with the free version of the same thing!
Billy
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I have never, ever known ZA (the free version at least) to have any problems with TINYUrl links.
You have answered your own point - the free version does not have an anti-spyware function! (A bit like stating that "I drive a petrol engined Ford and it has never had any common rail diesel fuel injection problems" ).
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I have ZA's free version which has installed a toolbar on my browser. The toolbar was blocking access to tinyurl links on my PC.
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The toolbar was blocking access to tinyurl links on my PC.
The link I posted to zonealarm's forum was in the "ZoneAlarm Antivirus/Anti-Spyware" section. On the one PC where I have zonealarm, it is the full security-suite and I do not remember whether the option to install a toolbar was offered or not. If it was offered on the full security suite version, I must have declined it as there is no such zonealarm-toolbar on that PC. I note OP Armitage is using the Pro version, which has antispyware built in.
Edited by jbif on 12/03/2008 at 10:12
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I have ZA's free version which has installed a toolbar on my browser.>>
You must have elected to have the toolbar installed - I have always declined the feature on each installation of the latest free version of ZA.
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Hope I can get my query across succinctly ??
My G/F has a Sony Vaio laptop , model VGN - TX16C/W which she mainly uses to watch DVDs . I would like to enable her to use my own Cable Broadband feed ( fibre optic ) to access the Internet, but am not sure how to proceed . If I plug my Ethernet modem- to PC - cable directly into her laptop, a warning comes up . The other issue is that her laptop, about 2 years old , has a Chinese operating system ( she speaks it ) having been bought in Hong Kong . So , I have purchased a wired router on Ebay which will arrive shortly . Can somebody advise how to get this laptop to operate in English ( it runs Windows XP at present ) AND how we can both use my Virgin broadband feed ? - I forbade her from using mine after she opened an attachment that paralysed my PC a while back .
anything constructive gratefully considered .
{Subject line altered to reflect question being asked}
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 13/03/2008 at 10:18
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Re: language change. If you do a forum search I was in a similar situation and I have posted my solution to this.
Basically, you will need to reload XP in the language you want. Borrow an XP cd from someone (don't worry this is perfectly legal) and when it requires the product key simply use the (genuine) product key that is affixed to your bone fide laptop.
It worked for me and I am writing this on the same machine which has passed windows verification and has all the automatic Windows updates.
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I think you're looking at a reinstall to get from chinese to english.
What was the warning when you plugged the router in? Anything that works over a network connection should just work - you dont have the worries about drivers etc that you have with the usb devices.
Actually you describe it as ethernet to PC modem - is it an ethernet connection that goes into the PC or a usb connection?
I'm not sure about XP but dont drivers need to be language localised these days?
Edited by adverse camber on 13/03/2008 at 13:22
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it's definitely an ethernet cable ( 45 ) that goes from the modem into the PC . Not a USB...
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i think it will require a re-install of xp, and select operating language then. On a side note, has she been using the keyboard set to type chinese characters from an English/us keyboard or has she a chinese keyboard?
Billy
(small edit as motorprop originally couldn't find his post; asked where it was, and Billy pointed him in the right direction - hence that part of the conversation removed)
Edited by Webmaster on 16/03/2008 at 03:29
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Not sure how you'd check before install, but there's no guarantee that the licence key on the laptop will work with the XP CD you find.
If it doesn't accept it you might be unstuck!
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Might or might not be relevant.
Just bought a laptop in Spain and at first switch-on it gave a choice of Vista in English, Spanish or Portugese, but unlined the fact that it is not possible to alter the original choice of language on subsequent re-installations. Possibly the work-arounds noted above would work. Still possible to configure the "regional settings" to suit the keyboard layout though.
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Anybody use a freeware sound streaming recorder for recording internet radio?
(Yes, I can google too, and there are dozens or hundreds out there. The last freeware one I downloaded required a £15 payment in order to edit out a superposed noise. Other freeware ones have a warning that they may be malware.)
So, any recommendations, please?
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The one I used was called "SuperMP3" had to pay for the fully featured versionbut works well enough.
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I may be mis-understanding what you mean, but i can quite easily record internet radio by using:
Windows media player - tuned to station of choice,
and record it using "SOUND RECORDER" that is part of my sound-cards applications, in my case Creative. (audigy, but soundblaster live has the same features).
Your sound-card may also have a "recorder" application that would do your job.
Billy
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Personally I've been using 'totalrecorder' for years, which isn't quite free, but only cost a tenner IIRC. Other than that, like billy25 says, just about all PCs have some kind of application rattling around somewhere for sound recording. Just make sure that you have the correct source selected in the Windows volume control:- - options > properties > adjust volume for recording - the default is set to playback.
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Audacity should do what you require (freeware). See:
audacity.sourceforge.net/
Alternatives:
www.filehippo.com/software/multimedia/
Edited by Stuartli on 17/03/2008 at 12:36
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Audacity is pretty good and lets you save it to an mp3 afterwards if desired.
Ah, see I was beaten to it.
Edited by Dipstick on 17/03/2008 at 12:38
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I'm contemplating the purchase of a laptop, but don't want one with Windows 'Vista'. ( I'd prefer XP). I see that Dell 'recommend' Vista, implying that the laptop isn't preloaded with an OS. Has any Backroomer bought a new computer recently and specified an alternative to Vista?
P.
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Bought a Sony Vaio only three days ago with XP on it, from Dabs.com, if that helps?
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Dipstick-
Many thanks for the prompt reply. Hopefully I should be able to specify XP when I order.
P.
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I have a Macbook - brilliant for your photography work - which has a dual processor so have access to both Mac and Windows XP. Added bonus is that the battery lasts much longer than most pc laptops. Go and have a play on one before buying anything else!
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When I last looked Dell would only offer XP on more expensive business systems. Dabs' search facility is good though, and you can do a search for XP, and then select the category, such as desktop/laptop.
I'd advice plenty of RAM for photo editing - 2 Gb is good.
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Dell did reintroduce XP as an alternative choice about a year ago, but Intel Viiv? processors can only be selected with Genuine Windows? Vista Home Premium or Genuine Windows? Vista Ultimate operating systems according to Dell's website.
See:
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6575089.stm
Edited by Stuartli on 17/03/2008 at 16:22
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but don't want one with Windows 'Vista'. ( I'd prefer XP). I see that Dell 'recommend' Vista
P Mason
re- Dell & Vista & XP - everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask - see here
miket-blog.blogspot.com/
As Mike T explains on his blog entry - " Wednesday, 6 February 2008 Microsoft Vista downgrade rights - I've set a link up to microsofts page on downgrading rights for those of you with Vista business or Ultimate who may wish to grab a copy of XP pro etc to run on your new pc/laptop for free. "
latest Dell deals www.hotukdeals.com/computers/deals/hot?mf=269 and
www.hotukdeals.com/computers/deals/hot?mf=28
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I bought a new Dell PC last month - Inspiron 530 - with a Pentium 4500 Dual Core processor and told them I wanted XP and not Vista.
You can pay £50 extra and get XP Professional. I 'phoned my order and said I would not pay extra for XP, so my Dell came with XP Home Edition.
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