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Edited by Dynamic Dave on 12/11/2009 at 01:00
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I know I can vacuum my keyboard to get all the cigarette ash and so on out, but is there a way of getting the thick deposits of DNA off the edges of the lesser-used keys, and indeed the fringes of my mouse, without risking any short circuit malarkey? It's a perfectly good keyboard and I don't want to have to run another one in.
I am afraid that if this goes on my computer will become a source of new and deadly viruses. Not the electronic sort, real ones.
{moves to computer related questions}
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 03/11/2009 at 10:15
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I spray mine with Dettol antibacterial spray and wipe it off quickly with some kitchen roll.
All the gunge comes of with it and it's still working up to now.:)
I never thought about using a vacuum though, I will put it on the floor and see if the Dyson runs over it OK :)
Pat
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Certainly a good idea, the cleaning I mean. I read somewhere that computer key boards and car gear levers have more and worse repellent life forms on them than toilet seats. Point being the toilet seats are cleaned well and often and the other two probably aren't.
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Unplug keyboard. Sponge type cloth and a bit of white spirit/lighter fluid carefully applied. Wait 30 seconds while any leftover dries off and plug keyboard back in.
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unplug keyboard, open bin, depost keyboard inside.
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I've seen OCD types remove a key at a time and clean them individually.
Others remove them all and then try to remember where they go back. ;>)
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Cif (formerly Jif) is ideal for cleaning plastic keyboard and monitor cases - brings beige up like new...:-)
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I've seen OCD types remove a key at a time and clean them individually. Others remove them all and then try to remember where they go back. ;>)
I wouldn't say I had OCD, but after 5 years of use, my keyboard was looking pretty grubby, so I stripped it completely down, and put the PCB part of it to one side and gave the rest (keyboard chassis and keys) a good soaking in soapy water, then re-assembled it. Fortuantely I made a quick sketch of where the keys went beforehand ;o)
It was like brand new once I'd finished. 6 months later though I replaced it with a Logitec cordless keyboard and optical mouse that Tesco had on offer for £11.99. The Logitec keyboard doesn't look so easy to pull apart. Time will tell.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 03/11/2009 at 12:56
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>> I've seen OCD types remove a key at a time and clean them individually. >> >> Others remove them all and then try to remember where they go back. ;>) I wouldn't say I had OCD but after 5 years of use my keyboard was looking pretty grubby so I stripped it completely down and put the PCB part of it to one side and gave the rest (keyboard chassis and keys) a good soaking in soapy water then re-assembled it. Fortuantely I made a quick sketch of where the keys went beforehand ;o)
Denial is one of the symptoms - So how long have you had this OCD?
Edited by Altea Ego on 03/11/2009 at 13:17
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>>Getting DNA off keyboard without causing shorts>>
If you hadn't committed the crime....:-)
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The Met Police are finally looking for the serial speeder of London then :).
If its very bad why not buy a new keyboard? You can get a very good Cherry for £7 and it won't cost much more than the cleaning fluid.
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why not buy a new keyboard?
It's a Dell keyboard that came with the Dell desktop I use. I don't really want a different one and am terrified (not being an expert like you) that it will have to be introduced to the damn computer in some complex way I won't understand.
Some time after I got the computer it started refusing to boot. A young fellow fixed it for me, but when he'd gone back to Australia I found that the computer had become unaware of its own two DVD/CD drives, although their lights still go on during the boot sequence. Haven't been able to use them since, and keep wondering if an external one plugged into a flashdrive socket will work.
The other thing that's happened lately is that the Norton antivirus claims there's a thing called Infostealer Bancos that has to be removed by hand. I've tried several times but come up against the same problem each time. Don't want to risk paying for anything on line with this gremlin on board, although my guess is that it's harmless and perhaps there to make me resubscribe to Norton.
I wish you would come and stay a couple of days Rattle. It would be a doddle for you.
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Two nights accommodation - not to be sniffed at Rattle !
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And Rattle likes London too.
Lud, that alert to me suggests it needs someone to take a look ASAP (see jbif's comment below). Looks like a keylogger. Our local library has had phsyical USB keyloggers plugged in before now and people who (foolishly) use public PCs for online banking have lost money!
And the DVD drives will be easily fixed by someone like Rattle. It might be simple but not for someone not understanding computers - I'd suggest removing the devices in Device Manager and do a reboot...
Rattle will reply later.
Edited by rtj70 on 03/11/2009 at 15:49
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a thing called Infostealer Bancos that has to be removed by hand. I've tried several times but come up against the same problem each time >>
I don't think it is harmless.
www.ca.com/us/securityadvisor/pest/pest.aspx?id=45...4
removal instructons:
securityresponse.symantec.com/security_response/wr...3
alterrnatively
cainternetsecurity.net/entscanner/
Edited by jbif on 03/11/2009 at 15:12
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Yeah this sort of thing can be a nightmare, you can run the tools such as Combofix (not ideal for inexperienced people it can currupt windows), Malwarebytes is ok as longs as its not for business use.
You might want to install a program called Hijacklthis and then post the results on a forum in bleepingcomputer.com they have experts who will tell you how to remove it.
Even if you reinstall windows like a of the local computer shops do (I consider it cheating but sometimes its just the safest way) there is a process you have to do to ensure the infection is not still resident. Viruses are getting tougher and tougher all the time and I spent too much of my time now just researching new removal methods.
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Lud, I presume from your motoring posts that you are a capable technical chappie and so think the folowing should be an easy task for you:
two DVD/CD drives, although their lights still go on during the boot sequence. Haven't been able to use them since >>
1. As the light comes on, it means that the power cable is OK. Can you open/close the dvd/cd drawer? If yes, proceed to 2,3 and 4 below. If no, proceed to 5
Yes:
2. If you can insert a CD/DVD, does it spin?
3. In your "My Computer" screen [get to it by clicking: start > my computer ], are your dvd/cd drives listed?
4. If yes to 2 and 3, what does the screen in 3 show after you do 2?
No:
5. Check that hardware has been correctly identified by XP. You need the Device Manager to check this, see:
blog.brothersoft.com/2009/01/21/how-to-identify-un.../
6. If the yellow excalamtion mark is there against the DVD/CD drives, then uninstall and reinstall the drivers from that Device Manager window.
7. If none of the above applies, Check that the data cables are firmly connected to the motherboard and the CD/DVD players. [ ensure mains power is off but keep earthing commected before opemomg case and poking inside! ]
resubscribe to Norton >>
No need. Download and install the free versions of these instead:
www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
www.superantispyware.com/superantispyware.html
Finally, follow the steps given at the link below to get a clean bill of health for your PC:
www.malwarebytes.org/forums/index.php?s=de22c85ee2...3
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A word of warning as good as programs like Malware bytes is it does miss things and it is no guarentee the system is clean. This is why virus removal can be a nightmare, it requires knowledge of what legit services different software packages use and which ones are not.
However if you run several malware removal programs there is a good chance you will get the most critical stuff out. In Lud's case it would be interesting to see exactly what Norton has missed rather than found.
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I'm not an IT professional, but want to give another vote to malwarebytes.org. It found and removed a very clever piece of adware which highjacked my browser and neutered Norton. That was the last time I paid for a Norton subscription.
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Normally, as suggested, "missing" optical drives can be rediscovered by Uninstalling them in Device Manager and Rebooting - Windows will reinstall the basic CDROM drivers (all that are required) and the drives should be available again.
The functions of rewriter optical drives are controlled by burning software such as Nero.
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The functions of rewriter optical drives are controlled by burning software such as Nero.
or windows
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>>or windows>>
Quite correct, but I've had this feature Disabled for nearly eight years as I much prefer Nero; in any case until Vista it couldn't be used with DVD media.
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This is the way to do it. tinyurl.com/6sw4s
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Apologies if this has been asked before.....
I've just got a new lap top with Vista on it. I used to create zip files (in XP) and then add a password by right clicking the file, selecting explore and then selecting "add a password".
Using the explore function in Vista displays the file but does not give you an option to add a password. Any suggestions? Would prefer not to use a different version of ZIP if possible.
Edited by csgmart on 03/11/2009 at 22:00
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I'm using 7zip at the moment. Right clicking on a file brings up a menu with 7zip in it; selecting "Add to archive..." brings up a dialogue that allows the creation of a compressed file with password. This is Windows 7 as it happens, but it worked with Vista before I upgraded.
Does this work for you, rather than adding the password afterwards?
Edited by Manatee on 03/11/2009 at 22:53
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I don't think I intentionally use the functionality, but is this something around having your drive (or folder) compressed, so though the files are compressed in the same way as a zip file, they aren't really zip files, in the old sense of the word? I would have thought to get the password functionality you would have to be using PKzip, 7zip or another product over and above the native Windows capability.
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About a week ago my password ceased to be saved on the log-in page. Can this feature be restored, and if so, how? My computer runs on XP Home and IE8.
Edited by L'escargot on 05/11/2009 at 07:51
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No it cant. The benefit was removed by the site owners. They claim is a security measure, but I think its massive cost cutting measure - having to store all the passwords for free.
Edited by Altea Ego on 05/11/2009 at 09:24
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No it cant.
Can't it be saved by the appropriate instruction to my (IE8) browser?
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Passwords are now encrypted. This is a security feature. There will be a further announcement today.
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I use a Firefox bookmark to access the site.
At each new session, it brings up the log in page when I want to add a post.
But the username and password is already filled in, so all I have to do is click 'log in'.
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>>But the username and password is already filled in, so all I have to do is click 'log in'.>>
It's the same for me when I first use Reply to Message; Firefox has a Remember Passwords for Sites feature from Tools>Options>Privacy tab, which you have almost certainly Enabled.
You can check out the user names and passwords stored from the Saved Passwords button.
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but I think its massive cost cutting measure
Given what we pay the owners to use their site, perhaps that isn't unreasonable.
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>> but I think its massive cost cutting measure Given what we pay the owners to use their site perhaps that isn't unreasonable.
Clearly the bank of humour & irony is overdrawn this morning as well.
Edited by Altea Ego on 05/11/2009 at 09:58
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I suspect that if you allow your browser to remember the password for this site then it will be back to normal.
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I suspect that if you allow your browser to remember the password for this site then it will be back to normal.
In layman's language, please, how do I do that for IE8?
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Ummmm as Google Chrome user, I'm not quite sure - but try going to Internet Options, COntent, click Settings by Autocomplete and tick next to User names and passwords on forms (and if you tick the box underneath you will get a prompt each time you enter a new password). I think that might be it anyway.
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In layman's language, please, how do I do that for IE8? >>
Will Microsoft's language do instead? - XP should be similar to Vista IE8 instructions here:
windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Fill-in-...y
Edited by jbif on 06/11/2009 at 00:25
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Smokie and jbif. It didn't work ~ for me anyway.
Can anyone else with XP Home and IE8 make it work?
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Smokie and jbif. It didn't work ~ for me anyway. Can anyone else with XP Home and IE8 make it work? >>
Firstly, I never "save" any log in details on any web site, so I do not know what the "issue" on this site is. You can of course try to report it to Khoo using the "report issue" button at the bottom of this page.
Secondly, I had assumed that by his post, at Thu 5 Nov 09 10:04, smokie was implying that the "issue" previously reported [*] had now been fixed.
[*] issue reported on 3 Nov, and this was Pugugly's reply:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=79...6
I took it to mean from that and from Pugugly's reply to you above at Thu 5 Nov 09 09:28 that log-in would not be saved in future.
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I was informed by Stephen Khoo that it could be achieved via my browser settings.
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Clearly the bank of humour & irony is overdrawn this morning as well.
Sorry AE - that's the problem with the written word.
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My Vista laptop came ready to use, pre-installed with a few bits of free software.
I am 'Laptop User' and all works well, except there is no password protection.
Turn the machine on, and off you go.
What is the simplest way to instal a password in Vista?
I'm not bothered about changing the 'Laptop User' user name.
I don't want to create a new user, because there would be no access to all my settings.
Thanks in advance.
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Control Panel -> User Accounts -> Create a password for your account ?
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Focus,
Looks like is should be simple enough.
It's just that bitter experience with the computer has taught me how easy it is for a novice to get into a muddle, so I thought I would ask the question before I attempted the task.
The laptop's in the house, so I will give that a try when my day's toil is done.
Thanks.
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One thing I have found with Vista is how well the "Welcome Centre" works for carrying out personalisation such as adding passwords.
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... It's just that bitter experience with the computer has taught me how easy it is for a novice to get into a muddle, ... >>
In which case, make sure you also make a password rest disk:
pcsupport.about.com/b/2007/02/24/create-a-windows-...m
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...setting a password....
Thanks for the replies - password successfully set.
I bottled out of making a password reset disk, partly because I don't have any 'portable media' to hand.
If I read the link correctly, it has to be portable - detachable - so slapping a CD rom in the onboard drive won't do.
It's proved well worth posting such a simple question - I've learned the answer and a little bit extra.
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We have four computers in the house which are used daily and a load of old crap boxes I have in the shed doing nothing.
The four main machines are
Mine:- AMD X2 4200, 2GB RAM, 500GB HD, 8600GT, M Audio audiophile sound card, TV card, Vista Home Premium OEM.
Parents (made from spare parts) - AMD X2 3800, 2GB RAM, 120GB HD, XP Home OEM
My laptop (used this for all my late night HJ sessions), Celeron M430, 1.5 GB RAM, 80GB HD, Vista Home Basic.
Sisters - Sempron 3000, 1GB RAM, 80GB HD, XP Home OEM - soon to be replaced.
I've seen this in PCWORLD and it seems ideal for the first three machines
www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/308917?int=h...1
The problem is I don't want to format any of them as the machines are working too well, its to much hassle reinstalling all the programs. Does Windows 7 suport an upgrade install mode? I know its not recomended but all machines are very clean and unmodified. I will format my laptop as there is too much crap on that.
So is it worth bothering? If customers ask me this I say wait a bit but I could with Windows 7 so i know how to fix it although from what I have used of it so far it seems very similar to Vista.
The crucial thing is will this licence still work if I upgrade the motherboard etc? I plan to invest in an AM3 chip some time next year.
Edited by Rattle on 10/11/2009 at 12:29
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"Does Windows 7 support an upgrade install mode?"
Yes, so I've read, from Vista but not XP. Though not sure about Vista Basic.
As for the licensing question, there's not much information there and I'd be surprised if you got a sensible answer out of of PCW. But it surely is aimed at people with an OEM Windows installation, so you should be ok.
JH
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Does Windows 7 suport an upgrade install mode? etc. etc. etc. >>
;-) As you are an IT pro, I shall refrain from spoon feeding you. Instead, I shall give you a hint as to how and where to find the answers:
1. How - google.
2. Where - manufacturer's website.
It tells you what minimum specs you need; if your other devices, hardware, and software will work on your PC after you move to Windows 7; other information you need to review prior to buying or installing Windows 7 on your PC.
easy peasy simples.
Edited by jbif on 10/11/2009 at 13:59
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I already know about the minumum specs and have already checked windows 7 drivers exist for all the hardware on the three machines. My question was more about licenceing as it dosn't quite make it clear what happens if I change the motrherboard, I know with OEM licences that means end of licence (although a quick call to India solves that) but I don't want to pay a fortune for windows 7 only to find it expires when I upgrade my motherboard.
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I already know about the minumum specs .. >>
So why fill the OP with details of the specs?
My question was more about licenceing ... >>
Oh, I see. The other questions were irrelevant.
Here is some spoon feeding via Google:
www.microsoft.com/about/legal/useterms/default.aspx
i.zdnet.com/blogs/license-and-media-matrix.png
blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=1514&page=3
You will need to employ a lawyer to help with the legalese.
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Indeed....
There was not really any point on listing the specs, but you know me, if I can make a post of 1000 words instead of 50 I will :p
I might actually just stick with Vista for a few months to give the drivers a chance to come out of beta. I had to without my audiophile sound card for 6 months when i switched to Vista because M Audio were to slow to make the drivers.
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There was not really any point on listing the specs, but you know me, if I can make a post of 1000 words instead of 50 I will :p ... >>
I see, and asking irrelevant questions too. So now you are admitting to being a troll?
Edited by jbif on 10/11/2009 at 14:38
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I see and asking irrelevant questions too. So now you are admitting to being a troll?
Ignore him Rattle - I found the specs interesting :-)
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Ignore him Rattle - I found the specs interesting :-) >>
Focus: Don't you want to know what "too much crap" he has on the unclean laptop? it will no doubt be very interesting too! ;-)... I know its not recomended but all machines are very clean and unmodified. I will format my laptop as there is too much crap on that. .. >>
Edited by jbif on 10/11/2009 at 14:47
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jbif, please stop posting like you do please. You have already meant some new members have never come back. You often come across as having a go at other members, backed up with lots of quotes. You recently also did this to Honest John if I remember.
Your posts are not at all amusing - assuming that's why you do it. Some have been taken as downright spooky (digging up info on members from other sites and posting here).
Thanks
Edited by rtj70 on 10/11/2009 at 15:05
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Totally agree with you rjt70.
Rattle,
I had gathered that Win7 for the EU market was not actually an upgrade as the EU stasi had stated that Microsoft must unbundle IE with Win 7. However as Microsoft had not had time to test Win 7 as an upgrade without IE it was realeased to the EU market as a wipe and restore system. (I stand to be corrected on this though) although it says "Upgrade" on the box.
You need to back up all your data and make sure that you have the program discs to reinstall all your programs.
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That is what I was told too. I am just going to wait till I upgrade my motherboard and need to format anyway. With 400gb of data (mostly music which I have on original CD) it will be a pain. I need to buy another 500gb hard drive anyway because I have learnt that lesson before. Silly photos which have no value now suddenly will in five years time and even though the most crucial stuff is always backed up I will miss things :(.
I should have gone today while I had the day off need to get a proper backup sorted ASAP.
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Get a decent external drive Rattle and some automatic backup software. My main machine has excellent backup facilities now - but it's running MacOS X. Time machine is very good - very easy to retrieve older copies or files that were deleted. Built into the OS.
Tesco today had "upgrade" copies of Windows 7. But I too don't think you can upgrade from XP to Windows 7 directly.
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Geoff,
unfortunately this is an example of one word meaning two things! You can "upgrade" in the sense of installing over an existing Vista system and all else, your applications and data, SHOULD remain intact. Or you can format and do a clean install. Either way, you are said to have "upgraded" when you've finished. One of the beauties of the English language.
See;
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8317005.stm
JH
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There are really THREE options
1) Upgrade install - if going from Vista to a similar Win7 (eg Home Premium -> Home Premium, Professional to Professional) and not changing 32bit <-> 64bit then everthing is migrated. "My Documents" and all data is moved into your new user profile, and installed programs are preserved and run straight from the desktop or Start Programs.
2) Clean install - if (1) doesn't apply or you choose this, all existing "my" data and programs are moved into a folder called windows.old. You can copy data, music, pictures etc from here into your new "my" folders after the upgrade. You will have to reinstall most, if not all, programs because they won't have their registry entries or registered DLLs in the new build. Some standalone apps might still work from "program files" in windows.old but don't bank on it.
This is the recommended install method.
3) Format install. If you choose this from the "advanced" menu you can reformat/repartition the drive and will of course lose everything that was there before.
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Good point on 32-bit vs 64-bit Reentrant. I'd probably go 64-bit as should most but then some applications and games may not work properly.
The reason the upgrade for Windows 7 is cheaper than the full retail version is you could install Windows 7 alongside XP/Vista with the full copy and dual boot. When you're happy with Windows 7 then you could remove XP/Vista.
Upgrade means your licence is upgraded - i.e. the old version of Windows is superseded. I'd want to keep XP too.
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Good point on 32-bit vs 64-bit Reentrant. I'd probably go 64-bit as should most but then some applications and games may not work properly.
Personally I'm avoiding 64bit OSs for as long as possible: my peripherals and applications run fine on my 32bit Win XP and I'd like to be able to upgrade the OS without changing that situation. I'm struggling to see why I'd need to utilise more than 3GB (ish) of system memory for run of the mill domestic applications.
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>>>>You often come across as having a go at other members, backed up with lots of quotes<<<<
And that is the reason so many of us hesitate to post and just read.
Pat
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Crumbs. I've often found jbif very helpful and informative.
Please don't put him off.
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I've often found jbif very helpful and informative
He is frequently very helpful and knowledgeable. And we all thank him for that. But occasionally it comes across as if he's having a go at some members. Occasionally that has been a new member who has then not come back.
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And that is the reason so many of us hesitate to post and just read.
Agreed there are some here who nit pick, not in a jolly or humourous way, a bit of light hearted banter is most welcome...well at least to those of us without the sense of humour by-pass (motoring link.;)
I get my share of it sometimes, which is fair enough as i'm often wrong, but this is a motoring forum and like it or not we all have an opinion and various levels of experience...be a boring place if only 'experts' opinions counted.
edit...this isn't meant as a dig at jbif by the way, but as a expert in nothing comment.
Edited by gordonbennet on 10/11/2009 at 16:03
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.. this isn't meant as a dig at jbif by the way ... >>
No worries even if it was.
If HJ, or the Webmaster, or the Mods decide to take away my input to the "forum", then that is their prerogative and that is fine.
If my views or opinions do not concur with the majority, that does not worry me.
You often come across as having a go at other members, >>
;-) often? sometimes yes. Didn't realise that the members here were of such a weak disposition not to be able to stand up for themselves.
Seriously though, as for rtj's specific [ i.m.o. exaggerated or mistaken ] points, I could counter each one but some things are best left with the riposte "fine, whatever you say, nothing to be gained from further discussion".
p.s.
Alanovich - thanks for your kind words. I do try.
Pat - I hope I have not intimidated you from posting in any threat.
Edited by jbif on 10/11/2009 at 16:19
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If HJ, or the Webmaster, or the Mods decide to take away my input to the "forum", then that is their prerogative and that is fine.
jbif, not what I was suggesting. Pulling someone leg on here is fine but you often leave out the humour. All the best.
Rob
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One good thing about XP (Pro in my case) is that changing the motherboard proves no problem if you immediately undertake an XP Repair - I've had to replace the motherboard twice in the last four or five years and it's proved painless.
Backups were done, just in case, but all data, configuration etc was fully retained during the Repair.
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I wouldn't presume to advise the Rattle on PC matters, but for what it's worth I did a successful upgrade from Vista Home Premium to Win7 Home Premium last week. I did a disc image and a full file backup just in case, but the upgrade went OK taking two hours.
There was a warning that the driver for the NVIDIA Geforce 8400M GT graphics card wasn't correct, even after I updated it, but it works fine. There's no driver for my HP 7550 printer but there wasn't one for Vista either, and it works with an alternate driver though without its dedicated control panel.
It's been completely stable, starts up faster, and I like the interface. Everything works, amazingly.
There's a handy table here for upgrade options:
www.hanselman.com/blog/Windows7EasyUpgradePathTrut...x
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I did a fresh windows 7 install on a brand spanking new PC I built. It took 22 minutes. No driver issues. If your machine runs ok in vista it wil have no windows 7 driver issues.
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Can I make a quick plea to everyone to back up their daa so that if they are burgled they don't lose it. Friends just had a house burgled, and they lost a lot of photos when both their computers got taken.
I use Carbonite, backed up in the cloud and guarantees I can't lose anything (assuming they don't go bust of course), but at the very least put a HDD with a friend or something.
G
Edited by smokie on 10/11/2009 at 23:07
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There's really no excuse when you can grab a 1Tb disk for under £60 (Tesco, Makro etc).
If you have a lot of data to store, most of which doesn't change, using a program which checks the contents of the source and target then only copying the changed/new files is a lot quicker. I use Allway Sync which is free but there are others.
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On Windows robocopy (Free) works well. Quite a good program that.
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I would like to 'tidy up' my hard drive. I think it would be a good idea if I put my photos and various text files on to DVDs. This would safeguard some rather precious photos and I could the remove the originals from the HDD.
Is there an easy way to do this? Could I for instance copy all files with the suffix .jpg to DVDs? Many years ago, I used DOS commands all the time - I take it they are no longer compatible with modern operating systems - or am I wrong?
Any advice gratefully appreciated.
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As well as copying to DVD I'd get a copy to an external USB drive. I recently went through to sort out some all DVD-R and some were not readable despite being in a protective case. Perhaps they are not as long lasting as some believe.
The commands you refer to will work fine but if the files are in lots of different folders then the simple copy command will be a rain. Xcopy is better and better still is robocopy (you'll need to download it).
Or if this is to backup precious files (i.e. I'd keep them on the PC too) then Windows have a free program called synctoy which synchronises files and folders.
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>>.. I could the remove the originals from the HDD.>>
Never remove the original photo files (unless they are definitely files not wanted). A backup (preferably at least two) should be made using an external HDD and/or disk media.
If you use top quality disk media such as that produced by Taiyo Yuden (it's rebadged as well by manufacturers such as Imation and Infiniti) and store it properly, it should/will suffice for many years. In fact Imation claims that its DVD media lasts at least 100 years, but don't ask me how it knows...:-)
Useful information and downloads at:
www.cdmediaworld.com/hardware/cdrom/cd.shtml
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Found one in t'attic dating back to 04 - but was relegated as it was as slow as a slow thing. I'm minded to get it up and running as a bare bones Internet machine - anything I should do before I awaken it from its slumber ? I think it has SP2 on it !
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You could go a bit geeky and install Linux on it.
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Yeeeeesss mmmm - where would one get it from ? Do I need to format the hard disk ?
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Linux can be a bit of pain on laptops, wireless drivers especialy. How much RAM has it got? A simple RAM upgrade my make it run a lot better.
You can download linux from any of the websites before you go down that route you need to decide which one is for you.
And yes idealy you need to format it, this is all part of the installation process anyway.
Edited by Rattle on 11/11/2009 at 13:09
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As the machine is not an essential item by the sound of PU's post, it would be an ideal one to experiment with Linux. No damage if it goes wrong.
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Could try one of the live CDs like Ubuntu from Canonical which will run off the CD and if you liked it you could then install it. About a 700Mb download (CD sized).
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As far as I can see you don't mention wiping Windows XP off it? I'd get a full copy of XP SP3 on a memory stick tinyurl.com/4qvth5 - big download over 300MB. If you install this before going online you will avoid hundreds of updates since SP2. You will still need to install some but it will be less hassle. See if battery will take a charge or just run it permanently from the power supply. I'd install Ccleaner www.ccleaner.com/ and use both the file clean up facility and the registry checker. You will need to uninstall whatever antivirus was on it as it's probably out of date and possibly the cause of why it was so slow. Keep a modern free antivirus like Avast www.avast.com/ or Microsoft Security Essentials www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/ handy. My favourite defragmentation programme is Defraggler www.piriform.com/defraggler which you could install and run after all of your updates.
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If you just want quick internet access then i would recommend puppy linux
download this tinyurl.com/yalda2r onto a internet working computer and burn it onto a 10p throwaway cdr
put this into your laptop and fire it up and it should ask you if you want to run the cd at first fire say yes by pushing any key and it should come straight on, you will be using seamonkey as your internet page but i always change it to google
this operating system works off the ram so it doesnt touch your hard drive in the laptop so its super super quick be aware that you might have to have a little play to get it to wifi as i always use lan and am usually on air within 1 minute
An alternative as suggested is ubunto but i prefer mint 7 www.linuxmint.com/
as said you can run this off the disc too without touching your operating system
but you will have hours of fun messing about downloading different things etc and its also quite intuative to find lan or wifi without any geekiness needed
I must add im self learnt knew nothing about computers 5 years ago but had to learn or i couldnt run my business
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I was using my laptop before as I have got some kind of mild flu, been in bed all day but feeling quite a bit better early this evening. I just got sick of Windows Vista taking for ever to load on it, it could have easily been fixed but I have nothing but crap on my laptop anyway there is never any important data on it.
So I decided since I get bored doing nothing it would be the perfect chance to try Linux again. I used to use VectorLinux many years ago on an ancient P233MMX laptop as it was too old to run XP and Windows 98 was crap. I have since tried many distros but always got angry that I could never quite get the wireless working or even get flash to install. So I decided to try Ubunto 9.0 (last version I tried was 7). So far so good I had major problems at first trying to get flash and wireless working but a restart and it is behaving well now.
So far BBC iplayer, ITV Player all work perfectly :D My laptop is basic (Celeron M430, 1.5 GB RAM) and I Am finding Ubunto runs a lot smoother than Vista did.
So if your laptop is spare I it might well be worth giving Linux a try but make sure you have a spare XP cd in case you want to revert back! I am keeping my Vista CD handy as I am not sure how long it will last :).
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Linux ran quite well on an Intel 486SX back in 1993 with 8Mb (that's megabytes) of RAM. And that was with X-Windows running on top for a window manager.
It came on about 30+ floppy disk images to install mind. And you had to programme the video driver for resolution and refresh rate needed and this was all derived from the bandwidth of the monitor. All good fun.
I know all of this because that's what I installed to dual (triple?) boot with Windows 3.11 and IBM OS/2 Warp.
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We need to have an absolute minimum size unobtrusive PC (to act as a TV too) to sit on an old desk in the dining room. At the moment we have a year old HP with one of the bigger towers in their home range and it looks terrible.
Been in PC World casting my eye over the all-in-one types like the HP Touchsmart 600-1040uk or Sony VGC-LN2M - All-in-one PC with 20.1" monitor. Also like a silver Acer one they had last month for about £800 but that seems to have gone from the website now.
Any thoughts on these specific machines or the all-in-one as a concept much appreciated.
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The new iMac range have excellent screens. The new 21.5" with full HD resolution would make a fine "PC". You could always put Windows on it or at least dual boot with BootCamp. A USB TV receiver (I've got the EyeTV) then turns it into a TV.
I got my iMac (the 20" non HD resolution) long before the news ones came out. The 27" version would also be very nice. And the prices for the new ones (with wireless keyboard and mouse) remain the same but with more memory etc. And you can now put more memory in too.
Don't rule out a Mac ;-)
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I really like the style and idea of a mac. If they were fully Microsoft compatible I'd have one like a shot. But we have so much software for Windows. The kids have perhaps £500 worth of games... we have a genuine full latest Office etc etc.
Also what about when folks send you mails with attachemnets that would open in Word?
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...Also what about when folks send you mails with attachemnets that would open in Word?...
There are word viewers for Macs available online, I paid about £15 for one years ago, but some are free.
Fully agree about compatibility.
Like it or not, home computing and the internet is designed to Microsoft standards - everything else is a compromise.
Edited by ifithelps on 11/11/2009 at 16:40
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You can buy Office for Macs but I use OpenOffice never had a compatibility issue with it providing the documents are quite simple (e.g no complex macros etc)
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Altough they're not quite all in ones these Acers and similar ultra small desktop PCs can be hung off the back of a monitor, possibly worth considering. I'm quite taken with the idea of one as a multimedia PC:-
www.ebuyer.com/product/172708 this includes an HDMI port which could be handy.
or a cheaper, lower spec. version:-
www.ebuyer.com/product/167154
Edited by SpamCan61 {P} on 11/11/2009 at 16:19
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I've just had an email from my internet service provider, Orange Broadband, saying that they will now divert all spam to my junk mail folder. I don't disagree with that happening, except that as far as I can see I haven't got a junk mail folder. I'm using Outlook Express 6. What should I do? Have I got a junk mail folder of which I'm not aware? If not, can I create one which Orange will recognise?
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Your account may have web access to - and that might be where you find a junk mail folder. Or they tag junk mail with a prefix like [SPAM] which allows you to setup a rule in Outlook Express to move to a folder or delete.
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Thanks rtj70. I've created a rule that all emails with SPAM in the subject line are directed to a folder I've created, called Junk Mail. Thanks to the patience of Backroomers like yourself I'm learning all the time.
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I am only assuming Orange will mark them in a way I suggested. I'd do what you are doing and direct them to a folder because they may label some genuine emails as spam when it is not.
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I too have an ancient Free-wana-orange-doo (or whatever they're called this week) email account and there is certainly a web based interface which automatically directs junk to the appropriate folder and then deletes it after a week. I have to keep remembering to check it for false positives once a week, although to be fair it's unusual to find more than 1 in the 300 or so per week it attracts.
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email account and there is certainly a web based interface which automatically directs junk to the appropriate folder and then deletes it after a week. >>
L'escargot: As Spmcan says, check your email account by visiting your email web server at www.orange.co.uk
I think you can set spam filter settings there too.
Edited by jbif on 11/11/2009 at 22:35
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