Computer Related Questions-Volume 207 [Read Only] - Dynamic Dave

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Edited by Dynamic Dave on 16/01/2010 at 01:09

how to claim a free govt laptop pleese - bell boy
i need a new laptop and hear that the govt are giving away loads
how do i claim a free one please?
must be legal as i dont want my pinkies slapping
how to claim a free govt laptop pleese - Rattle
I assume you're being sarcastic? I think there was a loan scheme to help the poor but it is all means tested.

I got a free laptop with my landline broadband connection but they have stopped doing those deals now, its only on mobile broadband.

how to claim a free govt laptop pleese - Dynamic Dave
I think there was a loan scheme to help the poor but it is all means tested.


You've obviously not had the TV or radio on recently Rattle?

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8449485.stm
tinyurl.com/ych4e9d
tinyurl.com/yadm4yj
tinyurl.com/ydzxak8

To name but a very few websites that have mentioned it.

ps, let's not have a political debate about this. All you need to know is mentioned in the above links.

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 12/01/2010 at 01:04

how to claim a free govt laptop pleese - Rattle
I haven't seen those articles but I was aware of it.

More virus removal jobs for me to do, the problem is they probably won't have the money to pay me! Oh well there are plenty of spotty pizzaboys which will run AVG free and pretend to to job for a pony.
how to claim a free govt laptop pleese - drbe
and pretend to to job for a pony.

>>

Rattly - for how long have you been using Cockney slang?
how to claim a free govt laptop pleese - Rattle
Got a cockny funeral tomorrow so it has become infectious. Ok its not in London and the people there are not actually Cockneys unless Chelsea and Battersea have become the new east end. To me though that strong central London accent sounds very similar.
how to claim a free govt laptop pleese - maz64
I got a free laptop with my landline broadband connection but they have stopped doing
those deals now its only on mobile broadband.


PC World claim to offer the biggest choice of these, from £20 per month.
www.pcworld.co.uk/
(link on right hand side of page)
how to claim a free govt laptop pleese - Stuartli
Not really "free" though...:-)
how to claim a free govt laptop pleese - Kevin
Don't panic.

A week after Gordon starts doling them out there'll be plenty on flea-bay for peanuts.

Kevin...
how to claim a free govt laptop pleese - martint123
Don't panic.
A week after Gordon starts doling them out there'll be plenty on flea-bay for peanuts.
Kevin...


They are already there ! tinyurl.com/bribolaptop
Warning message on first boot up - Vista Home - pda
I'm running Vista Home Premium but have just started to get warning messages when I first boot up.
Windows Installer is apparently looking for trayapp.msi
If I cancel this 3 times it's fine but annoys me.
I've found that this is as a result of trying ti uninstall my old HP Printer and associated programmes after replacing it with a Canon.
I can't uninstall the HP programmes because I don't have elevated Administrator status.
I have tried running the programmes as admin, uninstalling with the original HP disc but that just tell me that 4 files are missing from the registry and the uninstall has been blocked.
This elevated Admin status bugs me on Vista as I'm the only one who uses this PC and I did google ways of curing it.
I followed the instructions via cmd to unblock it but it didn't work and it's since then I have these problems.
I know there is a way of doing it via the Registry but to be honest I'm not confident in doing that.
I have restored the PC back to December before all this started but the problem is still there.
Can anyone help please?

Pat

{default header changed for one that relates to the question being asked}

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 12/01/2010 at 13:01

Warning message on first boot up - Vista Home - SteveLee
Can't you (as Admin) simply reinstall the HP drivers/software, then uninstall it afterwards? Assuming you've still got the disks or they are still available for download.

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 12/01/2010 at 13:01

Warning message on first boot up - Vista Home - jbif
I have tried running the programmes as admin, uninstalling with the original HP disc >>


You have the originals, so as Steve says, reinstall.

Then try this (may get a better result if you boot up first from "safe mode"):
h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&...5

(note the last item there - Microsoft's Windows Installer Cleanup Utility - may help
support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;2...1 ).

If after that you still want help re. Vista Admin, ask again later.

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 12/01/2010 at 13:01

Warning message on first boot up - Vista Home - pda
It's when I try to reinstall from the disc that I get the message that the registry files are missing at it can't install ( and consequently can't uninstall either).

I looked at the installer clean up utility this morning and wondered if that may help but will I have to re install office after I use it?

Thanks for the offer jbif on Vista Admin, will take you up on that as soon as this is sorted:)

Pat
Warning message on first boot up - Vista Home - jbif
It's when I try to reinstall from the disc that I get the message that the registry files are missing at it can't install ( and consequently can't uninstall either). >>

Try doing this from a "safe boot".
I looked at the installer clean up utility this morning and wondered if that may help but will I have to re install office after I use it? >>

When you run it, it will list programs that are available for this utility to be applied to. If your HP printer is listed there, you then use the utility to uninstall just that, NOT any other programs.

If none of the above works, you could try using a "complete" or "total" uninstaller program. Someone may know a good free program that they can recommend. I think the free spybot-s&d may have a simple one built in it.

Edited by jbif on 12/01/2010 at 13:23

Warning message on first boot up - Vista Home - pda
I've done that now but although I uninstalled all the files for all the HP related programmes, HP Photosmart Essential is still there and I can still use it despite it no longer appearing in the clean ups list!
I also still get the 3 warnings for trayapp.msi on reboot, too but thanks for showing me how to use that anyway.

Pat
Warning message on first boot up - Vista Home - jbif
I've done that now but although I uninstalled all the files for all the HP related programmes, HP Photosmart Essential is still there >>


Pat - which exact model no. is your HP printer?
www.out-of-warranty.com/three-ways-to-uninstall-an...p
Try to follow the instructions there under

"1. I DONT WANT IT TO FAIL – This route is for extreme issues, wherein repeated uninstall/reinstall failed. It will completely remove everything and reinstall the software fresh."

but omit the reinstalling part as you do not want it.

Warning message on first boot up - Vista Home - pda
Thanks for that link jbif, I've a lot of work to do on the PC today so I don't want to try that until I have cleared the decks a bit.
I hope it is as easy as the replies say! I don't want to re-install the HP Printer ( HP PSC 1400 series ) though I don't think that will make any difference.

Pat
Warning message on first boot up - Vista Home - pda
Well, I finally plucked up the courage to take your advice jbif and the 'I don't want it to fail' solution worked perfectly!
Thanks so much for that information.
Now are we ready to tackle the Vista Admin problem?:)

Pat
Warning message on first boot up - Vista Home - jbif
Now are we ready to tackle the Vista Admin problem?:) >>


Read
www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67567-administrator-acc...l

If after that you have further questions, it may be worth starting a new question with a new subject heading.

Fixing XP - gmac
A neighbour of ours has an old laptop running XP Pro.

Usual scenario, no backups, no disk partitions, everything on the C drive.

Boots up, user logs in and the machine logs off immediately - sounds like Sasser.

I created a DOS boot CD in the hope I could simply rename userinit.exe to wsaupdater.exe, boot the machine, fix the registry and rename back to userinit.exe.
I can mount the disk from DOS and see all the files, just can't do anything with them.

Plan B, use the install XP CD. My question is do I use the Repair option or Install which I would hope would detect XP is installed and overlay any problems ?

Due to no backup I cannot afford to get it wrong and do not want the installer to go off and format the C drive.

Any insight as to what the installer will do would be great.

Edited by gmac on 12/01/2010 at 16:21

Fixing XP - rtj70
I would consider booting off something like an Ubuntu live CD or BartPE (Windows based) and copy all the files off to a USB device as a starting point. That is secure the data before attempting anything.

Or failing that. Take the hard disk out and put it in a USB caddy and use another working machine to copy the disk contents to ensure you have a backup. A 2.5" USB caddy/enclosure could be had for as little as £10 or so.
Fixing XP - gmac
OK, thanks for that.

I did think about a USB driver AFTER burning the CD :(
Fixing XP - rtj70
Ubuntu Live CD should be able to see the NTFS partition and I would think would detect USB too. And have networking. So could be used to copy the files off before you try any fixes.
Fixing XP - Altea Ego
A dos boot diskette can not work with a NTFS file systems.

Have you tried booting into the command console?
F8 then choose safe mode with command console.
Fixing XP - gmac
This is an OLD machine, FAT32, that's why I thought I could get away with DOS.

Command console does not work. Machine starts, login screen, user logs in then immediately the logoff message is shown and returns to the login screen.

The registry has been modified to look for something other than userinit.exe which is what starts the XP user session.

Edited by gmac on 12/01/2010 at 17:17

Fixing XP - gmac
That reply above does not read correctly. I did not mean to shout old, just emphasis the machine is ooooooooooooold (1999).
Fixing XP - Altea Ego
sok, read as intended.
Fixing XP - Rattle
Also if its that old how much RAM does it have? Its probably not worth bothering with since used desktops are worthless. I have loads of Athlon XP, 512MB RAM type systems here I cannot give them away.

I usualy don't touch systems this old because there is usualy other problems such as faulty drives, RAM etc.
Fixing XP - Rattle
I am not sure if it does, I know on my MINT (which is Ubuntu based) business PC I had to actually install the NTFS packages to get it to read clients hard drives.

I seem to remember having problems reading NTFS with Ubuntu live but my memory may be playing tricks. Damn Small Linux reads NTFS and is ideal BUT it dosn't always work with USB drives.

Fixing XP - jbif
try the solutions at en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-22087-xp-auto-log-off
see posts no., author and date as follows:

193 Daniel, on Jan 2, 2010 10:17:55 am GMT

9 waqar, on Dec 30, 2008 4:50:00 am GMT

11 the_apocalypse, on Jan 2, 2009 3:29:00 am GMT

197 Daniel, on Jan 6, 2010 2:11:17 pm GMT

Edited by jbif on 12/01/2010 at 17:50

Fixing XP - Rattle
Download the ultimate boot CD and use tools on it to clone the drive, or use the Utimate Windows BOOT CD to allow you to boot into a copy of windows and back up the data. Or simply remove the drive and slave it to back up the data.

PS The repair installation simply replaces the windowes files and leaves the registery keys alone regarding use settings.

You could actually simply do a clean install without formating it, that way all the files on the hard drive remains the same. The only folder which gets deleted is the c:\windows folders. Its not a good way of doing it but it will do the job.

Also you need to work out what caused the problem. Is it due to a hardware problem such as a defective hard drive, power supply or fault RAM?
Fixing XP - gmac
Thanks for all the replies above.

I thought about slaving the HDD but don't have any other hardware I can slave it with.

Our neighbour will be buying a new laptop this year but needs the data off this one as it has her college work including her final paper which she *really* needs.
It has 1.25Gb RAM and does what she needs it to do, or did.
She now realises the value of backups.

The XP install CD from this manufacturer was installed in a hidden partition, not much use when you can't get the system to boot up. Waiting for them to send out a CD, I will then build a BartPE CD for future use.
Fixing XP - rtj70
If it's easily accessible, I think I'd take the drive out and stick it in a USB enclosure and get the data off. Then rebuilt it.

There's cheaper ones but I got this and it works well:

www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/39776/Icy-Box-I...e

Mine is rarely used - just for emergencies really... the previous one would not power off the USB ports very well. If you were local to me I could lend it. Manchester way BTW. I have other USB devices with plenty of storage anyway (several Terabytes now!)

Edited by rtj70 on 12/01/2010 at 18:52

Fixing XP - Rattle
You could always buy a 3.5" USB caddy. Some only with with 8gb drives minimum though. I am guessing this drive is a 10gb?

I often use the caddy method because it is a lot quicker than transfering 10gb of data on USB 1.0x!

Rob beat me to it :)

The above is 2.5" though, if it is a desktop it will be 3.5" not can't remembere if this is a desktop or laptop now. Edit just checked its a laptop :)

Avoid very cheap caddies too, I one that died and it could have taken the HD with it.

PCWORLD sell this for about £15.00 too if you order online and collect in store, good quality little boxes.

Edited by Rattle on 12/01/2010 at 18:51

Fixing XP - J Bonington Jagworth
"She now realises the value of backups"

Ain't that the truth? Experience is the best school, but the fees are high.. :-)
Fixing XP - SpamCan61 {P}
Or simply remove the drive and slave it to
back up the data.


That's what I did to a neighbour's dead XP PC to get his user data off, unfortunately someone else had got there first and done a fresh Windows install for some unearthly reason, so all I got off the HDD was a Windows folder. D'oh.
Fixing XP - Rattle
Formated hard drive cases are fairly easy to recover data from, especialy photos as free programs such as photorec does a great job. I've used it a few times when a client as taken their PC back to that big shop under warranty, they format it, client looses data.

I still don't know how they get away with it.
Fixing XP - SpamCan61 {P}
I've still got the HDD and I'd be on his xmas card list for evermore if I got the data back so i'll give photorec a go.
Fixing XP - Rattle
I've had near 100% sucess rates with photographs but with other documents its very hit and miss. The problem is it does not reocver the file system, only the binary data. So although it gets the extensions right it will find 1000000's of photos most of them just 1kb files of the net. Once it has found the photos use the search facility to find all photos over say 1mb then you will find all the photographs and not pick up all the crappy internet cache files.

Link here

www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec

You just have to hope the photo data has not been over written by the new operating system install, the smaller the HD the much more chance of this not working :(

Edited by Rattle on 12/01/2010 at 19:09

Fixing XP - 64bit
Don't worry

If you reinstall XP (dont reformat) it will see a a current directory of XP systems files already exists. It will then simply make a new directory for the install names something slighty different but it will keep any data you have on the PC intact.

You basicly get two windows directorys, a working one (new) and the old one. All data remains in place.

This is of course dependent on there being enought room on the C drive, approx 1.5 GB needed.
Fixing XP - bell boy
got to say after reading all the answers given, my choice would be to piggy back the hard drive to another computer and save to usb the data required
maplins even do a usb to sata? so you just drop the slave hd in,im yet to buy one of these to try though
i doubt linux would allow you to get into the files without overloading what will be a low gb hardrive and if you reinstall xp this too could overload the drive
ive only learnt all this by killing things mind so i could be wrong its just i like to mess even if it aint broke
i killed a hardrive last year by letting the latest virus updater do its stuff and basically in my opinion the updated files overloaded the thing and it never worked again
Fixing XP - gmac
got to say after reading all the answers given my choice would be to piggy
back the hard drive to another computer and save to usb the data required
maplins even do a usb to sata? so you just drop the slave hd in
im yet to buy one of these to try though
i doubt linux would allow you to get into the files without overloading what will
be a low gb hardrive and if you reinstall xp this too could overload the
drive


Sounds like an ideal solution, the problem I've got is machine has no USB ports active.

Building a DOS boot CD with USB driver is not a simple as it would seem, I have no XP install CD at present to create a PE environment and I don't want to use another XP laptop as a host due to the suspected virus on the HDD.

These USB caddys look like they need the host for power.
Fixing XP - rtj70
I am suggesting taking the hard disk out of the laptop (for most it's under a flap held by a few screws), putting it in the USB enclosure and connecting to a totally different machine.

Then copy off the data before doing whatever to the drive back in the laptop next. The hard disk needs to be removed from the non working laptop to put in the USB enclosure. It does not need USB working on that laptop - it will be accessed on another machine.
Spotify - Felix
Hi,
Hope I've used this thread right..... any of you out there use Spotify? I have for sometime (free not premium) but just lately find that the first 2 seconds of virtually every track is blank - even the adverts. Tried playing with the cache settings but no effect. Pretty sure it's nothing to do with my PC (got a new Windows 7 laptop which does most things blindingly quickly compared with my old one on which I didn't get this problem). the only way I can get a track to play from the very beginnning is by going back to the beginning of it after it's started. Quite annoying and affecting my enjoyment of an otherwise brilliant service, best thing on the internet IMHO... apart from HJ of course :-). Anybody experience this too, or any ideas?
Thanks
Spotify - Rattle
No problems here. Are you using a wireless connection or one them crappy 3G connnections?

It sounds like a bandwidth problem.
Spotify - Felix
Wireless router. Don't know, maybe you're right but as an experiment i just tried streming an hd programme on iplayer at the same time, and if anything it's got better!
Spotify - Rattle
If you're still having problems try using it via ethernet. Also have you got the MTU in the router set correctly? Too high and it might be dropping packets.
Spotify - Felix
erm.... don't know, never tried changing it, didn't know I could. Given that other bandwidth-heavy things like iplayer work pretty well I wonder if this would be barking up the wrong tree but I might give that a try if I'm feelling brave. Thanks for the suggestion though...
Spotify - bell boy
i sometimes get this if im on linux and opera
i assume you are on microsoft so would suggest trying mozilla firefox and the ethernet if its not a problem for you
Spotify - Felix
confused... I didn't know you could use spotify through a browser, I just downloaded the programme (itunes lookalike). Are you suggesting I should install firefox and that there's a way I can use spotify through it?
Spotify - bell boy
sorry had a thick moment
no spotify runs without mozilla
embarrased and hides,,,,,,,,
Spotify - smokie
Could be a slow connection or name resolution. Unlikely to be the type of connection - even 3G does this well. Are you noticing any lag when connecting to other sites, especially on initial connect?
Spotify - maz64
any of you out there use Spotify?


If you don't manage to solve your problem and get fed up, you could try www.we7.com/
Also free (with adverts), but works through your browser - no Windows executables, which suits me because I'm in linux.
Spotify - Felix
If you don't manage to solve your problem and get fed up you could try
www.we7.com/
Also free (with adverts) but works through your browser - no Windows executables which suits
me because I'm in linux.

Thanks, I'd not heard of that.... just tried it and I'm well impressed so far! The mini adverts between every track are a tad annoying but you can't have everything. Shame they don't have a premium ad-free service, I think I'd pay for that. I might end up being a convert to we7 from spotify.
HJ Forum 'New' Posts - Clk Sec
This subject has been raised before, but I can't find it. Running CCleaner plays havoc with the very helpful 'New' posts indicator when I'm on this site, and it doesn't return to it's normal mode for several days.

Is there anything I can do to rectify this?

Thanks.

Clk Sec

Edited by Clk Sec on 13/01/2010 at 08:57

HJ Forum 'New' Posts - Hugh Watt
I hesitate to reply before the real experts on here, but probably you need to go to CCleaner - Options - Cookies, and move the Honestjohn cookie from the Delete list to the Keep list. Seems to have worked for me before now.
HJ Forum 'New' Posts - Dynamic Dave
As Slow Eddie says. You also need to move any other cookies that save log-in / memory functions for other forums as well.
HJ Forum 'New' Posts - Clk Sec
Thanks SE and DD.

I've been into Options and Cookies but there's nothing listed for me to move. I've tried this on several occasions this morning.

Clk Sec

Edited by Clk Sec on 13/01/2010 at 11:28

HJ Forum 'New' Posts - Clk Sec
All is well. Thanks again.

Clk Sec
Best browser for narrowband connection ? - dimdip
I'm currently using a connection of about 0.3 Mbps. The newer version of Firefox seems optimised for a fast connection, in that it doesn't cache much content and seems to download pages afresh even when they have already been visited recently.

If I tried going back to an older version of FF, presumably that would lose the security improvements, plus it would be constantly trying to update to the newer spec?

Would it be better with one of the other browsers, or are they also optimised for a faster connection? Thanks for any suggestions.
Best browser for narrowband connection ? - maz64
optimised for a fast connection in that it doesn't cache much content


Perhaps check/increase the cache size - preferences / advanced / network?

Edited by Focus {P} on 13/01/2010 at 14:32

Best browser for narrowband connection ? - maz64
>> optimised for a fast connection in that it doesn't cache much content
Perhaps check/increase the cache size - preferences / advanced / network?


...and also check settings in preferences / privacy.
Best browser for narrowband connection ? - bell boy
opera has a turbo setting for slow connections
best thing is to turn off all images i find if connection is slow
Best browser for narrowband connection ? - maz64
opera has a turbo setting for slow connections


Certainly worth trying opera, although when I did a side-by-side comparison with FF on my (slow) linux laptop and reasonable speed connection I found that it took Opera approx 4 seconds to display a new HJ post, whereas it only took FF approx 1 second. Didn't try it on other sites.

EDIT: wasn't using Opera's turbo

Edited by Focus {P} on 13/01/2010 at 14:48

Best browser for narrowband connection ? - dimdip
Thanks for the suggestions. I checked the cache, Focus {P}, and it was set for 100 Mb, so I don't think that was limiting, though I set to 200 just in case... Privacy settings, good point. It's set to not store history etc, though would that make a difference within a current session? I'll try it with those settings altered as well.

Thanks for the Opera suggestion Bell boy, sounds ideal if it has a low-bandwidth mode. Will give it a try tomorrow...
Samsung hard drive problems still ongoing - janliv18
Durther to my previous post about not being able to use a new 1TB Samsung HD103SJ sata hard drive with my compaq sr1909uk pc. Im still having problems, about every 3rd time i turn on the machine it says 'insert system disk' i.e. it cant detect the drive.

I thought it was a drive fault so ebuyer swapped it and i still get it so it must be pc based.

Ive tried doing what others said and using the jumper on the rear - this does nothing - same problems. The drive only has 4 pins on the rear (2 jumpers) not 8 as seen on the samsung website.

The motherboard is a A8M2N-LA Motherboard. The compaq website only has a bios update from 2007. Does anyone know if this board has a more recent update?

thank you
Samsung hard drive problems still ongoing - maz64
The motherboard is a A8M2N-LA Motherboard. The compaq website only has a bios update from
2007. Does anyone know if this board has a more recent update?


If you google for A8M2N-LA, it appears that the board is made specifically for HP, and Asus don't support it. One link says you can use the drivers from the nVidia website for the nVidia chipset:
tinyurl.com/yhnqjq6 (post #3)

A lateral thought - what is the boot order set to in the BIOS - is the HD first? If so, perhaps you can move it down the order (eg. put floppy, optical drives, USB before it) so the HD has time to 'sort itself out' before it is asked to boot. Might also be a rubbish thought.

I might be tempted to see how much a 'standard' motherboard with the same specs as the A8M2N-LA would be from somewhere like eBuyer - the ones I buy are usually under £40 IIRC.

EDIT: assuming the A8M2N-LA is standard size

Edited by Focus {P} on 13/01/2010 at 22:15

Samsung hard drive problems still ongoing - janliv18
thanks for that, i did try changing the boot order but to no avail.

Ok further prob now!... i turn the machine on and it just hangs on the bios (just says COMPAQ) on the screen, wont move off there. do you think the board has gone?

thanks
Samsung hard drive problems still ongoing - maz64
do you think the board has gone?


Try resetting the BIOS - not sure if this is your exact board, but:
h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&...0
Samsung hard drive problems still ongoing - janliv18
i thought that may have worked but it didnt!
ive unplugged any hard drives, cd drive etc and its still just hangs on the Compaq logo.
Samsung hard drive problems still ongoing - maz64
www.ebuyer.com/search?store=2&cat=222&subcat=1953
? :-)

There might be someone with less drastic solution...
Samsung hard drive problems still ongoing - janliv18
i think i will go down this route, but if the chip has gone as well then i dont want to waste money.

If the screen is displaying the compaq logo etc would the chip still be working?

Thanks for your help
Samsung hard drive problems still ongoing - maz64
If the screen is displaying the compaq logo etc would the chip still be working?


I would think that the CPU needs to do something to get the logo displayed, but I don't know for sure. However I don't think the previous symptoms you described would be due to a dodgy CPU.

One other thing I can think of is the power supply, but I wouldn't know how to prove it apart from buying a new one and trying it (unless you've got the appropriate tools/knowledge, which I certainly haven't).

Edited by Focus {P} on 13/01/2010 at 22:52

Samsung hard drive problems still ongoing - janliv18
do power supplies work or not work or can they give faults like these? I dont have access to another power supply with 24 pins as mine is. I have one in the loft from an old AMD system but its only 20 min so will be too short to fit.
Samsung hard drive problems still ongoing - maz64
do power supplies work or not work or can they give faults like these?


Probably not - just one of the things I've had go wrong in the past, and if I had a spare one (with the right number of pins) I'd try it before splashing out on new components.

Tricky one.
Samsung hard drive problems still ongoing - janliv18
ok we are back in business now! i took the battery out of the bios for 10 mins then put it back in.
All working - tho original prob still there that it doesnt like the 1tb samsung drive.
Samsung hard drive problems still ongoing - maz64
ok we are back in business now!


Well done - good luck with the disk.
anybody know M$oft 'Companyweb' - borasport20
I don't expect to get an answer here, but I'm going to outline a problem in the hope that one of the more technical back-roomers may point me in the direction of a resource for beginners where I may get the question answered

We are trying to use a piece of software, Microsoft Companyweb, for managing documents - the documents are created and uploaded to a shared folder, then a
record is created in companyweb which has that document attached - however, it seems that the process of 'attachement' is actually creating another instance of the document (somewhere, I know not where). If I access the shared folder and use word to edit the document independent of companyweb, the changes are
not seen when when going through companyweb, and vice versa - this is a pain as it means if a document is released to somebody off the network and comes
back amended, overwriting the original document in the shared folder does not show the changes when the document is viewed via companyweb - the only way to
do that is to delete the link to the document and re-attach it.
This is all a bit of a pain, can it be overcome in companyweb, or are there other approaches ?
anybody know M$oft 'Companyweb' - maz64
We use CogniDox - hopefully this is similar to Companyweb, and if it isn't, I apologise.

I think the 'problem' is your shared folder - we don't have anything similar. If you want a copy of a document, you get it from Cognidox. If you want to update the document, you get it from Cognidox, do your edits, then update Cognidox with the new version and (ideally) delete your own copy. Cognidox is the only shared repository.

Can you get rid of the shared folder?
anybody know M$oft 'Companyweb' - gmac
We are trying to use a piece of software Microsoft Companyweb for managing documents -


SNIPQUOTE!

I have not used companyweb but something similar.
It works as a version control so two people are not amending a document at the same time. You need to checkout the document, make your changes and check it back in. Above shows you are bypassing the software to make changes.
If I access the shared folder and use word to edit the document
independent of companyweb


You have not checked it out so you cannot check it back in.

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 14/01/2010 at 19:10

Vista Admin Status - pda
Thanks to the excellent instructions from jbif I now have another Administrator account on Vista.
Many thanks, that one has puzzled me for months!
Is there any easy was to transfer my desktop shortcuts and settings to this account to save changing it all bit by bit?
I tend to use Windows classic view and the start menu confused me straight away, so I'm logged back into the old account to see if anyone knows and easier way:)

Pat
Vista Admin Status - gmac
To copy the shortcuts from Desktop to Desktop open a file browser window (Windows Key + E)
Go to the C drive and there will be a Users folder
Open that and the sub-folder Desktop
Copy and paste from one account to another.

If it makes it easier, you can open two of these file browser windows, open the Desktop folder in each window for each account.
Vista Admin Status - pda
Thanks gmac:)
That was easy so I better go and see if it works now!

Pat
Vista Admin Status - gmac
Above folders should have read:

C: --> Users --> accountname --> Desktop
Vista Admin Status - pda
I found then gmac, don't worry.

I'm intrepid when it comes to the PC, that's why I'm always doing it all wrong:)

Pat
No sound device - perro
Last week I got fed up with pop ups from Real appearing in the bottom LH corner of my computer so nuked the critter via add or remove.
While I was in there, I thought I'd nuke Realtek as well (hehe!) so now I've got no sound device!
I've reinstalled Real + Realtek AC 97 Audio, but it still says "no audio device" in the sounds and audio devices properties section of control panel.
I can lsten to Talksport via flashplayer so all the connections are ok.
Any ideas anyone?
No sound device - bell boy
if you have a games type soundcard in the back of your computer try moving the jack plug to another output on it as sometimes reinstalling realteck does this ive found
or it might be worth trying control panel/ system/ hardware and uninstalling the sound device/then turn computer back on and it should install automatically
or the sound might be turned down oin your windows media player if you still have it

see simples :-(
No sound device - perro
>>> see simples :-( <<<

Cheers belle buoy, I'll try all that then - dunno about simples though, I've spent over 12 hours on it so far!
I was an auto diagnostician for 14 years - that's bad enough but computers ... jeeeez :)
No sound device - maz64
I've reinstalled Real + Realtek AC 97 Audio but it still says "no audio device"


If you didn't get the Realtek AC 97 driver from the downloads section of the website for your particular motherboard, I would give that a go.
No sound device - rtj70
I'd remove the driver and try a simple reboot. Windows should detect the device and try to auto-install.

Other suggestions:

- Maybe after you re-installed it you simply have the volume down?
- Some motherboards detect the type of device plugged into the 3.5mm socket. So when you plug in say a speaker it tries to guess what it is but does ask. Plug in a microphone in the wrong socket and it can reconfigure it to be a microphone socket.... so try unplugging the speakers and then plug them back in again. It might not know what's plugged in.
No sound device - perro
Thanks Focus & Rob, I'll try those suggesstions later on when I get my eyes back in my head :)
No sound device - perro
All done now, it was simply a case of = Control Panel - Sounds and Audio Devices - Audio - then changing the default device to Realtek AC97 in the drop down box - see ... simples (hehe!)
Thanks to all.
Powerpoint-type presentation onto DVD - BobbyG
If I was wanting to do a powerpoint type presentation, but only have a TV and DVD where I want to show it, how can overcome this?

Our organisation has charity shops and I have had donated a flat screen Tv on a tall thin stand. This would be ideal for putting in our shop window and playing a rotating message to the public about the services we provide. But I don't have a computer and for security sake, don't want one either.

Is it possible to put this type of info onto a DVd and play it on a continuous loop? I know my dvd will do this with jpg so can I do info screens and then just save as jpg or will that not work?

The presentation would be a mix of photos and written information slides.

Thoughts?

Edited by BobbyG on 15/01/2010 at 16:42

Powerpoint-type presentation onto DVD - SpamCan61 {P}
Is it possible to put this type of info onto a DVd and play it
on a continuous loop? I know my dvd will do this with jpg so can
I do info screens and then just save as jpg or will that not work?

Most video editing programmes will do this sort of thing but the easiest is probably to do as you suggest and store each slide as a .jpg. Pretty much every DVD player I've used as an infinte repeat / loop function you could use.

Come to think of it IIRC Windows Movie Maker ( included as part of Win XP onwards) has a produce slide show for CD option.

edit : yes it looks like WMM can burn to CD:-

www.vista4beginners.com/Windows-Movie-Maker

Edited by SpamCan61 {P} on 15/01/2010 at 16:50

Powerpoint-type presentation onto DVD - VR6
Its quite easy to do. Create a presentation in Powerpoint, then ?Save As? JPG. This will then create a separate JPG of each slide and save them in a folder where you choose.
Then either burn the JPG?s directly on to a DVD/CD, or use something like Movie Maker to polish it up with transitions etc?

Note that the quality of the resulting JPGs isn?t great.
Powerpoint-type presentation onto DVD - rtj70
I'm sure there are lots of options for this. As one says you can create a JPEG slide show from a Powerpoint and most cheap DVD players would play these.

I might be in your neck of the woods next Wednesday/Thursday - I'll try to drop by ;-)
Powerpoint-type presentation onto DVD - BobbyG
Thanks for the ideas guys, didn't realise it would be as simple as that.

Rob, feel free, now that your homeless do I just look out for the big camper van???
Powerpoint-type presentation onto DVD - rtj70
No I'll probably come on the train - stopping over in a city centre hotel.

I'll leave the caravan at home ;-)

Edited by rtj70 on 15/01/2010 at 20:06

Powerpoint-type presentation onto DVD - SpamCan61 {P}
Come to think of it I think my eldest's DVD player ( Alba/ Bush - 20 odd quid in Argos 4 years ago ) has a whole range of fancy transitions you can select between JPGs when in slideshow mode.