Author |
Message |
Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 1:47 pm
Jan: I highly recommend the Microsoft Optical Trackball. There is virtually no wrist movement, only your thumb and occasional middle finger to operate the scroll wheel. This is what both JMM & I have on our computers, fwiw. If this isn't an option, or possibly in addition, this link has a very thorough list of keyboard shortcuts you can use. Hope this helps ETA: In answer to your previous question, yes it is possible to copy DVDs. I won't try to address the legal aspects, however, there are software packages on the market that claim to copy virtually any type of disc. The DVD would require a DVD recorder in the computer of course.
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Jan
Member
08-01-2000
| Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 2:08 pm
Thanks for the help once again , dra  The rollerball I have requires only the thumb and click finger as well. My thumb rolls the ball instead of moving the mouse.The mouse itself has a great curve to it that my hand nicely curves over. But now my whole hand just cramps into that position and the "whatever" (tendons???) that connects my thumb and fingers start to cramp and ache right up my arm through the elbow up to the shoulder joint.. Isn't it wonderful to age   Does the optical one work differently? If not, I will try and learn some of the keyboard shortcuts and limit my mouse use. That should help. Thanks again you wonderful guy you 
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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 3:01 pm
Jan: The major advantages to the optical devices is their accuracy and ease of use, and easy to maintain. The ball moves very smooth and with very little effort. If lint or dust get behind the ball, simply 'pop' it out (there is a small hole on the bottom you push through to get the ball out) and wipe the cavity where it sits with a lint-free cloth or blow it out with canned air. Then pop the ball back into place and you're all set. The 'mechanical' type devices usually have small rubber wheels that the ball moves to register the movement of the cursor. These can collect dust and dirt making the movements difficult. I would recommend you visit a store which has both types on display for you to 'feel' the difference in the way they work if possible. I believe you'll find the optical is much easier to use. Hope this helps
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 4:27 pm
Jan, I would suggest you take a look at the vertical mouse. This mouse is designed to help with carpal tunnel and perhaps with your cramps since it's a natural hand position. Here is the link to the website
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Jan
Member
08-01-2000
| Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 4:42 pm
Thank you so much guys. Dang hard to type as i have elastic bandage on my hand and wrist. I will try both of your suggestions and I really appreciate the info
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Sunshine25
Member
07-07-2004
| Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 9:27 pm
Dra thank you so much. Worked like a charm.
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Donut
Member
07-31-2001
| Saturday, July 24, 2004 - 3:05 pm
Dra, we're baaack! Now the computer won't even start up! We hadn't had a chance yet to use the two programs you gave us to help us move thing faster, and now when hubby went on today it won't go past the Windows ME logo screen. A safe mode start won't work either. Unplugging didn't either. he pressed escape and got a message saying windows could not upgrade the file 1 percent from 2 percent, and also that windows was trying to reconfigure. THe only thing he did differnently today was delete the trackball software and plug in the basic mouse. After that he got a message saying file copying problem, and other messages error 0210:stuck key 2F. and others if you need them. I am on web tv right now, but no hamsters there! Plus we were gonna go away and take the laptop with us tomorrow so would love to fix it tonite! THanks so much AGAIN!
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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Saturday, July 24, 2004 - 5:41 pm
Donut: Try these instructions from Microsoft on how to recover the Registry on Windows/ME. This might enable you to boot the system again and continue to try to resolve the other problems.
- Start your computer, press and hold CTRL, and then choose Safe Mode Command Prompt Only from the Windows Startup menu. If you are running Windows Me, start your computer with the startup disk.
- At the MS-DOS prompt, type cd\windows\command, and then press ENTER. Where windows is the name of the folder in which Windows is installed.
- At the C: prompt, type scanreg /restore, and then press ENTER.
- Select the previous registry you want to restore, and then press ENTER.NOTE: A properly working registry has the word "Started" next to the date.
- When you receive notification that you restored a properly working registry, press ENTER to restart your computer.
Hope this helps
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Donut
Member
07-31-2001
| Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 2:30 pm
thanks Dra! Will this work without the disc, cuz i am not sure we have it... Last nite hubby switched it to external instead of auto for the mouse and it worked, but then he decided to reinstall the track ball this morning cuz the mouse was lousy and sticking, and now it won't go on at all whether is it auto or external or both... So, we will try what you said, after we go now to his dads to find the disk. or without the disk if you say so.. ALthough, without the disk, he isn't seeing the ms dos command... Also, just wondering, if we do all those commands is there anything we can permanently mess up or lose? or is it a pretty benign/safe thing to do? THanks again!
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Gidget
Member
07-28-2002
| Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 5:33 pm
I got infected a few months ago with Spyware. DH was able to get rid of most of it but some of it is back and none of the blockers and spyware controllers I have seem to be able to keep it completely under control. I have two questions. Would completely wiping out my hard drive and starting over eliminate the problem? Is it cost prohibitive to buy software these days? The computer I have came with everything loaded but no CDs so I cant wipe it clean if I wanted to.
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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 7:36 pm
Donut: You'll need the disk to boot with Windows/ME. It sounds as though you're able to get into windows at least to make the changes to the mouse connection. If so, I would suggest that you could make a boot diskette from there. Click on 'Start - Settings - Control Panel' then open 'Add/Remove Programs' and click on the 'Startup Disk' tab. You must have a diskette that you can use to create this diskette, be sure there isn't anything on the diskette that you need to save before proceeding. Alternatively, you can download an image of the Windows/ME boot disk by clicking here and save the file on your computer. Once the file is saved, located the file and double-click on it. Follow the prompts by inserting a useable diskette in the drive. Once you have this diskette created, you can then proceed with the previous instructions to restore the registry. Performing the steps above should not harm your computer in any way. The results should be that your computer registry will be restored and working properly. Hope this helps.
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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 7:39 pm
Gidget: You may need to run AdAware using these steps to completely clear your computer of the problems you describe. You need to restart your computer in 'Safe Mode' and run AdAware & Spybot repeatedly until they run without finding any problems. This may take several times to get your system completely cleaned of all adware or spyware type problems. To restart in safe mode, click 'Start - Run' and type MSCONFIG in the window then press Enter. Check the box for 'Diagnostic Mode' and click 'Ok' at which time your computer should prompt you to restart. Run AdAware first and use these steps to do a thorough system scan of your computer:- Under Ad-aware 6 - 'Settings (Click the Gear Icon) - Tweaks - Scanning Engine' check this: "Unload recognized processes during scanning."
- Under Ad-aware 6 - 'Settings (Click the Gear again) - Tweaks - Cleaning Engine' check this: "Let Windows remove files in use after reboot."
- Press "Scan Now"
- Check option "Use Custom scanning options"
- Check option "Activate In-Depth Scan"
- Press "Select drives\folders to scan"
- Select the active partition which is usually C:
- Press "Next" to let Ad-aware scan your drives...
- AdAware will find a number of "bad" files and registry keys. Click 'Next' again then Right-click in that pane and choose 'Select all'
- If it finds "bad" files and registry keys, click 'Next' again and it will ask you whether you'd like to remove all checked items. Click 'OK'.
- Finally, close Ad-Aware, and reboot.
Hope this helps.
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Jan
Member
08-01-2000
| Monday, July 26, 2004 - 12:16 pm
Ladytex, I took a look at that vertical mouse and it really looks great...except the new version isn't available in the States till August ..so who knows when in Canada Dra, while looking around in my packrat pile, I found the original "normal" cordless mouse that came with my keyboard. If I want to try it to see if it makes a difference (before I spend any money), do I have to uninstall my trackball software and reinstall some software for the non trackball?? they are both cordless and they are both logitech so I was hoping the same receiver and software would work..but they don't seem to. I never installed the normal mouse as I bought the trackball at the same time as the keyboard. (the normal mouse just came with the keyboard) I have three software disks from logitech: mouseware 9.1, itouch 1.6 and mouseware8.60 but I have no idea which disk goes with what? I noticed on my installed mouse properties it has an "add a device" button. Is there some way I can just add the "normal" mouse there so I can switch between the two?? (I would like to be able to switch as I know that the normal mouse will , with lots of use , create arm pain for me also. That's why I switched to trackball in the first place. I am looking for a short term solution until I can buy the new vertical mouse with the optical scan in the fall when it is available.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Monday, July 26, 2004 - 12:31 pm
Been working on computers most of the morning. Got a message from Netzero that I had to upgrade their software, which prompted me to do other stuff. I have run across a problem with Bigdog's play computer, which is an ancient P2 Compaq Presario 350 Mhz, Windows98SE with 56k dialup modem. Bigdog reports that he has not been able to access the internet for a couple weeks. I assumed when I got the Netzero notice this morning that it was because of needing the upgrade (Bigdog hardly ever needs to use the internet, so he has free Juno dialup e-mail and free Netzero 10 hours per month internet). So I installed the upgrade on his computer. Needing the upgrade was apparently not the problem. I can connect to the internet with the new software, but can't go anywhere once on the internet. Putting the screws to the free users is not the problem (it sometimes is the problem with free Juno internet access, but not usually with Netzero, which is odd because they are now the same company, but I digress; that is NOT the problem). I used my pay Juno account just to make sure it wasn't a Netzero problem. Same thing happens with Juno. I can connect but can't go anywhere. So you would think it might be a IE problem, BUT Juno has its own browser. Can't go anywhere with the Juno browser either. It just spins and spins trying to connect with a website, same thing IE does. It would not seem to be the modem because it does dial up and make a connection on both Juno and Netzero. Bigdog's Juno e-mail is also working fine, and it uses the modem to dial in to retrieve and send messages. I am stumped. Anybody got any ideas?
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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Monday, July 26, 2004 - 1:36 pm
Jan: I would look in the current software setup and see if there is an option to switch to a different type of device. With Microsoft's 'Intellipoint' software, I can select which device I have connected, Trackball, mouse, optical, etc. and the same program works for me. You may be able to do that without having to change or load anything else. If you have to install anything, I would suggest the latest version of the Mouseware (9.1) would be better. I'm not familiar with the itouch but it 'sounds' like a touchpad program to me. You might even want to go to Logitech's website and see what they have for the latest 'package' and use that instead. There may also be information there about the compatibility of two 'transmitters' with one receiver so you could switch between the two devices. Hope this helps.
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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Monday, July 26, 2004 - 1:42 pm
Juju: Like so many other providers that have 'their own' browser, I'm going to have to speculate that Juno/Netzero also rely on IE to be the 'engine' used to access the net, but with their interface. I would recommend you look into the internet connection settings and make sure they are set properly to use the dialup connection and not a network card connection. From IE, click 'Tools - Internet Options' then click the 'Connections' tab. Make sure you have the dialup connection you are using in there and check the settings to be sure they are correct. Let me know if this helps or what other problems you find.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Monday, July 26, 2004 - 6:04 pm
I did not know that about Juno relying on IE browser. Come to think of it, the Juno browser Favorites and IE Favorites are the same if the user so elects. Huh! Okay, Dra, I will check the connection later tonight. I was also going to take the laptop down there and see if I can successfully connect and surf the net from Bigdog's cave. If the connection is okay, and I almost have to think they will be, because I AM making a connection as evidenced by the little double monitor icons, do you think it would be worthwhile to uninstall and reinstall Internet Explorer? I really HATE having to work on Bigdog's play computer because it is SO slow. Drives me crazy. I might have to break down and get him a real computer. Will let you know what happens.
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Daydreamer
Member
09-16-2003
| Monday, July 26, 2004 - 6:35 pm
I have my e mail set up with Outlook Express, which I love, and I leave my computer on all the time. The only problem is that I guess since it is set up that way, when I am away from my own computer, I can not go to the web and read any e mails. Is that happening because I leave my Outlook open all the time? I use Comcast for my e mail. Is there a way to set up my e mail so it will go to both places? Thanks very much in advance!
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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Monday, July 26, 2004 - 7:06 pm
Daydreamer: Most likely you have your Outlook Express setup to delete the e-mail from the server when it is received by your computer. When you leave OE open, it continually checks for new mail, downloads them, then deletes them from the server. The alternative would be to change that setting, however, by leaving them on the server, your inbox at Comcast could become full and you would not be able to receive any e-mails until you manually delete them from the server. If you decide to setup your Outlook Express this way, you can use an online e-mail service such as www.mail2web.com to log into your account and delete messages you have received and no longer need. Hope this helps.
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Daydreamer
Member
09-16-2003
| Tuesday, July 27, 2004 - 3:55 am
Thanks, Dra! If I just close my Outlook every day when I leave for work will I be able to get my e mails from the Comcast web site?
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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Tuesday, July 27, 2004 - 8:01 am
Daydreamer: Yes, any that have come in since you closed Outlook, should be accessible from their website. Probably Comcast has installed something like Webmail or similar online e-mail access program. If you delete the e-mail through that interface, you will not be able to retrieve them later using Outlook though, since they will no longer be on the server. If you need to save them, be sure to leave them until Outlook can retrieve them for you to keep. Hope this helps.
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Daydreamer
Member
09-16-2003
| Tuesday, July 27, 2004 - 11:22 am
That definitely does help Dra! Thank you so much again!
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - 3:53 pm
Bigdog now has surfing ability!!!!!!! I am not sure which of the thousand things I did to his computer yesterday did it, but now when I connect to the internet, it will actually pull up a website. I think it was the part where I reverted to an earlier version of IE, but I am not sure. In the process of trying to get things straightened out, I uninstalled the new Netzero software and Zone Alarm, at which time I found out you can't just simply uninstall ZoneAlarm because it has placed itself in your register. There are still things wrong down there with Bigdog's play computer, including ZoneAlarm's malicious registry installation which now gives an error message upon rebooting, but at least the thing I started out to fix is fixed. Looks like I have to go in and do a regedit to totally get rid of ZoneAlarm. Everybody pray for me. That was yesterday's update which I was so busy I did not post. Following is today's update. Well, one conundrum solved, which is Bigdog's play computer. Once I got internet running, went to Trendmicrosystems and started running their free online scan. It has been running two hours now, and last I checked it, it had found 134 files infected with Beagle.AH. Now, Bigdog has been running AVG anti-virus on his computer, and it failed to detect this virus both when he acquired it and yesterday when I ran the full scan. It did find 16 infected files, which it said it "healed" but every time I run the scan it finds the same 16 files. I also ran the old Norton anti-virus which was still on his computer but hadn't been updated in a while. So while I am waiting for Trendmicrosystems to finish, I came upstairs to my computer to check on Bagel.AH (also known as Beagle.AH), and I got my answer as to why it was not detected. It is a NEW virus discovered July 22, 2004, and since Bigdog is hardly ever on the internet and probably doesn't bother to download virus updates when he is online, he does not have the update on Bagel.AH. Arrrrrrgh. Trendmicrosystems says it is unable to remove the virus, so whenever it gets done running, I will update the Norton and run it. Sheesh. For Draheid - haven't got around to messing with the laptop yet. Sigh. For others reading here - laptop also died day before yesterday and says it needs Windows reinstalled. LOL.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - 4:32 pm
Huh! I am just reading up on this beagle.ah virus. It is a nasty, nasty fellow. http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.beagle.ah@mm.html Among other things, it searches out and attacks files called things like ZoneLab and pandasoft. That would explain why I thought I was having a conflict with ZoneAlarm and was getting ZoneLabs error messages.
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Draheid
Moderator
09-09-2001
| Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - 7:00 pm
Juju: If the antivirus isn't able to remove the problem files, it may be due to the 'Restore' feature. If your version of Windows has it, you have to disable system restore in order for the antivirus to be able to remove all traces of some virus infections. I don't remember which version you have on the 'Play' computer so I'm not sure which instructions to give you on how to disable it, if you even have System Restore available.
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