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Archive through December 02, 2005

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: 2005 Dec. ~ 2006 Feb.: All Things Technical: The Help Desk: Computer Problems? Ask Here (ARCHIVES): Archive through December 02, 2005 users admin

Author Message
Jan
Moderator

08-01-2000

Sunday, October 23, 2005 - 11:40 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jan a private message Print Post    
Kelli, I found THis Thread- a Dell forum which seems to be talking about fixing winfixer with this virus but it is way over my head.

good luck. I think lots of people are having the same problem as the thread I referenced was referenced from another thread I found where people were talking about the issue.

HERE is the google search I did.

Kellirippa
Member

07-10-2002

Sunday, October 23, 2005 - 12:14 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kellirippa a private message Print Post    
Thank you Jan.... looks like this could be a little more than I capable of...

Jimmer
Member

08-30-2000

Sunday, October 30, 2005 - 8:21 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jimmer a private message Print Post    
I have a question about phone lines and modems. I recall hearing that you have to be careful when hooking up your dial-up modem to certain types of “digital” phone systems as it can damage the modem. We’re going to be staying at a small inn and a few hotels and I was wondering how I could confirm that the lines are okay? Of course, I could ask at the front desk, but not all of the people you get are technically oriented. Thanks!

Cndeariso
Member

06-28-2004

Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 1:53 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cndeariso a private message Print Post    
i'm not really sure where to post this. so, if this isn't it, please move it to where it is appropriate.

sony has admitted to having stealth software automatically installed on PC's that were used to listen to CD's, particularly from those bought through BMG. here is the link to the article that tells you were to go to find out if you have it and to get it uninstalled:

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2005-11-02-sony-patch_x.htm

Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Monday, November 07, 2005 - 4:19 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Julieboo a private message Print Post    
Here's another "not quite sure where to post" post.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002608438_paul07.html

Mac takes bite out of Windows
By Paul Andrews
Special to The Seattle Times

Hardly a week goes by that I don't hear from a friend or colleague with a monumental Windows problem.

I tell them I'm glad to help, on one condition: Next time they buy a computer, they agree to consider a Macintosh. A year ago, after a particularly trying week of spyware, adware, viral attacks, lock-ups and reboots, I changed my primary computer to a Mac. I've dabbled with Macs since the late 1980s but never felt a need to change from Windows.

For the first couple of months after the switch, while I transferred e-mail and contacts to Mac programs, I was firing up Windows almost daily. Gradually, though, I found fewer reasons to go back. It was a snap to export text and data files to the Mac, then convert them to Mac applications. And programs such as iTunes, iMovie, Safari and iPhoto, which came with the Powerbook, were easy to learn and use.

The exception was e-mail and contacts. There are ways to get the data from Windows to a Mac, but they're cumbersome and not always successful. Gradually, though, the important correspondents and contacts got into the Mac mail and address-book programs simply through daily use.

When I made the switch, I thought I was a relative rarity. After all, we're constantly reminded of the Windows desktop monopoly and how little market share Apple has.

But what I found surprised me. A lot of techies I know, including some former Micro-softies, have switched. Among holdouts, I kept hearing their next computer would be a Mac.

"There's huge awareness among the general public about how much [Windows] PCs have been compromised," said Tony Bove, author of a new book, "Just Say No To Microsoft" (No Starch Press, $24.95). "My mother knows about it, and she's not even a computer user."

Note that we're talking mostly about personal use, not corporate. Most newspaper reporters and other enterprise workers I know use Windows because their employers supply them with Windows.

Custom Windows applications also keep users from switching, Bove said. But he expects many apps will become Web-based over time, meaning any computer can access them.

How much switching is going on? Commenting on Microsoft's recent quarterly earnings report, some analysts speculated the Redmond giant might be losing market share to Apple.

If that's the case, it might be a historical first. I can't think of any time Apple stole share from Microsoft (as opposed to Apple users simply upgrading).

For now, anecdotal evidence suggests something is going on. Bove likes to tell Windows sufferers, "It's not your fault. But it is your problem."

The easiest fix is simply to change brands.

Seattle freelance writer Paul Andrews has written about technology for more than two decades. He can be reached at pandrews@seattletimes.com.


Jimmer
Member

08-30-2000

Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - 12:22 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jimmer a private message Print Post    
Kelli ... Did you ever get rid of that WinFixer thing? It's a nightmare!

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 8:40 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Juju2bigdog a private message Print Post    
Okay, here's a unique one.

My cousin Chairfree lives in Australia. The poor buggers in Australia have to pay a gazillion dollars for anything electronic.

I am trying to get him to get a CD writer and install it in his computer. It would cost him a lot of money to get one.

As y'all know, we can get them practically free nowadays.

Question is - they have 220 electricity over there. Would that make a difference if I bought him one here and sent it over? My mind is telling me no, it is just a computer component.

Bob2112
Member

06-12-2002

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 9:42 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Bob2112 a private message Print Post    
Dawg: The power supply should handle the different input voltages, so everything should work out fine.

Taterheadtwo
Member

09-29-2005

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 4:49 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Taterheadtwo a private message Print Post    
well its not only the voltage listing its also the hz, in usa they use only 60 hertz /60 cycles AC. in au. i thibk they use 59 hz. so he would need to run a power adapter, wgich would probably cost apretty penny and also need its on power plug in, so one more electonic always running apliance

Bob2112
Member

06-12-2002

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 6:03 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Bob2112 a private message Print Post    
Good point Taterheadtwo, but in this particular case Juju is concerned with the DC output voltages of the power supply, which should be the standard 3.3v, 5v and 12v, and whether or not a DVD drive purchased in the USA will work in the Australian computer. The computer in Australia is probably running 230V @ 50Hz into the power supply, but the DC output voltages should be standard.

The switch on the back of most PC power supplies will change between 115v @ 60Hz/230v @ 50Hz. So, assuming you have the correct adapter to fit the plug in the wall, you should only have to pick the correct input setting on the power supply and you could move the PC between the different standards.


Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - 3:12 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Juju2bigdog a private message Print Post    
Thanks, Spongie. That was what my instinct was telling me. Now I will have to go back to bensbargains and keep my eyes peeled for those free after rebates CD writers.

Yesitsme
Member

08-24-2004

Wednesday, November 30, 2005 - 1:41 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Yesitsme a private message Print Post    
I am unable to open multiple windows using Internet Explorer 6.0, while I used to be able to do this with no problem. At the time the problem started, I don't think I had changed anything that should have impacted it. I use Windows XP. Does anyone have any ideas of something I can try? I've done all of the updates for it, etc., but nothing has seemed to help. I have no problem opening multiple windows in AOL.

Yankee_in_ca
Member

08-01-2000

Wednesday, November 30, 2005 - 2:11 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Yankee_in_ca a private message Print Post    
Oh dear, I just got my new Blackberry, too.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/11/30/technology/rim.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

P.S. - not sure, Yesitsme. Sorry I can't help, but didn't want you to think I was ignoring your question by posting after you :-)

Cathie
Member

08-16-2000

Thursday, December 01, 2005 - 8:50 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cathie a private message Print Post    
Does anyone know anything about Raid 0 hard drives? My new PC came with these. To my knowledge, there are two identical 160 GB hard drives which share the data and act as one 320 GB hard drive. It is supposed to make processing faster, maybe more, but that's all I know of.

My PC crashed after 6 months of use. It re-booted during the compiling of a DVD project and just went through a continuous cycle of re-booting. It couldn't boot into safe mode or the "last good configuration" either. I took it to CompUSA and it was still under the Sony VAIO warranty so they checked it out and said it had a bad partition and needs a new hard drive, so they ordered the part. We are still waiting for the part.

My big problem is that I really need the data on the drive (please, no lectures about backup--I do it faithfully but had not backed up for two weeks.) I paid CompUSA $69 for a hard drive recovery, but they are having "problems" recovering the data. I assume it has to do with the Raid 0 configuration. They are still trying but I don't have a lot of faith in them.

So, to get to the point, does anyone know how to recover data from a pair of Raid 0 hard drives?

Draheid
Board Administrator

09-09-2001

Thursday, December 01, 2005 - 9:23 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Draheid a private message Print Post    
Cathie:
RAID 0: Also known as "Disk Striping", this is technically not a RAID level since it provides no fault tolerance. Data is written in blocks across multiple drives, so one drive can be writing or reading a block while the next is seeking the next block.

The advantages of striping are the higher access rate, and full utilization of the array capacity. The disadvantage is there is no fault tolerance - if one drive fails, the entire contents of the array become inaccessible.


Unless you were in dire need of the data, I have to suggest you are not going to be able to recover anything stored on the RAID 0 array where one drive has failed. If there is justification, there are services available that may be able to recover the data for you, however, these can run several hundred to even thousands of dollars depending on the complexity and amount of data recovered. However, there are no guarantees.

PS: I would strongly recommend you discuss upgrading to a better RAID level, such as RAID 5, where data striping AND fault tolerance are both incorporated in the system.

Bob2112
Member

06-12-2002

Thursday, December 01, 2005 - 9:37 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Bob2112 a private message Print Post    
Cathie: Since RAID 0 spreads all of your files across both hard drives (called striping), the only way to recover your files will be depend on being able to recover the data from the failed hard drive.

If the failed hard drive is readable as a data drive in another computer, then there is software available (also expensive services) that can attempt to copy that data onto a good hard drive. That hard drive would then be put back into your computer with the other good hard drive and your RAID 0 will be whole again.

If the bad hard drive is not readable, then you are probably out of luck. The good hard drive will basically have ½ of every file and it will not be the first half or last half (which may allow recovery of portions of your files), but it will alternate pieces of the files in small chunks. Text files may be somewhat recoverable, but it would be like reading a book and skipping every other paragraph.

Regardless, the recovery is likely beyond the skill set of Comp USA, Best Buy, etc and would likely cost more than $69 in time and technology.


Cathie
Member

08-16-2000

Thursday, December 01, 2005 - 2:51 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cathie a private message Print Post    
Thanks for responding so quickly. I don't like the responses, lol, but I think I was already beginning to realize that it wasn't going to work. I guess the good news is that I get my $69 back from CompUSA...

Conejo
Member

08-23-2002

Thursday, December 01, 2005 - 5:24 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Conejo a private message Print Post    
I recently purchased a new HP CPU and it came with a free trial to Norton Internet Security and also a free trial to SpySubtract Pro. My free trial will expire in 3 days and I wondered if I should pay for a subscription or if any of the free downloads are just as good.

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Thursday, December 01, 2005 - 10:47 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Juju2bigdog a private message Print Post    
Conejo, I am not sure what all comes with Norton Internet security but there are free programs that are as good or better.

AVG anti-virus
Ad-Aware anti-spyware
Spybot Search & Destroy anti-spyware
Zone Alarm firewall

AND, as a bonus, Draheid has put links to all of them on a link at the top of this very page you are reading. Just go up to the top of the page and click on Click Here.

If you decide to go with the free ones, you should uninstall the Norton and SpySubtract you now have on your machine. If you don't know how to do that, come back here and ask.

Cathie
Member

08-16-2000

Friday, December 02, 2005 - 4:01 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cathie a private message Print Post    
CompUSA is still "attempting" to recover my hard drive, but I have zero faith in them at this point.

One of the most important things I want back from the old drive is 2 GB of photos I had transferred from my digital camera a week before the crash. I deleted the files from the flash drives so I could have lots of room for photos of a friend's daughter's wedding. I planned to back the photos from my hard drive up on a DVD but hadn't done it yet. I ended up not taking many photos at the wedding so my flash drives have not been written over very much. Is there a way to recover files on the flash drives? They were deleted through Windows Explorer while they were in the hard drive reader bay, not through the camera. Would the info to be restored be on the flash cards or on the old hard drive? (Yes, I'm grasping at straws here, lol.)

Bob2112
Member

06-12-2002

Friday, December 02, 2005 - 4:47 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Bob2112 a private message Print Post    
Cathie:

What type of flash drive?
What type of camera?
How did you delete the files?
Did you reformat the card?

Some utilities will "shred" the deleted files as a security measure, so those files can not be undeleted. Depending on how the files were deleted and how much data was over written, there may be a possibility to recovery some of the pictures.


Cathie
Member

08-16-2000

Friday, December 02, 2005 - 6:23 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cathie a private message Print Post    
The camera is a Sony F828.

It has two 1GB media cards, a compact flash and a memory stick.

I deleted the files through Windows Explorer when the cards were in my computer's card slots.

I did not reformat the cards, the original directory structure is intact.

Bob2112
Member

06-12-2002

Friday, December 02, 2005 - 6:40 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Bob2112 a private message Print Post    
I found this via Google:

Flash Recovery

It sounds like you can see your deleted files using the free trial version, but it is not clear if you can fully recover them for free. If it looks like you can see most or all of your files, it would only cost around $40 to purchase the program.

I'm sure there are other programs available and possible completely free. This is just one example of what you can download.

Here's another one that will recover the first 10 pictures for free. Full version also cost $40.

Image Recall


Wendo
Member

08-07-2000

Friday, December 02, 2005 - 7:08 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wendo a private message Print Post    
Cathie, wow, I'm really sorry to hear about your hard drive crash. You're experiencing the drawback of using a RAID 0 configuration. I, too, use it because of the speed but there's always the risk of a meltdown.

Last year when I went to wipe and reinstall Windows XP Pro, I did a stupid thing and almost installed on my backup internal drive rather than my RAID. I wasn't paying attention and had the installer delete the partition. Luckily, I hadn't formatted the drive yet.

Routine consumer software was of no help (the kind you find at Best Buy or CompUSA etc.) However, I did have luck with a company I found online called Runtime Software.

http://www.runtime.org/

I used their application to retreive every file I thought I lost when I accidentally erased my partition on my regular drive. I used an application called "GetDataBack".

http://www.runtime.org/gdb.htm

The application was a godsend; mainly, I wanted to get back photos too, and I did. GetDataBack will work with a lot of different media, including flash cards. Since you didn't refomat the cards it's possible the data is still there, just hidden from view since you erased the cards. Erasing usually doesn't delete files, it just tells the computer they're no longer there.

I think media cards are usually in FAT format so that's probally which version you would use. If you put your card into a computer you can usually find out what file system it's using. I had used the NTFS version because that's how I formatted my hard drive.

It's not the cheapest software in the world, but it's not overly expensive either. Of course, if you're able to retrieve the data you want, it's invaluable.

Just thought I'd throw this out there for ya. Good luck and let us know what happens.

=====

ETA: Lexar also has software too, Image Rescue I believe. (Responding to Bob's post with additional image specific software.) GetDataBack will recover any and all files, typically.

Cathie
Member

08-16-2000

Friday, December 02, 2005 - 7:41 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cathie a private message Print Post    
Thanks so much for the info. I am anxious to try these! I am using my laptop now, which does not have a built-in card reader, and my USB card reader is at work. I think I'll have to make a weekend trip to the office to pick it up!!!