Author |
Message |
Bigd
Member
09-13-2001
| Thursday, August 20, 2009 - 6:03 am
Anybody know about laptop docking stations??? I have a Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop running Vista Home premium Intel Core Duo 2 CPU T8300 @ 2.4 gHz 4 gb RAM all software updates are current. I have a Kengsington Notebook expansion dock with Video #33367 About a month ago my computer started acting scary. I would come to the computer and it would be in what I assumed was "sleep" mode, I would push the power button and nothing would happen. I would hold down the power button trying to force a reboot and nothing. I disconnected everything, unplugged it and re-plugged ... nothing. I unplugged everything again and in desperation took out the battery and put in back in and bingo it started up. I re-hooked everything and went on my merry way. Sometime later, bang it happens again a couple of times. I tried the same corrections and they worked. The 4th time this happened I left OFF the DOCKING STATION and it has not happened again. Any ideas? Does Vista have docking station issues? Is this a lousy docking station? Does anyone recommend a good docking station I could et? I really want a docking station. Thanks!
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Thursday, August 20, 2009 - 6:29 am
Sounds like it might be the docking station. I use Vista operating systems on all of my computers without any problems and I use a variety of connections from hard wired to wireless. Two of the machines are in docking stations but they're both Dells in Dell stations.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Thursday, August 20, 2009 - 9:01 am
You could also Google the Microsoft Hibernate and Sleep modes and see if folks are still having problems with those. They have traditionally been a problem with the Windows operating system, and I learned early on to never use those modes. Your problem could be something as simple as that.
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Kitt
Member
09-06-2000
| Friday, September 11, 2009 - 4:14 pm
This isn't so much a problem as a question... My mum lives in the middle of nowhere (in the UK) and can't get any internet except dial up, and she doesn't particularly want dial up or a contract. It seems that an answer for her might be mobile broadband, which is what they call the USB dongle thingy that works off the cell phone network. They do "pay as you go," which again would be ideal, but I can't relate to the unit the credits come in. She'd get "1GB of data" for £15. My question is... what does 1GB of data look like? If she's going to regular websites - maybe looking at pages with a few pictures as well as text, going to gmail, maybe downloading the odd photo from us - how long is 1GB likely to last?
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Draheid
Board Administrator
09-09-2001
| Friday, September 11, 2009 - 10:11 pm
Kitt: As a point of reference, think about your personal viewing on TVCH so far in the month of September, up to your post today. According to our logs, your connection has received about 100MB of data (pages, pictures, scripts, etc.) from TVCH so far this month. That is nearly 10% of 1GB. Keep in mind that many websites now serve up large files in animated advertising, video files, etc. that we don't serve on this board. This particular thread page is 148KB, a screen caps page from the current Big Brother is 487KB, the front page at CNN.com is 904KB, the front page at NYTIMES.com (New York Times) is 1,400KB. For another comparison, TVCH is currently serving an average of 10GB of data per day to all users during this Big Brother season. To figure out what you are asking, keep in mind that 1GB equals 1,024MB or 1,048,576KB. So, depending on what type of websites are viewed frequently, 1GB could last for quite a while or not. Also remember that e-mail attachments can add to the usage when viewed. I hope this helps.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Friday, September 11, 2009 - 10:16 pm
I have the same question, Kitt!!! I was playing around with my little absolute bottom of the line prepaid mobile phone today, and noticed that I can get 1 GB of internet connection for $1.50 for a 24 hour period. I have no idea what that means, or how the internet would in any way, shape, or form come through on my crappy little $20 phone, but I was mainly wondering what 1 GB equates to. I will probably play around with it while we are in the car on the way to Texas. I mean, $1.50 a DAY for me and Bigdog to play on the internet on the phone (as the passenger) while we travel to Texas??? How cool would that be? Yes, Landileigh, I can hear you laughing at how low tech I am, LOL. Hell, I might even get a better phone if I can get internet for $1.50 a day with no contract. So, somebody please fill Kitt in. <puts ear and glass to wall>
Heh, next thing you know, I will have a Blackberry.
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Kitt
Member
09-06-2000
| Friday, September 11, 2009 - 10:36 pm
Thanks so much Draheid! That is exactly the sort of info I wanted to know. With the pages she'd go to I think it would last quite a while then - a month even - as she wouldn't really be going anywhere flashy. Thank you very much! Juju, look up a post!
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Landileigh
Member
07-29-2002
| Friday, September 11, 2009 - 10:53 pm
MOI? laugh? where would you get that idea?
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Saturday, September 12, 2009 - 3:02 pm
Well, surely you are laughing now that Draheid posted the answer while I was typing out my lengthy "me-too" reply, and I never even saw his reply until New Messages today. Now, that is sort of funny. Okay, so 1 GB in 24 hours is probably sufficient, and I wouldn't have to worry about getting shut out. Now I just wonder if my stinky little phone will handle it. Or maybe I should go to VirginMobile and see if I can upgrade the phone.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Saturday, September 12, 2009 - 3:31 pm
I don't see how you could possibly use anywhere close to 1 GB in 24 hours browsing on a cell phone. Plus unless you have a cell phone that was specifically designed for Internet browsing (like the iPhone) you're going to be so frustrated after an hour you may give up.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Sunday, September 13, 2009 - 9:55 am
Thanks, Jimmer!
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Saturday, September 26, 2009 - 9:08 pm
Don't need any help. This is purely for entertainment purposes: Okay, so I need to take a wireless router to Texas for the winter, and last year I took my Linksys, but then when I got back, it was screwed up, and I think I ended up calling Linksys to get it back working again. I was at this computer parts recycling place a couple weeks ago, and they were selling some working computer peripherals, so I called them yesterday and asked if they had a wireless router. They had a Netgear for $15. I went and bought it. The kid was giving me instructions on what all I had to do with it, and I said I thought I could handle it, and I had printed out Netgear's instructions from the internet. Hooked it up this afternoon (turns out it was a 802.11b and not a g, but oh well, the b is probably fast enough, just older than a g would be). So I get it hooked up and am connected to the network but not to the internet. So I call the kid who said to call him if I had any problems. He is not in today, other kid tried to tell me what to do, didn't work. He says bring router and laptop in, and he will get it working for a small fee. I tell him I'll call the other kid Monday. Then I decide to try calling Netgear support, and the Chinese-sounding kid there asks for the model and serial number (I figure my goose is cooked when he finds out how old this thing is). Turns out it was manufactured in 2003 and was never registered, so I have a warranty on it starting today!!! Hahahahaha!!! One year for defects and 90 days for free phone support, which will get me going in Texas if I need help again. So this kid and I do all kinds of technical wizardry stuff, open this and that, tweak this setting and that, type in this, go here, go there, get it working. We both had a good time and he tells me it sounds like he is talking to a techie, and I tell him I do have a university degree minor in computer science. Only problem is the degree is from way before he was born, and was back when a computer less powerful than the one I am working on right now occupied a whole building. He can't conceive of that and tells me I sound like I am in my thirties, the little flirt. So, we end the call all happy, and I have a working wireless router. So I unplug it and plug the Linksys wireless router back in, and you guessed it - it now won't connect to the internet. Freaking wonderful. So I call Linksys, knowing it is only a setting or something very easy, and Linksys has wonderful tech support. Turns out the wonderful tech support is only if your product is still in warranty, and mine expired two months ago. BUT the kids says for sure he can get me up and working for a fee of $29.99, and we go back and forth, me trying to think of ways to get him to tell me what simple thing to do that I am not thinking of. But it all boils down to I have to pay the $30, and I tell him I don't think I have a $30 problem, I have a twenty-five cent problem. So I decide that tomorrow I will bring another laptop to the phone and contact Linksys support on a live chat using dialup and probably get the problem solved that way. So I hook the Netgear router back up, look up what's on television, eat dinner, and have a bright idea to try another laptop that has Windows XP and not Vista and see if I can get the Linksys router working with XP, since I am more familiar with XP, and I have some notes from when I couldn't connect last time. So I unhook Netgear and hook up Linksys, and try the stuff from my notes. No go. Unhook Linksys and rehook Netgear and you guessed it - now can't connect with Netgear!!! Arrrrgggghhhhhhhhh!!! Panic! I have NO internet. Oh, did I mention that the first time I had no internet today from screwing up the routers, I decided to look up the Linksys tech support number using dialup on my desktop (on which I had reinstalled the operating system in May)? No freaking modem!!! So I had to uninstall and reinstall the modem, got that working. Whew. Okay, where were we? I have now fried Netgear router. I get the bright idea to do a hard reset on the whole works - unplug both cable modem and router for about twenty seconds and plug back in. Netgear wireless network reappears and works!!! Yay and another whew!! Then I get the bright idea that maybe that will also work with Linksys. So I unplug the Netgear again and rehook the Linksys, do a hard reset, and Linksys reappears! I am such a freaking know-nothing techie geek, I could just cry. Hahahahaha.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Sunday, September 27, 2009 - 6:17 am
i am just exhausted from reading all of this, but i could see myself doing the same thing! glad you got it all back. the net would be a horrible place if we were jujuless.
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Draheid
Board Administrator
09-09-2001
| Sunday, September 27, 2009 - 9:31 pm
Juju: I suspect what you were dealing with is called a MAC (Media Access Control)Address. Most every network interface, including the routers, have a unique MAC address. Internet service providers have DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) servers that assign your modem an IP address, usually based on the connected MAC address. When you change routers, that MAC address changes and the modem can become confused if you do not reboot it when you change attached devices. There are settings in more current routers that allow you to clone the MAC address of the computer connected to it (meaning, the router assumes the same MAC address as the computer it is cloning). This cloning makes it easier to add a router to a cablemodem that has been connected directly to a computer previously because the modem sees what appears to be the same MAC address as it had before. Now, everything would eventually correct itself if given enough time. The assigned IP address usually refreshes after the expiration of the IP lease from the DHCP server, usually 24 hours. You would just have to wait. It is easier to simply reboot the modem when connecting a different router. Hope this helps.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Monday, September 28, 2009 - 3:54 pm
Actually, I understand what Dra said, and it makes sense of some of the stuff I read when I was messing with it. Some folks were saying just keep trying it, and it will eventually fix itself. Say what? I guess they were right. Oh, and I "fixed" Bigdog's broken DVD writer on his laptop today. His quit working, and the new one didn't work either, so yesterday I started working on that problem and concluded that the old DVD writer probably really is dead, but the new one probably works, and eventually I got it working. I had a kid who was going to fix that one for $65. So, let's see, I saved myself $30 and then $65. I think I am now a twenty five cents an hour computer tech. Sheesh.
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Monday, September 28, 2009 - 4:02 pm
Any clue why my laptop takes 20 minutes to start up before I can click on internet explorer?
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Monday, September 28, 2009 - 4:15 pm
Escapee, only 20 minutes? Some time ago my desk top was taking an hour! (Remember that, Bob?) Turns out it was something to do with the screen???!!!
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Monday, September 28, 2009 - 4:18 pm
Well, it's a bit older of a laptop. It's got AVG and Norton on there. Someone told me that could be the issue. However, someone else told me it's impossilbe to remove all components of both systems, once they are there, they are there to stay. Any tips for faster startup would be great!
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Monday, September 28, 2009 - 4:24 pm
I don't know, Escapee. At the time I had Norton on mine. We (Bob2112, my pro computer help, and I) thought that might be the problem. It wasn't. I don't remember specifically what the problem was except that a new monitor fixed it.
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Thursday, October 01, 2009 - 12:24 pm
if you (or one of your children, etc) has an ".edu" email address, you can get the new WIndows 7 for only $29 here. There is a similar offer for Office 2007 for $59 here
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Debra
Member
11-20-2003
| Thursday, October 01, 2009 - 3:26 pm
Great tip Tish!
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Ktbb
Member
08-10-2003
| Friday, October 02, 2009 - 8:58 pm
Wow! Great news Tish.
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Curlyq
Member
07-10-2002
| Saturday, October 10, 2009 - 4:06 pm
I know this is a longshot, but maybe someone here can help me. Last night I went to plug in my computer (actually I plugged in the surge protector that it's plugged into) and I heard a BZZT! electrical sound. I don't think I'd even plugged it in all the way yet before I yanked it out when I heard that sound. I could smell that electrical smell. After a few seconds of wondering if I should dare try it again I plugged it back in. I hit the power button and nothing happened. I know pretty much nothing about what a healthy computer should look like inside, but when I opened it up I saw no fried wires or anything. At least not in the parts that I could see. Is this hopeless?
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Draheid
Board Administrator
09-09-2001
| Saturday, October 10, 2009 - 4:49 pm
Curlyq: It could be as simple as your surge protector is the problem. If it is something in the computer, you wouldn't likely see anything because most power failures are in the power supply anyway, which is an enclosed component that you can't see the insides of without removing it and opening it up. If it is the power supply, you can replace it or have it replaced for less than the cost of a computer. First, presuming you still have power at that outlet in the wall, check out the surge protector first. Try plugging a lamp into the wall to verify you have power there. Then plug the lamp into the surge protector and see if the lamp works through that. If the lamp works in the wall, but not in the surge protector, try another surge protector before you consider having the computer looked at. However, if the lamp works in the wall and the surge protector, then you may have a computer power supply problem. You should probably let a professional have a look at, especially if you are not comfortable taking the computer apart and removing / replacing the power supply yourself. Good luck with this.
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Curlyq
Member
07-10-2002
| Saturday, October 10, 2009 - 8:18 pm
Thanks. It's definitely not the surge protector, as everything else plugged into it is fine. In fact I have my old (so very old) computer plugged into it and that's what I'm using now. Yeah, I think you're right about the power supply since that's where the sparky noise came from.
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