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Archive through December 26, 2010

Reality TVClubHouse Discussions: General Discussions ARCHIVES: September 2010 ~ December 2010: All Things Technical: The Help Desk: : Computer Problems? Ask Here: Archive through December 26, 2010 users admin

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Texannie
Member

07-15-2001

Wednesday, December 08, 2010 - 5:26 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Texannie a private message Print Post    
I have such a pretty computer desk though! LOL
well, i shut it down last night with the recovery disk in it. (actually the slot wouldn't open so i had no choice). just for giggles this morning i started it back up. i got a message saying the computer couldn't start did i want to look for a solution...sure! it ran whatever that was and seems to be working now.
keeping my fingers crossed.

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Wednesday, December 08, 2010 - 7:55 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
If you purchase a docking station with the laptop, you can use ANY large monitor you want. So saying you can't use a larger monitor isn't true.

And Annie, you can still use the laptop at your pretty computer desk. If you buy a laptop, do get the docking station. You can plug in all your peripherals (monitor, keyboard, mouse, USB port, printer) into the docking station. If you wanna roam the home, just undock the thing. If you wanna print or need the bigger monitor, dock it.

Remember, though, that laptops are more expensive than desktops. Be sure to buy one that will suit your needs (memory and disk space) for the next few years. While you can expand both memory and hard drive, it's not as easy as on a desktop.

And Annie? Even if you can recover your system, BACK EVERYTHING UP before you do anything else. And then, if you system is fairly new, you can see about replacing the hard drive. It may be more cost effective to do that right before the holidays, yes? :-)

Dipo
Member

04-23-2002

Wednesday, December 08, 2010 - 1:07 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Dipo a private message Print Post    
Texannie, I use a laptop on my computer desk, LOL, takes less space. And I don't generally haul mine around much, but I do like having the option.

Kookliebird
Member

08-04-2005

Wednesday, December 08, 2010 - 1:55 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kookliebird a private message Print Post    
I use a laptop. While I originally thought I would take it more places, I find that it's left in place on the desk most of the time. I have a wireless router in my place, so I can take it anywhere in the house, if needed. Makes it nice for watching TV and typing on TVCH.

My only real concern after a few months was memory and external backups. So, I bought 2 external hard drives (1 TB) to automatically mirror my laptop when connected for my important files.

Recently, I purchased a smaller notebook for travel, which works better for me. At home, laptop... travel, notebook.

I like the ease of laptops over desktops, but as I get further into photography, the larger screens may be more important. If that happens, I would just get a docking station and go that route.

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Wednesday, December 08, 2010 - 8:14 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Juju2bigdog a private message Print Post    
Texannie, you got everything backed up, right? Because chances are it is going to go pflooie again. I have a 320 external GB hard drive that I use to keep everything backed up all the time. Those things are very handy and have really come down in price in recent years. In fact, they have come down so much that I recently bought Bigdog a 120 GB one for $20, just to keep our trip pictures on instead of DVD's. It will hold 4-20 trips worth of pictures, and that is pretty cheap and fairly reliable storage.

I am still using the desktop at home and laptop for the road routine, but maybe I will just go with a laptop and external monitor and mouse for home when the old desktop finally bites the dust.

Texannie
Member

07-15-2001

Thursday, December 09, 2010 - 4:12 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Texannie a private message Print Post    
not really, i don't really have alot stored on it. picture wise, most are also on facebook.

Nyheat
Member

08-09-2006

Thursday, December 09, 2010 - 6:02 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Nyheat a private message Print Post    
I keep my important files online--my portfolio work is at coroflot.com, pics are on Photobucket. Music files are backed up on my ipod. The biggest space-eater on my labtop by far is Warcraft.

Wanted to share the Dropbox website. You get 2GB of free online storage and can buy more. You drag files to the icon on you desktop and it uploads online. Easy to share files, etc. Give it a try!

Dropbox

Dipo
Member

04-23-2002

Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 1:14 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Dipo a private message Print Post    
MY laptop upgraded last night and when I started up IE this morning I got a window that said a language package needs to be installed. Why in the world would I need that now? I can't imagine how I managed to work my computer for the last 5 years without a launguage package. What is the deal? TIA.

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 3:39 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
Go into Tools and on the General tab, click the Languages button. You should have only English listed. If you don't, remove the others. As to why, I have no idea.

Dipo
Member

04-23-2002

Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 5:37 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Dipo a private message Print Post    
thanks, I checked and that is what I have.

Nyheat
Member

08-09-2006

Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 11:30 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Nyheat a private message Print Post    
Word to the wise: If you're a PC and got the major Microsoft bug patch, your wireless may have slowed down. When I went to reset the router, I encountered major problems with my Linksys software. Run Linksys advisor in compatibility mode with Vista Service Pack to fix the problem. Took four hours to get it done, but I'm back up to much faster wireless speeds than before. It also asked me a strange question about wireless security that had never popped up before. The upgrade has to do with security, so there you go.

I guess what I'm saying is: if your wireless seems slow, that may be the reason. Be wary when you reset! But it will be worth it in the end.

ETA This is what I'm referring to: Microsoft Issues big Bug Fix

Karen
Member

09-06-2004

Friday, December 17, 2010 - 12:50 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Karen a private message Print Post    
Those of you who are using your laptops at your computer desks and rarely take them mobile, keep in mind that the battery burns out super fast if you keep it plugged in all the time. You need to keep it unplugged except when charging, otherwise, those days that you DO want to take it mobile, you'll find a full charge only gives you 20 minutes instead of two hours.

I have a netbook with 320 gigs of storage. It fits in my purse. I take it everywhere.

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Friday, December 17, 2010 - 5:11 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
Actually, that's not true. You can use power management options to control that. And batteries aren't supposed to last forever anyways. You should replace it every couple of years.

Also, if you have a laptop that gives you only 2 hours, you need to get a new or better battery. And if you get only 20 minutes when unplugged, then you have a bad battery.

I think the battery on my Dell right now is 4.5 hours. My last one was 3 hours on a full charge. I had the laptop for 4 years and replaced the battery once when it looked like a charge would last only a couple of hours (that's one hour less). I've kept both systems docked almost constantly unless I'm traveling.

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Friday, December 17, 2010 - 5:15 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
P.S. If you want actual information on the Microsoft patch, and what was included, see Microsoft Security Bulletin for 12/2010.

Jimmer
Moderator

08-30-2000

Friday, December 17, 2010 - 6:07 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jimmer a private message Print Post    
LOL - Them's fighting words, Costa. Nothing gets techies going more than arguing over proper battery management. For example, while Apple says there is no memory effect, they still recommend discharging the battery once a month to "calibrate" it. But it is okay to leave them plugged in most of the time if you want to. That won't do much harm.

Nyheat
Member

08-09-2006

Friday, December 17, 2010 - 6:40 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Nyheat a private message Print Post    
I got an Enercell power adapter when the one that came with my Samsung fritzed out after only 3 months. I unplugged it last night and my labtop stayed charged for almost four hours. The cord itself is also set up to not bend and break the internal wires, which was the problem with the factory-installed adapter. I'm very happy with it. When the battery is fully charged, it doesn't keep charging, if that's what you guys are talking about.

It comes with a number of power cord fittings, and if it worked on my Samsung (*new to the labtop game, nothing at Best Buy worked) then it'll work for any computer. Nice to have back up.

Enercell Power Adapter at Radioshack

I also like the separate USB port located a few inches down the cord. I can charge my ipod without opening itunes, which is nice sometimes if you don't want itunes to open automatically.

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Friday, December 17, 2010 - 9:41 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
LOL Jimmer! :-)

Dipo
Member

04-23-2002

Friday, December 17, 2010 - 9:53 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Dipo a private message Print Post    
Update: I rebooted my computer and still got the language package only this time it said they wanted to install Japanese, LOL. the only place that I live in Japan is with Real Super Pass, LOL. I have noticed that I have started getting email from Real that is in Japanese.

Mack
Member

07-22-2002

Friday, December 17, 2010 - 10:50 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mack a private message Print Post    
Dipo - I had something like that happen a couple of years ago when I was trying to download some new firmware for a motherboard. The motherboard was manufactured some place in Asia but the company was out of Japan and that's where they stored the downloadable updates. Apparently embedded in their website, even though I was accessing the supposedly English version, that wanted to load Japanese even after I'd leave or close the website. I finally had to delete the favorites link and it stopped.

Nyheat
Member

08-09-2006

Saturday, December 18, 2010 - 9:28 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Nyheat a private message Print Post    
Does anyone know how to force Windows Media Player to delete old music library paths? I moved everything to my D drive, and it's keeping the old paths. Tried to delete, no luck. I usually play music in itunes anyway, but would like the option of using Window Media player as well. TIA

Heyltslori
Moderator

09-15-2001

Saturday, December 18, 2010 - 10:17 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Heyltslori a private message Print Post    
Dipo, あなたは良い一日を抱えているね!

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Saturday, December 18, 2010 - 12:05 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
Nyheat, if you search the online help for "add a folder", you should get a hit near the top for "add items to your Windows Media Library." Click that and then scroll down until you see "To add a folder to be monitored by the Player."

Nyheat
Member

08-09-2006

Saturday, December 18, 2010 - 12:14 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Nyheat a private message Print Post    
I just fixed the darn thing--the Media Player database was corrupted. I hit run and cleared the database, and it rebuilt with the correct paths. Sheesh! None of this stuff is ever straightforward! :/

Clearing Windows Media Player Database

Nyheat
Member

08-09-2006

Friday, December 24, 2010 - 1:28 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Nyheat a private message Print Post    
Had the same issue with my Microsoft news feed. They were stuck on Dec. 14th for almost 10 days! Something about the last update corrupted the database. If anyone else is having the same issue, follow the link to re-establish your feed database (specifically Import/Export instructions.)

RSS feeds not updating: fix

Holly
Member

07-21-2001

Sunday, December 26, 2010 - 2:10 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Holly a private message Print Post    
OK, I have a question re Karen's advice about keeping battery plugged in. I have being doing this and now, a little over a year later, am finding I have VERY short battery life if I DO make the laptop mobile. So, when should a person power a laptop with the battery plugged in? While using it all the time, or only when the battery runs down and you are warned to save your work and then what--keep working with it plugged in? Once it's fully charged again, unplug it? I get very confused about this. And how about once you shut it off for the day/night--should you keep it plugged in/juiced up or not? Thanks for any advice re this and I can definitely see a BIG difference in length of time my battery lasts now after always keeping it plugged in for the last year.