Shellack

Re: problems viewing video Hey, randy just to let you know, if you want to watch BBC iPlayer in the US you can simply by going through a UK based proxy and vice a versa if I wanted to watch something in the US and found my IP was not allowed. There are ways around censors, it's just lame and a little petty that they would stop people on a different IP range. Sorry england it tells me on Comedy central.. hehe, works fine when I surf in from Texas :)

Re: External hard drive problem Can you please click Start goto run and type, cmd and hit enter then type this at the Prompt C:\chkdsk /r this will check the hard-disk for errors and then you should retry the backup. Let me know if that helps or not, Windows® Backup software is unfortunately not the best by a long shot.

Re; no wireless anymore The microsoft knowledge base article it refers you to suggests the following: This behavior occurs for several reasons. Some computer and hardware manufacturers provide their own configuration software that replaces the Wireless Zero Configuration service that is provided in Windows. In that case, you must use the software that is provided by the manufacturer to configure your wireless network. If you want to use the Wireless Network Setup Wizard or the View Available Wireless Networks feature to configure your wireless device, see the documentation that came with your computer or with your wireless network card. Use this documentation to determine whether you can use the Wireless Zero Configuration service to configure your wireless network. Sometimes, you cannot use the Windows functionality. If your computer or your wireless network adapter did not come with its own wireless network software, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, click Run, type ncpa.cpl, and then click OK. 2. Click Network Connections. 3. In Network Connections, click to select your wireless connection, and then click Change settings of this connection. 4. On the Wireless Networks tab, click to select the Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings check box. To start the Wireless Zero Configuration service, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, click Run, type %SystemRoot%\system32\services.msc /s, and then click OK. 2. Double-click Wireless Zero Configuration. 3. In the Startup type list, click Automatic, and then click Apply. 4. In the Service status area, click Start, and then click OK.

Re: help with graphics card upgrade In some case's AMD out performs Pentium chips, a Intel Pentium 3.0Ghz gives you about the same benchmark speed as a AMD 1.8Ghz, so Pentium is not always better. If its graphics your after an upgrade to a 512 AGP enabled card will give you more grunt, but speed wise there are a lot of factors, RPM on the HD, RAM etc. If games are running slow and chunky monkey then thats the 256MB Card struggling to handle all the effects like shadowing, anti-aliasing etc, dis-enabling some of the more graphically intensive options in the Game configuration file can in most case's help improve the overall performance. Direct memory access (DMA) is a feature of modern computers and microprocessors that allows certain hardware subsystems within the computer to access system memory for reading and/or writing independently of the central processing unit. Many hardware systems use DMA including disk drive controllers, graphics cards, network cards and sound cards.

Re: Flat screen faulty Before rushing out to buy a new one, if its a flat screen like mine that utilizes an external power adapter, checking the voltage may help before you rush out to purchase a new one. I had the same thing happen once, when I plugged in a 10v adapter that should have been 12v.

Linux is customizable in a way that Windows is not. For one, the user interface, while similar in concept, varies in detail from distribution to distribution. For example, the task bar may default to being on the top or the bottom. Also, there are many special purpose versions of Linux above and beyond the full blown distributions. The flavors of Linux are referred to as distributions (often shortened to "distros"). All the Linux distributions released around the same time frame will use the same kernel (the guts of the Operating System). They differ in the add-on software provided, GUI, install process, price, documentation and technical support. Both Linux and Windows come in desktop and server editions. However most developers, hackers, gurus will have both laying around, heck some of them may even have a copy of ReactOS which is a complete re-write of the Windows source code by a group of enthusiasts who wanted something better than the bloated chunky API coded by Redmond. The biggest crutch against Linux is it is not easy to get to grips with if your not used to using it, it's possible to bork or kill your own machine from installing the wrong package from an on-line repository or archive. Making a mistake in windows usually gives you an error message, however making a mistake on linux can lead to the dreaded kernel panic or worse. The thing in Linux's favor is it runs on both PC & Mac whereas PC & Mac software wont run on each other due to constraints put on there respective operating systems by there manufacturer. There are Software hacks you can do to run those system on not native hardware but why bother when Linux presents a far easier solution as it runs on both. Linux used to be all shell driven, meaning it used to be all command line, X-Windows or X11 only came along later. When Microsoft was dominating the market with Windows98SE and NT4 Linux was very much still in its infancy with most people oblivious to it's existence. (I think I still have a copy of the old 2.5beta Kernel laying around on CD somewhere!) Windows has something akin to 200 or so commands that you can learn and pass to the DOS command prompt whereas Linux has so many commands and functions you could spend your lifetime reading and still find yourself not having covered every subject.;) To improve your overall experience of Linux I advocate trying out all the different types of Desktop, there are a fair few to choose from, some offering more speed than others, others being maybe a bit slower but more functional in terms of graphics and point and click. The best thing anyone new to Linux can do is start to familiarize themselves with the Terminal, as that is where - as your experience grows you'll find you'll end up spending 99.5% of your time. The other .5 will probably be spent surfing on the Internet. :p

Re: No Mac for me After reading the article in question I can sympathize with the two people who tried to have there machine repaired only to be refused by apple. I bought a cheap iMac a few years back, it worked fine for about two years then one day I decided I wanted to upgrade the HDD (Harddisk), I contacted apple about a replacement HDD the quote I got for the upgrade was £175 for a new HDD and an additional £175 for the work to be carried out, when I inquired about just buying the replacement HDD on it's own I got informed they didn't do that and that it would have to be sent off for the works to be completed. I then went down to the local PC World bought myself a nice fat 350Gib HDD for approx £69.99 and came home to dig out my security screwdriver set and voided my warranty by removing all the special security screws and performing the upgrade myself. It was a little bit fiddly and I probably cursed and swore a few times making the new HDD fit back where the old one had come out from as believe me replacing the HDD in one of those bubble shaped domes with a screen attached is no easy feat. But I still remember to this day I pulled it off at a fraction of the cost apple quoted for the upgrade and it served me faithfully for ages. The moral of this story is, don't buy apple, I loved my iMac and it served me faithfully but if your looking to buy a computer I would seriously suggest buying a Tower and then if you need to, upgrade the part's yourself as you'll save a fortune in the long run. Apple's are nice, but what makes an apple desirable is the Operating System it's running which is closed source based on FreeBSD & Darwin (OSX) The open source alternatives are just as good if not better... Check out Good OS - gOS and Cloud operating systems You'll find it looks surprisingly apple like... :D

Hello there, it's a pleasure to Join this forum and read all these interesting topic's, I'm an avid computer enthusiast who enjoys all things technical. I look forwards to meeting you all in the forums and feel free to fire any questions my way but bear in mind I am more of a *nix user, so windows related support is not really my bag, however if I am around I will probably endeavor to help you out if I can, I didn't really come in here looking for answers as I prefer finding those on my own. Someone told me a long time ago about a secret menu in Windows explorer you can find it by pressing ALT+F4 together twice really quick, go on if your reading this give it a try! Once you've reloaded your browser you'll probably have an appreciation of why I like to find stuff out on my own, secret menu indeed... The other neat trick you can do on Windows XP (dont know about vista) if you hold down the ALT+CTRL keys and press the up arrow on the directional buttons you'll find it flips your desktop upside down or press the left and right keys and it'll turn it onto it's side, a great way to bring light and sunshine into working colleagues lives, just remember to run away and hide afterwards. See ya around. -Shellack ;)