Ask a computer question and I will answer it.

[cheezus]

I'll be graduating with a degree in CS in May, and I've been working in IT for more than 5 years. Have a computer problem? I'll answer it!

[Creamed Corn]

1. How do I get free of AOL?

And can you recommend another ISP?

[cheezus]

7. you don't need AOL

unless you're addicted to AOL specific content. But since the dawn of the Internet they don't really have anything worth paying for.

Get Broadband. Go to the websites of your local Cable company and Phone company. You're looking for cable modem or DSL.

[Creamed Corn]

18. So I cancel AOL and get Verizon DSL

Do I need to do anything else besides uninstall AOL to purge it from my computer?

[cheezus]

22. I'd also run an spyware removal tool

like adaware. Who knows what crap AOL forces on you

[AndyP]

24. AOL will never leave

seriously. you have to go through the registry to get totally rid of it. Uninstall the program and then go through and do a search (under the start menu) and search for America online, and delete everything off of there. Oh and if you run ad-aware don't forget to update before you run it. You'll love DSL a lot more than AOL

[LibertyorDeath]

8. Trust me on this AOL is crap it will fuck with so many of

your systems settings that microsofts swiss cheese OS can't take it.

For the love of god avoid aol

[Rockholm]

2. I get Fatal Exception Errors when.....

attempting to install my digital camera to my computer. Olympus (camera) tech people were USELESS and the Gateway people were excellent, but we were still at an empasse on getting this thing solved.

[cheezus]

9. what camera is it?

and are you connecting with the USB cord? Which version of windows do you have? On XP it should just be a matter of pluggin the camera in.

Another route you could go if you can't get the camera to connect is to get a USB reader for whatever kind of media your camera uses.

[Rockholm]

35. Wow, you Answered! Cool!

It is an Olympus Stylus 400. I have tried connecting it two ways. One by using the USB cord and two by using a Fuji card reader. I have Windows 98. It has been suggested that I upgrade to XP. I have microsoft.

[cheezus]

41. and it doesn't work either way? odd

[AndyP]

3. Do you play half life?

I need the install file, I have a key just don't have the CD. I know it's not a CS question but i figure since you're a fellow geek maybe you play. Congrats on graduating. I'm at my computer job right now- as you can tell we're hella busy. :)

[cheezus]

10. More of a quake fan, myself

and I HATE counterstrike. too much crouching and waiting. I always get sniped in the head right away and have to wait around until the next round to respawn.

It's an old game. Go buy it. Try froogle. (froogle.google.com)

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

4. Hello, this is Mr Ashcroft. Are computers the work of the devil?

[cheezus]

11. of course they are.

duh

[felonious thunk]

5. Why is this variable being double counted?

dim zip_zone
zip_zone = Left(request("order_zip"),3)

For example, when I response.write zip_zone, I get "145 145" as the result for the zip code entered as 14505 on the previous page, instead of the "145" that would be what i'm looking for.

[cheezus]

13. is that visual basic?

I usually program in REAL languages ;)

what data type (is VB strongly typed) does request("order_zip") return?

you wouldn't happen to be doing that statement inside a loop, would you?

[felonious thunk]

20. Well, I prefer real languages too

but employers prefer languages that are easy to purchase software for. You'll soon find that out, no doubt! You too will have to know the products of the evil empire!

Nope, it's on a web site, user enters an integer zip on the previous page, this code is supposed to cut it down from 5 char to 3, so that it can estimate the shipping charges. No loop, all I'm trying to do is define it, and it's getting defined and repeating itself. I have no idea why.

[Endangered Specie]

78. having programmed in both.. C++

[jadedcherub]

6. Do you have a website that will help explain ASN.1 security vulnerability

and are you still having a shindig tommorrow? ;)

[cheezus]

14. Darren? That you?

Either way, welcome to DU! :)

I don't know if the shindig is going down or not. I think the spring concert at the Ralph is tomorrow.

[jadedcherub]

16. It is me.

Thanks for the welcome. Stumbled across it about 2 weeks ago, and have been lurking until earlier today.

Sara mentioned something about it, she turns in the first round of her thesis tommorrow, so she'll be wanting to get up to no good, thought I'd check.

[cheezus]

26. Going to the Blues Traveller show?

http://www.und.edu/org/ds/News/news2.html

might as well and go, they spent our money on it already anyway.

I think we'd be up for getting up to no good after the show too.

[jadedcherub]

29. not sure, if we can get a ticket I think we will. It will probably

frustrate me if I can't get a ticket to a concert that I had to help finance. But, whether we go or no, I think we have your number around here somewhere so we'll call tommorrow and see whats up.
You pick up tix yet?

[cheezus]

30. there should be plenty of tickets.

I think we're just goign to get them at the ralph when we go. $5

[jadedcherub]

32. alrighty. That's what we were hoping to do as well. I gotta run and meet

with one of my groups, so I'm outta here, but we'll see/talk to you guys soon.

[caledesi]

12. OK, here's one for you that is driving me nuts!

Am using XP and I have a "white panel" on the left of my desktop which is called "Folder Tasks" - I don't like it and can't figure out how to get rid of it. The reason I don't like it, is that my "folders" on my desktop are static. I can't move anything w/o going to this "panel."

Help me smart one!

[cheezus]

19. not sure, but try this

the white panel to the left with Folder Tasks is part of the windows explorer windows when browsing folders. Never seen it on the desktop, but try this and let me know if it works.


Right click on the desktop, pick properties

click the Desktop tab

click the Customize Desktop button

Click the web tab

don't display any webpages on your desktop, and make sure "lock desktop items" isn't checked


let me know if that works for you

[caledesi]

127. Followed your directions to the T....didn't solve my problem

Any other thoughts?

[Parrcrow]

15. Where's the "any" key?

[cheezus]

21. right above the spacebar

[Parrcrow]

23. so just hold my fist above the keyboard and mash downwards

thanks I get it!!

:yourock:

[Feanorcurufinwe]

34. that's wrong. The spacebar is included in the phrase 'any key'

[cheezus]

49. no, the anykey is a specific key

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

17. Is P=NP?

If you answer THAT one I'll be forced to admit you're actually good.

[cheezus]

27. ha. that's half the reason I went for the BA in CS instead of the BS

I like computers, and I have the aptitude to get the very low level math type stuff, but I find it very uninteresting.

so um... to answer your question

only if N=1

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

31. Wrong

You neglected the other solution P=0.

Give back your diploma. :dunce:

[cheezus]

33. bah. isn't almost good enough?

[Go Eagles]

25. opening files saved on a CD

Why is that when I save my pictures from Photoshop as TIFF files on a CD-R and finalize the disc, some computers are able to read and open the files and other computers aren't able to? The computers that are not able to open the TIFF files have Photoshop and they also can't open the JPEG's. Has made getting large images printed by outside labs a pain.

[cheezus]

28. can those computers read ANY kind of data off the disc?

I'm guessing your CDR drive is f'ing up. Don't use cheap discs, and try burning at a lower speed (try setting it down to 1x once and see fi that works)

also, why are you finalizing the disc? Multisession should be fine.

What CD writing software are you using. please don't say it's the built in XP ability.

[Go Eagles]

39. thanks

I'm using Sony CDR's. I thought that in order for it to be read by another computer I would have to finalize it. Can't recall the exact name of the software (CEQuadrat?) and am on another right computer now. I'll give your suggestions a try. Thanks.

[Go Eagles]

40. no

and the computers are not able to read any of the files off the disc. You can see the folder the files are in but none of the files. Thanks again.

[Blue Gardener]

36. I need to buy a new one

Want to keep it under $1500. What do you suggest as far as what brand, and what options? Got a new digital camera, so I want to play with that. Not into gaming so I don't need extras for that.

[cheezus]

42. Get a Mac

unless there is Windows-only software that you HAVE to run. For what you want to do you should definately spend no more than $1000

check out store.apple.com

I'm a big fan of laptops, myself

[Blue Gardener]

80. I have to get a PC

Needs to be compatible with work, I have a Dell there.

[cheezus]

107. get a dell

and get a cheap one. They make decent stuff, and the service is good. You don't need anything fancy for your needs. I'd say shoot for at least 1.8Ghz processor, and at least 512MB of RAM. Don't worry about the other specs too much.

[Zero Gravitas]

37. database index file

how can I write a bi-directional database index consisting of doubly linked skip list to a file using variable node sizes?

[cheezus]

48. that's any easy one

Use the overclocked bubblesort algorithm to generate an n-p complete fourier transformation on the b-tree.

[PrestoChango]

38. How do I...

hook my turntables into my computer and record the mixes that I make?

[Beetwasher]

43. You Need A Special Sound Card With an Outbox

I use an Echo Darla. It has inputs for 3/4 inch jacks...

[Beetwasher]

44. What's ptsnoop?

n/t

[cheezus]

51. a backdoor program written in VB

remove it in your win.ini

most virsus scanners should be able to kill it too.

[Beetwasher]

55. Is it harmful?

How do I remove in in my win.ini?? How do I find my win.ini?

[cheezus]

62. yeah, you dodn't want that

someone can use it to take over your computer

it's c:\windows\win.ini

it might be hidden. if it is, do this

in the explorer window viewing the windows folder, go to tools, and choose folder options

click on the view tab

then click the button for "show hidden files and folers"

[Beetwasher]

63. Cool, Thanks!

n/t

[cheezus]

65. let me know if it works

glad I could help. might as well be useful. :)

[Beetwasher]

104. Once I'm in the win.ini

how do I find the line for the ptsnoop? do I just delete it? How do I know which line(s) to delete? I think I found the proper file, but there's ALOT of stuff in there and I don't want to delete anything I'm not supposed to.

[nini]

45. Congrats! I have a BS in CS too...

and here I am fartin around every day :-)

[cheezus]

53. I have a BA in CS, actually

because while I can understand things like finite state machines and whatnot, but it's not very fun.

[Cuban_Liberal]

46. How do I defeat 'no right click'?

I hate it when someone has a really cool image, and they've disabled 'save'...

[cheezus]

54. turn of javascript

in your broswer and it should work fine.

[MAlibdem]

61. or go to "View>Source"

And look for the address of the pic (only really works if you are fluent/decent in html). Then go to the addy and you should be able to snatch it.

Works sometimes.

[cheezus]

66. a nice feature if you use netscape

at least, i think it's in netscape. it works in mozilla and firefox

you can highligh the part you want, and then right click and "View selection source"

helps you find the part of the html you're looking for.

[DrWeird]

47. How do I upgrade my monitor's driver?

I bought a new computer but used my old monitor.

I booted it up and the screen went black. Called tech support and it turns out Win XP doesn't like my old old monitor. It was an easy fix, no further problems.

Then I went and bought Civ III, installed it, tried to play it and the screen went blank. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Apparently it's a known bug and Firaxis recommends to update the monitor's driver.

Only I can't figure out what kind of monitor I've got. I looked under devices under "my computer" and it just says "default monitor."

So I know I need a driver but I don't know the manufacturer or model number. And I just threw away the original box several months ago. Any advice?

[cheezus]

57. okay, that must be a weird monitor

does it say the synch and refresh rates on the monitor somewhere? your monitor might just be a generic version of a brand name monitor.

How big of a screen is it? If it's old anyway, you should be able to pick up a used replacement crt really cheap.

[DrWeird]

74. I didn't see the synch and refresh rates.

How would that help to know?

15'' 0.28 dpi, bought it about five-six years ago, bundled with an e-machines. Don't laugh, it gave me five good years.

[cheezus]

125. the easiest solution:

go to a computer shop and get a different monitor. used 15 inchers like yours can be had for as little as $20.

[TrogL]

50. My computer reboots randomly

I've replaced:

• the chassis (inc. power supply)
  
• the power cable
  
• the hard drive(s)
  
• the RAM
  
• the operating system
  
• the motherboard (twice)
  
• the video card
  
• the sound card
  
• the internal cabling
  
• the CPU (twice)
  

[cheezus]

59. hmmm sounded like that worm at first

but if you've replaced all these things and it still does this, i'd guess that the electrical system in your house/building isn't quite right. Either that or it's the power supply. What cpu/speed do you have? the powersupply might just be underpowered.

do this for troubleshooting:

-use someone else's computer plugged into the same outlet your pc usually is
-take your computer elsewhere and try it.

[TrogL]

52. Why does solitaire run so slow

High-end video card
1.8 Ghz processor
adequate RAM
266 Mhz frontside bus
1042*768*high colours resolution

when you finish the game the cards just creeeeeeep across the screeen.

My old 133 Mhz laptop does it faster.

[cheezus]

60. don't play solitare

it kind of defeats the purpose of having a cpu - you might as well play against the computer at something

is it the built in windows solitare, or an older one? you might need to run it in compatablility mode if it's an old program and you're running windows xp

[SW FL Dem]

56. I have a Compaq with only 128 mb RAM

The computer is about 4 years old (1 gig), works fine except for the lack of RAM, I have plenty of hard drive space left. How hard is it to add RAM and is it worth it? I can afford a new puter but don't want to go through the hassle of transferring all my programs and files.

[cheezus]

64. go to www.crucial.com

on their main webpage the first thing right in the middle is a tool that lets you select your computer and choose ram for it

$100 should make your puter feel like new. 1gig with a fair amount of ram is more than sufficient for web/email/office. just not games or video editing.

[SW FL Dem]

76. Thanks Great site

I can upgrade to 768mb , but 512mb is probably sufficient for what I do. One more question, I'm pretty handy but clueless when it comes to computers. Can I install the extra memory myself? What kind of tools will I need.

[OKNancy]

99. I'll jump in here

I'm a middle-aged gal who never had a computer class in her life...all self-taught. It is easy to install RAM, if you follow directions. I liken it to cooking. If you follow the recipe, then things usually work fine.

[cheezus]

106. it's easy so long as you know where it goes

and which direction. it SHOULD be notched so you can't put it in backwards. it's really just as easy as firmly sticking the piece in a slot.

taking the case off will probably give you more problems

[MAlibdem]

58. Ok...why does my printer crap out every two weeks

I have to reinstall the drivers every other week it seems. Sucks.

[cheezus]

67. okay, it shouldn't do that

but i'd guess you're using windows 98, or maybe even windows 95, right?

at any rate, it looks like your driver keeps getting corrupted. who knows why that's happening. run a virus scan. consider an upgrade of windows

[MAlibdem]

87. nope, XP

with a Dell-All-In-One printer

new junk, supposed to be advanced...oh well

[denverbill]

77. Probably cause it's a Lexmark.

Lexmark X-83. Shittiest piece of crap since the '77 Chevy Vega.

[Red State Rebel]

82. I think Lexmark is German for doorstop....

I gave up on mine and bought an hp - it works great!

[Ratty]

68. Java or C++?

[cheezus]

70. pick the right tool for the job

actually, I really like Java. But I DON'T like C/C++.

What are you writing. Or are you just starting to learn?

I've recently been toying with python. looks very cool.

Windows apps: Visual C++ or C#
Mac apps: Objective C or Java
Web apps: PHP (see onlamp.com)

[Kellanved]

71. SWT or Swing ?

[jmowreader]

69. Is there any open-source software for the Raymond Fiddler reach truck?

I drive one of these all the time...



and we really want to turn on the hydraulic cylinder that adjusts the fork width from inside the cab. We have the cylinder. The hoses are going up to it. The valves and pumps you need to actuate the cylinder are there. But the software that runs the system costs $5000--the whole machine only costs $40,000--so we move the forks by hand. Which is really hard to do if the fork head is twelve feet off the floor.

[cheezus]

72. don't know of any OSS

but I could write some software for that if you want to pay me :)

[jmowreader]

84. If we wanted to pay for it...

we'd buy it from Raymond! :evilgrin:

[playahata1]

73. I cannot get ANY kind of sound from my laptop.

I can't hear anything on my CD player, let alone listen to Web radio broadcasts. I tried making the adjustments per instructions, but nothings happening so far.

I have an IBM ThinkPad, with Windows 98 and Microsoft. What am I doing wrong? Thanks in advance.

[Papa]

89. have you tried headphones or are you trying to get sound from speakers?

Do you hear the Windows startup music at all when you boot up?

[cheezus]

109. some ideas.

when you change the volume with the little speaker icon in the lower right hand corner of the screen (system tray) does the computer go bing?

Right click my computer, properties, find the device manager. Look to see if your sound device has an exclaimation mark or an x in it.

do this first, there's other steps after that

[grannylib]

75. My PC says "unable to find file MAIN, blah blah blah" and something

about KERNEL 32.dll or some such shit...wtf???
Also, how the HELL does one get rid of the worthless piece of shit microsoft search thing/msn search thing FOREVER??? Even though I set Google as my homepage the damn thing keeps coming back, and I don't want my grandkids seeing Viagra, penis pills, penis enlargement, etc. each and every time they turn the thing on....dammit....

[cheezus]

111. need more details about kernel32, but I can fix your web problem

Go to http://mozilla.org/products/firefox/
and click in the upper left to download firefox.

It's a very lightweight browser that is based on Mozilla, the technology behind Netscape. It's fast, has tabbed browsing, pop up blocking, integrated google search.

try it, you'll like it.


if you give me the details of your kernel32 problem I might be able to fix it for you

[Nlighten1]

79. I have a question...

What would you do for a Klondike bar?

[cheezus]

112. I'd answer your tech question

[gottaB]

81. What do I have to do to get perl scripts going on a Debian system?

It came with a standard Apache install, which I haven't really used, but it seems to work.

I can't find like a cgi-bin anywhere. Where do I drop a perl script? What config files do I need to edit?

And what's a good way to make it so that we can use our /~ instead of like /var/www/?

Please don't say RTFM--not without specifying which FM applies, thank you.

[cheezus]

114. investigate these things

you'll need perl and mod_perl for apache
if you don't have them you should be able to apt-get them

in order to get perl cgis going with your webserver you'll need to manually edit your httpd.conf file. I don't know where debain likes to put this, but it's usually somewhere like
/etc/httpd/httpd.conf or /var/www/httpd/httpd.conf

in this file you need to turn on mod perl (which is usually as easy as removing the # starting the line for the command). You'll also need to set it up to do cgis. there are two ways of doing this: you can set up a specific directory that cgis can be run from (usually something like foo.com/cgi-bin) - this is more secure, but kind of a pain. Otherwise you can configure it to allow files like .pl or .cgi to execute. less secure, but much easier.

Sorry I can't give more specific details. do some googling around httpd.conf and mod_perl and you should be able to figure it out

good luck!

[SmileyBoy]

83. PLEASE tell me how to enlarge the text in my sig line!!!

PLEASE!!!!

[cheezus]

116. hmm... i don't know

tried html markup. does nothing. maybe someone will tell me if I beg in my sig :)

I'd say try asking some people who have enlarged text sigs.

either that or you could make a jpg of the the text you want and put the image url in your sig

[DS1]

85. How can I populate a MySQL database with contents and schema

from an Access database.

Problem, I don't have access.

And the solution has to be free.

[chrisesq]

86. If you can answer this, you will be the first.

Ever since I installed Windows XP professional, Internet Exlplorer will not open up links in an external window. A window will pop up, but nothing will ever appear in the window.

I now have to use the new one that comes with the xp software. The one with the butterfly and you have to sign into in everytime after you have turned the computer off.

[Papa]

88. Check these links

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=281679

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=%23clhwb%23pBHA.2564%40tkmsftngp04&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26q%3DXP%2BIE6%2Bfix%2Bblank%2Bpopup%2B

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=HqkZ8.72280%246r.2265115%40news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net&rnum=6&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26q%3DXP%2BIE6%2Bfix%2Bblank%2Bpopup%2B

If you have a pop-up blocker, uninstall it, turning it off might not be enough.

[chrisesq]

90. Thanks a bunch.

I am trying these out as soon as I finish writing this

[chrisesq]

92. It worked. Finally someone who knows what they're doing. Thanks.

[cheezus]

115. thanks papa!

saved me some googling!

[darkstar]

91. How very nice of you to help!

Threads a bit long, so no big deal if you don't get back.

Problem: Try and dfrag. Keeps restarting. Sez "Run scand disk." I run it. *IT* keeps restarting, saying "shut down all running programs."

Even after re-booting, and going straight to scan disk, problem persists. Where can I go to find these running programs that I am unaware of? How do I shut them off? (Really confused. Haven't added anything new to this machines in ages and defragged about 6 weeks ago...)

Thanks again in advance.

:toast:

[Papa]

100. Windows defrag sucks, try this program instead

Go to download.com and search for Diskeeper . Download and install and run it. It generally does not get hung up like the windows defrag program and does a much better job in a fraction of the time as well.

You might also try these things too.

Adaware (available at download.com)
Spybot search and destroy (download.com)
housecall.trendmicro.com (website that runs antivirus on your pc - no downloading required, does it right from the site)

[cheezus]

117. start backing up your data

and saving up for a new hard drive.

[yellowdawgdem]

93. xp question

I mostly work on Macintosh, but am having a problem with xp on another computer. How do you change the security logons? You know, the little icons that pop up- one says administrator, and the other one just has a name of some kind. Just wondering where I would go to delete those, etc.

[Papa]

101. Click on Start/Control Panel/User accounts

then click on the user icon you want to change or delete.

[lpbk2713]

94. What is the "SysRq" key for on my keyboard? ............... n/t

[cheezus]

118. nothing, actually

from http://www.faqs.org/faqs/msdos-programmer-faq/part2/section-20.html

What is the SysRq key for?




There is no standard use for the key. The BIOS keyboard routines in INT
16 simply ignore it; therefore so do the DOS input routines in INT 21 as
well as the keyboard routines in libraries supplied with high-level
languages.

When you press or release a key, the keyboard triggers hardware line
IRQ1, and the CPU calls INT 9. INT 9 reads the scan code from the
keyboard and the shift states from the BIOS data area.

What happens next depends on whether your PC's BIOS supports an enhanced
keyboard (101 or 102 keys). If so, INT 9 calls INT 15 AH=4F to translate
the scan code. If the translated scan code is 54 hex (for the SysRq key)
then INT 9 calls INT 15 AH=85 and doesn't put the keystroke into the
keyboard buffer. The default handler of that function does nothing and
simply returns. (If your PC has an older BIOS that doesn't support the
extended keyboards, INT 15 AH=4F is not called. Early ATs have 84-key
keyboards, so their BIOS calls INT 15 AH=85 but not 4F.)

Thus your program is free to use SysRq for its own purposes, but at the
cost of some programming. You could hook INT 9, but it's probably easier
to hook INT 15 AH=85, which is called when SysRq is pressed or released.

[Zinfandel]

95. Is there any software that can truly increase one computer (CPU) speed?

[cheezus]

119. well... not really (I'll qualify that)

there is no software that will start making your cpu do more instructions in the same amount of time. however


Your computer will FEEL faster if you do a reinstall of windows. That always works.
You can remove some stuff that runs in the background. Use Add/Remove programs to get rid of junk you aren't using.
I'd also recomment running ad-aware or some other spyware removal tool. You'd be surprised what junk you pick up from the internet that wastes your cpu resources.

now for something a little geekier

There are compilers that can do various levels of optimation on the code for your specific hardware. That will make the resulting programs you make from the code run faster. But if you're on windows and just an end user, forget this. If you're a geek and want to play with linux, I'd recommend Gentoo - it compiles the whole system and all the software you install from scratch with optimations for your system.

[ComerPerro]

96. What is that glowing dealie on my desk, above the keyboard?

It is about a foot and a half wide, is a cube, is mostly grey, and it has front that is made of glass or something that shows a lot of pretty lights and colors.

What is that?

[Triple H]

97. It says "To continue, press any key."

WHERE'S THE ANY KEY????

[Zomby Woof]

98. Why do Macs suck?

And will Fisher-Price sue?

[cheezus]

110. They are, in fact, AWESOME!

and OS X is a thing of true beauty. The GUI is so fast, and so pretty, and so easy. But then you can open up a terminal and get a unix shell. X windows, GNU tools.

I can think of very few reasons PCs might be considered better

Much wider selection of games (tho all the hit ones come out on mac)
Cheaper (much in the same way a Geo is cheaper than a BMW)
and um..

yeah, that's it.

[Paradise]

102. Congratulations! (Bookmarked) n/t

[FunBobbyMucha]

103. Mac Internet Use.

I have a mac, currently subscribe to Comcast Digital Cable, which cost a small fortune. What other options are there that are cheaper than 45 bucks a month?

[cheezus]

120. broadband just seems to cost about that much

here are some options
1) dialup - there are usually discount local providers that do it for 15 or less/mo - but dialup is slow slow slow if you are used to cable modem
2) get wireless (airport/wifi/802.11) and leech off a neighbor's hookup, if you're lucky
3) live in university housing :)

I highly doubt dsl would be any cheaper, but you might want to look on your telco's website and see.

[LDS Jock]

105. I could use some help... saving pictures problem

For some reason I can no longer save pictures as anything other than bitmap, even if they are gif or jpeg to begin with. This only started happening a few days ago. I am new to XP and not familiar with what all might have happened. I contacted tech support for Compaq who suggested using system restore. I have tried that, all the way back to the original point since the computer is only a month old and it doesn't fix it. How do I fix this? And how did it get changed to begin with?

[cheezus]

121. what software program are you using to save the pictures?

please don't say start->accessories->paint

go to download.com. you should be able to find a free or shareware image editor that has a few more features. or download photoshop of kazaa ^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H buy photoshop at the store

[Bertha Venation]

108. Why are emails from two specific people DELAYED?

Emails from Mrs. V. and from my sister frequently hit my inbox at work from four to twenty-four or more hours after they send them. It doesn't matter if they send their emails from work or home addresses.

The IT people at work are either clueless or don't care.

Why does this happen?

[cheezus]

122. troubleshooting steps

what would happen if I were to send you an email? I'm guessing your company's mail system is set up to automatically accept certain known safe emails (in companies - specific partners/client orgs), and then do some heavy filtering and virus checking on all the others.


that's just a guess tho. I don't have enough info to make a better diagnosis.

Get yourself a free yahoo (or other) mail account and use that for personal mail, leave your work account for work mail.

[cedahlia]

113. CD Writing Software

Could you recommend something other than what comes with XP? I have been experiencing a problem with burning CDs and not having them play correctly or at all in my car's CD player and home stereo. At first I thought it was just the CD's I was using, but I've tried a couple different kinds (TDK and Memorex) and keep having the same problem. For the record, I have an very recent model HP PC. I have no other complaints about the computer except for the burning problem.

Thanks for offering your expertise, and congrats on getting your degree! :toast:

[cheezus]

123. Yes, the built in XP one sucks - use iTunes for Audio Discs

I'm a big fan of Nero , from Ahead software http://www.nero.com/us/index.html

Adaptec Easy CD creator is okay too.

but if you're just needing to burn better audio CDs I have a GREAT FREE solution

Apple's iTunes! http://www.apple.com/itunes

Great music player (like winamp or media player), and you can burn any playlist to a cd (mp3s, wavs, aac, whatever).

oh, and it's FREE!

[cheezus]

124. ***Moving to another thread***

more than 100 message here. continue asking your computer questions at
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=967563#967645

[mdmc]

126. How can I find out where an IP is located?