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Hi all, I was wondering if anyone can help me please. I am creating an UNATTENDED install disc on Blu-ray, and thought that, WITHOUT having to insert the disc every time I WANT to play a certain game, would it be possible to have the update patches install from the disc, and also have it apply a no-cd crack to the game folder, or would I have to do that manually ?

I do own the actual GAMES, I just see it as an easier way to preserve them.

I know how to do the unattended install, but have just recently bought a Blu-ray burner, and thought it would be easier than to spend ages swapping DISCS around for games I want to play.

many thanks

I knew from my frs that the wireless MODEM will be SPEED up by doing something but they don’t know how! So anyone can HELP me out PLEASE if possible.

Wasnt sure to post this in the HARDWARE fourm or not.  I know what RAID 0 an 1  are but, what is 0 + 1 an combination of both ? :/A RAID 0 array is a stripe array, a RAID1 is a mirror array, as you know. RAID 0+1 is a mirror of stripes. Not to be confused with RAID 1+0 which is a stripe of mirrors. All you need to know:

here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

and here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nested_RAID_levels

Quote from: Salmon TROUT on November 26, 2012, 08:12:11 AM

A RAID 0 array is a stripe array, a RAID1 is a mirror array, as you know. RAID 0+1 is a mirror of stripes. Not to be confused with RAID 1+0 which is a stripe of mirrors. All you need to know:

here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

and here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nested_RAID_levels

I was kind of thinking that it was something like that but, I wasnt completely sure.

TRy that on dial up an without your accelerator

hello everyone.

we were given an assignment about computer. that's why I decided to ask people here.


here's the scenario:

"DIAGNOSTIC PLAN"

Symptom: System unit is on
Monitor is ok
there is no display


and then, we were asked to write down the SYMPTOM, DEFECT, and REMEDY for this.

so, could anyone help me point the answers for this? I would REALLY appreciate your help. THANKS and GOBDLESS! Quote from: ryukenchu on November 17, 2012, 08:54:23 PM

we were given an assignment about computer.

How to remove TIMELINE in facebook. Please help.at original....as per facebook officials.....there s no way to roll back in the old FASHION profile view after once switched to timeline...whereas ou can FOLLOW the undermentioned page instructions to have an old LOOK..........
http://www.fbpurity.com/remove-facebook-timeline.htm

Hi!

Me, and probably lots of people, would like to know what drivers are.

What do they look like and what do they actually do?

Please get back with an example.

Let's make it a Windows example for, f.i, a USB port.

Bedst regards, Rogerhttps://www.google.com/search?hl=&q=what+is+a+computer+driver&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGLL_en-GBUS430US394&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&sugexp=les%3B&gs_nf=3&tok=-q1yrmbQSJs0W-y1kRK61Q&pq=what%20is%20a%20computer%20driver&cp=11&gs_id=cb&xhr=t&q=what+is+a+device+driver&pf=p&tbo=d&rlz=1B3GGLL_en-GBUS430US394&sclient=psy-ab&oq=what+is+a+ddriver&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=7a36a4eb78cfe3bd&bpcl=37643589&biw=1280&bih=633Hi Allan!

I am sorry to say but that link was just techno-jibberich to me. 

I would like a concrete example.

Could you, or perhaps someone else, please provide that?

On the other hand, when I create my own OS I will find some other way to interface with the hardware.

This is because getting down to it has to do with how the hardware actually work.

Best regards, Roger
PS
The picture in that link was the only useful thing.The link takes you to a Google Search RESULTS Page. Start clicking on some of the results.Hi!

I think you have misunderstood me.

I got to a Wikipedia page and it was that page that was jibberich to me.

But I could have spent a week reading all blue links. And then maybe I would have gotten wiser.

I did however find the first article too technological.

I have however written some Wikipedia articles myself and I recognize the difficulty in educating "everybody" at plain sight.

I often use links myself. Sometimes too many, sometimes too few.

But I do almost never write articles like the one about drivers.

It was totally noninformant.

That is, I wound up with even more questions then I had before reading the article.

On the othe hand, this happens when you are ignorant and just want more information.

Someone wise told me that the further you go down the rabbit hole, the further you realise how little you know!

Best regards, Roger Quote from: rogerk8 on November 07, 2012, 03:03:19 PM

What do they look like

and what do they actually do?

In computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program that operates or controls a particular type of device that is attached to your computer

If we may select hardware that are available (almost) everywhere and for some considerable time in the future, we may ommit the driver feature totally and just write subroutines for the carefully selected hardware.

You will then of course encourage certain HW-manufaturers only.

But if you have come to the conclusion that these HW actually are the best, so what?

Imagine how much this will simplify an OS.

No more desperate search for the optimum drivers for used HW.

Just custom made and optimized subroutines for one set of carefully selected HW only.

Do you know what the problem with you is? 

You still seem to think that my version of an OS should be the ONLY one available for people.

I am just trying to offer an alternative.

And I think I am right.


A computer can be made to be much faster and better than today.

You just watch me!

You can always rewrite the subroutines if the exact hardware isn't available. Remember that I love open source...

Decided to look at Radioshack to see what they had to offer for Black Friday deals and I found a link to Trade-in Your Computer, and thought...hmm... lets see what my computer I bought in 2009 is worth, just out of curiosity.

http://www.radioshacktradeandsave.com/online/home/CategorySelected.rails?enc=Eot70j2UrJqDDffGNaC8ng==

Sadly the trade in values seem very much a RIP OFF. My Toshiba Laptop that I bought in late 2009 brand new for $469 they claim is only worth $43.87 trade-in, in like new condition and no problems.

*If I knew of people willing to part with theirs in the same good working condition of light use RUNNING Windows 7 32-bit, I'd buy a bunch of them at $43.87 and sell them for $120 or more each as refurbs. Mine with ATHLON II x2 CPU, 2GB Ram, 500GB HD, WIN 7 32-bit, and 17" WIDESCREEN, that has only been used when on a few business trips I'd say is worth around $200 if I wanted to sell it quickly to people I know, but its not for sale.

I DONT trade in computers, I pretty much use them until they can no longer serve a realistic processing purpose and then recycle them. Just had a laugh when i saw $43.87 ( Yeah RIGHT! ) 

I looked up an old Toshiba Qosmio F25 that I have to see what that is worth with Core 2 Duo 1.83Ghz CPU, and that heavy beast is worth $0.00 even in perfect working condition. So they want more modern laptops and to pay next to nothing for them.

Oh and they wont reject trade in for $0.00 of a F25 Toshiba Qosmio perfectly running with original box and Remote for TV-tuner card thats built into it running Windows XP SP3...LOL... I'd takeany free laptops I can get myself as long as they aren't stolen or radioactive!

when ever i go to my recycle bin it is empty.i can delete files from documents,pictures emails .any other source.but when i look in my bin it's empty .can anyone tell me why.where are they going.Forgive a silly question, but are you set up to use the Recycle Bin for deleted items? Right-click on the icon, select Properties, and check the settings.not sure if this is what you mean .but.it says'    DOC's=335gb//windows 7-130gb // max size 10210. this box is ticked.
the one underneath is not.I honestly don't know what you are looking at. What version of Windows are you using? And when you right-click on the trash bin and select "properties" you should see options to enable and disable moving deleted items to the recycle bin and setting custom sizes for the bin. Thats' what i thought Allan.thats what i used to see along TIME ago .i am using windows 7 home .now i get a white page.with catagories on
the left ,doc' music  video ,ect. and the tool bar at the top with , file  EDIT  view  tools ect.it dose'nt even look like the right page.
 
,Can you post a screen shot?

Also, see if anything here helps: http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/fix-corrupted-recycle-bin-windows-7-vista/Morning Allan i tried your link but could not get anything.(dont know what i'm doing wrong.) tried sending a screnshot but it wont work

tried with  Screenshot  and Snippet. no joy.

Quote from: ivanoe on November 20, 2012, 09:41:33 AM

i am using windows 7 home .now i get a white page.with catagories on the left ,doc' music  video ,ect. and the tool bar at the top with , file  edit  view  tools ect.it dose'nt even look like the right page.

Right-click on the icon (the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop) select Properties, and check the settings.

when ever i go to my recycle bin it is empty.i can delete files from documents,pictures emails .any other source...

I have some firefox extionsion that records stream FLASH video.  I was looking for something that could capture with better quality.  It seems that it saves it as a flv but, it comes up as file as for the file formatMost capture plug-ins save the actual stream, so the only way to improve quality is to make sure the player is set to give the best stream.

Also, some plug-ins don't add the extension (I know the one I use doesn't), so you have to add .flv to the end of it when you save it or it is just saved as a generic file type. That extension can also be added AFTERWARDS. However, be aware that some sites use MP4 streams instead of FLV.Is there any way to really tell?  Im gusseing that a mp4 is a little better quality then flv?  Also, looking for something that would record thats not embeded to the browser.  By player your meaning the PROGRAM im recording with?Quality isn't NECESSARILY a matter of FLV or MP4. It's a matter of the quality the file was encoded at.

By player, I mean the player on the website. For example, if you capture a stream from Youtube, you get the FLV stream (although there are ways to get MP4 streams from Youtube). If you capture the stream from some other sites, like Daily MOTION, you get an MP4.

I'm TRYING to install virtual PC 2007 "http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=4580" in compadility mode.  WINDOWS 8 HP Paviollion g6 NOTEBOOK but, I'm not able to get it to installYou NEED to get a pc that can access Google.
https://www.google.com/search?hl=&q=install+virtual+pc+2007+on+windows+8&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGLL_en-GBUS430US394&ie=UTF-8&aq=1&oq=install+virtual+pc+2007

Thread locked.

So I was looking up INFO to fix a MP3 player that I should just toss away and replace with a modern MP3 player and found that Newegg still sells the Creative Labs 128MB MP3 player, but at a steep price tag. Surprisingly someone recently paid the price tag for this 10 YEARS out of date rip off and complained in the feedback. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0AT0PC2689&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-_-pla-_-MP3+%2f+MP4+Players-_-9SIA0AT0PC2689

Seems to me that someone has 128MB confused with 128GB...  Nah, 128MB appears to be right but I agree it seems awfully high for 128MB.  However, the pricing on newegg is similar to Amazon.  See http://www.amazon.com/Creative-NOMAD-Flash-Drive-Player/dp/B0000AVF7X/ref=sr_1_15?s=mp3&ie=UTF8&qid=1379717621&sr=1-15&keywords=creative+mp3+players

And, this appears to be an older model.  I saw buyer reviews on Amazon.com that were POSTED in 2003.What I find funny in the price is that I bought mine at Wal-mart for like $30 in 2004, and for it to be 4x that is crazy..lol Quote from: soybean on September 20, 2013, 04:57:53 PM

And, this appears to be an older model.  I saw buyer reviews on Amazon.com that were posted in 2003.

Bought an Onkyo HT S5500 7.1 system and there is no audio coming from the speakers. Can I post here about that, or is there a forum that can be RECOMMENDED to GO to for help? The Onkyo forums aren't active on the weekends. I'd return it for a REPLACEMENT system SINCE it should be covered by warranty.

This message comes up when I try to open Internet Explorer and some other programs.... would appreciate your help... I really don't understand this..............Thanks very much!


This page has been rated by a rating system that you do not have installed. For more INFORMATION about these ratings, connect to http://www.icra.org/ratingsv02.html:
nz - 1
vz - 1
lz - 1
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cz - 1♠Control Panel - INTERNET OPTIONS - content tab - content advisor
Disable any content advisor settings (depending on your Windows version)When I CLICK on  control panel, I get a  message:

Long combination of numbers and letters ....  and ...              system CALL failed
I click OK to close that window... and at the top it has              explorer.exe           and then     system call failed

What can I do to open control panel?

thanks very, very much!   I really appreciate your help....Have you been having any other problems?

What is new or different since the LAST TIME everything worked properly (ie, new hw, new sw, virus, error, etc)?A couple of weeks ago... my computer was plugged into the surge protector...lightening hit the transformer, came in via the AT&T line and I lost my programs.  The computer company was able to save my files, pictures, etc. .  I was told to reload the programs from the original disks but could not locate them so I purchased this and installed it today....

Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010 for 1 PC - (Download Delivery)

Before this was added, I could click on the icons on the home page to access the file and programs but I cannot do that any more.
I can open some pictures and documents that I couldn't open before I added this today...

Thanks very much for your help.... I do appreciate your help.


Please try system restore and revert to a date before you had the problem.I should have tried this before.. but.. I turned the computer off and back on...  and now have the icons on the home page... and can access some of the pictures and documents that I couldn't before.  I can't open PNG files at all.. but sometimes can open a PDF file with the Office program.  I can also open the control panel (finally!)... and disabled ... as you explained. Now I have the Internet Explorer again.
Thanks very much for all your help... I just don't understand many computer problems and am glad you have the patience to explain the way to correct them!

hey guys. i know this is a computer forum but i need help with my knc md903 tablet. its new and charged up. but when i turn it on the android icon COMES up then the KNC logo. then it switches back and forth between android icon an knc LOG. doesnt boot up further than that. tried HARD resetting it. and i tried wiping it. please help me. i SPENT money to bring it to this country now it doesnt work.Are you sure it is charged?
If it is under warranty, check to see of they have a repair CENTER where you live now.

I guess a few people have a BIRTHDAY TODAY.... I don't think I would want my b-day to be today. Is 01/01/xxxx a default when registering?

MM/DD/YYYY ... I get a kick out of Facebook when family members wish me happy birthday on my alias birthday that is not my REAL birthday.  everyday someone has a birthday.Brilliant ! !

I NEVER thought of that...I'm guessing he's a spammer in waiting. Either WAY, he's being warned & watched.

To everyone here including HELPERS. Staff and Visitors have a Great Holiday ! !

patio.Thanks patio. And I'd like to join in and wish everyone a very Happy Holiday Season and a Safe, Happy, & Healthy New Year Thanks patio. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Thanks Patio ...  and Happy Holidays to all...

And Happy New Year as well for anyone who might not be back here until 2014 who are hopefully going on a nice all paid vacation someplace nice on a TROPICAL island with private beach, perfect weather, and relaxation well deserved after a hard YEARS work.   How did you know ? ?....I echo others.  Thanks patio, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. Happy Christmas to everyone, hope you all have a great day Yes   Merry Christmas to you and the rest of the people who have helped me with my PROBLEMS.  I can't get along with out you.   Hope you have a great 2014!!!    BOB

The full TITLE is:
HP: Windows XP’s death will save PCS like Windows 8 couldn’t
Full Story...  Balderdash...This article is from last year. Quote from: BC_Programmer on January 12, 2014, 06:45:43 PM

This article is from last year.

I WISH EVERY one of you a Happy, Prosperous New Year   Happy New Year to everyone, and COOL IRON MAIDEN PIC!

I have had 6 "database ERRORS" today while either reporting spam or trying to make posts.
Been that way since 3 / 4 days AGO...
If i remember correctly Nathan typically uses this slow Holiday to purge/cleanup the database etc...

I've sent him a message on the issues.Actually Thursday the Forum was DROPPING out completely for 40 minutes at a time off and on.
I'm getting ready to go and tell the King!
I've been having problems too - especially today. Just heard from Nathan and he will be updating the SERVER TONIGHT and will address the database errors at that time.Tell him he owes us all a Pint of Guinness.... I was thinking more like a bottle of Blue Label, but okay

One of my friends asked me today if there was a utility that could run as a service to maintain statistics on system usage. I said I am not aware of any but that I'd post this here in case anyone else has some SUGGESTIONS.

Here are statistics he seems to have a need to know:

1.) Computer Usage Time vs Idle Time
2.) Bandwidth Usage graphed out or showing a 24 hour period that shows usage in 1 hr intervals
3.) Listing of all exe's run at the local system for a 24 hour period
4.) Listing of all websites that have been visited for a 24 hour period and date/time stamps
5.) System Resource Use in 24 hour period showing say a graph or statistics of averages down to 1 hr intervals for % of CPU and memory used.

In regards to the 5 items above, I know of a widget that can keep track of how much upload/download has happened and can be reset back to 0 manually daily in reference to the REQUEST for #2, but it does not show a graph for 24 hr period.

In regards to #4 you can set up a log in most routers that will show where the computer went out to in a 24 hr period unless there is so much activity that it exceeds the logging capacity of the router.

In regards to #5 I have heard of some people using dxdiag/x systemlog.txt to export to a text file system information, and I suppose you could have this trigger once an hour as a scheduled task and then make a custom script that can parse this text file for the free memory or other statistics and have that then supply timed intervals of system use.

It sounds like he is hoping there is 1 or 2 utilities out there that can do this without having to achieve this from 5 different methods.

Anyone have any suggestions, or should I tell him that he is going to have to have 5 different methods to gather this info, some of which may have to be custom programmed because programs dont ALREADY EXIST to do that?

His explanation for that there should be one that does all this and more is because 30+ years ago when he was working with mainframes there was all sorts of statistical data on the system as well as users were charged for their computer time for mainframe use, and so there was a service that kept track of how long and how much resources were used, and so that was 30+ years ago and something like that should exist today. I told him that most people would care less as to these statistics today as for you dont have a mainframe and lots of people trying to get onto a single multimillion dollar mainframe for their 30 minutes of time to be billed etc. Since everyone has their own computers these days the time it is in use or not in use pretty much doesnt affect the electric bill much as long as the computer is powered and running when not in use.

So it seems as though he wants a feature of early mainframes of 30+ years ago on his local machine.

No info on GOOGLE on overclocking Athlon 4450B, as seen here ( https://www.google.com/#q=overclock++Athlon+4450B ) so I figured I would post here for reference in case anyone else some day wants to push a 4450B with an overclock. Below is information on the hardest I was able to push my Athlon 4450B before crashing.

Here is Hardware Info:

Biostar MCP6PB M2+ (Socket AM2+ Motherboard)
AMD Athlon 64 x2 4450B 1MB Cache 2300Mhz - Business Class CPU 45 watts
4GB Corsair DDR2 800Mhz XMS2 RAM
Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium
460watt Power Supply

- I was able to raise the FSB to 224Mhz from 200Mhz.
- I did not alter the voltages ( running default at 1.95VDC memory )
- Multiplier is locked at 11.5x for this CPU

* System crashes at 225Mhz FSB or greater, but was able to operate until crashing randomly at the 225 to 228Mhz range, and 229Mhz or greater the system will not boot and kicks back out to BIOS POST loop until the speed is reduced on the FSB to below 229Mhz FSB. I ran it EARLIER at 222Mhz FSB for 6 hours and no problems gaming at 2553Mhz at max CPU temp of 45C, decided to try for the maximum speed and no crashing, and reached 224Mhz FSB at 2576Mhz and at max CPU temp of 49C running both cores for 100% for almost 10 minutes.

Idle temp at 2576Mhz is 32C in a room that is 73F.

Going to lower this back to 222Mhz FSB from 224Mhz FSB because I WANT to have my max CPU temp back at 45C vs 49C and the extra 23Mhz is not worth the extra heat and running it to the max. 222Mhz FSB gives me a 11% overclock at 2553Mhz vs 2300Mhz native clock and is 1% less than the 12% overclock at 224Mhz FSB.

Note: In a different motherboard, and a better heatsink, you might be able to drive this CPU harder, but this is the maximum I could get out of this and have it trouble free. The heatsink I am using is rated for 65 watt CPU and this CPU is a 45 watt CPU overclocked, which makes it run hotter.

Attached is a screenshot of me forcing the cores to 100% by processing  3 raw video files concurrently with virtualdub64 as a way to give it a full load and watch the temps with speedfan. The red line is the video cards GPU from earlier testing in games with the overclock. With the game not running the GPU went idle and the temp plunged on the GPU.

*As far as system performance goes, it does feel snappier with the overclock enabled, however it is still just a Dual-Core with 1MB L2 Cache and so its still not as fast as my Athlon II X4 620 2600Mhz CPU system, but still a good CPU for games LIKE Skyrim, World of Warcraft MoP 5.4.2, GTA SA, Driver San Francisco, Need for Speed Carbon, Blades of Time, Scarlet Blade, Tera Rising, Allods, Aion, Neverwinter Online, and a load of other games with just the ATI Radeon HD5450 video card for normal game settings and 30-90fps at 1024 x 768 res, depending on the game played.

So this info is just here for reference so that if anyone ever searches for Overclocking a Athlon 4450B, now they will have some info to go with. I searched out the Athlon 4450E which is the cheaper CPU and there is info suggesting 2700Mhz out of that CPU, however temp issues at 65C due to inadequate heatsink to cool it. These CPU's are almost identical except for the fact that this 4450B has 1MB L2 Cache shared between 2 cores and benchmarks better as the Business Class CPU and the more common 4450E has 512k L2 Cache x2 for dedicated 512k L2 per core ( not shared ) and performs lesser on benchmark .

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103256 Athlon 4450E info

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103264 Athlon 4450B info

I bought this Athlon 4450B used off of ebay for $9.99 with free shipping. Not a bad $10 CPU



[recovering disk space, attachment deleted by admin]Cool!

I'll just add here for other people interested in doing this that overclocking is a massive case of "Your mileage may vary".  The settings above are good to compare to but that doesn't mean they should just be stuck into your system and used, all CPUs are different so you need to still work slowly tweaking clocks/voltages/multipliers until you reach a good point where it is stable and running cool.

Hi.
After hours of reading and working C programming language,
When i sleep, i dream in codes! and even there im solving the problems!
Is this natural?
Do you dream in codes too?
it ain't bad, It's just.. I need rest right? So when I sleep, i expect my brain get rest,
But it wouldn't actually...
I'll get a bad headache instead!...

"Happy 2014" Quote from: m_ilad__ on December 27, 2013, 10:28:16 PM

Do you dream in codes too?

Nope.

Those 1s(111) was infact binaries!
It wasn't my fault. It has to be 1(On/True) for me to eat!!!

01001001 00100000 01100100 01101111 01101110 01011100 00100111 01110100 00100000 01101011 01101110 01101111 01110111 00100000 01101000 01101111 01110111 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01110010 01100001 01101110 01110011 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 00100000 01100011 01101111 01100100 01100101 00101110

I dont dream in binary, never have, but if I have been working on some code and go to sleep. Sometimes my brain cant let it go and so I lay in bed and trail off and dream that I am programming the code, and then wake up and realized that I had been dreaming about it and I have a better method to achieve a function in the programming via reuse of objects etc and so I fire up the computer and open the IDE and go in and start adding the better method and it compiles and life is good 

I think the most frustrating dreams though are the ones in which you have this really great idea in the dream and you wake up and need to write it to paper and then by the time you actually got a sheet of paper and a pen 80% of it faded and so you  have 20% of this great idea and then are trying to piece together the information that didnt store to long term memory from the dream. 

I have to avoid doing certain things before bed or else I dream about it. Some games that are problem solving will loop all night long like the game Portal, Candy Crush, and other games that are played for like 4 hrs before sleep I will have running through my mind all night. The Portal Dreams are really messed up though and may be the vertigo factor the game can give when you fall into one portal and your then oriented shooting out of another wall face 90 degrees opposing your initial reference in the game.

On a side note my one programming teacher back in the late 1980s use to play classical music when the class was programming in Basic. Reason behind this was because this music was said to bring out and unlock the artistic ability in people. Well I actually found that programming with heavy metal and industrial music really loud allowed me to zone out from any other distractions and focus almost like being one with the computer in a tunnel vision like brain dump through my hands to the PC and so some of my best programs were actually created under listening to NIN, Iron Maiden, Pitchshifter, Metallica, Fear Factory, Rammstein, and on and on.    The only problem though is when its so loud you dont hear your wife come home and she walks up behind you and you dont realize this and then you jump out of your seat when during a change to the next song she yells, LOUD ENOUGH FOR YOU!!!! 

I've dreamt about computers and other things in everyday life.  When I used to build systems I would often dream about overclocking, fires, faulty hardware, and unrealistic targets - basically an average day at work after a weekend of working on my car I'll sometimes dream about crashing it, something going majorly wrong, or oddly, selling it.  Now I work 1st line/2nd line I sometimes dream about my job but not as much as it's not so stressful, having said that I did have a dream the other week that the HDDs in the backup server had failed and I had to rebuild our IT infrastructure on my own as my supervisor got fired - this was because in the week before, 2 HDDs had failed with about 24 hours between failures, had they overlapped it would've been disastrous as for some bizarre reason the server uses RAID 5.  So, I was worried about that all week, and thus dreamt about it.

If you do a lot of coding I wouldn't say it's abnormal to dream about it, but if that's all you do I would perhaps consider taking up some other hobbies as Salmon says

Maybe you need to get into some other things besides computers... girls, cars, travel, reading, a hobby? Going out of the house is good too.

Having said that, I often dream about Excel spreadsheets.

And ahh... i.. here isn't the right place to talk about this but,

[edited]

I'm not familiar with the industry. There has to be a good deal of folks on this forum that have a career involving electronics. To you I ask, what should a new comer aim for? What position is in high demand? Also I've heard of technical schools that offer training that can get you a job as a computer technician. Is there any validity to this? Thank you for your time.Short answer, NO.
Long answer,, if your are thinking about the USA and Europa, the answer is a qualified NO. Some Techs will find jobs in very narrow markets. Not to say the industry's narrow, but the jobs are very narrow. You can not get general training that prepares you  for the specific skills you will need.

This is not my speculation.  It is reality. This was published over a year ago. Still valid. It is harder than  ever to find a job that trains you as you work.
Careers Headed For The Dustbin. -Forbes
Read and weep.
But flipping burgers is still good. Wrong!I have worked between Electronics and Computers ( IT/MIS ) since 1994

Since 2009 I have been employed by the USPS as an Electronics Technician pay level 10 making good money. Prior to this I worked the following jobs:

1994-1995 - Allied Electronics                             - Electronics Technician
1995-2001 - Rockwell Automation/Allen-Bradley - Electronics Technician
2001-2003 - Geokon                                           - QC Technician & Calibrations
2003-2009 - Hanover Consumer Cooperative    - Systems Administrator ( MIS/IT + DB Admin & Programmer )

*My foot in the door to Electronics happened by luck. My wife which was my girlfriend back then decided with her girlfriend to go out on a double date. The other guy named Earl worked at Allied Electronics and so him and I got talking, started drawing on knapkins at the resturant and he suggested I apply for a job at Allied. This gave me 7 months work experience which Rockwell/Allen-Bradley accepted as work experience in the field, and when I interviewed and showed them that I could read schematics and diagnose problems and knew my way around an o-scope and both thru-hole and surface mount technology I was an instant hire. It was an interesting double date to where the women got chatting on their own subjects and we got chatting about circuits and ideas and inventions etc and how to make this or that better etc.

I am very fortunate to have the job I have today was well as the prior jobs that I held. In my area of the USA these jobs are more scarce today than in past years. There use to be a number of jobs in this area 20 years ago that I could have gotten a job at any one of them easily and today there is less than a handful and they are dying out as businesses push their manufacturing to other countries to keep manufacturing costs low and profit margins high.

Only Geokon and the Hanover Coop still exist from the places I worked at in my area, but there were many more businesses 20 years ago that manufactured and repaired electronics as well as needed IT PROFESSIONALS. These days the positions are held long term until someone dies when you might get a position as was how I got my job at Geokon was because a guy died and they needed to fill it right away and I was the perfect applicant to match the requirements, or the company goes out of business or relocates. IT Jobs are just as scarce however there have been a few that are extremely specific in the employee they are looking for.

Example of this extremely specific employee that one local business was looking for was an ASP Programmer for Mobile Devices with 5 years minimum experience working with ASP and Oracle Database who also had a minimum of a BS degree, and portfolio of projects that they worked on to show their skill level in ASP and Oracle Database Administration. Salary not specified in the ad.

The problem is that the colleges in our area who have a degree program with programming focus on C++ and Visual Basic as the main languages of a computer science degree in which you specify one specific language as your main language to master as part of your degree requirements. So the person who is qualified for this position above in our area would have to be someone who probably learned ASP on their own, and worked either freelance for others or on their own developing their own software for the last 5 years who also have a BS degree.

As far as Electronics Jobs they are very scarce, and IT Jobs are at a ratio of about 10 IT jobs per 1 ET job, and there may be only 1 or 2 positions per month for IT and so you might see 1 or 2 ET jobs a year and most of which you may have to commute 1 hour away to get to the job, so your looking at like 120 miles of driving and 2 hours wasted every day to get to work and back home.

Anyone wanting a guaranteed Electronics Job I would suggest checking in with the USAF, Army, Marines, or Navy etc. I enlisted in 1992 for the USAF delayed enlistment program when in highschool at 17 years old and took asvab testing etc and was offered an Electronics job because I scored very high in math, mechanics, and electronics. Had I followed through with this I would have had it made, but I backed out because I knew that I could get a job right out of high school in electronics with my hands on knowledge in electronics from all the books read and all the kits and computers etc that I modded and fixed etc.

The better colleges for Electronics Degrees are the ones that offer Electronics Engineering Degrees which usually have connections with businesses to help place you into an apprenticeship or internship position to get the work experience that every degree should have paired with it so that your not in a situation where you have a degree with no work experience.

*Also be sure that whatever college you go with is not planning on doing away with their Electronics Degree program. I got burned badly when a college I was attending pulled the Electronics Degree 1/2 way thru my degree program. I was told to meet a woman in the office at the college because they had to cancel an electronics course. In the discussion it was brought to my attention that there are not enough interested students in the Computer Micro Electronics Degree Program and so they have done away with that degree. She then went on to tell me that because the local hospital is expanding they are adding Nursing Degree Programs, and have you ever considered becoming a Nurse? I was upset to a point that I cant express here that they could do this. I ended up switching from Electronics to Information Technology because it was the year 2000 and there were lots of jobs to be had if you had the degree and experience. So I ended up going for Computer Systems Management Degree ( IT/MIS ), but the need for IT Professionals was starting to dry up and so when I finally got my degree in 2004, I found myself stuck at a regular Systems Administrator job that wasnt paying what a job like that should pay so instead of getting like $20 an hour or more I was only getting $13 an hour in 2004.

I am very fortunate that the last 20 years have been good to me, however there were times when I had no job for 6 months and thought I was going to go bankrupt having to live off of 2 credit cards and take cash advances off of one to make the payment on the other, then land a job and have to fix the credit card debt mess.

Best of Luck if you decide to go with an Electronics Career. Hopefully some info shared here is beneficial to you.
DaveLembke, excellent post! 

IMHO, the OP needs to rethink his INTEREST in Electronics. For man y it is becoming a hobby rather that a profession. The jobs available require very specific skills not covered in typical college programs.;  even as  you mentioned.

Forbes also recently posted a list of top jobs for individuals  willing to LEARN new skills. The kind of skills few institutions now teach.
Link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/emsi/2013/03/07/americas-skilled-trades-dilemma-shortages-loom-as-most-in-demand-group-of-workers-ages/
Title: America's Skilled Trades Dilemma: Shortages Loom As Most-In-Demand Group Of Workers Ages.
Recommended read. 
Hi

Have you considered electronics in the military ie with aircraft or helicopters. There is still lots of jobs in the Aircraft AVIONICS area and they are normally well paid. Also in the military if technology changes then you get retrained. if you do go for a career in electronics or computers you need to appreciate you will be studying , researching for the rest of your career often without any pay. If you doubt that have a look at some 2 year old newspapers in IT jobs and see what employers are looking for and then see what they are looking for now it's so different. I have spent 1/2 of my working time keeping up to date. Where as my husband is an Accountant only needs to spend 30 hours a year doing professional development and if he doesn't know something he charges the client to find out, not so normally in the computer industry.   

For the most profitable career I would look for something that is poorly documented, needed by many and you could learn once with the minimum future training unless I was being paid while learning. And that the consumer has insurance for.

 Lisa and I both suggest Military for guaranteed placement into Electronics. *Just be sure that you are agreeing to an electronics position in the military before you sign the dotted line. To be offered one of these positions a position will have to be available, and you will have to have high asvab test scores in mathematics mechanics and electronics. There are some asvab practice tests online to get a sense as to what your test will be like, but the test is always evolving and so it may be different when you take it. There are good and misleading recruiters out there. They may verbally promise something and not follow through. Have everything in writing that you are agreeing to and have a copy for yourself! The recruiter I had was a good guy, but I have had friends who went through another recruiter and they were verbally told one thing and then next they knew they couldnt back out and they were stuck as a tank mechanic etc and thats not what they wanted, but it was better than being a cook or something else.


From my post:
Quote

Anyone wanting a guaranteed Electronics Job I would suggest checking in with the USAF, Army, Marines, or Navy etc. I enlisted in 1992 for the USAF delayed enlistment program when in highschool at 17 years old and took asvab testing etc and was offered an Electronics job because I scored very high in math, mechanics, and electronics. Had I followed through with this I would have had it made, but I backed out because I knew that I could get a job right out of high school in electronics with my hands on knowledge in electronics from all the books read and all the kits and computers etc that I modded and fixed etc.

Have you considered electronics in the military ie with aircraft or helicopters. There is still lots of jobs in the Aircraft avionics area and they are normally well paid. Also in the military if technology changes then you get retrained. if you do go for a career in electronics or computers you need to appreciate you will be studying , researching for the rest of your career often without any pay.

Theatrical and performance makeup artists
Skin care specialists
Mental health counselors

I hope NOBODY TAKES offense to this.

WHOEVER TOOK the time to create this GIF should win the internet for a day!

Heee hee...

So I have a database created under MySQL Community Edition 5.0, and just recently found out that MySQL 5.0 will not launch under Windows 7 64-bit, but has no problems with Windows 7 32-bit. I want to migrate the database to the latest MySQL 5.6 which supports running under 64-bit OS, and through my search on Google before hand I found that its not a simple upgrade from 5.0 to 5.6, but of which I will have to migrate the database forwards to 5.1, then 5.5, then 5.6.

Has anyone gone through this process to warn me before hand of any details I need to know before migrating the database forward? In the past I have simply performed a MySQL dump command at command shell of MySQL prompt and dumped a copy of the database which can later be imported back if needed. But this was sticking with the same version of MySQL.

Before going through this process I will be making a backup of the database to not have to WORRY about trashing my only copy etc. This will be done on the old build which is 32-bit Windows 7in which the MySQL 5.0 service ran with no problems on prior. Then I will have to upgrade from 5.0 to 5.1 on this 32-bit old build and then import it and verify that it migrated to 5.1 without any problems.

When it comes to MySQL as a stand alone local database I wasnt concerned over upgrading it from 5.0 to 5.1 and so on because it worked flawless under 32-bit OS, and it wasnt until the recent introduction of Windows 7 64-bit that I found that MySQL 5.0 will not run under 64-bit even when trying to run it in XP Mode etc.

So before jumping into this I figured I'd check here to see if anyone has gone through a database migration like this one from 5.0 to a more modern version and any special commands that I need to execute at the MySQL prompt to pepare the data for 5.1 etc or a later version so its not say a legacy dump file that cant be imported etc?

There is plenty of info at the links here below, but figured that maybe someone here may have helpful info to add that may not be listed, as for it wouldnt be the first time I went through a migration from old to new and found out after the fact that I could have saved myself from troubles by running it past others who say... "Oh, last time I went through this, process select manual options and select a checkmark in a list prior to moving forward vs going with default settings", and later finding out that I now need to either uninstall and reinstall or perform a registry edit to enable or disable something.

5.6 http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.6/en/faqs-migration.html

5.5 http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/faqs-migration.html

5.1 http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/faqs-migration.html

5.0 http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/faqs-migration.html

*Also looking for a 64-bit version of MySQL 5.0 it appears that the oldest available at mysql.com is 5.1, yet there are some other HITS on Google from lesser trusted sources that I havent checked out yet which may offer MySQL 5.0 64-bit as seen here: https://www.google.com/#q=mysql+5.0+64-bit which might be the easiest way to make it run under Windows 7 64-bit, but of which I would rather get the download from a trusted source vs a Google hit from potentially shady source. Then of which there are 6 rev versions of 5.0 as:

5.0.4
5.0.41
5.0.51
5.0.67
5.0.95
5.0.96

And of which it would be best to run the latest of the obsolete version 5.0.96 but of which will I run into problems importing from an earlier Rev to a later Rev of the same version 5.0 if I went this route? ( I will have to boot up the old build to see exactly what Rev of MySQL 5.0 the database is running on. )

Its too bad there is no migration tool that is free to assist with this very manual migration that I see before me..LOL  Just an update. I dumped by database on the older 32-bit MySQL 5.0 and imported it to 64-bit MySQL 5.0.96 and its working with no problems.

http://downloads.skysql.com/archive/index/p/mysql/v/5.0.96

Based on the background of SkySQL below I gave it a try and it works flawless.

Quote

Why SkySQL?

Founded by the team behind MySQL
SkySQL was founded by many of the original MySQL AB team members INCLUDING Michael 'Monty' Widenius and David Axmark - the guys who first started MySQL AB.

After MySQL AB was sold to Sun Microsystems, and then subsequently to Oracle there were concerns within the original team that the new owners wouldn't continue the ethos of the original business.

SkySQL exists as the natural new home for former MySQL AB customers and those looking to exploit MySQL for the first time. We're also the technical and commercial foundry for MariaDB - the future of open source SQL.

Was at this system today and saw this pop up and had to hit print SCREEN to grab it to share. LOOKS like Avast is using the NSA Scare to MAKE people feel as if they are 100% secure if they USE one of their VPN's.

While VPN's are secure, I am not so sure it would keep the NSA out of your traffic to sniff it out if they wanted to watch your traffic.   



[RECOVERING disk space, attachment deleted by admin]

Malware is more than a few hackers
Here are abridged notes from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware

The prevalence of malware as a vehicle for Internet crime, along with the challenge of anti-malware software to keep up with the continuous stream of new malware, has seen the adoption of a new mindset for individuals and businesses using the Internet. ...
A 2013 Webroot study shows that 64% of companies allow remote access to SERVERS for 25% to 100% of their workforce ...

On March 29, 2010, Symantec Corporation named Shaoxing, China, as the world's malware capital.[21] A 2011 study from the University of CALIFORNIA, Berkeley, ... hackers are HELPING enable the SPREAD of malware ... Microsoft reported in May 2011 that one in every 14 downloads from the Internet may now contain malware code...

Reference to
University of California, Berkeley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Berkeley
Presently Malware study  part of the many programs of UC Berkley. They want to hire people well-qualified in this area.

Is there or will we ever see a Mobile optimized version of the forums? I post a lot from my phone and it is nice to have a mobile version of the site. I moved this out of the FAQ SECTION...

I believe Nathan setup a facebook page awhile back...not sure if that'll suit your needs or not...i don't do facebook.If Nathan sees this - There is a plugin for TapaTalk for SMF forums - http://tapatalk.com/activate_tapatalk.php?plugin=smf - This may be worth setting up.I dont want to have to deal with TappaTalk. Just want the forums to be mobile friendly. Alot of the tech forums I post on have mobile versions. TechGuy.Org and Dostips.com. The one we implemented on DosTips.com was free but that is for phpBB.
This looks to be a good option for SMF but is $20.
smf-media.com

Did a little more research on SMF. We do have wap, wap2 and imode enabled for the forums but those are not real mobile friendly for todays phones. They look LIKE they were meant for old Palm and Windows phones. wap2 seems to be the best option but doesnt come close to what other forums have. Quote from: Squashman on JANUARY 09, 2014, 06:05:10 PM

Did a little more research on SMF. We do have wap, wap2 and imode enabled for the forums but those are not real mobile friendly for todays phones. They look like they were meant for old Palm and Windows phones. wap2 seems to be the best option but doesnt come close to what other forums have.

What is the point of an online help forum if you lock half the threads to which people actually need answers? Most of the questions that arn't being locked can easily be solved via quick search on google or a call to your ISP. If it doesn't involve hacking, SPAMMING or harassment, I believe  it should be allowed. Preventing website administrators which are not licensed, but rather just kids given IP Check rights by the staff, from accessing your personal information is a matter of security, not ban evasion.

Really sad to see how closed minded the moderators on this site are; just like Wikia. Thanks for your opinion. Your long standing relationship with CH and contributions to our forum will not be overlooked when we take your advice under consideration. Quote from: AskQuestions on December 12, 2013, 02:38:54 PM

What is the point of an online help forum if you lock half the threads to which people actually need answers?

Preventing website administrators which are not licensed, but rather just kids given IP Check rights by the staff, from accessing your personal information is a matter of security, not ban evasion.

Really sad to see how closed minded the moderators on this site are; just like Wikia.

What are some example's of tread's that are getting locked??

I currently own a MacBook PRO and am running windows parallels in order to do my classwork. However, I am interested in purchasing a PC for school work only. I do not need any extras on the laptop. Just something that is cheap and can RUN MS Office 2010. The majority of the computers that I am finding on amazon come with windows 8. Is it even possible to purchase a new computer with windows 7?

Below are the requirements I am interested in;
Windows 7
MS Office 2010 (mainly Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Project)

I would like to purchase the laptop from amazon if possible since I am a Amazon Prime MEMBER. Please provide any recommendations with links if possible.I am leaning towards this laptop. http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Satellite-C55-A5245-15-6-Inch-Horizon/dp/B00D78PZE8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389257119&sr=8-1&keywords=Toshiba+Satellite+C55-A5245+15.6-Inch+Laptop+%28Satin+Black+in+Trax+Horizon%29

Does Toshiba make a reliable laptop? It looks like it meets the requirements for what I am looking for. Any suggestions?That laptop isn't bad but do you plan on carrying this around to college.etc?  In that case I would look for something a lot smaller - Around the 12-13" mark - 15.4" is quite BULKY for a primarily portable machine.

As far as Windows goes - If you only look for Windows 7 you are severely limiting yourself to a smaller selection of often older models, Windows 8 is great once you get used to it and besides, if all you are doing is using Office, you'll hardly be using any of the Windows 8 stuff.

I'd personally get something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-IdeaPad-14-0-Inch-Touchscreen-Laptop/dp/B00DZIY88E/ref=sr_1_68?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1389263203&sr=1-68&keywords=ultrabook.  It's smaller and lighter for carrying around but the screen is the same resolution as on the Toshiba, this means that you will not lose any screen space.  The CPU is also an ULV (Ultra LOW Voltage) model which is slightly less powerful (But you aren't really doing anything power hungry on it), this will however greatly improve the battery life.

I have an EPSON XP-300, it seems any and EVERY time I WANT to print SOMETHING? I have to enter the network key. Is there anyway to bypass this? it's annoying.More info on your setup...is it a network printer ? ? is there more than 1 PC involved ? ? etc...Is this a wireless setup?

How can I stop the date appearing after i take a pic. EVERY TIME i see my photo the date on the bottom irritates me. Please HELP!Please pay attention to where you post your questions. I MOVED your post out of the malware section.Sorry was in a bit hurry, didnt notice How could you not notice? You had to pick SOME place to post it.

Anyway, don't WORRY about it - just please pay attention NEXT time. For now, just wait for someone to respond (or you can also post on a user forum at Sony if they have one).

Hi there everyone.

Not sure if someone can help me with my QUESTION or maybe route me to the correct area.

I am not very technical but I am at the point where I have to take the chance and root my cell. It came with so many APPS (Twitter, Maps, Gmail etc.) which take up a lot of memory and I can not delete them. I am having issues with my memory being full everyday and I have very few pics, no VIDEOS, no songs installed. AOL Mail is my BIGGEST memory hog and I need/want that.

I am here looking for a super easy way (easy to follow directions)  to root via my Windows pc. I am aware I may need to download some FILES to help me do so.

PLEASE HELP. Thank you.You can upgrade the memory card...

The Forum as an entity has not yet decided if we should advise on the rooting of phones...I already did that a while ago when I was getting "Memory Full" messages.

If the forum can not help, can you send me to a forum that can? 

My cell is a pre-paid and is over 2 years old. I have expired all warrenty possibilities so I am not worried.There are any number of excellent forums that provide support and info for cell phone. I've always enjoyed Howard Forums
http://www.howardforums.com/I will try. THANK YOU SO MUCH!  Sure.

Surfing ebay I came across this interesting mod to run Xeon socket 771 in a socket 775 motherboard.

Here is the ebay hit I found and below this is another link to it from another source. Guessing you need a special BIOS version to support recognition of a Xeon THOUGH since the BIOS has to support the CPU.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-2-Quad-CPU-MOD-Q9650-Q9550S-Q9450-Q9400-Q9300-Q8400-Q8300-LGA-771-775/291045406492?_trksid=p2045573.m2102&_trkparms=aid%3D555012%26algo%3DPW.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D18472%26meid%3D3729821884620788873%26pid%3D100034%26prg%3D8385%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D8%26sd%3D331088325919%26#ht_1154wt_1133


More info here:
http://www.delidded.com/lga-771-to-775-adapter/Impressive, I had no idea this would be possible, or indeed feasible, due to BIOS support.
Reading the link though, it seems that just supporting similar CPUs *should* be enough, which kind of makes sense.
If one was available in the UK (I'll have a search in a minute) I might order one and try it out, it's cheap enough, seems interesting and I have a few 771 Xeons doing nothing.

Edit: it looks like it would be trivial to do the mod yourself actually, although buying this would be easier and potentially more reversible. Quote

Edit: it looks like it would be trivial to do the mod yourself actually, although buying this would be easier and potentially more reversible.

I dont have any extra Xeons laying around to try this with myself, but it looks like masking some connections and removing the 2 key way tabs to socket 775 is the trick.

Well, I just tried a Xeon in the Shuttle system I recently bought, and after a bit of fiddling, it's working fine!

I have a mac osx version 10.9.1 running a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4 gb of memory. I am a gamer and unfortunately I can't have the option to run pc games on a mac, or can I xD. I can with bootcamp and I am about to buy a windows 7 installer disc 64x64 professional. I will obviously still use the mac and windows function, windows only for gaming, mac for other games I can run on my mac. If I install windows do I NEED to buy/install antivirus or spyware programs to protect my computer? Normally a mac doesn't need it but if I get windows will I need it?


               Thanks
                            -EthanThis is not a direct answer. You have a very good machine. You are willing to spend some time and money to make it more versatile. Please allow me a comment.

Presently I don't have a MAC. Wish I did. I have three or four PCs and a laptop. Plus an iPhone  4 and two androids.

When I mean to say is one can have have a bunch  of stuff and still wish for more. And trying to upgrade a machine can be a Cul-de-sac.

IMO you may do better to ask your  friends or family if any have a PC they want to donate or sell for a few dollars.
Used PCs are cheap. People dump them. Bit an old MAC  will never die. However, the upgrade path to Windows 7 is not so good .
It has been mentioned before, a Intel Pentium D will run 64 bit Windows 7. You can find refurbished Dell PCs with Windows 7 64 bit installed for about $140. No monitor or keyboard. In the USA they are even found in retail stores like Wallchart.
Also, Amazon and Newegg.
Yeah, I am saying is get a used PC with a warranty. Now it is a buyer's market our there. Avoid Windows 8. You  don't want it.
Quote from: motomarz on January 15, 2014, 04:22:15 PM

I have a mac osx version 10.9.1 running a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4 gb of memory. I am a gamer and unfortunately I can't have the option to run pc games on a mac, or can I xD. I can with bootcamp and I am about to buy a windows 7 installer disc 64x64 professional. I will obviously still use the mac and windows function, windows only for gaming, mac for other games I can run on my mac. If I install windows do I need to buy/install antivirus or spyware programs to protect my computer? Normally a mac doesn't need it but if I get windows will I need it?


               Thanks
                            -Ethan

Thanks Cameron, if I can't run the games well i'll get a better graphics card and thanks for answering my question

I have several HD’s I have removed from my old dead computers.
I want to dispose of them so that any personal information can not be recovered. I have heard suggestions ranging from taking a hammer and smashing them up to taking a old open reel tape demagnetizer and going over with that.
What is the best suggestion?
Blast Furnace...With Hard Drives that I destroy, I actually take the time to remove the platters from each drive with my tool set of torx etc by unlocking and removing the locking hub, and then I throw the hard drive body away without the platters containing the data. I then gave my daughter the platters to use for ring tossing game for the 3.5" HDD's.

The 2.5" laptop drives crush easily in a vice with the soft aluminum body when placed edgewise in vice to crush and fold the HDD in half, also most laptop 2.5" hand drives when you throw them into a brick wall or concrete floor and pick them up you hear a rattle like broken glass inside and they are toast, but its more fun to crush in the vice.

Most people take a hammer to them, but I have found that the outter shell actually even though gets dented in and may warp the top platter, its not damaged enough for me to be convinced that the data is unrecoverable, so I take the time to remove the patters or completely destroy them and inspect the drive of the destroyed platters before tossing it away.Mine's faster.... Quote

Mine's faster.... 

Doesn't HD's contain a little precious metal??

Hard drive magnets are cool though so I tend to steal them before destroying the drive.

Bank of America (BAC, and Wells Fargo (WFC) both SAID they are reissuing cards that they believe are "at risk of" fraud, while American Express (AXP) said it has replaced "a small number" of cards -- mostly at the request of customers. "Card replacement is not something we typically do in large numbers, as we feel it can inconvenience customers," spokeswoman Marina Norville said.

Hi. This is my very first time using a forum.  I just GOT my first email account a few days AGO.  A friend convinced me to use my real name since I could. I have been uncomfortable ever since.  I really want to get rid of the whole thing if at all possible.  I have been threw countless gmail help links, so please no need to send again, it is nothing but a run around, as well as several other places.  I've been searching in here INADEQUATELY for who knows how MANY hours.  Can it be done or do I just have to leave it alone and hope it will expire?

Thanks so much in advance. I've learned a lot wandering around in here. Love it. And you.You created the account, it's there. Period. I'm not trying to be rude that's just how most of the internet works.

For Gmail the best you can do is look here. Inactive Account Manager

I've used Gmail well over 10 years and never had an ISSUE. It doesn't matter if you use your real name or not. An account on any website is identifiable in numerous ways. Your name (real or fake) is just one way to identify someone.There is really nothing to worry about using your real name on an email address - If anything [email protected] looks much more professional than [email protected]!

Think about it, Even if you set up your Gmail account with a fake name/non-name - You will then no doubt buy something online which will require your real name and then send an email to your Gmail account - This email will probably then contain your name.

Also, think about how many people out there have the same name as you!

It's really nothing to worry about.  I mean, look to the left of this post at my name - "camerongray" = My real name! Then a photo of me. And below that there are links to my blog and Twitter account which both, you've guessed it, have my real name!It can be deleted.  See https://support.google.com/mail/answer/32046?hl=en for info on how to do it.  But, I completely agree with camerongray on this issue.

Hello!

As the Subject SAYS I have a problem shutting my PC down. I built that PC about 1 week ago and the problem is that when I shut the PC down, it start up again after being shutted down for about 1 minute. Does anyone know a possible reason for this?

PC Specs:
i5 4670k
ASUS Z87-PRO
Corsair vengeance pro 1866MHz cl9 8GB
xfx proseries xxx edition 750w
Seagate Barracuda 2 TB
Noctua NH-D14
CoolerMaster Haf X
NZXT RGB LED Controller
2 DVD burners (Don't know the brand)
OS: Windows 7 and Ubuntu 13.10

Thanks in ADVANCE,
TischWhat are the power properties in the BIOS set to? This sounds like a BIOS feature is enabled that causes this.Hello!

I don't really know what the settings are and I'm new to UEFI-BIOS. Where in the bios should I look?

Thanks in advance,
TischThere should be a POWER OPTIONS or POWER PROPERTIES or POWER page in the BIOS. Enter the BIOS by using the hotkey to enter it for your motherboard. Then navigate in the BIOS and look for this. Then write down the settings displayed and then share them here if you dont understand them and we can specify how to have it configured. Some boards are Delete key, others are Esc or F12 etc. Usually it will show which key to get there on boot of the motherboard unless it is set to a quiet mode to where it doesnt show post info and just a logo and then boot of the OS in which the hotkey is active at the logo screen even though it doesnt display to use the key to get to the BIOS.Hello again

I can't find any power option in the bios.. Maybe you know how to find it? You could google for it (I tried to do that and add some pics to the thread but it didn't work), I use ASUS Z87-pro UEFI-BIOS Version 1707.

Thanks in advance,
Tisch

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1150/Z87-PRO/E7832_Z87-PRO.pdf

Start on page 119 with APM (Advanced Power Management) check settings to make sure features that wake the system are disabled so that only the power button will boot the system. Its likely to be a "Wake-On" type of trigger that is causing this.  I checked the APM settings and everything was already disabled Do you know something else that could cause my problem?

Thanks in advance,
TischI've also noticed that the wifi/Bluetooth card LEDs is light up even though the PC is shut down if that's to any help, they only shut down if I turn the PSU completely offOthers with same issue: http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?35352-ASUS-Z87-Pro-Computer-powers-on-by-itself.-BIOS-Setting

If this system is hard wired with Cat5 or Cat6, I'd disable the wifi and see what happens. There should be an option in the bios to disable it. Otherwise you may need to try a different router that isnt passing a wake-on instruction to devices.

From link above, they shut off the router and the problem went away, but they had difficulty trying to locate the wifi in the bios to disable the wake on wifi.Okay thanks for the help, I read that article earlier today as well Since I couldn't find a good answer on how to fix it but still use wifi (if possible) I posted here and I also sent a question to Asus on FB to se if they know how to fix it. Do you know something else I could try or should I wait until Asus answer?

Thanks in advance,
TischWish I could be of further assistance. Unfortunately I dont own a modern ASUS motherboard with a similar or same BIOS to look at and point out a buried feature to disable/enable etc. The only ASUS's ( 3 of them ) I have are older, and dont have all the bells and whistles of your board.

Hopefully their support can assist you. I had a question that I submitted to them on a brand new laptop I bought back in November and it took 4 days to hear a reply back from a human in ADDITION to the automated reply "Thank You for your submission for help..."

My question was whether I would void the warranty on this laptop if I upgraded from HDD to SSD and the reply back was helpful because not just did they tell me that it 'WOULD VOID" the warranty, but they also provided instructions on how to get to the hard drive that is buried in the laptop requiring it to be split in half to get to the drive.

*So when the warranty is up I will perform the SSD upgrade and until then i will get by with the 500GB HDD that came with it and Windows 8.

That sounds great, I'll add a SSD to my PC when I get more money as well

Thanks for the help, assistance and for trying to help me

I'll wait until they answer to see what they say, and then I'll post here if it got solved or not

And once again, thanks for the help

I've seen a lot of posts around that Internet with people having trouble with this, wondering if anyone here has any ideas. (The two solutions I found did nothing for me).

I have been running PDANet over the years to tether a variety of Samsung devices.

I am now trying to use the HotSpot function over TMo on a Samsung Galaxy Note running ICS.

When I LAUNCH the HotSpot, it says it's connected. The blue "activated" icon appears in the upper left of the screen.

On my Windows PCs, the name of the network shows up in my list of available networks. It asks for a password. Then the PC says it is unable to connect.

This has happened at home, and on the road - so it's not just "my" local cell.

I have consistently been able to tether, but the hotspot has never worked from the first I've tried it.

I do not have Bluetooth on. Obviously, WiFi is turned off.

I am running JuiceDefender, and have granted PDANet and FoxFi full OVERRIDE access. I have also turned off JuiceDefender, which has not made a difference.

I have tried changing both the network names and the passwords for the hotspot, and rebooted the phone after doing so.

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling both PDANet and redownloading the full access key.

This happens on multiple PCs running Win 7.

Any further suggestions would be groovy.So you never got the galaxy to work as a hot spot? Right?
Do .you have any local friends that use any mobile device as a hot spot?

As you know, the 3G and 4G systems both use spectrum far removed from the 802.11 'Wi-Fi' band. So a mobile device can rebroadcast an internet  connection.

My experience is not with the Galaxy, rather with the iPhone. My guess is they work in a similar way.

Have you ever attested  to turn on both the 'hot spot' and the Bluetooth and make a connection to the Internet?

Can you post a link to the documentation for your  device?Here is a link that might sappy:
http://maxdalton.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Turn-Your-Samsung-Galaxy-Note-Into-a-Wi-Fi-Hotspot

Early versions of Android could be USED as mobile hotspots with apps like FoxFi. In newer versions some carriers have been blocking apps like FoxFi. Since most carriers offer hotspot CONNECTIONS through premium service plans they want you to pay for the extra data you are using instead of getting it free.

I'm with SPRINT and with my first Android v2.x I could get FoxFi to work but it doesn't work on my newer Android 4.x.

Have you read the instructions on the FoxFi website? There are work arounds listed for some devices/carriers.

Also look at the supported/unsupported list. http://pdanet.co/help/devices.phpWorkarounds I'd found on FoxFi's/PDANet's site seemed to be:
- Rename your device and reboot
- Turn on Bluetooth and reboot/Turn off Bluetooth and reboot
Those had not worked for me, but I will explore the links you provided.

My furshlugginer CTO doesn't believe in outfitting our laptops with Bluetooth, so I can't test that method. Although it dawned on me, I could borrow someone's bluetooth iPhone and see if that connects either way.

Like you, evil, I had earlier versions of Android on an earlier device (which disappeared about ten days ago, so I can't test with that) and TMO's ICS devices theoretically block that. But I did something years ago on THIS device that allowed me to tether. So that begs the question, if I can tether, why can't I HotSpot?

Also, if TMO was blocking the ability, how does it explain that all indications on the phone are that it's connected, it's the PC that's having trouble.

Those are the two questions that are really stymie-ing me.

My Samsung Galaxy S4 does the same thing. It looks like FoxFi is working as usual but I can not get any device to connect to the wifi signal. Sprint and probably other carriers are blocking the use of the setting the device needs to work as a hotspot. The settings can't be accessed unless paying for a mobile hotspot data plan through the carrier.

I have read that the restrictions are there even on rooted devices.

I was LOOKING through my local INTERNET shop (hansapost.lv) searching for new gaming PC but I could not decide.
Would Radeon HD7790 suffice for the latest games? Or should I aim for something better?
THANKS in advance, guys! I would probably aim for better if you can.  The 7790 was a DECENT midrange last-gen card, but it's not great value for MONEY these days.

Hello
I need some advice about a new gaming PC I bought for my son,
It arrived today and when he turned it on, it has some files in "Documents"-downloads of some tv shows - it also says they were last modified in sept 2013, there is also pirate browser on it which I don't have a clue what it is..
This is supposed be brand new computer. The company knew I didn't know much about gaming computers I have asked for top of the range gaming pc - I am disappointed as I think they sold me second hand pc - how can I 100% find out.
When you first booted, did Windows ask you your name so it could set up a user profile? If not, and if it went directly the the DESKTOP, I'd guess it's not brand new. That combined with the fact there are files in "My Documents" would make a pretty strong case.Sounds like it is second hand yes (maybe a customer return that they didn't bother clearing out).

It would also be great if you could use Speccy (http://www.piriform.com/speccy) and let us know the specifications of this "gaming" computer - It's not uncommon for unscrupulous companies to sell underpowered/old PCs as "gaming" PCs to unsuspecting customers.

At the very least it may have just been an honest mistake and they've accidentally shipped a customer return unit, at the worst they could be trying to pass off old/outdated machines as "Gaming PCs"Hi
I have packed it up and sent it back, but before I did, I called an independent PC specialist to COME and have a look. He said it is definitely an old hard drive, and the files should not be there, and wrote a report. We have also documented all files that were there = most of them created in 2013. My son is 14 and we all stood right by him as he powered the PC on for the first time. The files were easily visible, all sorts of stuff - violence, drug use, profanity etc.. clicked off immediately when I saw it.
They have now got back to us and are trying to say that our son downloaded it - a complete outrageous lie.
They also said that Iliyama has a 6 dead pixel policy, and that to have dead pixels on a new monitor in "normal".
They have accused us of scratching the speakers and that the windows have been activated so now they can't sell it to anyone else. So now we have no PC - how can we retrieve the windows - is it even possible?
I would WARN anyone NOT to go near MESH computers. Their customer service is appalling and rude, once they have your money, they couldn't care less.I can understand the rant on a likely  shady vendor...
But you should return the PC ...get your money back...and move on.I'd say it's great posting here and hope you get this all resolved - Keep us posted!  Hopefully this thread will be picked up by Google so others looking for MESH can be warned in advance.

From what was said in the chat, MESH are acting completely out of order by refusing to refund parts of the order which clearly breaks UK consumer protection laws.  Claiming that once you have activated a copy of Windows, it's yours and they can't refund it is complete nonsense - The licence is technically part of the machine and therefore is covered by the same laws as the machine.  I mean, most machines nowadays come pre-activated yet you'll never have an issue with that.  It sounds like they are struggling financially and want to hold onto any penny they can by making silly excuses.

I'm genuinely surprised that MESH are still in business if I'm honest, a few years ago a PC magazine I used to buy had a section for consumer complaints, not a month went by when this section didn't have at least one mention of MESH in it, and this section only ever showed less than 10 complaints every month!  I also found it amusing that the magazine had this and then a few pages later would have a full two page advertisement for MESH!This is one good thing about the US - Seems like WHENEVER I visit electronic stores in Europe, UK and even Asia, things are shady as heck! (even the mainstream big companies!)

We may not have socialized healthcare in america(hope we will soon!), but thanks to sites like newegg and tigerdirect we can have godly gaming systems for real cheap - and 100% satisfaction guaranteed.

I remember a few years ago I was talking to some guys in Ireland in my gaming guild, and told them the specs of my computer I bought for about 1800$ USD, and they were shocked saying "it would almost cost as much as to buy a house to have the same parts over there!" IE: look at this example, I looked at the mesh site and most of their "gaming" computers come with integrated AMD GPUs...and are priced around 1000$ USD.
I disagree in part.  Consumer protection in the UK seems better than in the US, from what I've seen.  Prices are higher due to our taxes, import fees, and so forth, but also due to this consumer protection - margins have to go up a little to pay for that.  I'm happy paying a little extra knowing that I can return almost anything I buy online within 7 days, for a full refund.  No restocking fee, no charges.  That's a very handy bit of consumer law.  I'm not saying if I had the chance to buy parts at US prices I wouldn't jump at it, but then again I buy 95% of my hardware used, so I barely ever pay full retail price.
If you buy from a respected, trusted retailer, there should be no problems.  Dodgy/shady stores exist all over the world, in all sectors, not just electronics and computers, and it's always easy to get ripped off if you go in blindly.

As I said in chat, I'm confident you (OP) will get the issue resolved, and there are many avenues to go down if Mesh decide not to cooperate at first.  They're in the wrong and they most certainly know it.

The Dell Latitude D630 laptop currently has Microsoft Windows XP Professional installed. However, as you know XP is being phased out very soon. I have some problems with it right now, and was just going to do a factory restore. Now, I just want to switch OS's. Therefore, I am looking for a OS that is NOT Microsoft that would be compatible with this computer. Any HELP would be greatly appreciated! Of course, I want to find a user-friendly OS and perhaps one that will support much software. Quote from: hehfest on January 27, 2014, 10:46:22 PM

The Dell Latitude D630 laptop currently has Microsoft Windows XP Professional installed. However, as you know XP is being phased out very soon... ...Any help would be greatly appreciated! Of course, I want to find a user-friendly OS and perhaps one that will support much software.

The problem is  NOT Windows  XP.

Lotta people have all kinds of fancy transitions and effects, I got a pretty clean setup with windows 8 I wanted to share.

I own both windows and mac and I think they both have their advantages, however the performance of my PC VS price of a mac is just too huge.

Few things I like:

the OSX lion wallpaper is gorgeous, very relaxing and looks great - I got the 1080p wallpaper. It's very rare that I find wallpaper I like.

I like having the taskbar on the top, it just feels better to me, also I lke the gray+lion wallpaper combination of macs. I also like having a calculator on the taskbar, and a notepad for reminders/notes, and a Mycomputer short cut on desktop helps a lot! And i love itunes for managing music. Not a huge fan of the docks.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/Lercin/desktop_zps11f5e245.png

I keep a clean start menu with a weather app, and to access it I just hit the windows key.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/Lercin/menu_zps3185f93a.png

If I want to open app, I just start typing the name, and it pops up.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/Lercin/openningapps_zps507fe230.png

I also got a SSD which makes windows 8 great!


whats interesting THOUGH apple swears by their 999$ display, but my PC looks way better with HDMI + 1080p LED monitor...Though it is a powerful gaming rig but I don't it would make much difference just for desktop appearance.

Lotta people don't like windows 8, but I'm getting comfortable with it, also can't complain that I got it for 30$!

edit: i changed the color of windows borders from the gray to a black - right clicked desktop - personalize - color.

then clicked the one closest to black, and hit show additional options, and toned the brightness down to get a darker black but still have a transparent effect...looks nice i think!Some important changes to  Windows 8 are  coming very soon.
Just Google Windows 8 changes
OR
http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/25/5344066/windows-8-1-update-1-shutdown-start-screen-option-rumor
It is more than rumor. The start button has returned.
When are they coming ? ?
Quote from: patio on January 27, 2014, 01:00:00 PM

When are they coming ? ?

Microsoft Windows 8.1 Update 1 rumoured for March 11 Patch Tuesday rollout

ten min. ago they said:please stay turned... 
http://www.techienews.co.uk/975269/microsoft-windows-8-1-update-1-rumoured-march-11-patch-tuesday-rollout/

Geek misses details sometimes...but so do I.

windows 8.1
Чтобы загружаться сразу на рабочий стол в Windows 8.1, достаточно активировать эту опцию в настройках панели задач. Для этого на пустом месте панели задач необходимо кликнуть правой кнопкой мышки, вызвать свойства и переключиться на вкладку «Навигация». Во втором блоке ставим галочку напротив опции «При входе в систему и закрытии всех приложений открывать рабочий стол вместо начального экрана» и нажимаем ОК.

Im still rocking 8 (i got it when it came out for 30$) it says i can upgrade to 8.1 for free, is it worth going to 8.1 or  is 8 better?

ive gotten pretty comfortable with 8, it doesn't take long to shut down, but i can see how they may seem "hidden away"

After updating to 8.1 I can see almost no difference other than the start button reappearing which simply opens the start screen.  That said, it's a free upgrade so makes sense to do it as it will also tweak quite a bit of stuff behind the scenes.

i upgraded to 8.1

it deleted all my user accounts

all my pictures, music and some important work files are all gone.

After updating to 8.1 I can see almost no difference other than the start button reappearing which simply opens the start screen.

Lotta people have all kinds of fancy transitions and effects, I got a pretty clean setup with windows 8 I wanted to share.

I have a question.

Is there a virus out there that can copy information to use on a different site?  Personal information such as name, DOB, where you're from etc.  And can a virus actually REGISTER you as a member to a site?  Or is this only possible if a person were to physically do it themselves?

  ThanksTheoretically a virus can access anything stored on or entered into your computer.Okey dokes that makes sense.

But can a virus INPUT your personal information it has gained from your computer onto a website? Can a virus create a membership or profile on a website and use your personal DETAILS? i.e. your name, DOB, marital status, favourite colour? That kind of thing?

Thanks for the reply  They could yes but that's generally not how they operate - They would just send the information to a third party who would use it for whatever they want.  There's no reason for a virus to register you an account on a website UNLESS it's for some sort of identity theft.

It's not hard to rob a ATM . Here, there, everywhere.

Suspect in attempted ATM robbery turns himself in to police


Another.
Gardaí appeal for witnesses to Sligo ATM robbery
More:  (Video)
Another ATM stolen from a local convenience store I see nothing whatsoever in the links you posted that removing an ATM in easy.  Indeed, it's very, very difficult, as indicated by the extreme measures used an the attempted robberies covered the news sources you posted.   

And, by the way, your title is just ridiculous; in no way does it indicate the theft covered in the sources you posted.  They show attempts to steal money by physically removing the ATM.  This is quite different from fraud, which would involve trickery rather than physical destruction to steal cash from an ATM. On that note i seriously doubt a child could do it....

Sometimes Geek's posts are more sensationalised than his sources.... Quote from: patio on February 01, 2014, 10:03:30 AM

On that note i seriously doubt a child could do it....

Sometimes Geek's posts are more sensationalised than his sources....

The fraud in the crimes was the ATM vendors telling the store owners that nobody could heist a ATM box bolted to a wall. 

But the banks and ATM vendors came along and told a story about how secure the things would be.

ATM thefts believed to be connected
Posted: Jan 31, 2014 5:33 PM PST Updated: Jan 31, 2014 5:33 PM PST
By Ashley Edlund - email
     Local News
    Next weather maker brings showers
    Updated: Feb 01, 2014 7:04 PM PST
    The WAFF 48 Storm Team is tracking several weather ...
... fire Saturday.More >>

AUGUSTA, GA (WFXG) -
Rack and Grill owner Chris Kuneman hadn't seen anything like this in the six years he's been in business. Around 2:30A.M. Sunday morning, two people drove a pickup truck right into his restaurant.

Kuneman said, "They backed into it, backed into it six times, then went inside, tried to steal an ATM, and tried to break it lose. They left with nothing but a broken truck."

Deputies said, minutes before, they think three or four men stole that truck from someone on Heathers Way, then ran into a Citgo gas station on Mike Padgett Highway and stole items inside.

Just five days later, Thursday, Sgt. Michael McDaniel said another Ford pickup truck went missing.

"The 30th of January, another Ford pickup truck was stolen and was used to force entry into 2228 Rosier Road, where an ATM was stolen. That ATM was recovered at the Tobacco road Elementary School."

Sgt. McDaniel said there are several similarities between Sunday and Thursday. No suspects have been named yet, but deputies think the incidents are connected. Meanwhile for Kuneman, the damage is adding up.

He said the damage could range anywhere from 30 to 60 thousand dollars.

These have all been early morning incidents, when the businesses are closed. No one has been injured. If you have any information, contact the Richmond County Sheriff's Office at 706-821-1080 or the Criminal Investigation Division at 706-821-1020.
http://www.waff.com/story/24605891/atm-thefts-believed-to-be-connected

4. Videos  from cameras show the ATM was  not anchored and placed by the recommended guidelines  the USA. (Other countries would have similar rules.)
Look at this photo:

http://wfxg.images.worldnow.com/images/24605891_BG1.jpg

(Notice the ATM is apparently NOT in a reenforced  enclosure.)

The security guidelines in this document build upon a series of existing standards (IT, security,
payment card,and ATM industry). As compromise prevention best practices,they are NOT intended to:

Provide a set of security requirements for the formal security certification of ATMs

Be used as fraud prevention guidelines (transaction monitoring, card authentication procedures, etc.)

Identify guidelines preventing the physical access to the cash stored in the ATM or to the site where the ATM is deployed.

Identify guidelines for the placement of ATMs

It should be apparent there is  ome kind of negligence non the part of the companies that install and maintain the stand alone ATM units in that area.

Security guidelines were punished over 5 years back. Stand alone ATMs were especially marked as having a high risk. They are not to be placed where a vesicle can enter. They were to be  strongly anchored. So somebody was not paying attention... or misinforming the risk assessment to small store owners.

Now the above reasoning should be obvious. These physical security things were already know in the industry. Who forgot? Who lied?

They have tossed in the MS XP thing along with some actual news about how ATMs are failing to safeguard money. To date, I have never read any story the shows XP ever was the primary cause of ATM loss or breakdown.

Certainly not the primary cause, but I think it could be argued that the malware on the USB stick would have had a much more difficult time if the system was running Vista, 7, or 8 (or a Linux distribution). The only reason it was able to function as it did was because of security considerations that, while mitigable, were also XP's defaults.

The flaw was putting a USB port in the system. A SD memory port, properly implemented, would not present the same weakness as a USB port. The SD card under Windows XP would have a digital protection that is not easily circumvented.

The guileless do say tat the stand alone ATM must no be where a vehicle can get to it.

Windows XP still auto-runs an inserted SD card.

BC , learn to thin k. When they say 'Not here" it implies another place.  It is in another place.

Not on my machine.

And a properly setup embedded XP won't either.

The XP system treats SD memory and USB interface as different tings.

Besides, they should not even have a USB interface on a ATM. No resin for it. Bad design.

And a properly setup embedded XP won't either.

they should not even have a USB interface on a ATM. No resin for it. Bad design.

I've bought a ( Powercom - Black Knight ) UPS for my PC

The problem is : the UPS uses RS-232 port as communication port and the motherboard (Gigabyte 78-LMT) does not have RS-232 port

So I bought an USB-to-Serial adapter

I managed to download a working driver for it ( Vista Driver ) and it shows in Device manager under Ports (COM&LPT)
Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port (COM3) and the properties shows" This Device is working probably "

Then Installed UPSMON software to monitor the UPS and there is an option to choose the Comm Port or Auto Search , it keeps searching and stops after a while with no result

I have windows 8 x64 

so please if you know what is the problem and how to solve it , that would be appreciated

ThanksShort answer. You are wasting  your time.
Long answer. Get a RS232 on a PCI card. A physical RS-232 port has some hardware features the are not well replicated on a USB  adapter. The USB adapter problematic at best.
My commendation is get a serial port on a PCI card.
Brand NAMES sell for about $38 and is a small price  to pay for something that is very important.
Try NewEgg or you favorite on-line  company. Never found  in local outlets.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815150216

BTW: I think that model UPS excepts to find a 16550 UART.
Quote

The 16550 UART (universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter) is an integrated circuit designed for implementing the interface for serial COMMUNICATIONS. It is frequently used to implement the serial port for IBM PC compatible personal computers, where it is often connected to an RS-232 interface for modems, serial mice, printers, and similar peripherals.
...

USB Serial Ports Driver
(COM5) - drivers for windows 7
...trying to manually configure your drivers by utilizing the Windows device manager may disable your device, or cause your computer to malfunction.... d..commercial software may be the optimal solution in case you are not 100% sure you know what you're doing and how to backup your PC in case of a crash or conflict.

Hi I am new to the forum not sure if this the the right place to post.

Anyway I would like to learn more about COMPUTERS and wondered  if any of you guys could tell me how you learned about computers from your own experiences.
I know the basics of computers I just need some guidance of getting to the next level.


Any advice or resources you could OFFER is much appreciated.

thanks in advance.How are your reading skills?  Understanding computers  involves some abstract thinking. For most people, that means math. But not really. It is about being able to visualize something your can not see.
Example: Have you ever studied how an Abacus is used? Yes, it is a physical thing, but those who get good at it do a lot of manipulation inside their own head.
How are you at traditional board games? Not the kind where you have to be fast, but the kind whee your have to think ahead.

You local library has some books on computers. Don't get too far into programming books. Try to read books where the author is trying to make of point of how hard it can be to make something work right.
Like this:
The Soul of A New MACHINE Paperback
by Tracy Kidder (Author)
You can get a used paperback of this for almost  nothing. It should be in your local library. You will see what  makes a computer work is the hard work of many people.

Computers have CHANGED since 1981, when Tracy Kidder memorably recorded the DRAMA, comedy, and excitement of one companys efforts to bring a new microcomputer to market. What has not changed is the feverish pace of the high-tech industry, the go-for-broke approach to business that has caused so many computer companies to win big (or go belly up), and the cult of pursuing mind-bending technological innovations. The Soul of a New Machine is an essential chapter in the history of the machine that revolutionized the world in the twentieth century
...from Amazon

Last night in the middle of gaming my newest gaming system hit a BSOD with 0x00000024, which then rebooted. It then came up on boot of Windows 7 64-bit that Adobe had an update. Thought I might as well run the update since this BSOD was probably just a freak occurrance. Right at about 93% on the Adobe update BSOD again with same 0x00000024. So looked up this using older gaming computer and a tomshardware link suggested it was related to RAM issue.

Booted this system up with a Knoppix Live Linux CD and entered ( memtest ) at the linux prompt and right at the get go, it was scrolling errors in red on the blue background of memtest86 in the 3000 to 3200mb range with mismatches. Shut system down, removed and reseated RAM and tried again with memtest86 and same issue.

So great my single 8GB Crucial Ballistix Sport VLP DDR3 1600mhz 9-9-9-24 1.35v stick is bad now. This system had run memory intensive applications for last 6 months between folding and compressing video files and gaming at same time without issues, and then last night in the middle of playing World of Warcraft and at the Darkmoon Fair event BSOD.

I fortunately still had a 2GB DDR3 1333mhz PNY stick from the memory I ran prior to the 8GB, and installed the 2GB back to this system, ran memtest86 and it came up with no problems so its not a motherboard address issue or issue with the CPUs internal memory controller. Then booted this system up to its Windows 7 64-bit on just 2GB of RAM and everything ran ok, but on only 2GB which is tight for games. However Adobe is now corrupt and so I will have to uninstall Adobe Flash and reinstall it and hopefully with the system BSOD at 93% it will uninstall clean vs become an orphaned program in the registry etc.


Contacted Crucial last night for a RMA request and HOPING they will honor the lifetime warranty on this RAM stick. This RAM stick is now $84.99 at newegg and I got it for like $59.99. Still waiting to hear back with RMA INFO approved or denied.

Has anyone had to deal with Crucial before with shipping back bad memory for replacement sticks to say WHETHER they are good and quick or poor at customer service with replacements?

The last RAM stick that I had die on me was a Kingston 1GB DDR 400Mhz RAM stick years AGO. They shipped me back a replacement within about a week of me SENDING my defective stick back. That stick is still working almost daily in my daughters Pentium 4 HT 3Ghz system.

Here is the stick that died     http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148661Crucial = Lifetime...Crucial were good for me when I returned 2 1GB sticks a year or two ago.  No invoice required, just the serial numbers, got the replacements within a week.Good to hear that they have good warranty service. Some woman named Jessica at Crucial contacted me for more info before giving me an RMA#, so maybe when I get home from work today all their questions were fulfilled and I will have a RMA# in my email box.

Cant wait to be back at 8GB again vs just 2GB on this Windows 7 64-bit system.