O/T computer help desk thread

[Nick]

All laptops uses the same harddrives, some are easy to install, some aren't (I've removed a bunch for backups). Most new ones the harddrive is just located under a door underneath, just unscrew something and slides out. Some you have to take apart the keyboard from the top to access the drive, soem are easy to do, some aren't. Best way to find out is to type in that model number and google "harddrive replacement latop model XXX" or something similar, there's a bunch of sites out there that gives step by step info on how. Or find that brand's forum and ask the people there.

Now installing Windows, I'd 1st make sure the laptop's new enough to run Windows XP. Some drivers are impossible to find for laptops, XP doesn't always get all the devices in laptops. Sometimes you'll luck out and you can get all the needed drivers off the brand's site (Dell, Sony, etc) but sometimes they're not listed. You maybe able to order a restore CD from the make also to help you out.

About booting to the restore disc, yes soemtimes can be a pain. That's why I recommend a modern PC that'll run XP. You may have to change the BIOS as most new laptops have boot off CD turned off from teh default factory settings. You can get into the BIOS by pressing F1, F2, Del, Backspace or some other key, each make has a different key to press. But every once in awhile I've ran into that particular laptop that no matter what you can't boot off the restore CD, at that time we (my old job) usually send it out to the corporate repair center and they somehow is able to get restore it since some (though rarely) have security that's hard to restore without the exact restore CD it's looking for made specifically for that model.

One other thing, a good amount of laptops uses an adapter that connects the harddrive to the motherboard. Usually just a small piece of plastic that changes the pins, nothing major. But make sure the laptop comes with that or maybe a headache trying to get that small piece from elsewhere.

[Unkl Ian]

The plan is to get a laptop for using with a Megasquirt EFI.
Supposedly,it will run on older machines as well.

Sounds like a complete,running,machine would be a GOOD idea;
instead of another "project". [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/FreakinSmiley.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif[/img]

Thanks

Ian

[Unkl Ian]

Under Internet Options-Tempory Internet Files-Options

It appears I can set the size of the "Temporary Internet Files Folder".
Anywhere from 1 MB to 9717 MB.

Right now it is set at 777 MB
Pretty sure it was lower before. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Idunno.gif[/img]

I think,when it gets too full,the machine slows down.
Empty it,and it instantly runs faster again.

What SHOULD it be set at ? [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/confused.gif[/img]
Any suggestions ?

Thanks

Ian

[Cobey]

Depends on how much HD space you have open. If you don't have much, then your browser cache and pagefile will be fighting over space. This will of course cause a slow down.

[Nick]

By default it's by percentage of the harddrive, like 1% or something. But if you have a 250gb harddrive then that 1% is 2.5gb, waaaay to big for temp files. 100mb is fine for the most part, unless you have a really small drive.

[Cobey]

Agreed. You can also set it to clear the cache every X amount of days.

[Unkl Ian]

If I set it really low,what will happen ? [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Idunno.gif[/img]

The History is set at 4 days,is that the same thing ?

Maybe it should be less ?




<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Cobey @ Jan 25 2006, 03:27 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Agreed. You can also set it to clear the cache every X amount of days.
[/b][/quote]

[Cobey]

Not a whole lot. It just won't cache as much web info. If you have a broadband account, you probably won't notice too much. If you are dial up, you will probably see some slower initial loading times when it needs to load new stuff into the cache for the first time.

History is the record of sites visited.

[Unkl Ian]

I'm on Dial Up,and it doesn't take much to slow this machine down.

Too much Spy Ware will do it,too many Cookies or Temp Files,etc.

Ad Aware and Spyware Blaster have been a big help,but I'm still looking for more.

[Nick]

have you tried defraggin your harddrive lately, sometimes it helps speed up old systems. Defrag is basically putting all the bytes and info of the same files and programs together. Since when writing files sometimes the 1st few bytes of info will be stored in an empty spce on your harddrive in the beginning, then continues at the next open space in the middle, etc. When you defrag it puts all the stuff togther so the the files will open faster, etc.

To do this, open My Computers. Right Click on your harddrive (typically Drive C:) then select PROPERTIES, Select TOOLS then DEFRAG NOW. Window's built in defragging program is sssllloooowwww, may take hours. Don't touch your PC while doing so since any program that's ran or modified while defraggin will make the program start over again fromt he very beginning. Often there's programs that's still running in the background that'll make the defrag program never finish. Boot into safe mode then defrag.

Or I prefer a different program to defrag my drives, Norton Systemworks has one and allows you to work on your PC while defragging and is 5x faster then the crappy Windows version. Or search for a different defragging program (google or downloads.com) and try them out. Most likely any program will be tons better then the one built in Windows.

[Cobey]

It is also advisable to run Error-checking on the drive before defrag.

[tequilla]

I have a question........ At work were using Excel to type up documents then print them on our letter head for a nice looking test report. Here's my problem, I need to send 20 or 30 sheets by fax to places like China or Brazil. Faxing is a pain in the [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/AssScratch.gif[/img] and is expensive. I want to be able to scan a sheet (need to buy a scaner) and have it saved in a format that a customer can print out and have it resemble as close as possible the actual sheet I scaned. I don't want to send it in an Excel format as it makes it to easy to make perfect looking fake document and doesn't include our letter head. I know people can make forgeries from my hard copies or anything else but I don't want to help them do it. I've seen some pretty bad fakes made with a copier and white out. Is Adobe what I'm looking for or is there anything better? Thanks in advance

[Cobey]

Acrobat is probably what you are looking for, yes.

[Unkl Ian]

Yes,I defrag in Safe Mode once a week,at least.
I run Ad Aware,then Spybot,then I've been using the Maintainance Wizard,
which checks for errors,scans disk,and defrags with one click.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Nick @ Jan 25 2006, 03:49 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
have you tried defraggin your harddrive lately.... search for a different defragging program (google or downloads.com) and try them out. Most likely any program will be tons better then the one built in Windows.
[/b][/quote]

[Cobey]

Well, you can always do what I do - buy new and faster stuff, give the old to the wife, give her stuff to the 5 year old, and donate his stuff to charity.

[Unkl Ian]

Good theory.

All we use it for is the Internet,shouldn't be that tough.

[Cobey]

What OS?

[Unkl Ian]

Windows ME
800mhz,128(?) RAM


We are "a little short" on the necessary PC savy to switch over to XP. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Idunno.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/FreakinSmiley.gif[/img]

[Cobey]

You can look about for Win98/ME performance tweaks on the net. They usually work well.

[speedfreak]

OK, I have a question. This is one that has Nick and I baffled. When I go onto Nick's site to look at pics of cars I can see all of the pics except for the Beetle and Busses section. all of the other albums are fine. any suggestions? Nick has done what he can on his end and I can't figure out what is up on this end.


Larry

[Cobey]

What appears instead of the pictures, and what OS and browser?

[speedfreak]

all that appears are the descriptions of the cars. UHHHH, what's OS, I have I explorer

Larry

[Cobey]

What is your Privacy settings at?

Tools->Internet Options->Privacy

[speedfreak]

Medium

[Cobey]

Try setting it to low.

Also, what are your security settings?

Tools->Internet Options->Security