Posts by Catweazle

For starters you don't go and buy $50 fans unless you KNOW that they are needed!

Having trouble determining exactly where the noise is coming from? Make yourself a makeshift 'stethoscope'. Get one of the 'fat' drinking straws, stick a small plastic funnel in the end of it, bung the funnel against your ear and use the straw to check various areas for noise. It'll help you pick out exactly where the clatter originates!

If the noise comes from the hard drive the drive is dying. Simple as that - they should make clattering noises!

Are you sure there isn't something contacting fan blades somewhere? A wire or cable that been pushed aside perhaps, and the fan blades rubbing against it?

It's not enought to 'think' the fans sound like they are working - you have to SEE that they're working.

I really do think that the money spent on having a repair shop inspect the system and advise you would be well spent. It is only a standard service charge for someone qualified to do that for you, and that s quite likely a move which could SAVE you money in the long run.

I have to admit that I'm a tad nervous about your situation. I'm usually quite good at detecting if someone is going to be comfortanle with doing their own repairs and you seem very hesitant and nervous about it all.

Here's a trick to try. Remove the hard …

All of the above and much, much more!

I dunno about 'sad person'. I suspect that people who describe others like that simply because of differing tastes in music are somewhat 'sad' themselves.

I know I'm an unusual person, because there isn't a single shred of music on any of my PCs. Instead, I have walls filled with shelves of music, and it only ever gets palyed through the home theatre system!

Earlier I was listening to Strauss. Right now I'm listening to Ice Cube, one of the artists on the excellent EMI set "Complete Urban"

The Windows XP Professional Resource Kit documentation is another excellent resource, which contains a huge amount of information relvent to deploying Windows on a network and to configuring for network access, user account, file permissions and much more.

My mistake. I thought you were referring to the topic post :D

Actually, jwenting has a very good point. I'd consider it rather important, with the current state of world affairs, that everybody do a bit of learning about Islam. There's simply far too much misinformation floating around. We should never simply read one source though, and take it as ultimate truth at face value. We should read wider, question, and only form opinion after we've adequately done so.

The default location for your particular router should be:
http://192.168.0.1

Type that into the address bar in your browser to connect to the router's configuration interface. You will be asked for a user name and password, and if you haven't changed the defaults the username will be admin and the password will be

If you are asking if people on this forum are interested in such discussion I'd have to suggest that the answer is no. Previous mentions of the activity have attracted no interest whatsoever here.

I don't give a crap about other religions other than my own. Especially the muslim religion. What kind of religion teachers their followers to drive airplanes into buildings and kill thousands? Ohh wait, it was because they were promised something by their God, right? ppffffff what a bunch of crap. The only thing they got was to burn in hell.

None do. The bunch of crap was the contention that Islam teaches people to do that. I'd suggest you actually take the time to read Islamic texts before making stupid, unsubstantiable claims like that.

so how can i get 11 points????

Make polite, interesting, intelligent, helpful and well-typed posts. Wait in hope that someone will notice and award you rep points :D

Alright, some little fag in here gave me some more negative reputation. This is becoming rediculous.

Surely using terms like the italicised words is unecessary, rude, and an action which would invite yet more? Some people will certainly issue negative rep not for what you say but for the way that you say it.

That's twice for this one thread. Whoever is doing this: You are the most childish and immature person here. By the way, you may think your making me mad, but I don't really care about the rep system.

hhmmmmmmm??????????

Sunandoghosh, sorry if I offended you with my earlier post. We all make mistakes. I can't say that I haven't posted anything against the rules! So don't worry about your thread being closed.

Precisely! Nice comment.

Some people are really touchy about the downloading topic, although they probably use file sharing networks also but wont admit it.

Huh? If that comment was made in reference to the rules here and the people who have drawn them up then I find it somewhat offensive. Daniweb is supported by advertising revenue, and such a rule is a sensible one in light of that. Whether Dani uses p2p networks (which she doesn't) or not is totally irrelevent. This rule has nothing at all to do with making moral judgements about people, although you seem to be taking it as a personal affront!

Right now, I'm just a little pissed off at the stupid behaviour of some …

Catweazle is immortal. Until that bloody big rock hits, anyway :D

Please, no more "Linux is better than Windows" or "Windows is better than Linux" arguments!

They're pointless! And they lead to insults being thrown around. Topic closed.

Precisely. As societies, cultures and nations we claim to oppose software piracy, yet we allow 'individual freedoms and rights' to interfere with out efforts to control the illegal practice. By leaving our authorities and law enforcement bodies toothless to combat the crime, we force a situation where sometimes ridiculous measures are adopted by publishers to guard against the possibility. What we end up doing is, in fact, restricting our personal rights and freedoms inadvertantly.

Bugger the crooks! Let them be caught so that MY rights are protected!

I disagree with quite a lot of your hardline views, jwenting, but on that point I agree wholeheartedly. It's a point which seems to get lost amongst the "Oh no, they didn't find WMDs!"

By the way, my own 'most worrying'?

The capitalist World Economy. On a global scale, that's just what we have, and it's a big worry. Capitalism basically and fundamentally depends upon continued growth for its continued existence. We live on a ball of rock with finite resources. And we're not even thinking about alternatives ;)

Realworld example:
We have 5 people working fulltime for 2 years creating an application.
On average those people make about €35000 a year, which in our country means they cost the company about €80000 a year EACH.
So we have an investment in that product of €800.000 just for development. This doesn't include marketing, customer support, etc. Total cost is likely to have been over a million Euro before the first customer takes delivery.
At an estimated market of maybe 50 customers over 3 years, that means just to break even we have to price the product at €20.000 per customer. Our actual price is about €25.000 per customer, plus a support contract.
I'd not call that massive margins, and certainly not an indication that software doesn't cost anything to create.

And that's in a market where there is NO piracy. Each customer gets a highly customised product which is specific to their situation and won't work anywhere else.
Had we to figure in piracy into the equation at the rate which is common in the consumer software industry we'd have to charge 10 times that amount as piracy causes a loss in sales of up to 90%.

I hardly think that is indicative of the situation for the software which is being referred to in this discussion. You're describing a very specialised, niche market type of software there. For such a product, profit margins have far more impact than they do for software …

I'm perfectly happy to put up with product activation technology, as long as a quick and effective mechanism is provided whereby I can get round it if things go a bit haywire. I pay for my software, I do not like like in any way being treated like a criminal when things go awry, as they are wont, and I certainly don't want to be stuffed around because of someone else's problem.

I don't accept that software publishers should have a free hand in using any 'protection' technology they can devise. If it interfere's with my legitimate usage of the product it's simply not good enough. That includes my ability to make backup copies of the software when it is delivered on fragile removable media!

I am sympathetic to the plight of software publishers, but I don't accept in any way shape or form that the presence or absence of copyright protection mechanisms is a 'part' of the piracy act. It's a completely separate issue entirely.

Doesn't matter if it's a direct copy of a software Cd being installed or if it's a product illegally used by way of the cleverest 'crack' floating round in existence. Theft is still theft, and the act itself is the same. You didn't purchase it. you didn't obtain a right to use it. you obtained and used it anyway. That's the act of a thief and you can't start crying that it was someone else's fault!

zeroth is perfectly correct. …

Fair enough. That article is actually still there and I've read it thoroughly.

http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=160900911

It's a heap of codswallop! Mr Langa does himself no service at all with the ridiculous arguments he uses or the baseless assumprions he makes when trying to present data in a meaningful way. I'd suggest you also read the reader reponses, because they point out the huge holes in his line of argument ;)

http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=160903774

I hadn't realised that 'Information Week' was one of the offshoots of TechWeb. But simply because it's attached to a reputable news organisation doesn't mean it's correct. Question what you read, for goodness sake. The fact that it's published doesn't make it incontrovertible truth!

By the way, if you think I shouldn't be criticising Mr. Langa because he's a journalist with a 'Professional' site, then rest assured that I reserve the right to. I'm one of those 'Professional journalists' myself ;)

Some time during the next year or two or three, Firefox might become somewhat of a problem security-wise. Right now, however, it's in the very lead group of alternatives available to windows users, and that's why it's the choice of discerning and more knowledgeabale users!

If your motherboard does not accomodate SATA drives then you can't use one.

In addition, the onlt ATA133 (or UDMA133 if you want to use that term) drives that I know of are Maxtor brand, and I wouldn't go near them. Had too many problems with Maxtor drives in the past!

ATA100 is fine to use. The data transfer speed listed is an 'ideal situation' thing and won't be reached consistently anyway.

The important factor is to get a drive of 7200rpm or netter, and with 8Mb of cache. 2Mb cache drives have lower performance.

It's really the rotation speed and the amount of cache that gives performance, not some fancy number in its description ;)

banGerprawN, yours sounds like a classic example of where, sometimes, a fresh install is the best method of resolving problems.

Some points to consider:

* You're using 'themes' software. Third party desktop themes interfere with system files, and most will have an impact on functionality, however slight. Dialogue boxes can display incorrectly, notification area icons can refuse to 'hide', or any number of other small problems can arise.
* Service Pack 2 is best applied to a fresh install of Windows. It's more like an OS upgrade than a 'patch', and applying an upgrade to an already unstable system can work to magnify problems, rather than resolve them.
* You've changed display cards, and if that has meant you've changed from a graphics processor manufactured by one company to a graphics processor manufactured by another, again you've encountered a situation where it is both recommended and best practice to clean install and start over.

Haven't we had this discussion before? You're just plain wrong, jwenting. the 'problem' with Internet Explorer is the fact that it's so closely and intimately integrated with the OS shell, and through it the most fundamental core components of the OS can be exposed to outside interference.

Without Microsoft de-integrating the browser and completely reworking it so that it becomes a stand-alone product rather than a component of the OS itself, it is a browser which is flawed beyond redemption!

And I might add that your experience, over the years, is a lucky one, and one which I hope continues for you. But the simple fact is that there are now 'intruders' loose in the 'wilds' of the internet, which can infect your system simply because you have viewed an image or a web-page. Please don't be suggesting that anyone who gets an infection when using it is 'thick', because that's simply not the case!

Hi to all our newcomers, and to those not-so-newcomers who may still be struggling with just what a forum is and how it works.

We are a community here. Our purpose is to assist you with your problems, if we can, but beyond that we want you to become one of us! Whether it's to get more problems resolved in the future, to chat in our 'Lounge' section about life in general, or to pass on the knowledge you have yourself and assist others with it. Makes no difference to us. We're simply friendly people! Yes, you heard right. I DID say that you can help others here too! Don't sell yourself short, please. There's one constant factor involved in the computing world. The 'expert' is only the person who has read one more page of the manual than you have. Everybody has something to contribute :)

Those people new to online forums need not be overwhelmed by how complex it all looks. The basic principles of participating in a forum are quite simple. You start threads (topics), or you make comments in reply to them. To start a new thread, you need only locate the appropriate forum section, display its index page, and click on the 'New thread' button at the top of the list. Give it a title, type out what you want to say, then click on the 'Submit' button.
To reply to a thread, you simply need to display it, click …

I think this is a very valid point you raise, Tight_Coder_Ex. For newcomers to DaniWeb, the user ranks can seem to indicate the level of ability of particular members, rather than simply the indication of postcount that they are. Perhaps it's time to look at the matter, and see if people think the ranking system here requires some change.

The actual rank titles themselves, I believe, refer to the identification of a person as a member of this online community, rather than to any level of expertise. Originally, DaniWeb was known as TechTalk forums:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4

and the Junior Techie/Senior Techie seems to have developed as an indication of the volume of contribution someone makes.

It's a valid point you raise, and the rank titles we have can appear to endorse some people as more knowledgeable than others. I think this discussion would be better conducted in the 'Site News and Feedback' section, and I'll move it there for further comments.

I'm interested in hearing them.

Format and fresh install is by far the preferred method. Ensure you back up dat to external media beforehand, if you don't wish to lose it.

Firefox is actually leaner 'n' meaner than Internet Explorer. Most people report that it takes a little longer for the browser to actually fire up initially, but that once started it is a faster operating browser than IE.

Mozilla is a more demanding browser than Firefox, as it is a more full featured alternative.

Whichever you choose, install the ieView plugin ( http://ieview.mozdev.org/installation.html ), so that if you come across one of the few sites which demand Internet Explorer specifically (Windows Update, some Internet Banking sites for example) you can right-click the link and choose 'Open in Internet Explorer'.

Hi all,

It may seem like a strange thing to have in a section dedicated to sorting out problems with Internet Explorer, but I have to ask. Why bother?

Internet Explorer, which is actually deeply embedded into Windows itself rather than being a 'stand-alone' program, is deeply flawed and cannot really be 'fixed'. The way it operates makes it susceptible to all sorts of internet-borne 'nasties', and your system suffers from its use.

Although it won't handle every single website you could find, Firefox will more than adequately handle just about anything you wish to do. Dowmload it, install it, and set it as your default browser. You'll not regret the change, I'm sure.

Here's a step by step guide to installing Firefox on a Windows XP system. The procedure varies only a little for other Windows versions, and the procedures for installing Mozilla or Opera are also very, very similar.

If you are continually having problems as a result of using Internet Explorer, it's really time you made the change. You won't regret doing so, I'm sure!

Also see this topic.

oh i have more than 1 gmail accoutns :cheesy: :cheesy:

Sorta like collecting trading cards, ain't it? Makes sense to the person doing it but you gotta wonder how! :eek:

LOL!

Sure the lens is clean?

No, there's not.

Sorry to have to say so, but that's the strightforward situation.

You've probably got a corrupted normal.dot file.

Close down all instances of Word (and any other programs which use Word plugins, such as Internet Explorer and Outlook). Then use 'Search' on the Start menu to locate the file normal.dot

Rename it to normal.old then start up Word. A new normal.dot file will be created, with default settings.

Hi Diana,

Sorry to disappoint you but no, there's not really such a thing as an 'Adequate' product available. Not if you want your sons 'protected' anyway. Any products available only give an illusion of protection, and the best of them are so restrictive that the internet becomes a virtually useless tool to use as a result of their restrictions.

The best approach, by far, is twofold:

* Educate your sons about the dangers to the computer itself when websurfing the 'seedier' sections of the internet. Such habits bring unwelcome 'spyware' intruders which can make the system unusable. Read through some of the discussions in our Security forum section to see the mess some people have to untangle, and the difficulty of sorting it out! Those problems usually result from clicking on advertisements, downloading 'free' stuff, chasing 'cracks' to get copied software working etc. etc. etc. All those activities which quickly link to or through porn, in other words. It's best to avoid them as far as possible and learn protection techniques when you need to go quickly past them.

Don't be fooled by seeing 'porn' links in the browser history. 95% of all web-browsing will generate those, simply from onscreen advertisements. They don't necessarily mean that someone has been viewing pornography.

* Talk openly and frankly about matters of human relationships in the home with your teenaged sons, so their curiousity isn't heightened by the subject being 'forbidden territory'. Yes, even those more 'shocking' …

Sorry for the double post, but I want to be sure the topic starter has noticed this comment.

3. 64-bit

The 64-bit memory interface is NOT the AGP bus! It is the line of communication between the graphics processor and the video memory on the card. The AGP bus is the line of communication between the card itself and the rest of the computer system, and does not effect performance. The memory interface, however, is the reason why, despite having a reasonable graphics processor and reasonable graphics memory, the card itself is realatively low performance.

Modern display cards, depending on the internal architecture of the graphics processor, need either a 128-bit or a 256-bit memory interface for best performance. (The NVidia 6600GT, for example, uses a 128-bit interface but has two separate channels of it)

64-bit memory interface cards are poor performance gaming cards.

The good price/performance points in gaming cards are represented by the following cards, in order from least powerful to most powerful:

Radeon 9600XT
NVidia FX5900XT
Radeon 9800 Pro (256-bit memory interface only. Ensure it is not a bullshit 128-bit memory interface card)
NVidia 6800 GT (256Mb card only)

(Sorry I can't give price points. I'm located in Australia, and prices I provided would be relevent there only. Shop online and use a suitable price locator site to find the best deals available')

Those cards are the ONLY alternatives which can rightfully be claimed as 'Good Value' purchases. The upcoming NVidia 6600GT and perhaps the ATi X700XT might slot in between the 9800 Pro and the 6800GT, when initial release prices drop back a tiny tad.

Edit: Current price points, in Australian dollars. Do the research for currency conversion and market prices in your local area yourself. Prices based on best prices available in Australia at time of writing:

Radeon 9600XT $220
GeForce FX5900XT $300
Radeon 9800 Pro $380
NVidia 6800GT $680

FPS:

Clive Barker's Undying
Max Payne
Jedi Knight
Outlaws

Adventure:

Blade Runner
Grim Fandango
Gabriel Knight 3

RPG:

Baldur's Gate (1 and 2)
Neverwinter Nights
(And I'd just about kill for a copy of Planescape:Torment)

Check this!

You'll find information about making changes to Windows services at

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

Hi, and welcome to TechTalk.

Perhaps the first thing you should do is have a good read of the information contained in our FAQ section:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/faq.php?

There you will find:

Forum Rules and policies, Webmaster Information, Privacy policy.

User Maintenance, General forum usage, Reading and posting messages.

There is quite a lot of information contained in the articles you will find at those links, and I'm sure that it will be enough to answer most of your initial queries about using this Forum.

When you've come to grips with all that, you might want to head into the 'Control Panel' for your user account to see if you'd like to make some changes to the way you have the Forum working for you. There are a range of Settings available to change the way your posts display, and to edit your personal account details.

Most importantly, if you click on the 'Edit options' menu item, you can alter the way the forum works for you. Of particular relevence are settings to change the way you are notified about new posts in topics you've posted in. Your default setting is to inform you of new posts as a weekly summary via email. You can change that to instant notification if you like, so that you are informed immediately if someone has answered your question.

Also, there is the option to alter the …

Here's how to do a 'Refresh Install' of Windows XP

In theory, it won't erase your 'stuff'.

But if the problems on your system are particularly bad, it also might not fix them, and if you've got encryption enabled on your files to 'protect' them, they will still be there after the install, but you won't be able o access them!

To be safe, before you go ahead with the procedure, right click on any folders you use to store your data files and choose 'Properties'. On the General tab, click the 'Advanced' button and make sure the 'Encrypt contents' box is not selected. On the 'Sharing' tab ensure the 'Make this folder private' box is not checked. When you've confirmed those settings, or changed them wherever you need to, go ahead with the refresh install by following the instructions in that article.

I'd have to agree. The problem you describe is not a 'feature' of Service Pack 2 by any means. You almost certainly have some form of virus or malware on your system, and the installation of the Service Pack has brought it to the fore. Cleaning your system of 'nasties' is the way to address it.

The "Helping yourself" topic in the Security forum section will get you started with software tools to use.

An 'In-place upgrade' is what's needed:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341&Product=winxp

Looks good to me mate.

The only change I'd suggest, I reckon, would be to ditch the floppy drive and include a 3.5" Fan controller unit instead.

Crazy_M, that criticism of people who have answered is unwarranted.

You've not stated your question clearly to start with, the question itself, about a configuration which would need an additional (SATA) drive has been followed by a comment that you have no need for an extra drive, and in any case the answer was given in an early post in the topic, as has been mentioned.

Further to that, my own quite seriously put question hasn't been answered by yourself anyway.

finaly someone doesnt sound stupid trying to be a smart*** and doing a s**** job at it.

It could be claimed that there has only really been one person doing that in the discussion.

That could have something to do with it, for sure. More specifically, whatever tool you used to remove the Trojan may have also removed the folder.

If you want to recover the missing files, the more you use that PC the less chance you will have of success ;)

Hi Marceta,

Opera includes its own popup blocker. In version 7.53, go to Tools -> Quick Preferences, and then "Block unwanted Pop-ups"

If you're not already using the latest version, you should download and install it.

When you've finished with all that, you can also squeeze a bit more performance from that old system by the following:

Unless Jennifer actually USES those extra keyboard buttons (most people don't!) you can uninstall 'Easy Access Button Support' from Add/Remove programs. The keyboard would operate as a standard one, with the 'extra keys' disabled, an a small performance improvement gained.

You can also uninstall 'Service Centre' and 'Compaq Diagnostics' for a performance enhancement as well. These are unecessary, and have been since the Warranty period on the PC expired.

They are only small gains, but every little bit helps on an older system.

Fdisk is a good way to wipe the hard drive. Remove the existing partition, create a new one in its place, and then format. That's the procedure I personally always adopted when using Win 9x versions.

But whether its Fdisk or Format that is to be used to clean the system drive, either tool must be run either from a Windows boot diskette or from the Windows CD itself. Neither method will work if you try to run them from within Windows, or even from the 'Reboot into DOS mode' function of Windows 95 or 98

Concern #1

Some manufacturers include the instructions in the mobo manual, some in an additional manual. Both boards are accompanied by instructions.

It's not hard, most reported problems result from a failure to adequately read instractions, and to load the RAID drivers at the appropriate point in the installation sequence.

Question #1

Yes. You don't need to install RAID drivers at all for a setup like that. The SATA connectors can be used for drives under normal operation. Their RAID function is an optional extra capability.

Concern #2

I would choose Gigabyte products over Asus products every time, but that's simply a personal preference.

Question #2

I would choose GigaByte products over Asus products every time, but that's simply a personal preference. I consider Gigabyte to be higher quality.

System specs/ general comments

What is the system to be used for, might I ask? If you intend to use it for Workstation or server tasks, the PCI-X slots on the 8KNXP might come in handy ;)

If you intend to use it for gaming, the best motherboard to base it on would be the ABit IC7-Max3, and you should also reconsider that 9600XT vid card, which is only a mid-range option rather than a high performance option. For a few dollars more you could get a GeFX5900XT, which is a better performer, and for a few more again you could drop a Radeon 9800 Pro in it!

Somewhere in your BIOS setup menus there will be a setting for "Case Alarm" or similar. If you disable the setting, you'll no longer get the message.

Including details of the make/model of your motherboard, or the make/model of your PC if it's a 'name-brand' one, will help us to determine clearer details of how to correct it.

Hi,

You've got 2 basic options:

1. Determine the maximum speed and type processor your motherboard will accept, find one for sale on eBay or similar, and use that as the basis for your upgrade. This is hard to do, as most people will have 'maxxed out' their motherboards of that vintage by now if they are keeping them, and the necessary processor will be a keenly sought item which would probably cost more than it's worth.

2. Replace the 'heart' of your system - motherboard, processor and RAM, to give yourself the basis of a modern system upon which you can build as you have funds available.

My recommendation would always be the second option.

If you are interested in pursuing the first option, you will need to supply details of the make/model of your PC, or of the motherboard if it's not a 'Name Brand' system.

Moved to the 'Hardware' section, by the way

........Sometimes I cry myself to sleep because of this.

No need for tears. just send 'em this!

[img]http://bunky.zerosignal.net.au/Pics/Forum%20Shite/suck.jpg[/img]

I'm also suspecting a faulty power supply unit. If the unit in that old Gateway system is a standard ATX unit, I'd try replacing it with a newer one.

You shouldn't need to make any BIOS changes to use a PCI display card instead of the onboard video - simply install the card physically in the system, hook the monitor up to it and boot. It should start up at least with a standard VGA display.

If changing the power supply unit doesn't help, it may just be a dead motherboard you're confronted with.

Weird? That should have been enough, try leaving it out overnight and see what happens. I just checked the documentation on Acer's website and it's not helpful. You might need to submit a technical support request to them if no-one here comes up with a working solution.

Looking forward to playing this on my trusty Pentium 100 laptop! :p

[img]http://home.insightbb.com/~brandonz14/unrealfloppy.jpg[/img]

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