NSR: Any computer tech heads here?

[Sapphire]

Thanks for the initial feedback guys. I think I'm going to head to Best Buy this afternoon and try to buy a new battery and perhaps a new powercord and any other little thing which might help. If they don't work, I will return them.

Then, I'll call the geek squad people and the local geek squad-like company and compare prices.

Let me know if anyone has more advice in the meantime.

[FIFARay007]

Thanks for the initial feedback guys. I think I'm going to head to Best Buy this afternoon and try to buy a new battery and perhaps a new powercord and any other little thing which might help. If they don't work, I will return them.

Then, I'll call the geek squad people and the local geek squad-like company and compare prices.

Let me know if anyone has more advice in the meantime.

A little late here, but it sounds like you got enough help. Just FYI, try taking the battery out and just leaving the plug in and see what happens. If it gets crazy, then it's most likely just the power cord. If not, then it's prolly a faulty battery.

If the new cord and new battery don't fix it, then yeah, I'd give the Geek peeps a call.

[Dark Savante]

OK, I'm trying to rip this file off the 'net: http://www.jacksbacks.altervista.org/muller.html

But when I go to my temporary internet files folder to copy and paste it onto another drive...it's not there... how else can I rip the file? any ideas?

[Republic of Mancunia]

Looks like it's the same video from this page:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3663014129715802920&q=muller+duration%3Along&hl=en

Should be easy from there.

[Dark Savante]

Looks like it's the same video from this page:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3663014129715802920&q=muller+duration%3Along&hl=en

Should be easy from there.

Excellente! Thank you, good sir!

:D

[benni...]

Im planning on getting an external hardrive, because that damn game takes up so much space. But also, how would one go about adding more random access memory?

[Achtung]

Im planning on getting an external hardrive, because that damn game takes up so much space. But also, how would one go about adding more random access memory?

The best way is to go to www.crucial.com and look up what kind of RAM you need with their Memory Advisor Tool. It'll show you the number of RAM slots you have and the type you need, for example something like " Each memory slot can hold DDR2 PC2-4200,DDR2 PC2-5300 with a maximum of 1GB per slot." Then you can either order from Crucial (they're a bit expensive, but generally considered the best) or go to a store or look online for the kind that's recommended.

[benni...]

Thanks a lot, Im on it.

[FIFARay007]

The best way is to go to www.crucial.com (http://www.crucial.com) and look up what kind of RAM you need with their Memory Advisor Tool. It'll show you the number of RAM slots you have and the type you need, for example something like " Each memory slot can hold DDR2 PC2-4200,DDR2 PC2-5300 with a maximum of 1GB per slot." Then you can either order from Crucial (they're a bit expensive, but generally considered the best) or go to a store or look online for the kind that's recommended.

Also, try www.cnet.com They are pretty good at reviewing different products and also show the best/cheapest places to buy them.

[Stud83]

I recommend Kingston - it's available everywhere, compatible with pretty much everything on the market, very reliable and you can find a very good deal on it.

[FIFARay007]

Here's a toughie for you real computer geeks out there. I'm at my wits end about this one and have tried almost everything. Major rep and brownie points to anyone who figures this out. Also, I'll buy u a beer or 2 or 7 at the next meetup. Thought that was worth bolding. :rolleyes:

My system:

I have a cable modem hooked up to a router, which is hooked directly to my desktop. I also have a laptop for work which connects wirelessly.

The issue I have is that when I connect wirelessly from the laptop, I cannot connect to the internet, even tho the wireless connection is active in the toolbar.

Now I have a VPN connection set up on the laptop to my company, and when I connect thru that, I can access the internet. Also, I'm able to access the Oracle Collaboration Suite (via internet) even if I'm not VPN'd in.

Finally, if I plug my laptop into the router, then everything works as it should. I've tried connecting to different wireless routers (Starbucks, other people who don't set up security on their routers, etc.) with the same results.

Seriously, I could use some assistance.

[Achtung]

Ray,

I'd say find out whether your router is assigning an IP address to your laptop. On the laptop, go to Start... Run... and type "cmd". At the DOS prompt, type "ipconfig" and somewhere on there you should see an IP address, something like 192.168.1.xxx (different brands of routers do it differently, but it should be similar to my Linksys one).

If you don't see that, try disabling the WEP or WPA security on your router and then try to get your laptop to connect again. If it works without security, try setting up the security again and seeing if it works. It sounds a little weird, but routers are like that sometimes.

[FIFARay007]

Ok, well my laptop does show an ip address when I did the ipconfig, but I tried undo'ing the security on the router, even brought it back to defalts for all options, and still no luck, so I'm assuming it's definitely the laptop.

Why would I be able to attach to my company's instant messaging service and oracle collaboration suite via internet and not anything else? What other settings are on the laptop that I can change?

[FIFARay007]

Scratch it all! I changed some of the settings under the Properties for the network settings. They had been changed to initially work with the company's intranet, but I just reset them and tried everything, with no negative impact.

Achtung, thanks for your help anyway, I'll hook u up with a half a beer next time!

[Achtung]

Achtung, thanks for your help anyway, I'll hook u up with a half a beer next time!

Just glad you got it working. :D Routers are funny old devices...

[JC7rox]

Silly question, I know, but I don't know the answer to it, and I'm sure some of you guys do.

If I change the motherboard on my computer, does all the stuff that I have on my computer wipe out? Is it easier to just get a new motherboard with a better processor than to get a new computer? If I change the motherboard, upgrading it, my computer will move a lot better than it currently does, right? Help me. Thank you.

Also, what if I just switch over my hard drive to another computer? What will happen then? Will everything that I have on my current computer go over to the new computer?

[Achtung]

You can just swap to a new motherboard and still have all your info on your hard drive, technically, and not lose anything. But, if you're changing your motherboard, its highly recommended that you back up your data and reformat your hard drive.

If you move your hard drive to a new computer, you may have to change a jumper on the back of the drive so the new computer doesn't get confused. Basically it needs to know which drive to boot from, and which drive is "secondary" (aka "slave" drive).

That said, if you're looking for a speed boost, you'll want to replace your processor and/or RAM first.

[doug1500]

Alright, so I've got a cheap old computer, it's an eMachines T5026. It's alright, considering I picked it up for $499 after the rebates and such, but now I'm looking into upgrading some of its features. It has 512mb RAM and I looked at the Crucial site, and I think i might bump it up to a gig.

What I am more concerned about is my video card, its an Intel, which is synonymous with crap, but it does have 128mb. Unfortunately, I only have PCI adapters. I don't have AGP or PCIx16 or anything. This means I can only install a PCI video card, is that correct?

Well I narrowed it down to three products that are under $120. None of these are state-of-the-art and I'm not expecting anything great from them but here they are.

1. GeForce FX5200 Video Card, PCI, 256MB DDR

2. Radeon 9250 Video Card, PCI, 256MB DDR

3. GeForce FX 5500 Video Card, PCI, 256MB DDR

Alright, so my bro has the ATI 9250, i've tried it out, nothing special. Since i can only use PCI, those are my 3 options. My comp should work with each of them, it meets min requirements.

So - my question to you guys is what is my best bet?

Thanks for any responses :)

[Leto]

Can anyone tell me how to convert Mediaplayer files into Realplayer format? Most of the music on my laptop is RP, so when I add something that's in MP it means I can't stick it into playlists the same way. It's a niggly thing.

[Achtung]

What I am more concerned about is my video card, its an Intel, which is synonymous with crap, but it does have 128mb. Unfortunately, I only have PCI adapters. I don't have AGP or PCIx16 or anything. This means I can only install a PCI video card, is that correct?

Well I narrowed it down to three products that are under $120. None of these are state-of-the-art and I'm not expecting anything great from them but here they are

....

So - my question to you guys is what is my best bet?

Thanks for any responses :)

Honestly, I haven't kept up with hardware specs and reviews much the past few years. But there are a ton of sites that do have reviews. Here are a few where you might find some info:

http://www.tomshardware.com/

http://www.anandtech.com/

http://www.sharkyextreme.com/

Hope that helps.