Czuch: this media direct is the only way you can read and play dvds on your system?

SL-Mark:

i tried it out now -

unfortunately the problem still exists.

if it is such a common problem, MS still does not offer a fix?

thanks for your detailed help anyway...

I'm hoping to get a computer on sale in the next couple of days - there are many on sale and I was wondering if there is a specific brand I should definitely stay away from? My choices seem to be HP, Dell, perhaps Sony or Toshiba. We don't use our computer extensively, I just really need to have a larger RAM to play games without crashing :O) I now have a laptop which I love because it takes up little space and I hate sitting at a desk. Would a desktop be a better choice in terms of needing to upgrade it eventually? Any input would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Desktop vs. Laptop -- I usually tell people to make sure you need a laptop before you buy one, since for the same money - you can usually get better equipment in a desktop. I usually see people who buy a laptop, and it will sit on the same desk 99% of the time (where a desktop could be sitting). So at least in my opinion, unless you will use a laptop as a laptop - desktops are always better.

Brand - It really does not matter too much these days - People will always have "bad" stories about certain brands, but most of the major brands are good these days. I get dell, and haven't had any issues. Actually just got a brand new Dell yesterday. Plenty of memory (the more the better), CPU - I was looking hard for at least a quad core since many games take advantage of more cores (ended up getting 6 core AMD myself)

coan.net: Thank you so much Coan!

Good points by coan. If you say though, Binabik, that you hate sitting at a desk, than a laptop will be a better choice. But just keep in mind, that, as coan said, you will pay more for the same abilities computation wise. Plus, it is a lot cheaper and easier to later upgrade a desktop than it is to upgrade a laptop. So it boils down to how much you prefer the flexibility of sitting on your couch with the laptop over better prices.

I would say out of the four brands you mentioned Sony is the one that is the most overpriced. I have a thing for Dell myself. But coan's right, as long as you stay with a big name, you will have a good chance of being very satisfied, and always a small chance not to be.

Since quite a while I do have the following setup: I own a desktop that has plenty of power and RAM. And then I own a laptop, that is way weaker, and where the emphasis is on low power usage, and thus longer battery hours. I use the laptop when I leave the house (I use it on the train, and I sometimes take it to friends if I stay over night, and I always took it to university), or when I absolutely do not feel like sitting at a desk. Because of the less powerful setup, I will not use some of the applications I use on my desktop, or I will use them more rarely.

I think you could get a not-so-powerful laptop coupled with a good PC for the price of a laptop that is as strong as the PC would be. And gain power and flexibility at the same time.

Gordon Shumway: Thank you Gordon! Have you seen the new all-in-one Dell Inspiron desktop? What do you think about that?
I only put the laptop on my lap when I need to write - otherwise it sits on a little table next to my comfy chair and I use the mouse on the chair arm; I can't imagine a more comfortable way to use a computer :) I can't afford 2 computers, I hope to get a good deal on a new one because the one I have keeps crashing. There seems to be something wrong with the inner workings because wiping it clean and starting over didn't help. And anyway, the RAM I have now is truly pitiful.....

Binabik: Depending on your tech availability you could link up a desktop to your TV and use a wireless keyboard and mouse... and hence still sit in your comfy chair.

Well, usually I would say with those All-In-One solutions you get the worst of both worlds - the lower upgradability of laptops and the lack of mobility of desktops. Given you don't really need mobility, but just like to have your computer next to your chair, it might as well be a valid option, as a desktop will only clutter up your living room with cables, and you won't get a cheap laptop with that big of a screen :D

Gordon Shumway: I agree - it looks nice, but the downsides outweigh the upsides :)

(V): Connecting to the tv is not an option for me, but thank you for the suggestion!

Cisco Flip Mino II HD 8GB Camcorder

does anybody know anything about these?

i have a 4yr. old hp compaq pressario laptop xp. it worked great til 3mos. ago, when all of a sudden a small silver tab would appear and it says alert, the url is not valid and cannot be loaded, it has a clickable ok, when i click that most times it disappears and other times it just stays and doesn't let me do anything and makes it almost impossible to shut down, a few times i had to shut the power button. i have used ccleaner and i think it's called hijack a malware thing, i don't know what that really is but i did it, then i went to my programs and removed all the games that came with the pc and anything that said i rarely use. i also have norton and they scan everyday. i'm ready to toss it in the trash. i'm hoping someone can help me and i can keep this laptop, it worked great til this happened, and i have no idea why it happens. it's working perfect now, this afternoon i had to shut down twice to get it to work.
thx. in advance for any help.

thx. ellie

ellieoop: sounds like a virus. I had the same thing happen to me about 6 months ago....I had to get everything reloaded. I was lucky that I didnt lose everything....it was a nasty buggar...

Bernice: i only use ff, i'm going to try another browser to see if i get the alert on it. if it is a virus it should happen on any browser i use, at least that's what i think. i don't know much about a virus. if i do get it then maybe you can tell me how to re load everything.

ellieoop: the virus I got stopped everything from working....I use IE, but it stopped my virus from working and it wouldnt let me acces anything...kept asking me to "OK" everything... and of course it just kept getting worse each time.
now dont ask me to help you reload everything....I paid $264 to get it cleeaned and reformatted...not very computer literate Im afraid and prefer to pay and have it done properly....sorry :(

from memory mine started by a window popping up and saying there was an urgent virus update and to click on the button....now I dont usually get "suckered" into these things but it named which virus control I use so I just went ahead and....BOOF...everything was ruined :(

Bernice: i was so impressed that you could fix it by yourself. lol... i was thinking if i did bring it to be fixed, they might not get that alert, i got it today when i started it up, then i rebooted and it came back, then i pulled the wires out of the back of the modem and router and rebooted and it's been ok since. they may not see it. i definitely will use IE tomorrow and chrome the next day, i don't want to try anything now. if it doesn't happen then i guess it's not a virus and it has something to do with ff. i sure hope that's what it is.

ellieoop: LOL....good luck and you sound like you need it ;)

ellieoop: You already have CCleaner, so that is great, but it will not delete any virus or Malware.

For you and any others here are a few programs you should run to keep your clean, running fine, PC virus and Malware free

First make sure you have a decent Anti-virus program installed & running

If you do not have one it is a must and there are plenty about, but the popular free ones are the ever popular AVG FREE edition or its newish rival Avira. Both are very good and are great at what they do as long as they are kept up 2 date

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is the Daddy of all Anti-Malware programs, and a must on any computer

They are the main things to have. I also have SpywareBlaster installed as that is free.

Give Remove Fake Anti-virus a go as well. It detects these Viruses that act as Anti-virus programs and tell you that you have lots of problems and you must download this software to sort it out, which of course costs money. A thing that many people do for no reason at all, as they have no problem apart from the fact they have a virus like installed. This program will detect and get rid of them all

Just a couple of others. Although changing your Registry is not strictly advised, is can become cluttered and slow your PC down greatly. If you are going to use a Registry cleaner (there is a small one built into CCleaner) then use Eusing free registry Cleaner. Always remember before making any changes to your registry, to make a Back-up of it, and all good programs will do this for you

Definition of your Windows Registry, and how important it is

One last one i use a lot is Revo Uninstaller. We all download programs, some of which we keep, and some we just like to have a play with, and get rid of. While most have there own built in Uninstallers, these very rarely get rid of all the stuff they install. of course Windows had Add/Remove programs (and again CCleaner has one useful one build in). Revo, just goes a bit further, by running the programs build in one, then goes about after-woods, and cleans up any leftovers lol

All the programs above are FREE, but of course have there own more sophisticated PAID for versions, which add more usability to them.

Well, that is my Christmas list from me to you, and anyone else who wants help. I have many others installed, and that i use to repair computers, but there is no need for the every day user to have them (or i would have no work lol, have very little as it is). Of course you know where i am if it is anything specific

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all Computers

p.s. Oh, and after all that, even i get the odd one once a month or so lol

All Internet Explorer versions affected by newly-discovered critical flaw - Microsoft has posted a new security bulletin which describes a critical flaw in Internet Explorer which -- wait for it -- could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands on a compromised computer.

MadMonkey: I must put a rare word in defence of MS. While I'm no fan (understatement) at least they're not too far behind in repairing security holes. Theirs always get huge publicity, but the truth is any system and any software has those holes. This is currently unavoidable. Probably future systems will be smarter, currently all we can do is plug the holes as they're discovered. I'm on a Linux distribution, and I constantly get updates to correct newly discovered potential threats.

rabbitoid: I agree, i just like to keep people up to date

i was still getting that alert about the url being invalid and it would freeze and i had to constantly reboot.
i switched to chrome a few weeks ago, i feel like i have 2 new laptops, it is so fast and very easy to use, the best thing is that i have never gotten that alert again, i think it had to be an ff bug. i have not gotten any updates in 3 weeks, does chrome automatically update or is it invisible?
i have one big problem. on the vista laptop i cannot find how to allow popups at pogo. you can't play there unless you do that. on the xp at pogo it asked me and i clicked it and it works great. i went to tools looked at everything there, then went to options and i cannot find it. i hope someone can help me with it.
thx. ellie

ellieoop: Here is a Chrome Help page about allowing popups

http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?answer=95472&cbid=1arc62fh0l7cy&src=cb&lev=%20index


and there is this help page on Pogo, too
http://www.pogo.com/misc/sun-java/help.jsp


I have all pop ups blocked in Chrome, and if I click on Exceptions (Options, Under The Hood, Content Settings, Pop Ups, Exceptions) My one exception is this : [*.]game3.pogo.com

I hope at least part of this helps. I personally can't live without Pogo!

rod03801: i hope this works on vista, is pogo game3 a game, do i need a #. i notice it doesn't work on texas holdem. i see an empty seat at a table and it won't open, if i'm playing and i want to see my stats, i can't, i'll click my name on chat, and it does say show profile, i click it and nothing happens. i'm not on that laptop now, but i will be real soon. if i have any problems, i'll pm you. i've been addicted to that site. for years.
thx. so much

ellieoop: I was only pasting what is in my "exceptions" box. It is not a specific game #, as I play a million different games there. I didn't type anything in that box myself.
I'm pretty sure it was very simple though.
Don't you get a line at the top of the window, saying "popups blocked" or something when you try to enter? All you would need to do is click it tell it to allow pop ups from Pogo.

I recommend this private search engine, none of your searches are recorded! www.startpage.com

Servant: Which kind of problems have you had because someone has supposedly recorded your searches? And what kind of proof you have that startpage does not do that?

Thanks for the questions if you go to www.startpage.com and then click on the links there you will find all the information to your questions there

Is there anyway I can save youtube music and put on DVD>

Bernice: don't worry about it...I found a proggy that does just that :)

does anyody here know how to convert an jpg.nco file to jpeg?

Please Pm me if you would.

Sigh.... I have never questioned a FF update and always installed it when it came around. The latest one, however, I absolutely detest. I don't need all those bells and whistles and I can't find my bookmarks. I looked at their website which is an adventure in frustration land for computer dummies like I am. Can I uninstall the current version and go back to the previous one? I want simplicity back! :(

Binabik: You should be able to.

http://www.oldapps.com/firefox.php?old_firefox=6

Lists older versions, just download the version you want, uninstall FF and install the version you want.

(V): Thank you V!

Modified by ellieoop (27. July 2011, 20:09:40)

in back and nack i cannot see the black checker when there's only one checker on a point and it's on the opposite side. it;s harder to see against the red and purple backgrouds. i tried all the other backrounds, it doesn't change the bd. colors. i changed from font to castle and simple. i have real good eyesite and no problem when it on my side and i have made the bd larger and smaller.. what about graphics, can we change that and would that help? i have no problem with any other games.

Artful Dodger: Could your gamma or brightness settings be a bit too low?  Still, it does seem strange that there would appear to be a problem only on the far side of the board!

wetware: That's what I thought too. The problem is with ellieoop's computer. I'm just helping her by posting the question. I'm clueless how it could be happening. Plus, she tells me it's happening on more than one computer. Maybe I can get her to post a screen shot? Would that help?

Artful Dodger:
i have 2 new windows7 laptops, one is 17in and the other is a 12in. netbook, i had the same problem with my last 2 xps.
i brought a new member here last week from dg, and we're playing back and i never mentioned my problem. this is what she said.

(28. July 2011, 20:48:03) somehow these graphics make it look like there are more pieces on the board than usual.
i said it might be cause of the dark colors.
is purple and black the only colors for the bd. itself?
thx.

Throw windows in the bin and use Ubuntu

MadMonkey: My only real question with the likes is how it copes with shop bought PC software....games, etc.

Will they work.. or do I need to think about a dual o/s?

MadMonkey: you have to know what your doing to use that unless the interface has improved.

Artful Dodger: Desktop environments for Linux etc. have improved a lot. It's no more difficult to use some of the modern Linux distributions than it is to use Windows. In fact, I find Windows a lot harder to use.

The problems people have are twofold:

First, there's the fact that they're just used to the Windows way of doing things. The Windows way is in many instances a chore. It's not easy or efficient when compared to the ways of many Linuxes, it's just what people have been taught to accept as "normal". It took some time getting used to, but after a couple of years on Linux, I want to stab my ankle every time I am forced to work with Windows.

The second is the most common problem though. A lot of people don't really know how to run their Windows system properly. But everybody has a few friends, who do stuff for them and explain things to them. So they get by. Because ~90% of such friends use Windows, they might not be of much help with their Linux boxes.

This is no problem for semi tech savvy people, because the information is out there. In fact, where Linux is about 1000 times easier to deal with is solving problems with system or application software. The info is out there most of the time. Forums are very good. Wikis are all over the place. If you google for a problem you ran into, you will find relevant information most of the time. I remember that researching Windows problems meant pretty much wading through pages of search results, only to be lead to one of two things - threads that were about your problem, but that didn't lead to a solution other than maybe "reinstall", or threads that were about something else completely. Of course all those threads were on forums that were plastered with ads. And of course you'd get the same thread copied to different forums countless times. After hours of unsuccessful research, you'd often just reinstall some things. With Linux I'll just head to the community pages of my distro of choice, or the given software (those forums, when they exist, are mostly pretty decent, because it's usually community driven software anyway), and either find a quick solution, or be sent in the right direction. And if you use Ubuntu, like MadMonkey suggested, you'll find yourself using a very user- and newbie-friendly distribution, with a huge and growing community, and generally very, very beginner-friendly documentation and atmosphere around the forums.

It might take some time getting used to it, but if you really try it - I can't imagine you could possibly regret the move. It's so much more pleasant.

(V): For Windows-only software, there are different possibilities, with different pros and cons:

1) wine
The project wine (formerly Windows Emulator, now Wine Is Not an Emulator) is an attempt to create a "Windows compatibility layer" for Unix-like systems. It can run a decent number of software, some better than the others, and some need some extra work to get running. You can check which of your apps will likely run at the AppDB over at WineHQ. But not all programs will rund, and some probably never will. Pro side is it's very resource efficient, and the windows will naturally integrate. Contra is that so much software either won't run or will run, but not be fully functional.

2) Crossover or Cedega
There exist two commercial extensions to wine, Codeweavers CrossOver and Transgaming's Cedega. CrossOver started to specifically support MS Office on Linux, and Cedega's main focus is games. Both have since grown a lot, and both support a great deal of popular Windows software. I think they both should have an AppDB like wine, but I don't use any of them any more, so I can't tell. The Pro side is that way more of your programs will run, that you can vote to get support for your favorite apps (at least that's how it was at Cedega a while ago). The Contra is that still not everything will run, and that it costs money. But IIRC it's not really expensive, so that's no biggie.

3) Dual boot
If you have enough disk space, you can just install them side by side, most Linux distros come with installers that will take care of setting this up automatically, but customizably. Pro side is everything will run just as expected, the Contra is you have a Windows system sitting on your computer ;) But seriously, this has implications. Should you want to reinstall Windows, prepare for some trouble. While a Linux installation won't break anything (Most distros will install the Grub boot loader that let's you chose between different OSes at boot time, and automatically detect and add your Windows installation). But when you install Windows on a system where Linux is installed - Windows will not care. It will simply assume that there is no OS, and will overwrite the MBR of your disk with its own boot loader. You'll have to fix it after installation. Another problem is that to share data between both systems, you'll want to use a file system that Windows can read and write, so you're forced to use FAT or NTFS for your data partitions, which suck.

4) VM
That's what I use when I play Poker. If you have the hardware (doesn't have to be too strong, just remember that the virtual machine will run on less resources than physical installation would need), you can use VirtualBox and install Windows in a virtual machine. Now every time you want to use your Windows-only software, you can start the Windows VM. It can run in full screen mode, as a normal window, or even "Seamless mode", where the Windows windows will be managed by your Windows manager, and will integrate into your desktop. It's pretty awesome ;) Plus, you can simply share data between your Linux host system and the Windows guest in VirtualBox through shared folders. Oh, and the clipboard is shareable, too. And you don't have to reboot every time you want to switch the OS.

If we're talking high end graphics intensive games - dual boot will be the only acceptable solution though.

Oh, I'm not sold on the idea that it will fix your strange backgammon color problems though

Apparently CrossOver has come a long way in game support.

(V): My first step last year was a dual o/s, but once i got used to most of it, its fine. Of course you will come across problems because as toedder says, people are so blinded to Windows as it comes with every computer you buy. To start with i missed some programs as they will not run on linux based systems, and as mention below WINE will allow most programs to run, BUT if you search the Ubuntu Software Centre the are some great programs that will do the same as any Windows one. Now i am happy with a single boot Ubuntu on here and have a Linux Mint / Windows XP on my backup machine. Sadly i still have to keep up with Windows or i wouldn't get income repairing them

I would recommend to anyone, run a dual boot for a while and get used to it.

MadMonkey: Sounds good, I'll look into it. My only other question (though logically the answer is no) .... there are no problems with board drivers or is that something WINE would be able to handle, or would be fixable via the UBUNTU software centre?

as to Windows.. I remember PC's before Windows.. when the likes of X tree gold (sp) were the way. Or, as I use to own, the o/s of the Amiga systems (RIP) .. It was nice to able alter a few lines in a duplicate of the start up disc to make the screen as you wanted it.

(V): there are no problems with board drivers or is that something WINE would be able to handle, or would be fixable via the UBUNTU software centre?

Well, I'm not exactly sure what you refer to with board drivers. But in general, driver installation on Ubuntu is a charm, as the system will detect all but the most exotic hardware, and load drivers automagically. The only exception is, if your piece of hardware is not supported by open source drivers. In every case that I came across, Ubuntu told me there was a proprietary driver available, and asked whether I wanted to download and install it. I said yes, and the download and installation was seamless. Compare that to hunting down drivers on vendors' sites with Windows. Also there is ndiswrapper, which will let you install and use Windows drivers for hardware that isn't otherwise supported, but that would be mostly old and obscure WinModems, etc. My system even instantly recognized my old TV stick that I couldn't even get the Windows drivers for... (well, not in a couple of hours of search)

It was nice to able alter a few lines in a duplicate of the start up disc to make the screen as you wanted it.

You'll love Linux. In Linux you will be able to change pretty much every setting, behavior, you name it, by editing text files. In Ubuntu less than in some other distros, as Ubuntu's goal is to be newbie friendly, and that leads to them making some decisions that limit control in favor of "easiness". But I don't think you'd usually notice that until you have spent a significant amount of time with Ubuntu and then other Linuxes.