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IMAPI CD Burning (Native WinXP CD burning) is disabled and can't figure out why...

Never did resolve it. It's been put on the back burner and she's learned to use Nero.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #9
- Feb 16, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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Wtf? I need a DVD Decoder?

For legal reasons Windows does not come with a DVD decoder.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #8
- Feb 8, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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New TV Tuner. No audio through composite.

Are you running a seperate cable for audio? The s-video cable doesn't carry audio, it's only video.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #4
- Jan 29, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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MCE Machine wakes and doesn't go back to sleep.

You don't want hibernate. You want sleep (standby) mode. If it's hibernating it won't wake from the remote and it won't record any scheduled programs. I am not sure if MCE will allow you to schedule standby mode. There's a lot going on in the background. I Never tried it on my MCE systems. I...
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #5
- Jan 29, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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Laserjet 4 Aspire Laptop Issues

I don't think that's a serial connector. I believe that's a proprietary Apple Mac connector. Irregardless the way to go is the parallel port. Assuming the printer works (have you tried it with a desktop computer with a parallel port?) then it's probably the adapter you bought. In my...
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #2
- Jan 29, 2006
- Forum: Laptops
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AC voltage on my cable line - any ideas?

The problem might not be the cable (probably isn't). Might be a TV or your computer. You need to find out if the voltage source is inside the house or outside. Disconnect the cable outside from the first splitter, then see if there's still voltage from coax to ground. If there's still voltage...
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #2
- Jan 22, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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Power Supply Blew Up

Not impossible, I agree, but doubtful.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #5
- Jan 15, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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trouble charging laptop battery

No guarantee it's the charger board. Could be a bad/weak PSU. Replacing that is going to cost about the same. The charger board is not a replacement done casually. Laptops are a bitch to take apart and even harder to put back together.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #2
- Jan 15, 2006
- Forum: Laptops
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Power Supply Blew Up

Dead short is the only reason for something like that - been there, done that, bought the T-Shirt. Incredibly unlikely that it was a defective PSU. PSUs are tested when they leave the factory. The 5 volt or 12 volt rail got shorted to ground. Crimped wire, a power connector poked into a point...
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #3
- Jan 15, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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My Linksys wired router stops working after being idle for hours...

Definately update the Firmware. I've seen this plenty of times on Linksys routers, and a firmware upgrade usually fixes it. If it doesn't fix it, then buy a new router. They're cheap.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #4
- Jan 15, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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Question on upgrading a dell dimension 8400 video card

AShould be no problem with a 4 to 6 pin adapter.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #8
- Jan 12, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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Monitor Cords - Screws Stripped

I never screw mine in. Makes it easier when servicing.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #5
- Jan 12, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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General HTPC Question

My first Media Center PC was an Athlon 1200 and I would consider that the bottom end. It was usable, but I had to disable GUI animations in Media Center and it felt sluggish. Both my current MCE systems are running under Athlon 2000+ CPUs and performance is great.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #6
- Jan 11, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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Computer won't boot after trying the cpu on another computer

Replacing the caps is no guarantee. Once the caps have actually leaked the damage could already be done. Mobo regulator could have been damaged or something else.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #4
- Jan 10, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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Dell computer question

ALWAYS use the cable seclect jumper setting on a Dell system. Dells don't like master/slave settings. No reason it shouldn't work on the Dell unless there's a secondary issue like a bad PSU.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #5
- Jan 10, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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Network adapter...cannot install drivers

Your computer should have come with a driver CD. It's easier to use that than download the drivers. Also you can download all your drivers from Dell's website. Just go to the support section, select driver download, and enter your service tag number. There are SEVERAL drivers you'll need...
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #2
- Jan 8, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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Does upgrading the video card, or RAM of a Dell Computer VOID WARRANTY?

There's actually a law in the US that protects your right to install 3rd party hardware on OEM system. OEM manufacturers must still warranty it.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #5
- Jan 1, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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Help

You sure it's not the original files? It's actually quite hard to make the audio and video go out of sync unless it was encoded that way, which is a common problem with Divx. Assuming your files are okay then I'd say you have a codec conflict. NEVER install one of those codec mega-packs. It...
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #2
- Jan 1, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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Does an adapter for connecting USB flash drive to a serial/parallel port exist?

No slow, he wants to go the other way: connect USB devices to a parallel or printer port. The answer is no. Your only option is a USB PCMCIA adapter.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #3
- Jan 1, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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Jump Drive not showing up on my PC, but on others?

Are you using any mapped network drives? Windows has a bug that caused a USB drive to always use the next available drive letter, even if it's already assigned to a mapped drive. The workaround is to go into Windows Disk Management and re-assign the drive letter for the USB drive. Hope this...
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #4
- Jan 1, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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standbye problems with 3 different mobos

Sounds like some device that doesn't properly support suspend mode. Update the drivers for EVERYTHING. If you have any cards installed other than the video card, pull them and see if it behaves. Re-install them one by one to find the culprit.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #3
- Jan 1, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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How can I access the Fn key on a regular keyboard?

Not that I'm aware of.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #2
- Jan 1, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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This mean I should get a new PSU?

But LilithTech, he could have a defective PSU, and as I pointed out in his previous thread the Antec True 430s and 480s are known to have had some batches with bad caps. I think he needs to eliminate that possibility as well.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #4
- Jan 1, 2006
- Forum: Computer Building
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This mean I should get a new PSU?

Onboard software voltage monitoring is inherently unreliable. The only accurate way to measure your voltages is with a digital multimeter. $20 at Home Depot. Worth the investment if you intend to maintain your own computers. On the "DC Volts" setting measure across any black and the red...
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #2
- Dec 31, 2005
- Forum: Computer Building
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5V, 2.5A

2.5 amps is about right. Routers draw a lot of current. They get HOT. Do yourself a favor and just buy a new router. They're cheap.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #6
- Dec 31, 2005
- Forum: Computer Building
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Computer eats PSUs?

Incoming power line is possible but extremely unlikely. If your house voltage was that bad, you'd have problems with other electronics. Besides, computer PSUs are pretty robust on the incoming side. More than likely there's a short circuit in your computer that's damaging the PSUs. Could be...
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #3
- Dec 31, 2005
- Forum: Computer Building
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Help with a trojan!

An anti-virus program CAN'T remove a spyware trojan, which is what this really is. Spyware hides copies and recovery utilities in all kinds of places, and you need to check for traces in registries, BHOs, compromised HOSTS file, etc,. You need to do a thorough spyware cleaning IN SAFE MODE...
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #12
- Dec 31, 2005
- Forum: Computer Building
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How should I proceed to fix my Maxtor 160GB dead drive?

If the drive is still recognized by BIOS you may be able to recover some data using a recovery utility like DIY's iRecover. If the drive cannot be recognized in BIOS then you either pay the $600+ for a recovery service or toss it. The only way to recover the data if the drive is...
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #4
- Dec 31, 2005
- Forum: Computer Building
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Getting Disk boot failure errors

I doubt it had anything to do with the sound drivers. I am willing to bet you leave this system on 24/7 and it was the reboot that led to a hard drive failures. Drives usually fail on bootup. This is the time of max stress on the whole system, and a flaky PSU will fluctuate voltages on...
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #10
- Dec 31, 2005
- Forum: Computer Building
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system files corrupted, question about repair install

Sata is just as prone to corrosion on the cable contacts. Less likely to crack internally as it gets old and brittle though, so I'd say the cable is probably good. Just unplug it and plug it back in on both ends.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #15
- Dec 30, 2005
- Forum: Computer Building
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system files corrupted, question about repair install

THEMAN: As I said previously, you should definately run the manufacturer diagnostic. Only way to know if the drive is failing. ALSO, this could easily be caused by a bad ribbon cable or just some corrosion on some of the pins on the ribbon cable header. First thing you should ALWAYS do when...
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #13
- Dec 30, 2005
- Forum: Computer Building
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RAM issues

You sure your system doesn't have onboard video and you're just not using it? Even if it's disabled it will use some of the main memory for video memory.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #4
- Dec 30, 2005
- Forum: Computer Building
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Windows 2000 Pro vs Windows XP

I would not rush to Vista. 1st year of a new OS is always a nightmare for driver support and compatibility issues. Win2K & XP will be the solid OSes for the next year and a half at least.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #5
- Dec 30, 2005
- Forum: Computer Building
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Windows 2000 Pro vs Windows XP

At their cores, Win2K and WinXP are the same NT-based OS. However M$ has always used new hardware to force us to abandon old OSes. As STEVTY pointed out, there is no support for some new hardware features in Win2K yet (and may never be - remember how M$ promised USB support for WinNT and then...
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #3
- Dec 30, 2005
- Forum: Computer Building
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Dead mobo?

If one of those metal straps shorted out some solder pads on the mobo, or cracked a component or the mobo itself, it's a goner. I'm afraid it doesn't look good, bubut as Jiggz said you need to take it out of the case and disconnect everything except one stick of ram, the video and PSU (not even...
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #6
- Dec 30, 2005
- Forum: Computer Building
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Power Supply

Thermaltake PurePower PSUs are good units. I used to buy them for clients before I switched to Enermax NoiseTakers. That's a more than fair price for a PurePower 480. Do NOT buy a cheap quality PSU - you'll regret it. REALISTICALLY you need to spend at least $70 retail for a quality PSU.
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #8
- Dec 30, 2005
- Forum: Computer Building
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difference between analog and HDTV tuners?

PCAlchemy is the mail order site I'd recommend for HDTV stuff. I ordered a lot of items from them for my MCE systems. Here's their list of HDTV tuners: http://www.pcalchemy.com/index.php/cNam...sCsid=1491b0b7cdb845a6513b4fca8eb61f9c Are you SURE you need an HDTV tuner? You only need it if...
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #2
- Dec 30, 2005
- Forum: Computer Building
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system files corrupted, question about repair install

A repair does not affect installed apps. It does reset your OS to the version on the CD (if the CD is SP1 then it's reset to SP1). This can be a BIG problem if your Win2K disc is a very old version. For instance 48bit LBA hard drive support (drives larger than 137Gb) was only added after SP2...
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #9
- Dec 30, 2005
- Forum: Computer Building
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Is this my HDD failing?

wWooDd: Now that you've posted your system specs I would IMMEDIATELY examine that PSU for bad caps. All PSU manufacturers were hit with a bad batch of caps 2 - 3 years ago and they're showing up now. Antec has better quality control than most of them, but they got hit too for a while and every...
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #13
- Dec 29, 2005
- Forum: Computer Building
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Partition

Depends on whether you plan on installing your apps in the same partition or a seperate one. The OS by itself doesn't need much. On my XP32 workstation I use a 10Gb partition. The OS uses half of that (and you do need all that overhead for temp files). Apps use another partition. Not sure if...
- FlyingPenguin
- Post #2
- Dec 29, 2005
- Forum: Computer Building

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