Posts by TallCool1

Cable wise connection it is potentially possible. I have tried to connect my external SmartDisk hard drive (USB) to a serial port:

SmartDisk -> USB male -> mouse adaptor [USB female -> PS/2 male] -> serial adaptor [PS/2 female -> Serial female] -> male Serial in the computer.

Connections are not signals. Hardware is not drivers. The setup you describe will not work. For one thing a USB-to-PS/2 mouse adapter only works because a USB mouse emulates a PS/2 mouse in software, making an adapter very simple, only a small subset of the full specification. Also, a mouse or joystick uses slow USB, not even the full USB 1.1 bandwidth. Last but not least, an RS-232 serial port cannot emulate a USB port in software.

I have a very annoying problem. My CDR drive keeps opening and closing for no apparent reason. Since I don't know what causes it, I don't know how to fix it.

This is the first time I have had a chance to reply. Possible causes:

Software -- under what circumstances does this happen? Are you on the internet, is there a particular program running, does it happen at turn-on or if the unit has been running for a while, etc.

Hardware -- a common problem is a bad tray open/close push-button switch. The switch behind the front panel button is very cheap and prone to problems. The "springiness" to the action is provided by the same piece that closes the circuit. A partial collapse of the contact will cause the switch to intermittently short out, making it act like the button has been pressed. How does the button feel when you press it? There should be a slight-but-noticeable "snap" or "click" to the feel of it. These switches are cheap and relatively easy to replace. Sometimes, too the plastic button binds in the panel and never fully pops back out when pressed -- try wiggling it by probing its edge with a round toothpick to check this.

i have restall the window today, but after the installation complete..it appear a msg " and force my computer auto shut down in 50 second everytime i start my comp...is it the cd key problem??? someone please help me.

You have been hit by one of the Blaster worms. This happens when you put an unsecured computer on the Internet to download the patches needed to secure it from the Internet, a neat Catch-22 if ever there was one. The cleanest fix is to reinstall Windows from scratch, then before you go on the Internet, go to another machine and download the following utilities to a floppy from Gibson Research: DCOMbob.exe, ShootTheMessenger.exe, and uPNP.exe. The first one shuts off the DCOM/RPC function that Blaster/Nachi/Welchia uses to infect the system, the second shuts off the Messenger service to prevent spam pop-ups, and the third turns off Universal Plug-and-Play, a security risk. You will still need all the patches from Microsoft, but you won't be infected or have to deal with pop-up spam while you are bringing your install up-to-date.

The other solution is to run a Blaster-cleaner, blow away System Restore, and clean the rest out by hand -- but a reinstall-from-scratch with the Gibson utilities used first to turn off unneeded features is probably better and more reliable.

You will also need a good virus checker. There's a free version of Grisoft AVG and a good firewall, Zone Alarm - free version. …

Hi, I'm new to this forum and I'm probably posting incorrectly, so please bear with me. I have this log file from Hijackthis. Can someone tell me if there are things here that I should be wary of?

Yes, several. You should download Spybot - Search & Destroy and/or Ad-aware (there's nothing wrong with running both, though I personally prefer Spybot - S&D). You can find links to these programs and more information on scumware on my Malware, virus, and startup information and tools page. I don't see anything that these tools couldn't remove.

I have been trying to reformat my drive on my computer, not a "windows XP reinstallation" but just straight out format the disk

Go to the website of the hard drive's manufacturer. They will provide a downloadable utilities disk image that will create a bootable floppy. One of the utilities provided on the floppy will do a full format and error check, sometimes called a "recertification." This is, by far, your best option for a fresh start. Of course you lose all data on the disk (including the partition table), but it's the closest thing to starting from scratch.

You should always have this type of brand-specific-utilities floppy for each brand of hard drive you own so as to get the most out of your HDs.

Partitioning is useful. The more partitions you have, the more efficient the use of drive space -- and by keeping the boot partition to about 10 GB, there's less to back up in case it's blown away.

I'm with gkdmaths on the use of Linux to partition your drive. Whenever I do a Windows XP install, I use the cd-bootable Knoppix ahead of time to prep and partition the disk -- I find it a lot more convenient than from within the XP Setup environment. Under Knoppix, the command is cfdisk.

[snip]
You make no sense at all. Remeber IE is a program, not a service! Take a closer look at it's core capabilities and you'll quickly realize that there are many easier (and logical) places to attempt these types of attacks.
[/snip]

Uhhh... not exactly. IE's functionality is fully integrated into Windows at the lowest levels in all versions from Win98 on. For example, it's what allows the Quick Launch bar to work and provides the ability to view the desktop (Active Desktop) and folders as web pages. There are all kinds of vunerabilities that this causes: see http://www.secunia.com for several exploits that can be directly traced to IE's integration at this level. It was a bad idea 5 years ago and it's an even worse idea now!

I cannot access any java site. That page it a "cannot be displayed" thing. As is most I find.

Simply re-enable Microsoft's JVM (Java Virtual Machine) temporarily by going into Internet Explorer's Tools -> Internet Options menu and looking for the references to the MS JVM (I'm in Linux right now, so I can't give more exact references), then go into Security and make sure your security settings are low enough to allow the JVM to run.

Here's a more-direct Java JRE download link. I recommend using the "offline install" version -- it's a more-reliable install.

My friend just created his own domain. The first time I accessed it, it was just a simple "hi" message because he had no webpage up yet. Now he has a web page up, and even after deleting my cookies, clearing my cache, rebooting everything...I still only get the webpage with the "hi" popping up instead of the new one he put up.

To force a page reload in Internet Explorer, hold down the [Shift] key while left-clicking the mouse on the Refresh button in the browser tool bar. In the rare event that this does not work, try the same thing with the [Ctrl] key. This forces a reload and works for all browsers.

By the way, it's impossible to completely clear the Internet Explorer Temporary Files cache unless you do it manually. See Microsoft's Really Hidden Files for more on this.

I seem to be having problems with my graphics card. While im working on the PC my monitor screen just suddenly goes blank

I agree with Redshift, your problem is driver-based; the reason being that your nVidia card is much newer than the drivers supplied with Windows XP. Download the newest ones from nVidia. Since nVidia drivers are "unified" (one size fits all), they have to be new enough to include your exact graphics chip or trouble will ensue.

I do disagree with Redshift on one point, though. In this case, it's no longer necessary to uninstall the old drivers before installing the new ones, especially with Windows XP. The nVidia installer takes care of that for you. It certainly makes life easier!

The elastomeric (rubber-like) contact assembly you refer to, is that the end that plugs into the MOBO?

No, it is the connector between the driver electronics and the LCD glass itself, inside the display assembly. It's a sandwich, with the LCD substrate (glass with transistors and conductors) as one "slice of bread", the backing board (with the signal contacts) as the other "slice", and the contacts between them.

Another way of looking at this is to think of the contact assemblies as a gasket on the underside of the LCD glass between the substrate and the backing board. That's why an alignment jig is usually needed -- everything must be set up just right for it all to work -- and why it's often so easy to knock out of alignment.

Original problem started w/error mess saying files required to run have been removed/replaced-tried doing system restore to previous date-same error message-put Win XP Home Ed cd in (inc sv pk 1) like it said to- froze in the middle of setup.Fatal error pdt catalog -signature invalid-prevents setup from continuing. Called Dell support(over an hour) they can't help anymore since my warantee exp in Dec. can't stand phone support any longer! tried other online tools w/microsoft etc. Tried recovery console too. found 1 error & fixed. Computer starts, keeps going back to "setup is being restarted..." then goes to a black screen. Is there anything else I can do - or just loose all & reinstall xp? any info appreciated. is it totally damaged now ??? I have a dell dimension 4500 series; Intel pen 4 ; 2.40Ghz 512 KB int thanks:cry:

A format-and-reinstall looks to be in order.

If you have a second partition (now you know why that's a good idea), you can back up your data to it before reformatting and reinstalling.

Warning!!! I cannot emphasize this enough!: before you go on the internet for the first time after the reinstall, use another machine to go to Gibson Research and download and run at least the following programs: DCOMbob.EXE and ShootTheMessenger.EXE (download them at a friend's house, they will fit on a floppy) or your machine is likely to be 0wned before you can download the rest of the patches from Windows Update -- …

My computer is on Powersaver, my mouse won't work. How do I change this setting? Everything works in safe mode. I even reinstalled windows and it still does it. Can anyone Help?

Please use spaces after punctuation in sentences. It makes it hard-to-read when you don't.

Is it a USB mouse? Try a PS/2 mouse instead -- or a different USB mouse. I have seen timing issues in the mouse's processor cause this sort of problem, especially with off-brand mouses. What is the mouse model and brand?

OS: win2k
Connection: dialup

As window boots "preparing network connections" takes a long time and when it finishes, everything is fine EXCEPT for the internet...
it dials... it verifies u/p.... But then it TOTALLY freezes when it says registering on network and takes like 10min to do its job...

The errors are related. Who's your ISP? From your description, it's likely that when you installed the software provided by them, it installed so-called quality-of-service (QoS) software. This is bloatware that does little more than invade your privacy and slow things down.

You haven't exactly been hijacked, though the effects are similar. Go to the HijackThis Quick Start Page and read the instructions after you download the program, then post the results here.

By the way, I've not tried the `over-install' of Windows from DOS. It has been done once. and since Explorer was working when I first took possession of this upgraded system, I have to suspect the `over-install' caused Explorer to act up.

This is demonstrably not true. I have done this multiple times, and it has always cured the problem. The fact that you can't change the shortcut icon overlay using TweakUI indicates that this is the same problem that I have run into in the past, and an in-place reinstall will fix it. The fact that it didn't "take" the first time is immaterial. Windows 9x is like that.

Internet Explorer does the same thing: every new window opens half size. Any bright solution to cure this annoyance?

This is an entirely separate and easy-to-fix problem. For the fix, see IE How To Maximize. Though this procedure refers to Windows XP, it works on all versions.

I'm running Win 98SE. I've done some searching. PCMCIA USB 1.1 adapters look pretty scarce! Any suggestions on where one might be found?

There's always Jameco Electronics. They're good for a lot of the unusual stuff.

There is not a name or # on the camera anywhere!!!

Where do you reside? In the United States, electronic devices of this type must have an FCC ID number. What does the box say? The CD?

I have an HP photosmart 320 every time I take a picture or I should most everytime I take a picture it comes back with these circle like things aka orbs.

Could you attach a picture with the problem, perhaps cropping it to make the file size smaller and emphasize the artifact?

I am having a problem with my hotmail. Went I hit send I get error on page. I have tried deleting cookies,tem files,going to default settings. running McAfee and ad ware. cleaned up everything still same message. any Ideas Please help this stated when they updated

This is most likely a Java problem -- both Hotmail and Yahoo! use it. Java support in Windows is poor, now virtually non-existent since MS lost the lawsuit with Sun. Go to the Java download page and get the official package. Using the offline version is usually more reliable.

Ok, internet connections have a possible tweak to make them faster, or program to make them faster. Is there anything to tweak a graphics card? and if there is, where can I get it?

I could say, "If you have to ask the question, you shouldn't be told the answer.":p Tweaking your video card can have serious consequences, including a damaged monitor (rare) or a destroyed video card (possible).

That having been said, you must know the brand and model of the video chip used in your card. If it is not nVidia, ATI or, possibly, Xabre -- forget it. You should be able to find this information from the Hardware Devices list, under Display Adapters.

Once armed with that information, check the fan-sites for that particular video chip. These can be found using a Google search phrase like nVidia overclocking or ATI overclocking. Learn about what you want to do, then go to the files section at the Guru of 3D to find the updated drivers and utilities that you will need.

If you have the knowledge and really want to tweak things further, you can customize the display using PowerStrip and its related resolution-changer, MultiRes.

So, the bottom line, then, is that there is most likely no way to use USB devices with this computer?

I should have been more clear, then. If you can find a PCMCIA USB 1.1 adapter -- and are running Windows 98 or later, you should be OK. Which Windows are you running? Most versions of Windows 95 do not support USB at all.

I want to install a 40GB hardisk on a Celeron 300 running Win 98SE.

A good point has been raised: what is the brand/model of the motherboard?

I still strongly doubt a suitable BIOS upgrade is available, due to age.

Is this laptop too outdated for this type of card?

The short answer: yes.

The longer answer: USB 2.0 hardware support is not "official" in any version of Windows prior to XP, so drivers are not likely to be available for earlier versions, even for USB 1.1 emulation.

I want to install a 40GB hardisk on a Celeron 300 running Win 98SE.
When I run scandisk on this system, the HDD is show bad sectors after a certain point. However when I check the same HDD on a Celeron 1.7 GHz system, the scandisk is coming out clean. Someone told me that Cel 300 does not support HDDs larger than 20GB
Is there any utility or a BIOS upgrade that will fix this problem?

Your machine is likely of an age that a 40 GB hard drive will not work as shipped. Most motherboard BIOSes of that vintage have a 32 GB limit, and few to none can be updated for this.

You have two choices:

* Get a PCI hard-drive controller (about $30). This will bypass the BIOS altogether.

* Strap the hard drive to look like a 32 GB drive (because of the well-known BIOS limitation, all 40 GB drives can do this). This will cost you 8 GB of your capacity.

Is that thing REALLY gonna fit in my iBook? It looks huge!

He posted the wrong battery. What model do you have? Most iBooks your vintage do not have a separate battery for the CMOS settings (what Apple calls PRAM) -- it runs off the main battery. Instead, they use a supercap ultra-high-value capacitor to store enough juice to hold the settings and run the clock while the main battery is pulled. You may have a problem with the main battery. Does the unit run off the battery OK?

please notice original post date the user never came back so this really doesn't need to be replied to anymore.

I disagree, and recommend that you take a broader view. If someone find this thread in a search (and you know they will), that answer may be of use to them! I found it useful.

My problem is with the Explorer window in Windows 98SE on a new, custom 1800 Celeron system with dual hard drives and 512 RAM. It's a problem I've not seen before on three of my own systems and two of my wife all running the same Win 98 SE OS save perhaps for upgrades.

Here's what it is: Explorer will not "hold/retain" the display settings I chose using VIEW | FOLDER OPTIONS | GENERAL | CUSTOM | VIEW | ADVANCED | ALL LIKE CURRENT.

I have had similar problems more than once with the Windows 98 series. Another symptom of the same problem is an inability to change the "shortcut arrow" icon overlay using TweakUI -- in fact, I use this behavior as a test. My solution, used several times and always successfully, is to do an in-place reinstall of Win 98.

Note the Internet settings and the computer and user names. These are about the only things that I have seen get clobbered by the following process.

Run the Setup program from DOS; don't boot into Windows. If you have the "full" version of 98, you will have to change the filename C:\Windows\WIN.COM to something like C:\Windows\WINCOM.BAK. Let the Setup process proceed. When it prompts you as to the name of the Windows directory, just change WINDOWS.000 to WINDOWS and proceed on. The rest of the install should require no further interaction, for the most part.

The new install will retain nearly all the settings and …

All the default installed programs through YaST are showing nicely anti aliassed fonts, but when I download Mozilla 1.6 and install it, it shows in a crappy blocky font, this also happens for many other programs that have to be compiled and aren't pre-build for SuSE. (I.e. FireBird worked! but thunderbird didnt!)

Here's yet another aspect. This article was just published to the Linux Journal site:

I Can See Clearly Now, the Fonts are Smooth

My Knoppix install of Mozilla does call the Xft libraries, so I'm pleased.

All the default installed programs through YaST are showing nicely anti aliassed fonts, but when I download Mozilla 1.6 and install it, it shows in a crappy blocky font, this also happens for many other programs that have to be compiled and aren't pre-build for SuSE. (I.e. FireBird worked! but thunderbird didnt!)

You might check out Knoppix.net (see below). Sure, it's Debian, not SUSE (they just changed to all-upper-case, by the way), but this is a KDE issue that has been dealt with. Do a search on "fonts" combined with "crappy", "blocky", "problem", etc.

When I boot one of my systems, the following happens once in a while. One time it just loads nicely without any noise, and the second it loads like a fan is running at full power, once the system is fully loaded the noise has reduced.

What you are describing is a common problem with cheap sleeve-bearing DC brushless fans. As the lubricant dries out with age, it becomes gummy and sticky in the bearing. This also throws the blade off-axis. As the fan warms up due to friction from spinning against the gunk, some of the gunky oil melts and acts like it's supposed to, lubricating the bearing and allowing the shaft to re-center.

When you get the unit open (I don't think you have much of a choice), you can use the "poor man's stethoscope" -- an old paper-towel tube -- to isolate the noisy fan. Sometimes (rarely) they can be lubricated, but replacement is best.

In a case like this (in both senses of the word) I would use a Panasonic brand fan, as they are the best quality available, by far. I get them from Digi-Key.

The problem is rather odd... all colors display fine, except for pure blacks. these blacks come in varying shades of white or grey. and sometimes they seem to flicker.

That's a tough one. When you open a command (text console) window full-screen, what happens? I would lean strongly toward a monitor problem, but it could be either the LCD or the vid card. Speaking as a technician, the only way to know for sure is to try another monitor on the system and try the LCD on another system.

Somehow the luminance signal (the "black-and-white" part of the image) is failing, while the chrominance signal (the color part) is OK. How odd.

Greetings,
I have a computer problem. The problem started a couple of months ago when I went to log on to Google. Instead of going to that page, it redirected me to a different page that appeared to be Google but every site was a different porn or gambling listing.

Logfile of HijackThis v1.97.7

[snip]
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Bar = http://www.websearch.com/ie.aspx?tb_id=50036
...
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,CustomizeSearch = res://C:\PROGRA~1\TOOLBAR\TOOLBAR.DLL/sa
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant = http://www.websearch.com/ie.aspx?tb_id=50036
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar,LinksFolderName =
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,SearchAssistant = http://www.websearch.com/ie.aspx?tb_id=50036
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,CustomizeSearch = res://C:\PROGRA~1\TOOLBAR\TOOLBAR.DLL/sa
R3 - URLSearchHook: (no name) - {8952A998-1E7E-4716-B23D-3DBE03910972} - C:\PROGRA~1\TOOLBAR\TOOLBAR.DLL
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {63B78BC1-A711-4D46-AD2F-C581AC420D41} - C:\WINDOWS.000\SYSTEM\BTIEIN.DLL
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {D6DFF6D8-B94B-4720-B730-1C38C7065C3B} - C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\BTLINK\BTLINK.DLL
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {8952A998-1E7E-4716-B23D-3DBE03910972} - C:\PROGRA~1\TOOLBAR\TOOLBAR.DLL
[/snip]

According to the HJT log excerpt quoted above, this is your biggest problem: HuntBar. Apparently, this is a fairly nasty drive-by ActiveX install that Spybot-S&D and Ad-aware might not be able to get rid of. The link does give manual removal instuctions, though -- but it doesn't look easy...

Is there any way to turn the powersaver off completely? I have animated screensavers that I cannot use because after 30 minutes the powersaver turns the screen black and I can hear the screensaver but not see it. In addition, the powersaver has a 60 minute option which I cannot select. I have a KDS Rad-5 15" monitor connected to a Dell PC running Windows XP.

Check your BIOS, too. Some monitors turn off when they get no sync signal (synchronization), and that's partially controlled in the BIOS.

I only use the XP firewall and Spybots Imunize ,and spyware blaster to keep the spyware from loading into my registry ,Haven't had a problem since i started using this combonation .and I am on cable always connected .

Good for you! :rolleyes: I will repeat, for emphasis: the default XP firewall is virtually useless. Spybot - Search & Destroy and Spyware Blaster are wonderful -- I use them myself when I use Windows -- but the XP firewall does no outbound filtering, so if something new gets past your defenses (and there's always some new worm/virus/trojan/exploit in the Windows world), you have no way of knowing. At least with outbound filtering you are much more likely to know if some new scumware is phoning home on you...

I removed all my antiviruses and firewalls and then activated Windows XP pro own firewall (in netw connec properties) and well never had cpu usage since yesterday it looks like it fixed the problem ??? weird !

It may have fixed the problem for now, but I would still download and use the free version of
ZoneAlarm, as the XP firewall has no outbound filtering -- Microsoft's attempt to hide its "phone home" stuff.

...after a while she would get a message saying that the computer needs to reboot itself and it would start a countdown during which we were able to remain in contact. Then her computer would reboot.

Ahh... the dreaded "countdown" sounds like the Blaster worm. There are so many threads here on that subject, it's hard to pick one for starters, so I will paraphrase myself from an earlier post:

That's probably the MS Blaster worm in action. It used the useless open service RPC on XP to install itself and do its dirty deeds. You will have to take several steps to fix it.

1. Go to Symantec and download-and-run the latest version of FixBlast, a free stand-alone tool to remove this worm.

2. Go to the Gibson Research website. Download-and-run the program Shoot the Messenger. There are other tools there, also.

Note: both these tools will fit on one floppy, so you can download them at a friend's house or computer store.

3. Make sure that all her XP patches are up-to-date.

4. Come back here and do a search on "Blaster" for more details.

5. She will likely also have to delete her System Restore files, as those have probably also been infected.

...now all of a sudden she isn't able to connect to the internet at all. The error message she gets goes something like "True Vector internet" or something.

True Vector is part of ZoneAlarm. Could she have had two firewalls running? That would explain part of the problem.

Its an older monitor- a Dell D1028lr

That's a Sony-made monitor. Likely the memory chip is blown out, or a power supply problem can cause this (missing re-write voltage). Time for a replacement. These days, a used monitor is usually cheaper than a repair -- one reason why I no longer fix monitors for a living...

US Robotics 56k win fax modem. My browser is MS Internet Explorer 6.0. It doesn't always crash, sometimes when I go to different web sites. What other info do you need?

Specific site names that are crashing. You did not say, originally, that only some sites were causing problems. That makes a big difference.

I am currently using Win XP Pro and my computer locks up after logging on to the Internet, Why?

I'm with Redshift in that it's a 99+% probability of a modem driver problem. Please specify brand and model of your modem.

I just bought a Microsoft MN-700 Wireless router, and am currently connecting it to my PC's ethernet card via direct link. When connected directly to my cable modem, my internet works perfectly, but when I connect it through the router i get frequent "this page cannot be displayed" or "server not found" errors. They are totally irregular, and can mostly be fixed by refreshing numerous times. Only when I connect it through the router though. I really have no idea what could be the cause, as I obtained a replacement router to the same result.

It sounds like a DHCP configuration error. Your router is either not picking up the DNS addresses properly from the server, or is not handing them off properly from the router to the PC.

After receiving excellent advice to cure my videolink problem I wonder if anyone can advise on the best recordable DVD to buy. I understand there are several incompatible systems. I currently have a MEDION MD 4310 DVD player. This unit will play 12 or 8 cm
single sided/single layer, single sided/dual layer, double sided/single layer, DVDs.
That is I presume CD-R+CD-RW+MP3.
Don't they usually have a TV tuner?

When you say "recordable DVD" do you mean a stand-alone device, or a drive you add to your PC? Right now there are no true VCR-replacement stand-alone DVD recorders that I know of. This may change soon, as a couple of manufacturers are looking at TiVo-like recorders that will include DVD-recording capabilities. HP does make an external DVD-burner that connects to a PC via a USB 2.0 port and has a video input.

I've run into a few pages with frames, and mozilla seems unable to display them. Is there away to enable frames in mozilla? Any potential negatives to this?

I have been using Mozilla since version 1.0 (under both Windows and Linux) and have never has a problem with frames or CSS, nor have I had to make any changes to settings -- in fact, they can't be turned off, since CSS and frames are parts of the W3C-compliance standards and Mozilla is more compliant than IE. There should be no problems with Mozilla itself.

I would suggest downloading the full Java engine from Sun -- for starters.

I have an annoying problem with my monitor. Basically, whenever I turn the computer and monitor on, the display is too stretched and the sides of the screen are not visible. I use the OSD controls to resize the display so that everything fits on the screen correctly, and the display is visible and all is fine. But then I wait a bit, or restart the computer, and the display messes up again, with the sides of the display disappearing, or in some cases, black borders on the sides of the screen being visible. I know this can't be right, does anyone how I can keep the display in its correct form permanently, without having to keep changing the display each time I turn the computer on?

The monitor is supposed to "remember" its settings from session to session; as long as your video card settings are the same, the monitor should keep the settings regardless of video card drivers. The fact that it's not means one of two things:

* The monitor needs to be explicitly forced to remember its settings -- a "memory" or "set" button, for example. This is rare in modern monitors. Or:

* What seems more likely is that the memory chip -- flash or EEPROM (electrically-eraseable programmable read-only memory) is defective and can't hold the settings.

What brand/model of monitor are we talking about?

I use ext3 currently. I tried ReiserFS originally, but decided to try ext3 for comparison on my second go-round (my Linux install started out as an experiment). I had read that ReiserFS was more processor-intensive and intended more for large database files than typical workstation applications; I have not really seen much difference as regards performance. I may try Reiser4 when it rolls out.

What is the best site to get a basic knowledge of troubleshooting common Linux problems. And the best site for learning fundamentals of Linux?

Another good portal is YoLinux, which has resources for beginners through power users. Also, Knoppix is a good place to start, since no installation is required and the Knoppix user community can't be beat for helpfulness (is that a word?*). There are other CD-bootable Linuxes, but the Knoppix.net community is an advantage that's hard to match, let alone beat.

A good book for beginners is Moving to Linux: Kiss the Blue Screen of Death Goodbye! It includes a slightly older version of Knoppix, but it's still useful. Marcel is a funny guy and a good writer (he'll be at PenguiCon again in April). The book is a really good start for someone coming from a Windows environment.

A good article to go with the Knoppix theme is Knoppix - Instant Gratification, which I have mirrored on my OPCC site, since the original DistroWatch link is sometimes hard to reach. The article also covers the use of Knoppix as a Windows rescue disc.

* It is! Definition:

1. [n] friendliness evidence by a kindly and helpful disposition
2. [n] the property of providing useful assistance

Synonym: kindliness

That's what we're here for... :cheesy:

"Program Error
msimn.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows. You will need to restart the program. An error log is being created."

What does the error log say?

It seems that all the images that I see are severly pixelated. Like, the quality is very low, that I'm noticing artificats in the images. For example, the techtalkforums.com logo is very rough around the edges.

Does the display resolution match the LCD? For example, graphics on a desktop set for 800x600 resolution will look really poor on an LC display that's a fixed 1024x768 or 1280x1024 pixels. Text might look OK under XP due to ClearType anti-aliasing, but graphic images would look really bad due to pixel mismatch.

I'm looking for a way to use a remote administration program (dameware maybe) that will be able to ack like the windows help in XP (meaning it can penitrate though a firewall). Does anyone know of any solution to this?

I have not used this myself, but I hear good things about VNC (Virtual Network Computing), especially the version called TightVNC, which has some enhancements. There are other versions, as well.

Hope this helps!

I had just installed a game in winXP and after installation I noted I could not get the cd to eject when I pressed the button. When I looked at My Computer, the drive icons for the cd-rom drive and the dvd drive were missing.

I apologize for not posting earlier, but here's a post-mortem. I think what happened was that your secondary IDE channel locked up, and as long as the unit was on standby power (even when off), the lockup held. In a case like this I would unplug the unit's AC cord and press-and-hold the power button for about 10 seconds to discharge the power supply, then plug it back in.

Also, make sure that you have the latest drivers for the motherboard (VIA Hyperion 4-in-1 or whatever is appropriate).

Logfile of HijackThis v1.97.7

These are strongly suspect, though I have not found much detail:

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [vujemxhk] C:\WINNT\tlaeittu.exe

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [iehelper] C:\Program Files\syslaunch.exe

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [] C:\WINNT\system32\udadrb.exe

Anytime you have registry keys that look like random character strings that point to executable files that also look like random character strings, that spells t-r-o-u-b-l-e in any language!