Ask About Computers

Windows Vista

Posted November 22, 2006

August 30, 2006

I am thinking about buying a new computer. Should I wait for Windows Vista? How soon will it be bundled with new computers?

Hi

I would not wait for Windows Vista. Brand new operating systems tend to have brand new problems. But if you like being an early adopter, be my guest.

Vista is supposed to be available on business computers by the end of the year: consumer releases of Vista should be available early in 2007. There were rumors of delays and launch dates being pushed, but Microsoft says everything is on schedule.

[Editor's note. This recently in. "Windows Vista will be officially unveiled at Microsoft's big New York City rollout on Nov. 30, with retail sales beginning in late January".]

You can get a computer with Windows XP now and upgrade to Vista later, if you want. If so, make sure that you get a PC with PCIe (PCI Express) graphics, as opposed to older AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port), and plenty of memory.

The graphics card should have plenty of memory, ideally 256MB, and the system itself should have plenty of RAM. At least 1GB, 2GB for good measure.

Check out Loyd Case's excellent article on hardware requirements for Windows Vista or, if you don't have time for the full article, Ask About Computers' review of the article.

The best performing CPU these days is Core 2 Duo [editor's note: Core 2 Quad has just been released, but it will be very pricey for a while]. Whether you get a laptop or a desktop, I would make sure that it has Core 2 Duo in it. It's the biggest thing to happen in computing for about 5 years.

AMD makes great CPUs, too. If you prefer AMD, you should be able to get one of their CPUs at a bargain price.

Best regards

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More on Mobile Hard Drives

Posted November 19, 2006

August 5, 2006

OK I got another problem about picking hard drives for my laptop. Do you have to buy the exact brand of hard drive? (example, I have an HP Pavillion, but do I have to get the same brand?)

Hi Spike,

No, you do not have to obtain the same brand of hard drive. A Seagate or a Western Digital, or any other brand hard drive for that matter, should work fine.

The interface needs to be the same. Most notebooks have the traditional ATA hard drive interface, but some newer ones have SATA (Serial ATA). And it needs to be a 2.5 inch notebook hard drive, not a 3.5 inch desktop hard drive, or 1 inch consumer electronics hard drive.

If you replace the hard drive in a Pavilion, you might want to check with HP. If the warranty is still good, they should replace the drive free of charge.

If you have to buy a new hard drive, I am not sure that I would buy from HP, unless they offer a compelling price. Some OEMs charge an arm and a leg for industry standard hardware.

Best regards

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Mobile Hard Drives

Posted November 14, 2006

August 4, 2006

OK, I bought a laptop that has a bad hard drive, but I need some help about buying hard drives. Can you use hard drives from desktop computers?

Hi Spike,

I'm sorry to hear that your hard drive went belly up.

Unfortunately you cannot use a desktop hard drive with a notebook computer. Desktop hard drives are too large, for one thing. Notebooks take their own smaller 2.5 inch hard drives, such as the following drives listed on PriceGrabber:

Notebook Hard Drives

You can also get notebook hard drives from local electronic stores. Buying locally is generally more expensive than ordering online, but returning the hard drive is easier, if you run into complications.

You will need an operating system disk if you plan on replacing your hard drive. Contact whomever you bought the laptop from if an OS disk was not supplied. Device drivers can usually be downloaded from the Internet, if you don't have a driver disk.

Replacing the hard drive on a notebook is trickier than a desktop. Because every model of notebook is a bit different, try locating the manual for the notebook first or downloading it from the Internet before accessing the hard drive compartment.

Keep in mind that companies warrant the hardware on the computers that they sell for varying amounts of time, so the hard drive may still be under warranty, and I would contact the company.

All the best

Ask About Computers

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Magnets and Computers

Posted November 7, 2006

June 19, 2006

I would like to know if a magnet that is close by or near a hard drive can delete the information that's on that hard drive?

Hi

Can a magnet delete data from a hard drive? Sort of.

Delete is probably not the most technically accurate term to use. However, a magnet can corrupt data that is on a hard drive.

It probably needs to be a pretty strong magnet. For example, IT workers often use slightly magnetized screwdrivers, and these do not seem to harm the data on hard drives.

When a file is deleted from a hard drive, it is not really deleted. Rather, the space is marked as available for use by the operating system or any application that needs it. The data is still there. You just can't see it. The data remains in place, until that portion of the hard drive is overwritten.

In order to truly delete a file to where it cannot be recovered given the state of current technology, one has to overwrite the data several times using random patterns of zeros and ones.

For this, third party utilities exist. Zilla Data Nuker appears to be one of these. See: http://www.dirfile.com/zilla_data_nuker.htm. Please note that Ask About Computers does not endorse Zilla Data Nuker, since we have never had occassion to use it.

All the best

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Two Mice, One PC

Posted November 3, 2006

June 4, 2006

Hi again

Just a little question.

Is it possible to use 2 mice with 1 pc without having to shut down every time I want to change?

I'm thinking....I have 1 wireless and 1 with wire.....I'd like to use the one with wire when I'm gaming and the wireless to all the other stuff on my pc.

Carsten Haag

Hi Carsten,

The situation that you describe--using a wireless mouse and a non-wireless mouse, on the same computer--should work, since you use Windows XP.

USB and PS2 mice work together. In fact, you can have multiple USB mice on one machine.

Wireless mice also use USB, even though the mice are wireless, because the wireless transmitters physically attach to the computers.

USB mice, wireless mice, and other USB devices for that matter, are hot-pluggable, meaning that you shouldn't have to reboot for them to work. Windows XP detects the new hardware and auto installs the drivers on the fly. Bingo! It should work.

You can unplug and plug PS2 mice to your heart's content as well, and a PS2 mouse should still work, so long as a PS2 mouse was attached at last reboot.

All the best

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DVD Video Hangs

Posted October 29, 2006

May 24, 2006

I have this problem.

When I watch a dvd movie on my PC it "hangs" after about 30 mins or so....the sound goes on like nothing happened but the video hangs...like a very very small loop (millisecs).

I just reinstalled my pc completely.

Hi Carsten,

It sounds like your AV [Audio/Video] codec is not playing nicely with the DVD player software on your computer.

If this is the problem, you may need to uninstall the AV codec, then install a different codec. ...

Best regards,

Ask About Computers

[Editor's notes -- Codecs can be very difficult to uninstall, of which Carsten's problem is a good example. Read on for more details.]

[The editor has had good luck with codecs, decoders, and filters listed on Doom9. Go to "Download", then "Codecs", "Decoders", or "Filters".]

[I have had bad luck googling for codecs from the Web. In fact, one of my computers still experiences problems from time to time that go back to a "bad" codec that I had pulled off the Web.]

May 25, 2006

Hi again

...

I have only one codec pack installed....it has never made problems before, so i tend to use that as the only one. ...

I have tried to download the latest directX drivers and installed it...i will check if the problem is solved tomorrow.

...

May 25, 2006

Well it didn´t help to update the directX drivers...still the same...

i will now try to completely remove my codecs.

...

May 29, 2006

I still haven´t been able to solve the video problem.

Could it be, my videocard has a defect??

You can try swapping out your graphics adapter, but I still think it's a av codec issue. It is very similar to a problem that I once had. ...

There is no uninstall option with some filters, & you know as well as I do, that once you install something, you can have problems getting it off your system, even after doing an uninstall.

I would would try some of the suggestions on the Doom9 forum, at this thread. These range from a suggestions on what you can try to force an uninstall, to what codecs they recommend, to using different media players to force a certain type of decoding. Not sure this last will work, because all media players that I've ever used seem to use whatever filter is on the system. But then those guys know more about this stuff than I do, so it may be worth a try. I'm sorry, but I think this is a filter issue. As a last resort, you may have to rebuild your system again.

June 2, 2006

Just a little update for ya.

The way I watch the movie files is like this.

I have my 19" TFT monitor connected to one vga-out and my BenQ DLP projector connected to vga 2. And when I play video it hangs.

Last night I tried to connect the BenQ DLP to vga 1 and my 19" TFT to the BenQ. It has some sort of pass-through connection. And nothing connected to vga 2

I watched a whole movie without problems.
I will try again tonight....both ways and see if there is a difference between the 2.

I just dont understand why it would be a problem to play video when I use vga 1+2 instead of only vga 1.

Does this make sense???

It doesn't make sense to me for the video to hang using two vga connectors and not hang when using just one, but then your setup is a bit different from most people's. ...

...

Were you able to uninstall [your AV codec] and try one of the codec packs recommended by one of the Doom9 responders to your thread, the Combined Community Codec Pack (CCCP) perhaps?

June 2, 2006

I use a GeForce 6600 GT with 2 connectors.

Yes I tried uninstalling the [codec] and installed CCCP instead.

I´m not sure if it did get uninstalled correctly though, cause I was able to play all my videofiles after the uninstall and before I installed CCCP. [Editor's note: This is a sure sign that the original codec had not been completely removed.]

The drivers I use is the latest released drivers from nVidia...no beta for me :)

Cool graphics card :)

I fear that your system did not uninstall the codec pack, if you were able to playback video after the "uninstall".

I would either reformat and start over, or join the Doom9 forum and see if someone there can offer assistance in uninstalling that stubborn codec pack. If you're using the latest driver from NVIDIA, the graphics drivers shouldn't be the problem.

June 3, 2006

[In the end, Carsten discovered a workaround that enabled him to watch DVDs without having to buy another graphics card or rebuild his computer.]

I´ve now been watching several movies without any problems what-so-ever, so I think i´ll just leave it be for now....i just need to have my monitor connected through my DLP projector.....not a problem anyways.
I´m very grateful for your help in this.

Thnx a lot

Regards

Carsten Haag

AntiSpyware

May 22, 2006

Hi,

I was wondering if you could give me some advice?

I have a new PC and have installed a new AVG Antivirus that I bought with serial number and everything. Do I still need to install AntiSpyware program(s) to protect this machine for my college-bound daughter?

If your answer is yes, anything you recommend? I have looked at Spy[S]weeper but have not purchased it yet.

Thank you in advance.

Best regards,

Abed Zantout
Sycamore, IL

Hi Abed,

According to AVG's website, "With the release of AVG Anti-Virus 7.1, detection of Adware/Spyware (or Potentially Unwanted Programs) has been added to AVG" (204: Potentially Unwanted Programs). So, as long as you have AVG anti-virus (AV) version 7.1 or above, you should be covered. To find out what version of AVG you are running, try calling up the program via the start menu, then click on Help, then About. This is the way that you would normally find out version information for most programs. However, there are always exceptions to the way that program developers do things.

If you do not have version 7.1 or above, try downloading and installing to the latest and greatest version for free. AVG may let you do so.

Make sure that your AV engine and virus signatures are up to date. You ought to be able to at least partially automate this by automating the downloading of AV signatures so that updates are automatically downloaded every day.

I have used SpySweeper, and it is a fine product. However, I cannot recommend it, because many if not most AV programs now include anti-spyware as part of their offerings. I'm from a corporate background where it doesn't make sense to use two vendors when you can use one. Otherwise, vendors tend to point the finger at the other vendor when something goes wrong. But if you are just using one vendor, it is more difficult for the vendors to use this tactic.

One other thing. Alot of AV and anti-spyware vendors offer to scan your computer for spyware for free. You have to be careful, because alot of times all the scan turns up is the presence of cookies on your computer, which the AV programs sometimes classify as "spyware", which is ridiculous. You practically have to have cookies on your computer in order to use your computer usefully on the Internet. And the presence of cookies does not necessarily indicate the presence of spyware.

All the best,

Ask About Computers

Anonymous Email

April 7, 2006

Hello! I have a question about a computer and I need some expertise!

My question is about IP addressess. If I email someone from two different email addresses (yahoo for example) can they track both back to me by IP address?

If so, what would show up? Would my name or service provider show up? I mean if they track it how could it get back to my name?

Thanks

Hi

The short answer is, yes, your IP address, name, and the name of your service provider are all readily visible in a header that is attached to your message. Complete header information is ordinarily not displayed in an email, but all one has to do is a little digging to uncover it--for example, go to the properties of a message in Outlook Express, or configure Hotmail to display the full or advanced form of the header.

Much of the information in the header can be forged, including your name and even the name of the outgoing mail server of your service provider in certain circumstances. IP addresses cannot be faked, however.

As an illustration, the following lines were taken from the header of an email that was sent from my hotmail:

Received: from bay107-f5.bay107.hotmail.com (HELO hotmail.com) ([64.4.51.15])
Received: from 64.4.51.220 by by107fd.bay107.hotmail.msn.com with HTTP;
X-Originating-IP: [19.46.98.18]
From: "Phil Coffman" <philcoffman@hotmail.com>

In the above example, my name (Phil Coffman), my email service provider (hotmail, in this case), and IP address (19.46.98.18) are all apparent. I could configure a different name if I wanted to. I probably couldn't spoof the name of the email server name in this case, because Microsoft is probably doing reverse name lookup. And I sure as heck couldn't fake the IP addresses, including the originating IP address, which is my own.

The headers of my non-webmail, ISP emails from Speakeasy, by the way, yield similar results (tho' my IP address is in this case in a different place of the header for some reason).

If I were to send two different emails using my two different email accounts, with my different email service providers, though I could possibly change certain parts of the headers, the headers would both reveal that the two emails came from the same IP address. This would suggest that the emails came from the same person, business, or residence. Someone just has to be able to pick out and compare certain IP addresses in the headers.

Running my IP address through the WhoIs database just turns up the name of my Internet Service Provider, not my name or address. To ascertain my identity, someone would have to contact my ISP. My ISP probably would not give away my personal information, unless that someone was the authorities and I was doing something illegal.

A few caveats. When I say that the IP address is apparent in the header and cannot be altered, this is the IP address assigned to me by my provider and in this case represents a local area network, not the IP address of my local workstation--although it could be configured to be the IP address of a single computer.

Also, in some cases one's assigned IP address would vary from time to time because some service providers still recycle IP addresses and lease them for a limited amount of time, before reassigning them.

Your question begs another one, namely, how does one send anonymous emails.

Remailers exists for the purpose of sending anonymous email. If someone wants really secure email, one can use chains of remailers and use encryption. Still, the first remailer in the chain has contacts with the originator of the email, and even if the remailer immediately disposes of its records to help protect its clients, the servers of the remailer nevertheless record the ISPs that access the server and the times.