Boring computer-related question @&#$king thing.

I have disabled the device & re-enabled it. That does not work. Or do you mean something else..?

From the Start menu, choose the "Run" option. When the box pops up, type "command".

Type "ipconfig /release" and wait for it to come up with a notice that all of your IP information is 0.0.0.0.

Type "ipconfig /renew" and then hopefully it should come up with a valid IP address...if you're running a router, it'll probably start with 192.168.x.x

If this doesn't help, and rebooting does, then reboot. Rebooting cures everything.

Thanks for the tips..

we'll see...

You can walk around your neighborhood with a laptop open if you want, you might find a better signal. When I moved into my new apartment I was using the guy's airport two doors down from me to check email for about a week.

you can also download macstumbler and kismet for OS X if you want to have more fun with that sort of thing. They're free.

I don't know how to do this in OS 9.

macstumbler says:

mcn_net, channel 1, max signal 60 (my own network gives max of 101, and 80 where I'm sat now), wep NO (what is this? my own network has wep YES), vendor unknown (it knows my vendor.)

If you haven't already done so, set up your access point and computer to use WEP encryption; it's not perfect security but at least it means someone won't be jacking your signal and then using it for their nefarious purposes (or running up your bill or whatnot).

More information required. Is yours a built-in card or a PC Card? What type of computer?

we prefer the term 'silver surfers' 8)

the fan in my PC is very noisy lately. i tried cleaning it and reinforcing the screws, but no go -- it's still making kinda rattly, guttural sounds and i can't figure out where they're coming from.

http://us.st7.yimg.com/store1.yimg.com/I/directron_1830_26445729

Too bad I've got 4 hard drives.

http://www.teschke.de/heatpipes/phantom.jpg

It's like a giant heatsink! I want one.

http://www.pcpowerandcooling.com/products/power_supplies/ultra_quiet/silencers/S410ATX.jpg

so as it turns out, i do have a faulty power supply. last night it started giving off a noxious burning electrical smell and the computer would power on but not boot up (and it wouldn't shut off unless i switched off the PSU itself).

tech support is sending me a new one. it won't be the supadupafly ultra-quiet ultra-cool one i want (the "silencer"), but it'll work and it'll be free under my warranty.

Win98 + an always-on internet connection is a bit of an iffy combination unless there's a half-decent firewall somewhere between you and the wider world.

Nah 11Mbs is well enough for any home broadband link.

However the reccomendation of an ethernet NIC and a Router is a solid one.

Upgrading from 98 to 2k/XP should be a priority though, depending on whether your PC can handle it.

I just reinstalled Windows XP on my wife's laptop, and now it has no internet connection. Using a cable modem.. Under control panel, clicking on Network Connections" ... On my computer, it has the 1394 connection and the Local Area Connection. On hers, it's just the 1394 connection. I can't figure out how to add the LAN internet connection...

fuck you, windows...

Also it says I'm about to install crap software on a super duper computer, should I be bothered?

(or, pick something that isn't SuSE - I tend to avoid it if I can)

xp

(if you can get a command prompt, and it has the 'lspci' command, that is very useful. This is partly why I *like* the Gentoo install process, because it's all done from the command prompt)

I think my laptop has died. On Sunday it wouldn't start at all, press power button and the fan kicks in/power button lights up but nothing else, a few time was able to start on the chkdsk blue screen but stopped at 25% or so. Yesterday was able to get it going and fortunately managed to transfer most of my files to an external hdd but then it went down and beeped around 10 times (bios beeps?) Since then have had no joy restarting it, much the same as Sunday.

Any ideas what it could be, seemed to be running very hot, so wonder if that's the root of the problem? Is it feasible to get fixed, is it within the ability of a relative novice who's upgraded bit's and bobs on the desktop pc byt never prized open a laptop. Would it be cheaper just to scrap it and get a new one?

Here's a question. Sgs ripped a few dozen CDs to her old laptop with Windows Media Player. She has just copied them onto her new laptop via a usb memory stick, but when she tries to play them the following error message appears:

"Windows Media Player cannot play, burn, rip, or sync the protected file because you do not have the appropriate rights."

Can anyone suggest a simple way of sorting this out so she can play them on her new laptop?

Thanks!

Could she just use a different player than Windows Media Player?

mark, that's drm for you in a nutshell. those files she ripped were tied to that computer and won't play on the new one. don't use wma in the future (mp3 is fine, flac better) or turn off the flag (it's on by default) that encrypts them.

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/7e241b1f-1019-43c1-868d-cafc718d16011033.mspx

"Can I remove DRM from a file?

No. Once DRM has been applied to a file, DRM can't be removed from it.

If you ripped a CD with the Copy protect music option turned on, those files are protected. Although you can't remove DRM from those files, you can delete those files and then rip the CD again with the Copy protect music option turned off.

For more information about copy protection and ripping, see Rip music: frequently asked questions."

Fucking stupid fucking Windows fuckers.

(thanks Koogs)

Hey guys I need to convert a few .sxc files to excel.
I'm really struggling, I have no idea :/

Ahhhh, I think I've sorted it, you can download Staroffice from google :D

So you can pay $69.95 or download it for free as part of the "Google Pack".

Surely I'm missing something?????????????????????????????????????

google paid for it

lovely.

It's pretty handy you can save as .xls.

when it keeps restarting on its own and something like:

memory error detected
memory settings reset to default settings

shows up at startup, what does it mean?

Also how to remove 10 second wait for auto disk chk to start? I'm running win xp

HALP

Here's a really impossible question. Why does every graphics-intensive game I play crash back to the desktop after half an hour or so, even though I have replaced the processor, the graphics card, the motherboard, and finally the power supply? Have used a software temperature testing thing and it doesn't seem to a be a problem with overheating.

Can anyone point me to a configuring static IP (on a Mac) for dummies?

Apple Menu > System Preferences > Network.
Click yr interface (ie Ethernet or airport) in the left (if you're already on the internet, it's the one with the green dot). Change the "Configure" pop up to "Manually" and fill in the details.

(The details aren't Mac-dependent, and will depend on your network.)

Ah yes, but where do I get these details? My ISP?

Or can I just pick a number? LOL

555-5555

don't be mean harbl

Yes, your ISP should give you all those details. Most ISPs will have DHCP set on, though -- so if you know your static IP address, just choose "DHCP with manual address" and put the IP in and the ISP will handle the rest.

that's a lot of acronyms, hoo.

Thanks for this, but another question - HOW would I know my static IP address? This is for forwarding ports for torrents (Transmission).

Ah, you're setting a static IP address for your local network, not one from your ISP.

Just choose "DHCP with manual address" and then choose one on the same subnet as your router. If your router's address is 192.168.1.1, set your IP to 192.168.1.10 or something. Then you can set your router's port forwarding to forward the torrent ports to 192.168.1.10

thanks, I will try this now!

And my router's port forwarding is on the (Linksys) page thing which I need to configure with ethernet cable?

yep. be sure you're setting the right IP address though. If you usually use Airport, set the manual address you want for the Airport interface in System Preferences, and put that into the linksys.

I do use airport. I am parsing your words carefully