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More gasoline on the Vista bonfire by
Ben Myers[_2_]
Following is a direct quote from today's Windows Secrets newsletter:
A reader named Gerry, who asked us not to use his last name or company
name, describes the process his firm used to determine whether to stick
with Windows XP or upgrade to Vista:
* "When we tested Vista, we configured...
( 1 2 3)
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Dimension 8300 and other heat sinks by
Ben Myers[_2_]
I just upgraded the CPU in a Dimension 8300 to a Pentium 3.0HT, and
swiped the heat sink from a Dimension XPS Gen 2 system. It is the same
heat sink with copper heat pipes used in the faster 3+GHz Dimension
8300s. It is also the same as used in the Precision 360, Optiplex GX270
(tower model),...
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September 9th 10 07:04 PM
by mc
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Too S.M.A.R.T. by
Ben Myers[_2_]
Tested a pair of Hitachi 80GB 2.5" PATA drives recently, so I might
possibly use them in a refurb laptop. First, I ran HDAT2, which told me
that although the drives had zero reallocated sectors, there were a
number of sectors (8 and 2, respectively) PENDING reallocation. This
says that the...
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Requiem for a dead Dell by
Ben Myers[_2_]
If the back of your computer looked like this from all the tar and
nicotine it inhaled, think what your lungs would look like. See URL for
photo... Ben Myers
http://webpages.charter.net/ben_myers/photos#NicotineCase.JPG
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Newsgroup gone on vacation? by
Ben Myers[_2_]
Either news.eternal-september.org is broken or this newsgroup has become
comatose. Haven't seen a post here for a couple of days... Ben
( 1 2)
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Optiplex 330 picky about memory, or is it just me? by
Ben Myers[_2_]
Went to do a memory upgrade of an Optiplex 330 yesterday. I took along
three tested matched pairs of PC2-5300 memory, the type the spec calls
for. The memory in the computer originally is the same speed. The
computer rejected all three sets of memory, halting the system with the
message that...
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Follow up on US Robotics router and Dell Windows 7 computers by
Ben Myers[_2_]
As many may recall, I reported that Dell Windows 7 laptops were unable
to establish wifi connections with a US Robotics router. After some
time trying to determine the cause of the problem, I told my sometime
client that the router should be replaced, because it is old and no
longer supported...
( 1 2)
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Dell Inspiron 1545 Windows 7 wifi wierdness by
Ben Myers[_2_]
Occasional client of mine bought a pair of Dell Inspiron 1545 laptops
with Windows 7 Home for the kids. Problem: The Dell laptops cannot
connect up to the US Robotics USR8054 802.11g router in the house.
Symptoms: Dell laptops see the USR8054, which is wide open with no
encryption at all, and...
( 1 2)
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Keyfinder vs Microsoft Key Update Tool (on a Dell system, so notOT) by
Ben Myers[_2_]
Recently, there was a message thread in which one posting asked why one
would ever use the non-Microsoft Keyfinder to change a Windows product
key when there was a Microsoft Key Update Tool to do it. I can answer that.
I tried the Microsoft Key Update Tool yesterday and saw a dialog box
that...
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How good are the Broadcom miniPCI wifi cards used by Dell ??? by
Ben Myers[_2_]
I've got some older Dell P4 laptops to refurb here and I might need some
of the miniPCI wifi cards they use. I've had positive experiences with
the Intel 2200BG and 2915ABG.
Any experiences good or bad with the Dell DW1350 and DW1450, both of
which are Broadcom chips and designs? The Intel...
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OS question by
Ben Myers[_2_]
William R. Walsh wrote:
Hi!
Ah, right. So presumably the flux capacitors are
operating anti-phase in the neutrino stream to create
a tachyon emission to remodulate the main
deflector array...
In a word, "yes". Other than the spelling of "tachyon" you have nailed
it. Just...
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Vista & DHCP networking problems by
Ben Myers[_2_]
Recently there have been several postings here about problems networking
computers with Vista. The following URL is a Windows Secrets issue
describing the problem:
http://windowssecrets.com/comp/081211/
If you do not already subscribe to Windows Secrets, either free or paid
version, it is...
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The best Dell keyboard ever made by
Ben Myers[_2_]
I am now clicking away on a Dell 101-key clickety-clack Model M keyboard
made for Dell by Lexmark in 1995. This is good for me, because I had to
swap motherboards in my main system here recently, and the newer
motherboard would not recognize the older IBM-branded keyboard made in
1989. The...
( 1 2)
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P4 3.06GHz SL726 sSpec by
Ben Myers[_2_]
To follow up on another thread, I have one of the Socket 478 Pentium 4
3.06GHz CPUs with SL726 sSpec, pulled from a dead Inspiron 5100-series
laptop. I put it into a Dimension 4550 motherboard with the latest 845
chipset, so it can run a CPU with 533MHz front side bus. No surprise,
but the...
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Quick Time and QTTASK.EXE Rant by
Ben Myers[_2_]
Apple's latest Quick Time 7 installs QTTASK.EXE in the list of programs
executed at system startup, just like all software written by companies
(Microsoft, Sun Java, Adobe Acrobat, and others) that think theirs is
the most important ever written in the whole wide world.
QTTASK.EXE calls home...
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Optiplex GX520 and dual core? by
Ben Myers[_4_]
According to the specs for the Optiplex GX520, it has a 945 chipset, which is capable of handling an Intel dual-core CPU. But the specs also say that the GX520 does not accept a dual-core. Anybody done it? BIOS limitation? The GX520 and GX620 are almost identical. Thanks... Ben Myers
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340 |
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Studio 1555 - What were they thinking? by
Ben Myers[_4_]
Got a Dell Studio 1555 to do a bit of preventive work. This was a Best Buy special from about 4 years ago, with Vista Ugh. The on-off switch is on the right side and lights up when power is on. So far, so good. But where is the hard drive activity LED? I did not see one. What were the Dell...
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Latitude E6410 and UEFI - a warning by
Ben Myers[_4_]
I tried to set up a Dell Latitude E6410 last week, and whoever had it before me toggled the UEFI setting in the BIOS. This leads to disaster. I installed Win 7 Pro with the UEFI setting and the system would not boot at all after Win 7 was completely installed. Then I rebooted and pressed F12. ...
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Useful info about recovery partitions, Dell and other by
Ben Myers[_4_]
Whether Dell or another brand, most all computers today come with recovery partitions to save the manufacturers from including another 10 cent item in the package with a system. Also because Steveie Ballmer prefers it that way.
So you get the system and the first thing you are supposed to do is...
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New Dell 15" Inspiron M531R-5535 and Windows 8.1 by
Ben Myers[_4_]
How can I best start to trash this absolutely awful Dell laptop and operating system combination? Well, she bought it from QVC for est. $779, figured out how to install the Office 2013 bundled with the system, could no longer find any Office programs in Metro-land, and called me on advice of her...
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