Monthly Archives: May 2011

Q. What is a USB microphone?

See companion article on Software for computer recording See companion article on Hardware for computer recording A USB microphone is a hybrid – it is a microphone cross-bred with a USB audio interface, so that it can plug directly into … Continue reading

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Q. What hardware do I need to make professional recordings?

See the companion article on digital recording software When you want to record music and get a good sounding result, you will want better quality and more flexible audio interfaces than the Mic jack on your computer.  Getting the audio … Continue reading

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, Music recording, instruments, hard & software | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Q. What software do I need to make professional recordings?

When you are setting up a digital recording studio, the first question is to choose the Digital Audio Workstation software that you will base your studio around. That will drive the choice of the computer. A DAW combines recording of … Continue reading

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, Mac questions, Music recording, instruments, hard & software, Software, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Q. My program disappeared from my Mac’s Dock.

You probably inadvertently dragged the icon off the Dock. Don’t worry, you didn’t delete the program, only the alias to the program that was in the dock.;  Let’s take iCal as an example. In the Finder, open the Applications folder … Continue reading

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Q. What’s in my PC?

How can you tell what components are in your PC without taking it apart? There are some system reporting tool programs that give a good snapshot of the components of the computer, and the software installed as well.  This is … Continue reading

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Q. Where do downloads get saved?

When you download a file in a web browser, and it doesn’t ask you to specify a location for it, where does it go? The answer is, either to the location on your hard drive that you have specified for … Continue reading

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Q. Where can I get free software?

Commercial software is not legal to download for free, but there is a large amount of freeware, open source and shareware software available. I don’t recommend downloading from random websites or bittorrents, because downloads are a playground for virus writers … Continue reading

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Q. I deleted one of the Apple applications from OSX

How do you reinstall one of the bundled Macintosh applications? Let’s take iPhoto as an example. First of all put in your installer DVD and look on it for a package called Optional Installs. Double click on that and you … Continue reading

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Q. What webcams work with Mac?

For Mac Minis and MacPros which don’t have a built in camera, you can add a USB webcam. However, webcams require drivers to operate, and most of those come from the factory with only Windows drivers. Some cameras are supported … Continue reading

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Q. Windows on my new PC says it isn’t genuine

Windows and other Microsoft programs like Office will run for a while without being activated / registered, but then they will stop and insist that you activate them. You should have an activation key on a label on the back, … Continue reading

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Q. How do I know this online company is legitimate?

Do not give your personal information or credit card information to any website that you are not sure about. Google the company name, URL and address to see if there have been complaints on online forums about the company or … Continue reading

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Q. How can I secure my Mac?

What? Secure my Mac?  Why? Mac owners sometimes exist in a bubble of avoidance – believing that since Mac OS X is more resistant to viruses, they don’t have to worry about a thing to do with security. Bubbles inevitably … Continue reading

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Q. How can I make my machine run faster?

Actually, this isn’t about making a machine faster, but about removing the things that are slowing the machine down. Before we get started, make sure you have a current backup of all of your data files. First step is to … Continue reading

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Q. I can’t read new Word docx files in my older Word

With Office 2007 (Win) 2008 (Mac) and later, Microsoft has moved to new file formats for documents – .docx instead of .doc for Word, .xlsx for .xls in Excel, .pptx for .ppt in PowerPoint.  Older versions of Office applications cannot … Continue reading

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Q. Help I spilled liquid on my machine

Liquids and electricity don’t mix.  Keep drinks, potted plants, etc. away from your computer. The first thing if there is a spill is: Immediately turn the computer off, unplug it (or remove the battery if it is a laptop). Wireless … Continue reading

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