Category Archives: Computer Questions and Answers

Questions and answers on a broad range of computer related topics

Q. I have an antivirus message popping up on my machine and it is not letting me use programs or download antivirus tools.

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Trevor

Antivirus 2012, Win 7 Antivirus 2011, Win 7 Total Security 2011, XP Security 2011, BitDefender 2011 Antivirus (some of these viruses use the same names as legitimate programs) and many other variants of these names are fake antivirus scanners that … Continue reading →

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Q. I have some RAR files that were sent to me, What do I do with them?

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Trevor

RAR is a compression format, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAR, and the files you have are compressed archives of one or more original files.  First, you have to decompress the RAR archives. Here are some utilities that can do that 7-Zip (Free, Windows) http://download.cnet.com/7-Zip/3000-2250_4-10045185.html?tag=mncol;1 … Continue reading →

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Q. I downloaded Audacity to edit MP3s, now how do I use it?

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Trevor

Audacity is a great open source audio editor program, available for Windows and Macintosh http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Here are some learning resources for it Audacity Tutorials http://audacity.sourceforge.net/manual-1.2/tutorials.html Wiki http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Category:Tutorial Tutorial Videos on YouTube Removing vocals with Audacity http://wiki.audacityteam.org/index.php?title=Vocal_Removal Mixing two songs together … Continue reading →

Posted in Music recording, instruments, hard & software, Software | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Q. What is the fastest disk setup for Photoshop

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Trevor

Photoshop (as well as other high-end graphic and video production software) is a heavy user of hard drive access.  The speed of the hard drive in a machine and the way that hard drive use is organized can have a … Continue reading →

Posted in Hard Drives and SSD, Mac questions, Memory, Performance, Software, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. How can I connect two computers that are 1 km away, without a cable?

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Trevor

Connecting two networks through the air at long distances (100’s of meters to several km) is possible with low power WiFi equipment as long as you have line of sight between the two locations. It requires choosing the correct antennas … Continue reading →

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Q. I’ve just done a restore on my machine, and the (DVD, printer, video) doesn’t work

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Trevor

Go to your manufacturer’s website, support, drivers and downloads section, and download all the latest drivers for your specific model and install them. Run all the Windows (or other OS) updates. When you do a restore, you are resetting the … Continue reading →

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Q. Will this new video card work in my machine?

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Trevor

The questions you always have to ask when installing a new video card in a desktop or tower machine are: Is there an available PCI-e x16 slot with space beside it for the video card’s fans? Is there physical room … Continue reading →

Posted in Windows questions | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Q. My iBook or Powerbook battery is not charging or being recognized, yet it works fine in another machine

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Trevor

First you need to to a Power Manager reset PMU reset) on your machine http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1431 Then recalibrate the battery http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1490 Keep in mind that batteries last from one to three years and they steadily lose capacity.  Apple’s criteria is the … Continue reading →

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Q. How can I tell if my hard drive is failing?

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Trevor

If you suspect that your disk is having trouble, make sure you back up your data files to another drive or to DVD-R as soon as possible. One symptom of a failing drive is long pauses to do anything. Another … Continue reading →

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Posted on May 5, 2011 by Trevor

Your new router will have a different WPA password and SSID (network name) compared to your old router. Have you set the new router up?  Each WiFi machine will need to reconnect to the new router and have its settings … Continue reading →

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Q. I have hooked my laptop to a TV/External monitor/Projector and it isn’t displaying anything

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Trevor

Have you pressed the key that controls screen mirroring?  On Toshiba notebooks it is usually Function F5, or consult your manual. On Windows 7, hit Windows-P  or right-click on the desktop and choose Graphic Properties. Or go into Control Panel … Continue reading →

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Q. How do you put an iTunes gift card on the computer?

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Trevor

First, do you have an iTunes Store account? If you don’t, you need to open iTunes and create an account, and there will be an option for entering the gift card in the creation process. A credit card is not … Continue reading →

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Q. Will my Intel d945gcl motherboard work with a Seagate 1 TB SATA hard drive?

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Trevor

Yes, as long as a motherboard has a SATA connector it will support any SATA drive up to 2 TB. Here are the support documents on this motherboard www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/highlights/dsktpboards/d945gcl Your board has ” Four SerialATA (SATA) channels (3.0Gb/s),via the ICH7, … Continue reading →

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Q. Can I put a 3 TB SATA hard drive in my computer?

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Trevor

Motherboards with a standard BIOS will not support single SATA drives larger than 2 TB, support for 3 TB hard drives requires the new motherboards with UEFI firmware www.bit-tech.net/hardware/storage/2010/06/01/are-we-ready-for-3tb-hard-disks/4 If you have an earlier motherboard, an option is to install … Continue reading →

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Q. I have a drive I have been using on a Mac, I plugged it into a Windows machine and it can’t read it, there’s no data.

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Trevor

The hard drive is formatted as a Mac HFS+ volume.  Windows can’t read it without some third party software MacDrive www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive Paragon HFS+ for Windows www.paragon-software.com/home/hfs-windows/ HSF Explorer (open source, read only) www.catacombae.org/hfsx.html Although both Windows and Mac can read … Continue reading →

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