July 29th, 2008
Problem:
Your computer appears to not start with the cryptic message:
Diskette drive 0 seek failure
Strike F1 to retry boot, F2 for setup utility
Solution:
Diskette is the key term to catch here. Relax, your hard drive is fine. If your PC has a floppy drive, it has either failed or had a cable come loose inside. If you have a newer computer that does not have a floppy drive, it means that somehow your BIOS has gotten changed to expect one.
In either case, a quick fix is to press F2 for the setup utility, look for the floppy drive and set Floppy A to none. Save the settings and now it will work.
This is evidently an issue on some newer Dells. I had to charge a client to fix a Dell that is still under warranty. Dell tech support said pop the case and check connections. Of course, the client was not comfortable with this. After checking cables and trying several other options, I googled the message. One would think that Dell has a knowledge base with this message that should remind the support tech to ask if there is a floppy drive. If no, then no need to crack the case. Instead they tick of one of their customers.
Posted in Hardware | No Comments »
March 8th, 2008
I have had a few questions lately about Satellite Internet service for areas that do not have access to Cable or DSL.
I do not have details about specific satellite providers. My advice is to comparison shop and look for the best price.
Before signing on the dotted line, I recommend that you ask for references from clients in your area that you can question to make sure that they are satisfied with the service. If the service does not work well for a neighbor, it probably will not be any better for you.
The website High-Speed Internet Access provides a guide for various types of high-speed internet service, including Cable, DSL, Wireless, and Satellite. This is one source to help you determine if Satellite Internet is right for you. There is a partial listing of some Satellite providers.
Other helpful websites are DSL Reports and Broadbandinfo.com, Cable-Modem.net, and High Speed Internet Deals.
All of these web sites can help you determine what high speed internet services are available in your area as you evaluate the options for the choice that best fits your situation.
Posted in Internet, Linux, MS-Windows | No Comments »
March 8th, 2008
If you use a dial-up service, such as, AOL or Juno to access the internet, and things are slow or not working, there are several possible explanations.
- The modem is mis-configured.
- The modem is worn out.
- The software for the dial-up service needs to be reinstalled.
- Spyware infestation.
- Virus infection.
A mis-configured modem can be identified in the device manager. It may require using add/remove hardware to tell Windows it has been removed. When the computer is re-booted, it should find the modem and offer to “re-install” it.
If a modem is worn out or failing, it may not operate at full speed. This is most noticeable if you have more than one PC with its own modem and one computer is faster online than the other.
To re-install the dial-up software, the best procedure is to uninstall it, reboot the computer and reinstall it. Make sure you have the user name and password before attempting this. The installation program will have an option to install for an existing account.
If your computer has spyware, it can be addressed with the free program Spybot Search and Destroy. If the infection is particularly bad, it may take several scans to remove all of the spyware. This software is updated every Wednesday, it is wise to keep this updated and scan your computer once a month to insure it is free of spyware.
When there is a virus infection, it can be tricky to resolve without internet access. It is often easier to download utilities to help remove a particular virus using a computer that is not infected. Virus software is only useful if it is kept up-to-date. Most anti-virus vendors have daily or weekly updates. A good free program is Grisoft Anti-Virus (AVG).
Other factors that may come into play are mis-configured firewalls, Windows has not been updated with the latest security fixes, or firmware updates have not been applied.
Posted in Hardware, Internet, MS-Windows, Security | No Comments »
March 8th, 2008
This helpful article directs users to two helpful websites for identifying free software and determining if it is what you need.
The two websites are: http://www.osalt.com/ and http://www.ohloh.net/.
osalt.com helps you identify a particular piece of software for a given purpose. ohlot.net helps you determine how well that software meets that purpose.
Posted in Linux, MS-Windows, Software | No Comments »
May 24th, 2007
Del.icio.us Social Bookmarking is a great way to find information that other internet users find helpful.
The basic idea is to use “tags” to label each link saved to your Del.icio.us folder. One can then see other links with similar tags. Each link can have multiple tags. By using tags, one does not need to keep a huge list of hierarchical bookmarks/favorites, but rely on the tags to find helpful sites. The biggest benefit is access to one’s Del.icio.us bookmarks from any computer on the internet.
It is easy to see what other Del.icio.us users find important on a day-to-day basis, and one can often find new web sites that if you knew it existed, you would have already tagged it.
By submitting your own favorite websites, you help shape the views of all the other Del.icio.us users. This is truly a melting pot of ideas.
Posted in Software, Web Browsers | No Comments »
January 23rd, 2007
In addition to my favorite software, here are the tools I use to help others with their Windows computer problems.
For Anti-Virus, I use a combination of Trend Micro’s Sysclean, Grisoft AVG, and ClamWin. I also use McAfee’s Stinger for quick scans for the most common issues.
For SpyWare, I use a combination of SpyBot Search and Destroy and WinPatrol.
For Optimizing, I use CCleaner, NTRegOpt, and PageDefrag, and JKDefrag..
For Backups, I use SyncBak.
For computers that have so much spyware/viruses that they do not start, I use a Linux Boot CD. This allows me to get the data copied to a USB stick, so that I can wipe the drive and start fresh.
Where the user is open to it, I move them to Linux.
If Linux is not an option, I try to get them to use FireFox and Thunderbird, and educate them about how to avoid viruses and spyware. I also point out all of the free and open source software that is available.
Posted in Linux, MS-Windows, Security, Software | No Comments »
January 13th, 2007
I found a good black and white laser printer for under $80 this fall. It is a Brother HL-2040. It installed easily in Slackware Linux 10.2. The print is great. It works just as well as it does on Windows XP SP2. On my dual-boot PC, there is no trouble using the printer from either Operating System.
It came with half the amount of ink as a new cartridge, but I have printed about two reams of paper, and still going strong. I would have spent nearly $200 on ink for my Lexmark injet printer.
I think it is wrong for ink to cost more than my printer, unless there is value in it. With the Brother I will spend about $150 for a new ink cartridge, but it will be able to do several reams of paper. With my Lexmark, I was lucky to print about 100 pages, using the ink save setting. When the new cartridges cost $30, it costs about $150 to print a ream of paper. I could print about 6 reams of paper for the same cost of ink on the Brother.
Now, the only reason I use the Lexmark, is if I need something printed in color, which is not very often. I will not buy another ink jet printer! Lexmark has enough of my money.
Posted in Hardware, Linux, MS-Windows, Printers | No Comments »
January 13th, 2007
This year will be the first year for the new Daylight Saving Time
start and end dates to go into effect. Instead of starting the first
Sunday of April, it is now the second Sunday of March. It is March 11
this year. Instead of ending on the last Sunday of October, it now
ends the first Sunday of November. It is November 4 this year.
Microsoft is NOT providing patches for automatic updating of older
versions of Windows. Even Windows 2000 Pro and Server are too old for
this. Other Microsoft programs, such as older version of Outlook and Exchange are also affected. You will need to make sure that any Microsoft programs you use, that rely on dates are eligible for an update, or require more money for the latest version.
The law to change the start and end date of Daylight Saving Time was passed a couple of years ago. For the majority of computer users in the U.S. and Canada, this may be an inconvenience. If you have Windows 98, ME, or 2000, Microsoft will not provide an update for the automatic changing of your PCs clock on the new dates.
There are two options:
1.) Live with it and change the time manually. This is inconvenient if you have a lot of PCs and Servers to update. This can also lead to data issues. Some databases can have synchronization issues if the time on the PC and the time on the server are different. This will require diligence on the part of users.
2.) Use the Time Zone Edit utility provided by Microsoft, or use one the the available third party programs for correcting the Time Zone. NOTE: The tzedit.exe provided by MS does not work with Win9x. Here is the KB article with more information.
Posted in MS-Windows, Network | No Comments »
January 13th, 2007
On Windows 9x click Start > Run then type winipconfig and press enter.
On Widows 2K and XP click Start > Run then type CMD and press enter. This will start a command line. Type ipconfig and press enter.
On Linux, this requires root permissions. The simplest is to open a command prompt and su to root. Type /sbin/ifconfig, the IP address is after the lnet addr.
Posted in Linux, MS-Windows, Network | No Comments »
January 11th, 2007
Due to financial difficulties, it appears that the end is near for Pegasus Mail.
While Pegasus has some great features, and is free, it is limited to Windows. This also raises the question of whether or not Pegasus users will be able to easily convert to other email programs. While most email programs can probably handle importing from Pegasus, there are also utilities to aid one in moving from Pegasus to other mail formats.
There are two good utilities, while Windows based, run well in Wine, or in various virtual machines on different operating systems. Both are developed by Fookes Software, Aid4Mail and Mailbag Assistant.
Both are able to convert from one email format to almost any other desired format. Aid4Mail can save messages to MHT format, for ease of viewing in a web browser. Mailbag Assistant is an email archiving and search utility. One can reply to or forward an email in any email box, using one’s current email program.
There is much more to both programs, that will help those with lots of email, from any program move to other formats. Both preserve the original mail files, so the conversion, is really a new set of files. These utilities make it very easy to investigate different email clients if one wants to experiment. Both are fast and can handle very large numbers of email messages.
Posted in Linux, MS-Windows, Software, wine | No Comments »