From jonpan at onlinehome.de  Mon Jun  1 04:49:36 2009
From: jonpan at onlinehome.de (Jon)
Date: Mon, 1 Jun 2009 10:49:36 +0200
Subject: TSGL: ERUNT troubles
References: <700417.58923.qm@web50407.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <D4729AA741664E519A331AEEDFBB93FF@johnsp2>

Ray, I've been using Comodo and Erunt for years and have had no compatibility problems so far.

John
Od/G

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Ray 
To: Tech Support Guy Mailing List 
Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 3:55 AM
Subject: Re: TSGL: ERUNT troubles


Don, thanks for the reply. I think you are probably right. I did not even consider this before, but I recently installed the Comodo Firewall which is pretty "stout" in its ability to fend off any threats. This might be the culprit. Not sure how to proceed but I guess I need to find something less intrusive. If anyone has suggestions I'd be very interested. 

Thanks again.

--- On Sun, 5/31/09, Don Penlington <deepend at tpg.com.au> wrote:

From: Don Penlington <deepend at tpg.com.au>
Subject: Re: TSGL: ERUNT troubles
To: "Tech Support Guy Mailing List" <list at tsgserver.com>
Date: Sunday, May 31, 2009, 7:19 PM

Ray wrote:
> All of a sudden ERUNT is not restoring my backups>>


What OS?

Maybe your registry is being protected. Do you have any internet security protection suites running.

If you have automatic updates, it's always a possibility that one of those could break the system (protecting your registry from unauthorised changes perhaps?).

I've been using ERDNT and its forerunner ERD for over 10 years and have never known it to fail.

Another possibility is a virus or malware protecting itself. Run some full scans.

Is cold booting a bit slow? It should be about 35-50 seconds from power on to desktop appearing. If there's a problem in the system, Windows will revert to a previous known good copy of the registry, thus negating any changes you may have made. This is often why alterations to program settings don't always seem to stick, as booting reverts back to a previous registry. This is nothing to do with ERDNT, but could explain why it doesn't appear to be working.

Don Penlington



_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/



      
_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/

From ian at iarp.ca  Tue Jun  2 23:17:42 2009
From: ian at iarp.ca (Ian Ramsey-Planck)
Date: Tue, 2 Jun 2009 23:17:42 -0400
Subject: TSGL: External Tape Drive
Message-ID: <adc2940c0906022017q3a66e5deocc20030c4f3e7954@mail.gmail.com>

Hey all,
Ran into someone with an apparently working Ditto External Tape drive...
unfortunately i didn't get any connection details, and i've never used a
tape drive myself but i'm guessing its a parallel connection.
He's not keen on throwing things out that work, eithor am i so just putting
a call out there for any of those that might want it. Free just pay the
shipping cost.

-- 
Thanks
Ian R-P

From jonpan at onlinehome.de  Fri Jun  5 14:14:11 2009
From: jonpan at onlinehome.de (Jon)
Date: Fri, 5 Jun 2009 20:14:11 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Prefetch
Message-ID: <186DBCE8F582416FBA8D75478BD90DF8@johnsp2>

Hi all,

Which settings are others using for Prefetch?  Boot File Launch Only or Applications and Boot File Launch, or none at all?

It doesn't seem to make much difference to me...

Greetings,

John
Od/G

From tbrandl2 at chello.at  Fri Jun  5 17:17:30 2009
From: tbrandl2 at chello.at (Tilman Brandl)
Date: Fri, 5 Jun 2009 23:17:30 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Prefetch
In-Reply-To: <186DBCE8F582416FBA8D75478BD90DF8@johnsp2>
References: <186DBCE8F582416FBA8D75478BD90DF8@johnsp2>
Message-ID: <090BCF20D0CD4C53ABEB6D059C73C844@BraNeb>

Jon,

I've never seen and/or used any settings for Prefetch (no idea where to look 
...)

There is a webpage which might shed some light on that issue - in German 
only: http://www.helmrohr.de/Guides/WinXP/Prefetching.htm

Tilman

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jon" <jonpan at onlinehome.de>
To: "ListTSG" <List at tsgserver.com>
Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 8:14 PM
Subject: TSGL: Prefetch


> Hi all,
>
> Which settings are others using for Prefetch?  Boot File Launch Only or 
> Applications and Boot File Launch, or none at all?
>
> It doesn't seem to make much difference to me...
>
> Greetings,
>
> John
> Od/G



From hdavis1 at gmail.com  Fri Jun  5 17:28:58 2009
From: hdavis1 at gmail.com (H Davis)
Date: Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:28:58 -0400
Subject: TSGL: Prefetch
In-Reply-To: <090BCF20D0CD4C53ABEB6D059C73C844@BraNeb>
References: <186DBCE8F582416FBA8D75478BD90DF8@johnsp2>
	<090BCF20D0CD4C53ABEB6D059C73C844@BraNeb>
Message-ID: <4A298E1A.3020003@gmail.com>

Jon,

I too, don't remember seeing any "settings" for prefetch. However, I 
have read (don't ask me where???) that it takes at least 3 reboots for 
the prefetch table to get updated so if your testing didn't allow for 
this delay then you might not have seen any changes.

H Davis

Tilman Brandl wrote:
> Jon,
>
> I've never seen and/or used any settings for Prefetch (no idea where 
> to look ...)
>
> There is a webpage which might shed some light on that issue - in 
> German only: http://www.helmrohr.de/Guides/WinXP/Prefetching.htm
>
> Tilman
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jon" <jonpan at onlinehome.de>
> To: "ListTSG" <List at tsgserver.com>
> Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 8:14 PM
> Subject: TSGL: Prefetch
>
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Which settings are others using for Prefetch?  Boot File Launch Only 
>> or Applications and Boot File Launch, or none at all?
>>
>> It doesn't seem to make much difference to me...
>>
>> Greetings,
>>
>> John
>> Od/G
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>

-- 
H Davis   hdavis1 at gmail.com


From coover at fastmail.fm  Sat Jun  6 03:44:39 2009
From: coover at fastmail.fm (Russell W. Coover)
Date: Sat, 6 Jun 2009 00:44:39 -0700
Subject: TSGL: Prefetch
In-Reply-To: <186DBCE8F582416FBA8D75478BD90DF8@johnsp2>
References: <186DBCE8F582416FBA8D75478BD90DF8@johnsp2>
Message-ID: <92699666723F4847BB7187302EC4B344@AcerPC>

Like others, I have not even looked for Prefetch settings and have certainly
not changed them. If you find any advantage in changing the settings, let us
know.

Thanks ...

Russ Coover

-----Original Message-----
From: list-bounces at tsgserver.com [mailto:list-bounces at tsgserver.com] On
Behalf Of Jon
Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 11:14 AM
To: ListTSG
Subject: TSGL: Prefetch

Hi all,

Which settings are others using for Prefetch?  Boot File Launch Only or
Applications and Boot File Launch, or none at all?

It doesn't seem to make much difference to me...

Greetings,

John
Od/G
_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/



From jonpan at onlinehome.de  Sat Jun  6 05:05:24 2009
From: jonpan at onlinehome.de (Jon)
Date: Sat, 6 Jun 2009 11:05:24 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Prefetch
References: <186DBCE8F582416FBA8D75478BD90DF8@johnsp2>
	<92699666723F4847BB7187302EC4B344@AcerPC>
Message-ID: <29E87713E25B4C23A8F6F6CBE9A732AC@johnsp2>

There are four settings accessible in the registry:

0    disable
1    Monitor application launch files only
2    Monitor boot files only
3    monitor application and boot files

HKLM\system\current control set\control\session manager\memory management\prefetch parameters
There, under enable prefetcher, at the moment I have 2.

I'm going to go back to apps and boot, see if there's a change.

John
Od/G
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Russell W. Coover 
To: 'Tech Support Guy Mailing List' 
Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 9:44 AM
Subject: Re: TSGL: Prefetch


Like others, I have not even looked for Prefetch settings and have certainly
not changed them. If you find any advantage in changing the settings, let us
know.

Thanks ...

Russ Coover

-----Original Message-----
From: list-bounces at tsgserver.com [mailto:list-bounces at tsgserver.com] On
Behalf Of Jon
Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 11:14 AM
To: ListTSG
Subject: TSGL: Prefetch

Hi all,

Which settings are others using for Prefetch?  Boot File Launch Only or
Applications and Boot File Launch, or none at all?

It doesn't seem to make much difference to me...

Greetings,

John
Od/G
_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/


_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/

From jonpan at onlinehome.de  Sat Jun  6 10:09:50 2009
From: jonpan at onlinehome.de (Jon)
Date: Sat, 6 Jun 2009 16:09:50 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Prefetch
References: <186DBCE8F582416FBA8D75478BD90DF8@johnsp2>
	<92699666723F4847BB7187302EC4B344@AcerPC>
Message-ID: <84F2C0CDA6BF495C872DF63379441E7A@johnsp2>

Here's a link to a comprehensive explanation of the operations of Prefetch. From that it seems that you would have to wait 3 or 4 days after every change in settings to get any sensible measurements.

http://windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/77130/jsi-tip-5826-what-is-the-windows-xp-prefetch.html

Also, there's a little programme called Windows XP Clean and Control that makes changes very easy to implement.

John
Od/G

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Russell W. Coover 
To: 'Tech Support Guy Mailing List' 
Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 9:44 AM
Subject: Re: TSGL: Prefetch


Like others, I have not even looked for Prefetch settings and have certainly
not changed them. If you find any advantage in changing the settings, let us
know.

Thanks ...

Russ Coover

-----Original Message-----
From: list-bounces at tsgserver.com [mailto:list-bounces at tsgserver.com] On
Behalf Of Jon
Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 11:14 AM
To: ListTSG
Subject: TSGL: Prefetch

Hi all,

Which settings are others using for Prefetch?  Boot File Launch Only or
Applications and Boot File Launch, or none at all?

It doesn't seem to make much difference to me...

Greetings,

John
Od/G
_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/


_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/

From jonpan at onlinehome.de  Sat Jun  6 10:21:52 2009
From: jonpan at onlinehome.de (Jon)
Date: Sat, 6 Jun 2009 16:21:52 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Prefetch
References: <186DBCE8F582416FBA8D75478BD90DF8@johnsp2>
	<090BCF20D0CD4C53ABEB6D059C73C844@BraNeb>
Message-ID: <AF07DA68D7C04A14B6056D94FB0BCBCE@johnsp2>

Good site, Tilman. Danke! 
N.B. Task Scheduler Service has to be activated for Prefetch to work.

John
Od/G
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Tilman Brandl 
To: Tech Support Guy Mailing List 
Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 11:17 PM
Subject: Re: TSGL: Prefetch


Jon,

I've never seen and/or used any settings for Prefetch (no idea where to look 
...)

There is a webpage which might shed some light on that issue - in German 
only: http://www.helmrohr.de/Guides/WinXP/Prefetching.htm

Tilman

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jon" <jonpan at onlinehome.de>
To: "ListTSG" <List at tsgserver.com>
Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 8:14 PM
Subject: TSGL: Prefetch


> Hi all,
>
> Which settings are others using for Prefetch?  Boot File Launch Only or 
> Applications and Boot File Launch, or none at all?
>
> It doesn't seem to make much difference to me...
>
> Greetings,
>
> John
> Od/G


_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/

From dogbert at earthlink.net  Sat Jun  6 13:33:59 2009
From: dogbert at earthlink.net (Dogbert)
Date: Sat, 6 Jun 2009 13:33:59 -0400
Subject: TSGL: Prefetch
In-Reply-To: <84F2C0CDA6BF495C872DF63379441E7A@johnsp2>
References: <186DBCE8F582416FBA8D75478BD90DF8@johnsp2><92699666723F4847BB7187302EC4B344@AcerPC>
	<84F2C0CDA6BF495C872DF63379441E7A@johnsp2>
Message-ID: <002801c9e6cc$f9f3a160$0201a8c0@hbcanon>

'PREFETCH' implies that the application knows ahead of time what data it requires . System
startup may benefit somewhat as those files are pre-identified and always used, but for
most applications it does not provide any benefit, and may actually slow down response. On
the mainframe we use it in database applications only where batch programs are processing
large amounts of data serially.  

HBCanon
Geneva, FL


-----Original Message-----
From: list-bounces at tsgserver.com [mailto:list-bounces at tsgserver.com] On Behalf Of Jon
Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 10:10
To: Tech Support Guy Mailing List
Subject: Re: TSGL: Prefetch

Here's a link to a comprehensive explanation of the operations of Prefetch. From that it
seems that you would have to wait 3 or 4 days after every change in settings to get any
sensible measurements.

http://windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/77130/jsi-tip-5826-what-is-the-windows-xp-prefet
ch.html

Also, there's a little programme called Windows XP Clean and Control that makes changes
very easy to implement.

John
Od/G

----- Original Message -----
From: Russell W. Coover
To: 'Tech Support Guy Mailing List' 
Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 9:44 AM
Subject: Re: TSGL: Prefetch


Like others, I have not even looked for Prefetch settings and have certainly not changed
them. If you find any advantage in changing the settings, let us know.

Thanks ...

Russ Coover

-----Original Message-----
From: list-bounces at tsgserver.com [mailto:list-bounces at tsgserver.com] On Behalf Of Jon
Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 11:14 AM
To: ListTSG
Subject: TSGL: Prefetch

Hi all,

Which settings are others using for Prefetch?  Boot File Launch Only or Applications and
Boot File Launch, or none at all?

It doesn't seem to make much difference to me...

Greetings,

John
Od/G
_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/


_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/



From tbrandl2 at chello.at  Mon Jun  8 22:30:30 2009
From: tbrandl2 at chello.at (Tilman Brandl)
Date: Tue, 9 Jun 2009 04:30:30 +0200
Subject: TSGL: XP network connections window pretty dead
Message-ID: <4ED4CF4A0EB2472CBB5382F58EC83C72@BraNeb>

Hi,

on my wife's PC I'm having difficulties - most things work fine, but e.g. 
the Windows firewall behaves strangely: Is switched to OFF after bootup, 
then comes back into life lateron w/o any interference on my side. There's 
no way to access the settings before it comes to life: Message is "Due to an 
unidentified problem, Windows cannot display Windows Firewall settings." 
I've replaced it meanwhile with ZA in order to keep the machine safe.

My main question though is: Inside the network connections window everything 
is behaving like dead. Can't get a status, can't disable or re-activate it, 
can't use the menu, or even close this window. After some time, things may 
work again like expected. But whenever I open the window again, it is 
sluggish or rather 'dead' as before. The network connection is working fine 
however.

I've checked the whole machine with several anti-malware progs sofar, which 
did remove a few chunks of the infamous 'AntiVirus 2006' scam. Otherwise the 
machine seems to be clean as can be ...

I've also deleted the onboard network adapter and let it re-install at 
bootup again, now the connection is fine again, but the same problems 
prevail. I've also run sfc/ scannow without any noticable effect.

Does any of you have an idea as to what else I could do?

Tilman 



From jonpan at onlinehome.de  Tue Jun  9 05:44:20 2009
From: jonpan at onlinehome.de (Jon)
Date: Tue, 9 Jun 2009 11:44:20 +0200
Subject: TSGL: XP network connections window pretty dead
References: <4ED4CF4A0EB2472CBB5382F58EC83C72@BraNeb>
Message-ID: <9218366C4F334DCA9BA1AE888B0846FE@johnsp2>

Empty Prefetch, try a System Restore or ERUNT registry restore from before the problem.

Be happy it's your wife's PC and not your wife behaving strangely?

Tsch?ss,

John
Od/G

P.S. After running SFC, do you still have all the updates, hotfixes on the system?


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Tilman Brandl 
To: Tech Support Guy Mailing List 
Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2009 4:30 AM
Subject: TSGL: XP network connections window pretty dead


Hi,

on my wife's PC I'm having difficulties - most things work fine, but e.g. 
the Windows firewall behaves strangely: Is switched to OFF after bootup, 
then comes back into life lateron w/o any interference on my side. There's 
no way to access the settings before it comes to life: Message is "Due to an 
unidentified problem, Windows cannot display Windows Firewall settings." 
I've replaced it meanwhile with ZA in order to keep the machine safe.

My main question though is: Inside the network connections window everything 
is behaving like dead. Can't get a status, can't disable or re-activate it, 
can't use the menu, or even close this window. After some time, things may 
work again like expected. But whenever I open the window again, it is 
sluggish or rather 'dead' as before. The network connection is working fine 
however.

I've checked the whole machine with several anti-malware progs sofar, which 
did remove a few chunks of the infamous 'AntiVirus 2006' scam. Otherwise the 
machine seems to be clean as can be ...

I've also deleted the onboard network adapter and let it re-install at 
bootup again, now the connection is fine again, but the same problems 
prevail. I've also run sfc/ scannow without any noticable effect.

Does any of you have an idea as to what else I could do?

Tilman 


_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/

From tbrandl2 at chello.at  Tue Jun  9 20:38:01 2009
From: tbrandl2 at chello.at (Tilman Brandl)
Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:38:01 +0200
Subject: TSGL: XP network connections window pretty dead
In-Reply-To: <9218366C4F334DCA9BA1AE888B0846FE@johnsp2>
References: <4ED4CF4A0EB2472CBB5382F58EC83C72@BraNeb>
	<9218366C4F334DCA9BA1AE888B0846FE@johnsp2>
Message-ID: <4A2C70CD7E2E4CAAAA4590696A882FA6@BraNeb>

John,

I should have mentioned this before: I've asked questions about this 
situation in the malware forum on majorgeeks before and already did a lot of 
things they suggested, since I thought this all came from a virus infection. 
There were anyhow too many changes latelyon this machine, and I wouldn't 
know to where I should go back with a restore. My wife didn't find out about 
the problems, but I did during a maintenance session, so I have no idea when 
this all started. Unfortunately there are no recent ERUNT backups, none that 
I think could help (and won't make things worse) ...

Guess I could try the prefetch thing, one never knows ...

Generally I came to believe that there actually WAS an infection, one which 
AVG didn't catch. What I now see probably is remnants like changed and 
messed up settings.

>Be happy it's your wife's PC and not your wife behaving strangely?<
LOL. IF she ever does, she's by no means the only one - we have been taking 
our turns during the last 28 years or so  ;-)

Cheers
Tilman

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jon" <jonpan at onlinehome.de>
To: "Tech Support Guy Mailing List" <list at tsgserver.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2009 11:44 AM
Subject: Re: TSGL: XP network connections window pretty dead


Empty Prefetch, try a System Restore or ERUNT registry restore from before 
the problem.

Be happy it's your wife's PC and not your wife behaving strangely?

Tsch?ss,

John
Od/G

P.S. After running SFC, do you still have all the updates, hotfixes on the 
system?

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Tilman Brandl
To: Tech Support Guy Mailing List
Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2009 4:30 AM
Subject: TSGL: XP network connections window pretty dead


Hi,

on my wife's PC I'm having difficulties - most things work fine, but e.g.
the Windows firewall behaves strangely: Is switched to OFF after bootup,
then comes back into life lateron w/o any interference on my side. There's
no way to access the settings before it comes to life: Message is "Due to an
unidentified problem, Windows cannot display Windows Firewall settings."
I've replaced it meanwhile with ZA in order to keep the machine safe.

My main question though is: Inside the network connections window everything
is behaving like dead. Can't get a status, can't disable or re-activate it,
can't use the menu, or even close this window. After some time, things may
work again like expected. But whenever I open the window again, it is
sluggish or rather 'dead' as before. The network connection is working fine
however.

I've checked the whole machine with several anti-malware progs sofar, which
did remove a few chunks of the infamous 'AntiVirus 2006' scam. Otherwise the
machine seems to be clean as can be ...

I've also deleted the onboard network adapter and let it re-install at
bootup again, now the connection is fine again, but the same problems
prevail. I've also run sfc/ scannow without any noticable effect.

Does any of you have an idea as to what else I could do?

Tilman



From rbrunton at accesswave.ca  Sun Jun 14 08:12:51 2009
From: rbrunton at accesswave.ca (Ron Brunton)
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 2009 09:12:51 -0300
Subject: TSGL: Default edit program
In-Reply-To: <004201c9bd68$f1b3a320$0401a8c0@number12>
References: <18030D5313C149C9988E613EA72CA336@ACERASPIRE>
	<613DE191AD134748B1537291BBC69099@AcerPC>
	<BB8AA54DFE1F4F1193EE201E3752CD6A@micron>
	<004201c9bd68$f1b3a320$0401a8c0@number12>
Message-ID: <000001c9ece9$70c9ac90$525d05b0$@ca>

Good morning all.

I'm puzzled by a task that shouldn't be too difficult, but the solution
eludes me. When I right-click on a file, in this particular case, an HTML
file, a context menu appears and one of the choices is "Edit". At the
moment, "Edit" opens the file in MS Word. As many of you know, Word is
absolutely NOT a good HTML editor. It sticks in all kinds of XML junk that
is completely unnecessary and bloats the file. I have an assortment of
programs that do a much better job of editing HTML and HTM files. 

My question is, how can I make one of these other programs the default
choice for the "Edit" option of the context menu in Windows?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Ron


======================================================
"Humans are so interesting. Did you know that in a universe of such
extraordinary wonders, they have managed to invent boredom?" Death
(Hogfather - Terry Pratchet)
=======================================================


 

__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature
database 4153 (20090613) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com
 



From deepend at tpg.com.au  Sun Jun 14 10:15:14 2009
From: deepend at tpg.com.au (Don Penlington)
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:15:14 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Default edit program
In-Reply-To: <000001c9ece9$70c9ac90$525d05b0$@ca>
References: <004201c9bd68$f1b3a320$0401a8c0@number12>
	<18030D5313C149C9988E613EA72CA336@ACERASPIRE>
	<613DE191AD134748B1537291BBC69099@AcerPC>
	<BB8AA54DFE1F4F1193EE201E3752CD6A@micron>
	<004201c9bd68$f1b3a320$0401a8c0@number12>
Message-ID: <4.3.2.20090614235211.00c70f38@mail.tpg.com.au>

Ron wrote:
>how can I make one of these other programs the default
>choice for the "Edit" option of the context menu in Windows?>>

There are at least 4 ways.

1. If the right click menu shows "open with", then use that, and tick the 
box "Always use this program" when you select the appropriate prog. The 
trouble with using this method is that by associating html files with your 
editor, they won't then open in the browser by default.

If right click does not have this option, then open Word options and 
deselect its default edit association with html.

2. A better option is to put the program of your choice (lets say Editplus 
as an example) directly into the right click menu. This involves and very 
simple and safe registry edit. You'll find the step-by-step instructions on 
my web tutorials at
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/rightmenu.html. Even though I originally 
wrote this for W95, it still holds good for all later versions of Windows.

(See also http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/ext.html and 
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/fileextensions.html for other methods.)

Editplus will then appear in the right click context menu.

3. You may be able to set the default edit prog by opening any folder, 
select Tools/Folder Options/File Types and scrolling down to html/edit. You 
can then change the default software.

4. You can set your own file associations for particular subclasses of 
files by renaming the extension to say .ron and then setting a special file 
association just for that file-type. But this is probably not what you want 
in this instance.

No 2 is the best option for setting any context menu items, though it does 
initially involve a little more work to set up in the registry.  For anyone 
not familiar with registry editing, it's a good place to start. If you mess 
up, it won't do any harm---the option just won't work.

Don Penlington



From rbrunton at accesswave.ca  Sun Jun 14 13:03:11 2009
From: rbrunton at accesswave.ca (Ron Brunton)
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:03:11 -0300
Subject: TSGL: Default edit program
In-Reply-To: <4.3.2.20090614235211.00c70f38@mail.tpg.com.au>
References: <004201c9bd68$f1b3a320$0401a8c0@number12>
	<18030D5313C149C9988E613EA72CA336@ACERASPIRE>
	<613DE191AD134748B1537291BBC69099@AcerPC>
	<BB8AA54DFE1F4F1193EE201E3752CD6A@micron>
	<004201c9bd68$f1b3a320$0401a8c0@number12>
	<4.3.2.20090614235211.00c70f38@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <000901c9ed11$ff790d00$fe6b2700$@ca>

Thanks Don,

You brought to the surface one of the challenges that I didn't include in my
initial post. I want to be able to use the context menu "Edit" function
programmatically (using ShellExecute(NULL, "edit", sItem, NULL, NULL,
SW_SHOW) where sItem is a string that contains the file to be edited). In
order for this to work, "edit" must point to the right program. Option 3
seems to be the logical one to take, however I can't find "File Types" as an
option (I'm using Vista. I vaguely recall this as an option in XP and I went
looking for it before posting and couldn't find it. You refreshed my memory
of where to find it, but "there it was - gone!").

I wrote the paragraph above and then looked again at what you had written
and then at the tutorial for "rightmenu" below. What I found in the
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT was an item called "htmlfile" and expanded this to see
"Shell" as a subkey and below that "Edit" and "Command". Under "Command" I
found the path to Office Word. I replaced that with the path to the program
I want to use and things now seem to work the way I want them to.

This is another example where the specific answer was a result of the
feedback from someone on the list. 

Thanks again Don. Great help!

Ron

-----Original Message-----
From: list-bounces at tsgserver.com [mailto:list-bounces at tsgserver.com] On
Behalf Of Don Penlington
Sent: June-14-09 11:15 AM
To: Tech Support Guy Mailing List
Subject: TSGL: Default edit program

Ron wrote:
>how can I make one of these other programs the default
>choice for the "Edit" option of the context menu in Windows?>>

There are at least 4 ways.

1. If the right click menu shows "open with", then use that, and tick the 
box "Always use this program" when you select the appropriate prog. The 
trouble with using this method is that by associating html files with your 
editor, they won't then open in the browser by default.

If right click does not have this option, then open Word options and 
deselect its default edit association with html.

2. A better option is to put the program of your choice (lets say Editplus 
as an example) directly into the right click menu. This involves and very 
simple and safe registry edit. You'll find the step-by-step instructions on 
my web tutorials at
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/rightmenu.html. Even though I originally 
wrote this for W95, it still holds good for all later versions of Windows.

(See also http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/ext.html and 
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/fileextensions.html for other methods.)

Editplus will then appear in the right click context menu.

3. You may be able to set the default edit prog by opening any folder, 
select Tools/Folder Options/File Types and scrolling down to html/edit. You 
can then change the default software.

4. You can set your own file associations for particular subclasses of 
files by renaming the extension to say .ron and then setting a special file 
association just for that file-type. But this is probably not what you want 
in this instance.

No 2 is the best option for setting any context menu items, though it does 
initially involve a little more work to set up in the registry.  For anyone 
not familiar with registry editing, it's a good place to start. If you mess 
up, it won't do any harm---the option just won't work.

Don Penlington


_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/

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database 4153 (20090613) __________

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The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

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From deepend at tpg.com.au  Sun Jun 14 20:10:52 2009
From: deepend at tpg.com.au (Don Penlington)
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:10:52 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Default edit program
In-Reply-To: <000901c9ed11$ff790d00$fe6b2700$@ca>
References: <4.3.2.20090614235211.00c70f38@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<004201c9bd68$f1b3a320$0401a8c0@number12>
	<18030D5313C149C9988E613EA72CA336@ACERASPIRE>
	<613DE191AD134748B1537291BBC69099@AcerPC>
	<BB8AA54DFE1F4F1193EE201E3752CD6A@micron>
	<004201c9bd68$f1b3a320$0401a8c0@number12>
	<4.3.2.20090614235211.00c70f38@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <4.3.2.20090615095839.00c6f0b0@mail.tpg.com.au>

Ron wrote:
>I'm using Vista. I vaguely recall this as an option in XP and I went
>looking for it before posting and couldn't find it. You refreshed my memory
>of where to find it, but "there it was - gone!")>>


Here's the Vista method:

"For Windows Vista There are two ways:Method #1 (on the fly):
Right-click a file of the type you want to change, and select Properties.
In the General tab, click the Change button.
Choose a program from the list, or click Browse to select an .EXE file on 
your hard disk.
Method #2 (view a list of file types):
Open Control Panel.
In Control Panel Home, click Programs, and then click Make a file type 
always open in a specific program.Or, in the Classic View, open Default 
Programs and then click Associate a file type or protocol with a program.
Highlight a file type in the list and click Change Program. "

More detail here, where the author had exactly same problem:

http://www.askstudent.com/tips/how-to-change-filetype-associations-in-windows-vista-xp-2000-and-98-fast-and-easy/

For those who don't want to mess with the registry manually, there are some 
interesting free tools here, including one called "Filetypes" for managing 
file associations which might do the trick---I haven't used it myself.
http://www.primaltools.com/downloads/communitytools/

Don Penlington




From embitt at westnet.com.au  Mon Jun 15 02:17:33 2009
From: embitt at westnet.com.au (Merna Bitter)
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:17:33 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Xenu's Link Sleuth
Message-ID: <003201c9ed81$49376120$0401a8c0@number12>

I am manually cleaning and sorting Favorites.

Near the bottom of the following page (alphabetized -- Xenu v1.2d) --
http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/WoundedMoon/win32_freeware.html  --
are links to:

(a)    "Download" that version of Xenu's Link Sleuth --
http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/WoundedMoon/files/xenu.zip

(b)    "Info/Screenshots of that version --
http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/WoundedMoon/win32/xenu.html

and

(c)    "Author's site (newer version)" --
http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html

Going to (c), I note the current version available there is "1.3c from April
25th, 2009" and the author is NOT "our" Tilman.

However, it did remind me once again that "our" Tilman was looking for a
bookmark checker last year.  Xenu's Link Sleuth might be of interest to him
and/or others, even if it's not what was required.

Other downloads available from links at:
http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/WoundedMoon/

And at http://home.snafu.de/tilman/tilman.html we read:

"The Tilman link page
This page is dedicated to the fine people whose first name is "Tilman", or
whose last name is "Hausherr". No people with alternative spelling allowed.
Feel free to add this page in your list of useless pages - but it's here to
stay! "

Merna



From tbrandl2 at chello.at  Mon Jun 15 20:41:36 2009
From: tbrandl2 at chello.at (Tilman Brandl)
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:41:36 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Xenu's Link Sleuth + bookmarks checker
References: <003201c9ed81$49376120$0401a8c0@number12>
Message-ID: <024a01c9ee1b$37c42960$0601a8c0@til4200>

Merna,

there are only very few persons named Tilman - globally. Still, I'm not the author of Xenu's Link Sleuth  ;-)
(My name btw has roots different from what Tilman Hausherr mentions - it goes back to the old High German word diet (=people, nation) which in turn is also the root for Dieter/Dietrich, a related name.) 

Link Sleuth btw is a different kind of software compared to what I was searching earlier: It's testing webpages for broken links, while I wanted to check my bookmark collection for duplicates and broken links.

Last time when I asked for ideas re. bookmarks testing/filtering software I startet trial runs with a few of the programs suggested, but later had to give up digging through all my links. Reason: I've got some 3500 links in about 270 directories. I've found that there's no way to totally automate the filtering process. What can be done with appropriate software, and what I did to some extent is (1) filtering out broken links and (2) deleting doublettes. I've still a bunch of broken links where I would like to find replacements - this too can only be done one link at the time and manually. I thought I would have enough time for these tasks after retirement. I was wrong ...

Tilman

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Merna Bitter" <embitt at westnet.com.au>
To: <list at tsgserver.com>
Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 8:17 AM
Subject: TSGL: Xenu's Link Sleuth


>I am manually cleaning and sorting Favorites.
> 
> Near the bottom of the following page (alphabetized -- Xenu v1.2d) --
> http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/WoundedMoon/win32_freeware.html  --
> are links to:
> 
> (a)    "Download" that version of Xenu's Link Sleuth --
> http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/WoundedMoon/files/xenu.zip
> 
> (b)    "Info/Screenshots of that version --
> http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/WoundedMoon/win32/xenu.html
> 
> and
> 
> (c)    "Author's site (newer version)" --
> http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html
> 
> Going to (c), I note the current version available there is "1.3c from April
> 25th, 2009" and the author is NOT "our" Tilman.
> 
> However, it did remind me once again that "our" Tilman was looking for a
> bookmark checker last year.  Xenu's Link Sleuth might be of interest to him
> and/or others, even if it's not what was required.
> 
> Other downloads available from links at:
> http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/WoundedMoon/
> 
> And at http://home.snafu.de/tilman/tilman.html we read:
> 
> "The Tilman link page
> This page is dedicated to the fine people whose first name is "Tilman", or
> whose last name is "Hausherr". No people with alternative spelling allowed.
> Feel free to add this page in your list of useless pages - but it's here to
> stay! "
> 
> Merna



From deepend at tpg.com.au  Tue Jun 16 03:59:32 2009
From: deepend at tpg.com.au (Don Penlington)
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:59:32 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer
Message-ID: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>

With some trepidation, I'm about to build my first computer.

Although I've replaced many components on various computers over the last 
few years, I've never actually built one from scratch.

I'm retaining the old case and 2 hard drives, Sata1 and Sata2, but 
everything else is being replaced, (Asus P5PKL-AM mobo, Intel dualcore 
E5200, 2Gb Kingston RAM---just basic, nothing fancy).

My questions are:

1. Is it best to insert the dualcore chip and memory sticks into the mobo 
before or after screwing the mobo into the case?  It would appear to be a 
whole lot easier to assemble as much as possible before placing it in the case.

If so, as I don't own an antistatic mat, should I support the mobo in any 
special way while assembling the components? Lay it flat on an old mouse pad?

2. Would it make much real difference whether I install XP onto either the 
Sata1 or Sata2 drive? I believe Sata2 is a higher transfer rate, but I 
wonder if it would make any real-life difference which one contains the OS. 
It would be easier to load it into the Sata1 drive because that's the way 
it is at the moment. But it's not much hassle to switch to the Sata2 drive 
if that would result in better performance. In either case, I'll be 
reformatting the OS partition anyway.

3. Any other precautions or traps for the uncouth and unwary? I was 
proposing to plug the case with power supply into the wall (switched off of 
course), wearing rubber soles and grounding myself to the case by touching 
it, but not by wrist-strap. That way, I may just get time to jump clear if 
there's a loud bang and a lot of smoke.

Don Penlington



From jonpan at onlinehome.de  Tue Jun 16 05:17:20 2009
From: jonpan at onlinehome.de (Jon)
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:17:20 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <F6A37A1B0FCA43CDB0034C92C9752D71@johnsp2>

1.  Before.
    Put it on the silvery bag it comes in.

2. Don't know.

3. I wouldn't plug in the PSU.
   Connect the case to ground and touch some unlacquered part of the case before you install     anything. Work slowly and check, check, check.

Good luck - it will be fine!

John
Od/G

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Don Penlington 
To: 'Tech Support Guy Mailing List' 
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 9:59 AM
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer


With some trepidation, I'm about to build my first computer.

Although I've replaced many components on various computers over the last 
few years, I've never actually built one from scratch.

I'm retaining the old case and 2 hard drives, Sata1 and Sata2, but 
everything else is being replaced, (Asus P5PKL-AM mobo, Intel dualcore 
E5200, 2Gb Kingston RAM---just basic, nothing fancy).

My questions are:

1. Is it best to insert the dualcore chip and memory sticks into the mobo 
before or after screwing the mobo into the case?  It would appear to be a 
whole lot easier to assemble as much as possible before placing it in the case.

If so, as I don't own an antistatic mat, should I support the mobo in any 
special way while assembling the components? Lay it flat on an old mouse pad?

2. Would it make much real difference whether I install XP onto either the 
Sata1 or Sata2 drive? I believe Sata2 is a higher transfer rate, but I 
wonder if it would make any real-life difference which one contains the OS. 
It would be easier to load it into the Sata1 drive because that's the way 
it is at the moment. But it's not much hassle to switch to the Sata2 drive 
if that would result in better performance. In either case, I'll be 
reformatting the OS partition anyway.

3. Any other precautions or traps for the uncouth and unwary? I was 
proposing to plug the case with power supply into the wall (switched off of 
course), wearing rubber soles and grounding myself to the case by touching 
it, but not by wrist-strap. That way, I may just get time to jump clear if 
there's a loud bang and a lot of smoke.

Don Penlington


_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/

From tbrandl2 at chello.at  Tue Jun 16 07:48:01 2009
From: tbrandl2 at chello.at (Tilman Brandl)
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:48:01 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <028201c9ee78$53c1b620$0601a8c0@til4200>

Don,

just my little experience from the repair work I did recently changing a mobo and heat sink:

1. I would by all means attach the chip + heat sink before putting the mobo into the case. MUCH easier. Memory works well both ways, it's quite easy to insert it with the mobo already inside the case. 

Re. antistatic: Dont't lay it flat on your (synthetic) carpet - if you have one. Use the bag, like Jon suggests. 

2. I just don't know, but I believe you won't notice the difference between sata1 + sata2, performance-wise

3. As to other traps: I found it a bit intimidating checking out the FSB/multiplier jumpers etc. and their correct positions. So I spent most of the time that whole affair took me with checking + rechecking the manual and references on the internet. But this may just be me, who learned electronics back then using tubes and coils etc. I actually saw my first transistor during schoolyears 4 to 5 ;-)) The teacher we had, didn't like them ...

Wish you good luck!

Tilman

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Penlington" <deepend at tpg.com.au>
To: "'Tech Support Guy Mailing List'" <list at tsgserver.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 9:59 AM
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer


> With some trepidation, I'm about to build my first computer.
> 
> Although I've replaced many components on various computers over the last 
> few years, I've never actually built one from scratch.
> 
> I'm retaining the old case and 2 hard drives, Sata1 and Sata2, but 
> everything else is being replaced, (Asus P5PKL-AM mobo, Intel dualcore 
> E5200, 2Gb Kingston RAM---just basic, nothing fancy).
> 
> My questions are:
> 
> 1. Is it best to insert the dualcore chip and memory sticks into the mobo 
> before or after screwing the mobo into the case?  It would appear to be a 
> whole lot easier to assemble as much as possible before placing it in the case.
> 
> If so, as I don't own an antistatic mat, should I support the mobo in any 
> special way while assembling the components? Lay it flat on an old mouse pad?
> 
> 2. Would it make much real difference whether I install XP onto either the 
> Sata1 or Sata2 drive? I believe Sata2 is a higher transfer rate, but I 
> wonder if it would make any real-life difference which one contains the OS. 
> It would be easier to load it into the Sata1 drive because that's the way 
> it is at the moment. But it's not much hassle to switch to the Sata2 drive 
> if that would result in better performance. In either case, I'll be 
> reformatting the OS partition anyway.
> 
> 3. Any other precautions or traps for the uncouth and unwary? I was 
> proposing to plug the case with power supply into the wall (switched off of 
> course), wearing rubber soles and grounding myself to the case by touching 
> it, but not by wrist-strap. That way, I may just get time to jump clear if 
> there's a loud bang and a lot of smoke.
> 
> Don Penlington



From deepend at tpg.com.au  Tue Jun 16 08:39:13 2009
From: deepend at tpg.com.au (Don Penlington)
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:39:13 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer
In-Reply-To: <028201c9ee78$53c1b620$0601a8c0@til4200>
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au>

Tilman wrote:
>I found it a bit intimidating checking out the FSB/multiplier jumpers etc. 
>and their correct positions>>


Where are these?

Don Penlington




From jonpan at onlinehome.de  Tue Jun 16 09:18:53 2009
From: jonpan at onlinehome.de (Jon)
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:18:53 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <83B54A39E1AD4A02840C8CC9D1C4CD53@johnsp2>

Different jumper positions for the various MoBos, but it's all in the handbook that comes with it. Don't fret - "today is the tomorrow you were worrying about yesterday and all is well"

John
Od/G

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Don Penlington 
To: Tech Support Guy Mailing List 
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 2:39 PM
Subject: Re: TSGL: Building new computer


Tilman wrote:
>I found it a bit intimidating checking out the FSB/multiplier jumpers etc. 
>and their correct positions>>


Where are these?

Don Penlington



_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/

From tbrandl2 at chello.at  Tue Jun 16 09:43:58 2009
From: tbrandl2 at chello.at (Tilman Brandl)
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:43:58 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <029101c9ee88$834b8fa0$0601a8c0@til4200>

>>I found it a bit intimidating checking out the FSB/multiplier jumpers etc. 
>>and their correct positions>>
> 
> Where are these?

Often they are spread somewhere over the motherboard (like with the ASRock in my case). But in your case I believe the BIOS will autodetect the settings it needs, based on the CPU you plug in. So I guess you can relax ;-))
Your ASUS mobo I think also has a pretty good manual - so you shouldn't run into any problems.

Tilman
(keeping his fingers crossed)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Penlington" <deepend at tpg.com.au>
To: "Tech Support Guy Mailing List" <list at tsgserver.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 2:39 PM
Subject: Re: TSGL: Building new computer


> Tilman wrote:
>>I found it a bit intimidating checking out the FSB/multiplier jumpers etc. 
>>and their correct positions>>
> 
> 
> Where are these?
> 
> Don Penlington



From coover at fastmail.fm  Tue Jun 16 15:40:21 2009
From: coover at fastmail.fm (Russell W. Coover)
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:40:21 -0700
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer
In-Reply-To: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <0E63589E031D466293B27606DCBFCE3D@AcerPC>

The other guys have pretty much answered your questions except for the
SATA1/SATA2. Theoretically, the SATA2 drive should be faster than the SATA1
drive, so any files the computer needs to use or you request to open should
open or run faster if they are on the SATA2 drive. I doubt, however, that
you will be able to notice much or any difference (unless you are running
certain video games). But the computer you are assembling, while it would
run games well, would not be fast enough for the most demanding gamers, so I
assume it will not be a "gaming" computer. 

Russ Coover

-----Original Message-----
From: list-bounces at tsgserver.com [mailto:list-bounces at tsgserver.com] On
Behalf Of Don Penlington
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 1:00 AM
To: 'Tech Support Guy Mailing List'
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer

With some trepidation, I'm about to build my first computer.

Although I've replaced many components on various computers over the last 
few years, I've never actually built one from scratch.

I'm retaining the old case and 2 hard drives, Sata1 and Sata2, but 
everything else is being replaced, (Asus P5PKL-AM mobo, Intel dualcore 
E5200, 2Gb Kingston RAM---just basic, nothing fancy).

My questions are:

1. Is it best to insert the dualcore chip and memory sticks into the mobo 
before or after screwing the mobo into the case?  It would appear to be a 
whole lot easier to assemble as much as possible before placing it in the
case.

If so, as I don't own an antistatic mat, should I support the mobo in any 
special way while assembling the components? Lay it flat on an old mouse
pad?

2. Would it make much real difference whether I install XP onto either the 
Sata1 or Sata2 drive? I believe Sata2 is a higher transfer rate, but I 
wonder if it would make any real-life difference which one contains the OS. 
It would be easier to load it into the Sata1 drive because that's the way 
it is at the moment. But it's not much hassle to switch to the Sata2 drive 
if that would result in better performance. In either case, I'll be 
reformatting the OS partition anyway.

3. Any other precautions or traps for the uncouth and unwary? I was 
proposing to plug the case with power supply into the wall (switched off of 
course), wearing rubber soles and grounding myself to the case by touching 
it, but not by wrist-strap. That way, I may just get time to jump clear if 
there's a loud bang and a lot of smoke.

Don Penlington


_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/



From deepend at tpg.com.au  Tue Jun 16 17:17:00 2009
From: deepend at tpg.com.au (Don Penlington)
Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2009 07:17:00 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer
In-Reply-To: <0E63589E031D466293B27606DCBFCE3D@AcerPC>
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <4.3.2.20090617065348.00c7e2c0@mail.tpg.com.au>

Russ wrote:
>I assume it will not be a "gaming" computer. >>


Correct. Its main usage will be looking after you guys and gals.

Maybe, on 2nd thoughts, "Doom" might be appropriate.

I haven't noticed any difference between the 2 drives in their current 
usage---the Sata2 drive holds only data, mainly photos. XP and all programs 
are on the Sata1 drive, being older.

I suppose it would really make more sense to install XP on the newer drive 
(they're both the same nominal speed). I'll think more about that.

(Off-topic)
  I've just returned from a trip to Kuala Lumpur, where I bought the new 
computer bits from an elderly Chinese computer tech who, surrounded by 
computers, does all his financial calculations on an abacus. He gave me a 
calculator and challenged me to a dual. He had the answers before I could 
even dial in the numbers! He did admit that his abacus wasn't so good at 
internet browsing or gaming.

Kuala Lumpur is a fabulous modern city---we've nothing remotely up to that 
standard in Australia. My report and photos here, for anyone thinking of 
going. Scroll down to the KL link.

http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html

Don Penlington



 From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
Computer tutorials, local scenery,  and other things at my website:
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html



From deepend at tpg.com.au  Tue Jun 16 17:25:02 2009
From: deepend at tpg.com.au (Don Penlington)
Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2009 07:25:02 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer
In-Reply-To: <029101c9ee88$834b8fa0$0601a8c0@til4200>
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <4.3.2.20090617011618.00c70548@mail.tpg.com.au>

Tilman wrote:
>Your ASUS mobo I think also has a pretty good manual >>


Well, it all looks pretty straightforward. In theory, anyway. It's the bits 
they miss out, probably assuming that the user has some basic intelligence, 
that worries me.

If you never hear from me again, it's because either I or my beloved 
computer (or more likely both) have plastered themselves all over the local 
landscape in a spectacular, albeit somewhat messy, explosion rivalling that 
of a local nuclear testing ground.

Thx Jon and Tilman and Russ for your help and encouragement so far.

Don Penlington

 From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
Computer tutorials, local scenery,  and other things at my website:
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html



From hdavis1 at gmail.com  Tue Jun 16 20:55:17 2009
From: hdavis1 at gmail.com (H Davis)
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:55:17 -0400
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer
In-Reply-To: <4.3.2.20090617065348.00c7e2c0@mail.tpg.com.au>
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>	<4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090617065348.00c7e2c0@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <4A383EF5.90608@gmail.com>

Hi Don,

I took your KL tour and enjoyed your photos. I never saw a place as 
clean as KL appears to be.

Your story about the vendor with the abacus reminded me of a TV piece I 
saw recently about some smart Chinese kids that did their arithmetic on 
an abacus. The _really_ smart ones had given up the physical abacus and, 
still manipulating their fingers on the non-existent device, would get 
the answer just as quickly and accurately.

H Davis

Don Penlington wrote:
> Russ wrote:
>> I assume it will not be a "gaming" computer. >>
>
>
> Correct. Its main usage will be looking after you guys and gals.
>
> Maybe, on 2nd thoughts, "Doom" might be appropriate.
>
> I haven't noticed any difference between the 2 drives in their current 
> usage---the Sata2 drive holds only data, mainly photos. XP and all 
> programs are on the Sata1 drive, being older.
>
> I suppose it would really make more sense to install XP on the newer 
> drive (they're both the same nominal speed). I'll think more about that.
>
> (Off-topic)
>  I've just returned from a trip to Kuala Lumpur, where I bought the 
> new computer bits from an elderly Chinese computer tech who, 
> surrounded by computers, does all his financial calculations on an 
> abacus. He gave me a calculator and challenged me to a dual. He had 
> the answers before I could even dial in the numbers! He did admit that 
> his abacus wasn't so good at internet browsing or gaming.
>
> Kuala Lumpur is a fabulous modern city---we've nothing remotely up to 
> that standard in Australia. My report and photos here, for anyone 
> thinking of going. Scroll down to the KL link.
>
> http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html
>
> Don Penlington
>
>
>
> From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
> Computer tutorials, local scenery,  and other things at my website:
> http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>

-- 
H Davis   hdavis1 at gmail.com


From embitt at westnet.com.au  Wed Jun 17 04:47:41 2009
From: embitt at westnet.com.au (Merna Bitter)
Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:47:41 +1000
Subject: TSGL: off topic - Kuala Lumpur - was (Don's) Building new computer
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>	<4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au><4.3.2.20090617065348.00c7e2c0@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4A383EF5.90608@gmail.com>
Message-ID: <003401c9ef28$4b4652c0$0401a8c0@number12>

Thanks for the KL photos, Don.  From 1998 through last year we went to
Malaysia several times, mostly visiting KL and/or Penang, but also Malacca
and Genting on some of the trips.  We started with Malaysian Airlines, then
with Jetstar, and finally (last year) with Air Asia.  We have stayed in
various hotels in KL, our first two times at the Corus in the Twin Towers
area and our last two at the Hotel Nova in Bukit Bintang.

Your mention of the sheik reminded me of an incident on our last trip.  We
were walking and couldn't find a building on our map.  We stopped at one of
the fancier hotels in the relevant neighbourhood to use the toilets and
check our bearings.  When we came out of the hotel, I asked the man who was
in charge of the taxis (an Indian) how much further it was to our
destination.  He pointed us in the right direction and then asked if we were
staying at the hotel.  I said, "No, this is out of our price range -- we're
staying at the Nova in Bukit Bintang."

He then told me that all the prices were higher at the moment "because the
Arabs are in town.  When they leave next week, the prices will come down
again."

I could go on for pages, but too much off-topic material would not be
appreciated.  Suffice to say that obviously I'd recommend Malaysia for a
holiday.  (Personally we always preferred Penang to KL.)

Merna


----- Original Message -----
From: "H Davis" <hdavis1 at gmail.com>
To: "Tech Support Guy Mailing List" <list at tsgserver.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 10:55 AM
Subject: Re: TSGL: Building new computer


Hi Don,

I took your KL tour and enjoyed your photos. I never saw a place as
clean as KL appears to be.

Your story about the vendor with the abacus reminded me of a TV piece I
saw recently about some smart Chinese kids that did their arithmetic on
an abacus. The _really_ smart ones had given up the physical abacus and,
still manipulating their fingers on the non-existent device, would get
the answer just as quickly and accurately.

H Davis

Don Penlington wrote:
> Russ wrote:
>> I assume it will not be a "gaming" computer. >>
>
>
> Correct. Its main usage will be looking after you guys and gals.
>
> Maybe, on 2nd thoughts, "Doom" might be appropriate.
>
> I haven't noticed any difference between the 2 drives in their current
> usage---the Sata2 drive holds only data, mainly photos. XP and all
> programs are on the Sata1 drive, being older.
>
> I suppose it would really make more sense to install XP on the newer
> drive (they're both the same nominal speed). I'll think more about that.
>
> (Off-topic)
>  I've just returned from a trip to Kuala Lumpur, where I bought the
> new computer bits from an elderly Chinese computer tech who,
> surrounded by computers, does all his financial calculations on an
> abacus. He gave me a calculator and challenged me to a dual. He had
> the answers before I could even dial in the numbers! He did admit that
> his abacus wasn't so good at internet browsing or gaming.
>
> Kuala Lumpur is a fabulous modern city---we've nothing remotely up to
> that standard in Australia. My report and photos here, for anyone
> thinking of going. Scroll down to the KL link.
>
> http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html
>
> Don Penlington
>
>
>
> From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
> Computer tutorials, local scenery,  and other things at my website:
> http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>

--
H Davis   hdavis1 at gmail.com

_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/



From deepend at tpg.com.au  Wed Jun 17 05:12:29 2009
From: deepend at tpg.com.au (Don Penlington)
Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:12:29 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer
In-Reply-To: <4A383EF5.90608@gmail.com>
References: <4.3.2.20090617065348.00c7e2c0@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090617065348.00c7e2c0@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <4.3.2.20090617190223.00c4faf8@mail.tpg.com.au>

At 08:55 PM 6/16/2009 -0400, you wrote:
>enjoyed your photos. I never saw a place as clean as KL appears to be.>>


Thx for your kind words of encouragement.

Yes, KL is very clean, though like any large city (pop 3.2m) it does have 
some less attractive parts. The small river (little more than a creek) 
which runs thru parts of the city looks like an open sewer---a shame when 
it could easily be beautified. Mostly it just looks like a concrete drain. 
There are still slum areas on the outskirts of the city, though it looks 
like many are earmarked for development.

The whole inner city is criss-crossed with new freeways and transport 
systems, and I saw very few traffic holdups even during rush hour. 
Something Sydney could learn a lot from.

I found a week there wasn't nearly long enough, and hope to return maybe 
next year. Everything's so cheap, you could live like royalty on an Aust 
pension. I'm quite tempted!

Don




From embitt at westnet.com.au  Wed Jun 17 09:12:29 2009
From: embitt at westnet.com.au (Merna Bitter)
Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:12:29 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer
References: <4.3.2.20090617065348.00c7e2c0@mail.tpg.com.au><4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au><4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au><4.3.2.20090617065348.00c7e2c0@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090617190223.00c4faf8@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <000a01c9ef4d$4d1aebe0$0401a8c0@number12>

Malaysia My Second Home Programme
http://www.mm2h.gov.my/

Merna


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Penlington" <deepend at tpg.com.au>
To: "Tech Support Guy Mailing List" <list at tsgserver.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 7:12 PM
Subject: Re: TSGL: Building new computer


At 08:55 PM 6/16/2009 -0400, you wrote:
>enjoyed your photos. I never saw a place as clean as KL appears to be.>>


Thx for your kind words of encouragement.

Yes, KL is very clean, though like any large city (pop 3.2m) it does have 
some less attractive parts. The small river (little more than a creek) 
which runs thru parts of the city looks like an open sewer---a shame when 
it could easily be beautified. Mostly it just looks like a concrete drain. 
There are still slum areas on the outskirts of the city, though it looks 
like many are earmarked for development.

The whole inner city is criss-crossed with new freeways and transport 
systems, and I saw very few traffic holdups even during rush hour. 
Something Sydney could learn a lot from.

I found a week there wasn't nearly long enough, and hope to return maybe 
next year. Everything's so cheap, you could live like royalty on an Aust 
pension. I'm quite tempted!

Don



_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/



From kathryn at bassett.net  Sun Jun 21 18:04:49 2009
From: kathryn at bassett.net (Kathryn Bassett)
Date: Sun, 21 Jun 2009 15:04:49 -0700
Subject: TSGL: Outlook 2007 question
Message-ID: <004501c9f2bc$4c50d8b0$e4f28a10$@net>

The default when replying in an html message is that the font is a light
blue. How do I change the default font and color?


--
Kathryn Rhinehart Bassett (Pasadena CA)
"Genealogy is my bag" "GH is my soap"
kathryn at bassett.net
http://bassett.net?? 





From tbrandl2 at chello.at  Wed Jun 24 09:56:08 2009
From: tbrandl2 at chello.at (Tilman Brandl)
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:56:08 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Outlook 2007 question
References: <004501c9f2bc$4c50d8b0$e4f28a10$@net>
Message-ID: <21ec01c9f4d3$893d1bd0$0601a8c0@til4200>

Kathryn,

I'm not using Outlook myself, but maybe you'll find a few hints there:

http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/fontsizecolor.htm#settings_at_outlook_level

Tilman

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kathryn Bassett" <kathryn at bassett.net>
To: "'Tech Support Guy Mailing List'" <list at tsgserver.com>
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 12:04 AM
Subject: TSGL: Outlook 2007 question


The default when replying in an html message is that the font is a light
blue. How do I change the default font and color?


--
Kathryn Rhinehart Bassett (Pasadena CA)
"Genealogy is my bag" "GH is my soap"
kathryn at bassett.net
http://bassett.net 



From cherilindsey at yahoo.com  Wed Jun 24 12:05:33 2009
From: cherilindsey at yahoo.com (Cheri Lindsey)
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:05:33 -0500
Subject: TSGL: List Digest, Vol 69, Issue 12
In-Reply-To: <mailman.3.1245859202.21397.list_tsgserver.com@tsgserver.com>
References: <mailman.3.1245859202.21397.list_tsgserver.com@tsgserver.com>
Message-ID: <001701c9f4e5$9b79d1f0$d26d75d0$@com>


Kathryn, go to Tools, Options, Mail Format, Stationery and Fonts.
The 3rd option is replying or forwarding messages.  You can change your
color  there.
Cheri
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kathryn Bassett" <kathryn at bassett.net>
To: "'Tech Support Guy Mailing List'" <list at tsgserver.com>
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 12:04 AM
Subject: TSGL: Outlook 2007 question


The default when replying in an html message is that the font is a light
blue. How do I change the default font and color?


--
Kathryn Rhinehart Bassett (Pasadena CA)
"Genealogy is my bag" "GH is my soap"
kathryn at bassett.net
http://bassett.net 






From kathryn at bassett.net  Wed Jun 24 14:04:47 2009
From: kathryn at bassett.net (Kathryn Bassett)
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:04:47 -0700
Subject: TSGL: Outlook 2007 question
In-Reply-To: <21ec01c9f4d3$893d1bd0$0601a8c0@til4200>
References: <004501c9f2bc$4c50d8b0$e4f28a10$@net>
	<21ec01c9f4d3$893d1bd0$0601a8c0@til4200>
Message-ID: <008001c9f4f6$42bb8ed0$c832ac70$@net>

Thank! The answer I needed was #writing_emails instead of
#settings_at_outlook_level, but the whole page is a great one and I've
bookmarked it.
Kathryn

> -----Original Message-----
> From: list-bounces at tsgserver.com [mailto:list-bounces at tsgserver.com] On
> Behalf Of Tilman Brandl
> Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 6:56 AM
> To: Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> Subject: Re: TSGL: Outlook 2007 question
> 
> Kathryn,
> 
> I'm not using Outlook myself, but maybe you'll find a few hints there:
> 
> http://www.howto-
> outlook.com/howto/fontsizecolor.htm#settings_at_outlook_level
> 
> Tilman
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Kathryn Bassett" <kathryn at bassett.net>
> To: "'Tech Support Guy Mailing List'" <list at tsgserver.com>
> Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 12:04 AM
> Subject: TSGL: Outlook 2007 question
> 
> 
> The default when replying in an html message is that the font is a
> light
> blue. How do I change the default font and color?
> 
> 
> --
> Kathryn Rhinehart Bassett (Pasadena CA)
> "Genealogy is my bag" "GH is my soap"
> kathryn at bassett.net
> http://bassett.net
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/



From deepend at tpg.com.au  Wed Jun 24 23:30:30 2009
From: deepend at tpg.com.au (Don Penlington)
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:30:30 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer
In-Reply-To: <83B54A39E1AD4A02840C8CC9D1C4CD53@johnsp2>
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <4.3.2.20090625124040.00cac8d8@mail.tpg.com.au>

I just thought I ought to report back on the process of building my first 
computer.

Will all those readers who assured me that all would be well, and it would 
go without a hitch, please line up to be shot at dawn.

I found it was anything but straightforward. As I suspected, the 
instructions were good as far as they went, but it's the bits they DON'T 
tell you about that cause the problems.

1. The flimsy aluminium base plate that sits between the ports and the case 
was the first puzzle. There are bendy tags all over, some of which block 
the ports, and others seem to serve no useful purpose that I could see. It 
seemed to prevent the mobo lining up precisely with the screw holes. I 
would have left it off, but I remembered the guy at the shop telling me 
"Don't forget the base place--it's very important." I still can't see what 
purpose it serves. However, after some brutality, and looking at the old 
one, and bending some of the lugs out of the way, I managed to get it to 
sort of fit. I probably haven't got it right, but it works. I still don't 
see what purpose it serves.

2. Fitting the Intel E5200 chip/heatsink/fan assembly is a real 
HeathRobinson affair. The manual says simply to press down on the opposite 
lugs after carefully lining up the holes. I did that, but didn't know how 
much pressure I was supposed to apply before the mobo would snap in half. 
Nothing much seemed to happen, there were no satisfying clicks to snap it 
into place, no matter how hard I pushed. The whole assembly seemed to be 
quite wobbly, and I had visions of the thing falling off as soon as it 
started.  Also, I wasn't sure about the thermal paste, there were 3 strips 
of grey gooey stuff attached, it wasn't all spread out evenly like everyone 
always says it should. I wasn't even sure that it was actually paste. 
However, the Asus manual said that when buying the Intel/Fan boxed 
assembly, it was already pre-pasted, so I assume nothing more was required.
Should I have spread it out evenly? It was quite thick---maybe that's what 
was preventing the assembly from locking into place?
Anyway, I was sure the fitting was wrong. I noticed some odd-shaped arrowed 
slots on top of the lugs, and wondered if perhaps they needed to be screwed 
into place. Reading on further, I noticed the manual mentioned that after 
removal and refitting the heatsink the lugs need to be turned half a turn. 
So I tried that, and it seemed to sit place a bit more securely.
I'm still not sure if I got it right, but it hasn't fallen off yet.

3. Fitting the leads to the power button was the final nightmare. Firstly 
you need the fingers and eyesight of a brain surgeon. Secondly, although 
the manual was pretty clearly illustrated, how was I supposed to know which 
of the blue and white, or pink and grey, leads were power and earth? 
Obviously they are only supposed to go one way, but the things all plug in 
any which way. I had visions that if I inadvertently reversed power and 
earth, the machine was going to go up in a cloud of sparks and smoke.
I tried it one way, and with much trepidation and invocations to the Gods, 
not to mention sacrificing my first-born, I powered up the whole shebang.
The power LED on the mobo lit up, but the power button was dead. Oh well, I 
suppose that's one step better than expected. Maybe I need to sacrifice the 
wife as well.
So I fiddled around some more with the power button leads. Still no joy. 
There were a couple of single black wires, very tiny, just marked + and _. 
They don't look important. The manual didn't say anything about those. So 
tried plugging them into the 2 remaining pins.
Powered up again---and voila---we now have action.

Everything's alight, there's been no smoke or acrid burning smells now for 
3 days (not yet, anyway), the CPU chip hasn't fallen off yet, I've 
installed XP and most of my software, cloned the HD, and am now back alive 
and wiser. For the moment. Compared to assembling an atom bomb, it was 
really quite easy.

Next time will be easier. Unless they change the system. Would I do it 
again?  You betcha.

Don Penlington







 From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
Computer tutorials, local scenery,  and other things at my website:
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html 

From tbrandl2 at chello.at  Thu Jun 25 10:25:34 2009
From: tbrandl2 at chello.at (Tilman Brandl)
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:25:34 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au><4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090625124040.00cac8d8@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <00b201c9f5a0$d042a1d0$0601a8c0@til4200>

Hi Don,

congratulations! 

As to 
".... Will all those readers who assured me that all would be well, and it would 
go without a hitch, please line up to be shot at dawn"

I'm aware that in my earlier email I had skipped the legalities & warranty void part. 
Now I'll have to pay the price ;-(

What I actually forgot to mention: There are several quite comprehensive How-to-do guides out on the web for things like these. I myself have had a thorough look at some of these pages before I started assembling the parts I had.

As to the paste - I don't have experience with boxed CPU versions, but in general you need NOT spread it out evenly, it will spread out on it's own as soon as the parts connect.

Fitting the leads can indeed be a pita, I've experienced this myself in the past. Meanwhile though the connectors often have their designations printed on them, so it all got a little easier to do. Given I have the manual and a magnifying glass handy ...

Bets wishes

Tilman

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Penlington" <deepend at tpg.com.au>
To: "Tech Support Guy Mailing List" <list at tsgserver.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2009 5:30 AM
Subject: Re: TSGL: Building new computer


>I just thought I ought to report back on the process of building my first 
> computer.
> 
> Will all those readers who assured me that all would be well, and it would 
> go without a hitch, please line up to be shot at dawn.
> 
> I found it was anything but straightforward. As I suspected, the 
> instructions were good as far as they went, but it's the bits they DON'T 
> tell you about that cause the problems.
> 
> 1. The flimsy aluminium base plate that sits between the ports and the case 
> was the first puzzle. There are bendy tags all over, some of which block 
> the ports, and others seem to serve no useful purpose that I could see. It 
> seemed to prevent the mobo lining up precisely with the screw holes. I 
> would have left it off, but I remembered the guy at the shop telling me 
> "Don't forget the base place--it's very important." I still can't see what 
> purpose it serves. However, after some brutality, and looking at the old 
> one, and bending some of the lugs out of the way, I managed to get it to 
> sort of fit. I probably haven't got it right, but it works. I still don't 
> see what purpose it serves.
> 
> 2. Fitting the Intel E5200 chip/heatsink/fan assembly is a real 
> HeathRobinson affair. The manual says simply to press down on the opposite 
> lugs after carefully lining up the holes. I did that, but didn't know how 
> much pressure I was supposed to apply before the mobo would snap in half. 
> Nothing much seemed to happen, there were no satisfying clicks to snap it 
> into place, no matter how hard I pushed. The whole assembly seemed to be 
> quite wobbly, and I had visions of the thing falling off as soon as it 
> started.  Also, I wasn't sure about the thermal paste, there were 3 strips 
> of grey gooey stuff attached, it wasn't all spread out evenly like everyone 
> always says it should. I wasn't even sure that it was actually paste. 
> However, the Asus manual said that when buying the Intel/Fan boxed 
> assembly, it was already pre-pasted, so I assume nothing more was required.
> Should I have spread it out evenly? It was quite thick---maybe that's what 
> was preventing the assembly from locking into place?
> Anyway, I was sure the fitting was wrong. I noticed some odd-shaped arrowed 
> slots on top of the lugs, and wondered if perhaps they needed to be screwed 
> into place. Reading on further, I noticed the manual mentioned that after 
> removal and refitting the heatsink the lugs need to be turned half a turn. 
> So I tried that, and it seemed to sit place a bit more securely.
> I'm still not sure if I got it right, but it hasn't fallen off yet.
> 
> 3. Fitting the leads to the power button was the final nightmare. Firstly 
> you need the fingers and eyesight of a brain surgeon. Secondly, although 
> the manual was pretty clearly illustrated, how was I supposed to know which 
> of the blue and white, or pink and grey, leads were power and earth? 
> Obviously they are only supposed to go one way, but the things all plug in 
> any which way. I had visions that if I inadvertently reversed power and 
> earth, the machine was going to go up in a cloud of sparks and smoke.
> I tried it one way, and with much trepidation and invocations to the Gods, 
> not to mention sacrificing my first-born, I powered up the whole shebang.
> The power LED on the mobo lit up, but the power button was dead. Oh well, I 
> suppose that's one step better than expected. Maybe I need to sacrifice the 
> wife as well.
> So I fiddled around some more with the power button leads. Still no joy. 
> There were a couple of single black wires, very tiny, just marked + and _. 
> They don't look important. The manual didn't say anything about those. So 
> tried plugging them into the 2 remaining pins.
> Powered up again---and voila---we now have action.
> 
> Everything's alight, there's been no smoke or acrid burning smells now for 
> 3 days (not yet, anyway), the CPU chip hasn't fallen off yet, I've 
> installed XP and most of my software, cloned the HD, and am now back alive 
> and wiser. For the moment. Compared to assembling an atom bomb, it was 
> really quite easy.
> 
> Next time will be easier. Unless they change the system. Would I do it 
> again?  You betcha.
> 
> Don Penlington



From dmack9185 at gmail.com  Thu Jun 25 11:13:51 2009
From: dmack9185 at gmail.com (Dinah McNamara)
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:13:51 -0400
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer
In-Reply-To: <00b201c9f5a0$d042a1d0$0601a8c0@til4200>
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au><4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090625124040.00cac8d8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<00b201c9f5a0$d042a1d0$0601a8c0@til4200>
Message-ID: <30AF5951-F95F-4E42-90FD-FB2963630D98@gmail.com>

You reminded me of when I replaced my first hard drive (back in the  
dark ages of 250 mb HD) anyway I felt like I had done a heart  
transplant. Thanks for sharing Don, I am certain you have motivated  
others to try and gave me a good remember when:)

Dmack9185




On Jun 25, 2009, at 10:25 AM, "Tilman Brandl" <tbrandl2 at chello.at>  
wrote:

> Hi Don,
>
> congratulations!
>
> As to
> ".... Will all those readers who assured me that all would be well,  
> and it would
> go without a hitch, please line up to be shot at dawn"
>
> I'm aware that in my earlier email I had skipped the legalities &  
> warranty void part.
> Now I'll have to pay the price ;-(
>
> What I actually forgot to mention: There are several quite  
> comprehensive How-to-do guides out on the web for things like these.  
> I myself have had a thorough look at some of these pages before I  
> started assembling the parts I had.
>
> As to the paste - I don't have experience with boxed CPU versions,  
> but in general you need NOT spread it out evenly, it will spread out  
> on it's own as soon as the parts connect.
>
> Fitting the leads can indeed be a pita, I've experienced this myself  
> in the past. Meanwhile though the connectors often have their  
> designations printed on them, so it all got a little easier to do.  
> Given I have the manual and a magnifying glass handy ...
>
> Bets wishes
>
> Tilman
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Don Penlington" <deepend at tpg.com.au>
> To: "Tech Support Guy Mailing List" <list at tsgserver.com>
> Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2009 5:30 AM
> Subject: Re: TSGL: Building new computer
>
>
>> I just thought I ought to report back on the process of building my  
>> first
>> computer.
>>
>> Will all those readers who assured me that all would be well, and  
>> it would
>> go without a hitch, please line up to be shot at dawn.
>>
>> I found it was anything but straightforward. As I suspected, the
>> instructions were good as far as they went, but it's the bits they  
>> DON'T
>> tell you about that cause the problems.
>>
>> 1. The flimsy aluminium base plate that sits between the ports and  
>> the case
>> was the first puzzle. There are bendy tags all over, some of which  
>> block
>> the ports, and others seem to serve no useful purpose that I could  
>> see. It
>> seemed to prevent the mobo lining up precisely with the screw  
>> holes. I
>> would have left it off, but I remembered the guy at the shop  
>> telling me
>> "Don't forget the base place--it's very important." I still can't  
>> see what
>> purpose it serves. However, after some brutality, and looking at  
>> the old
>> one, and bending some of the lugs out of the way, I managed to get  
>> it to
>> sort of fit. I probably haven't got it right, but it works. I still  
>> don't
>> see what purpose it serves.
>>
>> 2. Fitting the Intel E5200 chip/heatsink/fan assembly is a real
>> HeathRobinson affair. The manual says simply to press down on the  
>> opposite
>> lugs after carefully lining up the holes. I did that, but didn't  
>> know how
>> much pressure I was supposed to apply before the mobo would snap in  
>> half.
>> Nothing much seemed to happen, there were no satisfying clicks to  
>> snap it
>> into place, no matter how hard I pushed. The whole assembly seemed  
>> to be
>> quite wobbly, and I had visions of the thing falling off as soon as  
>> it
>> started.  Also, I wasn't sure about the thermal paste, there were 3  
>> strips
>> of grey gooey stuff attached, it wasn't all spread out evenly like  
>> everyone
>> always says it should. I wasn't even sure that it was actually paste.
>> However, the Asus manual said that when buying the Intel/Fan boxed
>> assembly, it was already pre-pasted, so I assume nothing more was  
>> required.
>> Should I have spread it out evenly? It was quite thick---maybe  
>> that's what
>> was preventing the assembly from locking into place?
>> Anyway, I was sure the fitting was wrong. I noticed some odd-shaped  
>> arrowed
>> slots on top of the lugs, and wondered if perhaps they needed to be  
>> screwed
>> into place. Reading on further, I noticed the manual mentioned that  
>> after
>> removal and refitting the heatsink the lugs need to be turned half  
>> a turn.
>> So I tried that, and it seemed to sit place a bit more securely.
>> I'm still not sure if I got it right, but it hasn't fallen off yet.
>>
>> 3. Fitting the leads to the power button was the final nightmare.  
>> Firstly
>> you need the fingers and eyesight of a brain surgeon. Secondly,  
>> although
>> the manual was pretty clearly illustrated, how was I supposed to  
>> know which
>> of the blue and white, or pink and grey, leads were power and earth?
>> Obviously they are only supposed to go one way, but the things all  
>> plug in
>> any which way. I had visions that if I inadvertently reversed power  
>> and
>> earth, the machine was going to go up in a cloud of sparks and smoke.
>> I tried it one way, and with much trepidation and invocations to  
>> the Gods,
>> not to mention sacrificing my first-born, I powered up the whole  
>> shebang.
>> The power LED on the mobo lit up, but the power button was dead. Oh  
>> well, I
>> suppose that's one step better than expected. Maybe I need to  
>> sacrifice the
>> wife as well.
>> So I fiddled around some more with the power button leads. Still no  
>> joy.
>> There were a couple of single black wires, very tiny, just marked +  
>> and _.
>> They don't look important. The manual didn't say anything about  
>> those. So
>> tried plugging them into the 2 remaining pins.
>> Powered up again---and voila---we now have action.
>>
>> Everything's alight, there's been no smoke or acrid burning smells  
>> now for
>> 3 days (not yet, anyway), the CPU chip hasn't fallen off yet, I've
>> installed XP and most of my software, cloned the HD, and am now  
>> back alive
>> and wiser. For the moment. Compared to assembling an atom bomb, it  
>> was
>> really quite easy.
>>
>> Next time will be easier. Unless they change the system. Would I do  
>> it
>> again?  You betcha.
>>
>> Don Penlington
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/


From hdavis1 at gmail.com  Thu Jun 25 17:28:40 2009
From: hdavis1 at gmail.com (H Davis)
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:28:40 -0400
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer
In-Reply-To: <30AF5951-F95F-4E42-90FD-FB2963630D98@gmail.com>
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au><4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au>	<4.3.2.20090625124040.00cac8d8@mail.tpg.com.au>	<00b201c9f5a0$d042a1d0$0601a8c0@til4200>
	<30AF5951-F95F-4E42-90FD-FB2963630D98@gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4A43EC08.6090301@gmail.com>

HI Don,

Please remember, when aiming, that _I_ did not give you any reassurances 
about how easy it would be. Congrats on a job well done. We'll be 
expecting a running narrative on your upcoming computer production line. 
Look out Michael Dell.

H Davis

Dinah McNamara wrote:
> You reminded me of when I replaced my first hard drive (back in the 
> dark ages of 250 mb HD) anyway I felt like I had done a heart 
> transplant. Thanks for sharing Don, I am certain you have motivated 
> others to try and gave me a good remember when:)
>
> Dmack9185
>
>
>
>
> On Jun 25, 2009, at 10:25 AM, "Tilman Brandl" <tbrandl2 at chello.at> wrote:
>
>> Hi Don,
>>
>> congratulations!
>>
>> As to
>> ".... Will all those readers who assured me that all would be well, 
>> and it would
>> go without a hitch, please line up to be shot at dawn"
>>
>> I'm aware that in my earlier email I had skipped the legalities & 
>> warranty void part.
>> Now I'll have to pay the price ;-(
>>
>> What I actually forgot to mention: There are several quite 
>> comprehensive How-to-do guides out on the web for things like these. 
>> I myself have had a thorough look at some of these pages before I 
>> started assembling the parts I had.
>>
>> As to the paste - I don't have experience with boxed CPU versions, 
>> but in general you need NOT spread it out evenly, it will spread out 
>> on it's own as soon as the parts connect.
>>
>> Fitting the leads can indeed be a pita, I've experienced this myself 
>> in the past. Meanwhile though the connectors often have their 
>> designations printed on them, so it all got a little easier to do. 
>> Given I have the manual and a magnifying glass handy ...
>>
>> Bets wishes
>>
>> Tilman
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Don Penlington" <deepend at tpg.com.au>
>> To: "Tech Support Guy Mailing List" <list at tsgserver.com>
>> Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2009 5:30 AM
>> Subject: Re: TSGL: Building new computer
>>
>>
>>> I just thought I ought to report back on the process of building my 
>>> first
>>> computer.
>>>
>>> Will all those readers who assured me that all would be well, and it 
>>> would
>>> go without a hitch, please line up to be shot at dawn.
>>>
>>> I found it was anything but straightforward. As I suspected, the
>>> instructions were good as far as they went, but it's the bits they 
>>> DON'T
>>> tell you about that cause the problems.
>>>
>>> 1. The flimsy aluminium base plate that sits between the ports and 
>>> the case
>>> was the first puzzle. There are bendy tags all over, some of which 
>>> block
>>> the ports, and others seem to serve no useful purpose that I could 
>>> see. It
>>> seemed to prevent the mobo lining up precisely with the screw holes. I
>>> would have left it off, but I remembered the guy at the shop telling me
>>> "Don't forget the base place--it's very important." I still can't 
>>> see what
>>> purpose it serves. However, after some brutality, and looking at the 
>>> old
>>> one, and bending some of the lugs out of the way, I managed to get 
>>> it to
>>> sort of fit. I probably haven't got it right, but it works. I still 
>>> don't
>>> see what purpose it serves.
>>>
>>> 2. Fitting the Intel E5200 chip/heatsink/fan assembly is a real
>>> HeathRobinson affair. The manual says simply to press down on the 
>>> opposite
>>> lugs after carefully lining up the holes. I did that, but didn't 
>>> know how
>>> much pressure I was supposed to apply before the mobo would snap in 
>>> half.
>>> Nothing much seemed to happen, there were no satisfying clicks to 
>>> snap it
>>> into place, no matter how hard I pushed. The whole assembly seemed 
>>> to be
>>> quite wobbly, and I had visions of the thing falling off as soon as it
>>> started.  Also, I wasn't sure about the thermal paste, there were 3 
>>> strips
>>> of grey gooey stuff attached, it wasn't all spread out evenly like 
>>> everyone
>>> always says it should. I wasn't even sure that it was actually paste.
>>> However, the Asus manual said that when buying the Intel/Fan boxed
>>> assembly, it was already pre-pasted, so I assume nothing more was 
>>> required.
>>> Should I have spread it out evenly? It was quite thick---maybe 
>>> that's what
>>> was preventing the assembly from locking into place?
>>> Anyway, I was sure the fitting was wrong. I noticed some odd-shaped 
>>> arrowed
>>> slots on top of the lugs, and wondered if perhaps they needed to be 
>>> screwed
>>> into place. Reading on further, I noticed the manual mentioned that 
>>> after
>>> removal and refitting the heatsink the lugs need to be turned half a 
>>> turn.
>>> So I tried that, and it seemed to sit place a bit more securely.
>>> I'm still not sure if I got it right, but it hasn't fallen off yet.
>>>
>>> 3. Fitting the leads to the power button was the final nightmare. 
>>> Firstly
>>> you need the fingers and eyesight of a brain surgeon. Secondly, 
>>> although
>>> the manual was pretty clearly illustrated, how was I supposed to 
>>> know which
>>> of the blue and white, or pink and grey, leads were power and earth?
>>> Obviously they are only supposed to go one way, but the things all 
>>> plug in
>>> any which way. I had visions that if I inadvertently reversed power and
>>> earth, the machine was going to go up in a cloud of sparks and smoke.
>>> I tried it one way, and with much trepidation and invocations to the 
>>> Gods,
>>> not to mention sacrificing my first-born, I powered up the whole 
>>> shebang.
>>> The power LED on the mobo lit up, but the power button was dead. Oh 
>>> well, I
>>> suppose that's one step better than expected. Maybe I need to 
>>> sacrifice the
>>> wife as well.
>>> So I fiddled around some more with the power button leads. Still no 
>>> joy.
>>> There were a couple of single black wires, very tiny, just marked + 
>>> and _.
>>> They don't look important. The manual didn't say anything about 
>>> those. So
>>> tried plugging them into the 2 remaining pins.
>>> Powered up again---and voila---we now have action.
>>>
>>> Everything's alight, there's been no smoke or acrid burning smells 
>>> now for
>>> 3 days (not yet, anyway), the CPU chip hasn't fallen off yet, I've
>>> installed XP and most of my software, cloned the HD, and am now back 
>>> alive
>>> and wiser. For the moment. Compared to assembling an atom bomb, it was
>>> really quite easy.
>>>
>>> Next time will be easier. Unless they change the system. Would I do it
>>> again?  You betcha.
>>>
>>> Don Penlington
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
>> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>

-- 
H Davis   hdavis1 at gmail.com


From dogbert at earthlink.net  Thu Jun 25 18:00:03 2009
From: dogbert at earthlink.net (Dogbert)
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:00:03 -0400
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer
In-Reply-To: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <000a01c9f5e0$4b0aacc0$0201a8c0@hbcanon>

I like this suggestion:

>>>3. Any other precautions or traps for the uncouth and unwary? I was proposing to plug
the case with power supply into the wall (switched off of course), wearing rubber soles
and grounding myself to the case by touching it, but not by wrist-strap. That way, I may
just get time to jump clear if there's a loud bang and a lot of smoke.<<<
 
Not to worry, I build all my machines this way. In fact being connected to the house
ground is the only way you get a true ground while working on it, assuming your house is
wired correctly (which can be determined with a test plug or voltmeter).  In any other
configuration, anything you think you are grounding to, YOU AREN'T really grounding. You
may be floating above true ground, and risk a discharge when least expecting it. 
USE the wrist strap!
One can also run a wire from the case to the ground pin on the outlet. This is more
trouble. 

HBCanon
Geneva, FL

-----Original Message-----
From: list-bounces at tsgserver.com [mailto:list-bounces at tsgserver.com] On Behalf Of Don
Penlington
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 04:00
To: 'Tech Support Guy Mailing List'
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer

With some trepidation, I'm about to build my first computer.

Although I've replaced many components on various computers over the last few years, I've
never actually built one from scratch.

I'm retaining the old case and 2 hard drives, Sata1 and Sata2, but everything else is
being replaced, (Asus P5PKL-AM mobo, Intel dualcore E5200, 2Gb Kingston RAM---just basic,
nothing fancy).

My questions are:

1. Is it best to insert the dualcore chip and memory sticks into the mobo before or after
screwing the mobo into the case?  It would appear to be a whole lot easier to assemble as
much as possible before placing it in the case.

If so, as I don't own an antistatic mat, should I support the mobo in any special way
while assembling the components? Lay it flat on an old mouse pad?

2. Would it make much real difference whether I install XP onto either the
Sata1 or Sata2 drive? I believe Sata2 is a higher transfer rate, but I wonder if it would
make any real-life difference which one contains the OS. 
It would be easier to load it into the Sata1 drive because that's the way it is at the
moment. But it's not much hassle to switch to the Sata2 drive if that would result in
better performance. In either case, I'll be reformatting the OS partition anyway.

3. Any other precautions or traps for the uncouth and unwary? I was proposing to plug the
case with power supply into the wall (switched off of course), wearing rubber soles and
grounding myself to the case by touching it, but not by wrist-strap. That way, I may just
get time to jump clear if there's a loud bang and a lot of smoke.

Don Penlington


_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/



From deepend at tpg.com.au  Fri Jun 26 01:52:45 2009
From: deepend at tpg.com.au (Don Penlington)
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:52:45 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP
In-Reply-To: <00b201c9f5a0$d042a1d0$0601a8c0@til4200>
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090625124040.00cac8d8@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <4.3.2.20090626152519.00c8d4f8@mail.tpg.com.au>

I can't get any sound out of my newly-built computer. System sounds (beeps) 
are OK, but nothing out of the main speakers.

Device Manager shows that everything under the audio codecs is OK--legacy 
drivers etc all report working.

Control Panel/Sounds indicates there are no audio devices installed. 
Everything's blank except for system sounds.

I've run the Asus P5KPL-AM installation CD and tried to install "audio 
drivers" several times. All that does is report that there's no VIA HD 
device found. There's no reference to the AC97 drivers which seems to be 
what I need. According to the manual the VIA HD device is an extra module 
which I don't need. All I want is basic sound for speech and music  from 
the rear ports.

I've tried all the different sound ports.

There are 7 unconnected audio leads within the case which only lead to 
headphone and mic ports on top of the case. I don't use those ports so 
these leads should not affect the rear ports. These are tiny connections 
and, although each is individually labelled,  it's not clear to me which 
goes where. Anyway, I don't see how they can affect the rear connections.

The builtin mobo sound system seems to be the common AC97 according to the 
BIOS.

I've searched diligently thru the BIOS to see whether sound has to be 
enabled. The only reference I can find is under Advanced/Audio Controller 
which shows "Azalia" is enabled (whatever that is, I've no idea).

I've opened the Asus installation CD manually, there's a separate folder 
under "Drivers" for x86 where there's a "dfxapi.dll" driver file. But no 
way to run this, and I don't know if that's the driver that's missing. That 
file doesn't appear in System32/Drivers for what it's worth.

What have I missed? I guess I did something dumb.

Don Penlington




 From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
Computer tutorials, local scenery,  and other things at my website:
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html

Computer lessons. Repairs. Security. Purchase advice and New setup.
Pensioner rates $30 per hour. Ph 5527-8086.
No-fix, no-fee. 

From deepend at tpg.com.au  Fri Jun 26 02:10:18 2009
From: deepend at tpg.com.au (Don Penlington)
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:10:18 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer
In-Reply-To: <00b201c9f5a0$d042a1d0$0601a8c0@til4200>
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090625124040.00cac8d8@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <4.3.2.20090626160700.00c8e628@mail.tpg.com.au>

Tilman wrote:
>  it all got a little easier to do.>>


"easier" is a relative term, I'm finding.

Like---building a hydrogen bomb is "easier" after you've built your first 
atomic bomb.

Don Penlington


From bo.maurin at ericsson.com  Fri Jun 26 09:08:56 2009
From: bo.maurin at ericsson.com (Bo Maurin)
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:08:56 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP
In-Reply-To: <4.3.2.20090626152519.00c8d4f8@mail.tpg.com.au>
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au><4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au><4.3.2.20090625124040.00cac8d8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090626152519.00c8d4f8@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <314AF86E2FDEB9458540143E41EED8CE017619D2@esealmw103.eemea.ericsson.se>

I had the same, or at least similar problem before when I changed my
GPU.

The solution I used was to disable the HD sound output for the graphic
card. I was just planning to use the GPU for graphics anyway. What I did
was to go to device manager and look for something like <name of GPU
card>/HD Sound output. I can't remember now if this was listed under
"Display Adaptor" or "Sound, Video and game controllers". Anyway, once I
saw it I just right clicked, selected "Disable", rebooted the machine
and sound was back in all 5.1 channels.

Maybe that's worth a try.

It could also be, but let's hope not, that some of your purchased HW is
faulty.

Regards / Bo




-----Original Message-----
From: list-bounces at tsgserver.com [mailto:list-bounces at tsgserver.com] On
Behalf Of Don Penlington
Sent: den 26 juni 2009 07:53
To: Tech Support Guy Mailing List
Subject: Re: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP

I can't get any sound out of my newly-built computer. System sounds
(beeps) are OK, but nothing out of the main speakers.

Device Manager shows that everything under the audio codecs is
OK--legacy drivers etc all report working.

Control Panel/Sounds indicates there are no audio devices installed. 
Everything's blank except for system sounds.

I've run the Asus P5KPL-AM installation CD and tried to install "audio
drivers" several times. All that does is report that there's no VIA HD
device found. There's no reference to the AC97 drivers which seems to be
what I need. According to the manual the VIA HD device is an extra
module which I don't need. All I want is basic sound for speech and
music  from the rear ports.

I've tried all the different sound ports.

There are 7 unconnected audio leads within the case which only lead to
headphone and mic ports on top of the case. I don't use those ports so
these leads should not affect the rear ports. These are tiny connections
and, although each is individually labelled,  it's not clear to me which
goes where. Anyway, I don't see how they can affect the rear
connections.

The builtin mobo sound system seems to be the common AC97 according to
the BIOS.

I've searched diligently thru the BIOS to see whether sound has to be
enabled. The only reference I can find is under Advanced/Audio
Controller which shows "Azalia" is enabled (whatever that is, I've no
idea).

I've opened the Asus installation CD manually, there's a separate folder
under "Drivers" for x86 where there's a "dfxapi.dll" driver file. But no
way to run this, and I don't know if that's the driver that's missing.
That file doesn't appear in System32/Drivers for what it's worth.

What have I missed? I guess I did something dumb.

Don Penlington




 From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
Computer tutorials, local scenery,  and other things at my website:
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html

Computer lessons. Repairs. Security. Purchase advice and New setup.
Pensioner rates $30 per hour. Ph 5527-8086.
No-fix, no-fee. 
_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/


From shyamalg at gmail.com  Fri Jun 26 09:19:41 2009
From: shyamalg at gmail.com (Shyamal Gupta)
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:19:41 -0400
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP
In-Reply-To: <4.3.2.20090626152519.00c8d4f8@mail.tpg.com.au>
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au> 
	<4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090625124040.00cac8d8@mail.tpg.com.au> 
	<00b201c9f5a0$d042a1d0$0601a8c0@til4200>
	<4.3.2.20090626152519.00c8d4f8@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <27e0929d0906260619o44e57854n549f1ea59a2234a3@mail.gmail.com>

On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 1:52 AM, Don Penlington<deepend at tpg.com.au> wrote:
> I can't get any sound out of my newly-built computer. System sounds (beeps)
> are OK, but nothing out of the main speakers.

This is familiar -- and definitely sounds like some kind of a conflict
with another sound card and/or driver.

I'd check if there is any other sound card/driver installed. If so,
uninstall and disable all of them before installing/enabling the one
you prefer.


HTH. Good luck.


-- 
Shyamal Gupta
New York, NY


From deepend at tpg.com.au  Fri Jun 26 10:31:33 2009
From: deepend at tpg.com.au (Don Penlington)
Date: Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:31:33 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP
In-Reply-To: <314AF86E2FDEB9458540143E41EED8CE017619D2@esealmw103.eemea.
	ericsson.se>
References: <4.3.2.20090626152519.00c8d4f8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090625124040.00cac8d8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090626152519.00c8d4f8@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <4.3.2.20090627002505.00cafb00@mail.tpg.com.au>

Bo and Shayamal wrote:
>Maybe that's worth a try>>

<<check if there is any other sound card/driver installed>>



There is no separate graphic or sound card. Mobo onboard sound and graphics 
only at this stage.

Device Manager shows all audio codecs and legacy drivers installed and 
working. But Control Panel/Sounds shows no audio device is detected. That 
message is repeated by whatever video player I use (Gom, Nero, Kantaris). I 
get picture but no sound.

Don Penlington


From jonpan at onlinehome.de  Fri Jun 26 14:57:47 2009
From: jonpan at onlinehome.de (Jon)
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:57:47 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au><4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au><4.3.2.20090625124040.00cac8d8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090626152519.00c8d4f8@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <6D2DE126BE0C44C5B6150CA97F88C129@johnsp2>

I hardly dare write this, but have you checked that the externals speakers are connected to the correct output sockets from the MoBo? O.K., you can shoot me again - doesn't hurt the second time.
Can you set the Azalia HDA Controller to 'auto"?

John
Od/G
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Don Penlington 
To: Tech Support Guy Mailing List 
Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009 7:52 AM
Subject: Re: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP


I can't get any sound out of my newly-built computer. System sounds (beeps) 
are OK, but nothing out of the main speakers.

Device Manager shows that everything under the audio codecs is OK--legacy 
drivers etc all report working.

Control Panel/Sounds indicates there are no audio devices installed. 
Everything's blank except for system sounds.

I've run the Asus P5KPL-AM installation CD and tried to install "audio 
drivers" several times. All that does is report that there's no VIA HD 
device found. There's no reference to the AC97 drivers which seems to be 
what I need. According to the manual the VIA HD device is an extra module 
which I don't need. All I want is basic sound for speech and music  from 
the rear ports.

I've tried all the different sound ports.

There are 7 unconnected audio leads within the case which only lead to 
headphone and mic ports on top of the case. I don't use those ports so 
these leads should not affect the rear ports. These are tiny connections 
and, although each is individually labelled,  it's not clear to me which 
goes where. Anyway, I don't see how they can affect the rear connections.

The builtin mobo sound system seems to be the common AC97 according to the 
BIOS.

I've searched diligently thru the BIOS to see whether sound has to be 
enabled. The only reference I can find is under Advanced/Audio Controller 
which shows "Azalia" is enabled (whatever that is, I've no idea).

I've opened the Asus installation CD manually, there's a separate folder 
under "Drivers" for x86 where there's a "dfxapi.dll" driver file. But no 
way to run this, and I don't know if that's the driver that's missing. That 
file doesn't appear in System32/Drivers for what it's worth.

What have I missed? I guess I did something dumb.

Don Penlington




 From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
Computer tutorials, local scenery,  and other things at my website:
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html

Computer lessons. Repairs. Security. Purchase advice and New setup.
Pensioner rates $30 per hour. Ph 5527-8086.
No-fix, no-fee. 
_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/ 

From shyamalg at gmail.com  Fri Jun 26 15:46:59 2009
From: shyamalg at gmail.com (Shyamal Gupta)
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:46:59 -0400
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP
In-Reply-To: <4.3.2.20090627002505.00cafb00@mail.tpg.com.au>
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au> 
	<4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090625124040.00cac8d8@mail.tpg.com.au> 
	<4.3.2.20090626152519.00c8d4f8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090627002505.00cafb00@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <27e0929d0906261246pb7cda61nd9c518d789f90c71@mail.gmail.com>

On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 10:31 AM, Don Penlington<deepend at tpg.com.au> wrote:
> Bo and Shayamal wrote:
>>
>> Maybe that's worth a try>>
>
> <<check if there is any other sound card/driver installed>>
>
> There is no separate graphic or sound card. Mobo onboard sound and graphics
> only at this stage.

Control Panel --> Add hardware and run the wizard again ?


-- 
Shyamal Gupta
New York, NY


From deepend at tpg.com.au  Fri Jun 26 20:08:29 2009
From: deepend at tpg.com.au (Don Penlington)
Date: Sat, 27 Jun 2009 10:08:29 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP
In-Reply-To: <6D2DE126BE0C44C5B6150CA97F88C129@johnsp2>
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090625124040.00cac8d8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090626152519.00c8d4f8@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <4.3.2.20090627094412.00cb2980@mail.tpg.com.au>

Jon wrote:
>but have you checked that the externals speakers are connected to the 
>correct output sockets from the MoBo? >>


Yes. I've tried all 6 sockets.  That's a good point. It's prolly something 
obvious and stupid I'm missing.

The external speakers were working OK with the previous computer, there's 
been no changes there. I can hear the speakers click as I insert the 
speaker plug into the output socket, which confirms the actual speakers and 
lead are active.

<<Can you set the Azalia HDA Controller to 'auto"?>>

Only 2 settings--- either on or off. I've tried both ways. Control 
Panel/Sounds still says "No audio device".

Syamal wrote:

<<Control Panel --> Add hardware and run the wizard again ?>>

I've tried that. It reports all devices installed and working correctly 
(audio codecs, legacy drivers) and does not find any new hardware.

As a last resort, I can of course pick up a sound card on Ebay and add 
that. But there has to be a reason why the onboard sound is not recognised.

Don Penlington


From Engineman1 at aol.com  Fri Jun 26 21:41:17 2009
From: Engineman1 at aol.com (Engineman1 at aol.com)
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:41:17 EDT
Subject: TSGL: Cursor
Message-ID: <ccd.5a06d239.3776d2bd@aol.com>

On one of my XP PC's for some reason now whenever I'm doing some sort of  
word processing or selecting my mouse cursor is a small black square instead 
of  a vertical line.
It makes it hard to tell which letter or number in a name I am  selecting.
This seems to happen in almost all applications.
I have gone into control panel and tried some of the cursors available  
there but they don't help.
Any ideas?
 
Engineman
 
 
/list/


**************Stay connected and tighten your budget with a great mobile 
device for under $20. Take a Peek! 
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100122638x1222405996x1201457362/aol?redir=http://www.getpeek.com/aol)

From ian at iarp.ca  Fri Jun 26 21:56:44 2009
From: ian at iarp.ca (Ian Ramsey-Planck)
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:56:44 -0400
Subject: TSGL: Cursor
In-Reply-To: <ccd.5a06d239.3776d2bd@aol.com>
References: <ccd.5a06d239.3776d2bd@aol.com>
Message-ID: <adc2940c0906261856m5a309eedteb73744d3ac68cda@mail.gmail.com>

Press the Insert button on your keyboard. The fat black cursor means insert
on.

On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 9:41 PM, <Engineman1 at aol.com> wrote:

> On one of my XP PC's for some reason now whenever I'm doing some sort of
> word processing or selecting my mouse cursor is a small black square
> instead
> of  a vertical line.
> It makes it hard to tell which letter or number in a name I am  selecting.
> This seems to happen in almost all applications.
> I have gone into control panel and tried some of the cursors available
> there but they don't help.
> Any ideas?
>
> Engineman
>
>
> /list/
>
>
> **************Stay connected and tighten your budget with a great mobile
> device for under $20. Take a Peek!
> (
> http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100122638x1222405996x1201457362/aol?redir=http://www.getpeek.com/aol
> )
> _______________________________________________
> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>



-- 
Thanks
Ian R-P

From justin at whisperer.com.au  Fri Jun 26 21:56:55 2009
From: justin at whisperer.com.au (The Computer Whisperer)
Date: Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:56:55 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Cursor
In-Reply-To: <ccd.5a06d239.3776d2bd@aol.com>
References: <ccd.5a06d239.3776d2bd@aol.com>
Message-ID: <2852b8d40906261856h7018789eq72bda36aca15dd46@mail.gmail.com>

Try updating your graphics drivers from the official website of your
graphics card or motherboard manufacturer(if it is built in to the
motherboard)

Regards,

Justin


http://www.whisperer.com.au

The Computer Whisperer - Gets you where you want to be.

Friendly on-site technical support - Home and Small Business Specialist.

Telephone: (03) 5979 1122
Mobile 0406 467 701

Servicing the Mornington Peninsula (Victoria, Australia)


2009/6/27 <Engineman1 at aol.com>

> On one of my XP PC's for some reason now whenever I'm doing some sort of
> word processing or selecting my mouse cursor is a small black square
> instead
> of  a vertical line.
> It makes it hard to tell which letter or number in a name I am  selecting.
> This seems to happen in almost all applications.
> I have gone into control panel and tried some of the cursors available
> there but they don't help.
> Any ideas?
>
> Engineman
>
>
> /list/
>
>
> **************Stay connected and tighten your budget with a great mobile
> device for under $20. Take a Peek!
> (
> http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100122638x1222405996x1201457362/aol?redir=http://www.getpeek.com/aol
> )
> _______________________________________________
> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>

From ian at iarp.ca  Fri Jun 26 21:59:21 2009
From: ian at iarp.ca (Ian Ramsey-Planck)
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:59:21 -0400
Subject: TSGL: Cursor
In-Reply-To: <adc2940c0906261856m5a309eedteb73744d3ac68cda@mail.gmail.com>
References: <ccd.5a06d239.3776d2bd@aol.com>
	<adc2940c0906261856m5a309eedteb73744d3ac68cda@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <adc2940c0906261859r4c6cf4c1m394952e51baf388@mail.gmail.com>

Oops i missed reading the part about the cursor itself being fat and not the
flashing indicator on lines. Sorry not too sure why on the cursor problem.

On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 9:56 PM, Ian Ramsey-Planck <ian at iarp.ca> wrote:

> Press the Insert button on your keyboard. The fat black cursor means insert
> on.
>
> On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 9:41 PM, <Engineman1 at aol.com> wrote:
>
>> On one of my XP PC's for some reason now whenever I'm doing some sort of
>> word processing or selecting my mouse cursor is a small black square
>> instead
>> of  a vertical line.
>> It makes it hard to tell which letter or number in a name I am  selecting.
>> This seems to happen in almost all applications.
>> I have gone into control panel and tried some of the cursors available
>> there but they don't help.
>> Any ideas?
>>
>> Engineman
>>
>>
>> /list/
>>
>>
>> **************Stay connected and tighten your budget with a great mobile
>> device for under $20. Take a Peek!
>> (
>> http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100122638x1222405996x1201457362/aol?redir=http://www.getpeek.com/aol
>> )
>> _______________________________________________
>> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
>> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Thanks
> Ian R-P
>
>


-- 
Thanks
Ian R-P

From stephen.marki at hotmail.com  Fri Jun 26 22:33:12 2009
From: stephen.marki at hotmail.com (Stephen Marki)
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:33:12 -0300
Subject: TSGL: Cursor
In-Reply-To: <ccd.5a06d239.3776d2bd@aol.com>
References: <ccd.5a06d239.3776d2bd@aol.com>
Message-ID: <BAY139-W1146E858D9507FC727AC66EC320@phx.gbl>


Go into your cursor / keyboard settings... If I am seeing it in my head properly you are getting the old MS-DOS typing cursor... Grr this is frustrating. I used to remember how to fix it but now I can't remember. It's in your Control Panel somewhere....
Accessibility options. There we go... In Control Panel go to Accessibility Options then go to "Display" then change the Cursor Options to Narrow...

There you go. Problem solved.

Signed, Stephen Marki



> From: Engineman1 at aol.com
> Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:41:17 -0400
> To: list at tsgserver.com
> Subject: TSGL: Cursor
> 
> On one of my XP PC's for some reason now whenever I'm doing some sort of  
> word processing or selecting my mouse cursor is a small black square instead 
> of  a vertical line.
> It makes it hard to tell which letter or number in a name I am  selecting.
> This seems to happen in almost all applications.
> I have gone into control panel and tried some of the cursors available  
> there but they don't help.
> Any ideas?
>  
> Engineman
>  
>  
> /list/
> 
> 
> **************Stay connected and tighten your budget with a great mobile 
> device for under $20. Take a Peek! 
> (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100122638x1222405996x1201457362/aol?redir=http://www.getpeek.com/aol)
> _______________________________________________
> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/

From justin at whisperer.com.au  Sat Jun 27 07:17:49 2009
From: justin at whisperer.com.au (The Computer Whisperer)
Date: Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:17:49 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP
In-Reply-To: <4.3.2.20090627094412.00cb2980@mail.tpg.com.au>
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090625124040.00cac8d8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090626152519.00c8d4f8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<6D2DE126BE0C44C5B6150CA97F88C129@johnsp2>
	<4.3.2.20090627094412.00cb2980@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <2852b8d40906270417y115dcb00rfc9a3d2840f0e7ee@mail.gmail.com>

Does it list your C-Media or AC'97 device under sound devices?

It might be turned off in Bios.

Quite often with this motherboard I experience the sound card stop working
for no reason.

The solution is generally to delete/remove/uninstall the device in device
manager (hilight the AC'97 device or Azalia or whateve it wants to call
itself and press the delete key), then go to the top of the list where your
computer name is listed, right click and select "check for new hardware",
should hopefully then reinstall itself and sound should be up and running.

Regards,

Justin

ps. the stereo speakers are supposed to be plugged into the green jack by
default.


http://www.whisperer.com.au

The Computer Whisperer - Gets you where you want to be.

Friendly on-site technical support - Home and Small Business Specialist.

Telephone: (03) 5979 1122
Mobile 0406 467 701

Servicing the Mornington Peninsula (Victoria, Australia)


2009/6/27 Don Penlington <deepend at tpg.com.au>

> Jon wrote:
>
>> but have you checked that the externals speakers are connected to the
>> correct output sockets from the MoBo? >>
>>
>
>
> Yes. I've tried all 6 sockets.  That's a good point. It's prolly something
> obvious and stupid I'm missing.
>
> The external speakers were working OK with the previous computer, there's
> been no changes there. I can hear the speakers click as I insert the speaker
> plug into the output socket, which confirms the actual speakers and lead are
> active.
>
> <<Can you set the Azalia HDA Controller to 'auto"?>>
>
> Only 2 settings--- either on or off. I've tried both ways. Control
> Panel/Sounds still says "No audio device".
>
> Syamal wrote:
>
> <<Control Panel --> Add hardware and run the wizard again ?>>
>
> I've tried that. It reports all devices installed and working correctly
> (audio codecs, legacy drivers) and does not find any new hardware.
>
> As a last resort, I can of course pick up a sound card on Ebay and add
> that. But there has to be a reason why the onboard sound is not recognised.
>
> Don Penlington
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>

From deepend at tpg.com.au  Sat Jun 27 08:37:58 2009
From: deepend at tpg.com.au (Don Penlington)
Date: Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:37:58 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP
In-Reply-To: <2852b8d40906270417y115dcb00rfc9a3d2840f0e7ee@mail.gmail.co
 m>
References: <4.3.2.20090627094412.00cb2980@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090625124040.00cac8d8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090626152519.00c8d4f8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<6D2DE126BE0C44C5B6150CA97F88C129@johnsp2>
	<4.3.2.20090627094412.00cb2980@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <4.3.2.20090627221417.00cba448@mail.tpg.com.au>

Justin wrote:
>Does it list your C-Media or AC'97 device under sound devices?>>


No. Neither in BIOS nor in Device Mgr.

<<It might be turned off in Bios.>>

I can't find anything in the BIOS except "Azalia" under Southbridge which 
is enabled. There seems to be nothing else in any of the BIOS settings 
relating to sound. No mention of AC97 that I can see.

<<delete/remove/uninstall the device in device
manager (hilight the AC'97 device or Azalia or whateve it wants to call
itself>>

There's nothing like that in Device Mgr. Only reference to sound is under 
"Sound controllers" which shows all legacy etc drivers installed and 
working. There's no reference to AC97 or Azalia.

Curiously, there's nothing relating to AC97 in the Asus CD. The audio 
section only gives the option to install HD, which requires a special 
module. I tried it, but it just says it can't find the HD module.

Maybe I need to goto the Asus site and see if they have drivers for AC97. 
Very strange it's not on their CD, which is clearly labelled for my mobo.

Speakers are in the green jack, as you say and as indicated by the manual.

Could have got one of the plugs wrong somehow?

Don Penlington




From justin at whisperer.com.au  Sun Jun 28 01:10:24 2009
From: justin at whisperer.com.au (The Computer Whisperer)
Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:10:24 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP
In-Reply-To: <4.3.2.20090627221417.00cba448@mail.tpg.com.au>
References: <4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090625124040.00cac8d8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090626152519.00c8d4f8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<6D2DE126BE0C44C5B6150CA97F88C129@johnsp2>
	<4.3.2.20090627094412.00cb2980@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090627221417.00cba448@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <2852b8d40906272210u31062afdr4337e98bb65ddad2@mail.gmail.com>

It might be listed in Device Manager as "Realtek High Definition Audio"

It should be branded... in someway

Regards,

Justin


http://www.whisperer.com.au

The Computer Whisperer - Gets you where you want to be.

Friendly on-site technical support - Home and Small Business Specialist.

Telephone: (03) 5979 1122
Mobile 0406 467 701

Servicing the Mornington Peninsula (Victoria, Australia)


2009/6/27 Don Penlington <deepend at tpg.com.au>

> Justin wrote:
>
>> Does it list your C-Media or AC'97 device under sound devices?>>
>>
>
>
> No. Neither in BIOS nor in Device Mgr.
>
> <<It might be turned off in Bios.>>
>
> I can't find anything in the BIOS except "Azalia" under Southbridge which
> is enabled. There seems to be nothing else in any of the BIOS settings
> relating to sound. No mention of AC97 that I can see.
>
> <<delete/remove/uninstall the device in device
> manager (hilight the AC'97 device or Azalia or whateve it wants to call
> itself>>
>
> There's nothing like that in Device Mgr. Only reference to sound is under
> "Sound controllers" which shows all legacy etc drivers installed and
> working. There's no reference to AC97 or Azalia.
>
> Curiously, there's nothing relating to AC97 in the Asus CD. The audio
> section only gives the option to install HD, which requires a special
> module. I tried it, but it just says it can't find the HD module.
>
> Maybe I need to goto the Asus site and see if they have drivers for AC97.
> Very strange it's not on their CD, which is clearly labelled for my mobo.
>
> Speakers are in the green jack, as you say and as indicated by the manual.
>
> Could have got one of the plugs wrong somehow?
>
>
> Don Penlington
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>

From deepend at tpg.com.au  Sun Jun 28 05:32:28 2009
From: deepend at tpg.com.au (Don Penlington)
Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:32:28 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP
In-Reply-To: <2852b8d40906272210u31062afdr4337e98bb65ddad2@mail.gmail.co
 m>
References: <4.3.2.20090627221417.00cba448@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090616173341.00c455e8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090616223757.00c6d870@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090625124040.00cac8d8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090626152519.00c8d4f8@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<6D2DE126BE0C44C5B6150CA97F88C129@johnsp2>
	<4.3.2.20090627094412.00cb2980@mail.tpg.com.au>
	<4.3.2.20090627221417.00cba448@mail.tpg.com.au>
Message-ID: <4.3.2.20090628190653.00c89908@mail.tpg.com.au>

Justin wrote:
>It might be listed in Device Manager as "Realtek High Definition Audio">>


The only entries in device Mgr relating to audio are the codecs. Nothing 
that looks remotely like any audio device shows. That's the 
problem---everything's telling me there's no audio device installed.

In Device Mgr, under "Media Control Devices" there are entries for "MCI CD 
audio" and "MCI Sound". Opening these shows that drivers are installed and 
supposedly working. No other details are given.

I have 2 IDE dvd players. I don't see any separate audio leads for 
these---have I missed something there? I assume their audio would be 
channelled thru the IDE cables. They play movies OK (but 
silently).   Anyway, this shouldn't affect sound when played direct from 
the Hard Drive. ALL sound is missing, regardless of source (except the 
system beeps).

All my movie players report that there is no audio device when I open them.

As I said before, the only reference I can find in the BIOS (and in the 
manual) is under the settings for Southbridge Chip, where AC97 sound is 
enabled.

Don Penlington








From Engineman1 at aol.com  Sun Jun 28 13:14:52 2009
From: Engineman1 at aol.com (Engineman1 at aol.com)
Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:14:52 EDT
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP
Message-ID: <c83.3e5862fd.3778ff0c@aol.com>

I don't know if this has ben mentioned before but in services (start >  run 
> services.msc) there is an entry called "windows audio".
It's description says "Manages audio devices for windows based programs. If 
 this service is stopped audio devices and effects will not function...."
It can be started from the services window.
 
Engineman
 
 
In a message dated 6/28/2009 2:33:22 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
deepend at tpg.com.au writes:

Justin  wrote:
>It might be listed in Device Manager as "Realtek High Definition  Audio">>


The only entries in device Mgr relating to audio are  the codecs. Nothing 
that looks remotely like any audio device shows.  That's the 
problem---everything's telling me there's no audio device  installed.

In Device Mgr, under "Media Control Devices" there are  entries for "MCI CD 
audio" and "MCI Sound". Opening these shows that  drivers are installed and 
supposedly working. No other details are  given.

I have 2 IDE dvd players. I don't see any separate audio leads  for 
these---have I missed something there? I assume their audio would be  
channelled thru the IDE cables. They play movies OK (but  
silently).   Anyway, this shouldn't affect sound when played  direct from 
the Hard Drive. ALL sound is missing, regardless of source  (except the 
system beeps).

All my movie players report that there  is no audio device when I open them.

As I said before, the only  reference I can find in the BIOS (and in the 
manual) is under the settings  for Southbridge Chip, where AC97 sound is 
enabled.

Don  Penlington







_______________________________________________
Tech  Support Guy Mailing  List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/


**************An Excellent Credit Score is 750. See Yours in Just 2 Easy 
Steps! 
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eExcfooterNO62)

From leximou at Gmail.com  Sun Jun 28 13:39:53 2009
From: leximou at Gmail.com (SMD)
Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:39:53 -0400
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP
In-Reply-To: <c83.3e5862fd.3778ff0c@aol.com>
References: <c83.3e5862fd.3778ff0c@aol.com>
Message-ID: <4A47AAE9.30804@Gmail.com>

Is there a reason that none of my replies are making it through?




From Engineman1 at aol.com  Sun Jun 28 13:47:41 2009
From: Engineman1 at aol.com (Engineman1 at aol.com)
Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:47:41 EDT
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP
Message-ID: <d67.4709886e.377906bd@aol.com>

This one did.
Engineman
 
 
In a message dated 6/28/2009 10:40:27 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
leximou at Gmail.com writes:

Is there  a reason that none of my replies are making it  through?



_______________________________________________
Tech  Support Guy Mailing  List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/


**************An Excellent Credit Score is 750. See Yours in Just 2 Easy 
Steps! 
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221323006x1201367222/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072&hmpgID=62&bcd=Jun
eExcfooterNO62)

From tbrandl2 at chello.at  Sun Jun 28 14:39:36 2009
From: tbrandl2 at chello.at (Tilman Brandl)
Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:39:36 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP
References: <c83.3e5862fd.3778ff0c@aol.com> <4A47AAE9.30804@Gmail.com>
Message-ID: <048101c9f81f$cd913510$0601a8c0@til4200>

yep - this one certainly did. 

Have you checked that you always use leximou (at) Gmail.com as the from address? I've had this in the past when I forgot to check the address, I sent messages off with a different one than that which I had used to subscribe. 

Otherwise, I've also experienced problems with the correct address in the past - I had to change my subscription address to make my messages go through.

Tilman

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "SMD" <leximou at Gmail.com>
To: "Tech Support Guy Mailing List" <list at tsgserver.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2009 7:39 PM
Subject: Re: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP


> Is there a reason that none of my replies are making it through?



From hdavis1 at gmail.com  Sun Jun 28 17:50:05 2009
From: hdavis1 at gmail.com (H Davis)
Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:50:05 -0400
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP
In-Reply-To: <4A47AAE9.30804@Gmail.com>
References: <c83.3e5862fd.3778ff0c@aol.com> <4A47AAE9.30804@Gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4A47E58D.7000103@gmail.com>

SMD,

Has this problem just started recently? And/or have you just started 
using gmail with a local client?

H Davis

SMD wrote:
> Is there a reason that none of my replies are making it through?
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>

-- 
H Davis   hdavis1 at gmail.com


From tbrandl2 at chello.at  Mon Jun 29 05:34:34 2009
From: tbrandl2 at chello.at (Tilman Brandl)
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:34:34 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Win XP pro OEM CD - a slimmed down system?
Message-ID: <04fb01c9f89c$db6621a0$0601a8c0@til4200>

Hi,

on my wife's PC I've had severe problems recently, probably due to a fake AV-program that had found it's way onto this machine. I got some detailed advice from an anti-malware forum on how to tackle this, and that's where my question is related to:

Part of the repair attempt was running sfc /scannow from the original Win XP CD (I think it's XP pro). My experience went like this (qoting) "There were about 10 instances where I was asked to retry reading a file from the Windows XP CD: "Files that are required for Windows to run properly must be copied to the DLL Cache. Insert your Windows XP Professional CD now". 
(I was offered 2 options 'Retry' and 'Cancel'.)
"When I clicked on 'Retry' everything proceeded w/o an error. [......] SFC finished w/o any further errors or messages."

I've repeated this with my own XP Pro CD which I had bought together with my new machine last February. Same effect ...
What I haven't tried is swapping the CD drive for a better/new one.

The forum guy still believes that my (OEM) system CD may not be sufficient here, and especially that "OEM CDs do not contain all files required by Windows which may be the reason for your problems and also why it trys to keep accessing the CD.....". 

Can this be true? I've used my older XP pro CD on earlier occasions w/o any of these problems, and never heard that an OEM CD would be insufficient (using sfc wouldn't make sense in this case). Any ideas on this anybody?

Tilman





From deepend at tpg.com.au  Mon Jun 29 07:51:23 2009
From: deepend at tpg.com.au (Don Penlington)
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:51:23 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP
In-Reply-To: <c83.3e5862fd.3778ff0c@aol.com>
Message-ID: <4.3.2.20090629124834.00c87aa0@mail.tpg.com.au>

Engineman wrote:
>in services (start >  run
> > services.msc) there is an entry called "windows audio".>>


Good point.  I hadn't thought of that one.

But the service is on auto and running.

Don Penlington


From deepend at tpg.com.au  Mon Jun 29 08:07:36 2009
From: deepend at tpg.com.au (Don Penlington)
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:07:36 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Win XP pro OEM CD - a slimmed down system?
In-Reply-To: <04fb01c9f89c$db6621a0$0601a8c0@til4200>
Message-ID: <4.3.2.20090629215222.00c710e8@mail.tpg.com.au>

Tilman wrote:
>due to a fake AV-program....The forum guy still believes that my (OEM) 
>system CD may not be sufficient here,>>


It's not clear just what your problem is. You say that sfc finished OK 
without any problems.  Do you mean that the computer is still showing signs 
of infection?

If it was the "antivir" scam or one of its many variants, I haven't heard 
of running sfc to fix it---I doubt that would be effective, as this 
particular scam can take extraordinary methods of protecting itself, 
including any attempts to update your system files or update your 
malware.  If you are saying that something is blocking sfc from running, 
that is a sure symptom of the "antivir" scam, which is not actually seen as 
a virus.

Malwarebytes seems to have the best record of removing this scam, provided 
you have an version which was updated prior to the infection. Otherwise, 
you'll have to remove the hard drive off the infected machine, insert it in 
another clean computer, and run an updated version of Malwarebytes on that 
other computer.

In some cases of bad infection with that scam, there's little option but to 
reformat.  As fast as you remove this malware, it regenerates itself.

Some people report good results with free Combofix as a removal tool, but 
I've not had any luck with that myself.

As to your question whether an OEM version of XP would be missing any 
system files---I haven't heard of that and very much doubt it. I've been 
using an OEM version for years without any problems.

Don Penlington


From tbrandl2 at chello.at  Mon Jun 29 08:36:37 2009
From: tbrandl2 at chello.at (Tilman Brandl)
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:36:37 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Win 7 - 32 or 64 bit ?
Message-ID: <051201c9f8b6$4ca66780$0601a8c0@til4200>

Hi,

I bought a 64-bit bargain PC with quadcore processor, 4 GB of Ram + Vista 32-bit lately. Main idea is to use it as a new backup machine. 

On a second partition I'm trying out 32-bit Windows 7. The download was before I bought this machine, so it never occurred to me to dl a 64-bit version. Would it make sense to use the 32-bit Win 7, or should I swap it for the 64-bit thing? Of course all other software that I'm going to run in that setup is 32-bit - Winword, OpenOffice, PaintShopPro etc. ...

???

Tilman


From leximou at Gmail.com  Mon Jun 29 08:39:23 2009
From: leximou at Gmail.com (SMD)
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:39:23 -0400
Subject: TSGL: Win XP pro OEM CD - a slimmed down system?
In-Reply-To: <04fb01c9f89c$db6621a0$0601a8c0@til4200>
References: <04fb01c9f89c$db6621a0$0601a8c0@til4200>
Message-ID: <4A48B5FB.60409@Gmail.com>

Tillman,

All WinXP Pro (and this applies to other versions of XP also) are 
identical. What controls how they react and what alpha/numeric sequence 
they will accept is the setup.ini file in the windows i386 file.

Example:
PID=51883 335 would indicate a retail version of XP
PID=51883 270 would indicate a volume license

There are other combos, but the install files are all identical.

Lex


> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>
>   


From justin at whisperer.com.au  Mon Jun 29 09:52:13 2009
From: justin at whisperer.com.au (The Computer Whisperer)
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:52:13 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Win XP pro OEM CD - a slimmed down system?
In-Reply-To: <4A48B5FB.60409@Gmail.com>
References: <04fb01c9f89c$db6621a0$0601a8c0@til4200> <4A48B5FB.60409@Gmail.com>
Message-ID: <2852b8d40906290652q3faf1f12t497372cafe37c9fe@mail.gmail.com>

download combofix from combofix.org.

run it.

Problem solved.

Do run malwarebytes antimalware too tho.

Justin


http://www.whisperer.com.au

The Computer Whisperer - Gets you where you want to be.

Friendly on-site technical support - Home and Small Business Specialist.

Telephone: (03) 5979 1122
Mobile 0406 467 701

Servicing the Mornington Peninsula (Victoria, Australia)


2009/6/29 SMD <leximou at gmail.com>

> Tillman,
>
> All WinXP Pro (and this applies to other versions of XP also) are
> identical. What controls how they react and what alpha/numeric sequence they
> will accept is the setup.ini file in the windows i386 file.
>
> Example:
> PID=51883 335 would indicate a retail version of XP
> PID=51883 270 would indicate a volume license
>
> There are other combos, but the install files are all identical.
>
> Lex
>
>
>
>  Tech Support Guy Mailing List
>> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>>
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>

From justin at whisperer.com.au  Mon Jun 29 09:53:36 2009
From: justin at whisperer.com.au (The Computer Whisperer)
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:53:36 +1000
Subject: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP
In-Reply-To: <4A47E58D.7000103@gmail.com>
References: <c83.3e5862fd.3778ff0c@aol.com> <4A47AAE9.30804@Gmail.com>
	<4A47E58D.7000103@gmail.com>
Message-ID: <2852b8d40906290653y62867743l3212d46c16b012ce@mail.gmail.com>

What about applying the HD Audio Patch?

Don't forget to uninstall your existing sound drivers first.

http://www.ditii.com/2008/01/04/windows-xp-sp3-rc-hd-audio-fix/


http://www.whisperer.com.au

The Computer Whisperer - Gets you where you want to be.

Friendly on-site technical support - Home and Small Business Specialist.

Telephone: (03) 5979 1122
Mobile 0406 467 701

Servicing the Mornington Peninsula (Victoria, Australia)


2009/6/29 H Davis <hdavis1 at gmail.com>

> SMD,
>
> Has this problem just started recently? And/or have you just started using
> gmail with a local client?
>
> H Davis
>
>
> SMD wrote:
>
>> Is there a reason that none of my replies are making it through?
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
>> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>>
>>
> --
> H Davis   hdavis1 at gmail.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>

From HiHalloHeidi at gmx.de  Mon Jun 29 11:09:55 2009
From: HiHalloHeidi at gmx.de (=?iso-8859-1?Q?Heidi_Schr=F6der?=)
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:09:55 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Fw:  Building new computer---HELLLLP
Message-ID: <B8DFA5CA5C5743E6837B6A493CA2514B@HeidisPC>

Now that's strange - I have changed my address a few times for the list when we had those problems with mails not arriving a while back and I first thought my address was the problem. But now I am receiving mails to my t-online address for quite a while already - and only now when I could not post anything to hte list I went and checked things and had to realise I was actually not subscribed under that address but under my gmx-address after all. So what is the system doing with my subscription - sending to an old address but not accepting posts under that one???

Anyway, here's my third try with the hopefully actually and truly correct address, so that it should go through.

Don, I must admit I have no idea of nothing about building computers but being just curious I did google a bit about your problem in German (quite often found solutions in English for problems my friends ask me to solve for them, so why not try it the other way round as well) - the only thing I found mentioned several times and think you did not mention it (sorry if I missed that one after all), was that it was always asked whether the on-board sound card/chip had the jumpers set correctly so it was activated - think you  mentioned it was activated in BIOS but maybe setting jumpers differently will change something after all!? 

Have a good new week now
Heidi



----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Engineman1 at aol.com>
To: <list at tsgserver.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2009 7:14 PM
Subject: Re: TSGL: Building new computer---HELLLLP


>I don't know if this has ben mentioned before but in services (start >  run 
>> services.msc) there is an entry called "windows audio".
> It's description says "Manages audio devices for windows based programs. If 
> this service is stopped audio devices and effects will not function...."
> It can be started from the services window.
> 
> Engineman
> 
> 
> In a message dated 6/28/2009 2:33:22 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
> deepend at tpg.com.au writes:
> 
> Justin  wrote:
>>It might be listed in Device Manager as "Realtek High Definition  Audio">>
> 
> 
> The only entries in device Mgr relating to audio are  the codecs. Nothing 
> that looks remotely like any audio device shows.  That's the 
> problem---everything's telling me there's no audio device  installed.
> 
> In Device Mgr, under "Media Control Devices" there are  entries for "MCI CD 
> audio" and "MCI Sound". Opening these shows that  drivers are installed and 
> supposedly working. No other details are  given.
> 
> I have 2 IDE dvd players. I don't see any separate audio leads  for 
> these---have I missed something there? I assume their audio would be  
> channelled thru the IDE cables. They play movies OK (but  
> silently).   Anyway, this shouldn't affect sound when played  direct from 
> the Hard Drive. ALL sound is missing, regardless of source  (except the 
> system beeps).
> 
> All my movie players report that there  is no audio device when I open them.
> 
> As I said before, the only  reference I can find in the BIOS (and in the 
> manual) is under the settings  for Southbridge Chip, where AC97 sound is 
> enabled.
> 
> Don  Penlington



From Engineman1 at aol.com  Mon Jun 29 13:39:35 2009
From: Engineman1 at aol.com (Engineman1 at aol.com)
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:39:35 EDT
Subject: TSGL: Win XP pro OEM CD - a slimmed down system?
Message-ID: <d5a.49e80466.377a5657@aol.com>

I've had similar problems when installing Windows which I attribute to  
scratches on the CD.
In one instance of this problem I had a copy of the CD which I would insert 
 when the error message came up.
I would click on "retry" and it would usually work. When the message came  
up with the copy I would re-insert the original. I think the defects were 
also  in the copy  but switching disks and giving the machine a new chance to  
read properly seemed to help.
Also I found that I got fewer errors with the disk in a DVD drive than in a 
 CD only drive.
DVD drives are made with greater precision
 
Engineman
 
 
In a message dated 6/29/2009 2:34:50 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
tbrandl2 at chello.at writes:

Hi,

on my wife's PC I've had severe problems recently,  probably due to a fake 
AV-program that had found it's way onto this machine. I  got some detailed 
advice from an anti-malware forum on how to tackle this, and  that's where my 
question is related to:

Part of the repair attempt was  running sfc /scannow from the original Win 
XP CD (I think it's XP pro). My  experience went like this (qoting) "There 
were about 10 instances where I was  asked to retry reading a file from the 
Windows XP CD: "Files that are required  for Windows to run properly must be 
copied to the DLL Cache. Insert your  Windows XP Professional CD now". 
(I was offered 2 options 'Retry' and  'Cancel'.)
"When I clicked on 'Retry' everything proceeded w/o an error.  [......] SFC 
finished w/o any further errors or messages."

I've  repeated this with my own XP Pro CD which I had bought together with 
my new  machine last February. Same effect ...
What I haven't tried is swapping the  CD drive for a better/new one.

The forum guy still believes that my  (OEM) system CD may not be sufficient 
here, and especially that "OEM CDs do  not contain all files required by 
Windows which may be the reason for your  problems and also why it trys to 
keep accessing the CD.....". 

Can this  be true? I've used my older XP pro CD on earlier occasions w/o 
any of these  problems, and never heard that an OEM CD would be insufficient 
(using sfc  wouldn't make sense in this case). Any ideas on this  anybody?

Tilman




_______________________________________________
Tech  Support Guy Mailing  List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/


**************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy 
steps! 
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JunestepsfooterNO62)

From tbrandl2 at chello.at  Mon Jun 29 14:25:07 2009
From: tbrandl2 at chello.at (Tilman Brandl)
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:25:07 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Win XP pro OEM CD - a slimmed down system?
References: <04fb01c9f89c$db6621a0$0601a8c0@til4200> <4A48B5FB.60409@Gmail.com>
	<2852b8d40906290652q3faf1f12t497372cafe37c9fe@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <055b01c9f8ea$83e9e7b0$0601a8c0@til4200>

Justin,

> download combofix from combofix.org.
> run it.
> Problem solved.
> Do run malwarebytes antimalware too tho.

I've been through this process and several more about 4 to 5 times now, this wasn't my question actually  ;-)  

The malware problem seems to be solved sofar, at least the machine behaves quite normal in most departments (I'll maybe come back with the problems that are still left, lateron).

Tilman

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "The Computer Whisperer" <justin at whisperer.com.au>
To: "Tech Support Guy Mailing List" <list at tsgserver.com>
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 3:52 PM
Subject: Re: TSGL: Win XP pro OEM CD - a slimmed down system?


> download combofix from combofix.org.
> 
> run it.
> 
> Problem solved.
> 
> Do run malwarebytes antimalware too tho.
> 
> Justin
> 
> 
> http://www.whisperer.com.au
> 
> 
> 2009/6/29 SMD <leximou at gmail.com>
> 
>> Tillman,
>>
>> All WinXP Pro (and this applies to other versions of XP also) are
>> identical. What controls how they react and what alpha/numeric sequence they
>> will accept is the setup.ini file in the windows i386 file.
>>
>> Example:
>> PID=51883 335 would indicate a retail version of XP
>> PID=51883 270 would indicate a volume license
>>
>> There are other combos, but the install files are all identical.
>>
>> Lex



From tbrandl2 at chello.at  Mon Jun 29 14:50:39 2009
From: tbrandl2 at chello.at (Tilman Brandl)
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:50:39 +0200
Subject: TSGL: Win XP pro OEM CD - network problems
References: <04fb01c9f89c$db6621a0$0601a8c0@til4200>
Message-ID: <055c01c9f8ea$83f81880$0601a8c0@til4200>


seems I have worded my question badly. The malware thing isn't a problem currently, there are no direct signs of any infection left on this PC. I just wanted to know about the OEM XP versus a 'full-fledged' version.

Your answers seem to indicate that there'shouldn't' be any software differences between the OEM and any other XP Pro CD, if I understood you correctly. So maybe I'll try a different CD drive later. 

Since I've told you nearly the whole story, let me elaborate on the problems that are left:
1. opening the network-connection dialog works, but normally I can't change a thing there; menues are greyed out and don't work, so I can only close it - which takes minutes. Another interpretation would be that everything works as intended, but with huge delays.
2. Windows firewall always was OFF after bootup, and I couldn't access it's settings. Aftre some time it went to ON - by itself. Following the lead I got on the majorgeeks malware forum I've swapped it for ZA meanwhile.

This PC generally does work well in any way that my wife asks for. It runs Winword and Outlook Express, plus Internet w/o any obvious problems. 
If any of you can come up with suggestions on how to tackle the network problem, I would greatly appreciate it. Sofar I have tried the obvious, e.g. deleting the network adapter from control panel and reinstalling it. I've also checked several services that were mentioned on the web somewhere. Nothing sofar has helped ... My last resort would be to re-install Win XP, but I hesitate as long as there are no manifest problems when using the machine in it's standard way.

Thanks for your ideas & support.

Tilman

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tilman Brandl" <tbrandl2 at chello.at>
To: "Tech Support Guy Mailing List" <List at tsgserver.com>
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 11:34 AM
Subject: TSGL: Win XP pro OEM CD - a slimmed down system?


> Hi,
> 
> on my wife's PC I've had severe problems recently, probably due to a fake AV-program that had found it's way onto this machine. I got some detailed advice from an anti-malware forum on how to tackle this, and that's where my question is related to:
> 
> Part of the repair attempt was running sfc /scannow from the original Win XP CD (I think it's XP pro). My experience went like this (qoting) "There were about 10 instances where I was asked to retry reading a file from the Windows XP CD: "Files that are required for Windows to run properly must be copied to the DLL Cache. Insert your Windows XP Professional CD now". 
> (I was offered 2 options 'Retry' and 'Cancel'.)
> "When I clicked on 'Retry' everything proceeded w/o an error. [......] SFC finished w/o any further errors or messages."
> 
> I've repeated this with my own XP Pro CD which I had bought together with my new machine last February. Same effect ...
> What I haven't tried is swapping the CD drive for a better/new one.
> 
> The forum guy still believes that my (OEM) system CD may not be sufficient here, and especially that "OEM CDs do not contain all files required by Windows which may be the reason for your problems and also why it trys to keep accessing the CD.....". 
> 
> Can this be true? I've used my older XP pro CD on earlier occasions w/o any of these problems, and never heard that an OEM CD would be insufficient (using sfc wouldn't make sense in this case). Any ideas on this anybody?
> 
> Tilman



From embitt at westnet.com.au  Tue Jun 30 04:09:19 2009
From: embitt at westnet.com.au (Merna Bitter)
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:09:19 +1000
Subject: TSGL: off topic - Giving up my iPod for a Walkman - BBC News
	2009.06.29
Message-ID: <5C6C812308494C41ACF7348753B54DF6@number15>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8117619.stm


From coover at fastmail.fm  Tue Jun 30 04:21:02 2009
From: coover at fastmail.fm (Russell W. Coover)
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:21:02 -0700
Subject: TSGL: Win 7 - 32 or 64 bit ?
In-Reply-To: <051201c9f8b6$4ca66780$0601a8c0@til4200>
References: <051201c9f8b6$4ca66780$0601a8c0@til4200>
Message-ID: <C2DBB99D1FDA4E4B98151F70C5BF6C78@AcerPC>

Tilman, 

About a year ago, I decided to reformat the main hard drive on my Vista
Ultimate computer. Having a copy of the Vista 64 bit OS (which I had never
used until then) and since the computer had a 64 bit CPU, I decided to load
the 64 bit OS onto the machine. I did with no problems with installation ...
and then I started loading software I use all the time, including several
freeware applications. Most of it worked properly. But everytime I tried to
use certain programs, the computer would crash (in the Vista Style - the
program would close), but I'd then find that I would actually lose access to
those programs and to several others, too. It was very frustrating. I assume
it was because the freeware was incompatible with 64 bit. I then reinstalled
the original 32 bit OS, and have not contemplated going back to 64 bit.
Besides, the only real advantage I could see for the 64 bit Vista OS was
that it gave me access to 4 GB of memory rather than the approximately 3.3
GB that is allowed by Vista 32 bit. 

By the way ... I see where Win 7 32 bit will support 4 GB memory or more,
depending upon the version of Win 7. 

I suppose 64 bit will someday be more useful than 32 bit for most folks, but
it isn't now (though it should theoretically be 4 times faster). There
simply isn't much software around that can take advantage of its power. Of
course, if you use Photoshop ... that is a different story.

Russ Coover 

-----Original Message-----
From: list-bounces at tsgserver.com [mailto:list-bounces at tsgserver.com] On
Behalf Of Tilman Brandl
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 5:37 AM
To: Tech Support Guy Mailing List
Subject: TSGL: Win 7 - 32 or 64 bit ?

Hi,

I bought a 64-bit bargain PC with quadcore processor, 4 GB of Ram + Vista
32-bit lately. Main idea is to use it as a new backup machine. 

On a second partition I'm trying out 32-bit Windows 7. The download was
before I bought this machine, so it never occurred to me to dl a 64-bit
version. Would it make sense to use the 32-bit Win 7, or should I swap it
for the 64-bit thing? Of course all other software that I'm going to run in
that setup is 32-bit - Winword, OpenOffice, PaintShopPro etc. ...

???

Tilman

_______________________________________________
Tech Support Guy Mailing List
http://www.tsgserver.com/list/



From hdavis1 at gmail.com  Tue Jun 30 16:12:24 2009
From: hdavis1 at gmail.com (H Davis)
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:12:24 -0400
Subject: TSGL: off topic - Giving up my iPod for a Walkman - BBC News
 2009.06.29
In-Reply-To: <5C6C812308494C41ACF7348753B54DF6@number15>
References: <5C6C812308494C41ACF7348753B54DF6@number15>
Message-ID: <4A4A71A8.5030805@gmail.com>

Ugh, just when I had convinced myself that I wasn't _that_ old.

H Davis

Merna Bitter wrote:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8117619.stm
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>
>   

-- 
H Davis   hdavis1 at gmail.com


From hdavis1 at gmail.com  Tue Jun 30 16:17:42 2009
From: hdavis1 at gmail.com (H Davis)
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:17:42 -0400
Subject: TSGL: Win 7 - 32 or 64 bit ?
In-Reply-To: <C2DBB99D1FDA4E4B98151F70C5BF6C78@AcerPC>
References: <051201c9f8b6$4ca66780$0601a8c0@til4200>
	<C2DBB99D1FDA4E4B98151F70C5BF6C78@AcerPC>
Message-ID: <4A4A72E6.7080904@gmail.com>

HI Russ,

This brings up a question I've had for a while now. I've noticed several 
ads for computers that include 4, 6, or even 8 GB of RAM. None mention a 
64 bit OS, they're all Windows Vista and, as best I can remember, use 
one of the newer ix (i5, i7, etc) chips. Are the ix chips 64 bit? If 
not, are they using some new scheme to extend the addressing range of 
the processor? The world wants to know.

H Davis

Russell W. Coover wrote:
> Tilman, 
>
> About a year ago, I decided to reformat the main hard drive on my Vista
> Ultimate computer. Having a copy of the Vista 64 bit OS (which I had never
> used until then) and since the computer had a 64 bit CPU, I decided to load
> the 64 bit OS onto the machine. I did with no problems with installation ...
> and then I started loading software I use all the time, including several
> freeware applications. Most of it worked properly. But everytime I tried to
> use certain programs, the computer would crash (in the Vista Style - the
> program would close), but I'd then find that I would actually lose access to
> those programs and to several others, too. It was very frustrating. I assume
> it was because the freeware was incompatible with 64 bit. I then reinstalled
> the original 32 bit OS, and have not contemplated going back to 64 bit.
> Besides, the only real advantage I could see for the 64 bit Vista OS was
> that it gave me access to 4 GB of memory rather than the approximately 3.3
> GB that is allowed by Vista 32 bit. 
>
> By the way ... I see where Win 7 32 bit will support 4 GB memory or more,
> depending upon the version of Win 7. 
>
> I suppose 64 bit will someday be more useful than 32 bit for most folks, but
> it isn't now (though it should theoretically be 4 times faster). There
> simply isn't much software around that can take advantage of its power. Of
> course, if you use Photoshop ... that is a different story.
>
> Russ Coover 
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: list-bounces at tsgserver.com [mailto:list-bounces at tsgserver.com] On
> Behalf Of Tilman Brandl
> Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 5:37 AM
> To: Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> Subject: TSGL: Win 7 - 32 or 64 bit ?
>
> Hi,
>
> I bought a 64-bit bargain PC with quadcore processor, 4 GB of Ram + Vista
> 32-bit lately. Main idea is to use it as a new backup machine. 
>
> On a second partition I'm trying out 32-bit Windows 7. The download was
> before I bought this machine, so it never occurred to me to dl a 64-bit
> version. Would it make sense to use the 32-bit Win 7, or should I swap it
> for the 64-bit thing? Of course all other software that I'm going to run in
> that setup is 32-bit - Winword, OpenOffice, PaintShopPro etc. ...
>
> ???
>
> Tilman
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>
>   

-- 
H Davis   hdavis1 at gmail.com