Info and forum posts by 'claw'

RE: Widescreen Tellies With Picture In Picture..

My old Philips W/S has twin tuners with PiP, and i know new models in their range have them too. Not very cheap though if you are after a bargain.

This item was edited on Monday, 17th May 2004, 09:23

RE: somerfield dvd bargain!

I have had to return mine.
It seemed to play OK for a while but after a while i got pixelisation. My neighbour who has bought one though has had no problems with his.

RE: Weapons of Moss Destruction

My dad had the same prob, he went down to the local gardens r us store, and bought some moss killer. It worked fine. Not sure about the envoiromental effects though.

RE: quick time ??

If you are using XP you could try this.

Open windows explorer.

Go to c:docs and settings *your name* local settings temporary internet files

scroll down to the bottom of all your temp files you`ll find there.

Leave this window open, then using your browser download the trailer you want, it should cache its temp file in the temp internet file, near the bottom of all your temp settings. Copy this to a folder you want to keep it in, it should then be saved.

This works in about 90% of the time. you could try it here http://www.apple.com/trailers/ where there are loads of quicktime trailers.

Hope it works for you.

This item was edited on Tuesday, 3rd June 2003, 13:03

RE: Big IE problem + small icons problem

No what this does, is takes your PC back to a state it was yesterday or a week ago. Any documents or emails you will have wrote or sent will be saved though.


What you need to do is go to Start / Programs / accessories / System Tools / System Restore

When you start this it should ask you if you want to create a restore point or to go back to an old one. XP every now and again creates its own automatically, and if you choose to go to a previous one, it should show you the available dates you can choose. Just pick the one you want, obviously not todays and then let it do its thing.

It should hopefully ignore the request to delete IE on startup.

If you go to start / help and support you can also go to "pick a task" and you will find the system resource there as well, or just do a search at the top for system restore and you will get all the info you need.

Hope this helps, let me know how you get on.

RE: Big IE problem + small icons problem

Have you got "system restore" working on your PC, or to put it another way have you disabled it?

RE: should i buy some more RAM

"Use the MaxFileCache setting in the System.ini file to reduce the maximum amount of memory that Vcache uses to 512 megabytes (524,288 KB) or less"

"Use the System Configuration utility to limit the amount of memory that Windows uses to 512 megabytes (MB) or less"

"Reduce the amount of memory that is installed in your computer to 512 MB or less."

They suggest using msconfig to reducing amout of memory, and also to reduce the amount of phsical memory in your PC as it can cause problems.

If the fix is that easy, that just by editing Vcache in sys.ini and then you could use 1gb of ram, why wasn`t a simple patch produced?

This problem was known in Win 95 , win 98, Win 98se, and win Me, and was never fixed in any of the updates either. Do you think it could be due to the 32bit operating system its bases on, and that many of its progs had to run or be ran in ms.dos, so there had to be some compatability.

From MS

The Windows 32-bit protected-mode cache driver (Vcache) determines the maximum cache size based on the amount of RAM that is present when Windows starts. Vcache then reserves enough memory addresses to permit it to access a cache of the maximum size so that it can increase the cache to that size if needed. These addresses are allocated in a range of virtual addresses from 0xC0000000 through 0xFFFFFFFF (3 to 4 gigabytes) known as the system arena.

On computers with large amounts of RAM, the maximum cache size can be large enough that Vcache consumes all of the addresses in the system arena, leaving no virtual memory addresses available for other functions such as opening an MS-DOS prompt (creating a new virtual machine).

This is the type of problem questions you get in the MCP exams.

RE: should i buy some more RAM

Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 253912

SYMPTOMS
If a computer that is running any of the versions of Windows that are listed above contains more than 512 megabytes (for example, 768 megabytes) of physical memory (RAM), you may experience one or more of the following symptoms:
You may be unable to open an MS-DOS session (or command prompt) while Windows is running. Attempts to do so may generate the following error message:

There is not enough memory available to run this program.
Quit one or more programs, and then try again.
The computer may stop responding (hang) while Windows is starting, or halt and display the following error message:

Insufficient memory to initialize windows. Quit one or more memory-resident programs or remove unnecessary utilities from your Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files, and restart your computer.

WORKAROUND
To work around this problem, use one of the following methods:
Use the MaxFileCache setting in the System.ini file to reduce the maximum amount of memory that Vcache uses to 512 megabytes (524,288 KB) or less. For additional information about how to use the MaxFileCache setting, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
108079 32-Bit File Access Maximum Cache Size

Use the System Configuration utility to limit the amount of memory that Windows uses to 512 megabytes (MB) or less.For additional information about how to use the System Configuration utility, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
181966 System Configuration Utility Advanced Troubleshooting Settings

Reduce the amount of memory that is installed in your computer to 512 MB or less.

Above from Microsoft.com.

So all you are doing when altering the MaxFileCache is letting windows only use 512mb ram and to ignore the other memory installed.

As i said DON`T install more than 512mb in Win9x as it isn`t needed and wont be used, no matter what tweeks are used.

RE: should i buy some more RAM

You should have no bother at all fitting and getting ram to work in your PC.

133 Mhz SD-RAM is backwards compatable and will just run at your bus speed of 100MHz. Your P3 is running at 6.5 x 100MHz = 650.

You should be able to slip in an extra 256mb Dimm in your motherboard.

If you are just surfing the net and doing general day to day things with your PC then your P3 650 is more than capable. If your into graphics or Picture editing then the extra ram is needed anyway, its only when you need to run high spec games your PC will suffer a little.

Do not go installing above 512mb if you are running Win 98 / 98se or Win me. It isn`t compatable to run more, and windows will start throwing up errors. With Win 2000 or WinXP though the skys the limit.

In the past few weeks i have been upgrading many peoples PC, who just wanted some extra Ram installed.

Don`t be fooled into thinking you need high spec memory either, generic ram will work just fine.

Crucial memory is good, but if you want the best try Corsair or Twinmoss with Winbond chips. OCZ are pretty good as well.

This item was edited on Monday, 2nd June 2003, 12:27

RE: Can hard drives be repaired ?

There is a utility called Hard disk drive regenerator there is more info here

http://dpo.front.ru/

Hope it helps

RE: My computer keeps bloody restarting! =(

I have to go with Wad on this one. If this has just started with the warm weather, i`d go with a heating problem. If it is an intel cpu they tend to look after themselves a little bit better, but amd chips will just chuck it and lock up causing a restart. Take the case off and check the cpu fan.

RE: Blockbuster - free DVD rentals,

Thanks for those wayne, that had a couple i was stuck on.

RE: computers and dvd

Hi, you may have a DVD drive but is it a DVD-R drive, in other words a recordable one. If you have and you just want to back up your cd`s then Nero software will be able to do this.
Or if its home video`s you are doing there are lots of software to do this rangeing from £30 upto £600 or more.

RE: Best place for PC parts?

I`ve used the same as Satanica above, good service. Also try www.overclockingstore.co.uk.

You could also go to a local PC fair these will have most of what you want and at good prices, and you get to see what your a buying.

RE: Advice needed on choice of new laptop

I got a Sony Vaio fx405 last year, good specs for what i needed CD-RW /DVD combo with a 15"screen and it has ONE major flaw.

Battery, or should i say it needs a good one. On the battery it came with it lasted about 40mins playing back a DVD on the train, and i had to spend another £150 for the extra battery, but i do get about an extra 2hrs out of it now.

Apart from that it has been excellent.

So beware about quoted battery power, and do some research into that, unless you can get your choosen Laptop out of your budget and an extra battery with it as well.

RE: Help - cant open .lwp file

If you don`t have wordpro to install, get hold of a program called "quick view plus"

Quick View Plus makes universal information access a reality. By providing instant access to information created in over 225 Windows, Macintosh, Internet and DOS formats, Quick View Plus enables employees to access information from virtually any source - email attachments, the Web, legacy document stores and more. As native applications are not needed to open files, Quick View Plus reduces costs, simplifies deployment and improves security.

or more info at http://www.avantstar.com/solutions/quick_view_plus/default.aspx

This can be got as a trial version, although i`m not sure what the limitations are.
I thought it was possible for windows office to convert these documents with its own viewer software, or maybe its the other way round, office docs to wordpro docs.

Hope this is of small help.

RE: Problems using an USB extender cable

You could buy a powered external USB hub, that could cure the problem.
I think Belkin do some pretty good ones, but whatever you do get a USB 2 version to future proof yourself. Standard USB 1.1 products are getting sold off cheaply now to get rid of them.

RE: What`s everyone`s spec? cmon` lets see who`s the biggest geek!!

It has been copy and pasted out of Sisoft Sandra there are two versions of this, standard and pro.

By clicking the system summary it will list those specs for you. Some PC mags have this on there cover disk.

You can download it here http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/index.html?location=sware_dl

RE: Problems using an USB extender cable

Has the wireless lan adapter got its own power supply or is it USB powered?

USB peripherals which take your power from the USB bus have trouble running with extender cables, and can cause this type of error, this is why most USB cables never seen long enough to reach from your PC to your desktop, manufactures are aware of the problems this can cause.

It may be something else to look at.

RE: Unwanted web pages popping up.

Pleased it worked out for you Bowf :-))

RE: Unwanted web pages popping up.

Mike , i`ve heard that people have been getting hit with this as well, this type of thing should be illegal. Imagine if you been on the net and this has loaded, and your kid is the next one on the PC and this pops up.

RE: Unwanted web pages popping up.

You need a product like this http://www.panicware.com/index.html pop-up stopper, or just do a search on pop up stoppers, theres a good chance to get shareware ones with out paying, unless you know where to get a key gen for it !!


It also sounds like you might have some spy ware installed in your sys as well, download spybot and run it, its free and they only ask for a donation if you like it.
The other popular prog that does this is called adaware but spybot is far better. I ran adaware and it found some spyware, than i ran spybot and it found even more. You can get it from here

http://spybot.eon.net.au/index.php?lang=en&page=download

This item was edited on Monday, 19th May 2003, 17:48

RE: What`s everyone`s spec? cmon` lets see who`s the biggest geek!!

P4 2.53 overclocked at 19x174 = 3.3GHz (will boot higher but crashes)
Prometia cooling system running above at -38c (using phase change)
Lian-li PC60 case with window 3 cold cathode lights fitted (2 green 1 blue)
MSI MAX Motherboard with bluetooth connection
1x corsair 512mb PC3500
1x corsair 256mb PC3500
Gainward GeForce4 750 ultra Golden Sample (overclocked a wee bit)
Pioneer 104 DVD writer, flash upgraded to 2x write
32x12x48 cyberdrive CD-RW
Soundblaster Audigy EX
2x Maxtor 60gb 7,200rpm HD`s running in raid configuration
1x IBM 60gb 7,200 rpm for backups
firewire card with 3 external, 1 internal ports
USB2 connectons
onboard LAN connection
Creative 5.1 speaker system
Intel web cam
Dazzle 6in1 memory card reader
linksys 100/10 router
Samsung 191T 19" TFT screen
Alcatel Broadband modem
Windows XP Pro

HP Jordana 568 PDA running Pocket PC2002

Sony Vaio FX 405 Laptop (1GHz AMD athlon) Windows XP Home

PC upstairs

AMD XP2000+
MSI motherboard
512MB PC2700
ATI All in Wonder Radeon
2 x 40gb Maxtor drives
onboard LAN connection
USB 2 Connections
Gametheatre XP soundcard (hercules)
Sony Speaker sys 2.1
Samsung 171s 17" TFT monitor
Windows XP Pro

All networked together.

Theres loads of other bits and pieces kicking about, but the list would go on and on.

And ben the best card at the moment i would say is the new ATI 9800 Pro, There are better GeForce FX cards coming out mid summer.

RE: What Are The Best Horror Films Of All Time

Shaun P came up with a good one "the Haunting", but the original one in B/W done in the 60`s, far better than the remake but i did enjoy that as well.

RE: Blockbuster - free DVD rentals,

LOCKED UP LAWYER`S LIBERATION did anyone crack this one ?

RE: Battle of Britain?

It may be worth mentioning that the film "Dark Blue World" used alot of ariel flying battle sequences from the film BoB, which were never used. They enhanced them and put them in the film.

I`ve never seen this film (Dark Blue World), whats it like, worth getting?

RE: Advice Please - DVD Player that plays copied dvd`s

My mustek v520 plays any disk i have burnt in my DVD writer, but only quality DVD-R`s though. Alot of players don`t like cheap quality disks.

RE: TWO TOWER DVD ARTWORK????

More upto date cover http://www.theonering.net/scrapbook/group/758/view/6380

RE: People who talk in cinemas

In New york state, in the USA obviously, you can now be fined $50 if a phone interupts a stage play or a cinema performance....should start that here.

RE: XFiles - Is that it? (spoiler)

The next film goes into production this summer for release next year.