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Sunday, June 12, 2005

Show #152

I’ll be taking calls at 1–800–520–1534 from 2–4p today. Call in with your questions to help me tape the July 3 show ahead of time (so I can take a Geek Cruise June 29-July 10).

 toc | toc

Today’s news items

11a-Noon

Ron in West Hills - Color brochure printing

I like the Canon Pixma photo printers. Excellent quality and high speed. A PC Mag Editor’s Choice. Epson and HP also make excellent photo printers.

I know with B&W Laser Printers, the cost per page is considerably less than with inkjet printers. I would think that the Color Lasers would have the same benefits for bulk color printing. Perhaps Leo can address the cost analysis of Laser verses InkJet at some point.

Josh in Eau Claire, WI - using his iPod to save pictures

I recommend Belkin’s CameraLink it’s about $80, but check for compatibility with your camera before you buy.

They just brought the price down in the Apple Store for only $30

Dan in Ann Arbor - turning off IE’s popup blocker

CAST’s Bobby
Jaws
Windoweyes

Elizabeth in LA - System Idle Process is using 100% of CPU

That’s normal, but if your system is slow there may be something else running in the background. That’s why it’s important to have anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Since Elizabeth does, I think it’s a sign her hard drive is flakey. Back up an reinstall.

Lee_O says:
Also check for P2P software, active torrents, and @Home screensavers, because they use a lot of processing power.

Bruce in Covina - Icons have changed, lots of runtime errors

Sounds like your Windows install is dying. Emachines don’t come with Windows Install discs - but if you have one you could try the recovery mode. Otherwise, backup your data and run the system restore.

WinXPNo#1 writes: You might to download HiJack This and read up on browser hijackers at SpywareInfo.com and Hijack This Quick Start - tomcoyote.org. You may need to use a dedicated tool. Start with Hijack This to download and install HiJack This prgram. Here is how to install HiJack This Creating the C:\HJT Folder.

A listener adds: You can post your HJT log in one of these websites at Merijn.org - Online Help Forums. To learn more about HiJack This go to Bleeping Computer - HijackThis Tutorial - How to use HijackThis to remove Browser Hijackers & Spyware and Merijn.org - HijackThis log tutorial’s

Kansasjim adds: Use Tweakui for windows 98 - me or TweakUI For Windows XP to repair the Icons.

Noon-1p

Anna Maria in Glendale - script supervisor needs new computer

Mac or Thinkpad? She uses Final Draft - so she can use either Windows or Mac and reliabilty is paramount. I say go Mac, but there is one thing to consider: if she prefers to take handwritten notes when she’s working a Tablet PC might be a good choice. Take a look at IBM’s new X41 convertible tablet notebook.

Orrin in LA - making drive image

I use Norton Ghost Ghost Tutorial in shockwave to make an image of the full Windows install.

Steve in Canoga Park - no audio on DV export in iMovie

This last weekend I had the same problem working with movies. My goal was simple: transfer a 30-second VHS tape to a DVD. Simple enough, right? Well, I bought a $70 Dazzle device that allowed me to connect my VHS player to a USB 1.0 port. Using that and the included Pinnacle QuickStart software, I was able to save the video file. BUT - the audio was shifted by a full second. You know - when you see the video and then hear the audio late… Why would this happen when I have a very late-model Sony VAIO? So I used Windows Movie Maker to import the same video. Same problem. I determined the problem remain in the Dazzle device. So I returned it to the store. Anybody out there with a good solution? Do I need a similar device that connects to firewire? Do I need a PCI card installed in the computer? Please help as I will have to do this a number of times in the future… thanks! Love the show LEO!!!

A listener adds: - I use GoldWave software to extract the audio track from the video file.

Susan in San Diego - Moving from Mac to PC

Windows Photoshop

A listener writes:
MAC and PC’s - On the same network Leo, we use both Macs and PC’s on A windows 2003 server network. We love both machines for their strengths, but hate both of their weakness’s. We are on a windows network because of the cheap cost of hardware and also the applications. Do not fool yourself, there are many issues in making the Mac and PC’s work correctly. In the case of your caller the applications are the same but many Mac Photoshop or Quark users will use ADOBE type 1 fonts. This is very rarely the case on PC Photoshop. Most PC users will stick to Truetype fonts so your user needs to be aware of this. Also if the PC’s are running Win2000 or XP’s then file names can be and issue, as those PC’s can have very long file names (>128 chrs) (mac only 28) also the Mac can use characters in the file names that are illegal on a PC. You made the comment of connecting your Mac quickly using Samba. Samba is not an Apple applications but rather an openware software that was invented by Unix users so that the Windows file system (NTFS) could share files with Unix operating systems (NFS) This software will work on your Mac but it only addresses the file transport but not really the other issues in networking your Mac on a PC network. For instance there are very large issues in making a Mac into a full client on a PC network, the use of Safari on a Windows Proxy server which is very common can cause more nightmares fo rthe Mac user on top of the brokes that exist in Safari. Like I started we share both machine types on our network and really enjoy when they work and function together. Most IT people are on one side or the other, I usually tell people to not fall in love with their computers, those will come and go (remember CPM, DOS, Lisa, etc) rather come to love your application and what your system can help you with your work.

Don in Murietta - Verizon FIOS

Can he still use DSL Extreme? No. Right now Verizon is your only choice as your service provider. Dave (below) pointed out that FCC regulations allow telcos to close new fiber networks to other ISPs.

1–2p

JD writes: Push comes to shove, and only as a LAST resort, mind you, one could always stick the drive in the freezer for an hour then plug it back in to see if works just long enough to get the data off before it fails again. I’ve heard experts say that as a hail mary, it can work. Your mileage may vary though.