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Saturday, 13 January, 2007

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Tech News

11a-Noon

Q Dick in Los Altos - USB speakers conflict with mouse

He’s using a powered wireless USB keyboard and mouse and added Logitech USB speakers. With the speakers connected the mouse fails eventually. It still happens with a powered hub, so it’s not a power issue.

Try a wired USB mouse to see if there’s still a problem. USB supports 127 devices simultaneously so there shouldn’t be a conflict. Could there be a driver conflict, instead?? Add your suggestion to the comment box!

Some chatters suggest RF interference. Try separating the mouse transmitter and the speakers.

Q Bernie in Colorado - desktops are coming out of standby too easily

Take a look at the articles at Kelly’s Korner (an excellent resource in general), but it looks like it takes a BIOS with the right features to disable mouse movements

Q Diane in Santa Margarita - recycling her old Aptiva

You could put Ubuntu Linux on it to revive the machine. Or donate it via the Cristina Foundation. The Salvation Army takes computers, too, working or not. If you decide to throw it out, make sure to take it to an E-Waste roundup.

If you sell or donate it make sure to fully erase your personal data first with the free Darik’s Boot and Nuke.

Q David in Idaho - looking for pay-as-you-go wireless internet

His wife is making a road trip and wants Internet access, but he’s not ready to sign up for expensive cell phone data because it doesn’t work in rural Idaho. KOA campgrounds offer Wi-Fi, and it would probably be best to look for wi-fi hotspots.

Noon-1p

Q Brian in Agoura Hills - buying a camcorder

Mini-DVD vs tape - buy tape! MiniDVD only makes sense if you don’t have a computer and never plan to edit the video.

For budget camcorders I like Panasonic, but make sure to read the reviews at www.Camcorderinfo.com.

Q - how much memory to run OS X and Windows simultaneously

2GB absolutely.

Q Bryce in Costa Mesa - where’s my incoming mail??

He has a new Toshiba laptop with Outlook. It was working but all of a sudden incoming email stopped. Use the Account manager to make sure incoming and outgoing mail is flowing. If there’s no problem there, check the properties of your Personal Folder to make sure mail is going to the right place. Try Email Remover to see if there’s a malformed email stuck in your inbox preventing downloads. You can use Email Remover to clear out your online mailbox and start over. Or log into web mail and clear it out there.

Q Michelle in Covina - smartphone shopping

She’s torn between the Treo 700w and 700p. It’s really a matter of taste, but I think the Palm interface is a little simpler. If you are a Windows user the w might be a better choice.

Q Gunnar in Oklahoma - can’t open the registry

Sentry at Home was blocking it. Makes sense since it’s a parental control program.

1–2p

Q Charlie in Temecula - GPF errors

It’s a five year old computer still running XP version 1. Let’s figure out what’s wrong. Start by booting into BIOS. Make sure your BIOS is correct and the time and date are accurate. If they’re not it may simply be that the battery is dead. If BIOS works, your basic hardware is probably ok. Now try booting the Windows install disc. Does it run? If so, reformat the hard drive, reinstall XP, then turn on the Windows firewall and run Windows update until you’re competely up-to-date. If the installer won’t run you need a new PC.

Q Mark in Corona - looking for a KVM that supports VGA and DVI

He has a VGA Compaq and is planning on buying a Mac mini with DVI out. He wants to use a KVM to share mouse, monitor, and keyboard between the computers. I don’t know of any KVM switches that do both DVI and VGA, but get a VGA KVM and use an adapter with the mini - it’ll look just fine. Or spend $50 and replace the video card on the Compaq (thanks MakeItWorse in chat for that tip!).

Q Tracy in Simi Valley - using Remote Desktop on a Nokia N800

The N800 is the update of the Nokia 77 mini tablet. It’s running Linux, but you should be able to run Remote Desktop (using something like RDesktop on it. It’s brand new but it looks pretty sweet!

Q Michael in Poway - Dell 600 Latitude stalls on boot

Built-in keyboard won’t work, USB keyboard does. He replaced the keyboard and it still doesn’t work. Sounds like the controller is shot. It’s not worth replacing, alas.

Q Patricia in Costa Mesa - best anti-virus?

In my mind NOD32 is hands down the best. But it can be tricky for novices. Microsoft’s own Windows OneCare is a good choice for beginners.