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Saturday, 3 February 2007

Show Audio

11a-Noon

Q Kevin from Thousand Oaks - Kid ruined USB key

A small child bent the USB connector of his USB key. Chances are that one of the internal connections was broken. Try prying it open, take a look at it, and re-sauter the connection. Be very careful of static.

Q David from Florida - 46″ LCD TV

He’s looking for a recommendation. Should he be more concerned with resolution (720p vs. 1080p) or contrast ratio? First of all, nothing that you will be looking at (satellite HDTV) is 1080p. Leo can’t tell the difference right now the difference between 1080i and 1080p. Contrast ratio is very important (the difference between whites and blacks). You want a rich and deep blank. Go with 1080i. Probably after the Super Bowl, the prices will drop.

Q Greg - Looking for a new HDTV

He’s moving into a new house and is looking for a new TV between $1500–2000. Leo wouldn’t go with an LCD, but with a rear projection. You will get more bang for your buck. They all look great, but aren’t as thin. In your price range, take a look at either a DLP (Samsung) or LCoS (JVC HD-ILA).

Q Up-converting DVD player

He wants to know if it is worth it and if it looks good via component. They are definitely worth it and look insanely good!

Q Louise - Podcasts crashing iPod/Changing view option for multiple columns in iTunes

The iPod firmware 1.2 is making the iPod crash when playing monaural podcasts. Turn off the equalizer and you should be fine.

Q Andy from Anaheim - iTunes automatically organizing music

iTunes is not looking at your folder structure, but is using the ID3 tag information to organize the music. This can drive people crazy at times because it also sometimes integrates the actual file name as well. The smart folder feature may help you out. These smart folders allow you to choose numerous parameters to control what music is automatically placed into the playlist. You can also set iTunes to leave your file structure alone. Delete the iTunes folder, delete the library, and uncheck the option in the advance pane to automatically import music into the iTunes folder.

Noon-1p

Q Joel - Large external hard drives

You do not need to partition the hard drive to let your iMac see all the space.

Q Wilks from New York - Fox News site pulling up other sites after installing NOD32

NOD32 does not interfere with websites at all. It may be ZoneAlarm. ZoneAlarm is constantly watching what you do online and tries to interfere with it. Doubleclick.net may be the site that Fox News gets their ads from. The site is often blocked by security programs by ad blocking software. Spyware may also be on your machine. However, the situation seems that something is trying to block the ads on Fox News. With a router, you do not need ZoneAlarm. Uninstall it.

Q Steve - Commands autorunning to download programs

That computer is messed up with spyware. Sadly, the machine is completely compromised now. The only way to fix it now is to do a reformat and reinstall of Windows.

Q Gary from Culver City - iTunes

His iTunes backup is not getting recognized completely. In the iTunes advanced preferences you can specify where the music is located. Put your entire library on the external hard drive first, and then point it to the location. You could also point it to the new directory, and then add the old directory into the library. From there iTunes will automatically copy all the files to the new directory.

1–2p

Q Sean from Hermosa - Verizon Fios DVR file transfer

He wants to move recordings from his DVR to the computer. Leo is willing to bet you that the answer is no. In order for you to take the files off, you can use the analog loophole by connecting it to a TV tuner on your PC. The USB and Firewire ports are there for “future services” that will never be added. There have been guides to get video off of the device using Firewire, however Leo cannot verify if this works. Hollywood may not be too happy about this though.

Q Robert from Running Springs - Message at XP Bootup

He is getting a message about configuring a photo gallery at Windows bootup. There is a program called Autoruns that will find everything on your computer that has the ability to run. From there, you can disable the entry.

Q Dick from Los Angeles - iMac spitting out program disc

He is trying to install Manga Studio for use as a graphics program. It seems that the DVD or drive is just slightly out of alignment. Software probably is not the issue.

Q Steve from Chico - iPod screen scratched up/Backup program to duplicate drive

It is possible to buff it out. You need a buffer; make sure it is the right kind for the type of plastic. Leo’s friend Bill Machrone did this. He used two types of grit: one for each side. According to him, toothpaste works as one.

Q Using Bittorrent with a router

His wife’s computer’s Internet access slows down while he is using Bittorrent. What is happening is that you’re saturating the upstream which is slowing downloading. Try throttling the upload on Bittorrent. A good legal bittorrent site is Dime a Dozen.