Leo Laporte
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For more Leo and friends all week long, listen to the
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Sunday 31 August 2008
Show Audio
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Edited Audio | |
Tech News
Will the iTunes Store go subscription like the Zune?
Probably not. Even Steve Jobs acknowledges that people want to own their music. But Zune users are doing it. $10 a month. Which Leo says it’s a bit much. So, it’s highly unlikely that iTunes will go subscription.
But what we will see are new iPod Nanos, lower prices, and a retuned iTunes store with more features.
Internet Explorer 8 is on the way
Leo has been happy with I.E. 7, but traditionally, I.E.’s compatibility and security has been suspect. It will have a “private search” mode which will enable people to surf anonymously (some call it “porn mode”). But forensic computer experts say it’s largely cosmetic.
Widespread flight delays with F.A.A. Network breaking
The computers used by the F.A.A. are ancient. We’re talking more ancient than 386, 486 power. Some have tubes! So when a new software update was installed, the entire network broke down, causing widespread flight delays.
The F.A.A. is in the midst of a $15 Billion modernization program, which is going to take about 20 years to complete. Huh?! By the time they’re done, it’ll be obsolete again!
Leo’s started his own TWITTER
Hour 1
Q Laura, Philadelphia, PA - Microphone recommendation
She’s a grad psych student and needs to record her sessions. She’s using a MAC. Leo suggests the Blue Snowflake. Costs about $60, very non threatening. And $60 is a great deal. A higher end version, called the SnowBall, is about $100 and can switch between omnidirectional and bidirectional recording.
Q Ed, Tampa, FL - Getting a better wireless signal
He uses 3G into his laptop piggybacked from his cellphone signal. But he needs improved reception. Leo recommends 3GStore.com, which makes external antenna mounts for cars, trucks. You need to get the specific model for your car.
Ed also updates us about his Vista not working with Zillow. IN teh chat room, ToilLetBuG suggested updating a few specific files through Firefox. It works now. Hazzah!
Q Chris, Palo Alto, CA - XP vs. Vista
He has two hard drives, one with XP and one with Vista. How does he setup a dual boot? Use a third party boot manager called GAG. You can burn it onto a CD or Thumbdrive and then boot to it. It’ll then help you to set up the XP/Vista master boot record properly. Then when you boot up, it’ll ask what you want to boot up on.
Q Terry, Huntington Beach, CA - Cellphone reception trouble
Reception is hard with just about anything but Blackberry, but the keys are too small. Suggestions? Some phones are better in reception than others. And cellphone coverage can be dicey from location to location. Welcome to the world of cellphones! Leo says that Verizon has the best cellphone coverage in SoCal.
Hour 2
Q Mark, Camarillo, CA - Win98 booting to DOS instead.
This may be due to some spyware that has rewritten the config.sys and win.ini files. Rename your config.sys and win.ini files with an .old extention. This should help the comptuer to boot up to Win98.
Richard calls in to say renaming msdos.sys is the file you want to rename in order boot to Windows 98. Attrib msdos.sys is what you want to do.
Q Back to Terry’s Cellphone question:
Richard Baguili, editor and chief of WirelessInfo.com talks about Terry’s cellphone reception problem. He says there’s separate antennas for the cell, for bluetooth, even wifi. So, testing signal strength is a tough thing. But there are some things you can do. Richard likes Nokia’s design and construction of their antennas. The Nokia N95 is a great little phone. But it’s got terrible battery life. Of course, the iPhone isn’t bad. Word is that, unfortunately, the latest updates have made reception worse.
But the networks can also be the issue. One thing you can do is run the “field test mode” on your cellphone. Google is your friend. Do Antenna Boosters help? You bet. Richard uses the Wilson Electronics cell booster in his tests all the time.
Q Didi, Palo Alto, CA - Internet access trouble
She had her system restored after a AntiVirus 2009 hit her. She can’t access the internet now. Leo hopes they did a complete wipe. Back up the data. Wipe the drive. Use the original disks. Update it to the recent configuration. Then install the applications and finally your data.
Leo also suggests configuring the router and avoiding using the dialer supplied by the ISP. Even though Verizon thinks it’s the cable, Leo says that’s unlikely. He thinks that the company that restored her computer didn’t do a good job and the internet connectivity is broken as a result.
This brings up another opportunity to remind everyone of LEO’s RULES OF SAFE COMPUTING.
Hour 3
A few followups -
Loosing connectivity from XP when removing spyware try Dial-A-Fix by Lunarsoft. It’ll repair dial-up networking.
As for getting back into Windows … you can also simply type “win” at the Dos Prompt and it’ll start right up.
from NetBat in the Chat Room -
‘’if win98 is not damaged at the dos prompt you can change to the windows folder
cdcd\windows
then type in win.com and windows will load.
you may not have access to a cd rom drive because sometimes not all of the drivers will load.
another place to modify
to have win98 load is in the autoexec.bat file with the command
win.com and in the msdos.sys file. in there is a command to load windows automatically
its something like load gui=1 for loading and gui=0 for off.
this file is hidden.
use attrib -r-h msdos.sys
to un protect and unhide the file.
attr +r +h to restore the attributes of the file.’‘
Q Mark, Evansville, CA - Video card trouble
His ATI 9550 card blanks out and loses signal after awhile. He updated the drivers and now it doesn’t work at all. Leo suspects an overheating issue. This can easily happen when using graphic intensive applications. Open your machine and blow it out. Make sure the fans are working and that there’s clear airflow all around. Also, you can try a different driver. There are usually several drivers per model. It could be the power supply, but more likely it’s a heat issue.
Mark also has a review of the iHome Universal MP3 dock. It works with just about anything and is only about $20. Mark loves it because he can dock both his iPod and his Zune.
Q Mike, San Clmente, CA - Online Bookkeeping solutions.
Mike is frustrated by online bookkeeping solutions for Quickbooks that are limited in templates and can’t be customizable. There’s also the trouble of two people making changes at the same time. Leo recommends “WebDav.” In concert with JungleDisk, you can create it as a local drive and will lock the records so that they can only be changed at one time.
Q Steve, Rancho Cucamonga, CA - Updates causing reboot error
Steve’s wife installed XP updates and now there’s a reboot loop error. Can’[ get to safe mode, can’t get to system restore. Leo says it’s a failed Windows update. Uses the Windows Install Disk and go to the boot process like you’re going to install. When it offers to recover, let it recover. Outside that, you’re looking at reinstalling Windows. We hate it when that happens!
Q Mark, CA - PC recommendation
Buying a new computer. Using it for surfing the net, email, word processing. Any computer can do this. Generally, Leo suggests picking up a MAC. Simpler to use, more secure. Leo says the iMac is a great choice. Or even the MAC Mini if you already have a monitor and keyboard.
On the PC side, Dell makes great stuff and you can choose what you want, including no pre-installed software.
Q Richard - msdos.sys is the file
Richard says renaming msdos.sys is the file you want to rename in order boot to Windows 98. So, the three files you can rename are autoexec.bat, config.sys files. The msdos.sys, you need to type “attrib msdos.sys gui=0″ Better yet, just don’t mess with it and type “Win” get your files and get a new computer.
Q Glenn, New Jersey - Ripping DVDs with his MAC
Glenn wants to rip his DVDs onto his hard drive and then connect his PC to his TV to be able to watch movies without hassling with the DVDs anymore. It can certainly be done. You run into DMCA issues, which state that it’s illegal to make a digital copy of the DVD, but Leo says there’s no worry there as Fair Use is also in play.
To get the menus, extra features, etc. You want to copy the disc and remove the copy protection. On the MAC side - MAC THE RIPPER is a great idea. If you just want the movie itself, then HANDBRAKE is what you want.
Then, you want to use FRONT ROW so that your DVD player can see them. XBOX’s media center has been ported to the MAC XBMC.ORG and is much more flexible.
