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Sunday, September 26, 2004

Show #78

I’ll be keeping the lines open after 3p today. We’re taping ahead and I need your help! Call in 1–800–520–1KFI from 3–4p today after I get off the air. I’ll be answering calls until around 4:30p.

Today’s news items

A recent survey of web users says nearly half couldn’t go two days without the net without suffering withdrawal symptoms. The “Internet Deprivation Study” from Yahoo and media group OMD said that respondents felt that they couldn’t function without the net. Participants in the study “experienced withdrawal and feelings of loss, frustration and disconnectedness when cut off from the online world.” They felt helpless, too, apparently having lost the ability to use the phonebook and newspapers to fetch information. They had to pay people $950 just to participate in the study.

Philadelphia has announced plans to turn the city into the world’s largest Wi-Fi hotspot. The mesh network would use street lights and thousands of antennas to light up 135 square miles at a cost of $7–10 million. Wonder how Comcast feels about the city offering free broadband?

Siemens is developing a new cell phone that will tell you when you have bad breath.

Noon-1p

Renee in Newport Beach - Epson 500RX not printing photos well

She wonders if it’s a Macintosh issue. It’s not. Multi-function printers are not going to do as well at anything. They offer good functionality and excellent bang for your buck, but if you want the best prints get a dedicated photo printer.

Another thing to consider is that Epson printers print best on Epson paper.

Tim in LA - wants digital recorder for recording EVP

I use the Marantz PMD670. It’s an amazing solid state recorder that can record up to 3 hours of uncompressed WAV or 30 hours of MP3 on a 1GB Compact Flash card. It has a USB port, phantom power for mics, and every professional feature you’d want. It’s not cheap (~$700) but I have been very happy with mine.

Sean in La Habra - recommends the Canon i9900

Justin Wallace from Leoville - recommends the HP 1305 all-in-one DeskJet

Lou in Granada Hills - SP2 destroyed his computer

Web sites stopped working, computer rebooted over and over, Microsoft said these are issues that are being addressed. They instructed him to uninstall and run system restore to go back to the day before the install.

I haven’t had any problems with SP-2, but I’ve always installed from the full IT download (272MB) burned on a CD. I wonder if the problem is with installing via Windows Update??

Jim from Palmdale blurts: I used Windows Update on a new computer before I installed any other software and had no problems whatsoever.

Westminster Dave says: Microsoft came out a few weeks ago and said that spyware and adware can create problems when updating SP2. They suggested to update all software i.e. Adaware, Spybot, etc.. and, scan computer before installing SP2. I would also suggest a Antivirus scan. I have not had a problem with SP2. I installed it using Windows Update. I scanned for Spyware, Adware, Virus, and ran disk cleanup before installing.

JediLordJS says: I have installed SP2 on multiple computers using the full version i burnt onto a CD with no problems at all. Go here to order a free CD from Microsoft with SP2 on it (you don’t have to pay for shipping/handling).

Trevor Evans says: The SP2 problems where the computer reboots continously is usually a problem with drivers which are well documented in Microsoft Knowledge Base at article numbers 873161, and 870892. I have not had any problems but heard of these kind of problems.

Beowulf comments: Before SP1, XP had a continual reboot problem due to Nvidia and some ATI video card drivers - something to check. Also, after Leo’s comment on the possibility of MS “slipstreaming” sp2 fixes, I installed sp2 from the big download obtained when it 1st went live o n one pc, and via MS Update on another. Its’ the kids PCs so what the heck. I’ll try to report back on the results.

Steve in New Zealand comments: I had a few home network problems after using the downloaded SP2. I ended up reinstalling windows using a streamlined disk, that is one where the service pack had been incorporated into the XP disk. You can find instructions on how to do this at The Elder Geek http://www.theeldergeek.com/slipstreamed_xpsp2_cd.htm. After reinstalling using the slipsteamed CD there have been no problems at all. Didn’t have any spyware on the PC before the first install and can rule that out in my case as the problem.

Kalic in Singapore recommends using nLite to easily create a Windows XP + SP2 slipstreamed bootable CD. Make sure you have .NET Framework installed and patched to run nLite. See here for more information on sliptreaming.

One problem Microsoft admits to is a conflict with an “advertising” program called TV Media. The symptom is repeated rebooting with this error message:

 A problem has been detected and Windows 
 has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer…
 Technical information:
 STOP: c0000135 {Unable To Locate Component}
 This application has failed to start 
 because winsrv was not found. Re-installing 
 the application may fix this problem.

Read the fix at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en=us;885523

1–2p

Jeff in Vista - can’t get second screen to look good with his Powerbook G4

bruceb in Anaheim recommends for Jeff…

To make monitor tinkering easier:

1. Open System Preferences -> Displays.
2. Click the Display tab.
3. Check “Show displays in menu bar.”

Now you’ll be able to change the most common display preferences items from the monitor icon in the menubar.

Also, the “Detect Displays” button—it seems to be in Jaguar but not in Panther. Anyone know about this?
—B.

BrentK in Santa Monica - re: Powerbook as desktop replacement

I lug my PBG4−15(Al)to work, but at home i hook it up to my Cinema Display. When the PB is asleep and in its closed state, i hook up the cable to the monitor to the PB, plug in the USB stuff and network and then lastly plug in the power. This is key - if you plug in the power before connecting the display (and any compatible display will work, it doesn’t have to be Apple. see: [[http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25292 | toc ) your PB screen won’t show up on the external screen without some futzing. Unlike this Apple tech note [[http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=88064 | toc , i usually have to connect the power last instead of plugging in the USB. When i’m finished, i put the PB to sleep, disconnect everything (power first) and then when i drag my PB somewhere and open it, it comes up as normal. Hope that helps. Also re: Detect Displays in Panther(at least 10.3.5) - the Detect Displays button appears in the Display tab of the Displays System Preferences pane. If you have enabled the ‘Show displays in menu bar’, Detect Displays will appear as the first item in that menu.

Jeff also wants to know about a good docking station for his 15″ PowerBook, BookEndz makes great ones!

Ralph in Little Rock - Are Averatec notebooks OK?

You bet. They’re a second tier manufacturer but the quality is good.

Bob in New York - Audible audio books on the iPod mini

He wants to know how it works. When you stop listening to a book and go to a song can you go back to the same spot in the book? Yes. That’s one of the advantages of the Audible format. I use Audible books all the time. You’ll find some of my recommendations on my blog. The Audible files are 32kbps so you can get plenty of books even on the mini.

Judy in San Clemente - SP2 experience

Four workstations. Installed it on all four. First three were fine. Fourth one lost all its hardware drivers. She uninstalled. Turns out the system was laden with spyware. When she removed the spyware the SP2 upgrade worked great and the computer is performing better than ever. Seems to confirm my hypothesis that it’s undetected spyware that’s causing some of these SP-2 problems.

Barbara in Redondo Beach - Wireless network password has changed

She’s using a Microsoft Broadband Router, wants to upgrade the firmware, but the password she entered no longer works. Reset the router and it will go back to the default password. You’ll find instructions here.

Tim in Torrance - Fan on laptop is sounding louder and louder

That’s normal on today’s notebooks and PCs. To reduce fan noise companies are putting variable speed fans in. They spin up when they’re needed, and the harder your laptop works, the hotter it gets, the faster the fan spins. And that’s a good thing.

Andrea in Long Beach - Internet Explorer open maximized

I recommended Jiisoft IE Window Maximizer but as many listeners have pointed out…

“Its really simple. IE remembers the last closed window’s settings. If you have the window maximized when closed it will be maximized when you open it next.
The Browser will remember it’s last setting, if you maximize before you close when you open the browser again it will open in maximized mode.

To maximize, you should do so by using the double-headed arrows on the corners of the window, NOT by clicking the Maximize icon. Truvien”

Donna in Texas - Has two drives, three partitions, but only the boot partition mounts in OS X 10.2.8

Mac G4, two hard drives, partitoned into OS and storage, 10.2.8. Hmm, I’ve seen this before but don’t have a good fix. Try Data Rescue X.

Surprised to find my mother giving you a call about this problem, Leo, she was able to get her Mac running. Apparently the “greyed out” drive had errors. She used a disk recovery program. Here’s her email on the fix:

I started looking into my own library of X info
and maintenance: came across a note re HD troubleshooting. There I
found symptoms re HD mechanical, electronic and OS, and suggestions for
checking. I figured it must be OS, so ran the command line at a
restart. Sure enough, up popped a message that my HD “Buddy” needed
repair and repair was completed successfully. Reran the command several
times and popup reported HD was good. Rebooted and Hurray, all my
volumes were mounted and ready for use. Who knew!

2–3p

Frank in Fullerton - how to transfer files and settings to the new computer

Aloha Bob’s PC Relocator

Norm in Upland - build my own system from scratch

He wants to do streaming video and audio, digitize audio and video, and digital photography. I recommend

• an AMD Athlon 64 (FX if you can afford it)
• nForce 3 motherboard
• ATI 9800 video card (the X800 is great but a little too pricey)
• Soundblaster Live audio card
• 1GB RAM
• Western Digital Raptor hard drive plus a less expensive (and slower) second drive
• 19–20 inch LCD monitor, I like the Samsung Syncmaster
• DVD burner, don’t worry about dual layer

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