Audience Questions

Audience QuestionsHour 1

Hour 1 Hour 2 Hour 3

How can I create a local backup solution with Network Attached Storage?

Watch Richard from Los Angeles, CA Comments

Leo says that while a local, centralized backup solution via network attached storage (NAS) is a great idea, it shouldn't take the place of off site options. NAS is a good idea though and using something like Netgear's ReadyNAS or the Synology Diskstation is a good, solid option. He recommends getting one with three or more disks that supports RAID 5.

Why did my USB 3.0 hard drive stop showing up on my Macbook Pro?

Watch Jason from Orange, CA Comments

Leo says the drive may have failed, or the USB enclosure itself failed. It could also be as easy as the connectors wiggling lose and may just need to be reseated. If all the connectors are in place, disks do just die, and it may need to be replaced.

He'd also like to download Leo's theme song. Leo says that he'll put a high quality copy on the TWiT Wiki for anyone to download. The chatroom says you can also find it on YouTube.

Audience QuestionsHour 2

Hour 1 Hour 2 Hour 3

Why does my Windows computer keep restarting when I try shutting it down?

Watch Lisa from San Juan Capistrano, CA Comments

Leo says It could be a mechanical failure like a shorted on/off button that keeps turning itself back on. If that were the case, however, hibernate wouldn't work properly and Lisa says it does. It's possible that in the BIOS settings, "wake on LAN" is enabled. She should reboot her computer and press the 'f8' or 'esc' key and look in the BIOS settings for "wake on LAN." If it's enabled, disable it.

If she can shut down in safe mode, then that would mean that something is running that is causing it to reboot. It isn't the end of the world if the computer won't shut down though either. If she can hibernate it, that's just as good.

Another thing is that Windows may be installing updates because she hasn't had it online in quite awhile. So it may be updating and when it's done, it may just shut down after that.

How good is the Asus Transformer tablet?

Watch Jim from Seattle, WA Comments

Jim is thinking of getting an Asus TF300, thoughts?

Leo says he likes Android, a lot, and he thinks that the Asus Transformer is the best alternative to the iPad. One problem is that the TF300 is running 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which Leo doesn't think is as good as Jelly Bean. According to the chatroom, the Jelly Bean update has recently been released. If he's planning to root it, he should go to the XDA Developer Forum for tips and tricks. But Leo says, why bother? Asus will probably have the update soon.

There are other great Android tablets as well, including the Google Nexus tablets.

How can I stop Windows from hanging on startup?

Watch Randy from Richmond, VA Comments

Randy has an Acer i5 PC that's hanging up as it tries to start Windows. He's updated the BIOS, Drivers, and more. Leo says that the hard drive is probably failing. Even if he reformats it, it can die and it's likely that Windows sectors are hard to read. Also, it may be the power supply failing. Startup is usually when things begin to fail. Fortunately, both hard drives and power supplies are cheap to replace.

Why does the frame rate on my laptop start to decrease after an hour of gaming?

Watch Eric from Simi Valley, CA Comments

Leo says it's likely overheating. There could also be a memory leak of a video driver. Updating his driver will likely solve the issue. He should make sure the fans are working, too. He can also get a laptop cooler that will run fans over the bottom of his laptop. They're pretty cheap.

The chatroom also says that going into his laptop settings and limiting CPU performance to 80% and turning the frame rate down will help guard against it as well.

Audience QuestionsHour 3

Hour 1 Hour 2 Hour 3

How can I turn off WiFi on my Samsung Galaxy S III?

Watch Manny from Mt. Caramel, PA Comments

Leo says Manny can go into the phone's settings and at the very top is an on/off switch which he can turn off to disable it. Turning off WiFi can save battery life if he's not in an area with WiFi. If he's in an area where WiFi is available, however, using WiFi will be easier on battery life than 3G or 4G. If he's not using Bluetooth, turning that off will help save some battery as well.

How does streaming work?

Watch Tony from Kentucky Comments

Tony was streaming while he's on the road and the TV show stops every so often. Leo says that's called "buffering," which is when the stream has to stop for a second while it waits for all the data to be downloaded in order so it can continue. Sometimes a packet of data will get lost or delayed, so the media has to stop and wait for the data packets to "catch up". It usually has to load 30 seconds of the content before it can start playing again. If it's starting and stopping all the time, that usually points to an internet bandwidth problem. He's getting more data than his bandwidth can handle.

Can he get it all at once and then listen?
Leo says at that point, he'd just need to download the show and then listen, or try a lower quality version.

How can he download a show before hand?
Leo says if it's video, he can try youtubedownloader.com. If he's watching video on demand, than he's pretty much stuck with streaming, like from Netflix or Hulu. He can always record what's coming in his computer, but that's with a different software utility. VLC Media Player can record streams directly. He can even get VLC to play and record Hulu.

How can I open old graphic files?

Watch Lawrence from Palmdale, CA Comments

Lawrence has some old documents that he created on an older Mac platform, but he can't open them. Leo says that unless he can run the original program, there may difficulty in opening them. If he knows what the original program is it's a lot easier. Leo recommends Graphic Converter from Lemkesoft. It can convert over 200 different formats.

There is a shell command called File, which will tell him the type of file, but he has to get it just right. Open up Terminal and then type "File --apple [name of file]". The output will be a code which he can then "Google" to find out which file it's in. That could at least point him in the right direction.

Why is my Mac Mini's shared WiFi slow when I access it on my iPad?

Watch Valerie from Los Angeles, CA Comments

The best solution is to get an actual WiFi router, and not just use the internet connection from the Mac Mini. She could get a cheaper router, or if she wants to get the Airport Express, that would work also. This should give her better results.

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