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If you have an IT question, please post it here, and we'll see if we can help.
Dan Chad & Dave discuss technology topics, and answer your computer questions on Thurday editions of the KAXE Morning Show.
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6 comments:
IT guys -
Thanks for you show - and tips - and comments (except for the one that questioned my sense of snowmobile stylin' - sss for short. Oh, that smarts!
Any luck with figuring out an I-Link cable to connect my videocamera, Sony DCR-HC28 to my desktop pc, Dell Dimension 4700C?
Art
Thanks for calling in your question. The details you posted here were helpful, and allowed me to track down what you need to get.
According to the manual for your computer The Dell has an IEEE 1394 6-pin connector (this is a fancy name for Firewire)
Your Sony has a 4 pin i.Link port. This is Sony's name for the 4 pin Firewire. Why they do not use the industry standard name for this port is beyond me. Their calling it an i.Link port only causes confusion. I could tell from the IEEE 1394 spec for the i.Link port in Sony's manual that it had to be a Firewire port. Some searching on the web confirmed it. Here's the manual for the camera:
So, it appears to me that you need a 4pin to 6 pin Firewire cable.
The Sony VMC-IL4615 1.5 Meter i.LINK 4-Pin to 6-Pin Digital Video Transfer Cable for most Sony Camcorders (Sony Brand) costs about $30)
You can find comparable cables (not of sony branding) that cost less than $20. Here's an example of one from CablesToGo :
http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat%5Fid=608&sku=27291
I have not worked with Firewire, so I cannot guide you on how to do the file transfer, but I bet David can help. I expect Windows to detect the camera, and it should enable you to drag and drop the files you need from the camera to a folder of your choosing on your computer/
Hope this helps. Let us know.
Chad
Hey Guys,
I left this same question on the talk back email last week, but any how, my problem is this.
On our home machine, Dell, about one year old, XP-Home O.S. every thing is fine after initial boot. But after hours or days of being left on we lose our Home internet setting, Google, and our default email program, Outlook Express. The internet access is still there though.
But wait, the plot thickens. Yesterday I was able to access a search engine on my Favorites list, went to a site, downloaded a .pdf and couldn't open it. I tried opening Adobe first to access the file through it and Adobe wouldn't launch.
Our help desk recommended a new NIC card.
I suspected a virus and ran a free scan from Trend Micro's website and also our McAfee scan and came up with nothing.
Do you have any recommendations over all our thoughts about the NIC card issue.
Thanks for your thoughts.
toodles, steve
Steve:
First of all, I doubt very much that the problem has anything to do with your computer's network interface card (NIC).
Now it gets harder. The problem could be due to any number of things, from a rouge service running in the background, bad RAM, to heat or a bad swapfile settinngs.
Let's start with the easy stuff to diagnose. First, when the computer is giving you fits, check the performance monitor to see if the CPU or NIC are running wild. {Ctrl}{Alt}{Del} then pick Task List from the menu. Check t he performance tab to see the CPU ultilization. If it seems high (more than 20%, you can check to see what process is hogging system resources. To do this, check the processes tab and look for a process with high CPU utilization.
The next thing to check is your "Virtual Memory" or swapfile settings. If this is set too low, it will cause problems because Windows uses this as imaginary RAM when it needs more than what is available as real RAM. Your Virtual Memory should be set to let Windows manage the size of the pagefile. here's how to check:
Right-click My Computer, select Properties. Click the "Advanced" tab. In the Performance section, click "Settings". On the Performance Options window, click the Advanced tab, and click the "Change" button in the Virtual Memory section. Then check to make sure that Windows is managing the size of the virtual membory. If not, take note of what the custom settings are, and then select the option called "System managed size. Set and click ok. You will have to reboot for these to take effect.
RAM test: I have suggested this before,a nd it may sound like a broken record, but... bear with me. Download ubuntu from www.ubuntu.com, burn it to a CD and start your computer from the CD. This will start ubuntu and run an entire linux OS in your computer's RAM. it is completely safe, and will not touch your hard drive.
It takes the system a while to boot up to the Ubuntu desktop, so be patient. it could take 3-4 minutes. When the desktop comes up, the menu is at the top of the screen. (Don't click the Install button).
You can browse the web, download pdf files, and open them, etc. Running UBUNTU live (in RAM) gives your system memory a good workout. It would be safe to say that if this works well, your RAM is okay.
If the computer pukes while running the Ubuntu from the CD, the problem is bad RAM or perhaps even overheating.
The next thing to suspect is the hard drive. This is much harder to diagnose, and it could be intermittent. It would not hurt to try the disk utilities built into Windows. They may reveal something.
It may take some "bench time" to figure this one out.
Good luck.
On March 6, the problem about downloading several window's updates I also had this a couple weeks ago. I seem to remember that it was one of the updates that was causing trouble. I split the download into 2-3 sessons and everything went smoothly.
We've got two problems we have been trying to fix.
The first one: Whenever we use Internet Explorer and Google we get redirected to a different site unless we use the advanced google search. We use Avast, CCleaner and we have tried Malwarebytes. Our computer is Windows XP and is dial up. Tried different things from on line and we're stuck.
The second problem: How the heck do you get rid of MusicMatch out of your computer? Not a huge problem but aggravating.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
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