Computers

[Mister_Ruysbroeck]

Originally posted by Buzzkill
[Mods help me out here--hit the wrong damn button again and started a new thread. Crap.]

I do think that it has something to do with drivers and DLLs, but what I can't figure out exactly. I un & reinstalled MM to see if that did the trick, and it worked for a while. Thing is, if MM hangs up, Media Player won't work either (hangs) and neither will Nero, so there is some common resource all the programs use that MM is hogging for some reason. I updated my sound board drivers but that hasn't solved the problem. I went through the alert logs on the system and see that things are amiss, but the information provided in the alerts is a bit too obscure for me to figure out. I think I am just going to have to take stuff off and start adding it back until I can isolate the problem.

I haven't tried reverting to the prior XP state (not sure if I could do that anyway since I did a clean XP install on a new drive when I got the computer together). I'll give that a shot though.

I have generally been happy with MM (when it works), although don't get me started on the DRM scheme. That one really chaps my ass.

Your computer automatically creates system restore points. You should be able to go back in time to when you first installed XP if you want.

Sounds to me like you might have corrupted or conflicting codec files. If you have mutliple versions of the same codec installed, you can get conflicts. You can even get conflicts with different codecs that handle different file types.

I would recommend uninstalling your codecs or updating them. I think windows has a new codec pack for Windows Media Player 9/10. You could start by installing that. Link: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...cdownload.aspx

Have you installed any third-party codecs that you're aware of?

[Buzzkill]

I think I may have isolated the problem last night (finally). I think that there is some sort of conflict issue with my sound card driver. It will work (usually), but somewhere in the background it hangs up MM (and Media Player too, sometimes). I uninstalled the driver, and MM seems to behave itself nicely. Damn is it a resource hog, though. I can see why it would have a larger potential for conflicts than other programs.

Now that you mention it, I did install an MP3 codec not too long ago for Nero; I'll give that one a shot too.

I think there may be some overlay with the Total Recorder driver too (also recently installed a new version of that)--sometimes it seems to monopolize the sound card and not let other programs play.

I was sort of lukewarm on my sound card anyway, so I think I am going to get a different, less buggy one tomorrow and see what happens.

[Gattigap]

So I'm contemplating backup storage for my PC. Would the technophiles among us recommend:

(1) a CD burner? This sounds like a simple solution, but was wondering what the limitation on CD capacity was. If I want to backup lots of files, will I have to spend 2 hours every evening burning 20 CDs? (My computer uses are pretty pedestrian. I have iTunes music, pictures and assorted stuff on my PC, but I'm not using it to split the atom or anything).

If CD burner's the way to go, should I do (a) external, or (b) upgrade my internal player to a burner? The PC is a Dell laptop -- is this component a switchable one?

(2) A USB-connected external hard drive. It looks like for less than $100, I can get a separate 80G hard drive for which I can just move files over. This sounds simpler, but it deprives me of the ability to burn CDs.

Or are there other alternatives I'm not thinking of that you'd recommend (maybe zip drives are more advanced these days)?

Thoughts, suggestions welcome.

Gattigap

[baltassoc]

Originally posted by Gattigap
So I'm contemplating backup storage for my PC. Would the technophiles among us recommend:

(1) a CD burner? This sounds like a simple solution, but was wondering what the limitation on CD capacity was. If I want to backup lots of files, will I have to spend 2 hours every evening burning 20 CDs? (My computer uses are pretty pedestrian. I have iTunes music, pictures and assorted stuff on my PC, but I'm not using it to split the atom or anything).

If CD burner's the way to go, should I do (a) external, or (b) upgrade my internal player to a burner? The PC is a Dell laptop -- is this component a switchable one?

(2) A USB-connected external hard drive. It looks like for less than $100, I can get a separate 80G hard drive for which I can just move files over. This sounds simpler, but it deprives me of the ability to burn CDs.

Or are there other alternatives I'm not thinking of that you'd recommend (maybe zip drives are more advanced these days)?

Thoughts, suggestions welcome.

Gattigap

I'd skip the CD burner and go DVD. They're rapidly dropping in price, and you can fit about 8x the stuff on a single disc.

There's something to be said for the external drive, though.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by baltassoc
There's something to be said for the external drive, though.

And that is . . . ?

[pony_trekker]

Originally posted by Gattigap
So I'm contemplating backup storage for my PC. Would the technophiles among us recommend:

(1) a CD burner? This sounds like a simple solution, but was wondering what the limitation on CD capacity was. If I want to backup lots of files, will I have to spend 2 hours every evening burning 20 CDs? (My computer uses are pretty pedestrian. I have iTunes music, pictures and assorted stuff on my PC, but I'm not using it to split the atom or anything).

If CD burner's the way to go, should I do (a) external, or (b) upgrade my internal player to a burner? The PC is a Dell laptop -- is this component a switchable one?

(2) A USB-connected external hard drive. It looks like for less than $100, I can get a separate 80G hard drive for which I can just move files over. This sounds simpler, but it deprives me of the ability to burn CDs.

Or are there other alternatives I'm not thinking of that you'd recommend (maybe zip drives are more advanced these days)?

Thoughts, suggestions welcome.

Gattigap

(3) None of the above. I would get a firewire external hard drive. Firewire drives are more expensive than USB drives but firewire moves data about 8 times faster than USB. CDs are good for small stuff, like documents, but they are a pain in the ass and time consuming to burn, plus they get scratched, lost, whatever.

Or if you have an old PC you can canibalize, you can just take that hard drive and install it into a firewire case. That costs about $59. Then once you plug it into your laptop, you will need to format the firewire drive so the PC isn't confused about which drive is the boot drive.

[baltassoc]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
And that is . . . ?

It's easy to deal with. You can use it for very large files. Some come with backup software that allow you to do one-touch backups. You can use it for primary storage of less important files, and work directly from the drive.

[Mister_Ruysbroeck]

Originally posted by pony_trekker
(3) None of the above. I would get a firewire external hard drive. Firewire drives are more expensive than USB drives but firewire moves data about 8 times faster than USB. CDs are good for small stuff, like documents, but they are a pain in the ass and time consuming to burn, plus they get scratched, lost, whatever.

Or if you have an old PC you can canibalize, you can just take that hard drive and install it into a firewire case. That costs about $59. Then once you plug it into your laptop, you will need to format the firewire drive so the PC isn't confused about which drive is the boot drive.

If he doesn't already have a CD Burner, I highly doubt he has a firewire connection and if you're going to be opening up the case to drop something in there, I think it would be easier to just pull out the old CD Rom drive and replace it with a DVD Burner rather than hook up a firewire card, install its drivers, and then hook up fire wire external drive and install its drivers and THEN configure the BIOS so that it boots off the proper drive. When you pull out the old CD Rom and replace it with a DVD Burner, there's less chance you'll mess it up. You just plug the cords into the same slots the old drive was plugged into.

Regarding your second suggestion - the only reason to put an IDE Hard Drive into a Firewire external case is if you don't have a free 3.5/5 inch internal drive bay. The IDE transfer rate (ATA 133) is more than twice as fast as firewire (linky.)

Accordingly, I think the two best options are:

1) Install a new (or recycled) internal hard drive into an open 3.5/5 inch drive bay, or
2) Replace your old CD Rom Drive with a DVD Burner.

I would lean towards option 2, just because he doesn't have any media writing capabilities with his current set up and it's a fairly easy and functional upgrade. Yes, using a DVD to backup your data is going to be slower than using an IDE hard drive, but adding the DVD Burner gives you a lot more functionality.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by Mister_Ruysbroeck
If he doesn't already have a CD Burner, I highly doubt he has a firewire connection and if you're going to be opening up the case to drop something in there, I think it would be easier to just pull out the old CD Rom drive and replace it with a DVD Burner rather than hook up a firewire card, install its drivers, and then hook up fire wire external drive and install its drivers and THEN configure the BIOS so that it boots off the proper drive. When you pull out the old CD Rom and replace it with a DVD Burner, there's less chance you'll mess it up. You just plug the cords into the same slots the old drive was plugged into.

This is true. I lack a firewire connection. It's sounding as though the big capacity of DVD-RW discs may satisfy my storage needs, at least for now.

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

[pony_trekker]

Originally posted by Mister_Ruysbroeck
If he doesn't already have a CD Burner, I highly doubt he has a firewire connection and if you're going to be opening up the case to drop something in there, I think it would be easier to just pull out the old CD Rom drive and replace it with a DVD Burner rather than hook up a firewire card, install its drivers, and then hook up fire wire external drive and install its drivers and THEN configure the BIOS so that it boots off the proper drive. When you pull out the old CD Rom and replace it with a DVD Burner, there's less chance you'll mess it up. You just plug the cords into the same slots the old drive was plugged into.

Regarding your second suggestion - the only reason to put an IDE Hard Drive into a Firewire external case is if you don't have a free 3.5/5 inch internal drive bay. The IDE transfer rate (ATA 133) is more than twice as fast as firewire (linky.)

Accordingly, I think the two best options are:

1) Install a new (or recycled) internal hard drive into an open 3.5/5 inch drive bay, or
2) Replace your old CD Rom Drive with a DVD Burner.

I would lean towards option 2, just because he doesn't have any media writing capabilities with his current set up and it's a fairly easy and functional upgrade. Yes, using a DVD to backup your data is going to be slower than using an IDE hard drive, but adding the DVD Burner gives you a lot more functionality.

I am not talking about opening up the PC case of the PC he is using, which is fraught with problems -- been there done that -- but I am talking about a separate external enclosure making what was an internal hard drive (from an unused desk top) into an external one.

But this is a moot point.

While an external DVD burner might be OK, since the DVD burner would necessarily be connected by USB to the Dell Laptop he is seeking backup for, I think a USB external hard drive would be a better choice than a DVD burner. it would be easier, faster and probably a little bit cheaper, though with the DVD burner you can burn movies AND you have limitless backup capacity.

[Mister_Ruysbroeck]

Originally posted by pony_trekker
I am not talking about opening up the PC case of the PC he is using, which is fraught with problems -- been there done that -- but I am talking about a separate external enclosure making what was an internal hard drive (from an unused desk top) into an external one.

But this is a moot point.

While an external DVD burner might be OK, since the DVD burner would necessarily be connected by USB to the Dell Laptop he is seeking backup for, I think a USB external hard drive would be a better choice than a DVD burner. it would be easier, faster and probably a little bit cheaper, though with the DVD burner you can burn movies AND you have limitless backup capacity.

Ah, I missed the part about it being a laptop. It's called reading comprehension, MR...

Based on that, I would change my suggestion to:

1. If your CD drive is swappable, I would get either
a) A DVD burner, or
b) A swappable hard drive (you just throw it in there to do backups whenever you need to and keep the CD drive in there at other times)
2. If your CD drive is not swappable, go with the external USB hard drive as pony suggested.

[mmm3587]

I'm trying to re-evaluate my communications choices and expenses, and I was curious what everyone here does.

Right now, I have:

a T-Mobile cell phone/blackberry; I pay about $90/month for the full blackberry plan and a large voice plan

DirecTV; I pay about $95/month for the regular package, HBO, the sports package, HDTv and several TiVOs.

a home phone line from SBC, with 1.5 Mbps DSL; the phone line and all the related features are about $30/month, the DSL is up to $50 for now until I agree to another year's contract.

I really think that I want to drop SBC and drop the home voice line. They suck in every way. What if I want to get DSL from another provider? Can I just get the $6/month absolute basic line from SBC and get DSL on top of this. Earthlink makes it seem like I can do this, and I have heard great things about them.

Earthlink is $20 for 6 months/$45 for 6 months for 3 Mbps service. SBC will give me the same for $25 for a year after I add some other voice line features to increase my bill to about $35 the voice line.

What about cable internet options? It seems like fast burst down, but low speeds up and lots of risk related to security and possible lower download speeds when others are using the same connection. Plus, after the first few months, it seems way more expensive, something like $55/month, for Comcast.

Are the Vonage features worthwhile enough that it makes sense to do them even with an existing landline? I hear that you can do neat things like take it with you wherever you go and do a lot of stuff online. Is it worth it? I still think that I want to make most of my calls on a cell phone.

Are any of the satellite internet providers any good?

Thanks for any advice or anecdotes.

[pony_trekker]

Originally posted by mmm3587
I'm trying to re-evaluate my communications choices and expenses, and I was curious what everyone here does.

Right now, I have:

a T-Mobile cell phone/blackberry; I pay about $90/month for the full blackberry plan and a large voice plan

DirecTV; I pay about $95/month for the regular package, HBO, the sports package, HDTv and several TiVOs.

a home phone line from SBC, with 1.5 Mbps DSL; the phone line and all the related features are about $30/month, the DSL is up to $50 for now until I agree to another year's contract.

I really think that I want to drop SBC and drop the home voice line. They suck in every way. What if I want to get DSL from another provider? Can I just get the $6/month absolute basic line from SBC and get DSL on top of this. Earthlink makes it seem like I can do this, and I have heard great things about them.

Earthlink is $20 for 6 months/$45 for 6 months for 3 Mbps service. SBC will give me the same for $25 for a year after I add some other voice line features to increase my bill to about $35 the voice line.

What about cable internet options? It seems like fast burst down, but low speeds up and lots of risk related to security and possible lower download speeds when others are using the same connection. Plus, after the first few months, it seems way more expensive, something like $55/month, for Comcast.

Are the Vonage features worthwhile enough that it makes sense to do them even with an existing landline? I hear that you can do neat things like take it with you wherever you go and do a lot of stuff online. Is it worth it? I still think that I want to make most of my calls on a cell phone.

Are any of the satellite internet providers any good?

Thanks for any advice or anecdotes.

I have cable modem, 3 TVs w digital cable, HBO, no other premiums and I am paying $120 a month. I have the cable modem hooked up to an Airport so it's basically unlimited internet all over the house.

Cable modem rocks. Far faster than my work bastardized T1.

I wouldn't trade POTS for all the tea in China. When shit goes wrong POTS works while cells don't but to each his own.

I am getting *dicked* on my cell phone bill. Verizon, like $120 a month for 2 phones and a shared 1000 minutes and no data plan.

[baltassoc]

Originally posted by mmm3587

Thanks for any advice or anecdotes.

I've used both cable and DSL and haven't noticed a significant difference between the two in terms of performance. Of course, I'm not downloading/uploading a lot of video, either.

If you go cable, you get a bit of a break moving over your tv, too. But the total cost is going to be about the same, maybe a little more. On the plus side, you get On Demand.

Frankly, if you can get the Earthlink deal, that's how I'd go. I've been considering the same thing myself, going cell only, but I don't have/want cable/satellite, and my phone time has gone up considerably lately, so I'm on SBC for unlimited calling and DSL for about $80, with Tmobile's $40/ 1000 minute plan.

[mmm3587]

Originally posted by pony_trekker
I have cable modem, 3 TVs w digital cable, HBO, no other premiums and I am paying $120 a month. I have the cable modem hooked up to an Airport so it's basically unlimited internet all over the house.

Cable modem rocks. Far faster than my work bastardized T1.

I wouldn't trade POTS for all the tea in China. When shit goes wrong POTS works while cells don't but to each his own.

I am getting *dicked* on my cell phone bill. Verizon, like $120 a month for 2 phones and a shared 1000 minutes and no data plan.

I would never go back to cable for tv, I don't think. DirecTV is so much better than that, and I've spent good money on the equipment. Given that, cable modem doesn't really seem cost effective.

What do you do about security with the cable modem? I hear horror stories about people hacking through cable modems; I like being able to manage security and firewall through my wireless router and not have to worry much beyond that.