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Submitted by THX 1138 on
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Tip, tricks, questions, what's new in technology......

THX 1138




I'm just about ready to get rid of ATT broadband.

I've got to have them come out tomorrow for a third time in a month.

I've had crappy connection for a week and it got real bad this weekend.

Arrrgggghhhhhh!

Tue, 04/09/2002 - 6:47 AM Permalink
Frosti

Didn't you just get them?

Tue, 04/09/2002 - 6:49 AM Permalink
ares

wow. that sucks.

Tue, 04/09/2002 - 6:55 AM Permalink
THX 1138




Yeah, I just got them. Less than a month now. When it works it's great but, when it doesn't, it's annoying as heck.

If they have to come out again in the next month, I think I'm gonna drop them. As much as I hate Qwest, this is tickin' me off even more.

Tue, 04/09/2002 - 7:06 AM Permalink
ares

at least msn no longer owns your phone line so you ought to be able to go back to dsl if you drop at&t :)

Tue, 04/09/2002 - 7:12 AM Permalink
Luv2Fly

I got this from a friend of mine today.

VIRUS ALERT!!!

WORST VIRUS EVER...CNN ANNOUNCED

PLEASE SEND THIS TO EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST !!

A new virus has just been discovered that has been classified by
Microsoft as the most destructive ever! This virus was discovered
yesterday
afternoon by McAfee and no vaccine has yet ! been developed. This
virus
simply destroys Sector Zero from the hard disk, where vital
information
for its functioning are stored.
This virus acts in the following manner: It sends itself
automatically
to
all contacts on your list with the title "A Card for You".

As soon as the supposed virtual card is opened, the computer
freezes
so
that
the user has to reboot. When the ctrl+alt+del keys or the reset
button
are

pressed, the virus destroys Sector Zero, thus permanently
destroying
the
hard disk. Yesterday in just a few hours this virus caused panic
in
New
York, according to news broadcast by CNN. This alert was received
by
an
employee
of Microsoft itself.
So don't open any mails with subject: "A Virtual Card for You."

As soon as you get the mail, delete it!! Even if you know the
Sender. Please pass this mail to all of your friends.

> > > Forward this to everyone in your address book. I'm sure most people, > like > > > myself, would rather receive this 25 times than not at all. > > >

Tue, 04/09/2002 - 11:29 AM Permalink
Luv2Fly

Thanks THX, I will pass that link on the the originator. A virus hoax ? I thought virus' are bad enough, some people have way too much time on their hands.

Tue, 04/09/2002 - 12:14 PM Permalink
THX 1138




I've yet to get a virus alert that wasn't a hoax. I don't understand the mentality behind such things.

Tue, 04/09/2002 - 12:33 PM Permalink
ares

well, when you think about it, those virus alerts are viruses in themselves.

Tue, 04/09/2002 - 12:34 PM Permalink
THX 1138




Yeah, they basically are a virus.

Tue, 04/09/2002 - 12:35 PM Permalink
Luv2Fly

Like I said between that kind of crap and an actual entire website dedicated to the song louie louie I am amazed how much time people have. And why they want to do such a thing.

Tue, 04/09/2002 - 12:39 PM Permalink
THX 1138




Ares, what do you suggest for a laptop? Nothing special, just something Scribe can use for school.

I've got my eye on a Dell Inspiron 2600 for about $1,000.

Tue, 04/09/2002 - 12:43 PM Permalink
Frosti

Louie Louie, whoa yeah, said we gotta go now. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

Tue, 04/09/2002 - 12:50 PM Permalink
Luv2Fly

Oooh, Good a hardware guy. Maybe you could give me a suggestion as well Ares. I need mine for business and I need quite a bit of memory. All my other stuff is Dell, which i've had good luck with. Any suggesrtions on a powerful unit that has some good features. What is a good price ?

"Dude, you're gettin a Dell"

Tue, 04/09/2002 - 12:52 PM Permalink
ares

i've got mine on a dell inspiron 8200 for 3800 :)

Tue, 04/09/2002 - 12:55 PM Permalink
Luv2Fly

Is it all self contained or do you need a docking station ?

Tue, 04/09/2002 - 12:57 PM Permalink
ares

self contained, p4 1.7ghz,15.1"uxga display, 60gb hard drive, 512 megs ram. given that its a laptop, and thuse less upgradeable than a desktop, i shoot for the top end of what i can buy.

my goal is to actually completely replace my current "desktop" machine with one of these babies, so i can put that machine to use doing something else. i'm planning to buy 2 docking stations: one for at work, one for at home, and effectively replace my machine at work as well. i probably shouldn't mention this, but most of you can probably add 10% to that price, as the 3800 i quoted is after a 10% discount for being employed by a company that has a deal with dell. of course that has the disadvantage that i have to pay 6.5% sales tax on that price too (probably should be 7, but i'll be more than happy to have it shipped to me at work to save 20 bucks.)

and thx, as far as i'm concerned, that it says dell on it is the only requirement :) mostly because i'm a) in love with touchpads, and b) in possession of an ls-120 drive module that'll fit in an inspiron and i really don't want to get rid of it :)

Tue, 04/09/2002 - 1:06 PM Permalink
Luv2Fly

Thanks Ares,

I will tell you the day I get mine. Wait one day and the better one will be introduced. I am going to get the best one I can due to the upgrading problem you mentioned. I have 3 other dells and have had very good luck with them. Thanks for the tips to a novice. Mucho appreciato.

Tue, 04/09/2002 - 1:10 PM Permalink
ares

rob, i'm just trying to figure out which credit card statement date i want it to show up on :)

Tue, 04/09/2002 - 1:24 PM Permalink
THX 1138




Thanks guys!

Wed, 04/10/2002 - 6:51 AM Permalink
ares

um, jt, which options are on that dell? the cheapest i can get it down to is 1126.

Wed, 04/10/2002 - 7:04 AM Permalink
THX 1138




128MB Ram, 20G HD, 1.06Celeron, Network Card, 14.1" screen. That's all I remember.

Wed, 04/10/2002 - 7:25 AM Permalink
ares

prices must have gone up a bit then. of course, i just re-priced mine, and its up 150 from where it last was too.

Wed, 04/10/2002 - 7:32 AM Permalink
ares

ok. i see how you did it. i wasn't presented with the 1 year service option, just the 3 and 4. that explains much.

just if you order it, make sure you go with the msn for the isp instead of the aol. for networking purposes.

other than that, all i've got to say about it is: "damn. that's cheaper than a decent desktop machine" very nice indeed!

Wed, 04/10/2002 - 7:50 AM Permalink
THX 1138




Man, I'm so tempted!

Wed, 04/10/2002 - 7:59 AM Permalink
THX 1138




Ares, I've been having the weirdest stuff going on with my Cable access.

I am able to get on but it will only last for 5 - 15 minutes then nothing. I've even done speed tests and the speed is fine when it's connected.

The light for the cable connection appears to be constant so I should have a connection. When I loose the connection, even if I reboot my PC & the modem, I still get nothing.

The modem light for the connection from the modem to the ethernet card does eventually will eventually blank when it should be constant. This is only after the connection is lost (Even though it shows it's connected to the cable). If I reboot, the ethernet card light will come on, yet I won't have a connection. It eventually will go out though.

So, any ideas what the heck is happening?

Wed, 04/10/2002 - 10:38 AM Permalink
ares

sounds like it could be a problem with the modem itself.

Wed, 04/10/2002 - 10:54 AM Permalink
THX 1138




That's what I'm starting to wonder.

It would be weird since it's worked fine and does work fine.

Well, he's coming out today so, we'll see.

Wed, 04/10/2002 - 10:56 AM Permalink
ares

of course you know as well as i do that it won't misbehave until the tech leaves :)

Wed, 04/10/2002 - 11:13 AM Permalink
THX 1138




Ain't it the truth. I'm almost hoping it's the modem cuz then I won't be so ticked at ATT. Three times in less than a month is just too much.

Wed, 04/10/2002 - 11:30 AM Permalink
ares

um, yeah.

Thu, 04/11/2002 - 6:05 AM Permalink
Muskwa

Why?

I think scalping should be legal.

Sat, 04/13/2002 - 11:24 AM Permalink
THX 1138




Ares, what do you know about doing a recovery?

After a week of fighting with this dang thing I finally did a recovery to start over from scratch. ATT tech support thought maybe my firewall (Zonelabs Zonealarm) was the culprit.

I did the recovery, got all set up and I still had the same problem.

So, I got a new NIC and seem to be fine now but, who knows if it will last. I did fine on Thursday night for several hours and have had trouble ever since.

Any clues my friend?

Sat, 04/13/2002 - 3:43 PM Permalink
ares

what kind of recovery, jt?

Sat, 04/13/2002 - 4:32 PM Permalink
ares

hey, jt, order that laptop yet?

Mon, 04/15/2002 - 7:27 AM Permalink
THX 1138




No, no laptop ordered yet. However, we went to Best Buy this weekend to get the new NIC and Scribe was looking at laptops.

I'll have to see how much money I have after we do some work on the house. Then I might get one. I'll have to get one by September for sure so Scribe will have a computer for school.

Mon, 04/15/2002 - 7:48 AM Permalink
Frosti

Does this mean she finally got accepted?

Mon, 04/15/2002 - 10:06 AM Permalink
THX 1138


I Does this mean she finally got accepted?

Oooops!

Yep, she did. She found out a couple weeks ago.

I left it up to her to tell but, she hasn't been on here lately.

Mon, 04/15/2002 - 10:10 AM Permalink
ares

yeah. like a couple of months :) hey, since she's been accepted, what's she gonna do for the hunt? skip school?

Mon, 04/15/2002 - 10:17 AM Permalink
THX 1138



what's she gonna do for the hunt? skip school?

Good question. I'm sure she won't skip school but, I'm sure she won't be getting much sleep.

Mon, 04/15/2002 - 11:10 AM Permalink
ares

i didn't think she slept during the hunt anyway.

Mon, 04/15/2002 - 11:11 AM Permalink
THX 1138




She doesn't sleep much during the hunt. Now instead of taking care of kids during the day, she'll be attending class. Not much change in the schedule, just different issues to deal with.

:-)

Mon, 04/15/2002 - 11:13 AM Permalink
Frosti

Well, since she doesn't come 'round much any more, tell her congrats! and that you spilled the beans.

Mon, 04/15/2002 - 11:32 AM Permalink
THX 1138




I'll tell her you said congrats.

Thanks!

:-)

Mon, 04/15/2002 - 11:39 AM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

I've been bitten !

A memory-resident virus ? Ontrack viruscan tells me my master boot record has been altered by security software (no), a large hard drive installed on an old computer (no), or a virus. I tried a Win ME restore, but of course that didn't do anything. I tried using the ontrack viruscan, it was outdated, updated it, then it hung up.

I haven't noticed any performance problems with my PC. At the moment, I'm downloading a trial McAffee virus scan, then try that. Any suggestions ?

Sat, 04/20/2002 - 7:39 AM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

If I restore prior to that download, will the virus disappear?

I'm serious, I don't know this stuff.

Sat, 04/20/2002 - 8:26 AM Permalink
Terry

Ian - I use the online McAfee clinic and scanner. It updates whenever there's new .dat files needed. It's been wonderful for the money...and for that money I have all the computers we own protected.

Sat, 04/20/2002 - 9:26 AM Permalink