Reversing the polarity- Getting Technical

[Darren]

Lets have a thread for all the techy problems/questions people have. I'll begin. I'm planning to buy a new PC soon as my current one is about 4 years old and a bit creaky. I've built my own system using Dell's (impressive) site.

Does this sound like a good specification?

Intel Viiv™ Core™ 2 Duo E6300 Processor (1.86GHz, 1066MHz, 2MB)
Windows Vista™ Home Premium - English
2048MB Dual Channel DDR2 667MHz [2x1024] Memory
Dell™ Black Enhanced USB Multimedia Keyboard - UK/Ire (QWERTY)
Dell™ 20" UltraSharp™ Wide Aspect Digital/Analogue Flat Panel (2007FPW) - UK/Irish
256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro PCI Express graphics card
Hard Drive 500GB Serial ATA RAID 0 Stripe [2x250GB 7200rpm drives with DataBurst™ cache]
Internal 13-in-1 Media Card Reader
Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Optical Mouse - Black
Dell™ v92 Data/Fax Modem
CD/DVD Drives 16X DVD+/-RW Drive
Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music PCI Soundcard
TV Tuner and Remote Control Integrated Hybrid (Analogue/Digital) TV tuner PCIe x1 card and Dell™ remote control

[Rob McCow]

It's not bad! I wouldn't muck about with RAID for the hard disks though. If you have a problem with one of them, then all your data is irretrievably lost.

Getting a standard Dell is fine if your main objective is to do work, browse the net, listen to music etc. I would suggest comparing component and system prices with Dabs and Oveclockers UK though.

Also, Vista has issues. If you were building a system, I'd recommend getting Windows XP (OEM) (OEM means without a nice box) and using that instead. If Vista is pre-installed, just go for it.

Why on earth have you got a data/fax modem? Are you not broadband enabled?

Also, wireless networking might be of benefit if you do have broadband.

Good luck!

[Paul Monk]

How do I get my Sonic screwdriver to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow? The manual says its possible but I can't get the temporal differential just right. Will the blinovitch limitation effect have mess things up at all?

[Alex]

My new laptop had Vista pre-installed on it, and it's all very frustrating, there's lots of things that won't work, or need patches downloaded to get them to work, and I can't (yet) see any benefits of having it. So I'd echo Steve's comments, if you can avoid having it, I'd recommend doing so.

[Paul Monk]

There's lots of talk about Vista not being compatable with iTunes and iPods as well.

[Nathan]

And god help you if you want a NTL/Telewest/Virgin broadband connection!

[Jonno]

For the last week or so, I keep getting a grey error box in the middle of my screen saying "Could not find the Macromedia Flash". It tends to happen when I've been inactive on the PC for a short while. Any idea how I can fix this?

I click OK on the box and it goes away, but it is annoying.

[Jonno]

It's OK folks, I reckon I've sussed it. The answer lay in the fact that it was happening when my PC was inactive for a short while. What happens then? The screensaver comes on. Or doesn't in this case, as I realised I hadn't seen it for a while. I've changed it, and I'm expecting the problem to have gone away.

[Rob McCow]

Ah, well done Jonno

Although these things can be utterly foxing if you don't know what's going on. If I have a technical problem these days I tend to google the answer

[Jonno]

I prefer to google my friends on PS!

[Rob McCow]

Heh! True

The last problem I had to fix was a type 32 error on the CD-Rom drivers. That was a toughie!

[Darren]

Thanks guys!

I wouldn't muck about with RAID for the hard disks though. If you have a problem with one of them, then all your data is irretrievably lost.

I have no idea what RAID is!
The hard disk I listed was the default. It would cost me more to change it.

Why on earth have you got a data/fax modem? Are you not broadband enabled?

Nope, I'm still on dial up.

Also, wireless networking might be of benefit if you do have broadband.

I don't have anything to wirelessly network to, other than my XBOX 360 which I don't use much. I think the motherboard has an intergrated thingy so I could set broadband up eventually, though.

I'm hanging on anyway as there may be some moving home shennanigans this year.

[Perry Vale]

I have a technical PC type question/problem about Windows Media Player 10.....

How do I add Album art to my music files? I've followed the instructions* on the Microsoft Website, and it appears to work until I actually play the file in question, and instead of showing the album art, it's blank.....


*using 'Advanced Tag Editor' and adding in 'Pictures'....

[Pip Madeley]

This link may be of use, I'm not sure meself, I've never tried to add album art.

[Darren]

I've been looking at PC specifications again. Under Network, I'm offered Integrated Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000. Does this give me wireless network abilities? Can I buy a network adapter for my Xbox 360 and connect the two? What about broadand?

[Rob McCow]

Yes - you can get a network cable and connect it to the XBox. No - it's not wireless. Wireless generally (though not always) works as a little plug in aerial that you stick into a USB slot. You'll still need a Wireless Router for Wireless networking

[Darren]

Cheers!

My Xbox is in another room, so wireless it would have to be. I might aswell get a router/modem combined and upgrade to broadband. Another minefield!

[Whitney]

RAID is a Redudant Array of... something something. My dad uses it. You know, when it works. Which is rarely. You know how your harddrives are two very seperate boxes to store things in? Well RAID joins them together. Imagine two steel boxes with 6 sides each, and imagine putting one big wooden plank that is in both of them at the same time, part of the plank in one, part in the other.

RAID works just about as well.

Also, that ATI card is going to give you problems if you ever want to try Linux. Which you might want to do after trying Vista (bleh, horrible). Though ATI definately used to have a stranglehold on the market, their inability to keep up with new technologies and their awful driver support is putting them further and further behind Nvidia. Even Intel is talking about getting into the high-end video card market because they think they can beat ATI! The ATI card will definately work with Vista, but if you want to do any funny business with your computer, ATI just wont allow it.

Don't get a 2 button mouse. Can you order this without a mouse at all? You want at least a three button mouse (the third being the scroller in the middle), but see if you can order it without a mouse. It's nice to go into a store and "feel" the mouse. It's what you'll be touching all of the time, you wanna make sure you like it. Mine is a logitech media mouse that I use as a remote control when watching doctor who dvds on my comp. My friend has one pimped out for gaming. Some people also say you should try out keyboards, because they're weird people and either hate "clicky" keyboards (my old roommate) or love clicky keyboards (me, I drove my roommate home mwahaha). If you're going to end up buying a new keyboard and mouse later anyway... just see if you can get it taken off this purchase. And if you're going to use the keyboard and mouse on VISTA, make sure it says "Vista-Ready." I have no clue if that's for real or just a marketing scam, but better safe than sorry, ya?

What's Right:
Keep the Duo Processor, Keep DDR2 Memory, DEFINATELY have that soundblaster. Check up on the refresh rate on that monitor and make sure it's either 5ms or 8ms (5 is better, 8 is fine for casual gaming, just don't get 14). Keep the SATA. Dear god, 13-in-1, what a gangbang. Moving on, keep that cd drive, it's perfect. Make sure, though, that there's a slot to add another later, because sometimes it's nice to burn cd-to-cd and not have to copy to computer (but don't buy it built, just wait till you find you want it). Aww I wanna tv tuner... Again, for top compatibility, and me being Linux girl, I'd look up MythTV (a FREE tv ripper-stealer program) and see if it's compatible.

Love, Resident Loser.

[Milky Tears]

This thread is far too technical for my Milky Mind. Can't understand a word of it. Lost me at the "Darren" bit.

[Darren]

@ James

Thanks for that Daynah. Welcome to PS too.

I'm not sure if I would have a choice with the RAID drives if I buy from Dell. And their "Ultrasharp" monitors have a 16ms refresh rate. They do "economy" monitors with 5ms. Somwthing weird there. I'm not much of a gamer. I like DVDs and digi-photo editing/printing.

I already have a 5 button wireless mouse but they make you have one anyway. Same for the keyboard. I can upgrade to a Nvidia card so that's an option.

Cheers!

[Jonno]

New question - I've noticed for the last few weeks that I am unable to get onto Choices UK's website from my home PC. Each time I try (from either my favourites boomarked home page or from a link such as Find DVD or their own email letters) the page just goes completely white and fails to load. I have to shut Explorer down completely with a non-responding page type message.

But I can access their site fine from work, having tried it once for comparison purposes, so I know it's not a problem with their site.

Does anyone have any idea why I have this problem, and how I can resolve it?

[Darren]

Maybe the favourites link is corrupted. Try typing the address in the address bar.

[Jonno]

Can anyone work out if this is a DVD player/VCR or a DVD recorder/ VCR? It seems too cheap to be a recorder combi. My parents have asked me and are visiting soon and will probalby get one once they've seen mine, but I warned them it may only be a player.

[Dirk Gently]

It looks like a DVD player/VCR to me.

[Jonno]

Thanks Tim, it's what I thought but it's nice to get a second opinion!