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Hey Guys, Does anybody have an external enclosure for a 3.5" drive (or multiple) that they like? I'm thinking that it would be convenient to turn one of my older hard drives into an external drive connectible by USB3 (+/- eSATA). It looks like many of the enclosures out there are really cheap...

Hey Guys, I'm looking to replace my old 19" CRT monitor that I use as a secondary monitor next to my 23" widescreen LCD monitor. I have loved having a second monitor since I first ran this sort of set up back around 2000 or so. I mostly use the secondary monitor when I'm writing. Text on the 19"...

Hey gang, I've been shooting home video lately, and expect to shoot even more in the coming years. So far, editing the video using the included software and my old hardware has been painful (using the included Canon software). I'm planning on rebuilding my PC in a few months. I don't expect to...

Hey Gang, I'm getting ready to build a new PC for myself in January or February. In addition to my main OS, I would like to keep a hard drive as a spare ("lifeboat") with a relatively minimal installation of Windows and my work software, including the bits needed for VPNing into work. I may be...

I recently built a home theater PC, and very much wanted a wired (vs wireless) connection to the rest of my network. Running the cable was a challenge as it had to go outside the house, and the holes I was using were too small to fit a regular RJ45 connector. So I cut off the connector heads to...

Hey Gang, I'm planning on building a new PC in early 2011, and I'm confused about sound cards. It seems like we finally have a good alternative to the Creative hoard (http://techreport.com/articles.x/14500/1). Are the current crop of sound cards, in an environment of very powerful CPUs, worth...

Can anybody recommend a set of cheap 2.0 speakers? I use a pair of Sennheiser HD 280 pros right now and will continue to do so for any audio where quality matters. I just need a cheap and small set of desktop speaker for listening to audio lectures, podcasts, etc. Thanks, Adcadet

Hey Gang, My onboard Nvidia gigabit LAN adaptor (on my Asus P5N-E SLI) is flaky. About a year ago it died so I put in a 100bT PCI NIC I had laying around. A few months ago for some reason I tried the onboard gigabit NIC again and it worked. Today my computer froze up and after a reboot the...

So....I was tweaking my fan placements in my Antec P180 and was putting back the lower drive bay. The rats nest of cables was hitting the lower fan so I began rearranging them, and I managed to snap off a SATA connector. The pins on the drive were bent and the upper plastic bracket was left...

Hey Gang, Now that I got a video camera and desperately need the storage space, I bought a 2 TB drive. I figured I could now uninstall my very old WD 200JB. The only problem is that my boot manager seems to reside on this disk. Right now I only boot Windows 7, and I keep copies on two hard...

Hey gang, With the baby on the way, I'm looking to finally build a home theater PC. I would love to use the internals from my current PC if possible to save money - this includes a Core 2 Duo 6300 (I'd de-overclock it), and Asus P5NE-SLI 2 GB RAM, and GeForce 7900GS. I'd want to add in a blue...

Hey Gang, I'm thinking of adding some RAM to my computer. My motherboard is an Asus P5N-E SLI (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131142). I currently have 2X1 GB memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144028) installed and I think I want to go...

Anybody here familiar with videoconferencing apps/hardware? With the new addition to my family coming soon, I have relatives across the country who want to be able to chat online for free, preferably with video. Luckily, everybody has broadband. Any suggestions regarding where to start?

After I installed my new D-link 655, I noticed that a bad URL typed into my browser (Chrome or IE) would bring up a Yahoo search through www1.dlinksearch.com. I can't even figure out what this is called. Is this a function of my DNS server? How do I change it to something other than Yahoo...

Anybody using an online backup service? I'm considering something like Mozy, based on my father-in-law's recommendation. My upload speeds at night are typically 1-2 Mbs which I would think is more than sufficient. $60/year is cheaper than a new hard drive. If I recall, Handy has used Mozy in...

Anybody have a particular wireless router to recommend? My old router is dying (ports keep failing). I use an iPhone (802.11g) and my wife uses a netbook (802.11g) around the home, and we have two other PCs connected by ethernet cables. My needs are pretty basic. I know nothing about wifi...

With the coming mini-Adcadet (http://www.storageforum.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7915), I need to get my digital imaging life in order. My wife has a Digital Rebel XT and we're pretty happy with it. I see no reason to replace it. She's an intermediate shooter, while I'm still very...

Hey Gang - My wife and I are having our first child! We're due at the end of July. "Mom" and "Dad" are doing well and we're thrilled with the news.

Anybody have thoughts about possible uses for an old Dell Axim x51v? Since I got my iPhone it's just been sitting idle.

Hey gang, My wife's computer (E7200, Gigabyte EP35-DS3L, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128337) has started to randomly reboot maybe once per day, and it hangs for a long time (5-10 min) during the BIOS screen where it says "memory testing:". It eventually moves on and...

Anybody else wondering when they'll upgrade to Windows 7? Are most waiting a few months (or a SP) to let MS iron out the wrinkles? Are you already running 7? Planning on upgrading immediately? I'm starting to plan my migration. As noted elsewhere, I can still get Home Premium for about $30...

Have a university .edu email address? Looks like you can get Win 7 home premium for $32.20 after tax. Anyone else doing this? http://www.win741.com/

What are you guys currently using or recommending for a primary monitor for people doing mostly office work, a little movie watching, and a little gaming? My Samsung SyncMaster 204B's capacitors seem to have just died - for a while it would take forever to turn on and now it just won't. Seems...

Hey gang, Is anyone else using their iPhone to keep up with both audio and video podcasts? If so, what software do you use? I've been playing with iTunes and...well, yuck.

Hey Gang, I'm thinking of taking the plunge this weekend and getting an iPhone. I've been using a Motorolla Razor for 2+ years, and I'm not sorry to say goodbye. Other than easily fitting into a suit pocket, I haven't been a fan of the Razor. The keys are so-so, the menus don't make sense, I...

Shortly before Christmas I found out I was accepted into a special training program that will allow me to combine my Internal Medicine Residency with a Fellowship in Cardiovascular Diseases and 2 years of research time in my current lab, and all at my academic medical center of choice. I'm...

Hey Gang, Hope everybody is doing well and staying warm this holiday season. It's currently about 0 F outside, and feels like -22 F with the windchill. My folks are looking for a gift for my wife (thank God our families get along so well), and suggested a price range of about $300. My wife...

News out of my old home, Minneapolis: Data from Columbia disk drives survived the shuttle accident Jon Edwards often manages what appears impossible. He has recovered precious data from computers wrecked in floods and fires and dumped in lakes. Now Edwards may have set a new standard: He found...

Hey gang, A few weeks ago the wife and I were re-arranging the basement office and unplugged our networking gear, and when we plugged in the old wireless router it failed to turn out. I tried a known-good outlet and power adapter, but the thing just would not come on. So I replaced it with an...

What are you guys recommending these days for entry-level, single-user laser printers? Samsung seems to have the cheapest but I know nothing of their printers. It would be connected to a single computer for a small business and really wouldn't get used that much. Speed would also be...

Hey Gang, My parents business is adding a computer in the office, and they want to be able to 1)see what websites the employee is going to, and 2)how much time he's spending. They were thinking about something like NetNanny, although I cringe at the implication of using child protection...

When you guys are building basic office systems, do you specifically use dual-core chips? My parents need a basic business PC, and it looks like Athlons are going to be the cheaper route and I need to decide between something like an Athlon 64 3500 vs 4000 X2.

Well, OK, maybe Dick Morris isn't her friend, but I think he likely knows a hell of a lot about Hillary. And he isn't kind to her in this piece: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/political_commentary/commentary_by_dick_morris/why_hillary_will_lose Anyone else finding the...

Hey gang, My wife and I recently upgraded our cable internet from 5 Mbps to 10 Mbps. Never had trouble with the 5 Mbps. For the first few months of the 10 Mbps things were great. Frequently tested the internet connection from 6-8 Mbps. Recently, though, the internet has felt really slow, and...

Hey Gang, My in-laws need a multifunction printer/scanner/fax machine for their business. The print volume will be high and some of this will be given to clients, so laser is necessary. Color would be great as well, though that would add cost and I'm not sure is worth it. And finally, my wife...

So, I've now lived in my new (well, built in 1987) for ~3 months now. In general I really like it. Deck out back, now complete with some simple deck furniture and a second-hand but functional grill, is great. I love reading outside near sunset. I also really like having the space to move...

My wife's old computer has an old PATA HD in it that contains the boot record, and a newer HD that contains Windows XP on it. I tried removing the old HD, booting off the XP disk to a recovery console, and doing "fixmbr", but it fails to detect the OS (though the MB can see the HD). When I put...

Hey gang, My wife and I are settling into our new house, and we need to setup some sort of robust backup system. With my job starting soon, I won't have much time to think about it for the next year. It will need to backup and/or serve data from two computers mostly. Between my wife and I...

A while ago I got a CompUSA gift card, which I've used once. Since then CompUSA has closed all my local stores, the next nearest once is about 600 miles away, and they don't honor the gift card online. There is currently $42.59 on the card. I'd love to sell it to somebody who's near a...

Sometime during my second year medical school I ran across another student in another program who told me that he worked with a publisher who have him review stuff, which was pretty easy and he could then sell the books online. He gave me his contact's email address, who seemed happy to have me...

I was reading at the Redhill site, and came across a discussion of MFM and RLL, something that is totally new to me. At least I think it is. My first computer was a Tandy, I believe a 386 that I got in the fall of 1991. My second computer, which we got around 1994, was a hand-me-down/gift...

After much trial and tribulation, my wife and I have a purchase agreement without any active contingencies. We close and move on May 25th. This has been partially documented here , and there's more info and pictures of the house on our blog I post here partially to ask for advice from some of...

Wasn't sure if this would be best in the tech support or general area, but since I thought this would spill into multiple topics I thought it should go here. Recently for my home search and research I've needed to email webpages that contain pictures. What's the easiest way to do this? I can...

I never even thought that there was a speed difference in cable modems, but a blog claims that newer modems may be faster. Is there any truth to this? Is there any reason to suspect that my Toshiba PCX2200 may be limiting my internet speeds, which depending on time of day and speed test used...

This morning I went to my PC, and it was turned off. My wife's computer was also turned off. They're on the same power outlet, and this sometimes happens and I usually blame the appartment's electricity. Start up my PC and her PC. Her PC is fine. My PC hangs during boot. Strange, it...

Hey gang, I was cleaning out my apartment today, when I came across an old Toshiba e740 PPC. It was given to me a while back for a project I was working on, and even then it was outdated. Today it's even worse. I've got a Dell Axim that I love and use daily, and I've got my old Palm Tungsten...

Hey gang, As some of you know from another thread, I'm doing some backup work which involves backing up to DVD. In the past I've used a CD wallet thingy for CD and DVDs, but over the years I've found a number of bad disks. I'm not sure if it's due to small scratches inherent in this system, or...

Hey gang, I thought I remembered discussing this before, but a search doesn't turn it up. I'm looking for the best compression program. Easy to use, good compression, relatively fast, and something that provides some data protection for archiving stuff. I've got lots of old data (high school...

Anybody else get "An error occured ... RPC server is unavailable" error when trying to sync their time in Windows XP? I've tried both default servers, I've added the North American one, I've run LSPFix.exe (no errors found), and based on a suggestion found by Google, I'm installing the HP...

Hey gang, Got back from vacation, during which I used my old Dell Inspiron 8200. The battery is pretty well shot, which is not surprizing I guess, seeing as how it's 4.5 years old. But it's still a useful machine, though large and clunky for sure. I also realized that I've got a lot of crap...