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Looks like Windows Defender is out of Beta. Anybody try it?

Hey gang, My old 802.11b wireless card for my oldish laptop has gone missing. My wife and I are going on vacation soon, and there's wifi access where we're going. I've got work I would like to do that would benefit from wireless access, and the internet keeps me wife sane. We're leaving soon...

As some of you may know, I'm a senior medical student. After 4 years of medical school comes residency, which is from 3-7 years long. Almost everybody does residency these days, except maybe a few who only want to do research, or the moderately insane (the very insane and slightly insane stay...

So, my buddy and I recently spec'ed out new computers, and basically went with the same hardware. (new computer link: http://www.storageforum.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6186). My buddy decided that he had to have Vista. Why, I don't know. But he's the type who buys Norton Whatever each year...

Does anybody have experience with the nVidia Active Armor Firewall? Link: http://www.nvidia.com/object/feature_activearmor.html It's a kind of firewall that is built into my network hardware on my Asus P5N-E SLI motherboard. I initially installed it, then disabled it because I didn't think it...

Hey gang, My old PC acts as a basic file server, running WinXP (too lazy to switch it to something decent). My new computer is also running WinXP. Some large downloads on the old machine finished up, and I did a cut/past from one folder to another on the same hard drive on the "server."...

Anybody here using Google Desktop? I remember trying it out maybe a year ago but quickly uninstalling it due to resource utilization - I simply didn't have the RAM to dedicate to it. I actually found it through a search for a desk bar applet program similar to what OSX and Vista use. So far...

Hey gang, There are some webpages that I would like to put on my computer's hard drive because they load too slowly to be convenient to use. A while ago I remember using the DownThemAll firefox extension for a similar task, but it did not work on this particular page. I re-installed...

I've got my old and new computer under my desk. Both are hooked into my flat panel: my new computer into the digital port and the old into the analog. By hitting the input button on the monitor I can flip between computers, but I still have to unplug/plug my keyboard and mouse. Instead, I...

Hey gang, Anyone here familiar with the cities of Boston, MA, New Haven, CT, or St. Louis, MO? I may very well be moving for residency, and those cities, along with my current home of Minneapolis and Rochester Minnesota, which I'm somewhat familiar with, are my top 5 choices (Beth Isael...

My old computer was getting a bit sluggish, and I wanted a new gaming machine. Thanks to everyone here for thoughts, tips, experience, etc. My new system is finally built: Core 2 Duo 6400 Scyth Ninja cooler Asus P5N-E SLI (nVidia 650i board) BFG GeForce 7900GS 2*1GB Geil DDR2 800 memory...

Hey gang, I'm building a new PC soon, and my old PC will still be around, although it's components will be pared down a bit. I'll likely turn my old PC into a file server, and who knows what else (space warmer and jukebox, perhaps). My new PC will run with a LCD and 19" CRT. I'd like to be...

Using Winamp 5.32 on my WinXP SP2 machine, I can no longer connect to Shoutcast streams. The streams come up in my playlist editor, and it scrolls through the 10 streams, but none of them connect. I can't use IE to play streams. When I use the built in Media Library in Winamp it says "Sorry...

I'm running WinXP on a IDE drive, but I'd like to put it on my SATA drive (Raptor 740). Is there an easy way to copy the entire boot drive onto the SATA drive so I can then boot off the SATA drive without Windows ever knowing that anything happened? If needed I can create an identical sized...

Hey gang, My father-in-law is into books on tape, and he's getting an MP3 player for his birthday soon. My wife's family would like me to get the software to rip and encode audio books on CD from the local public library into MP3 format. Back in the day I remember using dBPowerAmp, although I...

I'm (slowly) working on putting together a new computer, likely for assemblage in late January to late February. I want to run Windows XP Pro and maybe the Vista equivalent. I've heard it's cheaper to get XP Pro OEM (~$140) now with a free upgrade coupon to Vista. Plus that way if Vista blows...

Hey gang, My parents run a small business. They need a very basic computer for looking up small pieces of information on the internet. Being able to use the Access database I created for them would be nice, maybe a little word, maybe a little excel, but not much. The PC needs to look...

Hey all - I'm spec'ing out a new box, and wondering if my assumption that nVidia cards are betters supported in Linux is true. I think I remember that nVidia has provided Linux drivers for longer than ATi. In my new computer I'll be running Linux at least part-time and very much want dual...

My wife's family put together a video of a family member. We're making copies on DVD. I burned a bunch of copies onto Ridata DVD+R media a few months ago and tested it on my computer's DVD player and home theater (I use that term loosely) DVD player - a Tivo/DVD combo. In both it played fine...

Where are all the SATA optical drives? Newegg caries only 1 SATA DVD drive (Lite-On). Is there any reason not to get a SATA DVD drive? I know I've had issues installing Windows onto a SATA HD who's controller Windows needed drivers for, but shouldn't the BIOS recognize the optical drive an...

I'm spec'ing out a new system, and it would be nice if my new video card would work in Vista with the full Aero crap if/when I installed it. I've heard Aero will require DX10. Is there any easy way to figure out which video cards will support DX10? I've also heard that Nvidia cards will be...

My wife wants a new scanner. Our old printer/scanner (HP PSC750) no longer scans, and while the printer still works it's clearly not the best. My wife's is now our family's historian, and she has hundreds of color photos (no negatives) she wants to scan. We hope not to spend more than a few...

As has been discussed here, I'm putting together a new computer sometime between late November and January. After seeing how nice it was to read on an LCD monitor at school, I decided that I really want an LCD. I currently run two ancient 19" monitors in 1280x1024. I think I'd like to replace...

I'm planning on building a new computer in the next 2-6 months. I would really love a front-mounted headphone jack with controls, similar to what some of the over-priced Creative cards have. Is there any way to get the front mount on a decently-priced sound card? Also, if I'm building a new...

Hey folks, My Newcastle 3000+ based desktop computer is going to be 3 years old come January. I originally put 512 MB of RAM in it, thinking that I might upgrade after prices came down, but never did (got cheap, prices never fell that much). I'm now feeling the pain, and really would love to...

Hey all, We recently discussed preferred virus scanner, and thanks to suggestions here a while back started happily using AVG in favor of Norton. For years now I've used ZoneAlarm, which seems to be getting more annoying by the day. Are there any good free alternatives out there for Windows (XP)?

Tonight I felt like screwing with Linux, since I'm really getting tired of Windows. Tried to update my ATi driver in my SuSE install, which didn't go well, so I decided to give Ubuntu a shot. During the partitioning, I tried to set up my drives as follows: sda = WD Raptor /dev/sda1 - swap...

My MSI K8T neo has acted goofy for a long while now, being very picky about what drives gets plugged into where. I have a WD IDE HD, a Hitachi IDE HD, a WD SATA drive, a DVD reader, a DVD burner. My motherboard has the standard two onboard IDE channels, a VIA VT8237 which gives me two more...

Anybody have a suggestion for a new powered USB hub? I've got a keyboard, mouse, 2 PDAs, card reader, 2 USB drives, and MP3 player that all connect via USB and I'm at the point of having to dig underneath my desk to plug them in. My keyboard has 2 extra ports on it, but it's not powered and...

I've spent the past 6 months looking for my next research project, and am very happy to have found one that is almost perfect (famous last words...). The research area* is back in my old stomping ground and matches the clinical area I'm interested in, and the field was basically invented...

My wife and I just passed our 3 year anniversary, and our photographer has released our pictures to us on CD. We have been very happy with the one we chose - very professional, very modern. Earlier today my wife picked up the 7 CDs. Now...what do we do to make sure they're archived properly...

Hey all, The power cord for my Dell Inspiron 8200 is worn thin around the junction between the brick and the thin round cord going to the laptop. I can see the silver wire insulation. I'd prefer to get a replacement before it breaks. Are there "generic" version out there that are safe to use...

So, I'm enter a professor that appreciates suits for the right occasion. My trusty black suit has served me well, and I've so far had enough shirt/ties combos to make it work for most formal events. It is likely that I'm going to be spendinga month at another institution that values the suit...

So, I recently got a DVD burner (exchanged the Panasonic my bud got me for a Sony due to wider media compatibility, although I do now feel dirty with a Sony). It came with Nero-this and Nero-that, which included Nero backup. Does anybody have experience with this product? Is it worth it? Is...

My wife and I need a decent calendar system that lets us have our own calendar but also lets us see eachothers. Online is preferable. One that will sync with my Palm pilot would be nice, too. If we need to install software to our University-hosted webspace, we can do that - our space supports...

For Christmas my bud gave me a Pioneer DVR-R100 DVD/CD burner (8x double layer, 16x DVD-/+R, 50x CD-R, 32x CD-RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+RW according to the box). I have a basic knowledge of CD burners, but DVD burners confuse me. Can somebody recommend any particular type of media that will likely...

As seen on Slashdot and on MS's webpage So, does this mean that all Mac users will slowly become aware of non-IE browsers, which might translate into more knowledge on the PC-side? Does this mean that web developers will have to refrain from just designing for IE?

What do ya'all think of antivirus software. I get Symantec for free from my school, but it insists on running all the time and sucking up RAM. Are the free ones any good? I was thinking about AVG and Avast. Maybe I'll just reinstall Symantec and try to trick it into not running all the...

Well folks, it's that time of the year again. My family needs a second office PC. Seems my mom and dad just don't share well enough to make a single PC do-able. My wife and I are the same way, multiplied by a bazillion. So, what is the current budget champ (with reasonable office...

Hey gang, I've got a bunch of text books around my place that I want to sell. Amazon seems like a really easy way to sell stuff, but I've heard some nasty things about them. Ebay is a possibility, but I haven't sold anything on Ebay before. In fact, I've never bought something on Ebay before...

Hey gang, Any tips for what it would take to register a domain name ("AdcadetFamily.net" or somesuch) and provide email addresses for family members? Just thinking about an interesting Christmas gift of sorts. Suggestions as to who to go through? Approx. costs? Other considerations? Thanks...

The other day I stumbled across some guys site which contains a few interesting rants. Among them, is this one. A brief quote: Windows has significantly set back and held back the IT industry, and continues to do so. Windows encourages, rewards, and practically demands stupidity on the part...

I'm going through a bunch of my old files on my mass storage drive, and thinking about comrpessing a good number of them (the important ones are burned to CD and/or backed up on another HD anyway). I stumbled across 7-Zip and thought I'd compare it to WinZip and WinRAR. What is 7-Zip...

Credit scores confuse me. As far as I can tell, the actual formula used is proprietary and a huge secret. Since my wife and I are likely to buy a new house and car in the next 1.5-3 years, we'd like to keep our credit rating pristine. My wife lost a few cards today, so we've been...

Just wondering if any of you guys have strong preferences for an HTML editor. For the past few years I've used Macromedia's Dreamweaver, which I like but think is overkill for what I do. I just need basic functionality, and am looking for a simpler alternative. Has anybody used the...

What do people use/like for playing MP3 streams in Windows. In my recent SuSE install I am using Amarok, which does a great job of simply playing streams. In Windows I've used Winamp since the 1.x days, but I fear its getting a bit bloated these days. Thoughts?

I installed a second copy of Windows on a new HD, then converted the first HD (containing the original Windows) to a Dynamic Disk. Now I can't boot off that old drive through my BIOS like I like to do. I think this happened to me once before, and there was some simple command I could run to...

Anybody try Flock lately? http://www.flock.com/developer/download/preview/ I'm not yet sure what to think of it. So far it doesn't seem to like my school's blogging system, it thinks by "mail" I mean Thunderbird (I now prefer Gmail), and it relies heavily on del.icio.us, which I haven't gotten...

Just wondering if anybody here has strong opinions about their wrist watches. I'm kind of into chronometers, and have always liked Seiko. And Christmas is coming. Would love a Rolex or Omega, but I honestly could probably never justify spending that much money on a watch. And I have no...

I think my CD-RW drive just crapped out on me. I was thinking about getting a DVD burner soon anyway. Any recommendations? From looking around it looks like 16X DVD drives are prett common and only about $40. Thanks! Adcadet