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  1. J

    HOT

    I'm dying already. I consider hot anything much over about 60° F. Can't wait for fall and winter to come back.
  2. J

    question Replacement SSD for a dead Hitachi laptop drive

    Reading the the longevity testing Doug linked to, consider that all those drives are still working well after 600 TB of writes. To put things in perspective, I've had my Intel 240 GB SSD running since October 2012 and it has 3.08 TB of writes. At this rate it'll take well over 300 years to reach...
  3. J

    I want to buy a new car

    The charging infrastructure mostly matters if you tend to take a lot of trips longer than the car's range, and you don't have a place you can plug in at home to charge for your shorter daily trips, like commuting to work. I'm with Dave. Superior charging infrastructure or not, if I...
  4. J

    Recovering vanished partitions.

    OK, I just got back my last partition. I put in one of the sets of parameters I obtained from the earlier deep scan. Everything seems to be there on all three partitions. Just for reference, Recuva only works if Windows can read the partition. It seems to be mainly to recover accidentally...
  5. J

    Recovering vanished partitions.

    The partitions are there, along with all the files except on the last data partition. I'll try the software you linked to. I could also try booting into Ubuntu to see if that works. In all honestly, I'm not spending much time on this because I already have most of the disk back. It's more an...
  6. J

    Recovering vanished partitions.

    It's MBR partitioning. The good news is I deep scanned using testdisk, and found what were the parameters of my original partitions. For some reason, the partition table had the boot partition overlapping the second partition. I deleted the incorrect first partition, then added a new first...
  7. J

    Recovering vanished partitions.

    I was working in Windows 7 today when I suddenly had no access at all to my 200 GB Maxtor drive. I have four partitions on this drive-an XP boot partition, and 3 data partitions. In truth, I have backups of probably nearly everything but I would like to try to restore my partitions if possible...
  8. J

    problem Scheduled chkdsk command cancels without my intervention on a Win 7 laptop

    I think Recovery Console is your only option here. My brother recently had some computer issues (long story). He needed to delete his Windows partition and reinstall XP. At first I thought he could do that with fdisk from Windows 98 but unfortunately that doesn't work on NTFS partitions. The old...
  9. J

    problem Scheduled chkdsk command cancels without my intervention on a Win 7 laptop

    You're right, I didn't see any other tools there which perform the same function as chkdsk. That seems like a big oversight given that the disk seems to have just about everything else.
  10. J

    problem Scheduled chkdsk command cancels without my intervention on a Win 7 laptop

    http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/ Scroll to bottom of page to find the download link.
  11. J

    File Vernification

    I've been using Total Commander for years to do that.
  12. J

    Something Random

    Merc, I'm glad to hear from you but saddened about your present circumstances. I second mubs suggestion of seeking care in a larger city, which doubtless would be Chicago in your case. It sounds like whatever is going on with you will take a physician with a very specific area of expertise to...
  13. J

    Outdoor LED lighting project

    Thank you, Doug. In truth, this is a relatively easy mod, at least from the standpoint of installing the LEDs. Anyone who is handy could probably do it. The harder part is the driver. However, if I were doing this for anyone but myself, I would probably just use a commercial driver. The trick...
  14. J

    Outdoor LED lighting project

    I did my own outdoor LED lighting project. I had two 300 watt halogen floodlights in the yard which haven't worked for a while. I decided to mod them with LEDs rather than just replace the lamps. In truth, I wanted to do this a few years ago but LEDs hadn't reached the point where it was cost...
  15. J

    TVs and things

    I'm not surprised at all that the other issues are fixed. Power supply problems cause a whole host of things besides just making a TV not work. The symptoms you mentioned were an early warning that the power supply was starting to go. Anyway, congratulations on fixing the problem. Now let's hope...
  16. J

    "The inevitable arrival of subscription-based Windows"

    I tend to agree with Doug. Subscriptions will only work if every other commonly used OS is on board for them as well. Thanks to competition, that won't happen.
  17. J

    TVs and things

    Regular lead solder with rosin flux should work fine here. The board is probably made with lead-free solder to comply with regulations but for a repair lead solder is easier to work with. The replacement caps seem OK to me. It took 7 years for the old ones to fail. Assuming this is the problem...
  18. J

    Advertising, good or bad?

    And that's a good reason why it should be severely limited. Also, schools should be required to teach students how to deconstruct misleading advertising. They used to teach this but it seems under pressure from big corporations they stopped. Good products and services will eventually advertise...
  19. J

    Advertising, good or bad?

    If by effective you mean they get people to buy things they otherwise wouldn't buy, and really don't need, I tend to agree. I'm a firm believer in capitalism and free markets, but I feel people shouldn't be coerced into buying things by slick advertising which makes products seem better than...
  20. J

    TVs and things

    Sorry about the duplicate posts. I went to edit my post, and for some reason it appeared as another post when I submitted it.
  21. J

    TVs and things

    I'm not seeing any problems. Just remember the caps are attached to heavy traces so you'll need a soldering iron with a decent amount of watts (i.e. something with only 5 or 10 watts won't work but most decent ones with 40 to 75 watts should do fine). Mark the polarity of the old caps before you...
  22. J

    TVs and things

    I'm not seeing any problems. Just remember the caps are attached to heavy traces so you'll need a soldering iron with a decent amount of watts (i.e. something with only 5 or 10 watts won't work but most decent ones with 40 to 75 watts should do fine). Mark the polarity before you remove them so...
  23. J

    TVs and things

    The problem still exists but it's becoming less of a problem as we're learning about OLED degradation mechanisms. I suspect by the time OLED becomes mainstream the problem will be completely solved. Even now, OLED lifetimes are ~50,000 hours. This is good enough for a commercial product.
  24. J

    TVs and things

    I'll be onboard for that if you don't feel confident making the repair yourself. Yeah, it looks like the usual bad cap issue we've all seen on older motherboards. I would probably replace them with solid polymer caps just so the problem never recurs, assuming of course I can find the same value...
  25. J

    TVs and things

    If I were you I might wait a bit until OLED becomes more affordable. I've seen OLED in person. It's no comparison to anything else but it's still too pricey for my tastes. I'll echo what I said to SD, but with the caveat of waiting for 4K OLED. I've seen OLED, and I've seen 4K monitors/TVs. Put...
  26. J

    TVs and things

    Try replacing the caps first. That may very well fix the problem. Too bad I'm not local to you or I could replace them for you. BTW, I know exactly how you feel about dumping the TV in the trash for what is most likely a repairable power supply issue. I hate to part with things I know can be...
  27. J

    Something Random

    No, no penalties or interest provided the amount you pay during the year is at least 90% of your tax liability or 100% of last year's tax liability: http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc306.html I may or may not invest the money but it's easier for me to just pay in one lump sum next April, even if...
  28. J

    Something Random

    I was thinking the same thing. I'm pretty good at paying the minimum amount of tax I legally have to pay. I'll grant there are certain gray areas like business expenses where you can fudge stuff to an extent, but getting back 5 figures instead of a few hundred would make me seriously question...
  29. J

    Something Random

    Doug, I find that while taxes are complicated sometimes, it's beneficial to me to do them myself rather than pay money to someone else to do them. Unless a person is running a fairly large business, or has very complex investments, I'm not seeing why anyone would need to pay to have their taxes...
  30. J

    Well isn's this just wonderful...

    A tornado actually touched down right where I live in 2010. We didn't sustain any damage directly, but many others did. I took loads of pictures on the day it happened and several days afterwards: http://s91.photobucket.com/user/jtr1962/library/Flushing%20Tornado%202010/09-16-2010?sort=4&page=1...
  31. J

    Winsxs

    My WinSXS folder is only 8.84GB. Then again this install of Windows 7 is only about 18 months old. Seriously though, Microsoft should come up with a solution to this. Now that many machines are using SSDs for boot drives, you can't assume a ridiculously large amount of space for the Windows...
  32. J

    Something Random

    Based on the experience in my family, we seem to suffer only the side effects of pain killers but not the relief. About the only thing which works for me much of the time is drinking myself into a stupor. I obviously can't do that on a regular basis without risking liver damage plus loss of my...
  33. J

    Something Random

    This year it's only $95 or 1% of your income, whichever is more. Eventually it'll increase to $695 or 2.5% of your income. Given the numbers Merc gave, if you're making less than ~$130K it'll be cheaper to go without insurance even once the full penalties kick in. If your income is less than...
  34. J

    XP computers in a business environment

    That's exactly the kind of situation I was thinking of when I wrote my lengthy post above. When you're locked into a combination of hardware/software which still works fine for you, upgrading just for the sake of switching to a more modern OS is at best an expensive proposition. In this case...
  35. J

    XP computers in a business environment

    Just out of curiosity, exactly what do people use Outlook Express for anyway? I know it's for emails, but when I read or write emails I just do that from my web browser. Yes, Yahoo and the like always change how their email works, and it gets annoying at times, but I would imagine keeping...
  36. J

    XP computers in a business environment

    This is very true. Quite a few computers in business environments either aren't connected to the Internet at all, or are connected through a server/mainframe which not only blocks malware, but often blocks users from even accessing sites known to contain malware. In this type of environment you...
  37. J

    Something Random

    Starting signs of carpal tunnel syndrome? Count yourself lucky that it took until well into middle age before this happened. I started in my mid 20s. By the time I was about 30 it was so bad I could no longer work full-time. It only got worse after that. It seems to have plateaued for the last...
  38. J

    Sanyo Eneloop batteries - charging and analyzing questions

    I tend to charge my 2000 mAh Eneloops at 600 or 700 mA. This is gentler on the cells than the default 1000 mA. I also have some Duracell ion-core cells (the made in Japan ones are most likely rebranded Eneloop XXs). I usually use 1000 mA for these, although lower currents work fine. The MH-C9000...
  39. J

    Helium filled hard drives

    Until HAMR is commercially feasible areal densities probably aren't going to increase all that much. I suspect by the time it is SSDs will be approaching magnetic disks in terms of price per TB. HAMR can potentially increase densities by a factor of 100, but by stacking flash RAM chips (V-NAND)...
  40. J

    Football

    Same here. The only thing I know is a touchdown is 6 points. I watched most of the game just for the heck of it (and because it was in the NY Metro area). I get into baseball a lot more but I'm still not what you would consider a hard-core baseball fan. On the other hand, when the Tour de...
  41. J

    Something Random

    Just using a liquid cooling block on the CPU might get CPU temperatures a few degrees above 0°C. On the other hand, if you use a liquid cooling block to cool a decent size thermoelectric cooler you could see CPU temperatures well below 0°C. Going by the specs, if we assume a 125 watt CPU, you...
  42. J

    What were you worst computer related mistakes made?

    I'm the same way. I'm actually glad PCs have more or less plateaued as far as speed goes. It makes the decision to upgrade much easier knowing you won't be able to buy a system twice as fast for the same price in six months.
  43. J

    Hypothetical New PC

    What are you using now for monitor? I'm asking because unless it's a CRT, most monitors which are less than about a decade old aren't much worse than most of what you can buy nowadays on a small budget. Until recently when 4K monitors started appearing, I didn't see any compelling reason at all...
  44. J

    Something Random

    I'm also sorry to hear about the recent turn of events with your wife. It may be hard at times, but she needs to keep a positive outlook. Those who do have a much better shot at living a long time. I know at least two people (my dad and my maternal grandmother after her husband died) who just...
  45. J

    Something Random

    Everyone has areas where they're talented and not talented. I wouldn't be all that great in HR, either. I'd probably end up running it like the drill sergeant in "Full Metal Jacket". Those things are very important if you want to retain quality employees. That's actually why I gave up on...
  46. J

    Something Random

    A lot of that is the fault of companies which partition tasks off to whomever they think can do it. If you do a particular task well, then you get stuck doing that task and nothing else. End result is employees who only see themselves useful for one or two functions in a company. IIRC, Japanese...
  47. J

    Outdoor LED lighting project

    Parts and your check are here. After I flow solder the LEDs to the MCPCBs, I'm going to put a few inches of 24 gauge wire on the LED boards for now to test them. I'm figuring when you wire everything up you can solder whatever gauge wire you want to the short pieces of wire. Does this sound OK?
  48. J

    New Computer

    Most PC users wouldn't see much of a difference between a 10-core Xeon and something like a 4-core i5. This is one of those cases where you'll know if you need it or not. My decade-old XP3200 was actually adequate for 95% of the stuff I did on a PC. I needed more 3D horsepower and better...
  49. J

    I'm retiring

    I feel the same way. Too many interesting projects come my way for me to say I'll never work again, even if I didn't need the money. I would think of retirement as only doing the projects which interest me.
  50. J

    Ultra Dimm

    I recall posting on Storage Review maybe ten years ago that one day computers would have slots for non-volatile solid-state storage as well as the usual RAM slots. Interesting that we're seeing the start of that concept now with server hardware. In a few years it might be the norm for desktop...
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