Jeremy

Doesn't it automatically create an image of whatever you're burning before it actually burns it? I recently ditched Nero for CDBurnerXP.

Remove all antivirus software and invest in a good hardware firewall, don't download off Kazaa or LimeWire, test things in a virtual environment, things like that. I have been free of unecessary programs (whether resource friendly or not) taking up space, RAM and CPU usage when they are not relevant for what I do on my PC.

Just to clarify... The price of The Orange Box only includes EP2, Portal and TF2. HL2 and Episode One are free with it, so if you have a friend who wants the game you can give them the free CD-key that comes for those games in The Orange Box.

The release date is approaching. I bought it on Steam but then decided that I wanted the boxed version so I got a refund. I'll probably play through HL1, HL2, EP1 and then play EP2. I can't wait. It's driving me nuts. I should probably sleep.

1 tequila... 2 tequila... 3 tequila... 4 tequila... 5 tequila... 6 tequila... H4X0R

Happy Birthday Punto! Let's have a celebratory game of HL2DM Pro and see who wins. Hehehehe.

Holy Thread Resurrection, Batman! Clean temp/cache, defragment, use resource-friendly apps. Use Linux even. Save money and get better hardware. It isn't exactly expensive these days.

I stopped using it at 3.16. I just do not have confidence in the developer's ability to properly code the application.

Yes.

Well, I delete it because I usually don't bother with Windows Updates. I find them unnecessary. "This security update addresses an issue that if <this> happens, your computer could be compromised." Well, I haven't been hacked in 6 years and I have a hardware firewall. If you're some stranger who thinks you can convince me to click on "this cool link", give it your best shot. But when SP3 comes out, sure I'll install it. I just don't like downloading 50 separate updates.

I would delete all of them. They are just backups. The important files for Windows Updates are C:\WINDOWS\system32\Catroot and Catroot2. If you intend to install Windows generic drivers in the future without the CD, you will want to keep the ServicePack folder. But those I would delete.

In the future, please take 2 minutes to look at the program's options/preferences. Nero > File > Options > Expert Features > "Do not eject the disk after the burn is complete" I don't think there is a global setting for it in Windows XP. I Googled it.

If everyone did that, we wouldn't have much of a forum.

I don't trust that program or the developers ability to even code it. Each release seems to be an "undo" or "workaround" for "something else" in a previous release just to get it stable.

False. I was able to recover data with R-Studio fully intact on areas of the drive that had not been written to as much as others after 6 reformats (full format).

If you reformat and then do not write anything to do the drive after you get into Windows, and use a data recovery tool like Recuva (freeware) or R-Studio or Runtime GetDataBack, and scan over a network connection, I'd say you have a good chance of getting your data back. However, most people immediately install all their programs again and are then beyond the point of a typical software-based recovery. This is why we make backups.

You better print it out, fill it in and scan/fax it back to them before the potentiality goes away.

Send File > Browse to desired sound file > click OK?

I only use my C drive for Windows and programs I use; most of which are not portable or I haven't taken the time to make them so. Some other programs I either run them from my storage drive or flash drive. I keep everything else on my D drive. But I'd like to have another drive to separate my static and dynamic data. Anything that is just accessed and not modified I like on one drive separate from the data that's constantly being modified/written to. This makes it easier to defragment the data as well, as when I do so, it is done quicker. If you have a drive that contains only static data, keeping it defragmented is a one-time defrag. If you have a drive that contains only dynamic data then defragging that is quicker as well because it won't have to move around both static and dynamic data to complete the process. It's just time management and organization taken into consideration.

Personally, if I had 3 HDDs, I'd use the fastest and largest one for my OS and Program installations only. I'd use the second one for storage (like I do now) of games, music, movies, other static data that's only accessed and not modified. I'd use the third drive for downloads and dynamically (frequently modified) data. This way if your OS is hosed and you have a bootable rescue disk from, for example, Acronis True Image, you only lose about 5 minutes of your day. Or you might need to reformat, but still, you're only losing a few hours and don't lose any of your files.

Try running Dial-A-Fix.

You will have to start from scratch. This is why I always do CTRL+A, CTRL+C before I save/exit any text document. You can never be sure. Lesson learned.

"The fastest areas of the hd" = The outer tracks of the drive. Any defragmenter that can place files strategically by either last access or modification date on the outermost track moving inwards accomplishes the same thing. DK and PD have a lot of marketing claims that need debunking. They probably already have been.

Are you placing most commonly used files on the inner tracks of the disk? Those make up the slowest area of the disk. What I used to do was place my entire games directory under High Performance and select "Respect High Performance" so that they would be on the beginning (fastest) area of the disk regardless. I stopped doing that because if I added one map after doing so, it would be totally out-of-place. Since I have my games on my D (storage) drive and everything except for VMware is static data (data that only gets accessed and not modified), I only keep the files defragmented and not placed in any particular order. Here is UD's visual representation of my drives: C:\ (Auto, Last Modified Date, 100% of data placed on outer tracks) D:\ (Fragmented Files Only)