Andromeda43

After a little Google search, I went to this site and downloaded the latest version of the Java runtime engine. http://javadl.sun.com/webapps/download/AutoDL?BundleId=11193 That's one thing I try to keep up on. Cheers! B)

Methinks you're trying to use Nero in an incorrect manner. Copy disk means to make an exact copy of a CD to another CD or DVD to DVD. It has nothing to do with any file types. It's a "Bit Copier". If you only wish to copy files from your hard dist to a CD or DVD then use the first option at the top of the Nero menu. It's called "CD-Rom (ISO)"..... Then click NEW and select the files you want from the right hand column,on the screen and drag and drop them onto the little CD icon at the top of the far left column. You will then see the file or folder appear in the left column. If Nero is properly set up, you will have your hard drive on the right of the screen and the blank CD on the left. Selecting what files to copy is just a mere drag n drop operation. Nothing complicated. Cheers and good luck, B)

When I could burn only 'coasters' with my first CD burner and the Adaptec software that came with it, I consulted with a professional CD maker. His response was a single word....."NERO"!!! I downloaded it from Ahead Software in Germany and I've been using Nero now for quite a few years and through quite a few upgrades. I have Nero 7.x but I prefer Nero 6.x, so that's what I am still using. There is Nothing that I've ever wanted to do with a CD or DVD that Nero won't do, simply and easily. So I guess I join the overwhelming majority that have voted for "NERO". Cheers! B)

As of Windows XP you had to use at least Adobe Acrobat 7.0 All versions of AR 6.x were good for 98 and ME only. (FAT-32 hard drives) Download Acrobat Reader 8.x for XP or Vista. Cheers! B)

Even though I run Winders XP-Pro, I still use a FAT-32 format on all my HD's. So, you might say that I've got a handle on how to deal with very large FAT-32 hard drives. Even though XP's Defrag does a credible job of defragging the drive, I prefer to go just a little bit better. To get a fully compacted drive like we got in 98 and ME, I have developed my own way of defragging my HD's. Here's my XP-Pro HD after I've "Defragged" it MY WAY. You may well ask, "How did you do that in XP?". Well, XP really had nothing to do with it. What I did was make a Ghost 2003 backup image of C: and then verify the backup and then do an immediate RESTORE of the Ghost backup file. Everything is re-written to C: in the same perfect order that it was entered into the Ghost Image. I boot up my PC in DOS from either a boot floppy or boot CD, and run several batch files to remove the Pagefile.sys and all temp files, etc., before running Ghost. That decreases my file load in my Ghost backup file by almost 2 gigabytes. I'm still getting my entire Ghost Image of C: on just one DVD. It don't get much better'n that! Cheers! B)

I'm aghast to hear that anyone is even thinking about licensing an OS that's already been Abandoned by its maker. Like who really gives a whack? Windows 98, 98/SE and even ME will install with only a lic. key for that OS being available during the installation. There is NO communication to be done with MS either during or after this process. NO registration or validation is required, or even possible. MS isn't going to offer you any more updates or technical assistance for those 'abandoned' OS's anyway. If you have any OS from ME back, you're on your own. Cheers! B)

First let me say,,,,,that using the Defrag from Windows ME, will do just as good a job as the one from 98 or 98/SE and do it much faster. I've been using that for years and sharing it with all my 98 and 98/SE users (customers). Check this site for a better explanation and a link to download ME's defrag.exe http://aroundcny.com/technofile/texts/tec060902.html You will usually see those patterns if you defrag after deleting large files or groups of files. You only see the holes, not data, in patterns. There's NO explaining why windows stores data on the HD the way it does. But just thank God, it works as well as it does. Cheers Mate! Andromeda B)

Weed, I can give you the addresses of many forums where you can discuss Astral Traveling and you won't be flamed and defamed like you will be here. I just wish you could teach me how to do it. I know its real, , , I just can't do it at will. I'm finished here. ME B)

I wasn't born yesterday, in fact almost 64 years ago. In my time on this planet, I've traveled extensively and I've seen many things that some would call "Drug induced hallucinations" or even "schizophrenia". That's the common retort for things not understood by anyone who's ether not been around very much or just blind to what's going on around them (in the world). What one person would call phenomena, another would call everyday stuff. Weed started a very interesting topic here. Can we just keep it on topic and avoid the name calling? Andromeda43 B)

That's just so very sad! I just built a new PC that in the real world would cost upwards of $1000.00 and YES oh YES, it has a 3.5" Floppy Drive in it. When you're Flashing a System ROM, or adding those SATA drivers to a fresh install of XP, guess what......YUP, a floppy is called for. I used 5.25" floppy disks for years before the release of the first 3.5" disks. That little disk that you could drop on the floor, kick around a bit, dust off and still read, was a real boon to the computer industry. Magnets? You gotta be kidding me! Ever try to completely erase a 3.5" FD with a magnet? I have and I failed miserably. I even used one of those big 6" magnets used to hold a CB Radio antenna on a car roof. NO joy! I had to use a 110vac degausing tool to finally erase it. Those little guys are more durable than most people are willing to give them credit for. I still use the 3.5" floppy in my daily work in the computer business. I go through several hundred a year. I was saddened to find out that my new mobo will only support just ONE floppy drive. Drive B: is history, I guess. My Hal 9000 that I just retired, had TWO floppy drives in it. God, I loved that little computer. Cheers Mates! Andromeda43 B)

All the way back to my early days with Dos 2.0, batch files like Autoexec.bat have had certain forms to follow. Every batch file I ever wrote over the past 27 years started out: @Echo off cls @Echo Off turns off the echo so the commands don't print out on the screen as the file runs. CLS, clears the screen of any text that may be left over from the Config.sys file, or anything else that's gone before it. From there on its pretty much a list of dos commands to set up paths, temp file folders, run special drivers etc. Like was previously said, there is NO standard Autoexec.bat file since every computer is (possibly) different. Then along comes Winders XP and it don't even use an Autoexec.bat file. (because it doesn't use DOS). Cheers, B)

Can we get some more posts on the original topic of "Astral Traveling" ??? I'd really like to know if more people have experienced it. Andormeda43 B)

Spybot is simple because each version is in a differently named folder. The "If Exist" command could surely be used to determine what folder is already installed. However, other programs do NOT rename the folder when they go from version to version, so some other means would have to be used, like looking for a particular file in the programs folder that would be peculiar to a specific version. Then every time they do an upgrade to a different version, you've got to re-write your batch files. Bummer! I do this stuff all the time, loading upgraded software, etc. into customers PC's. I just look to see what's already there and load what's needed from my Utilities CD or Flash Drive. I never thought about automating it further. The very same batch file can also be used to delete the old version. I do use lots of little batch files to install programs and copy the latest updates to their folders. It sure saves a lot of time. Good Luck, Me B)

I regularly shut down "Balloon Tips". Here's the entire tweak for disabling it. Disabling Balloon Tips HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Current Version \ Explorer \ Advanced Right click in the right hand pane,,,then select DWord from the menu. Create a Dword value of EnableBalloonTips and set value to "0" (it will be set to "0" by default) I hope that helps. Andromeda43 B)

Working an IDE drive off of a SATA II drive can greatly slow things down....like making backups, copying files from SATA to IDE, etc. There's a fix for that. I use it myself to get over 1000mbps transfer speeds out of my IDE backup drive. I'm currently doing it on two systems. You can use an IDE to SATA converter mounded on the back of your IDE drive, then a SATA cable runs from the converter to the second SATA port on your Mobo. (the jumpers on the drive must be set to "Master" ) As a side effect, you free up an IDE port on your mobo for exclusive use of a DVD burner. (burners just love to have an IDE port all of their own to play with) Here's the business end of an IDE drive, with the IDE to SATA dongle installed: I've seen these little dongles for as little as $14.95. It's a cheap way to merge an IDE drive into a new SATA compatible system. You need NOT be stuck with ATA 133 speeds, ever again. Cheers! Andromeda43 B)

I use 'Firefox' as my browser and it has a great little spell checker built in. But it doesn't help me type,,,,that I have to do myself. It just tells me when I have to go back and correct my mistakes. I learned to type on manual typewriters over 50 years ago. In High School typing class, I was #2 in my class at the speed test. Then in the USArmy I carried an MOS of "Clerk Typist". More manual typewriters! It was over twenty years later when I got my first Commodore 64 and started "Keyboarding". You've probably heard of 'hunt & peck' ? Well on the C-64 my typing was more like "Search and Destroy". I had that Manual Typewriter touch, that nearly destroyed the keyboard on my little C-64. Now that I'm on my keyboard every day, I'm starting to get the old "Touch Typing" feel back again, with a little lighter touch this time. Technology is great, but if you have two good hands and ten good fingers, learn how to "Touch Type". You'll be glad you did. I once helped a one-armed man who wanted to type out his Autobiography. I wired up a foot pedal to his left shift keyswitch so he could easily type capital letters. I'm sure he could have benefitted from hotkeys to type certain words or macros for complete phrases. He died before ever getting his life story finished. Learn to type! Cheers! B)

I had to go Way Back in this thread for this: Me too! Except that I didn't care much for the OS on the C-64, so I re-wrote it. Been building my own PC's ever since my first IBM XT Clone, that sort of replaced my C-64. On new PC's today (any brand name) it takes me over an hour to just get all the crapware and spyware off of the HD, so I can finish setting the PC up for my customer, installing their ISP and email, etc. I know this thread wasn't opened to badmouth any particular brand of PC, but I concur that Dell would sure top my list of JUNK. Y'all have a great day now, Y'hear? B)

Well, if nothing else, a thread like this sure separates the men from the boys. Or the tech's from the nerds and geeks. As a working tech, I find all sorts of uses for the humble little floppy disk. I carry a set of utilities on floppies with me on every service call. Of course I still work on lots of older computers that still have floppy drives in them. One nice thing about having things on floppies, is you can stop and edit a batch file if you need to alter something....you can't do that on a CD. Also you can drop a floppy on the floor or handle it while eating a Hershey Bar and not corrupt it, like you would with a CD. I just built a new 'Super System' to test Vista Ultimate. I installed a 3.5" Floppy Drive in it. I was going to put two of them in there....but I found out that the bios will only support the A: drive and NOT the B: drive. Go Figure! So, the second 3.5" slot is now sporting a multi-card reader and USB port. (waste not, want not) In my 'Kit' I also carry a USB Floppy Drive. I use it often and sell about one a month to a customer who has just bought a new computer with NO floppy drive in it and still wants to use their old disks with data files and family pictures on them. When loading XP, it still stops to ask you for a special drivers "Floppy" to load SATA or SCSI drivers. I never could coax it into accepting a CD instead of a floppy disk. I guess that M$ hasn't heard that floppies are Dead. Y'all have a great day now, Y'hear? B)

Many of Windows services require another service to be running before they can start. In Services.msc you can right click on a service and then click on "Dependencies" to see what other service has to be running. For instance, DHCP requires several other services to be running before it can run. You can follow the path and make sure all necessary services are set to automatic. OR: You can run MSCONFIG and under the Services tab, click the button that says "Enable All". Apply and reboot. All your services should then be running. That would NOT be my first choice but it works. That will also start many services that you DO NOT need to have running all the time, but it should solve your immediate problem. Give it a try. Good Luck,

It's possible that the file is damaged in some way. To repair system files you can try to run: SFC /scannow This program can replace damaged or missing system files. Be sure to leave a space before the / or the command will fail. You may also want to run: Chkdsk on your hard drive to repair any HD Errors. Good Luck, Andromeda43 B)

I've had several customers call me with this same problem. I can just email them a small (two line) batch file that solves their immediate problem. These are the two files to get rid of. C:\windows\system32\WgaTray.exe C:\windows\system32\dllcache\WgaTray.exe You can just do a Windows Search for WgaTray.exe and delete the files found. I have these two files programmed into my daily cleanup batch file, so that if WGA sneaks back into my PC, it will be rendered inert on the next boot-up. I'm legal, but I just don't like having crap like that on my PC. Good Luck, Andromeda43 B)

That's Cool! Unlike a digital computer, our minds store information in the form of images, pictures, colors or what-not. A color or sound or even a smell, can retrieve memories of things long since past. I can still remember the smell of homes I visited as a child. And yes, I do dream in Full Blown Technicolor and surround sound. And like most people I've never thought of myself as any different from anyone else, and until some "expert" tells me how odd I am, I just assume that I'm JUST LIKE everyone else. I can't help but wonder, if our soul, once freed from this mortal body, will carry with it all our memories of sights, sounds, smells, etc. (?) I think I mentioned earlier, "Our soul is just dying to get out of this body". We're spiritual beings, trapped for a lifetime in this physical shell. I have not gone spiritually Flying lately, but I sure look forward to it. Thanks for a great addition to this topic. Andromeda43 B)

Why would you even want to save those old CD's that you can't use anyway. It's redundant! Throw them in a drawer someplace and forget about them. If they were something important, or critical, or something you need to send half way around the world, just make ISO's of each CD, then run it through 7Zip to compress it and then save as many as you can to each DVD('s.) I use this technique to send several CD's half way around the world by mail....on a single DVD. Not to save space....that's no problem, but to save postage. Then the person on the other end can just click the compressed ISO to reconstitute it and then burn it to a new CD with Nero or any suitable Cd burning software. Job done. Cheers mate! B)

You really don't need help because you really don't have a problem. The pictures have not been duplicated themselves, or anything like that. Your computer isn't broke. And just how often do you pick a new desktop wallpaper? I only change mine two or three times a year. How many pix are in the list is really "Mox Nix". On my computer, all the desktop pictures are .bmp files only and they are in my C:\windows\ folder. I've deleted everything in the \windows\web\ folder. Thats a totally redundant folder. Look in your Windows folder and see if the standard windows desktop pictures aren't there. Cheers! B)

My fix would probably go one step further. I'd just disable themes completely and see if things stabilize. It's one of those redundant services that just take up resources anyway, when its running. I just checked on Themes in "Services.msc" and there are NO dependencies for it. So nothing should be turning it on and off or causing it to change. Big mystery! B)