So, “Peggy” from “Computer Maintenance Department” called me again last night. This time I decided to mess with him a bit more. This is the second time. (No, “Peggy” wasn’t his real name, nor did he identify himself as “Peggy,” but that’s the name I’ll use, thanks to that old Discover commercial.)
All posts tagged drivers
“Computer Maintenance Department” called me again from India
Posted by Dave Farquhar on May 9, 2013
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2013/05/computer-maintenance-department-called-me-again-from-india/
Troubleshooting at all layers of the OSI model
I saw this phrase in a job description last week: Troubleshooting at all layers of the OSI model. That sounds a bit intimidating, right? Maybe at first. But let’s not overcomplicate it. Once you get past the terminology, it’s a logical way to locate and fix problems. Chances are you already do most of this [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on April 15, 2013
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2013/04/troubleshooting-at-all-layers-of-the-osi-model/
Don’t let what happened to Mat Honan happen to you
Technology journalist Mat Honan infamously had his entire digital life hacked and erased this week. Slate published some advice to keep the same from happening to you, and my former classmate and newspaper staff mate Theo Hahn asked me to comment.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on August 9, 2012
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2012/08/dont-let-what-happened-to-mat-honan-happen-to-you/
Bargain potential for AMD Socket FM1s
Anandtech has an interesting overview of building HTPCs using AMD’s dead-end Socket FM1. I think it has interesting implications for anyplace you’re looking for value, not just in HTPC applications. Yes, it’s a dead end, because Socket FM1 will be going away in favor of Socket FM2 in the coming months. But that’s one reason [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on June 8, 2012
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2012/06/bargain-potential-for-amd-socket-fm1s/
Save memory and speed boot time by removing ghost device drivers
When you change or remove hardware from a Windows system, Windows keeps the old device driver lingering. You don’t see it in Device Manager, but the time Windows spends chasing ghosts increases boot time, in addition to consuming some memory, registry space, and disk space. It’s not as much of a problem as it used [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on May 14, 2012
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2012/05/save-memory-and-speed-boot-time-by-removing-ghost-device-drivers/
Speeding up an Acer Aspire One 722
I gave my out-of-box impression of the Acer Aspire One 722 last week. It’s completely unacceptable out of the box, and adequate when you do some basic cleanup on it. Now I’ve installed an Intel SSD in one and clean-installed Windows, and I’m much more impressed with it.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on April 8, 2012
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2012/04/speeding-up-an-acer-aspire-one-722/
How to slipstream IE9 and hotfixes into Windows 7, step by step
Normally, after you install any version of Windows, you have a ton of patching to do. And that patching takes as long, or longer, than the installation takes, while leaving the system vulnerable to exploits in the meantime. Slipstreaming your hotfixes into your installation media sidesteps those issues, and reduces fragmentation. You get a faster [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on September 12, 2011
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2011/09/how-to-slipstream-ie9-and-hotfixes-into-windows-7-step-by-step/
Cheap laptops and tablets: September 2011
My brother in law told me he saw an 8-inch Vizio wifi-only tablet running Android at Costco for $285. Its reviews aren’t exactly stellar, but if you just want a basic tablet, it seems to be OK. I’d wait a few months and see what Amazon’s tablet plans are, though. He also asked about laptops. [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on September 4, 2011
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2011/09/cheap-laptops-and-tablets-september-2011/
DOS war stories
In honor of the IBM PC turning 30, I thought I’d tell some stories about my experiences with the operating system introduced with it, PC DOS (aka MS-DOS).
Posted by Dave Farquhar on August 13, 2011
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2011/08/dos-war-stories/
Used dual-cores are coming! Used dual-cores are coming!
All this talk about new computers got me looking to see what’s out there in the channel. And it looks like the glut of Pentium 4s is finally clearing, making way for the 2-core revolution. Prices are low–I’m seeing dual-core systems, both Intel and AMD, with Windows licenses, for anywhere from $180 to $280 depending [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on August 7, 2011
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2011/08/used-dual-cores-are-coming-used-dual-cores-are-coming/