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How to fix a computer that won’t turn on

Dave Farquhar Hardware , ,
How to fix a computer that won’t turn on

When a computer won’t turn on, it’s usually a simple repair you can do yourself. Frequently it doesn’t cost anything and doesn’t require any parts. If you do need parts, you can expect it to cost $70 or less and get it done in less than an hour. Here’s how to fix a computer that won’t turn on.

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Save money on a PCIe dual NIC

Dave Farquhar Hardware , , , , ,

I’ve written before how to get a standard PCI dual NIC for a low, low price–but what about a PCIe dual NIC? PCI Express needs love too, of course.

It turns out it’s not hard to find a good, cheap PCIe dual NIC either.

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What garbage disposals cost

Dave Farquhar Landlording , ,
What garbage disposals cost

My realtor called the other day and asked me what garbage disposals cost. The answer, of course, is that it varies, but it’s definitely possible to estimate.

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What appliances should a landlord provide

Dave Farquhar Landlording , , ,

What appliances should a landlord provide? Every landlord has a different opinion. I tend to be fairly generous. I’ll explain what I provide and why.

First, let me give you a hint: Often you have to spend money to make money, and a fully-stocked house can easily net you $20 additional in rent every month. Assuming a 10-year service life, that means you can afford to spend $700, and $700 buys a lot of used appliances. Also, if a tenant stays an extra year and your house isn’t vacant for a month while you’re getting a new tenant, that’s worth a few hundred dollars alone. Here are some tips on saving money on appliances if you need them.

Second: This isn’t what a landlord is required to provide. It’s what I recommend they provide based on my own experience.

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Can’t connect to this network? Here’s the fix.

Dave Farquhar Windows , , , , , , ,
Can’t connect to this network? Here’s the fix.

After upgrading to Windows 10, when I unhibernated my laptop the next morning, my wifi connection didn’t work. The connection dropped and I couldn’t reconnect. Forgetting the network and reconnecting didn’t help. Any time I tried to reconnect to my wireless network, I’d get the message that Windows 10 can’t connect to this network.

The problem seemed to be in the power management.

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New computer, old monitor

Dave Farquhar Hardware , , , , , , , ,
New computer, old monitor

New computer, old monitor: I see questions fairly frequently about using a new computer and older monitor together. More often than not, it’s possible to do, but you may need to know where to look for the cables and adapters you’ll need.

Here’s some help.

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Share a Windows 10 printer by UNC

Dave Farquhar Windows , , , , , ,

Windows 10 uses homegroups, but if you have systems that don’t understand homegroups and want to share a Windows 10 printer by UNC (the old school way to share a network printer), it’s not obvious how to go about doing it.

I couldn’t find a way from the GUI, but it’s still possible to share the printer from a command line.

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HP Compaq 6910p upgrades

Dave Farquhar Hardware , , , , , , , , ,
HP Compaq 6910p upgrades

I spent some time exploring HP Compaq 6910p upgrades because used HP Compaq 6910p laptops are dirt cheap these days. I picked one up for $75 as an alternative to a Black Friday cheapie.

If you look for one yourself, either look for one with a valid Windows 7 or Windows 10 license on it, or get one at a deep enough discount to make it worth your while.

Here’s what I did to turn an outmoded laptop from 2008 into something better than what I could have bought on Black Friday.

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How to add a generic printer in Windows 10

Dave Farquhar Windows , , , , ,
How to add a generic printer in Windows 10

Sometimes you need to add a generic printer in Windows 10.

Windows 10 makes the setup of newer hardware pretty automatic, but if you have a legacy or specialized printer that has to be set up as a generic printer in Windows, the process isn’t intuitive. Here’s how to set it up.

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Lenovo and Best Buy team up for a $149 laptop for 2015

Dave Farquhar Hardware , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cheap laptops are nothing new this time of year–they’ve been practically a holiday tradition since 2002 when Sotec released a decent laptop for $900, which was jaw-droppingly low for the time–but this year, Best Buy is selling a Lenovo Ideapad 100s for $149.99, which, while not jaw-droppingly low given the number of $199 laptops that were available last year, is still the cheapest name-brand laptop I’ve seen. Note: Best Buy has since raised the price to $199, but Ebay has limited stock of the same item for $129.

I’ve seen some reviews, but there is one thing I haven’t seen anyone bring up yet: This is a netbook in every way, except I think we’re supposed to call them cloudbooks now. So keep that in mind. The machine is probably worth $149.99, but it made some compromises to reach that price point.

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