Month: May 2010

I have an aging MSI n6600 video card.. I know it is not an all time great but I paid $160 for it when new and it delivers enough performance for what I do. The only problem is that the integrated fan stopped working. I tried all of the local computer stores, but nobody had a replacement fan for such an old card. Online, there are fan/heatsink assemblies for sale which will fit into pre-drilled holes, but the price is high, $40 – $60. If you look at the picture on the right, you will notice that the card is … Continue reading Replacement fans

As of June 1st 2010, Microsoft will start to close down the lesser used parts of the msnews newsgroups, and by the end of the year, all will be gone, replaced by forums. In view of the above, and the fact that Microsoft never set up any Windows 7 groups, I have not been accessing the newsgroups at all recently. Microsoft Help will be pointing users in the direction of the forums, so there is little point in starting or propagating threads anymore. Even though there is an NNTP Bridge in existence which gives more or less the same look, … Continue reading RIP MSNEWS..

The D-Link DIR 628 has definitely solved my wireless connection problems. It has been almost five days since initial setup and the Toshiba laptop has not missed a beat. Re connecting more than one USB device to the 628’s USB port, it is a no-go. D-Link have advised me that the Shareport software can only handle one device at any one time. So, no USB hub, powered or otherwise will be forthcoming.

A couple of days ago, I checked out a D-Link DIR 615 for somebody, and within a split second of me setting the wireless connection on it, my Toshiba laptop connected instantly, and for the next 24 hours it never lost its connection. The new Toshiba laptop works very well, but the wireless adapter was slow to connect to the resident D-Link DI 624 and would lose its connection every time that it went into sleep mode, sometimes after a reboot, and even if it was being used actively to surf. The laptop reported that all was well with itself, … Continue reading More about wireless connections which drop periodically

I don’t usually have much faith in driver finders, in fact none at all. However, I was answering a post in Microsoft Answers, and I happened on ‘DriverMax’ as being a solution for backing up hardware drivers. So I downloaded and installed it (it is free, btw) and I tried one or two functions including the ‘find new and install drivers’. I have always considered myself to be fairly good at tracking down hardware drivers, and the drivers for my nVidia SATA and nForce network card had eluded me completely. In fact, I had disabled the integrated network card and … Continue reading Eating a little crow..

Microsoft will start with newsgroups which have virtually no traffic anymore. Notices will be put out regularly and directions will be given to the relevant Microsoft forum. For those who do not like the forum interface, Microsoft have been working on the NNTP Bridge which presents an NNTP interface to the user via Windows Live Mail and other newsreaders. The NNTP Bridge is still a work in progress, but it works reasonably well in Windows Live Mail, and can be downloaded from this link.   http://connect.microsoft.com/MicrosoftForums I am using both the forum interface and the NNTP Bridge with a preference for … Continue reading MS Newsgroups are on the way out..

In a former posting about overcoming the problem of friction between a mouse and mouse pad, I suggested cutting strips of Scotch® tape (Sellotape® in the UK) and carefully placing them over the mouse ‘feet’. You should use the opaque tape, not clear, and always use scissors for a nice clean cut. The above works well on most if not all mouse pads for a while at least, but the tape will need replacing as some mouse mats take the surface off or catch the edges of the tape. I have been trying a variety of commercial mouse mats and … Continue reading The Ultimate Mouse Pad?

..  is affected by the amount of obstacles  between the wireless device and the router. Drywall (plasterboard in the UK) does not inhibit signals too much, but concrete (especially re-enforced), brick and metal take at toll. Something else also affects wireless performance too. Interference from 2.4ghz wireless phones and proximity to other wireless routers. In a detached house, you may never be affected, but if in a semi-detached or terraced house or apartment block, lack of signal can be a real nuisance. What NOT to do.. Re-install Windows Re-install your wireless adapter Throw out your router for a new one … Continue reading Wireless router performance