Computers and Related Hardware/Software

Thanks for the pic, deseipher! That really helped a lot. Well, actually, it made me more confused, but hopefully I'll get my brother to help me out rather than trying to do it myself just in case I happen to screw something up. :sweat:

bmwracer wrote:
The PCI slot is on the inside of the PC case... You probably do have free slots... How old is your desktop?

Also, since you have it open, you might as well thoroughly vacuum out the dust...

My desktop is about 5-7 years old, I think.

As for vacuuming, I did that a few months ago when my brother installed my new DVD drive. :)

deseipher wrote:

If it's recent, then it's pretty much a sure bet. I have a friend who had an old 20GB external drive that used the old USB connection, so I figure I ask just to make sure :victory:

Edited. I fail at grammar and spelling :sweat:

I just bought my external HDs about a year ago. They are 500 GB Seagates.

cori wrote:Thanks for the pic, deseipher! That really helped a lot. Well, actually, it made me more confused, but hopefully I'll get my brother to help me out rather than trying to do it myself just in case I happen to screw something up. :sweat:



I just bought my external HDs about a year ago. They are 500 GB Seagates.

Nice. I have a 500GB Seagate myself, so you're good on that front. I'm sure you or your brother won't have any problems locating the PCI slots, and installation should be a breeze. :victory: Let us know how it goes.

deseipher wrote:

Nice. I have a 500GB Seagate myself, so you're good on that front. I'm sure you or your brother won't have any problems locating the PCI slots, and installation should be a breeze. :victory: Let us know how it goes.

Will do as soon as I buy the 2.0 USB thingy and whenever I can steal him away from his wife & baby. :beaten:

cori wrote:Will do as soon as I buy the 2.0 USB thingy and whenever I can steal him away from his wife & baby. :beaten:

You should be able to do it yourself... Read the instructions that come with the card... :P

cori wrote:I just bought my external HDs about a year ago. They are 500 GB Seagates.

Y'know, it might be worthwhile to network all of your computers together... That way, you don't have to move the external HDs back and forth between PCs...

And the transfer rates via Ethernet is 100Mbps... 750MB/min.

bmwracer wrote:
You should be able to do it yourself... Read the instructions that come with the card... :P

I should...if I didn't dislike reading instructions so much. :sweat: If I get impatient, I probably will though.

bmwracer wrote:
Y'know, it might be worthwhile to network all of your computers together... That way, you don't have to move the external HDs back and forth between PCs...

And the transfer rates via Ethernet is 100Mbps... 750MB/min.

Networking computers? How does one do that? Don't forget who you're talking to here. :P

cori wrote:

Networking computers? How does one do that? Don't forget who you're talking to here. :P

I'm not so knowledgeable about networking, but if you have more than one computer at your place that can connect to the internet at the same time, chances are you have some type of network going. As 'racer stated, you can get up to 100Mbps, pretty darn fast.

deseipher wrote:

I'm not so knowledgeable about networking, but if you have more than one computer at your place that can connect to the internet at the same time, chances are you have some type of network going. As 'racer stated, you can get up to 100Mbps, pretty darn fast.

I get the concept of "networking," but not the "how to." :sweat:

deseipher wrote:I'm not so knowledgeable about networking, but if you have more than one computer at your place that can connect to the internet at the same time, chances are you have some type of network going. As 'racer stated, you can get up to 100Mbps, pretty darn fast.

Or 1Gbps, if you buy gigabit adapters.

I've got my downloading PC and my main PC networked together... Really nice when moving files back and forth and whatnot. :victory:

cori wrote:I get the concept of "networking," but not the "how to." :sweat:

That's where your brother comes in, I suppose...

Don't you have any PC geek friends on the island.... Or do any of your girlfriends?

bmwracer wrote:
That's where your brother comes in, I suppose...

Don't you have any PC geek friends on the island.... Or do any of your girlfriends?

I don't have any PC geek friends here. If I did, I wouldn't be bugging you guys. :P Still, I don't know if I really want to bother my brother so much because he has his hands full. =T

cori wrote:

I don't have any PC geek friends here. If I did, I wouldn't be bugging you guys. :P Still, I don't know if I really want to bother my brother so much because he has his hands full. =T

Well, lets see what we can do for the time being. Running Windows XP and/or Vista on your PC and laptop? If all of them are running XP, it shouldn't be too hard I think. I just haven't tried networking one Vista PC to a XP PC yet. Either way, once we know what version of Windows is running, we can try to look up instructions somewhere around the 'net :victory:

deseipher wrote:

Well, lets see what we can do for the time being. Running Windows XP and/or Vista on your PC and laptop? If all of them are running XP, it shouldn't be too hard I think. I just haven't tried networking one Vista PC to a XP PC yet. Either way, once we know what version of Windows is running, we can try to look up instructions somewhere around the 'net :victory:

Old desktop (and old laptop) - XP
New laptop - Vista

I hope this is possible to get them all networked together. :fingerscrossed:

cori wrote:

Old desktop (and old laptop) - XP
New laptop - Vista

I hope this is possible to get them all networked together. :fingerscrossed:

Alrighty, lets just start with the basics.

For both XP and Vista, go to the Control Panel, then open up System. From there you should be able to see the Workgroup name for each computer. Just make sure that the name is the same. I just use workgroup, but any name is fine as long as its the same on both computers.

deseipher wrote:Alrighty, lets just start with the basics.

For both XP and Vista, go to the Control Panel, then open up System. From there you should be able to see the Workgroup name for each computer. Just make sure that the name is the same. I just use workgroup, but any name is fine as long as its the same on both computers.

First things first: does she have Ethernet card in all of her PCs...?

Second, does she have a hub/switch/router?

Thirdly, are they all connected?

deseipher wrote:

Alrighty, lets just start with the basics.

For both XP and Vista, go to the Control Panel, then open up System. From there you should be able to see the Workgroup name for each computer. Just make sure that the name is the same. I just use workgroup, but any name is fine as long as its the same on both computers.

I tried opening up the Control Panel in XP, but I did not see anything labeled as "System". Where exactly is it?

bmwracer wrote:
First things first: does she have Ethernet card in all of her PCs...?

I'm guessing that I do, but I have no idea about the desktop.

Second, does she have a hub/switch/router?

I have a wireless router, but I'm using the plugs since the wireless problem I had months ago was never resolved. :sweat:

Thirdly, are they all connected?

Connected to the router? Or something else?

cori wrote:Connected to the router? Or something else?

Are all three PCs connected to the router?

If so, you're halfway there.


"System" should be alphabetically listed in the Control Panel, after "Speech" and before "Taskbar"... :sweat:

bmwracer wrote:
Are all three PCs connected to the router?

If so, you're halfway there.

Only two are. I don't have an ethernet plug for the old laptop.

"System" should be alphabetically listed in the Control Panel, after "Speech" and before "Taskbar"... :sweat:

I don't see "system" anywhere. Here's what I see:
http://www.corichan.com/Images/controlpanel.jpg

cori wrote:

I don't see "system" anywhere. Here's what I see:
http://www.corichan.com/Images/controlpanel.jpg

you can find System under 'performance and maintenance'
or by shortcut: windows key + Pause/Break key

cori wrote:I don't see "system" anywhere. Here's what I see:
http://www.corichan.com/Images/controlpanel.jpg

You should switch to "Classic View" instead of that crapass noob view you're using...