Computers and Related Hardware/Software

Anime Dad wrote:

Finally got these yesterday. 2 x P4/2.8G, 512MB ram, 40G HD, XP Pro, MS 0ffoce 2003, 19" LCD monitors. Nothing special, but adequate for the Mrs' schoolwork and email/surfing, and more importantly will free up the main comp for important stuff like burning DVD's and video conversion ;) The LCD monitors are really nice and i've already swapped out the 17" CRT on our main comp for one :D

I'm hoping to snare another one, if there's any more left :)

Finally got these back yesterday. They had to be returned to remove all traces of the school's documents etc, which took forever. They are still set up to be a part of the school intranet, so i've got some messing around to do (I don't have any of the original software discs, so a reinstall is not an option). First thing I had to do was remove/reset the admin password, which nobody on staff knew. Fortunately, there's a good free tool that you can use to do just that :) It's actually a small (3MB) Linux live CD that has a few uses, one of which is resetting Win XP passwords :victory:

Anybody here ever use SpeedFan?

I can't for the life of me figure out this thing. :headscratch:

bmwracer wrote:Anybody here ever use SpeedFan?

I can't for the life of me figure out this thing. :headscratch:

Hai. I have it on my main comp, which is a noisy thing. I use it to reduce the fan speed to about 70%, which makes it acceptable.

Anime Dad wrote:Hai. I have it on my main comp, which is a noisy thing. I use it to reduce the fan speed to about 70%, which makes it acceptable.

I've been fiddling with it for more of the time I've been home and I can't change the CPU fan speed... :puppydog:

bmwracer wrote:
I've been fiddling with it for more of the time I've been home and I can't change the CPU fan speed... :puppydog:

on my comp, it shows 4 fans, I think it's actually the 3rd one on the list that is actually slowed when you adjust the percentage :crazy: And there's only 1 fan in the comp: on the CPU.

I've given up on SpeedFan... Though the site says that it works for my motherboard, I haven't been able to verify it... The instructions on using the program is the most convoluted piece of crap in software history.:shakehead:

Anime Dad wrote:

Finally got these back yesterday. They had to be returned to remove all traces of the school's documents etc, which took forever. They are still set up to be a part of the school intranet, so i've got some messing around to do (I don't have any of the original software discs, so a reinstall is not an option). First thing I had to do was remove/reset the admin password, which nobody on staff knew. Fortunately, there's a good free tool that you can use to do just that :) It's actually a small (3MB) Linux live CD that has a few uses, one of which is resetting Win XP passwords :victory:

I managed to get rid of most traces of the Education Department from these: The only thing I haven't been able to remove is a screen that loads before the Logon screen, which basically says that the Department monitors your internet use. You have to ckick "OK" to proceed past that screen. I can't find a way of disabling that screen. Any ideas?

Anime Dad wrote:I managed to get rid of most traces of the Education Department from these: The only thing I haven't been able to remove is a screen that loads before the Logon screen, which basically says that the Department monitors your internet use. You have to ckick "OK" to proceed past that screen. I can't find a way of disabling that screen. Any ideas?

Autoexec.bat or boot.ini maybe?

bmwracer wrote:
Autoexec.bat or boot.ini maybe?

Yeah, I ran MSCONFIG but I couldn't see anything. I'll keep looking,I guess. Now to network it and get it on the net :)

Anime Dad wrote:Yeah, I ran MSCONFIG but I couldn't see anything. I'll keep looking,I guess. Now to network it and get it on the net :)

Did you check the BIOS?

Maybe there's something there relating to the logo...?

bmwracer wrote:
Did you check the BIOS?

Maybe there's something there relating to the logo...?

(Posting from the new comp :victory: )

The BIOS is a funny setup. I'll have to delve into it a bit deeper, methinks.

Now for the good stuff: Set up firefox, AVG, etc.

Anime Dad wrote:(Posting from the new comp :victory: )

The BIOS is a funny setup. I'll have to delve into it a bit deeper, methinks.

Now for the good stuff: Set up firefox, AVG, etc.

Name brand PCs (Dell, HP, Compaq, etc.) tend to have those logos embedded somewhere... Maybe the BIOS or some other boot up file.

I'd bet that if you did a fresh install, that prompt wouldn't show up anymore...

Anime Dad wrote:

I managed to get rid of most traces of the Education Department from these: The only thing I haven't been able to remove is a screen that loads before the Logon screen, which basically says that the Department monitors your internet use. You have to ckick "OK" to proceed past that screen. I can't find a way of disabling that screen. Any ideas?

It sounds like a Registry thing.

Try this page:
http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/excerpt/WinXPHacks_chap1/index.html in particular, LegalNoticeCaption and LegalNoticeText.

Anime Dad wrote:

(Posting from the new comp :victory: )

The BIOS is a funny setup. I'll have to delve into it a bit deeper, methinks.

Now for the good stuff: Set up firefox, AVG, etc.

Try this also...

http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/

runpup wrote:

Try this also...

http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/

Not quite what I needed,but thanks anyhow :)

The BIOS is configured so that saving changes is disabled :headscratch: I'm doing the 2nd one now, it won't even let me set it to boot from a CD :(

Anime Dad wrote:The BIOS is configured so that saving changes is disabled :headscratch:

Yow. :sweat:

Almost done with the rebuild of what used to be my brother's PC... A much better BitTorrent machine than the previous P3-1GHz machine. :victory:

just wanted to consult on something..problem again.. :sweat: :beaten:

the dvd writer im using just suddenly had this error
"WRITER ERROR [MEDIUM ERROR (POWER CALIBRATION AREA ERROR)]"

:shamefulcry:
any ideas on how to fix it?? :puppydog:

meoinkie2 wrote:just wanted to consult on something..problem again.. :sweat: :beaten:

the dvd writer im using just suddenly had this error
"WRITER ERROR [MEDIUM ERROR (POWER CALIBRATION AREA ERROR)]"

:shamefulcry:
any ideas on how to fix it?? :puppydog:

Were you burning a DVD or CD? And at what speed?

Try burning the disc at a slower speed... :victory:

bmwracer wrote:
Were you burning a DVD or CD? And at what speed?

Try burning the disc at a slower speed... :victory:

was trying to burn a DVD
usually at 2X

meoinkie2 wrote:was trying to burn a DVD
usually at 2X

Yow, 2X and your getting that error? :shocked:

Is that the normal speed you burn your DVDs?

Can your DVD burner burn discs at a faster speed?

Is this the first time you've seen this problem?

Are you doing anything different or using different blank DVDs?

Sorry for all the questions, but I need details... :)