Can't Install ATI Catalyst on Laptop (Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic)

Toshiba, Sony and Panasonic laptops have drivers that prevent you from installing any other drivers from the graphics card manufacturer unless it is the version by the laptop manufacturer (obviously a modified version)

Now there is little problems with that, if you don't play games or chase after the latest mm of performance gain. BUT it could be a problem if you install Windows 7 on your laptop because Windows Vista that came with your laptop had Catalyst installed already right? but with Windows 7, you should be running a more generic driver or a Toshiba/Sony/Panasonic driver (which would be likely downloaded from Windows Update)

Anyway, now for my story, I realised without ATI Catalyst that my LCD screen can not be calibrated and made brighter (too dark). External LCD monitors can be calibrated through the buttons but laptops don't have buttons for the laptop.

SOLUTION: (Skip to this section if you don't want story or background info)

Go to: http://www.hardwareheaven.com/modtool.php

That's it really haha, all the info is there! Basically a program that modified the drivers so your laptop won't refuse them and if they not refused then ATI Catalyst will recognise the drivers installed as being the compatible ones and tada!

Remember, follow instructions on the site, I won't make a "in a nut shell" guide this time but basically need the latest ATI Catalyst install file and the Mobility Modder program.

Installing D-Link DWA-110 USB Wireless adaptor in Windows XP

You may get a problem with installing this device, after you install the D-Link software, it may say that it can not detect the device.
Windows device installer may also say there is an error installing it with errors such as "Can not find the specific file".
Chances are that D-Link says it's compatible with Windows XP, which it is but didn't say what service pack. You will need to install SP3 in order to use and install some drivers for newer devices such as thumb drives, Ext. HDDs and in this case USB wireless adaptor.

Good luck!

Recovering / Migrating Mozilla Firefox / Thunderbird Profiles!

OK, I did a hard drive partition whilst running on battery and I left it running and forgot all about it, so.. logical tells us the battery didn't last as long as the process, hence my whole partition was partially stuffed up, big time!

Meaning windows would not boot. I ran the recovery options from the W7 disc and ta-da, Windows now boots.

OK now my desktop won't load at all, so my Windows install is pretty much stuffed up, ad not even the Admin or Safe-mode accounts can load anything up. I'll try a system restore point, opss I disabled that before for some unexplained reason :\

So now I am evaluating what I will lose if I do a fresh install over it, well Firefox Bookmarks NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO and also Thunderbird E-mails and address book, Ahh NOOOOOOOOOO this can't be happening, I don't make a regualr habbit of back up, only like once every 3 months. =.="

So I decided to do a fresh install but on a different partion and keep the sutffed up W7 partition so I can attempt to recover the programs etc. (not really recover but like I can acces the Program files oflder of the stuffed up W7 and at least have a remidner of what programs I had installed etc.

I separate my data and OS for this purpose, so that only Firefox and Thunderbird data is lost (hopefully, I haven't yet thought of anything else I might lose except for windows shortcuts and layouts which some can be copied and pasted and maybe saved games, which can also be pasted, see why I said install in a new partition?? you can continue to recover some stuff)


IF YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED IN MY EVENT STORY AND JUST WANT TO KNOW HOW TO RECOVER THE PROFILES OF MOZILLA SOFTWARE DO THIS: (Windows 7)
Read Red Tips below first before beginning to save time =)

• Go to: C:\Users\Gec\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox
  Where C = Drive letter of stuffed up W7
  Where Gec = name of your Windows profile (e.g. Gec's Pictures, i.e. the name you see at the log in screen)
  
  
• Go to "Profiles" > fn489th3.default
  Where fn489th3 = random, your one will not be called this
  
  
• Copy the whole fn489th3.default folder into:
  
  
• D:\Users\Gec\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
  Where D = new drive letter of working W7
  Where Gec = new windows account name
  
  
• Now in: D:\Users\Gec\AppData\Roaming\Firefox\profiles.ini
  
  
• Change "Path=Profiles/zvdf31jz.default" to "Path=Profiles/fn489th3.default"
  Where zvdf31jz.default = random name made by the new Firefox install
  
  
• Save the changes and now open up Firefox, most bookmarks etc. should be there with the exception of Themes.
  
  
• !!! The same works for Thunderbird, with the exception that the location is
  C:\Users\Gec\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird
  
  
  
• !!! To avoid this situation again, try using a Mozilla Backup tool called "MozBackup" (recommendation only, i am no way associated with the promotion of the product, BTW it's free anyway ;P)
  
  

TROUBLE SHOOTING / TIPS:

1. You need Firefox and or Thunderbird installed in the new W7 install first.
   
   
2. You also need to run the application once first and when asked, select "do not import
   anything" as this will set up the profile folders.
   
   
3. You need to go to Tools > Folder Options > View > Show hidden files, folders and drives
   before you can see the "AppData folder in D:\Users\Gec\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird
   
   
4. You may only see profile instead of profile.ini unless you un-check "Hide file extensions of known file types" (Tools > Folder Options > View > Hide file extensions of known file types"

http://gateway.2wire.net/xslt?PAGE=HURL07 ERROR wehn trying to load a website

If your getting this error: http://gateway.2wire.net/xslt?PAGE=HURL07 or more precisely, Server not found, can not contact gatway or soemthing along that line, You have a 2Wire modem. The chances are You have set the firewall on it to Maximum Protection and the other chance is You have a router which also runs a Firewall, and that is why you need to put the modem into DMZplus mode and let the router's firewall do the protecting. Apparently, if you don't, running two firewalls is inefficient as it double NATs or Network Address Translation which has something to do with local IPs and global IPs and translation between them.

So I think if you go into 2Wire control panel page (http://10.0.0.XXX) and Edit the firewall settings to be DMZPlus Mode you should be safe and also get the websites up and running again.
Weird thing was, for me, My SMTP, POP and MSN (WLM) worked fine, only HTTP has issues)

Here was where my research ended and helped make my final decision of turn down the firewall on the modem. I figured that turning it off was a solution but wasn't sure if it was safe, I think the website says it is (according to a forum poster, lol)

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r20462923-Computer-in-DMZplus-mode

Sending messages to people I didn't add to the To list in Facebook

I've done that twice already -.-"

Sending messages to a few people so I though, but ended up being many more people.

The reason as i found afterward was that I've been sending to friends lists because I was giving them names that are mistakable as a person's name.

I fixed this problem by renaming all my friends lists to have "***# (name of list)" that way I can't accidentally send something to a list of friends when I only wanted a send to a specific person who happened to have the same starting letter as the list name.

e.g. sending a message to Friends instead of Francine.

the other advantage of renaming lists to have ***# is that if you ever want to find a list but can't remember what names you gave them just press * and it will show up all the people starting with * which should only be lists unless you have befriended people who names who start with * (rare cases)

Cleaned my laptop to reduce heat. (Heatsink and CPU fan)

I opened up the laptop from http://www.irisvista.com/ (for Toshiba laptops)

And i opened it all up, cleaned out the heat sink and fans and the CPU reads about 5-10 degrees cooler but what is more noticeable is that the heat is leaking out of the laptop side, instead of being vented under the keyboard, hard drive and laptop base (which elad to my having burnt legs, lap, hands and palms >.<)

Problems were:

• I had an extra 4 screws, dam it! so I forgot to put them back somewhere
• I am 1 screw short for the body of the laptop (main, biggest screw)
• The cables weren't put back as neatly

However, if you are confident about doing this, it is really worth doing (if your laptop has heat problems) I saw a big benefit in it.

A problem though is if you want to open the laptop to clean the Heat sink you might need to remove the CPU off the heat system part, which means you'll disconnect the thermal paste/grease, I put it back together with no problems but most people would like to re-apply new ones after doing that. That was my number 2 regret,, not having any paste there to re-apply, number 1 is obviously losing the dam screws >.<

So, if you want to be hectic, maybe you can even upgrade to Arctic silver thermal paste and increase heat conduction to reduce heat on CPU. Youtube, vidoes and tutorials for appling Arctic Silver to laptop.

Arctic Silver is a paste made form 99.9% Silver and when heated its ment to increase the bond and create a solid connection of silver to pass over the ehat from
CPU to heat sink and then fron heat sink into air (via fan)

Hope this help! :P

Saving batteries by turning off pagefile

That is the theory folks, turning off pagefile will reduce the hard drive usage and hence save battery as the HDDS spin up and down take a fair bit of energy.

Well I got 1 error from vista so far about running out of RAM, better than other versions of Windows, at least it didn't just chuck me a blue screen.

Well now, you'd ask what if you just installed more RAM? well more RAM = more energy use but I'd say less than a moving HDD as proven by the netbooks usage of SSD or Solid State Devices or Flash memory if you wish. Top end ulta portable laptops are also bying sold with SSDs.
The second problem is that according to my manual installing and maxing out my laptop to 4GBs of RAM may reduce performance, how? I'd like to know too.

So now i am currently using a usb flash drive set up as ReadyBoost. I have noticed that the HDD lights flash less often compared to before, it use to flash no matter if i was using the laptop or if the screen was off and no apps were running.
Still though, it seems to flash more than my class mate's Acer mini and Asus laptop.

Did I see a total of 30mins+ of battery increase? no, not really..... Maybe I should try to remove a HDD, weight reduction and power increase.. to be continued maybe, else i might jsut get a new battery, 9 cell :o

Do I need a wifi in my mobile phone?

I am looking at a phone that has every feature in today's mobile market possible with the exclusion of: Wifi, accelerometer (for auto screen layout and misc uses), 5MP instead of 8MP camera and possibly a projector (Only 1 or a few manufacturers at the moment)

So the question is the phone i am looking at is priced at the same level as a 3mp camera with nothing else meaning it has GPS , large memory, 5mp camera instead of 3mp as bonus for the similar price.

Only critical feature missing is a wifi and accelerometer for luxury.

Do you need wifi, if it meant not having it can save you $500? Here are the benefits:

• Instead of being charged a high price for 3G Internet access you can have it for free, where hot-spots are free just like laptops can.
  
• Use of MSN for free
• Use of MSN's voip and video call can mean you don't get charged for services from your phone operator but still have the functions of your 3G phone.
• Surf the net whilst being bored
• Download games and other applications like a miniaturised laptop
• Wifi hot-spots are becoming more common and also free in public places
• Operators charge high fees for Internet usage over their mobile network
  

Here are some cons though:

• Batteries in most feature filled phones won't last long, it operates like a laptop and hence only has a battery life of one, surfing and voip-ing on MSN will only give you a few hours of battery life
• Surfing the Internet on a mobile phone is bad ergonomics for hand, eyes and neck and wrist
• You need friends who have MSN on all the time to be able to substitute a call or SMS
• You can get mobile Internet data allowance on capped plans so you can use Internet over mobile network without surprising fees which might dependent on usage be cheaper than forking out another $500 for a phone that has wifi.
  

My verdict, unless its critical you get Internet access all the time it might be worth putting that $500 towards a laptop or towards your next mobile phone which should be cheap and have wifi and most likely some other feature not yet invented.

Revealing of the phone i have in mind will take place if i get it, so not to jinx it, LOL.

nVidia 6600GT Can not use DVI

I have had this problem for ages, where only the VGA will work on my 6600GT and LCD monitor. When i plug in the DVI cable I get a "no signal" message or the screen goes into standby mode.

Solution: For Windows XP just go

• Start > Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager (Should be the same in vista)
• Find and click nVidia 6600Gt from the list, should be under the "display adapters"
• Drivers tab > Update driver
• Give it a while and it should be fine (for windows XP)

If it doesn't then you have to go to google or try:
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

Got my DVI up and working and tried on a new 18.5" LCD monitor and like wow at the vibrancy, contrast, colour and size.


EDIT: I talked about problem and solution forgot to mention cause of problem, lol. Well the problem is just that your driver is too old to recognise or use DVI in the correct format and or resolution well to my quick research and memory I think that's what happened.

Can't get DVI working with my nvidia 660gt, DVI no signal on nvidia 6600gt, solved DVI problem with nvidia 6600gt, how to switch DVI on instead of VGA for nvidia 6600gt, use DVI instead of VGA for nvidia 6600gt, how to enable DVi and disable VGA on a nvidia 6600gt

Samsung G800 Black Screen

I brought one of these and set it all up, charged battery, turned it on and hmmmm the LCD screen back light is on so the LCD is somehow working just that there is no pictures, there's sound and all.

My analysis says its a connection from the video card or whatever it is to the LCD screen cause the back light works but no colours are displayed.

Calling tech. support asap but seriously if its a lemon out of the box then the brand and quality control is so so. What gets me more is that Nokia's made in China are better than my Korean-build. Wahh?

EDIT: Returned it Tech. Support said not to bother as it was brought so recently, so now i don't have a chance to review a Samsung phone on this blog for yous. Looking at some Sony Ericsson though.

Can not open battery cover

Some devices like phones and such devices that have slide off lids or coveres instead of traditional stick a screwdriver or fingernail and lift up lides can be at time annoying to open or even near impossible.

The trick is to add more grip to it, a suggestion i have is to apply an elastic band that is fit for size for the device and use the elastic band to grip and slide off lid. Please be careful and thoughtful for when using this, look out of things like LCDS or other things that wouldn't go well with elastic bands and rubbing an elastic band along it because remember if you apply force on the battery luid cover you can apply some of that force also onto the bottom of the device.


this method is also good for opening jars, and food lids and caps. ;)

What do I do with my old TV? How do I recycle my old TV?

"How you can dispose of your old TV:

? Take your TV to an e-waste recycling centre.

thegreenpages.com.au or

ewaste.com.au.

? Check out when your local council's next hard rubbish or e-waste collection is.

recyclingnearyou.com.au.

? Alternatively, give it to a stranger. Your rubbish may be someone else's treasure!

freecycle.org."


Quoted from: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/hometech/tv-off-the-air-but-still-in-our-hair-20090714-dk3u.html?page=2

Pros and Cons of Exclusive Laptops

Some companies make exclusive laptops. An example would be Harvey Norman, they have specially made laptops made from Toshiba.

The way it works is usually they get a base model and add or upgrade one or two specs of it say RAM or CPU.


The pros:

• Usually works out much cheaper then buying the next model up with similar specs

The cons:

• Because they are based on another model, it doesn't usually look any different externally, exclusive only in price as a final result
  
• Support on manufacturers website and forums as well as Google doesn't usually work for you unless you know what model your exclusive laptop is based upon.
• You need to know what specs you have inside to determine driver and BIOS updates etc.
• There usually isn't a brochure or specs sheet with the exclusive models, only main stream models.
  

Toshiba Model Number Crisis (A300-R01)

Just want to share a funny thing that happened over all the major computer retailers last weekend.

They all managed to get a picture of the latest model but name it as one of the older model.

I was even told by one of the major firms that this is a genuine mistake, the picture depicts an even older model than the one for sale and that they reject my claim of false advertising. But being a Toshiba fan and IT student, I know he was lying to my face. the picture is of the newest models ranging to $2500.

To save the company face, I have attached a cropped image of the advertisement. As almost all major stores have done this I would assume its a fault with Toshiba's marketing and not with the retailers themselves.

But check this out, The yellow picture is the company the sales rep said that it is a genuine mistake as the picture is of an older model and that its not false advertising as the model for sale is newer then the one depicted. But what's this????? Check out the "New Model" under it!!

Was quite disappointing as the real one for sale looked like this (not exactly but similar style, weird thing is I can't even find a pic of the one they tried to sell me. The picture below is more sexy and shiny):

Laptops as a desktop replacement and ergonomics of it

Yet another issue of issues of my life as an IT student.

As many would know the first thing primary school kids get when its back to school time is pens and pencils, and most would agree the first thing that comes to mind for Uni students is a notebook or netbook.

This is great especially for us in IT, having all of our files, settings and wallpaper customisations exactly the same as when we left it rather than having to get friendly and use to a foreign computer owned by the Uni.

Its all good until you come home and use the laptop for hours on end like you use to with a desktop, ergonomics - the killing disease of It pros. For those who have not heard or know of what ergonomics is, I suggest you do a quick Google job, it will provide more detail than I can provide with my personal whining of sore neck, funny arms and dry eyes.

So we now know what the problem is, bad heightened tables and bad position of screen and keyboard.

I'll be post back real soon my my attempts of saving myself from ergonomic damage without using pills or needles :o and more suggestions as well as tips and hints given by IT pros to office workers.



I am thinking of using my new cooling pad to elevate the laptop and hence LCD screen, Thanks to my friends at Targus!!
And then using my existing keyboard and mouse of my desktop. So place the laptop in front of my desktop LCD and disconnect the mouse and keyboards when switching between the two computers. This way I not only get a higher positioned screen, I also get the typical keyboard pull out tray on typical computer desks which means the laptop effectively becomes a desktop with a massive speaker system and large tower.
I was going to use cable clips to lock and release the mouse and keyboard cables (As I am not a fan of wireless M & KB battery consumption else it would be as simple as changing the USB receiver from desktop to laptop (and vice versa), as simple as plugging a USB thumb drive into another computer!!!!

I will need a USB mouse and KB, I have the mouse but not KB I have a PS2 KB so I'll either have to get a (PS2 to USB) plug or get a new KB. Using a hub I should be able to easily plug and unplug the mouse and KB wihtout having to fiddle with back of desktop tower or block up the USB ports on the front which are typically used for USB thumb drives.

Current success: Project Has Not Begun.

NOTES:
* Desktops can be easily cleaned
* Laptops can be an bleep to clean especially if it doesn't have an access panel

More Info on Ergonomics:

http://www.cnet.com.au/laptops/laptops/0,239035649,240055181,00.htm

http://www.gannett.cornell.edu/healthAtoZ/healthAdvice/laptopErgo.html

Changing AdSense Primary Email address

This is a common question but surprisingly there is no simple answer. So here is my attempt after checking the Adsense help forum and trying answers from 3 different posts I finally figured out how to do it myself.


1. Login to Adsense account

2. "My Account" Tab > Next to Login Information click "[edit in Google Accounts]"

3. Now in new pop up window > Under Personal Settings and next to Security click "Change email" ***

4. You should now know what to do but just in case.... type in your new e-mail address you want to make primary, enter current password and then go to the new email account and confirm the change through a email you will get sent to you from adsense.

5. Done! hopefully*



*** Most people automatically make the mistake of assuming that they should use the "Edit" link next to Email addresses instead.

* May or may not work depending on how your gmail, Google and adsense account is set up and linked.

Uni.cc domains not working

I am not sure why but I've e-mailed the information centre.
All Uni.cc domains of Gec doesn't work at the moment. If your having this same problem keep coming back to see if they replied to me.

I'll have to keep constant website header names for your googling convenience.

I get this black website saying:

Site unavailable
The site at gecsoft.uni.cc cannot be displayed.


Or for you if this is happening it should say:


Site unavailable
The site at xxxxt.uni.cc cannot be displayed.

xxxx being your domain name.



Domain registration is currently closed
The registration for new domains will be closed during January 2009. We are working on a re-design of all services provided. Some services are temporarily unavailable due to maintenance tasks that are being performed. We apologise for the inconvenience this may have caused to you.

^^ I should really look for things like this on their homepage. I just assumed it was apart of the introduction text slab. Apparently they post news there, lol, my mistake. So there you have it i guess, for worried domain users, this is a maintenance process.

And guess what? Your site is now on google as "site unavailable".

NHC (Notebook Hardware Control)

This is in relation to the event of Undervolting and Throttling


Current success:

• Yet another Fail
  

Reasons for (fail):

• The GUI is much more nicer and basic then the RM Clock application. Haven't got Dynamic switching working yet but no crashes so far. Might not be good for those advanced users who want to over control every single aspect ;)
• Haven't been able to get undervolting to work either, maybe its only for full registered users. Also didn't have suggested volts and multipliers installed by default so have no idea what to use without blowing up X|.
  

Reasons against (Fail):

• I get an error message saying "Error on changing the CPU speed" when trying to change anything. I can only manually set the CPU modulation which didn't reduce heat or save batteries.
  
• It made my computer slow, permanently even if NHC was turned off, after a bit of analysis and crying over my now 1.4Ghz laptop which is slower than my previous single core desktop and having 1998 HDD response rates, I went to check the BIOS and yep the software turned off dynamic switching and left my laptops CPU stuck on a low CPU frequency. So if you've noticed your computer being super slow then do that!

FINAL CONCLUSION (for the 20009 at least):

If you have a Toshiba laptop like mine and its loaded with enough power to blow up your house, then I guess don't try to limit its speed with throttlers you'll regret it, it will feel like the 1990's and it for me anyway, didn't save power or make the laptop cooler.

My solution:

1. Elevate laptop with a CD jewl case (not needed if you follow 3 or 4)

2. Get a deskfan from Target or somewhere for about $8, aim fan at air vents (not really needed if you follow 3)

3. Get a high profile laptop cooling pad (not sure it is works as well if you follow 4)

4. Buy a 8 Cell battery spare or replacement battery which will elevate the latop and add battery power and cooling effect! you can even save on the 20 cent CD case ;) (not needed if you just find a wall plug in, lol)

RightMark (CPU undervolting and throttling)

THIS IS NOT A REVIEW OF THE SOFTWARE ITSELF. JUST A PERSONAL SCENARIO TEST RESULT.

Undervolting - Using less power to power the CPU, usually less than manufacturer recommended or factory set and results in cooler CPU due to lower speeds and less electricity heat. Also results in damaged (slight chance) or unstable (more chance) system if done highly incorrectly.

Throttling - Not quite sure, dam why did I mention this one now i look like a moron IT student.


I do not recommend doing this if you've never thought about needing it cause you don't then!
I will also not post anything up about how to do it but now you know its call undervolting and cpu throttling and the name of RightMark software your free to Google it yourself. But due to my inexperience and high liabality I am not doing anything on this subject as of now.


I've tried to use RightMark(RM) to cool my CPU down on my laptop and it worked it was cooler as when the laptop was idle it used less power. But when I switch off RM or reverted back from Power On Performance to Vista controlled power settings I'd get a crash dump and BSOD.

Current success:

• Fail, unless using on battery and I really needed the extra life I wouldn't use the it.

Reasons:

• If your doing multimedia it can take a little while to respond and make jitters due ot constant fluctuations in CPU power? (normal as powering up back to full speed takes some sort of time frame) but launching programs aren't affected greatly by the half a second delay.

• The profile settings made are forgotten after RM is closed.

• AND of course it crashes my computer unless i have it on Power On Demand all the time until I shut the laptop down, which is what you'd do when running on batteries. But you would still have to deal with only launching the program when running on batteries.
  
  
• It doesn't have a formal uninstall process. You should run the ?????wipeout.reg file to remove any reg files still installed and then just simply delete whole folder.
  

Reasons against (success result):

• It has a really nice system status bar icons, showing Temp, CPU frequency, CPU load. But the general GUI interface is confusing for a non-undervolter user.

Your TV Guide thinks your stupid

Yep, When your TV guide says that everything on HD channel of that station is the same as the standard channel of that station except for this show, this show and this show at these times, It is lying to you! maybe it was only that newspaper?? nope all the others have the same printing, but when you place a time schedule recording on the HD channel you get HD demonstation videos instead! blahhh!! so for safe recording sake I would say never trust that the HD channel is broadcasting the same content as the standard channel unless your recording it in real time.

Thats my lesson lernt, 5GBs of a park in HD quality, nice for show and tell to show off laptop LCD but..... its crap compared to what I would have been watching if the guide was correct.