Archived CalgaryPuck Computer Help Thread - Page 63 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

cSpooge · 10-10-2007, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJK

will i have any problems downloading and burning my movies from the torrent sites with the mac?

nope just get Toast for burning and Azureus for torrents.

Ayrahb · 10-10-2007, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJK

Ok I am in the market for a new laptop and I have two choices with my education discount I get.

#1 Dell Inspiron XPS 1330 - $1699

Feature wise, I don't know how much of a discount that is. I guess smaller size has its advantages and XPS seems to be more expensive. Here is what I got from Dell for my work four weeks ago:

Price:$1,479 + GST

Inspiron 1520, Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, 2.0GHz, 800Mhz, 4M L2 Cache
2GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display
256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
120G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Windows Vista Business Edition
8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive
Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Mod

llama64 · 10-10-2007, 11:56 AM

If you just want the computer to work and not have to worry about performance degradation due to internet browsing and spyware, buy the Mac.

If you're up on how to maintain your PC so that it remains clean, the Dell is a faster machine. Cept, wipe Vista off it and put WindowsXP back on. I'd recommend Linux but that requires alot of work to setup and maintain for the average user.

Easiest solution is the buy the MacBook though.

Barnes · 10-11-2007, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cSpooge

nope just get Toast for burning and Azureus for torrents.

Bits on Wheels for Torrents. Check it out.

cSpooge · 10-11-2007, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barnes

Bits on Wheels for Torrents. Check it out.

it seems that BoW won't let you piece of files from a directory torrent.

Barnes · 10-11-2007, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cSpooge

it seems that BoW won't let you piece of files from a directory torrent.

Exsqueeze me? Do you mean .rar files?

Hack&Lube · 10-11-2007, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by photon

Yeah it sounds like it could be a flaky hard drive, though usually that shows up when you boot (most newer computers have a system that monitors the health of a hard drive).

Checking the hard drive would be a good step, most manufacturers have software on their sites now that you can download, burn to CD, and boot from and test and format the hard drive, that's what I would probably do at this point. That kind of corruption isn't normal.

It might be the harddrive but the S.M.A.R.T. system you are referring do doesn't usually corrupt HAL.DLL, but rather gives you a warning at boot or stops the computer from proceeding to access the harddrive anyway. HAL.dll erros are usually caused by the computer crashing or memory corrupting when the computer is going through a vulnerable part of the boot-up process when it's accessing the registry. A power interruption or memory failure then can corrupt the registry...or it could be any other hardware failure in the system at that point. HAL.dll allows Windows to interact with your hardware.

cSpooge · 10-11-2007, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barnes

Exsqueeze me? Do you mean .rar files?

I mean torrents that are directories. With most clients you can take out individual files rather than the entire directory.

Drunk Skunk · 10-11-2007, 11:19 PM

I have a problem with Quicktime. Whenever I try to view a video, it looks like I am viewing it through a bug's eye or kaleidoscope. Example -

Can anyone help? I am updated.

Hack&Lube · 10-12-2007, 04:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drunk Skunk

I have a problem with Quicktime. Whenever I try to view a video, it looks like I am viewing it through a bug's eye or kaleidoscope. Example -

Can anyone help? I am updated.

Completely uninstall Quicktime and get Quicktime Alternative.
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/...lternative.htm

Barnes · 10-13-2007, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cSpooge

I mean torrents that are directories. With most clients you can take out individual files rather than the entire directory.

Ah. That would actually be handy. Didn't even know that was possible.

I like the 3d swarm view in Bits on Wheels.

cSpooge · 10-13-2007, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barnes

Ah. That would actually be handy. Didn't even know that was possible.

I like the 3d swarm view in Bits on Wheels.

I can't stand a client that doesn't have it

... I use utorrent on my PC but they haven't made a version for any other OS

Bobblehead · 10-13-2007, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cSpooge

I can't stand a client that doesn't have it

... I use utorrent on my PC but they haven't made a version for any other OS

And the private tracker I like to use won't allow any of the newer version of uTorrent due to some of the "features" that have been included. Azureus I think allows you to select certain files, but I can't say for sure since I haven't used it for years (since it was a real resource hog).

One other nice thing I've done was to look in the file and set the files I want first to a high priority. So when downloading a TV series I set the first few episodes to high priority so they download first and I can start watching while the rest downloads.

cSpooge · 10-13-2007, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

And the private tracker I like to use won't allow any of the newer version of uTorrent due to some of the "features" that have been included. Azureus I think allows you to select certain files, but I can't say for sure since I haven't used it for years (since it was a real resource hog).

One other nice thing I've done was to look in the file and set the files I want first to a high priority. So when downloading a TV series I set the first few episodes to high priority so they download first and I can start watching while the rest downloads.

Azureus allows file selection. It isn't too much of a resource hog any more, but java being a native thing on a mac helps as well.

madisonbtb · 10-15-2007, 01:49 PM

i bought a desktop quite a while ago and had them install extra ram in it. but i don't think it was installed correctly or not compatible b/c it blue screens every time i use it. it may work for 1/2 hour, but then blue screens. it is a computer that is basically for my son so i never got around to taking it back to the store to have them fix it. is there a way to just disable the extra ram until i can have someone look at it?

Ayrahb · 10-15-2007, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madisonbtb

i bought a desktop quite a while ago and had them install extra ram in it. but i don't think it was installed correctly or not compatible b/c it blue screens every time i use it. it may work for 1/2 hour, but then blue screens. it is a computer that is basically for my son so i never got around to taking it back to the store to have them fix it. is there a way to just disable the extra ram until i can have someone look at it?

If you feel adventurous: http://www.associatedcontent.com/vid..._computer.html

Sparks · 10-15-2007, 07:57 PM

Hi guys. Something kind of weird has been happening to me on the internet. 90% of the time, everything works perfectly, but every once and a while, I don't get any pictures at all. Even the smiley faces on Calgarypuck don't show up.

When that's happening, the text on the pages loads just fine. It stays like that for probably an hour on average. Is it Shaw Cable, maybe?

I'm on Internet Explorer. The cable modem is plugged into my computer through a router.

If anyone has any ideas, thanks in advance - I really appreciate it. I'm at a loss on this one.

llama64 · 10-16-2007, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparks

Hi guys. Something kind of weird has been happening to me on the internet. 90% of the time, everything works perfectly, but every once and a while, I don't get any pictures at all. Even the smiley faces on Calgarypuck don't show up.

When that's happening, the text on the pages loads just fine. It stays like that for probably an hour on average. Is it Shaw Cable, maybe?

I'm on Internet Explorer. The cable modem is plugged into my computer through a router.

If anyone has any ideas, thanks in advance - I really appreciate it. I'm at a loss on this one.

It's not likely a problem with your connection or hardware. This is definitely a software issue, and I highly suspect it's Internet Explorer that's mucking up.

When it happens, try pressing "F5" to refresh the page. If that doesn't help, try clearing your browsing history and temporary internet files (its in IE's option dialogues).

If that all fails to fix it, I suggest using a better browser. Mozilla Firefox is a really great replacement.

Azure · 10-16-2007, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madisonbtb

i bought a desktop quite a while ago and had them install extra ram in it. but i don't think it was installed correctly or not compatible b/c it blue screens every time i use it. it may work for 1/2 hour, but then blue screens. it is a computer that is basically for my son so i never got around to taking it back to the store to have them fix it. is there a way to just disable the extra ram until i can have someone look at it?

Take it out?

LockedOut · 10-16-2007, 10:50 PM

I had this problem with tsn.ca with videos where I would get audio but a black screen (ie. no video) even though a bunch of other sites worked fine that also used flash. I found a solution that fixed it so I thought I'd post it here in case anyone else has a similar problem with tsn.ca or some other site. I think someone else also had this problem too.

My solution: Open up Windows Media Player. Select Tools->Option. Goto to the Performance tab and click the Advanced button. Under Video Acceleration, click the check box next to Use Overlays so that it is checked. This will automatically uncheck Use High Quality Mode option below it. Click OK till the end.