As a professional, I wouldn't use it. There are built-in ways to free up hard drive space, like emptying the Recycle Bin and deleting temporary files.Originally Posted by PurrPurr
Renowned Death Hag
As a professional, I wouldn't use it. There are built-in ways to free up hard drive space, like emptying the Recycle Bin and deleting temporary files.
Renowned Death Hag
Sometimes a clean reinstall is the fastest way to optimal performance. You might try Microsoft Fix-It, but it's not infallible.
Do you have all the service packs and updates installed?
After all of six months of having this computer, I get a popup this morning that my Windows isn't genuine. Called the place that sold me the computer. Geek Squad (or whatever they're called) are coming Wednesday to help restore the factory setting or whatnot since I'm a techo-flunky. I'd try it myself, but with my luck, I'd probably blow up the computer...not to mention void my warranty if and when something went wrong. Much easier to let the tech guys deal with it.
Never fails something would happen when I pay off something. Good thing I paid for the extra warranty coverage.
Anyone else ever have problems with Windows being wonky after a period of time?
Renowned Death Hag
Purr
Who said your Windows was not genuine?......You figure after 6 months windows would have validated through Windows Updates. Are you using security software?.....because this sounds like a random malicious pop up to me
Just my 2 cents
To my Father. Even though you have crossed the plane, you will always be with me.
You were not just my Father, but my hero. My life has been a poor attempt to be like you
You taught me music, vocals, and how to fight. I can only hope I am half the man you are
When I close my eyes I can see you. And finally, Thank you Dad. for everything.
March 1934-July 2016
Renowned Death Hag
CC cleaner is one of the best.....great choice
To my Father. Even though you have crossed the plane, you will always be with me.
You were not just my Father, but my hero. My life has been a poor attempt to be like you
You taught me music, vocals, and how to fight. I can only hope I am half the man you are
When I close my eyes I can see you. And finally, Thank you Dad. for everything.
March 1934-July 2016
Not sure, but usually if something is malicious, my security software (I have three security programs installed, two which came with the computer) usually flags me with a warning. I'll find out for sure when the Geek people come to look at it Wednesday.
Renowned Death Hag
Sounds like you got all the bases covered. 3 Programs are a lot to be running though. Check with tech when they get there if you need all three. Might speed up your system. After all you payed for the warranty...might as well get your money's worth.
To my Father. Even though you have crossed the plane, you will always be with me.
You were not just my Father, but my hero. My life has been a poor attempt to be like you
You taught me music, vocals, and how to fight. I can only hope I am half the man you are
When I close my eyes I can see you. And finally, Thank you Dad. for everything.
March 1934-July 2016
Definitely wouldn't hurt to ask, even though I'm having no problems with the speed. Most sites I visit load quite well.Sounds like you got all the bases covered. 3 Programs are a lot to be running though. Check with tech when they get there if you need all three. Might speed up your system. After all you payed for the warranty...might as well get your money's worth.
Renowned Death Hag
Good deal!
To my Father. Even though you have crossed the plane, you will always be with me.
You were not just my Father, but my hero. My life has been a poor attempt to be like you
You taught me music, vocals, and how to fight. I can only hope I am half the man you are
When I close my eyes I can see you. And finally, Thank you Dad. for everything.
March 1934-July 2016
Renowned Death Hag
Sounds like something's corrupted. (I hope you didn't let Jimmy Swaggart anywhere near your PC.)
Is it possible to reactivate your Windows?
Now I have an issue.
I purchased a second Toshiba laptop. The function keys have been defaulted for alternate tasks (change volume, kill wireless connection, enable/disable touch pad, play, stop, etc), and each key is labeled as such with the F# in small grey print. In order to use them in traditional modes, I have to hold down the FN key...opposite from my older Toshiba laptop.
I've nosed around on the web for a way to swap the F key functions back to traditional Windows settings but to no avail but did discover this is not confined to Toshiba. Anybody else experience this setting and found a way to change the F key assignments?
Last edited by Bidmor; 02-05-2013 at 07:03 PM.
I'm leaving it to the geeks when they come tomorrow. I'm not touching a thing, except to back up files I want to keep.
YAY! Computer fixed!
Geeks said it was some kind of (code?) key that was somehow deleted from Windows. They were able to correct the problem almost right away and the better news was I wouldn't have lost any of my files anyway. Ah, well, never hurts to back up things anyway. Windows is back to normal!
PurrPurr, ain't it great when a plan comes together?
Yeah by your description, your Windows code key (think of it as the serial number for your copy of Windows) became screwed up somehow (corrupted in geek verbiage). But you're ahead of me...I haven't backed up anything. Never have and have never needed it. But I should...lazy I guess.
Now if someone will tell me how to switch functions of my F keys....
That's what it was called - code key! Thanks!
As you can tell, I'm not much of a techie. LOL.
Renowned Death Hag
Gmail Problem
Why is it when I open an email from someone in my email in google, I will read it & then gmail does not save it. I can't fucking find the original after I open the email.!?!? Please help. This person is not in my contacts but the email is saved from correspondence and it is urgent because it is my W-2 tax information stuff.
Wheres this email go after I read it!?
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Renowned Death Hag
It should go to your trash folder for 30 days.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"Do mind the pedestrian, Richard." - Hyacinth Bucket
Renowned Death Hag
If it isn't in your trash folder, copy and paste the following into the search box in gmail (without the parentheses) and it should show you the last 20 messages that you have read.
"in:inbox is:read"
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"Do mind the pedestrian, Richard." - Hyacinth Bucket
What the others said, but what I also like to do is make a separate folder and title it "Important Stuff" (or whatever), then transfer everything I want to save to that folder so I can find it later. I keep an email copy of my manuscript in a similar folder in case my computer gets wonky for some reason (like the recent Windows issue that was fixed).
Renowned Death Hag
Great thanks everyone!! I looked in the search for it and moved them to inbox. Appreciate it.
[SIGPIC]
The Tiny Terror Moderator
Okay, I'm not sure which thread this belongs in. It's a vent, so I thought it would belong in the Pet Peeves thread...but it's a tech-related vent, so maybe it belongs here? Here goes...
Dear WalMart,
Are you freaking KIDDING ME??????? I am researching cell phones so I can upgrade. Your Family Mobile cell phone plan isn't bad, really, for a contract-without-a-contract phone plan. (It doesn't have a contract, but it's not really prepaid, you get a monthly bill.) That said, the phones are crap. I was looking at the HTC Wildfire S, but it got mediocre reviews so now I'm rethinking myself, I want a phone that will last at least a year, possibly two, and not make me want to hurl it out of a moving vehicle after the 3rd week. I'm looking at an unlocked phone to use on my plan instead.
Why oh why in the name of all that is good in tech are you still selling phones with Android 1.5 CUPCAKE or Android 2.1 ECLAIR for TOP DOLLAR??? We're talking $200-$300+!!!!! Why are you still selling phones with Android 2.2 Froyo when 2.3 Gingerbread is phasing out and 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is all the rage? I even found one running 1.6 Donut. *skritches head* How...why...huh???? I consider myself a technodiva, and my last two phones ran Froyo. I'm ready for an upgrade. I'm certain there's a teeny tiny little bug in Froyo that causes Android to just freeze up and say, "Yeah, I'm done."
Here's a news flash for you. Ice Cream Sandwich and the new 4.1 Jellybean are all the rage now. Get with the program. Ain't nobody got time for a phone running Cupcake when they could run Ice Cream Sandwich or Jellybean. And no, I don't know why Google names the different versions of Android after sugary snacks. They didn't ask me before they named things.
Signed,
The Confused Technodiva
"Tequila may not be the answer, but it's worth a shot."
"I just go here!"
"I am not psychic. I AM psychotic. BIG difference."
Renowned Death Hag
I will invite you to my wedding (which in all honesty will probably never happen) if you can provide me with a process that will extract a Visio Image file from a Word document, so that it can be placed in an InDesign document, without rasterizing it. I've tried making the Word document and opening it in Illustrator and it didn't work too well.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"Do mind the pedestrian, Richard." - Hyacinth Bucket
I found this site to convert almost any file for free. I was able to convert a large manuscript from DOC to PDF without any problem:
http://convertfiles.com/
Member
Alot of times you can convert files simply by copying the file then changing the file extention from .doc to .pdf (for example). You want to name the new file nameoffile2.pdf though in case it doesn't take. Works with some operating systems but not others. And obviously trying to change a format that doesn't make sense to the computer won't work. Such as trying to change a .jpg to and excel file, lol.
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Good tip. Thanks. I never had thought of that. Just now tested your work around by changing a .doc file to .pdf...Adobe Reader wouldn't open it...damaged file.
Last edited by Bidmor; 02-10-2013 at 03:45 PM.
Renowned Death Hag
I totally forgot to put a word in that post haha. Long story short, I can convert the file to a PDF and it comes out just file, but when I then extract the Visio Image and open it in Illustrator as a vector image, it piles everything on top of itself on one layer like a jumbled mess. I have hardly any experience with Visio. Apparently it's used for flow charts and such. Everyone that I've talked pretty much said I'm screwed and need to remake the image in Illustrator.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"Do mind the pedestrian, Richard." - Hyacinth Bucket
Member
My post was in response to Purr's. Sorry but I don't use Visio, so I'm unable to help you with that.
Edit: I did just think of a possible workaround for your problem, regardless pf program though. Have you tried uploading the image to an image hosting site like flickr or photobucket and then importing into the document you want it in?
Last edited by SomeChick; 02-10-2013 at 07:04 PM.
Renowned Death Hag
Oh, now I feel even dumberer haha. I think I may have come up with something. I'm going to try it out in the morning. Since I have to keep it a vector, anything other than the native program or Illustrator is out. Now I kinda want to learn Visio though.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"Do mind the pedestrian, Richard." - Hyacinth Bucket
Renowned Death Hag
There's an application called PDF995 you can buy for ten bucks. It will serve as a printer that rather than printing out a hard copy generates a PDF.
Death Hag Extraordinaire
Not forgetting a good old fashioned defrag.
I am a sick puppy....woof woof!!!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Carping the living shit out of the Diem. - Me!!
http://www.pinterest.com/neilmpenny
Death Hag Extraordinaire
I keep everything on external hard disks. There is nothing of any value on the hard disks in my computers. Saved me a LOT of heartache over the years.
I am a sick puppy....woof woof!!!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Carping the living shit out of the Diem. - Me!!
http://www.pinterest.com/neilmpenny
Renowned Death Hag
Ha! It Worked! Awesome! Woohooo!I think I may have come up with something. I'm going to try it out in the morning.
I swear I make Sheldon Cooper look Like Dave Grohl sometimes.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"Do mind the pedestrian, Richard." - Hyacinth Bucket
Member
What did you do that worked, Manda?
Renowned Death Hag
Instead of making the file a PDF, then exporting the part that I need into Illustrator, I opened the whole PDF page in Illustrator, deleted all the parts I didn't need, then saved the image as its own .eps file. Still a vector image. Not all crazy looking. Now I don't have to re-draw about 90 different diagrams.
Last edited by MiraculousMandarin; 02-11-2013 at 01:33 PM.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"Do mind the pedestrian, Richard." - Hyacinth Bucket
Renowned Death Hag
I don't think a defrag' frees up hard drive space; it merely rearranges the file clusters so that they are contiguous and thus require less activity on the part of the read-write heads.
I haven't run defrag since I retired my Win98 pc. Every time I checked defrag on my XP pc to scan and see if that op was needed, the outcome was always negative so after a time I stopped checking. Can that be trusted?
Renowned Death Hag
Windows XP is much more sophisticated than Windows 98, and I'd think that yes, that "outcome" can be trusted.
Member
Yay Manda!
Yep, a defrag does indeed free up space because it deletes fragments of files that are still hanging out amomgst your useful files. Think of them as sand between paving stones. Remove the sand, push all the stones more tightly together and you will see there is now more space around the stones, as the sand has been removed.
Bonus #2 for Linux? You never need to defrag. The system does it automatically upon bootup due to it's unique file structure.
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Renowned Death Hag
If clusters are "lost," that's corruption and a disk-repair tool like CHKDSK is used to fix the issue. Lost clusters happen with the likes of non-graceful shutdowns like power failures. Also, there is usually "slack space" in the last cluster of each file: typically, a file's size is not an even multiple of clusters, so in the very last cluster, there will be some unused space that is not normally accessible.
Member
Yes, but that's a different issue altogether. Very closely related. But different.
Ok, why is it 1997 again?
I kid. Ya know I loves ya Maxie
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Thanks, Max.
Now if you can tell me how to switch the F keys default on my laptop back to traditional Windows commands...so I won't have to use the FN key, I'll be a happy camper.
Renowned Death Hag
I took a course in digital forensics, which involved learning the inner details of file system organization. It was the only course where I was falling asleep. I did come out with some very important concepts, like the use of hashing to create "fingerprints" of data, and how examiners will use tools like Encase to recover data users thought they'd deleted, but I'd be fibbing if I said I remembered everything in the curriculum.Yes, but that's a different issue altogether. Very closely related. But different.
Ok, why is it 1997 again?
I kid. Ya know I loves ya Maxie
If I had it for a couple of hours, that might be possible. I suggest looking online for some tutorials on function key remapping.
Re recovering "deleted" files...I assume hashing is used by data recovery apps such as the one Symantec sells (or formerly did)...forgot the name of it...apps that can recover files or parts of files even if they have been overwritten.
Re F keys...I nosed around on the web for info to no avail, however did not use "remapping" in search. I'll try that. Thanks again.
Renowned Death Hag
No ... the key to recovery is that ordinary file deletion, disk formatting or disk partitioning does not clear the disk sectors of data. Thus, with a sector tool it is possible to view, extract and possibly reconstruct files the original user thought they had deleted. That was how they caught the BTK killer: he sent a diskette to the police bearing a deleted but otherwise intact Word document that investigators were able to trace to his church.
To foil the likes of Encase, you need only "wipe" your data by overwriting the disk sectors with zeros or some other data. Once data is overwritten even once, special and expensive techniques are needed to even attempt at recovery.
Right. No file is ever truly deleted or erased. Emptying the Trash or Recycle Bin merely marks the data that those files occupied on the drive sectors as "overwriteable", thus freeing hd space. As I understand it though, the more data is overwritten on those same hd areas, the more difficult it is to recover desired past data. CCleaner claims to overwrite emptied Recycle Bin data with multiple passes of garbage data. Am I on the right track here?
Member
Right you are.
My ex-husband is an uber Linux nerd (nerd not being a derogatory term in our circle which is why I use it). He's also a CPA who specializes in both personal and corporate audits whoch often includes forensic data auditing. He was able to recover data that was considered lost for good, using the method you describe.
There is one way to make data absolutely unable to be recovered. I know because I tested it once my ex told me. And the hd is still perfectly useable afterward. But I won't be posting it here as I don't want it misused by someone who comes across this post one day and decides to use the information as a way to use the information as a way to hide illegal activities they may be engaged in. And don't you either, Max, as you undoubtedly know too.
I'm glad you're here though as I only know some things about data recovery. And you are doing an excellent job of helping out other members in this area. I love when members use their knowledge to help eachother out.
.
Renowned Death Hag
Does anyone know how in hades, you sync an ipod(or iwhatever) to iTunes in windows 8? Got a new puter, that has windows 8, and theres an issue with ipods syncing
Death Hag Extraordinaire
Yes you are right, my mistake.
I am a sick puppy....woof woof!!!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Carping the living shit out of the Diem. - Me!!
http://www.pinterest.com/neilmpenny
The Tiny Terror Moderator
I'm having trouble with Windows 8, too. I just got a new laptop Thursday night. So far most everything downloads okay, but I haven't downloaded or installed my printer's drivers. I downloaded Open Office but haven't used it yet, Spotify required exiting the program and restarting it before the sound would work.
Does anyone know if I can dual-boot a Windows machine to run Linux, too? BTW, I'm still looking to put Ubuntu or Mint on the old laptop, the one I'm going to fix and give to my son.
"Tequila may not be the answer, but it's worth a shot."
"I just go here!"
"I am not psychic. I AM psychotic. BIG difference."
Renowned Death Hag
It might be longer process since your computer probably came with Windows already installed and you don't have the installation disks, but I'm sure you could still designate a swap partition and run Linux though. Here is an example of how someone did it with the Windows 8 installation disks in hand which I think would probably make it a bit less tedious.
http://www.linuxbsdos.com/2012/11/05...uefi-hardware/
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"Do mind the pedestrian, Richard." - Hyacinth Bucket
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