Acer Flat screen monitor says "No Signal" and light turns orange when plugged into an IBM Thinkpad Laptop

Well, I feel like an idiot...my monitor was giving me a "No Signal" message when I plugged it into my laptop (port on laptop, not the docking station). After trying a few things, like unplugging the monitor, holding the on button in for a bit, the usual things you would try, it occurred to me to right-click the desktop & check properties>settings, and make sure I had multiple monitors selected. I didn't, so, while I had the monitor plugged into the laptop, I checked the "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor" checkbox, & voila (or viola as some would say), I had my monitor. Yeesh.

External USB Hard Drive not showing in My Computer but is in Device Manager

Another useful old post. I actually run into this quite a bit, so have a shortcut to Disk Management on my desktop:

Heehee...this one made me feel like an idiot...I bought a 120 G External USB HD, & connected it to my laptop. For some reason it wouldn't show in My Computer. This perplexed me since I could see the drive in Device Manager & everything looked ok. Then I noticed the drive letter it was assigned - G:

Hmmmm...same as one of my mapped drives set to reconnect at logon. Duh...problem solved - assigned my mapped drive a different letter & voila (or viola as some would say), I could see my drive. That was 20 minutes of my day wasted, but at least it provided me with a bit of humor.

http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=102&threadID=239428&start=0

How to reassign a drive letter:
To change an existing drive letter on a drive, on a partition, or on a volume, follow these steps:

1. Log on as Administrator or as a member of the Administrators group.
2. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Performance and Maintenance.
3. Click Administrative Tools, double-click Computer Management, and then click Disk Management in the left pane.
4. Right-click the drive, the partition, the logical drive, or the volume that you want to assign a drive letter to, and then click Change Drive Letter and Paths.
5. Click Change.
6. Click Assign the following drive letter if it is not already selected, click the drive letter that you want to use, and then click OK.
7. Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm the drive letter change.

The drive letter of the drive, the partition, or the volume that you specified is changed, and the new drive letter appears in the appropriate drive, partition, or volume in the Disk Management tool.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307844

Maxtor One Touch III Mini - Solution to EasyManage Crash on Windows XP

This is one of my older posts from the Maxtor forums which I thought was worthy of posting here...

I have had the problem with the error message: "Maxtor EasyManage has encountered a problem and needs to close. Please inform Microsoft about this." with the Maxtor Easy Touch III, and tried the compatibility solution (setting EasyManage to run in W2000 compatibility mode). This worked, but, curiously, only for a while. I recently plugged my harddrive in to backup my work data, and started to get the error message again. I verified that the compatibility check box was checked, & windows 2000 selected...still had the problem.

I decided to try the other options, and selected the "Turn off advanced text services for this program", selected Apply, OK, and the error went away. Not sure what that check box is for, but I wonder if it depends upon a service that was not running and so threw the error?

Anyway, in my case I needed the "Compatibility mode" check box and the "Turn off advanced text services for this program" check box selected to make this error go away.

Windows XP SP2
Administrator account

http://forums.seagate.com/stx/board/message?board.id=onetouch&message.id=5138#M5138

Enabling Sound on Ubuntu after Upgrade to ver 9.0.4

After many fits getting my Ubuntu install to play nice by installing wireless/sound drivers, I decided to upgrade from ver 8.x to 9.0.4 (Jaunty Jackalope?). After installing/rebooting the system, I discovered my sound no longer worked. Verifying that the speakers were on & plugged into the sound card (simple crap first), I reported the bug to Ubuntu. After that, I tried reinstalling the drivers by going to "Terminal" (Ubuntu's Command Line), & entered:
sudo su
(password)
cd (directory where sound card lives)
make
make install

I rebooted...

Still no sound, so I hit the internet again & found a troubleshooting guide here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage
which led me here:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingSoundProblems

Being new to Ubuntu, I'm still floundering, so all you seasoned Ubuntu dudes & dudettes are probably laughing your asses off right now. After going through this useful guide, I made my way down to the "Checking permissions and resources" (hello!)

I went to: System>Preferences>Sound, and found that my permissions to use "Audio Devices" was unchecked.



Of course, I didn't have permissions to change my permissions, which led to another discovery. There is, in this same dialog box, an Unlock button. Hmmm...Unlock what, I wondered, so of course I clicked it. It asked me for my Password, I entered it, & voila (or viola as some would say), I now had the ability to change my permissions. In fact, I gave myself permissions to everything (I've been known to be generous).



I rebooted.

I now have sound, AND, the upgrade seemed to fix my browser woes (couldn't get YouTube, Pandora to work before).

Enabling Windows Vista Home Premium's default Administrator Account

OK, this was irritating me from the git-go, so I did some research & found out how to enable the built-in administrator account in Windows Vista Home Premium. Here's the easiest way:

Goto Start>right click the COMMAND PROMPT shortcut and select "run as administrator"

Enter & run the following command to enable the Administrator account:

net user administrator /active:yes

Log into the Administrator Account & create a password. The end.

More on the built-in Administrator Account:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766343.aspx

http://searchenterprisedesktop.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid192_gci1254063,00.html

Error updating Free AVG (ver. 8.0) - Invalid update control CTF file

Free AVG is my favorite anti-virus/anti-spyware application. It's light, easy to configure, and best of all, free.

Recently, I noticed an exclamation point over the AVG icon in the system tray. (AVG ver 8.0.176. OS Windows Vista Home Premium, ver 6.0, build 6001), Opening the AVG User Interface (right-click the AVG icon in the system tray), I noticed the latest virus definition updates were marked as not being updated. I clicked the "Update Now" menu button, but received an error message when the application tried to update itself. The error read: "Invalid update control CTF file". I went to the AVG website, & found the fix which resolved the problem. Click on this linkto read more: http://free.avg.com/faq.num-1567?srch=filecorruption#faq_1567 & download/save the following executable: deleteupdatefiles.exe.

The error message makes the problem pretty obvious (which is a rare thing, usually error messages reveal nothing except confusion), the update control files are corrupted. These files need to be deleted, and during AVG's next attempt to update, new control files should be downloaded/created and update process should complete.

Hmmm....

Hmmmm....

• 10:11 Tweeting from MySpace... #
• 10:27 This is interesting. I can send "tweets" to Twitter, then connect Twitter to my Blogger account #
#

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Playing with Pendrivelinux

Always intrigued by alternative operating systems, I decided to play with Pen Drive Linux this weekend...a portable open source operating system which can be booted to from a USB flash drive, or can be run from within Windows without rebooting (for those whose BIOS doesn't support booting from a USB flash drive), from a "virtual machine" environment. It is way cool!

Initially, I tried to get Pen Drive Linux to boot from my thumbdrive, after downloading & extracting Pendrivelinux08.zip to my USB Flash Drive & running the makeboot.bat file, as per their instructions found at:

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/2008/02/13/pendrivelinux-2008-install-from-windows/.

I went into the BIOS and selected USB Flash Drive as my primary boot device, & also enabled the External Boot Device option. However, when I rebooted my laptop (Sony Vaio) it still booted to Vista. I even tried starting the boot further back (cold boot), but it still went to Vista. I verified that the file needed to boot to Linux was in the root of my thumb drive, it was. I must be doing something wrong...I'll figure it out later.

Anyway, I am currently entering this blog from within Pen Drive Linux. What I discovered after some poking around, is that there is also a download which enables you to launch Linux from within Windows, without having to reboot. This is just what I needed. :) I downloaded Qemupdlv1.0.1.exe from

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/2007/09/19/portable-qemu-persistent-pendrivelinux/

and extracted it to my thumb drive (2G SanDisk Cruzer) to the Qemupdl folder. I ran the LaunchPDL.bat file and here I am.

It gives me something fun & different to play with. Here are some screenshots:

My stats browsing to my blog using the Pen Drive Linux OS & the Gnome browser Epiphany:

So much for today's fun! It is a glorious day out & I'm finally feeling a bit better from my flu. Time to go outside and take in some sunshine. :)

Live Writer Tests

Just playing with Windows Live Writer.  Some of the software in the table below is considered to be a "virus/trojan" by some virus scanning applications.  I use all except for ScramDisk - which I added to the list just because it looks interesting to try...I'd like to see if I can recover the files it "scrambles".

ScramDisk	http://www.scramdisk.clara.net/
Pretty Good Privacy	http://www.pgpi.org/
TrueCrypt - Encryption	http://www.truecrypt.org/
NetCat - Networking Utility	http://netcat.sourceforge.net/download.php
Ethereal - Protocol Analyzer	http://www.ethereal.com/download.html
Back Orifice - Network Administrative Tool	http://www.bo2k.com/software/index.html

 

Live Writers insert map feature.  The random location I picked happens to be a military installation someplace in the SouthEast.   I also added a caption.

Somewhere in the SouthEast

Insert Tag feature:

del.icio.us Tags: Whiteman air force base,southeast us,freeware,netcat,ethereal,back orifice,forensics tools,data forensics,hacking tools

Photo Editing feature - including watermarks, effects, and other advanced editing tools:

 

My annual donation & good deed...adopting the little feller above to help with the efforts to save the Orangutans.  His name is "Sen".

This blog was created using Windows freeware application, "Live Writer".

Testing Blogging With Live Writer

Pretty Good Privacy

A free encryption software program that is the de-facto global standard for E-mail and file privacy. Pretty Good Privacy (or PGP) offers full-strength, 128-bit encryption. PGP has constantly been upgraded over the years and now offers loads of useful features, including secure file wiping; advanced keyserver searching; and seamless integration with Qualcomm's popular Eudora E-mail client. There's also an E-mail plugin for Microsoft Outlook/Exchange and Claris Emailer. Available for Windows, Macs, DOS and Unix. (Free for noncommercial use only).

• U.S. law prohibits export of PGP to non-U.S. residents. However, there is now an "International" version of PGP, compiled and developed outside the U.S., which is available for non-U.S. residents to download. It's available here.

 

Other Privacy software:

http://www.thefreesite.com/Anonymous_Freebies/index1.html

My Wee Peanut

"Peanut" or "Tot"

My Wee hound, Peanut, is the neatest little companion anyone could ever ask for. I bought her from a Pet Store one day, on impulse. Well, not really impulse. When I went into the store, I saw her - there in the puppy pen with her brother. She looked so much like a smaller, younger version of my other, wonderful pound rescue, Tater, a Jack Russell/Chihuahua mix, that I decided I had to have her. I wasn't making much money at the time, and they wanted $180 for her, so I decided that I would wait a day, then go back the next day, & make up my mind if she was still there. This way, I figured, maybe I would talk myself out of it in the meantime, or maybe she would be sold & there would be no difficult decision to make.

The next day I went to the store. There she still was. I picked her up & she melted into my arms. She was sold.

Since then, it has been wonderful. Peanut is so full of life & enthusiam, she adds fun, love, & humour to my day. She is so much like a little child (hence her nicname "Tot"), she fills the void of the empty nest syndrome I was experiencing. When I return from work, she acts as though she has just met the greatest person in the world, much the way my children used to great me when they were little tots. Peanut will run up, whining & jumping up & down, wagging her tail, with love-filled eyes. She'll bring me her latest "Doolly" (Peanut has many Dolls she adores which we call "Doollies") and present it to me. I always make a fuss over her Doolly, acting as though it was the first time I've ever seen it. She responds with pride & excitement.

Peanut is like a little person in many other ways. Since I was working full-time, I decided to try and "diaper" train her. It worked wonderfully. If need be, and she couldn't find one of the kids to let her out, Peanut would go to her corner & use her diaper. She prefers to go out though, & will only use the diaper if she can't find one of us. She also loves to watch TV, so we leave the toons on for her in the morning, and sometimes at night, when she seems bored. She'll sit on the back of the couch, or on the cushions, curled up with her Doolly, watching the TV. And she has her favorites, too. She seems to like Scooby Doo & The Fresh Princs of Bell-Aire, among other things.

I don't know what I would do without Peanut. I'm so glad I gave in to impulse, & bought the wee hound when I could, at the time, barely afford the price. Things have improved in my life since then, and I wonder if Peanut & the positive affect she had on my outlook is partially, if not fully, to blame.

Problems installing Flash 9 on XP systems - IE 6 & 7

I had this vexing problem some time back w/ IE ver 7 (surprise) being able to display Flash content (ver 9). (This problem also occurs in IE 6). Everything I tried at the Macromedia support site (now Adobe) did not work. Editing the registry was not possible because of permissions issues.

Finally, I happened across a fix which worked:

"If you have any problems installing Flash Player on WinXP systems, see/do this: http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=fb1634cbDamn thing's been giving me fits for 4 months on an already troublesome enough system I maintain. Tried everything in the book prior to this, nothing worked. This does. Takes a while to run that Permissions Reset tool from the command line, but once it's done, Flash will install the way it should."

Hopefully, this will help someone else. :-)

Technical Support

I am making a promise to myself. From now on, I will post everything I discover along the way in my technical troubleshooting journeys.

I started with PCs back in 1988, where the OS of the day was MS-DOS (3.3?), when the only people who owned PCs were Geeks (& Geekettes). I recall installing my first 3.5 floopy drive, & playing with my 2400 baud modem, when the internet consisted of PC Link (& everything was text & the main users were bored Radio Shack employees, & the phone bill was outrageous! The closest server was in Atlanta, GA, I was in Florida). I recall being excited that my first IBM compatible 386 had a hard drive, so I was no longer bound to using 5 1/4 in floppies (in my Commodore 64). I recall my first ink jet printer (HP), & how I didn't have to set the dip switches like I did on my Star printer so it could talk to the C-64.

I took a long break from the geeky PC world to raise 4 children, but after 10 yrs or so, found myself missing my favorite hobby. After much pestering, I talked my at-the-time spouse into buying a new system. We settled on a Dell XPST-450 w/ Windows 98, and I was hooked once again. Oh, & it was wonderful! Zip drives, 13G HD (which seemed like a LOT at the time), and WOW! the internet was so rich, & full of information! In no time I was a top contributor at Win 98 forums, loved to IM, and was creating web pages & learning HTML, JavaScript, & CSS. I loved it so much I decided to get back into the field & leave my boring days as a housewife behind.

Along my journey back into the PC world, I made a lot of neat discoveries & fixed a lot of PC problems. My faves were fixes that involved DOS (which I was well-versed in and came in useful with 98), and unique things I discovered about dual-boot configurations (98/RedHat, 98/2000, 2000/RedHat). I wished I had made these gems available to the world in the event that they may help others understand PCs, and make their experience into this wonderful world more enjoyable.

Well, now with the advent of blogs, I have no excuse. So, any little thing I discover, I will post. My work laptop is an IBM T series running XP Pro, my home desktop system a Dell XPST600 running Windows XP Pro, and my personal laptop a Sony Vaio CR series running Vista Home Premium...so I have a lot to explore! :O) (I'll have even more when I start messing w/ Linux again).

Look for more technical posts in the future!

I/O device error when reading SD card in Flash Card Reader - Vista

Maybe this will help someone else:Brand new laptop (Sony Vaio CR series) with integrated flash card reader. Everything on the laptop works fines, but when I inserted a 250MB or 2G flash card into the card reader, I kept getting an "The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error." error message. Attempts to browse the card caused the system to hang or freeze. Once I did manage to read the 250MB card, but after that it would hang trying to read it.Fix:Went to Sony's update site & discovered a manual update for Texas Instruments® Integrated FlashMedia Controller. I d/l'd it & browsed to the C:\Update directory & ran the install. Worked like a charm. Plugged the card in & *poof* opens right up. Also see this Microsoft KB article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936825 Note: this was a manual update, so you have to run the install yourself - it's not an "automatic update".PS - If you buy a Sony laptop (or any other running Vista w/ TI SD Flash Card Reader) from Best Buy, chances are they won't tell you about this update. I was about ready to take it back thinking it was a hardware problem when I decided to look for other patches/updates other than the usual Windows & virus updates. :-P This update apparently fixes a compatibility issue.