Techy Thread *no requesting or giving out cracks* *no Windows activation stuff please*

[Milo]

In places I've worked they used IE as it's more amenable to being locked-down. In one place, when they had Netscape for a while you could browse the Internet and dodge their filter.

[Joy Nktonga]

Have any bugs etc been ironed out of the new Firefox yet? I didn't jump on it straight away as I wanted to avoid the teething problems. So, is it worth it, and how similar/different is it to old Firefox?

Edit: Also, where's the quick reply box gone? I know Neil was having troubles with the new tags being compatible with it so has it gone in lieu of the shiny new things?

[gazzyk1ns]

It's on version 2.0.0.1 at the moment (i.e. there has been one security/stability update), and version 2.0.0.2 will be released in early/mid February. I'm pretty sure the release of 2.0.0.2 will trigger the automatic update for people still using 1.5.x, i.e. it'll invite them to upgrade to version 2 as opposed to the next step of 1.5, as it has been doing so far.

FF2 looks really ugly as far as I'm concerned, but you can just make it look the same as 1.5 by downloading the Winstripe skin. It's got other cosmetic changes which I don't like too, such as close buttons per tab, which are a bit unnecessary as middle-clicking a tab closes it. It has got some good extra functionality though, like re-opening tabs you closed by mistake and restoring your session if it crashes (or if your OS or an external application causes a crash). It also opens links to external sites in a new tab by default, and when you close a tab, it takes you to the one you last used, as opposed to just displaying the one to the left.

It's not really a massive change though, FF3 will be more of a change because it uses something different (Cairo) to render all graphics.

[Al Tha Funkee Homosapien]

The speel checker is quite handy as well. Or was that available in previous versions?

[Joy Nktonga]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I'll probably wait 'til I get the "update available" symbol then (I'd been wondering why that hadn't popped up yet). Things like that red x on each tab can be removed though can't they? I'm not too fussed about the cosmetics (is it bad enough that I should be though?) as you can usually customise these things - as you pointed out gazz.

It'll be a long while until FF3 is released though I assume.

I clicked on that link about Cairo, but it was like birds to me I'm afraid.

[Neil]

Edit: Also, where's the quick reply box gone? I know Neil was having troubles with the new tags being compatible with it so has it gone in lieu of the shiny new things?

I don't usually read this thread, so won't generally spot stuf aimed at me.  Yes, though, I've deactivated it as I can't get the fix to work.  I'm waiting on someone getting back to me about that on the phpbb boards, but if they don't, then I may have to uninstall it, and then either try reinstalling it, or installing a new one instead.  Probably the latter, which will mean a more bare-bones one without all the bb code buttons etc, I'd imagine.

Anyway, my Mum's boyfriend is going to lend me £500 quid for a new puter, but I reckon I'll spend £80 on good headphones.  Can anyone tell me a good machine for around 400-500 quid then please?  The Ankermann ones were pointed out before, I'd like one of those, I think, with a massive hard drive.  Any suggestions?

[gazzyk1ns]

Edit: Re: JN:

Yeah, you can still change all the cosmetic features with the about:config page. Image re-sizing is turned on by default in FF2, which was another thing I immediately changed. Yeah, FF3 is still way off, though you can see how it's developing at any stage by downloading those nightly builds. Not really worth it though.

[swarfmonkey]

Re: Neil.

That Ankermann bloke is still knocking out well priced/well specced PCs and he's using dual core processors now. You can upgrade or add on loads of bits and pieces including extra HDs. At the prices he's doing you usually find other sellers cut corners like integrated graphics but his stuff looks pretty pucker.

[Neil]

Is Dual Core the way to go now then?  I don't keep up on all this stuff, so can you (or someone else) point me to a specific system please?  Something that'd be good for gaming, really.  Again, I know nowt about the current graphics cards and the like.

[Toad in the Hole]

Thanks HomerJ... free your mind cool_penguin_0!

[TTT]

Is Dual Core the way to go now then?  I don't keep up on all this stuff, so can you (or someone else) point me to a specific system please?  Something that'd be good for gaming, really.  Again, I know nowt about the current graphics cards and the like.

I would go for something like this with a better graphics card if you want to play new games. Maybe add another gig of ram as well.

http://www.ankermann-pc.com/uk/cpu_configa27.php?artikelnr=10712

[The Man With Brass Eyes]

auditing purposes... much easier to have standardised set of applications and prevent users from installing third-party applications...

I tried to circumvent the surf blocker by pointing to a TinyURL version of the Firefox downloads.  Tomorrow I try loading a CD with the installs on (and the IE theme to at least con people for now) assuming they haven't blocked the CD drive.  I envision any install will require me to log-on as an Admin.
I like the idea of those portable apps tho.  It seems a tidier way to do things.

how do you force Windows XP/ Word to use UK dictionaries.  It seems to consistently default to US.

Control Panel > Language....
Then in Word, select Tools > Language > Set Language.

Thanks, I tried that today - but it periodically KEEPS switching back to US spelling.  I AM NOT spelling colour wrongly, or all those words with z instead of s'es!  I keep setting UK English in Word and it keeps resorting back to US.  How can I stop this, beyond turning off spelling?  It can't be that US-centric.  please help me.

[Toad in the Hole]

I've got a similar thing where in certain apps my keyboard seems to resort to US settings...

[Milo]

Keyboard thing - make sure to delete the US keyboard from the Language settings in control panel.

Word thing - the language is set as a default for new documents and is also set on a per-document basis. ie; a document that has previously been marked as US English will return to this when reopened even if your default is set as UK. And also, when you set the language to UK English in Word did you just set it or did you click the Default button? Cos just setting it only does it for the open document. You have to click default to make it set for all new documents.

[Neil]

I would go for something like this with a better graphics card if you want to play new games. Maybe add another gig of ram as well.

http://www.ankermann-pc.com/uk/cpu_configa27.php?artikelnr=10712

I knew I could rely on you :-)  What card would you go for?  

Maybe with a dual core I'll finally be able to use Guitar Rig with no latency issues!

[Neil]

Oh it lets you put a system together, that's what I need to do then innit?  So out of those, I should be going for AMD So.AM2 ?

So I should then basically follow the rest of the specifications in the link TTT posted, and substitute the graphics card, and maybe the RAM.  Is there anything else I should swap out?  I have £500, I guess, and this is a major purchase for me and will have to do me for years.  I can't wait, actually!  Will be great to catch up on Far Cry and all those other tasty games.

EDIT:  Would anyone be willing to help me put this together, in terms of telling me exactly which bits I should be buying?  I really haven't a clue.  And the person who lent me the machien I'm using really wants me to give it back very soon, so I need to get this ordered.  Would really appreciate some help here, maybe over MSN or Gmail chat or something if that's easier.

[mayer]

Hiya!

Linksys WAG354G Wireless-G ADSL Home Gateway

I've gotten this peice of junk working twice before. If it gets switched off then you're back to flashing DSL light/No internet light insanity. I swore never to unplug the thing once hours of genuine trial and error and error and error and error got to me. Power surge, reset the house fuses. The thing won't work again.

When you run the install CD it goes through the setuppy thing fine, then on the last bit "Connecting to the internet" it gives a message saying it can't connect, and unplug and retry, but this doesn't work.

I can't remember how I got it working last two times. It involved just doing stuff over and over, assigning a fixed IP address/all that default gateway stuff. But no dice.

Sorry I'm not being more precise with the messages, I may add them in but I'm loathed to go through it all again right now! (I'm on the USB modem).


Just wondered if anyone had any sort of advice in general for this sort of problem/this router in particular?

Thanks!

[Hypnotoad.]

So can you talk to the router? check your LAN/WAN adapter is set for DHCP, switch the router on and let it initialize, then double click your network connection in Control Panel > Network Connections

Click the support tab, the IP adress should be something like 192.168.1.2 or 192.168.0.2

Make a not of the gateway address, and type this into Internet Explorer, its going to be something like 192.168.0.1

This will bring up the login page for the router, the login details should be in your manual. Once logged in, there will be areas for Logs and Diagnostics, if you get this far, post back what you can see in those locations

[Pseudopath]

Linksys WAG354G Wireless-G ADSL Home Gateway

Might sound daft, but have you definitely entered the right ADSL username and password? The username should normally have an @ sign followed by the ISP's domain name (for example: adsl02086432332@tiscali.co.uk), but consult the documentation you originally received from your ISP for the exact settings.

I often find it easier to program routers using the web interface rather than the supposedly-easy setup wizard. The user guide should let you know what IP address you need to type into your browser to access this. You then simply need to enter the ADSL username/password and set the following:

VPI : 0
VCI: 38
Encapsulation: VC-MUX
Modulation: G.DMT
Authentication: CHAP
PPP Mode: PPPoA

You should then be able to restart the router and hopefully make a connection to the Internet.

[mayer]

:-) done all of that... honest!

I think it's a very tempermental peice of kit. There's no reason for it to reset the settings when it's unplugged, but it sometimes does... I'm guessing a couple of hours of resetting identical settings again and again and it suddenly deciding to work is in order when I can be bummed!

EDIT: On both the WIzard and the interface... it's just... madly infuriating!

[Hypnotoad.]

Oh it lets you put a system together, that's what I need to do then innit?  So out of those, I should be going for AMD So.AM2 ?

So I should then basically follow the rest of the specifications in the link TTT posted, and substitute the graphics card, and maybe the RAM.  Is there anything else I should swap out?  I have £500, I guess, and this is a major purchase for me and will have to do me for years.  I can't wait, actually!  Will be great to catch up on Far Cry and all those other tasty games.

EDIT:  Would anyone be willing to help me put this together, in terms of telling me exactly which bits I should be buying?  I really haven't a clue.  And the person who lent me the machien I'm using really wants me to give it back very soon, so I need to get this ordered.  Would really appreciate some help here, maybe over MSN or Gmail chat or something if that's easier.

I specced a humdinger for you here Neil;

[Hypnotoad.]

Thanks, I tried that today - but it periodically KEEPS switching back to US spelling.  I AM NOT spelling colour wrongly, or all those words with z instead of s'es!  I keep setting UK English in Word and it keeps resorting back to US.  How can I stop this, beyond turning off spelling?  It can't be that US-centric.  please help me.

In that same language dialog box, have you tried removing the tick next to "detect language automatically" ?

[Hypnotoad.]

:-) done all of that... honest!

I think it's a very tempermental peice of kit. There's no reason for it to reset the settings when it's unplugged, but it sometimes does... I'm guessing a couple of hours of resetting identical settings again and again and it suddenly deciding to work is in order when I can be bummed!

EDIT: On both the WIzard and the interface... it's just... madly infuriating!

It should be logging errors on the web interface, even if it connects ok, it will log a message to say so, so it should be giving some indication of the problem

[mayer]

Ta, I'm really being a wally. What I'm gonna do is later tonight set up the bugger and jot down any messages I get so I can be a lot less annoying when tapping for help!

I do think the router is somewhat... tempermental mind! I shall be back, you have been warned! :-)

[Hypnotoad.]

heh, no bother. They can be a nightmare, especially ADSL, but the logs should point you in the right direction

[greencalx]

Re Router: I dunno if a firmware update (if there's one available) would help.  I performed a necessary update on a WRT-52G to cater for a new modem.  It worked, the interface improved and it got a few extra encryption protocols to boot.

[Neil]

I specced a humdinger for you here Neil;

(picture)

Thank you, that's really very kind!  I want a bigger hard drive though, minimum 250gb, or maybe one of the 300gb ones?  Which of those would you go for?  What's the most reliable make?

Is the Celeron the way to go then?  And is that a good card for gaming?  God, I can't fucking wait to get this, I really can't.

[Hypnotoad.]

Ah ok, I dropped down a bit on the Hard Drive to get the best graphics card possible, as if you are looking to run the latest games, in addition to the Dual Core chip and 2GB RAM, I'd say thats the minimum card you want

I'd be tempted to get that machine as it is, and then save up some cash to buy a second hard drive. The great thing with SATA drives is they are an absolute doddle to install. The cables are tiny compared to the old IDE, they only fit on the drives in one configuration, and theres no jumper settings to get right

Its up to you, but for games, I'd save on the hard drive now, and buy a second drive to install in a month or whatever it takes, for instance, heres an emormous drive for a shade under £90

http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=44FS&CategorySelectedId=11154&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11154,45560000&InMerch=1

Although the image suggests a Celeron processor is specified, thats the base build, and if you look at the first drop down box, I've selected a Dual Core 3.4GHZ chip. We have those chips at work and they're great, perhaps not quite as good as the Core 2 Duos, but they are 64-bit as well, which is a bit of future-proofing.....

Also, I chose that card because I have a 7900GT which plays everything in Next Gen Xbox 360 type graphics, and the 7600 is the closest I could get in your budget

[Lewis]

I bought one of the ankermann pc's Neil, they're excellent and fast as fuck. I upgraded to 2 x 250gb drives, which is enough, even for me!

Wish I'd upgraded the graphics card now though...

[Hypnotoad.]

I bought one of the ankermann pc's Neil, they're excellent and fast as fuck. I upgraded to 2 x 250gb drives, which is enough, even for me!

Wish I'd upgraded the graphics card now though...

Indeed, if you are placing any emphasis on gaming, you really must spend as much as possible on CPU, Graphics and to a slightly lesser extent memory

Hard drives get cheaper all the time, and can be added at any stage as an additional drive, plus memory can be expanded as you can afford to

I upgraded my PC this year from a P4 2.8ghz, 756mb RAM and a Geforce something or other, to one of the new Intel Dual Core chips, 2gb RAM, and the 7900GT, its real fast and plays every game out there