Techy Thread: Post your puter problems in here - Apps 'R' Us!

[weekender]

Not really a problem, but more of a solution.

Having had a hard drive fail on me before and having thus endured the despair of losing loads of music/media etc, I now have two external hard drives - the idea being that if one of them fails I can rush out and buy a new one so I can extract the contents from the still-working one to ensure I never lose media again.

Now, you'd like to think that the contents of the external hard drives would be the same, but sometimes I forget to copy a folder to one of the drives, sometimes a file may become corrupt or something.

So what I wanted was a nice little program which would compare the difference between the two drives.  I started with WinMerge but it seemed a bit slow.

The perfect solution is MOBZync.

http://techheavy.com/2011/05/compare-any-two-folders-side-by-side/

Not only does it let me compare the two drives, it has inbuilt functionality which means I can synchronize the drives with very little hassle.  It's awesome, so I thought it would share it here in case anyone else had the need for such a program.

[Queneau]

Anyone know a decent method of rooting/jailbreaking Kindle Fire?

[Steve Lampkins]

It's a folder to do with Windows Update/temporary files/system files and it's a pain in the arse.

I discovered this a long time ago. I think it's related to Microsoft Security Essentials. Harmless but annoying.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itprogeneral/thread/eeff1c32-d85c-4dd7-8636-fe6cd29ab6e9

[chocky909]

I'm trying to recover my xbox account and Microsoft is pissing me off. Every time I go through the whole 'prove who I am' form to reset and enter my new password, then it asks me to log in and it states "Looks like someone is trying to access your account click here to verify you are who you say you are" and the whole thing starts again.

Any ideas how I can sort it?

Make sure you are using Internet Explorer. It probably uses activex.

Still no luck.

I can reset my password but as soon as I try to log on using it it says it thinks someone is using my account and insists on sending a code to a long gone email I no longer have access to. The only option then is to 'recover' my account which entails a huge form filled with every account question imaginable which after abot 24 hours results in an email directing me to change my password which once changed results in WE THINK SOMEONE IS USING YOUR FUCKING ACCOUNT

[Wilbur]

Have you tried this ?



1.       Click on this link. (https://account.live.com/ResetPassword.aspx to go the password reset page)

2.       Click on the third option:  I Think Someone Else is using my Windows Live ID.

3.       Select Reset your Password option.

4.       Enter the Microsoft account you are trying to recover.

5.       Enter the characters you see on the picture, and then tick on Next.

6.       Click on I can't use any of these options.

7.       Re-enter the Microsoft account you are trying to recover. Under  Where should we contact you?, Enter an email address that's different from the one you're trying to recover.

8.       Click on Next.

If you passed, you'll get the reset link right away to your alternate email account entered on step #9. If the system needs further validation with the information you have provided on the questionnaire, it may take 24 hours.

[chocky909]

The problem was my account was flagged and after a VERY lengthy call to XBox support they sorted it for me.

From the sounds of it I was never going to be able to reset it online. I just wish it had told me that instead of leading me on a merry dance of verification promises.

Cheers for the suggestions guys. I really appreciate it.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

My sister needs a new laptop so, once again, I've been asked for tech advice that I'm really not qualified to give. Looking around PC World it seemed that she couldn't go far wrong for 300-400 quid, but I'm hazy on a couple of points:

1) Are AMD processors best avoided? I've heard the odd horror story about overheating and general talk about Intel being superior.

2) Is Windows 8 going to be pants without a touchscreen? I used it briefly and it did seem a bit on the pantsy side, but maybe it's something you can get used to.

[Wilbur]

My sister needs a new laptop so, once again, I've been asked for tech advice that I'm really not qualified to give. Looking around PC World it seemed that she couldn't go far wrong for 300-400 quid, but I'm hazy on a couple of points:

1) Are AMD processors best avoided? I've heard the odd horror story about overheating and general talk about Intel being superior.

2) Is Windows 8 going to be pants without a touchscreen? I used it briefly and it did seem a bit on the pantsy side, but maybe it's something you can get used to.

AMD are fine.

Windows 8. Well I'll try to be subjective BUT I spent quite a lot of time setting up a new Lenovo G580 for a customer yesterday  and I STILL hate it. Its a bastard neither here nor there compromise, they should have kept *metro* for the tablets and at least allowed for the old start button to be switched on. You  can use free addins like Classic shell to get it to behave in a more logical manner but why should you. Its possible in 6 months I'll love it but I think its VERY unlikely.

Incidentally the Lenovo is a nice machine in itself.

[Wilbur]

Anyone know a decent method of rooting/jailbreaking Kindle Fire?

Bit of a delay on this one sorry.

http://www.xda-developers.com/android/and-just-like-that-kindle-fire-hd7-receives-the-gift-of-root/

Not used it myself but the Nook instructions on that site were spot on.

[fat handed twat]

Is there a way to delete your CaB account? I'm not floucing, I just have 2 usernames and want to get rid of one so I can use the email address registered to that account with my other username.

[Puffin Chunks]

I don't think you can. Just create a throwaway gmail account for your old CaB profile, and change the email to that. Then you should be able to use the old email assigned to that profile for your new one.

[sick as a pike]

Windows 8. Well I'll try to be subjective BUT I spent quite a lot of time setting up a new Lenovo G580 for a customer yesterday  and I STILL hate it.

Keen eyed viewers may remember me asking for recommendations for a new laptop for my 75 year old Mum. (I got a Samsung as recommended, and the machine itself seems great.)
But, Windows 8. It's all shiny and colourful and made out of tiles and 'charms' and all that, but it's very different. I managed to set it up for her and favourited the main internet things she wanted to use, which worked for a bit. Then it downloaded some updates, wiped the favourites and put up a message something like "your system will shut down in two days." Which, still being a little fearful of computers, my Mum took as a threat.
We got round that, but each time I phone her she'll say something like "there was a blue button at the bottom, but that's gone now, what do I do?" I think I'll try installing the classic skins mentioned above next time I'm there at least then what she describes might fit with what I remember of older Windows versions.

[Queneau]

Bit of a delay on this one sorry.

http://www.xda-developers.com/android/and-just-like-that-kindle-fire-hd7-receives-the-gift-of-root/

Not used it myself but the Nook instructions on that site were spot on.

Nice one, I'll take a look at that later.

[Zetetic]

I don't think this really deserves another thread, so here goes:

What games were there that you could start to play while they were installing?
Half-Life 2 and possibly Halo is all I can think of.

[MojoJojo]

It's harder than that thread about ants.

Do old 8-bit games which had a minigame you could play while loading count? You might have more luck with that - although I didn't have any games that did that, and can't remember any.

[Johnny Townmouse]

More of my home cinema problems.

I am trying to get my TV to run through my home cinema system. At the moment only Blu-rays/DVDs play through the speakers as they are connected but the TV is not. I bought this cable on advice but there is no socket in the back of the TV for it:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/XO-Digital-Optical-Premium-Install/dp/B002NLUFAO/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1356124309&sr=1-4

Is there some other audio cable I should be using to make the TV audio play through the home cinema system?

TV
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-UE40EH5300-40-inch-1080p-Smart/dp/B007JURFXY/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1356123848&sr=1-3

Blu-ray Home Cinema
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-HT-D4200-Blu-ray-Cinema-System/dp/B005FVJ7U8/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1356124200&sr=1-5

[Blumf]

I am trying to get my TV to run through my home cinema system. At the moment only Blu-rays/DVDs play through the speakers as they are connected but the TV is not. I bought this cable on advice but there is no socket in the back of the TV for it:

The "digital audio out (optical)" jobbie just below the scart port is the one it should go in. May have to fiddle with some settings on the TV to enable it. The corresponding port in in the centre of the rear on the amp.

[Johnny Townmouse]

The "digital audio out (optical)" jobbie just below the scart port is the one it should go in. May have to fiddle with some settings on the TV to enable it. The corresponding port in in the centre of the rear on the amp.

Oh FFS. Thanks Blumf. I have to say that the male part of an optical does not have an intuitive relationship with the female optical port on the TV. It needs to be fiddled with before it goes in, and even then there isn't much of a satisfying 'clunk' that is has docked.

In any case, I persevered and all is now well. The speaker settings on the TV is all very clear in the menu, but it was that darn cable that thwarted me.

CHEERS.

[Blumf]

That's a thread of it's own, the fucking-nnnnggghhhh-bastardness of just about every plug/socket used in technology. Anything more complex than a jack plug is a right royal PITA to use, especially if you have to fiddle about behind something and you can't see it.

[Johnny Townmouse]

Yeah, this one is a bit like a sausage in a corridor, it doesn't seem to be satisfyingly connected but the sound is fine. The TV is sitting on my mantlepiece so fucking around behind it, whilst stopping fall on me, didn't help when it came to fitting the cable.

But thanks. Now I can hear pretentious perfume adverts in CLEAR SURROUND SOUND.

[HappyTree]

I have looked at Windows 8 on Youtube a little, read some reviews and read people's comments here. So I fall in with the consensus that it's not ideal and I'd prefer to keep a nice background of photos that I like, with icons on top like normal.

But a friend's mum has given me pause for thought. Is this antipathy really warranted? I've never used Windows 8, so why exactly is it not that good? Is it just because it's different?

She asked me what system she should get since she now needs to get a new computer. I advised her to get W7, as did a techie friend of ours. But she argued "WHy would I get something that's not the latest system? What's wrong with Windows 8?" I was unable to say, except that it's "crappy square green shapes" and follows the pattern of being an OS that is crap. "W9 will be the good one," I assured her.

But am I just following the anti-Windows 8 herd? Is she, for all her technical naivety, actually right?

[Blumf]

Under the bonnet W8 seems to be pretty good. The problem is W8 tries to force a tablet UI onto a desktop system, and does so in an inconsistent and confusing manner. You're forever flipping between tablet and desktop modes, even within the same app (the system update utility does this for one example).

It's pretty obvious MS are trying to push it to catch up with Apple and Google in the tablet marketplace, but there is no benefit to the average desktop user (full-screen only apps on a 20"+ monitor? Touch-screen gestures being non-intuitively handled by the mouse, or worse, laptop touchpads (did you move the cursor right or did you swipe to flip between apps?))

Windows 8 is going to be painful, avoid it, by the sound of things W9 will come along sooner rather than later.

[HappyTree]

Ah ok, cheers. Strange that a company that makes OSes for a living actually released one that has a confusing, hybrid control mechanism. You'd think that Bill Gates would use his mouse and think "Hmm..."

[Wilbur]

Ah ok, cheers. Strange that a company that makes OSes for a living actually released one that has a confusing, hybrid control mechanism. You'd think that Bill Gates would use his mouse and think "Hmm..."

Been a long time since he bothered with the day to day stuff I'd imagine. MS have a record of making frankly stupid moves. Vista was a disaster, an OS that estimated 719 years 33 days 4 hours 16 minutes and 7 seconds to copy a 2mb file over a network was clearly not ready for release. The industry also scratched its head over the enormous price it paid for Skype. Blumfs summary of 8's problems is on the nose. 

[small_world]

My parents aren't the best with computers (I'm slightly better), so I often have to pop around to sort little things out.
I'd love to do more, like help them with software and downloading things, but it comes down to niether of us having the time.

At work, our computer tech's use log-me-in to take control of our laptops. Is there anything free that we can both log in to that would give me control remotely of my mam's lap top while she's there to watch/log on?

[Dusty Gozongas]

http://www.tightvnc.com/ would be okay for that I think. Can't recall exactly but I'm pretty sure you can set it up so that the mouse pointer is visible on the remote machine (although I think I've always disabled that when using it).

[MojoJojo]

The problem is temporary IP addresses and NAT.

[Wilbur]

My parents aren't the best with computers (I'm slightly better), so I often have to pop around to sort little things out.
I'd love to do more, like help them with software and downloading things, but it comes down to niether of us having the time.

At work, our computer tech's use log-me-in to take control of our laptops. Is there anything free that we can both log in to that would give me control remotely of my mam's lap top while she's there to watch/log on?

You can use logmein for free as a home user. Or teamviewer is OK.

[NoSleep]

Yes; Teamviewer[nb]Also available for Macs[/nb], rather than a VNC app.

[small_world]

Ahhh.
Cheers for that.
I've had a proper look at Logmein and that looks like it's exactly what I was after.
Should have really just done that straight away, eh?

Secondly, and lastly, then...
At home I plug a USB stick in to my Xbox and watch films from it.
But when I'm at my parents, they have a DVD player and a Samsung tv that doesn't take a USB stick. But does have an HDMI input.

Am I after an 'Up-scaler'?
And, if so, which one?