lotse

I always use the real alternative these days. I haven't come accross a file I haven't been able to play with it yet... If real player came out with a basic player with out all the bloated extras and no added spyware/cookies, I might consider installing again. I might be waiting a long time

Know what you mean. Just spent ?200 at the dentist.. The work took all of 20 minutes. Never mind, here a couple of cute cat gifs to brighten us up.

Ok, silly question time... Why would you need to mass convert any one format to another? Apart from the occassional huge .bmp file, I've never found a need. MS paint will allow you to covert any image file to any other Btw you can clean and reduce the size of your Jpegs with this free software: JPG Cleaner v2.6 http://www.rainbow-software.org/programs.html

I can vouch for that as well. Doesn't it also have an option to "compact" the registry? Works very well with XP. Recommended. I don't really dare try anything too adventorous with Vista - including regestry cleaners - Even some "Vista compatable" software seems to have been rushed out in a hurry and are buggy to say the least. I could write an essay on this..

Speaking from experience and no real technical knowledge here... Firstly I would stick to DvD -R. That is the only type of DvD I have had sucess with. I have never suceeded in burning to DvD +R Secondly it depends what you want from your DVD. Do you want to be able to place it in your DVD player and watch it via your TV? or do you simply want to store the movie as an AVI (or any other movie format) as a file on you DVD? (still playable on your PC, but not on a conventional DVD player) If you just want to store it as a file, windows will burn the file for you - no special software involved. To play your movie in a conventional DvD player you need to convert your movie to a "VOB" file, which you then burn to a DVD. It is playable in any DVD player. To do this you need software like WinAVI Video Converter. It works and is simple to use. Bear in mind its not a two minute job and the results as mentioned above are not always perfect. - set aside a few hours. http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Vi...Converter.shtml Hope this helps

I haven't found one person who has got more than one star Btw I see the stars when hovering over the "squares" that have something to do with the number of posts, not the username. Edit. Sorry I found them..

Just a few random thoughts on the issue. I run Vista as well, and get the same "issues". I have never seen it as a problem though, any more than the "unused file extensions" registry entries. Both issues usually appear when I have unusal files such as split files - .001 .002 etc. Or if you right click and use the "open with" option. It might be coincidence but in both cases, double clicking on the file doesn't open the necesary program, you either have to find the program yourself via the "open with" option, or open the program and then find the file. The Registry Key: "....\Windows\Current Version\Explorer\FileExt\Open With List" you mentioned sounds like part of the same "problem". Prehaps CCleaner (or windows) see these as only temporary file asssociations that can be deleted. A kind of one off event that doesn't need to be stored. I had never given it a second thought until now.

I have never beaten a computer at chess. Come to think of it I have rarely even won any game of chess, computer or human based. On the one notable exception where I did win, the chess game lasted 3 days and was washed down with a crate of beer and countless cigarettes Good times.

I agree with what andavari says. You should be able to save the image though, Flickr is where I get some of my wallpapers. Try using Firefox in safe mode and see if you can save it then. If I can't save an image for what ever reason, I use this extension: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1590 It opens the largest image on a new page, bypasing any scripting restrictions the site may have imposed. It has its limitations, but it usually works.

Hi I've been using the Vista Firewall for over 6 months now, with no problems. If your worried about outbound connections, I use this: http://sphinx-soft.com/Vista/index.html Its free and it runs alongside vista firewall. When asked, you just have to state whether you want to "enable" a program to access the internet or to "disable" the program. Really simple and effective. Just remember to leave Vista firewall on as well. Hope this helps

I agree...

There is a tweak I have used for Vista that dramatically speeds up the start-up and shut down times. I think it speeds up Vista in general as well. The web page I got it from no longer exsists, but here is a copy. This tweak disables performance counters... It worked for me, but run it at your own risk.

I'll let you know when I get round to having a game Hopefully sometime soon. Back to yor PC problems. What with CD/DVD drive problems and connection problems, it really sounds like the best solution might be a reformat... For all the hassle, it can be a real breath of fresh air. You can start again with all the benefits of hindsight. I feel like a bit of a cop-out merchant, but two hours of hassle will probably save you umpteen hours of frustration and hairpulling later on. As Clint Eastwood said " A man's got to know his limitations" Best of luck

Stupid question really, but have you checked your connection under "Advanced -> network-> settings. Make sure your not trying to connect to something other than your ISP. Mine looks like this on a broadband cableconnection:

If you type msconfig in Run, one of the tabs there will show the services running and a tick box to stop or start them. I have heard that is not really recommended. I have used this method before without problems, but I may have been lucky.

I have looked into Erunt and installed it. It looks good. I'm a bit confused though. If Erunt only backs up the registry, wouldn't you still be left with the programs/system files that caused the problem in the first place after you had restored it? Could you then just delete/unistall the offending files as normal even if the registry settings don't tally with the system files.? Granted System restore can cause problems but if it works, its as if the problem file never exsisted - not a trace. Excuse my ignorance

Answer: Sell what they can, and take the money and RUN Joking aside any PC seller will follow the trend that makes them the most money in the short term - the rest is bull and hype. Unfortunately it is true of many consumer goods these days.

Heres is my list. Apart form spywareguard, AVG anti-virus and the firewall programs, nothing else loads at start up or runs "real time". AVG anti virus (Free) SpwareGuard SpywareBlaster SpyBot search and destroy Adaware 1.06r1 Rogue remover Super anti spyware free edition Windows Vista Firewall Vista Firewall control ...and a whole heap of Firefox addons.. I use system restore as a "Returnil" backup. Not sure how advisable that is, but it hasn't let me down yet. I keep them all upto date, and run them once every few weeks.

Prehaps. A lot of third party software now seems totally bloated to me. They try to bundle antispyware, antivirus, and Firewall protection into one. You could argue, the third party commercial software has become as bloated as the windows software everyone slags off relentlessly. I have tried it once and it slowed my PC down and caused unexpected problems. Sure, the free stuff will never match the complexity of the commercial software, but then again if it has never let me down, then why would I want to pay extra for features I can bearly understand? I haven't had a virus or any malware for years - and my surfing habits aren't exactly holier-than-thou. Its horses for courses. As with any operating system, browser, or security software, if it works for you, I'm happy. The free stuff has worked well for me -I'm not going to start paying out money for commercial software when I have no reason to. More isn't always better.

Thanks DennisD, I'll give that one a go. Just one question, what are "endgame bitbases"? and do I need them for my very low standard games of chess?

For what its worth I use the built in Firewall that comes with Vista in conjunction with a program called Vista firewall control. http://sphinx-soft.com/Vista/index.html It allows you to control outgoing connections program by program. A popup box will appear asking you whether you want to enable or disable a programs access to the net. (Apparently you can do this yourself with the Vista firewall, but its only for the technically savvy.) Remember, its more of an add-on to the Firewall, not a replacement, so you will need to leave the windows firewall ON. It works well and its free. I have been using this setup for over 6 months, and I'm quite happy. I don't feel its necessary to use any other Firewall. Hope this helps

Found the problem. The setup file size was no where near what it should have been. The download never completed sucessfully. I wonder why I didn't get a warning? The only way I could tell was by right clicking the file and selecting properties. The program works well, although I find it a bit clumsy to use. You always seem to have to use the file menus or right click options, rather than use icons. Defineatly going to keep it though, as it seems to work well with Vista.

I downloaded the latest version and doubleclicked it. A DOS box opened with the following error message. Is it my Vista system or the program?

I reside in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Sorry I didn't mean it to come out that way..