lokoike

I really like the new look. It'll take some getting used to, but it is a nice clean look.

lol. And it's funny you mention RFID chips, Eldmannen. I just read an article (I believe it was in Popular Mechanics) about some lab designing some injectible RFID chips that are being used by the members of some club. The way you get into the club is by having your chip scanned to prove that you are a member. This is some scary stuff. Hopefully I'll be dead before it goes full throttle, but judging by way companies like MS are pushing DRM, I'm willing to bet they'll want to chip me before too long.

You're making my mouth water. Just make sure it's Harvest Cheddar flavored thermal compound.

I'm not sure. Mine is a 108 Mbps, and it cost about $50 (but I got it on sale; I think it's usually closer to $70). I was at Staples today, and I saw some PCI 108 Mbps adapters for about $70, so maybe the USB ones are a little cheaper.

I bought one from Netgear a while back, and it works great! I don't understand why anyone would spend the money on a PCMCIA wireless card (or a PCI adapter, for that matter). My USB adapter has identical range and speed, and I'm not limited to using it in only a notebook or desktop; I can use it in both. Also, buying a USB adapter doesn't cost a dime more than one for PCI (-X) or PCMCIA slot. If you're going to get a new wireless adapter, and you have a free USB 2.0 port, don't hesitate to buy one.

Good idea! They aren't good for anything else! lol

Just close out CCleaner if it is running and install right over top of your previous version. Usually most installers will tell you if you should remove the previous versions before installing the newest version.

Well, I wouldn't say an idiot; more just someone who is ignorant about how CCleaner works. While storing music in the temp folder is a bit odd (since Windows comes with a My Music folder for that very purpose), it isn't necessarily a given that CCleaner would delete one's files from temp. And Windows doesn't really give you any warning when you manually save a file in the temp folder. You can try recovering your files with PC Inspector File Recovery 4.0. It is one of the only free file recovery apps I know of. Just make sure that you save the recovered files to an external hard drive or flash ROM stick.

That is a good idea; having some sort of countdown timer. At the very least, there could be a countup timer, so that you still have some acknowledgement that something is going on. Also, maybe there could be a bar at the bottom (or top) of CCleaner that would tell you what individual file or folder CCleaner is currently cleaning. You wouldn't really be able to read it unless it was working on a very large file, because the text would change so quickly, but at least you would know something is happening. Having the same horizontal bar fill up over and over again tells me absolutely nothing, so an information bar would be more logical. But until these features are incorporated into CCleaner, one thing Robert11's son can do is check the hard drive activity light on his computer's case. If it is consistently blinking, obviously something is going on. Another way to check for activity is to look at ccleaner.exe under the Processes tab in Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del). If it shows serious CPU usage, there is also a chance that CCleaner is still working. The only problem with this is that, if the program has frozen, Task Manager will often still show heavy CPU usage, so your best bet is to just check the hard drive activity light.

How very true. Microsoft can't win the software war by making good programs, so they simply alter the standards to intentionally make others' programs obsolete. But I do agree with rridgely when he says "you just have to get the right ones". There are plenty of freeware clones of great apps that give freeware a bad name. That said, I use non-MS apps or freeware/open source for almost all of the work I do, and my machine still runs fast and stable. In fact, the only MS apps I use are WinXP Pro for my OS, and Windows Media Player 10 (with the Real/QuickTime Alternatives). I don't have the balls to switch over to Linux yet, since this is the only computer that I technically own, and I don't have any previous Linux experience. One of these days...

Well, obviously he was joking about the killing part (awfully hard to murder a browser). What I was referring to is "IE should... regain supremacy". I hear this all the time: MS should write all of the world's software, then we wouldn't have to worry about compatibility issues, bugs, etc. I suppose if everyone in the world had infinite hardware resources to work with, and had hours every day to devote to recovering from crashes and viruses and a poorly designed interface... then MS would be a perfectly logical choice for all of one's software. But until that day comes, I think I'll stick with my easy to use, non-hardware-hogging, FREE software.

To the best of my understanding, items have to be turned off and uninstalled because the running components are the ones that have to be updated. This is the same reason that a lot of installers ask you to close all other programs before running them. If a component that has to be reinstalled or updated is still running, obviously it cannot be changed until it is stopped or removed. So, when it comes to SpywareBlaster, the components run in the background. These are the components that have to be updated, so of course they must be stopped first. As far as the uninstallation goes, I don't know if that is necessary, but it certainly can't hurt. Evidently the newest versions of SpywareBlaster stop their own running processes automatically, so that you don't have to do it manually every time you update. It's one of those things were you go, "why didn't they come up with this sooner?"

I've gotta be frank, guys: Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips are the best, no contest. Free Chips With Every Mac I mean, if it's good enough for someone as picky as Steve Jobs, you know they must be something special. Maybe the CCleaner forum should give a free bag to every new member...

I was under the impression we were talking about installing either 3.5 or 3.5.1 over top of 3.4, in which case, I believe you should turn off the protection and uninstall 3.4 first. If you are going from 3.5 to 3.5.1, Javacool says this is not necessary.

Regardless, of whether or not it worked for individuals, the listed installation procedures are given to prevent any possible chance of error occurring. It's the same reason that most installers ask you to close out all other applications before continuing. Most of the time, you can keep apps running in the background while you install a new program with absolutely no consequences, and no prompt to restart your computer. But there is always the potential that something could go wrong if the process is not done exactly the way the directions show. Obviously it worked just fine for Tarun, but when Ultimate Predator did it the same thing, it didn't work. Most likely, if Ultimate Predator had turned off the protection and uninstalled first, everything would have worked fine. The method listed by Javacool is the foolproof method, not the express method.

MS fans, lol! I've never understood them. I mean honestly, when it comes to most of MS's products, why settle for less than the best? OpenOffice.org 2.0.1 > Office 2003 FireFox 1.5 > Internet Explorer 6 ZA (or Kerio) > Windows Firewall Google search > MSN search and of course: CCleaner > > > > > Disk Cleanup Anyway, sorry for changing the subject. Glad that you got your computer cleaned up, mps69_1999. That is always the first thing I do after installing a fresh copy of Windows: clear out all of the crap!

I truly sincerely hope you were joking. Obviously MS could never come out on top by writing stable, intuitive code, as they are incapable of doing so. The only way they could possibly triumph is by designing some program to prevent compatiblities with any other browser. That is basically the idea behind Trusted Computing. Real trustworthy, huh? If you are still using IE, please accept my condolences. And click on this link while you're at it. You won't regret it.

Win98 and ME are not supported, eh? Why does this not surprise me. I thought Trusted Computing was only supposed to render freeware and open source obsolete; now MS is denying support for their own products. And to think that some people still purchase MS products. lol

The three main folders you are going to want to check are "Documents and Settings", "Program Files", and "Windows". If these three folders equal about 70 GB or so, you probably aren't missing any space. But, if you still are missing about 10 GBs, it is possible that you have some DVD backups stored somewhere on your HD (assuming you burn DVDs). I've seen this on a few computers that I've worked on, and CCleaner doesn't get rid of it unless the app is specified, or the movie is stored in the temp folder. Apps like DVD Fab are notorious for this. And, of course, you've been running CCleaner to get rid of temporary crap on your computer, right?

Sorry, couldn't resist. And you just outdid yourself. I think I laughed up a lung! You need to add that Wikipedia.

I just tested it out, and I didn't see any difference. I did the extremes (0-100%) and still didn't see any change. It is possible that my testing sources were less than perfect, but I'm inclined to agree with Tarun on this one. Oh well, it was a cool idea anyway.

That is the funniest thing I've heard this year!

Most new mobos already have inbedded gigabit LAN, so really, you might as well stick with the ethernet on the board. Pros of inbedded: Frees up a PCI or PCI-X slot. Less drivers and installation crap to deal with. Less cost; integrated is usually cheaper than a card. Potentially faster access, like kobrakommander56 said. Cons: Eats up a couple CPU cycles and some RAM. Motherboard gets slightly hotter? Umm... that's about it. I wouldn't make integrated LAN the selling point, but if you can find a board with everything you want, plus integrated LAN, get it! Plus, then if you decide you want more LAN connections, you can always use your free PCI (-X) slot for that. The same does not go with integrated video and audio. Both of these require substantial processing power, so having them built-in to the board is not a wise decision. Video and audio adapters have their own memory and processors, so when you go with "cards" that are integrated into your board, you are making your system's RAM and proc act like a video card and sound card as well. Not to mention, electrical "noise" from your board can be a detriment to your sound if it is integrated. So, basically, integrated LAN, USB, FireWire, etc. are fine, but integrated video and audio are a big no-no.

Well, if he already restarted Windows, this probably isn't relevant, but did you look down at the icons by your time? There should be an icon with a green arrow over top of a gray rectangle (see picture). Click it, and choose to safely remove the device. It is possible that you removed your MP3 player, but Windows didn't register its removal, so it thinks the USB port is still occupied. But restarting Windows should fix this right up, so... If all of your USB ports are dead, check inside your case. The case USB ports should be connected to your mobo by a cable that has 2 sets of 4 pins (or it may have only 7 pins, so one set of 4 and one set of 3). Or, if your USB ports are connected via PCI, make sure that the card is plugged firmly into the motherboard. It is certainly possible that something got jiggled loose, especially if you are "repairing" it using kobrakommander56's methods.

Guess the only way to find out is to donate.