by ·Comments Off on Re-installing Windows 7 on a Dell Inspiron M5040

Dell Inspiron M5040 Laptop

Dell Inspiron M5040 Laptop

Just a week or so ago my daughter’s laptop–a Dell Inspiron M5040–was hit by one of those fake antivirus.  She was browsing one of those sites which provides access to movies that haven’t been officially released yet on DVD.  Based on my experience, those sites are typically untrustworthy and are infected with fake antivirus.

If you are ever infected, the best thing is to do a cold shut down of your computer (just turn it off; not a normal shutdown).

Not knowing enough on how and what these things can do, she did a restart of her computer, which is one of the things you don’t want to do in such a situation since that pretty much gives the fake antivirus running in memory permission to embed itself into the computer’s registry, ensuring its persistence between boots.  When her computer completed the restart, it continued to report that there were some problems on the computer, requesting a scan of the computer to fix the problems.

I tried to do a recovery through one of the repair options of the computer, but did not succeed.  I wanted to use the built-in recovery image from the disk drive, but for some reason, I could not see it nor could I find anything that allows the system to reload the manufacturer base computer image.

At this point, I realized that the best way to fix this was to simply re-install Windows 7 from a DVD.  I was able to complete this, but Windows 7 can’t seem to detect the following:

  • Video driver for the display on the Dell Inspiron M5040
  • Network ethernet adapter driver
  • Wireless LAN adapter driver

One would think that dell.com would make these drivers easy to find, but no luck.  After multiple searches, I eventually found the drivers at driverswin.com.  These were the drivers I used to get my daughter’s laptop looking and working right:

You should take this approach only if you cannot recover the image from the computer’s existing recovery volume.

Let me know if you find this useful by commenting below.

by ·Comments Off on Free Tech Support? Absolutely!

techguy.org

techguy

I found a web site that provides absolutely free tech support.  The site is called techguy.org.  They’ve been around since 1996, and they seem to have a large membership group of around 450,000.

The free part comes from the fact this site is sponsored by ads and is mainly supported by people like you.  Through forums, people with various issues can post their  problem, and another user who may have the answer posts their answer back.

Since they’ve been around since 1996, they have amassed a lot of problems and solutions that may be applicable to your situation.  Be advised though since technology changes at an extremely rapid pace, having been around the Internet that long may not give them the advantage.

Their strength really comes from the large membership.  For example, I did a search on “fake antivirus”.  The search result came back with over 5000 results.  I checked one of the responses and most of them are pretty detailed.

Give their site a try.  I know I will on occasion just to see what I can find.

by ·Comments Off on Cutting the Cord: No More Cable TV

No Cable TV!

Cutting the Cord: No more Cable TV

My family has been with no cable TV for over 2 years now.  We’ve saved almost $1000 over that time.  Well, we didn’t really save; we didn’t have to spend is more accurate.  I imagine some people have more expensive cable packages–in the $100/month range.  At this rate, someone could easily reduce their yearly spending by at least $1000 per year!  That is significant especially in this poor economy.

You might be wondering what we do for entertainment since the TV is generally the modern-day traditional entertainment center.  The secret is high-speed Internet and streaming video.

Within the last decade, high-speed Internet has been here and affordable.  It costs me around $30 per month to maintain DSL speed Internet service.  In 2007, Microsoft came out with built-in WiFi on their Xbox units.  A year later, Netflix became available on the Xbox.  With wireless access points for the home being available at a very affordable price, these two events set the stage for Internet TV.

Today, between YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, and the occasional DVD purchase, we can pretty much watch anything on TV.  The only thing we cannot watch are those pay-per-view type events or other events that only makes sense to watch live.  But I think it is only a matter of time before the networks realize that the Internet is the way to go.

This is the basic setup I have:

  • Console:  Xbox 360 4GB Console – around $200 at Amazon.com; you can use the Wii or the PS3 also
  • Internet service:  Verizon’s DSL Service – around $30 per month; any high-speed Internet service will generally do
  • Wireless router:  NETGEAR RangeMax 150 Wireless Router  – around $70 at Amazon.com; this one has been pretty reliable for me
  • Streaming service:  Netflix – $7.99 per month

Have you cut the cord yet?  If so, how are you doing it?

by ·Comments Off on Evernote, An Awesome Cloud Tool

Best note taking app

Evernote, Best note taking app

I’ve use a lot of note taking tools in my life, including the tried and true notepad and pen.  Nothing have come close to the perfection of Evernote.  Why do I say this?  Well, read on and find out.

What’s wrong with traditional note taking apps and tools?  The very biggest problem with them is that they cause your data to be in one physical location, vulnerable to being lost.  The other problem is that sometimes, you never really have access to that same tool; then, your notes become fragmented and out-of-order.  The next thing is that trying to find an old note can be a big challenge.  Lastly, you are limited to what you can write or type.

Evernote comes close to perfection when it comes to solving your note taking challenge.  Why?  Because it addresses each and everyone of those problems.  And guess what?  It’s free!!!

I’m not going to cover every little thing about Evernote here, but I will highlight its key features:

  • Your notes go to the “cloud”; now it doesn’t matter what happens to your electronic device; it breaks, just get another one and you still have your notes.  If you lose your electronic device, it doesn’t matter, you still have your notes; thus you can never lose your notes (unless Evernote disappears from the face of the earth; which is not very likely considering the success they are having )
  • With Evernote, you can take notes with your desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone, and through simple texting means.  Most of the time, you’ll have your phone, and as such, you can still take notes.
  • The search function within Evernote is great.  You can search using key words, or through tags; nothing can be easier.
  • With Evernote, you aren’t limited to taking notes by typing; you can add other forms of information like:  audio, videos, images, and photos.  You can’t beat that!
  • Last but not least, it is FREE!
Let me know if this information is useful or if you have more information you would like to share.  Comment below.

by ·Comments Off on Ge.tt: Sharing Big Files in the Cloud with Ge.tt

Sometimes files are just getting way too big to email.  When they do, you can always use Ge.tt to temporarily store your large file (2GB max) in the cloud so that others who you wish to provide access can reach it via some unique URL.

Just recently, my mastermind group recorded a meeting which I wasn’t able to attend.  The video file was over 100MB in size.  They uploaded it to Ge.tt.  One of the group members emailed us a very short URL.  That link provided us access to download the large 100MB plus video file.

So if you ever find your self in a bind, Ge.ttspace for it.

ge.tt

source: ge.tt

by ·Comments Off on Drop Box: 2GB in the Cloud for Free!

Drop Box is a cloud resource that you can access from any of your electronic devices, like your laptop, tablet, smart phone, and desktop computer.  This cloud resource provides 2GB of free storage.

Now, 2GB doesn’t seem much, but it is sufficient enough to hold various documents, photos, images, or short videos.  If you need more space, you can subscribe for more disk space.  For most general applications, 2GB should suffice.

For example, as an online writer, I put various pictures or images on my drop box space.  I also store my short writing thoughts on drop box.  So no matter where I am, and regardless of which computing platform I’m carrying, I can access the files from my drop box.

Here’s a quick video on the beauty of using drop box.

source: petersaints at youtube.com

by ·Comments Off on 101 Websites worth seeing before you die. Really? (part 4 of 4)

This is it.  The last post that will complete the 101 websites that may be worth seeing before you die.  Here you go:

  1. http://savethewords.org/ – Yes.  An interesting site which looks like a massive board with thousands of words posted on it.  The idea is to save words that no longer are used by adopting a word and spreading the word.
  2. http://notpron.org/notpron/levelone.htm – No. This is just a remake of some adventure game or something similar using the power of the Internet.
  3. http://games.adultswim.com/robot-unicorn-attack-twitchy-online-game.html – No.  This is just another video game.  Video games generally can suck precious time from your life.  So, go on…skip this on.
  4. http://webdocs.cs.ualberta.ca/~chinook/play/index.html – No.  If you like playing checkers against a computer, then maybe “yes.”
  5. http://enigmasand.com/ – Yes.  Neat experiment on sand dynamics.
  6. http://inception.davepedu.com/ – No.  Useless.
  7. http://www.xrez.com/yose_proj/yose_deepzoom/index.html –  Yes.  A good way to check out Yosemite.
  8. http://www.dearjohn.com/generate.php – No.  Simplistic.  Don’t need it.
  9. http://www.phonespell.org/phonespell.html – No.  Don’t need this site to come up with words for your phone number.
  10. http://stereomood.com/ – Yes.  An easy way to find music to your mood.
  11. http://moodstream.gettyimages.com/ – Yes.  Another way to help find the right music and image mood.
  12. http://lab.wx3.com/defender/ – Yes.  Neat little game and good background music to boot.
  13. http://www.asdfjklsemicolon.com/ – No.  This is a totally useless site.  It is as good as the previous site–twocansandstring.com (also made by the same person.  I’m not sure how it even made it to the Maximum PC article.  Go figure.
  14. http://www.twocansandstring.com/ – No.  Looks boring.  It’s a way to chat anonymously.  You can ask questions and answer people’s questions.
  15. http://www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com/cgi-bin/seigmiaow.pl – Yes, if you are into cats and Hitler.
  16. http://kevan.org/proce55ing/zombies/ – Yes.  You need to see this one so that you know that if we actually had a zombie infection, how fast that infection would spread.  Fortunately there is no such thing as “zombies.”
  17. http://www.dontevenreply.com/ – No.  If you are like me, you have enough emails to read.  This site has email thread archives of some communication exchange.  I suppose it is supposed to be humorous and entertaining, but not in this format.  It feels too much like reading email for work.
  18. http://alpha61.com/primenumbershittingbear/ – No.  Absolutely no.  Don’t even waste your time clicking the link.
  19. http://marriedtothesea.com/ – No.  It is somewhat entertaining, but you could probably live not even visiting this site.  They seem to be focusing in selling you their merchandise.
  20. http://theoatmeal.com/ – Yes.  Very entertaining.  Some pages are explicit, so it may not be good for kids to see.
  21. http://www.wordle.net/ – Yes.  You need this site to get the gist of the underlying message of any written communication.  This site will create a world cloud from an input of text.  Try doing this on President Obama’s job plan speech (last 9/8/2011) and you’ll see that what stands out are the following words:  right, now, tax, jobs, Americans.
  22. http://htwins.net/scale/ – Yes.  Absolutely yes.  This site gives you a good perspective on how insignificant we are in the universe, and how massive it is.  If this doesn’t prove there is a god, nothing will.  This site has a slider that allows you to zoom in or out to see various objects with their relative size and scale.
  23. http://www.sealandgov.org/ – No.  This is just a web site for Sea Land.  If you are into royalty, this may be the site for you, but definitely not me.
  24. http://graphjam.memebase.com/ – No.  No big deal.  The site seems a bit busy.  It does have some interesting graphs.
  25. http://bit.ly/eBk8rq – shows all of the above links.  If you wish to save time trying to find all the links, this is definitely a site to see before you die.
I’m not sure about you, but I think there are other sites out there worth looking at before you die.  If you have one to suggest, please comment below.

by ·Comments Off on Amazon’s New Tablet Launch

Amazon's new Kindle--a possible iPad killer?

Amazon's new Kindle--a possible iPad killer?

It seems that everyone is getting into the tablet market, and it also seems like there is always a new kid on  the block being touted as the next iPad killer.  I haven’t seen any news stating that Amazon is actually stating this, but the press seems to be doing it themselves.

Here’s the scoop on the new tablet that Amazon is going to announce this Wednesday, 28 Sep 2011:

  • 7″ display
  • Android operating system
  • Color multi-touch screen
  • costs around $250
  • will also be called a Kindle
The press, in general, seems to indicate that this could impact the iPad’s market share because of Amazon’s market reach and cloud-based services.  It think it is possible if this new Kindle will have a higher hardware specification than its competitor–the Barnes and Noble Nook Color.  If it doesn’t, then it will simply be a Nook Color competitor, and thus will not upstage the iPad in any way.
That’s just my take on this.What do you think?

by ·Comments Off on 101 Websites worth seeing before you die. Really? (part 3 of 4)

Best Websites

source: Salvatore Vuono, FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This is part 3 of a 4 part post regarding the February 2011 issue of Maximum PC which touts 101 websites you need to see before you die.  In this article, I will continue to post my opinion regarding another 25 websites.

  1. http://hatsproductions.com/organtrail.html – No.  I would only recommend this site if you have time to kill, because this website page is basically a video game using graphics and technology based on 1970’s technology.
  2. http://machinarium.net/demo – Yes.  Even if you aren’t a computer game aficionado, you’ll at least appreciate the artwork and interesting puzzles here.
  3. http://www.playauditorium.com – Yes.  Great eye and ear candy for a different angle on puzzle games.
  4. http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/ – Yes.  This is a site which promotes data visualization, especially ones that look beautiful.
  5. http://tokyoplastic.com/dm.html – Yes.  Awesome animation and sound!
  6. http://experiments.instrum3nt.com/markmahoney/ball/# – Yes (just once though).  This is another Chrome experiment.  It illustrates how multiple browser windows can inter operate through the use of a bouncing ball.
  7. http://www.chromeexperiments.com – Yes.  You’ll need WebGL capable display card to view these visual array of artwork.
  8. http://www.kokogiak.com– Yes.  This guys has some interesting projects.  I won’t mention what they are.  Just go and check it out.
  9. http://seaquence.org  – Yes.  This is an interesting way of composing and presenting music.
  10. http://failblog.org – Yes.  This is one of the most well known sites (especially on YouTube).  It is very entertaining because it is so much like America’s Funniest Videos.
  11. http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/play/snake-oil-supplements – Yes.  This ought to help you decide which vitamins to get at Costco.  The visual data representation and the ability to filter on areas of concern make it easy to determine which one really is snake-oil.
  12. http://www.verbatim.jp/senshuken/ – Yes.  Very addicting game!!! Be careful.
  13. http://virtual-bubblewrap.com – No.  Not quite as good as the real thing.
  14. http://www.youtube.com/trivialpursuit – No.  Unfortunately I don’t speak Spanish.  So, this site is a definite NO.
  15. http://www.kongregate.com/games/pastelgames/the-trader-of-stories – Yes.  This is like reading an interactive comic book.  The game is an adventure.  There is no real time graphics, but between the sound and the awesome artwork, it makes for an entertaining play.
  16. http://www.yourethemannowdog.com/ – No.  Useless.
  17. http://www.willitblend.com/ – Yes.  This is an interesting way to promote an awesome blender.  I could use a blender like that.
  18. http://www.icanhascheezburger.com – Maybe.  If you like cats and burgers, just maybe you’ll love this site.
  19. http://amzn.to/7whhld – No.  This link appears to be dead.
  20. http://armorgames.com/play/4309/this-is-the-only-level – Yes.  You’ll be entertained by the game at this site for a little bit, but you’ll soon realize there is only one level in this game.
  21. http://periodictable.com/ – Yes.  I wish they had this when I was taking chemistry during college.  It sure would have given me a better sense of what all these elements were.
  22. http://firstpersontetris.com/ – No.  This is just a tetris game where rotating the falling block isn’t what you do.  Instead, you rotate everything else to make the block or shape land the way it needs to be.  It makes you feel like you are in space doing tetris in zero gravity.  This is very disorienting.
  23. http://www.kongregate.com/games/icylime/multitask – No.  This is a waste of time.  If you like to torture yourself with useless multitasking activities, go for it.  At the end of the day, it changes nothing, except maybe that you may think how uncoordinated you might be.
  24. http://www.conveythis.com/translation.php – No.  This site is a translation site.  You don’t need this.  Google has its own translation function.
  25. http://www.amiblind.com/ – No.  Totally useless.
Please check out the last posting on this subject matter.  It is the last 25 websites.