Knows No Bounds
Posts: 3,394 
Videos: 2
Location: 50° 30' N, 104° 38' W
Videos: 2
Location: 50° 30' N, 104° 38' W
May 30th, 2006, 10:15 AM
Depends entirely on what you need help with, what software you're using, and what level of knowledge and understanding you have now. There's no general answer to that question. I think your best bet is to start offline with the old fashioned reference materials: books. The "... For Dummies" series is actually pretty good for basic stuff, and you can find titles dealing with all varieties of Windows, Unix, Linux, and Macintosh operating systems. There are also titles that cover specific applications, like Excel, Word, Powerpoint, etc., and there are titles covering larger things like networking and Internet use.
I suggest you go to the library first, and if/when you find a reference book you think is worth owning, cruise through the Computers section of a book shop for it.
Depends entirely on what you need help with, what software you're using, and what level of knowledge and understanding you have now. There's no general answer to that question. I think your best bet is to start offline with the old fashioned reference materials: books. The "... For Dummies" series is actually pretty good for basic stuff, and you can find titles dealing with all varieties of Windows, Unix, Linux, and Macintosh operating systems. There are also titles that cover specific applications, like Excel, Word, Powerpoint, etc., and there are titles covering larger things like networking and Internet use.
I suggest you go to the library first, and if/when you find a reference book you think is worth owning, cruise through the Computers section of a book shop for it.
Ponderous Intellect
Posts: 3,859
Location: Victoria, BC
Location: Victoria, BC
May 30th, 2006, 10:37 AM
Welcome Layer ... You could have a look here and see if there are any articles or downloads you can use!
http://www.canadiancontent.net/tech/
Welcome Layer ... You could have a look here and see if there are any articles or downloads you can use!
http://www.canadiancontent.net/tech/
Bright Spark
Posts: 310
Location: North Lauderdale, FL
Location: North Lauderdale, FL
May 30th, 2006, 10:45 AM
Google is your friend. By playing with the wording of your question there is almost no limit to the amount of info you can find there.
For specific computer related questions, the forums at anandtech, http://forums.anandtech.com/, are a great resource.
Google is your friend. By playing with the wording of your question there is almost no limit to the amount of info you can find there.
For specific computer related questions, the forums at anandtech, http://forums.anandtech.com/, are a great resource.
Newbie
Posts: 22
Location: West Virginia, USA
Location: West Virginia, USA
June 1st, 2006, 03:37 PM
Here is a forum I've found to be very helpful:
http://forums.scotsnewsletter.com/
Here is a forum I've found to be very helpful:
http://forums.scotsnewsletter.com/
Newbie
Posts: 14
June 2nd, 2006, 01:51 PM
Hate to lay this on you folks, but here goes.
Bottom line. I’d rather not buy another computer.
I have three working computers. ( Ah, well, you know what I mean.)
See below.
The newest and ‘best?’ one, is the GENERIC P 3.
For the past year, I have been plagued with mal-functions on the GENERIC.
I took it into a computer shop on three separate occasions, over a four week period.
Each time I got it back with, “OK now, all fixed up.”
On the first visit, the ‘IT tech’ said, “For the way you use a computer, the GENERIC is a good computer.
There is no need to buy a new one.”
On the fourth visit and $$ later, the ‘IT tech’ said, “I can get you into a new super doper machine for around 500.00$.
Retrieved two old computers out of the closet, DELL and GATEWAY, saved all my data to an external HDD, ‘fdisk and partitioned all three, and re-installed all my applications.
The DELL, seems to be working adequately.
The GATE will not stream audio or play system sounds = static. Video - OK, Music CD - OK, audio = static.
I have taken the memory out and reseated it.
I have ‘fdisk’ and re-installed my applications three times.
Swapped speakers, plugged headphones into the sound card - static.
Ran, ‘dxdiag.exe’, no problems reported.
Could hear the sounds behind the static.
The DELL and GATE are networked with a D-Link Router. The router seems to be working OK.
Yesterday, I retrieved the GENERIC from the closet. It’s now on top of the GATE and , although sluggish, seems to be working OK.
I should indicate here, that if the above seems to indicate that I know what I’m doing, I don’t!
I’m just following direction out of a book, using terms that I have no understanding of.
Have no idea where I’m starting from or where I’m liable to end up.
Having said all that, I’d sure like to be able to maintain my own computer.
Since there are a number Canadians on this site, the reason I purchased a computer in the first place, 97/10.
I became aware at that time that I could listen to ‘cbc.ca’ over the internet.
I apologise if I’m breaking any rules by the size of this post.
I’ll blame it all on ‘the other feller’.
MY THREE COMPUTERS
GENERIC NO NAME
Operating System System Model
Windows 98 SE (build 4.10.2222) MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD MS-6337
Enclosure Type: Desktop
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
367 megahertz Intel Pentium III
32 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD MS-6337 5.0
Bus Clock: 66 megahertz
BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. 6.00 PG 07/09/2001
Drives Memory Modules c,d
28.97 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
27.70 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
ATAPI CD-ROM DRIVE-32X
Generic floppy disk drive (3.5")
Generic IDE hard disk drive (8.43 GB) -- drive 0, No SMART Driver
Generic IDE hard disk drive (20.54 GB) -- drive 1, No SMART Driver
Kingston DataTraveler 2.0 [Hard drive] (504 MB) -- drive 2, rev 1.00 512 Megabytes Installed Memory
DELL DIMENSION XPS D 300
Operating System System Model
Windows 98 SE (build 4.10.2222) Dell Computer Corporation Dimension XPS D300
Asset Tag: CNWLR
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
300 megahertz Intel Pentium II
32 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: Intel Corporation AL440LX AA678149-307
Serial Number: IMAL74912043
Bus Clock: 66 megahertz
BIOS: Intel Corp. 4A4LL0X0.10A.0017.P06 11/10/97
Drives Memory Modules c,d
128.43 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
107.51 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
LITE-ON LTR-48246S [CD-ROM drive]
Generic floppy disk drive (3.5")
Generic IDE hard disk drive (8.43 GB) -- drive 0, No SMART Driver
WDC WD12 00BB-22GUC0 [Hard drive] (120.00 GB) -- drive 1 256 Megabytes Installed Memory
GATEWAY 2000
Operating System System Model
Windows 98 SE (build 4.10.2222) Gateway G6-300
System Serial Number: 0010344401
Chassis Serial Number: 0010344401
Enclosure Type: Mini-Tower
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
300 megahertz Intel Pentium II
32 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: Intel Corporation AL440LX AA691172-403
Serial Number: IUAL82721405
Bus Clock: 66 megahertz
BIOS: Intel Corp. 4A4LL0X0.15A.0017.P14 03/31/98
Drives Memory Modules c,d
8.43 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
7.43 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
NEC CD-ROM DRIVE:28B
Generic floppy disk drive (3.5")
Generic IDE hard disk drive (8.43 GB) -- drive 0, No SMART Driver
Kingston DataTraveler 2.0 [Hard drive] (504 MB) -- drive 1, rev 1.00 256 Megabytes Installed Memory
Hate to lay this on you folks, but here goes.
Bottom line. I’d rather not buy another computer.
I have three working computers. ( Ah, well, you know what I mean.)
See below.
The newest and ‘best?’ one, is the GENERIC P 3.
For the past year, I have been plagued with mal-functions on the GENERIC.
I took it into a computer shop on three separate occasions, over a four week period.
Each time I got it back with, “OK now, all fixed up.”
On the first visit, the ‘IT tech’ said, “For the way you use a computer, the GENERIC is a good computer.
There is no need to buy a new one.”
On the fourth visit and $$ later, the ‘IT tech’ said, “I can get you into a new super doper machine for around 500.00$.
Retrieved two old computers out of the closet, DELL and GATEWAY, saved all my data to an external HDD, ‘fdisk and partitioned all three, and re-installed all my applications.
The DELL, seems to be working adequately.
The GATE will not stream audio or play system sounds = static. Video - OK, Music CD - OK, audio = static.
I have taken the memory out and reseated it.
I have ‘fdisk’ and re-installed my applications three times.
Swapped speakers, plugged headphones into the sound card - static.
Ran, ‘dxdiag.exe’, no problems reported.
Could hear the sounds behind the static.
The DELL and GATE are networked with a D-Link Router. The router seems to be working OK.
Yesterday, I retrieved the GENERIC from the closet. It’s now on top of the GATE and , although sluggish, seems to be working OK.
I should indicate here, that if the above seems to indicate that I know what I’m doing, I don’t!
I’m just following direction out of a book, using terms that I have no understanding of.
Have no idea where I’m starting from or where I’m liable to end up.
Having said all that, I’d sure like to be able to maintain my own computer.
Since there are a number Canadians on this site, the reason I purchased a computer in the first place, 97/10.
I became aware at that time that I could listen to ‘cbc.ca’ over the internet.
I apologise if I’m breaking any rules by the size of this post.
I’ll blame it all on ‘the other feller’.
MY THREE COMPUTERS
GENERIC NO NAME
Operating System System Model
Windows 98 SE (build 4.10.2222) MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD MS-6337
Enclosure Type: Desktop
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
367 megahertz Intel Pentium III
32 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD MS-6337 5.0
Bus Clock: 66 megahertz
BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. 6.00 PG 07/09/2001
Drives Memory Modules c,d
28.97 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
27.70 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
ATAPI CD-ROM DRIVE-32X
Generic floppy disk drive (3.5")
Generic IDE hard disk drive (8.43 GB) -- drive 0, No SMART Driver
Generic IDE hard disk drive (20.54 GB) -- drive 1, No SMART Driver
Kingston DataTraveler 2.0 [Hard drive] (504 MB) -- drive 2, rev 1.00 512 Megabytes Installed Memory
DELL DIMENSION XPS D 300
Operating System System Model
Windows 98 SE (build 4.10.2222) Dell Computer Corporation Dimension XPS D300
Asset Tag: CNWLR
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
300 megahertz Intel Pentium II
32 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: Intel Corporation AL440LX AA678149-307
Serial Number: IMAL74912043
Bus Clock: 66 megahertz
BIOS: Intel Corp. 4A4LL0X0.10A.0017.P06 11/10/97
Drives Memory Modules c,d
128.43 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
107.51 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
LITE-ON LTR-48246S [CD-ROM drive]
Generic floppy disk drive (3.5")
Generic IDE hard disk drive (8.43 GB) -- drive 0, No SMART Driver
WDC WD12 00BB-22GUC0 [Hard drive] (120.00 GB) -- drive 1 256 Megabytes Installed Memory
GATEWAY 2000
Operating System System Model
Windows 98 SE (build 4.10.2222) Gateway G6-300
System Serial Number: 0010344401
Chassis Serial Number: 0010344401
Enclosure Type: Mini-Tower
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
300 megahertz Intel Pentium II
32 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: Intel Corporation AL440LX AA691172-403
Serial Number: IUAL82721405
Bus Clock: 66 megahertz
BIOS: Intel Corp. 4A4LL0X0.15A.0017.P14 03/31/98
Drives Memory Modules c,d
8.43 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
7.43 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
NEC CD-ROM DRIVE:28B
Generic floppy disk drive (3.5")
Generic IDE hard disk drive (8.43 GB) -- drive 0, No SMART Driver
Kingston DataTraveler 2.0 [Hard drive] (504 MB) -- drive 1, rev 1.00 256 Megabytes Installed Memory
Clever Clogs
Posts: 583
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Location: Calgary, Alberta
June 2nd, 2006, 02:07 PM
*Glech*
I hate Winders 98. Oh, and a 300MHz machine is not top of the line. I don't care what he said.
As for the static problem, just a couple of suggestions:
1. Software updates. Make sure that you have all you Windows updates and all that. You'd be surprised what software can do.
2. The problem likely is with the system board, and likely not something that you are going to be able to fix. The only thing that I can think of other than that is to try a third party sound card.
I remember we had this same problem on a machine at work a long time ago, but I don't remember what we did to fix it.
*Glech*
I hate Winders 98. Oh, and a 300MHz machine is not top of the line. I don't care what he said.
As for the static problem, just a couple of suggestions:
1. Software updates. Make sure that you have all you Windows updates and all that. You'd be surprised what software can do.
2. The problem likely is with the system board, and likely not something that you are going to be able to fix. The only thing that I can think of other than that is to try a third party sound card.
I remember we had this same problem on a machine at work a long time ago, but I don't remember what we did to fix it.
Newbie
Posts: 22
Location: West Virginia, USA
Location: West Virginia, USA
June 2nd, 2006, 02:12 PM
Check this out from Dell:
http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/prod...HS1&l=en&s=dhs
Based on the specs you've posted, I'd say it's time for a new machine...they've come down so low in price that it might not be worth the aggravation of trying to get by with a Pentium III.
Check out what $329 gets you, and compare to what you have and see what you think.
Hope this helps!
Check this out from Dell:
http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/prod...HS1&l=en&s=dhs
Based on the specs you've posted, I'd say it's time for a new machine...they've come down so low in price that it might not be worth the aggravation of trying to get by with a Pentium III.
Check out what $329 gets you, and compare to what you have and see what you think.
Hope this helps!
Bright Spark
Posts: 310
Location: North Lauderdale, FL
Location: North Lauderdale, FL
June 2nd, 2006, 02:52 PM
LRG and Warwind raise good points. Make sure your computer has all the latest updates from windows update including drivers.
It may well be time for a new computer based on those specs. An alternative may to try a (relatively) easy linux distribution like ubuntu or pclinuxos to see how they can work with your system compared to windows. There are a lot of cases where people have gotten new life from older machines by using linux instead of windows.
If you have any interest whatsoever I'm not an expert by any means but I've been down this road for awhile and would be glad to help.
LRG and Warwind raise good points. Make sure your computer has all the latest updates from windows update including drivers.
It may well be time for a new computer based on those specs. An alternative may to try a (relatively) easy linux distribution like ubuntu or pclinuxos to see how they can work with your system compared to windows. There are a lot of cases where people have gotten new life from older machines by using linux instead of windows.
If you have any interest whatsoever I'm not an expert by any means but I've been down this road for awhile and would be glad to help.
