GoRedwings19's Computer Help Hotline

Well, the title is a bit misleading, as what I'm actually aiming to do is to print a filled-out pdf file with data saved in an FDF file. Here's the thing: at work, there is a blank form in pdf format that has fillable textboxes. What's been done until now is that a group of people painstakingly copy-paste client info into each field. And I was asked to do that today.... ...blech! Always seeking to automate whenever possible, I found that the info is copied from an Excel file, so I started looking for a way to get that info from Excel unto the pdf form. (we all have Acrobat Reader, not the full version) I came across the FDF format, which is a file that sto…

Well, I'm finally getting around to moving to the new computer that I bought last summer. I'd appreciate it if you could recommend virus/malware checkers for Windows 10 Home Edition. The information available on line is somewhat contradictory. I'd definitely trust the info I'd get here that what's out there. Thanks.

Honestly I've looked at both of these cards and I have a general sense of what these cards are. 9800GX2 is like 2x of those G92 8800GTS 512MB video cards but inside one enclosure. GTX280? The newest card for like $500-600. Recently my G80 8800GTS 640MB has been acting weird, over heating (over heated for the first time during one hot day when I had a BBQ and left the computer on in a closed room which was a bad idea) and weird things has happened to my computer like screen messing up and not receiving signals from my GPU or something. The problem is once I buy a newer card, I would probably have to upgrade my 600W power supply which would be irritating but thi…

so i'm moving into an apartment next year that offers free internet as part of their glorious deal. this is nice, but means that i can't download shit or share massive amounts of information between my roommates and such for fear of them shutting off our internet. so i decided to use my old powerbook g4 as a server, plug in x number of external hard drives, and enable global file share on that bad boy so that everyone in the network can use it. here's my question. since the new airport express doesn't have gigabit ethernet, i'm wondering if i can simply link my powerbook and an airport extreme together with an ethernet cable, and create a wireless hub without having th…

I've pretty much had enough of my PSC 1315 HP All-in-one printer. It's not a bad printer in itself, it's just a pain in the ass. Feeds papers wrong, ocassionally refuses to scan, ocassionally refuses to print, drains ink, simply refuses to cancel prints unless the drivers are reinstalled, check cartidge warnings, check paper warnings...it's just too much to handle. So, in your opinion, who do you feel makes the better printers. Canon, Epson, Lexmark, Brother...? Before I've had Canon, and all I can remember is that Canon ink is cheap as hell.

My wife is coordinating the hospital's integration of a new research physician and department. The researcher requires movable storage medium for physically moving large research data from one system to another and up until now the only storage vehicle approved by the hospital has been the Kangaroo thumb drives which employ 256 bit AES encryption. The physician's tech coordinator says that the WD Passport's 256 bit Smart Ware encryption is more than adequate. The technology department at the hospital is currently overwhelmed right now in dealing with some new regulations and not making a decision as to the adequacy of the WD Smart Ware encryption (aka they don't have t…

As some of you already know, my iBook has been going through a slow and painful death the last couple of months (it can now only stay powered on - if I turn it off or put in sleep mode, it may not boot up again for couple of hours). As much as I don't really need one, a MacBook would make things so much more convenient, especially with my continuing ed classes going at least through July. The question is, should I get one now or wait until the next update? Past history suggest that MacBook isn't due for any update for few months, but with the recent introduction of MacBook Air, that may change. Any suggestions? Any of you know about any imminent updates/changes to MacB…

I have an old ipad 1 and phones (Google Nexus and Samsung S3) that I never use. What should I do with them? Is there a place I can donate them or should I just recycle them?

I'm getting tired of crappy AC powered USB hubs going out over time. D-Link DUB-H7 most recently. Anyone have decent luck with one to recommend?

It pisses me off. It can be working find for months on end, then, all of a sudden, it decides to crap out -- not completely, mind you, but one aspect of it or another, with a particular device stops working. Can do you anything to fix that?

I think I've lost the driver CD for my M-Audio Transit USB The M-Audio website only allows you to download driver updates and not the driver suite itself. Would anyone that has the driver CD mind making a CD image for me and uploading it? Nero, CloneCD, Alcohol 120%, etc should all be able to do that.

I've always been a loyal Firefox fan, but I've decided to give Safari 4 Beta a chance because it's supposed to be super-fast and better integrated in OS X than Firefox. So far, it looks great and I notice a slight improvement in speed, but there's one thing that's bothering me quite a bit: is it possible to activate autoscrolling (or drag scrolling) like in Firefox? By drag scrolling, I mean clicking the middle button on the mouse and just dragging the mouse around to scroll. That's one essential option for me. Thanks!

Well, it seems after some time being in beta Vista Service pack 2 is available to download. With any big update I would wait a few weeks to a month or longer for them to patch any issues or bugs that may crop up. Also, this service pack can be used if you have Windows Server 2008. Here are the links to 32 bit and 64 bit versions: 32 bit Download details: Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 - Five Language Standalone (KB948465) 64 bit Download details: Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 - Five Language Standalone for x64-based systems (KB948465)

Samsung has unveiled the video studio's dream storage unit. How many would Bad Robot need? https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/2/20/17031256/worlds-largest-ssd-drive-samsung-30-terabyte-pm1643

I've been having this problem for years, and have gone through like 5 different routers and various wireless cards. I am constantly having dropouts with my wireless and have to constantly reconnect, and even when connected it can still be pretty slow. Right now I have a Trendnet something N router and an N card. It had been working pretty well until around a week ago, I have no idea why it would suddenly start being so terrible again. My computer a floor above the router and pretty far, but I have problems with the laptop one room away from the router as well. What the hell can I do, other than getting ethernet wired through the house (which would be really expensive i…

Carmack is one of the smartest guys in the entire PC/gaming industries and I love hearing his keynotes. They are pretty technical, but very very informative. I have it on in the background while I'm working this morning and I'm really enjoying it. Link to part 1 (starts at 15:00)

http://tinyurl.com/2sl2y7

I think I may have posted about this once before, but I could use some advice re my home Ethernet wiring. My apartment came "wired.". We have a ton of drops, but im not sure whether they're all lit. The reason I'm not sure is that the patch panel is also a mess. From back when I did some network stuff I remember this connectivity shit being a two man job. I don't have that luxury. Basically, I want to at least figure out what's lit and what's not. What tools do I need? Is it worth getting a tester? Also, how hard/easy is it to terminate my own Ethernet cables? Patch cables are such a ripoff. Overall, I need a bit of advice about how to assess what exactl…

I've been cleaning the spare around my computer, and in the process I put about six wallwarts in a box. One of them goes to my BlacX. I've got a couple that fit the power socket on the unit. Unfortunately, Thermaltake saw fit to not mark the BlacX's voltage requirement on the back of it. It just says "DC IN." Mine is the SATA model with USB and E-SATA out. Any head-casers have a BlacX and PSU handy? Can you tell me the voltage and tip polarity?

So I'm using my MacBook's miniToslink port to connect to my DAC. I've been using this set up for two days now. But today, all of a sudden, I would get random noises--it's not clipping--just digital noise, which goes away in five seconds or so. The noise shows up randomly. FYI: I'm using Play as my player, and I set the output to 16/44.1 in AudioMidi utility.

Well it has taken me almost 5 days to upgrade my EeePC disk from the 80Gb stock issue to a 320Gb drive. The main problem is that most of the disk cloning software just absolutely sucks and failed in one way or another when I tried to use it. However xxClone came through, worked superbly and was extremely easy to use. I now have 268Gb for music/data, WooHoo.

I just realized my 1 year iPhone warranty ran on the 13th. So I called the 1-800-Apple Store to see if they would let me purchase it late and got denied. Anyone know or heard if I'll have better luck going into my local store? Or am I just screwed. After my out of warranty Macbook debacle I didn't think I would let this happen again

Need to connect a Sony GT1/Google TV to my Macbook, mostly for video. Anyone have a recommendation of which uPnP server to use? http://www.yazsoft.com/products/playback/ http://www.nullriver.com/products/medialink http://www.twonky.com/products/twonkyserver/default.aspx

Do flash drives have a limit on the number of times they can be written to, or can they be written to indefinitely? I want to get an 8G USB flash drive and use it for swap (virtual memory)...I realize it's over the bus and USB, but it should still be faster than an internal hard drive, no? Seems like a good way to artificially boost my performance. Paying US$50-ish for 256Mb of internal PC133 SDRAM seems like a waste of money. I currently have a Sony Vaio PCV-RX550/PCV-7732 (depending on whether you believe the front or the back), which has 256M upgradeable to 512M. I think the real solution is to get a new computer, but I'm just wondering if the above trick is worth t…

Does anyone know of a place to buy a windows 10 enterprise license key for cheap?