GoRedwings19's Computer Help Hotline

So I got my Aura Note USB DAC/CDP/Integrated and it sounds great, but whenever I have it plugged into my computer via usb I get alot of noise. I assume it's related to the computer in some way, as more activity (scrolling, opening programs) directly affects the noise. It doesn't even matter if I'm using the usb input or not, I can be playing a cd and the noise will be there unless I unplug the usb cable. What should I do? Would a usb hub or something help? Or maybe a shielded cable? I'd appreciate any suggestions. Also, I've used a few other usb audio devices and never had this problem.

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…

News Story Link Okay, so I want one.

I seem unable to find information on what is used as the pigment in colored printer ink. I'm curious if traditional pigments are used like cadmium, cobalt, etc. Do any of you guys know?

I'm constantly having problems emailing back my Dad. I'm the only one in our family that seems to have this problem. Here's an example... Reporting-MTA: dns; comcast.net Arrival-Date: 25 Aug 2007 3:00:41 +0000 Final-Recipient: rfc822; (dad's address) Action: failed Status: 4.4.7 Unable to contact host for 2 days, Diagnostic-Code: smtp; Persistent Transient Failure: Delivery time expired Last-Attempt-Date: 25 Aug 2007 3:00:41 +0000 He can email me fine, but it's like 70% chance my response won't make it. I've tried sending a new message as well as responding to his email. He's on DSL... not sure what company. I'm on Comcast using Thunderbird.

I was thinking about my small, messy CD/SACD/DVD/Blu-ray library and stumbled across this upcoming media format: https://news.panasonic.com/global/stories/2017/49438.html Looks like Sony and Panasonic have been working on yet another optical standard: Archival Disc. They don't plan to sell them in the consumer market, but anyone who lived through the 90s is going to get déja vu reading this article... the same ambition, the same complex, expensive jukebox solutions, the same media/library customers...

and how do I make sure I don't have to waste my time with this stuff ever again? let's see... I guess we can say the laptop isn't exactly responsive, there's a few too many search toolbars in IE (google, AIM, and something called MyWebSearch), some website popups occur once in a while telling her to buy "WinAntiVirus Pro 2006," she tells me that whenever she types in "www" into the web browser it disappears or something so I have to fix this so-called "www" problem (hint: the actual address bar is minimized and only the search tool text boxes are showing), some website told me to run PandaSoftware's online antivirus (pandas finding viruses? they don't seem exactly fit…

Does anyone know where I can get an old powermac g5 that still has the ibm chips and not the intel chips? The place where my mom works uses the old powermacs and they dont want to upgrade to the newer macs since they dont sync well with the older version of illustrator (not sure about this) and they dont want to buy the newer illustrator since it costs like $1000. If anyone knows, it would be very awesome

I am thinking of finally getting myself a 24" LCD. Right now I have 19" Samsung that I got a few years ago. It is a pretty basic model without any adjustments or inputs, but picture quality has been fine for me. However, now I want to get a nice LCD with composite inputs, HD, and all that other cool shit. I think 24" will be more than enough. I looked around and there seems to be so many options, I am pretty lost. Dell 2408WFP seems to be pretty sweet from features side, and my buddy has an older version of it that he loves... Which LCD can you recommend? Budget is probably around $600, but can be expanded if needed. I will use it for movies, games and internet. thank…

I'm trying to decide on a notebook. I haven't purchased a computer in a long time and I am really confused by all the new processors. I intend to use this notebook for web browsing, e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets, music (iTunes, foobar, running SqueezeCenter), ripping/burning cd's and dvd's, and hopefully be able to watch HD videos without dropoffs. I also like being able to open several tabs in Firefox/IE at once without slowing down. In other words, everyday tasks just no gaming or video editing. I don't have much money so my budget is around $350. I know that makes my selection very limited, but I saw these refurbished notebooks from Circuit City/Tiger Di…

Have on my iPhone, but not in my laptops browser yet.

Raid 0 1TB SSD http://www.techpowerup.com/86997/OCZ_Demos_1_TB_RAID0_Solid-State_Drive_with_Unbelievable_Transfer_Speeds.html

I've got a small Apple wireless that I take with me on gigs. I usually plug into the local network and I can get out on the network, plus set up the wireless so that anyone else on a mac can leech off. At home I come out of the cable modem directly into my ethernet port. I've noticed that when I plug in the Airport Express my dowload times and browser refresh rates are much faster off of the Express than being directly plugged in. Shouldn't it be faster directly plugged in to the modem? Do I need a different ethernet cable perhaps? Just curious. I've had no issues with the hardware on my Macbook Pro...

I have a flat panel display using a DVI connector with a nvidia 6 series card. I moved my computer and when I plugged it back in as soon as windows booted up past the welcome screen the monitor lost siad "no signal". I booted it in safe mode and reinstalled the drivers and it booted fine but now the desktop is stretched out past edge of the monitor. If I move the mouse to the far right the screen scrolls to the right to reveal the rest of the desktop. Sorry if that isn't understandable I'll try to explain it better if this cannot be understood. The problem is that 1) my monitor is no longer in native resolution (1440 x 900) becaue it's being stretched and looks bad. S…

So Julie was trying to purchase a book for one of the girls earlier today. She went to Amazon.com and was greeted with the login screen, not the usual amazon home page. She logged in and then the screen prompted her for her billing address to be updated. She entered that as well and then stopped at the following screen when the website asked for her credit card number and ssn. I came over and tried the same on my phone and macbook air. Same thing. I tried connecting to another wifi network and regular amazon website access. Same with the phone on LTE. Would reseting the wireless router kick out whoever might be causing this nonsense or should I just be changing the wirele…

I am currently using an AirPort Extreme but I know I am on limited time here. Our house is two stories at around 3500 Sq. Ft. with cinder block outside walls which limit signal strength in the garage and outside. Thinking that a mesh system should be the way to go so looking for opinions as well as any recommendations. I like the software interface on the AE and have really had no problems with the system but unfortunately Apple has parked the bus on this one.

I think I'm going to. Usually I'm suspicious of new versions of Windows, since there have been a few missteps in the past, but the reviews I've read of 10 are very positive. I've never used 8, so I'll be going straight from 7 to 10. And the price is right as well!

So I checked Windows Update out of curiosity yesterday (actually looking for an Edge browser update) and noticed that the 2004 update has been around since May and Microsoft has been delaying the rollout. Then I looked for 2004 update problems and got a long list... what do you guys think about the latest major update? I'm inclined to delay this for as long as possible on my personal computer. Microsoft's track record with major updates has been truly terrible in the last few years, going from bricked computers to lost data. I'm afraid to estimate how many millions of dollars of productivity and data have been lost from these problems in enterprise and home computing…

My newish laptop is eligible for the Microsoft OS upgrade. Has anyone bit on the MS free upgrade? Any war stories? Curious...

After waiting for the painfully slow download from MSDN I was able to install the RTM of Windows 7 (ultimate x64 version). I didn't have any blank dvd's around so I installed it from a usb thumb and I really think it's the way to go. The install only took 10-15 minutes. Some early thoughts on Windows 7, it's definitely snappier than Vista, especially when it comes to UI affects and such. I should mention that 7 had drivers for everything in my laptop which was nice. I like the new taskbar it's refined and the UI affects actually improve overall usability.

Does anyone here know if a Windows 7 OEM disc can be used to upgrade a current Vista installation? I'd rather pick up the OEM than the upgrade for the following reasons: 1. OEM is cheaper 2. In case I want to do a clean install, I'm not sure if the upgrade disc would require me to do a Vista install FIRST and then a 7 upgrade SECOND. --> Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong with this assumption. This might convince me to just buy the upgrade then. Thanks!

I think I am going to my dad a new basic desktop computer. His computer is about a million years old but he is way too cheap and stubborn to replace it. I think I may get him a Dell Inspiron 3000. It has a reasonable processor (Intel Quad Core 4th gen i5 3.2GHz), is not too expensive, has 8GB RAM, and I can always upgrade to an SSD if needed. He doesn't do much on it (just listens to music, some basic spreadsheets, and browses the web). I can get it with Window 7 or 8. I am leaning towards 7 because 8 is pretty different than he is used to using (XP). Is there any reason to go with Windows 8? For example, is Windows going to stop supporting 7 or is Windows 8…

My dad's computer started acting funny this morning. I don't know much about Windows. When he logged back in this morning the following things were missing: His desktop picture, his shortcuts in the taskbar were missing, his programs when you click the start button were gone, and Microsoft office longer seems to be registered. He did have antimalwarebytes delete 2 pups that were in the registry key. We also had someone changing the DSL today but he said he didn't touch the computer. I doubt it was the latter. Do you know what could be the problem and how to fix it? I don't have Windows 7 disks to reinstall everything and also my dad won't let me do that since he…

Looks like Acer might have leaked the release date Slashdot | Windows 7 Launch Date Leaked — 23 Oct. 2009

With Windows 8 due to launch (what you've missed the glee style '8' advert showing no-one actually engaged in any productive activity) you may need this handy survival guide from el-reg. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/10/25/reg_kb_surviving_windows/ Beware Heisenfeature's