GoRedwings19's Computer Help Hotline

So I've got a little streak on my LCD monitor that I can't seem to get off. I think I was trying to wipe off a bit of dust and streaked grease on it or something. I've tried wiping it with a clean cotton shirt, but it doesn't seem to want to remove itself. What cleaning solution is a safe and effective way to clean my LCD. Thanks!

Anyone have any experience with cloning a windows 7 installation to a new disk? This one is slightly complicated in that the disk is in two partitions, and overall is 500Gb and I want to clone to only a 120Gb SSD. I only need the C: partition (D: is manufactuers recovery partition), however I'm not sure how to make sure the thing boots normally without cloning the entire disk, which isn't possible in this case...

I think the first time I noticed this was yesterday. Cog refuses to load any file into the playlist. Flac, mp3, nothing will play anymore. Any ideas?

I was going to burn a copy of a commercial audio CD and could not get it to load. No messages, etc. It just makes some noise, then the drive ejects it. I tried some other audio CDs and they loaded fine... any ideas?

Friends, I recently had JRiver reorganize my music folder by ARTST\ALBUM\TRACK. My old scheme was ARTIST - ALBUM\TRACK. I like the new one better from an aesthetic point of view, and because I enjoy folders. The problem is, now I have a shit ton of folders labelled something like "Bjork - Vespertine" that contain nothing except .log and .cue files, and perhaps some .jpg art files or liner notes. I prefer to embed that stuff in the track, so I don't need the extra files. I'd love to have a program that I could tell to delete any folder that did not contain (or whose subfolder did not contain) a music file. Does something like that exist?

I'm wondering if there is any good software that can implement a "jukebox" style web interface to browse all albums. Basically create a website on a local computer that is easily updated with album art and artist information by simply inputting information into a field. The user can then just go to their local website and browse their entire collection say for example by album art. Or clicking on an artist which would then take you to a page of album art for just that artist. It wouldn't have to playback anything just serve as GUI showing the user what music they have access to. I'm using foobar2000 and iTunes, but both of them have become too cumbersome when de…

Need some help putting together a parts list for a desktop machine needed for editing photos. Will have a macbook air for everything else. The air struggles with D800 and XT1 files frequently and I can't blame it as that is not the intended purpose for that machine. I'd love to stay in the apple ecosystem but the mac mini's have the same graphics card as the air so not much in the way of performance improvements there. Intended usage for this new computer will be Lightroom and Photoshop and any other random photo editing software. Don't care about video. Will never be doing anything with video in the foreseeable future. Can anyone suggest a parts build for <$1000 …

So I'm not going to bore you with all the details, but I'm looking at getting a new laptop, and the 1920x1080-on-a-15-inch-screen-or-smaller technology has been around long enough that my choices have expanded beyond 2 or 3 companies since last time. Where would I go to get advice? I.E. I'm looking at MSI, Toshiba, and HP Envy, and I don't know if these are better or worse (than, for example, my current Sony) in terms of ruggedness, value-for-the-dollar, intelligently chosen chipset combinations, etc. I would, of course, prefer better. As much as I like Sony, I know it's not famously the top brand, I'm just partial to it from experience.

Well my main rig has a failing motherboard. (tyan)... This thing (when I was bench testing it) I am looking at a new motherboard and CPU (I cannot give up the case). Going with the new Intel i7 3770S chip and an acer z77 board (along with SSD, etc)... Anyone out there running Ivy bridge chip yet? Almost ran to Frys tonight and bought a pile of stuff (in stock), but I am testing my resolve to take my time and just do it right (and save on tax and driving). I can do it, if it is not whisky, I swear. Cheers, Mikey

What's the best way to rip audio tracks from a DVD? Windows, Linux, Mac? The bonus tracks from my Depeche Mode DVD's are a pain since they're region ...whatever Europe is, but I'd like to have access to them, since some of my favorite tracks are there.

The default umask setting when I save anything on the unix system at work (via samba) is that everyone can read it. This is totally stupid and I have talked to the chair about this but nobody wants to change it. I know that one can change this setting for the whole system in the smb.conf file. Is there a way that I can change the default for me when I login. I have already changed the default setting when things are created when I am logged in via ssh but can't figure out how to do it when copying files from my computer. Most of the files I save are grades and letters of recommendations and things like that and I don't want to risk forgetting to change the umask…

Alrighty, here are the spec's of my Dell that I've had together since the start of college: Mobo - Intel P965 (Dell proprietary bullshit) CPU - C2D E6600 RAM - 2GB G.Skill HK GPU - EVGA 8800GTS 320MB PSU - Corsair HX520 HDD's - 1x WD Caviar 250GB, 1x WD Caviar 500GB ~~~ I'm considering: 1) New GPU. This is complicated for me as I haven't been following either Nvidia nor ATi for at least a year. I know of both the GTX and 4-series, but I don't know where the best value is in either lineup. GTX275 looks good but might just be a bit more than I'm looking for. GTX260 perhaps? $160 is very attractive. Both 4890 and 4870 looked interesting on the red side of th…

I have a bunch of movies on an external HD, but they're in a whole bunch of different formats. Is there a straightforward way to convert them to whatever iTunes needs so that I can view them on my iPad/iPhone. Performing such conversion within iTunes itself doesn't seem to cut it.

Codeweavers says cheap gas = free software tomorrow - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) Press Releases - CODEWEAVERS' SOFTWARE FREE FOR DOWNLOAD THANKS TO GEORGE W. BUSH AND FALLING GAS PRICES Giveaway Triggered in CodeWeaver's Great American Lame Duck Presidential Challenge; "We take full responsibility for global economic collapse," s

I've had in mind for a while to build myself a decent gaming PC (~1000$) and I've started researching on the subject today. After a few hours of reading, I have to say I'm still clueless about which hardware to choose and I'm fucking overwhelmed by the amount of information, reviews and discussion out there. I was wondering if you guys knew of any reliable forums with something like "build of the week" or a regularly updated website that recommends PC components? I'll be ordering all my stuff online (probably from NCIX) and I don't feel like taking a shot in the dark and ordering hardware based on the reviews there, but at the same time I have no interest in readin…

Sorry if this is old news, but I stumbled on a browser called Webkit for Mac. This thing is truly FAST. Surfing the web on my OSX'd 1000H netbook smokes everything else (except Webkit now on my Macmini). Seems quite stable too. If you're running OSX, you owe it to yourself to try this. The WebKit Open Source Project

We have a original Drobo DAS that I picked up from Dan a long time ago and is still going but it's gotten a bit flaky with windows 10 sleep for some reason and Drobo stopped doing software updates 5 years ago I think. Anyway I'm thinking of replacing it and I'm wondering what the current state of the art is? I'm thinking of just getting the new Drobo USB 3.0 but I was wondering if anyone else knows of something better. Right now I'm still thinking DAS because I want to keep the Backblaze backup going etc. Maybe it makes more sense to move one drive local to the machine use that for the data and backup and then go to a dedicated NAS for the backup and slimserver?

Basically all in the title... finally cancelled my HP Instant Ink service (what a scam) and would like a normal printer please.

Well, our wireless router may have kicked the bucket. One of the lower ended netgears I believe. Looking for something reasonably priced that won't break down on me in a year, and gets the job done. Thanks guys

If you're not familiar with the D/Dock this question isn't for you, but I'm wondering if there are any practical reasons why I can't put a PCI soundcard in there. It's a half-length so virtually every card up to the Lynx should fit. H

Just saw a thread about this on Audiocircles so I thought I would post the link here: Something wicked this way comes…the Dell Inspiron Zino HD AMD at Home

Dell lost a lawsuit and is required to pay consumers that purchased a Dell product from April 1, 2005 to April 13 2009 and meet experienced any of the following below: A problem with a Dell financing offer A problem with a Dell rebate A problem with Dell financing A problem with a Dell repair, warranty or servicing Here is the link with the story and there is a PDF you can download to fill out a form. Does Dell Owe You Money? - PC World There is of course no guarantees that you could get paid out, but it's worth a shot. Good luck if you do file it

I must say this is one of the nicest monitors I have used and at the price of just under $400 it will be nearly impossible to beat. The monitor is 16:9 and has a native 2k resolution (2048x1152) with selectable 1:1 pixel mapping. This isn't perhaps the best monitor for gaming as I have found 16:10 to give you a bit more viewable area but for movies and TV this monitor is fantastic. I highly recommend it for anyone considering a monitor upgrade. The screen is glossy but not nearly as glossy as others. For movies I personally prefer a glossy screen for daily browsing and text viewing I prefer a matte finish.

So my home computer is dying. Well, it's more dead than dying but you get the picture. It's had a good life, some 8 years now, and just can't cope with even the most basic tasks anymore. After installing a fresh OS this weekend and having it struggle for an entire day just trying to auto-update it's become painfully clear that it's time to move on. Basically what I'm thinking about doing is picking up a pre-assembled motherboard/processor/ram bundle from someone like mwave and installing it in a chassis myself. But I don't have the time or patience required to research this stuff much these days so I figured I'd throw it out there and see if anyone has any great …