The Digital Surgery (computer questions/problems here)

[Dr Mike]

Problem--I can hear them, they cant hear me. I did not even bother with video as for now the ability to makea phone call will make me happy. A Mac savvy guy looked at theMac tonight and said that the microphone seems to be reactive and that it may be the "default" setting but I dont know what that means or how to check it.

[gandalfinthai]

Go to your "system preferences" in "applications" and open "sound"
Click on "input" and make sure "internal microphone" is selected.
Check that "input volume" is on full (say something and you should see the "input level" responding to your voice.)

I hope this helps.

[Dr Mike]

I suspect that my question is going to cause a lot of laughter.
I wrote a brochure several years ago and of course I saved it.
Unfortunately it is on a floppy disk.
Anyway to retrieve the data??

[buksida]

Gonna sound obvious but ... find an old comp with a floppy drive! There is the danger that the magnetic disc wont be readable after years in the tropics, and the danger that you won't find a piece of software that can read a file that old!

[J.J.B.]

I'm sure in HH you'll find someone at one of the repair shops between the station and the roundabout who has a machine with a floppy in it. Alternatively, you could buy an external USB floppy drive for around $15 that should work. Buksi is right that reading what's on the disk might be a problem but the USB option should mean that even Windows 8 can read the drive since the USB drive will be a UPnP (universal plug-and-play) device and should be immediately recognised.

I haven't tried it but I think even disks written under DOS should still be accessible from Windows. Now, a Mac on the other hand is a different matter. If the disk was formatted as DOS or FAT then you'll be fine but if it was formatted as NTFS (from Win 3.1 on) you may have problems. Macs can read NTFS drives but can't write to them without additional software; Paragon NTFS is a good option http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/. A bit of trial and error might be on the cards but let us know how you get on because my wife has archived many files on floppy disks and I had completely forgotten that at some point I will need to access them too...

[dtaai-maai]

Working with some large docs at the moment, though that shouldn't normally be a problem, and Word has been a bit sluggish. One or two warnings about 'low memory'. No problems, but I want to make sure there aren't any. I've been through the control panel and uninstalled a load of AVG/Daemon,etc.-type crap that snuck onto my hard drive. Had to use system restore a couple of times after deleting graphics driver and such, but got there in the end...

Is there anything else I should do? What about these 'clean-up' programs - is it worth downloading one? If so, any recommendations?

Keep it very simple, please.

Windows 7
3.07 GHz processor
4 GB RAM (3.18 usable)

[buksida]

Sounds like you have Windows 32bit running which is why it only sees 75% of your 4 GB of memory.

Uninstalling programs wont necessarily free up more RAM, besides AVG is your anti-virus program and you really do need one.

To make the computer run faster you need to disable some of the startup items which sit in memory all of the time and use your resources.

Go to start > run > then type 'msconfig' > and go to startup.

There you will see a list of things that run every time the computer is started, post it here and I'll tell you what to disable (un-check).

[dtaai-maai]

Sounds like you have Windows 32bit running which is why it only sees 75% of your 4 GB of memory.

Correct. Is that okay?

HDAudioCPL
WinampAgent
GrooveMonitor Utility
Canon My Printer
Canon Solution Menu EX
Avast!
SunJavaUpdateSched
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Reader & Manager
Protect_autorun
Application TrayApp
Crossrider
Espaces
Optimizer Pro
Vuze
SDL Trados

[buksida]

Disable the following:

WinampAgent
GrooveMonitor Utility
SunJavaUpdateSched
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Reader & Manager
Protect_autorun
Application TrayApp
Crossrider
Espaces
Optimizer Pro
Vuze
SDL Trados

If you use any of those programs you may have to turn them back on again.

[dtaai-maai]

Thanks very much, Buksida.

[lomuamart]

I used to use MSN messenger sometimes to keep in touch with a few friends and eventually I was dragged into downloading Skype a couple of days ago.
However, my contacts havn't been imported. I'm sure I've downloaded the program properly and I get the icon on the bottom right hand corner of my screen.
Can anyone help with importing my contacts from messenger which now seems dead and buried. I'm not interested in using Skype for telephone or video/web cam. I just want it for chatting over the keyboard.
Thanks.

[buksida]

Read on: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=22912

[lomuamart]

Thanks, buksida. Somehow I've got it working.

[Big Boy]

That's OK if you know how. I asked on here before, and everybody offered a shedload of advice on everything except how to remove it

Start > Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall a program > Uninstall everything from HP in that list (it won't disable your computer).

To get back on topic you might want to continue this in 'digital surgery' ...

Just to be sure, here is the list of HP programs:

Before I do it, can you please confirn the the machine does need any of it?

[buksida]

Kill it all except the HP Connection Manager which looks like it governs your wifi - the only other HP software you need is if you have a HP printer.