dead off the top, keep retarded stuff to yourself...

so one of the people my GF takes care of, had a laptop and it didnt work, and gave it to her... when she said the lady said we could have it 3 thoughts went through my brain, i can fix this, its another peice of crap around, and, i can fix this...

so i get it today, amd am kind kinda suprised, not super high end, but a Dell (i HATE Dell) Inspirion 8600, around a 20 inch model..

initial start up, wont boot, stuff is messed up...

so i work some of my magic on it, and it starts up but is extremely slow, like 20 minute boot time slow... work some more magic in Safe Mode, removing programs, returned to regular mode, and have now started sweeping the computer with AV, and speeds are picking up drastically, just like i knew it would...

the lady gave the "broken" computer to me, and i knew fully well if it powered on i could fix it... she already has a much nicer laptop...

should i offer it back, or not?

i know what i should do, but i just want to see what others would do...

she also gave me a brand new Scanner/Printer/Photo/Copy/Fax machine...

oh and a nice a$$ webcam that i was gonna use to make a porno to pay my seatbelt ticket....


thoughts?

she gave them to you. keep them

yeah but its kinda like taking a car from someone that wont start knowing the thing is out of gas...

just feels wierd to me... i "feel" like i should tell her, i know i dont have to... but its just kinda biting at me...

oh dude it was PHUCKED...ive spent since 5:00 working on it... and am fixing stuff like crazy...

i could always offer it back for half the price of what a computer shop would have done it for... she also wants to pay me to rip an in-wall Desk, so her room is bigger... i could say we could trade the comp for the work...


just feels greazy to me knowing fully well i could fix it, and not saying anything....

this isnt the first time this has happened either...

oh yeah, and she gave us a pretty nice RCA kitcken size TV, we dont need it, who wants it?

this ladys cool as hell, and makes my GF actually enjoy helping people, she had some ruff ones working for DSHS clients...

shes almost too cool tho, shes wanting to know if we want the desk too lol...

i gotta atleast tell her i fixed it and see what she says... it would be a snakey dick move if i didnt...

i know what your saying... shes not dumb.. certified CNA and will be in the full on nursing program in a couple months... shes been doing caregiving for 5+ years now...

her mom died ofGuillain Barre Syndrome almost 10 years ago, she took care of her then...

its what she enjoys, and is a well liked person...

i get what your saying tho, and im all over it... dementia is also a bitch... my grandmother died because of that in July of 2010

you keep mentioning "brown" trouser trout....


you like black dudes or something?



oh yeah, and before anyone tries to say thats racist, check my stats on the issue...

see, you got caught up in your own bullsh!t and didnt think...

a "trouser trout" is a DICK

nice try, but fail and FF-- to.... regroup, and come again maam...

I'd tell the old bat that you found a bunch of her personal info on the laptop and she can buy it back for a grand. Then have your wife tell her that the last thing her husband needs is extra access to the internet.

Tell her you fixed it. Tell her you want to give it back to her now that it works well. She'll probably tell you to keep it, and thank you for being cool about it.

Everyone wins.

Fish on...

Todd

The fact that you are asking the question says that your looking for the right thing to do and you already know what that is.


Fishy

Tell her that you got it running and ask if she still wants to give it to you.

Simple.

I've given away too many computers and printers to count without thinking back and it was never a situation where I wanted one back.

Just do it and regardless the outcome, you did your part.

You can charge her a repair fee if you are so inclined.

+1, just another look at me/cry for attention post


I think everyone was right. This is definitely Blades.

The right thing to do never requires any subterfuge; it is always simple and direct.”
Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933);

"So what would Jesus do......"

He would tell Redhook to stop posting stupid threads such as this one.......

" I know what i should do,"
Pretty much takes care of the situation.
But of course if you are just setting the table for some of the
low lifes to participate that's a different thing.
You can always bait a coupla trashmouths and get a hit or two.

How's that hook taste?

Similar to the one in your lip.

And you're asking me? If the foo chits wear it.

Treble hook snags two sculpins.

Dave,

were you there for that speech as well?

Sorry couldn't help myself....

Try to cross the border without getting caught?

I wasn't there when he spoke it but I did write it.

...feel sorry for you?

Maybe the old bitty is a tad smarter than you assume. She knew it could be fixed easily and now has a bug inside your home.

well Jesus answered me last night... i turned it off for the night after watching some videos, and seemed to work fine...

this morning tho, little bit different...

it started making the same F'd off noise it did when i first got it, its like a fan noise, which i thought thats what it was, but its not... i turned it on, and the blue screen came up (it took 8 minutes or so to even get to the blue screen)

error code 0x0000007b (0xF7B4A528,0xC0000034,0x00000000,0x00000000)

wich, is a motherboard/hard drive issue... mother drives and hard drives are fairly cheap... well, a mother board would be, hard drive would require the re install of Windows XP, and its either 75 installed with no disk, or i buy the disk for 100+ dollars... hard drives are about 80 bucks for a 120 gig, and with this being a 30 gig, it will actually up grade it... i could even get a 60 gig for probably around 40 bucks..

so i will be into it about 150-200 bucks, i can do all the work myself as its fairly easy, so i wont need to pay some shop 50 dollars an hour to do something i can do...

so im gonna keep it... because Jesus just basically told me to...

but first, i will tell her what the issue is, and how much it will cost, as this was probably a 700 dollar computer, and 150 isnt much to fix it really... she may want to just fix it...


oh yeah, and to the smartass that said this was a cry me, attention post... i get enough attention already if you havent noticed, once again, i was just asking other members a question... if you would like, go back to not posting and stop reading what i type... oh wait, you cant do that, that would be stupid right? some peoples kids

anyways thanks guys, looks like i have another project on my hands...

It is easy to be cocky when you are clueless.

Work that "magic", redhook.

"MEASUREMENTS"... still cracks me up.

clueless? yeah ok...

i will still be fixing it, and it will still be cake... i ALMOST fixed it without spending a dime...

far from clueless...

also, if i wanted to, i probably could keep messing with it and get it to run again, but what would be the point if its just going to take it all away?

clueless....


yeah...

ok...

I didn't start this. You're the one talking yourself up about "working magic" and fixing a computer that is now still broken. Just sayin'.

You've managed to unite people on this board that wouldn't want to drink the same water.

i work plenty of magic... like when my dads 2200 dollar Toshiba crashed (we dont need to talk about "why")... and i took it to one of the computer shops down the street, and they said the hard drive was fried, and will never work again, and took 45 dollars from me, for doing nothing... then i had some work done on our big computer at another shop, and was talking to the guy there about the whole ordeal, i told him that i stopped system restart, and the code popped up... we tracked it down to a software issue, NOT a hardware issue that the other shop said it was, after taking my 45 bucks...

so i went home (and worked my "magic") and got the thing to fire up just fine... the problem was, is that the other shop had completely erased my entire HD...so i lost everything regardless... pictures of my dad, grandfather, great grandfather, jobs we did, ect... all because they were to lazy to stop the process and check the codes... oh well... i still need to get a OS disk for that one too, but im upgrading the HD from 80 Gigs to 160, so i havent done it yet...


and the last part of your comment... that was my whole intention... some of you guys need to loosen up, and stop being blatant dicks to each other, and have fun once in a while... its almost pathetic the way you treat each other... go ahead and do it to me, but be warned, you wont win, ive dealt with far worse... so your just wasting your time...

live, laugh, have some damn fun once in a while... change your tampon, or whatever you need to do, but just live life and enjoy it...


ahhh screw it, you aint gonna listen to me LOL...

You did make sure the drive was seated properly didn't you?

Late lunch today......

The 8600 is just a an older P4 running the mobile variant of that chip. It's good for a door stop and that's about it.

I wouldn't bother spending any time on it and I'd just donate it to one of the computer charity places. Take the write off on your taxes.

Or, sell it on ebay. I bet you'd get $50 for it. Maybe.

1. Run a hard drive diagnostic.
Take a look under the hood and see what make it is.....they all have their own free diagnostic utilities.
I believe that they are all on this free diagnostic disk...
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

2. If the HDD is declared physically OK after the diagnostic...
Some Dells have a "hidden" recovery partition. You'll have to Google around for the procedure.
It's there to recover the operating system after a fatal crash and restores the system to an "as shipped" condition. All personal data is lost, which doesn't matter in this case.
You can also ask the woman if she has any of the disks that came with this Dell.
(having these will simplify everything)

3. There should be a product key taped to the bottom of the lappy.
All you need to do is borrow an XP disk and input that product key at the prompt during the install.
Note:
The XP disk must be the same variant as the original, for example...
Chances are greatest that this machine was loaded with an OEM copy of XP Home.
The product key will identify variant and it will be an OEM copy (as opposed to Retail)

4. Cleanup.
After you get up and running with a generic XP disk you are also running on generic drivers.
Install security software and update drivers.
Recommend custom install (turn off what you don't need) of AntiVir for the best freebie AV solution.

Parker, this is a 20 inch model i believe, or 19 or whatever... when i was watching videos on youtube last night, it had better quality than my Toshiba Sattelite Pro laptop... but, its not a very good computer, you can tell by the quality of contsruction... picture wise, awesome tho... we have needed another laptop for a while, but i refuse to buy the 359 dollar Compaqs from Walmart and Target... i was figuring that i could fix this one (likely upgrade everything), and my GF can use it for her school (she will be entering the Nursing Program this summer)... we really dont have 1500 extra dollars to buy a nice laptop... i refuse to buy junk, but i will take what other people consider junk, and see if i can change that...

but i could just sell it like you said, and upgrade the Toshiba with the money...

DD, thats what i was planning on doing today, is cracking it open, and seeing whats going on in there, and if i can fix it or not... the lady gave us litterally everything, including the box it came in... all driver disks, photo programs disks, ect... but they dont come with the XP disk as its usually factory installed... and you are correct, it is XP Home... i think however, the Toshiba is XP Pro... my question is:

if i buy the Home, and upgrade the HD in the Toshiba, will i be able to use that disk for both computers, or is the system on the Toshiba not compatible with it? would i need to buy both OS disks?

1. I wouldn't volunteer to buy a copy of XP Home...you already have a license for that (the key on the freebie)
You just need to borrow an OEM XP Home copy. I got one from a local 'puter shop for the asking.
It's just a copy of an official M$ disk but you need to input your key.

2. If you buy a single license it's only good for one instance (machine).
I've monkeyed with it and it eventually bites you.

3. If I wanted to upgrade the HDD in the Toshiba I would clone the current profile and reload it onto the new HDD. It helps to have a portable HDD or big thumb drive to do this.
Some portable HDD's come with cloning software and you can later use the portable for backups.
For cloning, I've used Acronis (paid) but there are some freebies....
Go to Major Geeks for free stuff....safe site to download from just click on the correct button and not an advertisement.

i have a 500 gig external, and a 1 Terra external, but thats at my brothers, 500 is here... plus a few 2-20 gig flash drives...

the other place screwed my hard drive up in the Toshiba, i lost everything, including the OS... so, instead of ever running into any problem due to that, im just going to scrap that HD and buy a new one, the computer shop has 160 gig ones for 60 bucks, and 300 gig ones for like 129 or whatever it was... i figured i would just start over completely...

the one thing that pisses me off about the Dell, is it needs to be hard wired into the router, or use a USB antenna to connect to the internet... and it sticks out a bit, and is irritating.. the Toshiba isnt like that, it has an internal lockable antenna... but the screen is smaller than the Dell, and the graphics card isnt as good as the Dell either.. which is why i want to try to fix it, if its not too expensive to do so... i probably should be focusing on trying to fix the Toshiba flat out... and by fixing, i mean fully upgrading the CPU and Ram and HDD... it would be nice to have this Dell as a beater computer tho, that i can bring in the car to check flow levels and such on the go, and even bug you guys while im at the river

or another option, that i just thought of... i could look on Ebay for a "parts" computer of the same make as the Dell with a cracked LCD or something, and pull the board and the drive out of it, and put it in this one, or the screen out of this one, and put it in the other... and if Parker is right about only being 50 bucks at most, that would be the easiest simplest and cheapest way to fix it...

Never sniff a gift fish.

That Dell sounds like the vintage that may have a card bus Type II slot and if so there are wireless adapters for that interface. About $20.
Not a big deal to run one and you don't use up a USB port.
(1/8"+ x 2"+ slot)


Stop it.
Don't buy someone else's junk.
And don't buy a new HDD until you test the one in the Dell.
If you have to buy, get it online from Newegg.

First run the hard drive diagnostic with the UBCD linked above after you determine whether you have a Western Digital, Seagate, Hitachi, Maxtor or Fujitsu. Look under the cover if you don't have the Dell build sheet to determine HDD mfr.
Just burn the bootdisk on your healthy computer, boot up the sick machine with it and choose the correct diagnostic.

the hard drive is a Toshiba HDD 2181... i pulled it out, and turned the computer on... guess what... no grinding fan like noise, and it went to the "no bootable devices" screen rather quickly... put it back in, and its grinding away, taking forever to boot up again... you can also feel vibration directy over the top of where the drive sits in the computer... and its back to its slow ways of getting to the blue error screen...

i will try your link, but with the drive making this much noise, its almost a dead giveaway...

"you can also feel vibration"

Maybe your wife would like it?

If it's making noise like that, it's toast.

Looks like those older HDD's are more expensive than I thought. C&P the link into your browser.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007605%20600003442&IsNodeId=1&name=IDE%20Ultra%20ATA100%20%2f%20ATA-6
Cheaper but smaller here..
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-ST980815A-80GB-5400rpm-Drive/dp/tech-data/B000H4WKWK
Double-check the interface before you buy, but I believe these are correct.
If you try to go bigger than 137GB you may have trouble.

There was a 137GB ceiling with the old BIOS instruction sets.
The new instruction set would allow "large drive recognition".
If you haven't flashed BIOS before, probably not a good time to practice with the machine inoperable, etc.
Look for a 120GB or smaller if you have this older BIOS.

You could look up the Dell model number and see what HDD options they offered.

Sound like it is dead. I'd recommend putting an eye hook in it and using it as a flasher for the next time you go fishing....that is if you ever fish.

DD it sounds like a quieter blender basically... but with it working the way it was yesterday, atleast i have eliminated the Motherboard issue... so now i just need a HDD..


stone, i fish, ive been fishing 2 times in the last 4 days, but since its lakes and for trout, it doesnt count as fishing...and id rather use my Seps flashers than a Toshiba

i dont need anything larger than 120 DD... 80 would even work, as i dont plan to use this for anything but surfing and minor stuff.. no music, no programs, nothing... my big computers are 500 gig, and 640 gig, i use them for the music and other crap...

like i said, i have the 500 gig external HD, if i need to save anything on this laptop, i can use it instead of the internal HDD... that way i can take the information to whatever computer i wish, and i wont lag the laptop down with a bunch of crap on it....

thanks for your help, i appreciate it...

and yeah, HD prices have been going up, and down, and up... theres a good computer shop down the street i can get an 80 from for like 40 or 60 bucks, i cant remember, the 120 if i remember right is 60 bucks... the one in the computer is only a 30, so either would be an improvement over it... plus, this laptop has simple hook up to external monitors such as my LCD TV... which will be cool streaming UFC fights and such...

Be sure to get the correct interface...I think that Dell is ATA-100 (PATA)

i can also upgrade the Ram to 2 gigs for 50 bucks as well... might not be a bad idea..

http://www.amazon.com/memory-upgrade-Inspiron-Notebook-Laptop/dp/B001SVLP9U/ref=pd_cp_pc_3

i will see how quick it is tho with the new HDD in it and the existing Ram and Motherboard before i go doing that...

Dell forums say that it is an IDE aka PATA aka ATA drive just like you said... and 120 gigs are fine... they also say that i can have the tech guy Clone the OS and all programs on this drive and have the image installed on the new drive making it plug and play... that is, IF its salvageable, which it might not be from the noise its making... the computer we had built before my dad died, runs SATA and RAID componets, but thats kinda redundant..

pretty simple fix and not too pricey for a decent laptop...

If I remember correctly, XP likes at least 1 GB....the early XP machines shipped with 256 MB and would have to page like crazy.
If it's a two-channel board be sure that's turned on.

But, yeah, get the friggin thing running and stable before monkeying with memory upgrades.

the cards that are in it are twin 128s... and its a 1.5ghz system... but it was clipping along pretty decent last night before i shut it off... watched some videos on youtube, went to Facebook, and it was quick and nice quality... but yeah, i should get it working correctly before upgrading stuff...


Abu kiss my a$$...

oh sh!t... guess what DD.. i was looking through the box, grabbing all the driver and other disks... guess what i found?



the windows XP OS disk!!!

just got that much easier, and cheaper...

since this isnt my info on here, and she didnt care, should i format the hard drive and see if its maybe corrupted or something and re install the OS and Drivers? or would that be a waste of time?

I think that was on your list of things to do a few posts back.
Glad you found it.

If that HDD is making all the noise you say it is, I would considered it toast.
I wouldn't do sh!t with it unless it came up clean after a diagnostic.
Burn the free bootdisk I linked you and run the Toshiba diagnostic before wasting time with it.

Edit:
Use the Hitachi Drive Fitness Test.

im out of CDs right now, i used my last ones a month or so ago... i turned the computer back on to see if it would stop grinding and making the noise like it did last night... no dice... matter of fact, i picked it up to listen closer to it, and the thing started squealing for a second then went back to the WAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH buzzing grinding noise, and takes a minute to get to the error screen... im not gonna waste any more time with this thing... ill just get a new HD and start over... i also dont care to see someone elses information on a computer, so, i guess its win win....ill just throw this hard drive in my friends incinerator or something and be done with it....

cant beat a new(to me) lap top for under 100 bucks...

When you get to the point, I have service packs for xp on disc....could mail them to you. I want them back tho.

that would be awesome if i need them... the OS disk includes SP1, and i think or thought i could get the rest from Microsoft on the net... not sure tho, so if i need em, ill even pay for postage both ways... ill have it fixed within a couple days... thank you...

did you eat phuckin paint chips as a kid or something?

yeah, im talkin to him... he offered me something, so i gave him an insult...

aint very bright are you?

DD, i lied, i kept phuckin with it... now the HD isnt even recognized lol... but this computer has all the built in diagnostic stuff, when i was messing with it, the drive got quiter... everything passed but the HD... then it just stopped making noise all together... and now only makes noise a little every few seconds and sometimes longer...

its smoked...

might get the HD this week, otherwise it will likely be on the weekend...

what RPM drive would you reccomend? the 4200 or if i can get it the 5600?

i know speed is everything, but will 1400 RPM make that much of a difference?

Most of the replacements for that lappy will be 5400 RPM. Just get one of those, they don't seem to cost any more.
It will be a little quicker because of that and a freshly loaded OS.

Wow.......

it is pretty interesting isn't it?

I believe that Slab quit drinking years ago.

That may be but, unfortunately, it seems to have been too late.

Heaven help the poor sap ends up on this thread from Googling how to fix a laptop.

Still think it's wrong to call him a drunk.

Hopefully the thread title will filter out that traffic.

Yes it is wrong but pretty tame compared to other stuff in this forum.

just hooked up the Scanner/Copier/Fax/Printer... works great.. now maybe i will share some photos of my dad from back in the say with steelhead and monster shrimp.... maybe... unless people plan on making fun of him, or me for that matter...

obviously, because you waited litterally 30 seconds to respond to me...


dude, your seriously pathetic...

And the Man/boy crush continues. Can you two get a room.

heres a pic of my girlfriends Grandfather... probably some time in the 60s or 70s... he lived in Campbell River BC at my girlfriends family cabin till he died in 95... he is the one that adopted Norm Maleng...


this is a test to see how well this thing works..

looks like it works great...

this thing is awesome... this is one of my favorite flies that my dad tied....its an actual fly in the scanner, not a picture...

1 more test pic of 2 flies i really like...

I had those scale at one time. Wildly inaccurate. Great picture.

yes Dave, so inaccurate i threw the 3 i had when i was younger away... there is actually 3 pictures of that in sequence in the little holder/frame that we have... the other 2 are this, and the final one is the one i posted...





i used to have a few of those old Mitchell 300s and 308s just like that in the pic too... unfortunately, i was young when i had them, and didnt know about the whole keeping your gear clean thing... so using them in the canal for 10 years destroyed them... oh well, live and learn ...

why lock it? now i can share super old photos of my family and GFs family.... looking at old fishing photos is sometimes better than looking at new ones...

LOL, its in Canada, and i highly doubt anyone can figure out what river it was on...

With those cool pics, this thread is barely in the negative.

I used those scales and might even be able to track one down. "Wildly inaccurate" is both true and funny.

In looking at the pic of him pulling the fish out of the water, is that a big, old "corky" of some sort?

its a "cork" bobber... i used to have one, but i lost it... some are like the size of golf balls, with a hole through them and a plastic pin that holds it in place on the line to adjust depth... they arent painted, and look exactly like the cork on your rod handle...

They took paradise and put in a parking lot.

Joni Mitchell



Do I win?

Damn, those old Haight-Ashbury hippies perk up at certain key words.

heres one of my dad from the late 70s...

these are some of my absolute favorite flies for Cutthroat...

this is another test, im trying to figure out everything on this scanner printer thing and am just using this thread to do so without making another one...

stam, he never had a pupp...

we did tho... several, over 10 German Shepards when i was growing up... this isnt fishing, but its me with 2 of the baddest motherphuckin German Sheps you will ever see... one was killed by a car, the other was sold to the King County K-9 division...

Shorter and younger...

No, not younger, just shorter . . .

ok DD, i have some issues... i went to 2 local computer shops today, and neither of them carry the IDE drives anymore, as you know they are out dated and everything runs of SATA or whatever now...

newegg is expensive, and they have a 1 year warranty on their HDDs... on Ebay i have found HDD for very good prices... i can get a Toshiba 80gig refurbed, for 50 bucks, with a 5 year warranty... or i can get a brand new 80 gig factory sealed with a 3 year warranty for 53.00...

as you can see, the warranty is great, but if it crashes and i lose everything even if its under warranty, still makes the warranty worthless in a way (thank god i have the externals)....

so what would YOU do?

ok to trust ebay?

I go to Infotech in Federal Way if I need something now.

Linky

Call before you go to make sure it is in stock.

You should keep everything backed up in case of failure.

I was wondering how you'd do at that local shop.....

What about that Amazon link that I put up a few posts back ?

Warranty will be based on HDD manufacturer and model chosen.
Seagate usually has the longest warranties.....5 years.
There are some 1's and 3's, depends on the model.

Once you find a make/model Google it and see what the reviews say.
Even though it's outdated, the reviews will still be accessible. Usually good feedback database on HDD's if you look around.

You will probably end up with an 80GB @ 5400RPM.....a very common lappy HDD from that era.

the models on ebay are the Toshiba 2190, the one in the computer is a Toshiba 2180... i figured if i just replaced it with the same brand, just a higher gig, that i wouldnt run into any problems whatsoever, as its basically the same, just bigger... ive searched around, and most places (actual stores and what not) are selling them for 100+ dollars in most cases... with ebay, i cut that in half... but you cant always guarentee good people on ebay...

ive also read (and i dont know if this is true or not), is that the warrantys from stores, you will need to send the HDD back to the manufacturer, and they are in China.... with the ones from ebay, you are sending them back to the people you bought them from, and they are based in California, that company will then send you another HDD... so the wait time is cut 90%...

im really picky when it comes to electronics, and ive never purchased any electronic anything from ebay before... i dont want to get a HDD that looks like someone pole vaulted off of it even tho it was "new"... there is a 30 day return policy tho, and the OS and driver install will be easy (should be) anyways...

just trying to save a little here... i know cutting corners can bite you in the a$$, especially when it comes to electronics, but if its the same brand, it shouldnt be bad... atleast i hope...


EB, i will give them a call and see what their prices are too, thanks..

oh yeah, the Toshiba Laptop i have, is also an IDE drive, so im in the same position with that one as well...

You don't like this one ?

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-ST980815A-80GB-5400rpm-Drive/dp/tech-data/B000H4WKWK

Brand doesn't matter whatsoever.
Just make sure that the interface is correct and that it got good reviews.

DD, i just want to give you a big a$$ thank you for everything...

heres what i did, and what happened...

so i was sitting here, like WTF, WHY do i have to order a HDD and not be able to find one... and was thinking, WHY the hell wouldnt the Toshiba's HDD work in the Dell?.. so i said screw it, time to pull em apart...

as you know, the Dell HDD was a Toshiba 2181... well, the Toshiba was a Toshiba 2171 (10 more gigs than the 2181... so i pulled both of em out, and they looked exactly the same... took them out of the caddys, pulled the adapter off the 2181 that Dell uses, and slipped it on to the 2171 and it went on perfectly... slid it into the Dell with zero issues, and fired it up... at first i was getting the blue screen error code, so, i took the OS disk from dell, and booted from that... it asked what partition to install on, so i clicked the only one available... well that had an OS on it already.. when it got screwed, i installed a Windows disk onto it, that i didnt have the product Key for, so, it gave me like 15 days or something and then nada... so i formatted that partition, and started installing the disk that came with the Dell....

went off without a hitch... installed drivers, no problem... then i went to starting connecting to the internet... i had a few little bugs to work out, but i GOT IT!!! the computer is working flawlessly, and is rather quick for however old it is...

just want to give a big THANK YOU for your help during this.. i really appreciate the time you took to even respond to me with the information you provided... if i can make it up to you someday, i will gladly do that...

once again, THANKS...

greetings from Puyallup



PS, its the Dell

oh yeah, i still would like to get 2 larger HDDs for both of these, and for some reason i didnt see the Amazon link you posted, but those look like great deals, and i will be getting 2 of them....

oh, and repair costs totalled ZERO, hows that for "magic" haters?


just kidding, you helped to by keeping me determined and my mind set on something... thank you as well...

'puters...just have to let them know who's boss.




Not to be a buzzkill, but did you save the OS/profile for the Toshiba ?

no, i had to reformat that drive due to the dickweeds that screwed it up the last time... it bascially was just a HDD sitting here waiting to be used, and since i didnt have the OS disk, i couldnt do it... the computer shops here wouldnt even give me a disk to install it without giving them another 90 dollars... what im gonna do with the Toshiba is buy another HDD, and get another OS and start over... i may have a friend of my dads that will send me a disk for free, but hes in American Fork Utah.. he is the one that built our big computer, he was my dads IT and builds computers for the US Government.. at the time that computer was built, it had state of the art stuff in it, and even being 10+ years old, will still kick the sh!t out of some newer systems...

its all good, starting over isnt much of a problem... what is a problem is how good im getting working on these damn things and cant get a job at a computer place because i dont have a "Computer Science" degree or whatever is needed...

over the last year, this is the 10th computer ive fixed for friends and family and myself.... all without fancy programs, an office with multiple computers and screens, diagnostic software, ect... just straight up brain skill and patience...

some day ill put it to good use i hope, right now i just fix peoples stuff for free, because i enjoy the smiles on their faces 9 months later when they are still using it, and were considering smashing it with a hammer or whatnot...

thanks again man, i really appreciate it...

Your Toshiba is XP Professional, right ?
If he burns you a copy of XP Pro OEM you will be able to plug in your XP Pro product key and be good to go.

It's not that difficult to burn a copy of a Windows disk.
Last time I burned one it was with Nero wich is medium-low power burning software.
There is free burning software that is more powerful than Nero.

oh yeah i get ya... yeah it will be no problem, i just need the disk...

its extremely simple to burn the disks, but the computer shops around here WILL NOT help you... they charge 75-90 dollars for Home, and 130 for Pro, its all a money scheme with them... they also charge flat rate 99 an hour for virus removal... if they dont watch it with me and trying to take my money, i will steal their buisiness by charging 50, and doing it myself... i pad 90 for the install on a new HD for one of my Desktops, and it shut off while my GF was on it and is now at the black screen that says files may be corrupt, and to insert the OS disk to repair...


they wont help me, without paying them 99 bucks for their "flat rate"... the dude that did the install on that one, had to move to Lousiana to take care of his dying dad, otherwise he would have given me a copy... he is the one that told me the process of how to find out if it was a software or hardware issue with the Toshiba, that i fixed, when the other shop completely broke it and said it was fried... they also said that they couldnt recover any data from the drive, and erased it...

needless to say, they arent very bright, even when i went in there today, they looked at me crosseyed like "oh sh!t, this dude aint gonna spend money here", so after a bit, they kinda just ignored me... supposedly the buisiness has been there for 20+ years... if they act like that, and dont know what the fvck they are doing, they wont last 5 more, unless they get gullible people that dont know anything to come into their shop and they can act like computer gods... all they are is high budget morons that think they can get over on people....

NOT ME...

screw it, i think im gonna look into taking college courses to get my degree, and give people quality work, without the crap...

screw the Geek Squad

screw Creative Computer Sales

screw Computer Citi

screw 70 percent of computer shops that only want your money and dont care about you, or their reputation...

its not rocket science, and they need to stop portraying it as so... hell, maybe i could make my first million opening up a computer shop... skys the limit right?

Congratulations on the computer and the realization that you need to find a job. As you may have finally figured out, posting on fishing forums in the middle of the day doesn't pay squat.

Your business plan seems sound.........

i was thinking about it...

what i meant by that Randy, is that if i do it for cheaper than the big guys, and be more people oriented, and about the "customers" instead of the corporate aspect of it, i could probably do pretty well...who wouldnt want their computer back in 4 hours, rather than over night, or 3 days later.... who wouldnt like that 99 dollar rate dumped to 50....

my buisiness plan would be to help people, not screw them out of their money... obviously i would likely have to take a course in Buis Management as well....

my only downfall, will be math...

You will quickly learn why they charge $99/hour.

There are many things that factor into the "correct" hourly rate for a business.

Starting a business and being successful at it is a much simpler then it sounds.

However, that being said, if it is something that interests you and you have an aptitude for, then give it a shot.

Failing is sometimes better then sitting back and never trying.

failure is not an option... but in this case, i get what your saying... math is a major point in computers , and im not that good at it.... i can read the sh!t out of a tape, and know how to add subtract and divide, but i know zero about Algebra, and Calculus (my gf aced both of those classes)... but when i was in HS, and then left, and got my GED, my Science grades are upper 90 percentile...

its my math.... and i dont know why i cant get it... and they will make you take those courses in some schools... for coding and stuff... main reason i havent pursued it.... im just a yard ape/carpenter that knows how to fix stuff sometimes... and probably wont ever be much more than that... who knows..

Wwjd? Lock this retarded thread.....

About 3/4 of a mile from my house there is a minimall. There are
two computer repair facilities there now. T'he two storefronts
alternate in going out of business and then pulling a Phoeniz and
reopening under new management.
I believe our throw away society doesn't much care for repairing
things. There are exceptions of course. Yourself and others make
a labor of love out of fixing the almost economically unfixable.
Or out of sheer need.
Old times folks darned the holes in their socks. Now they just toss
'em and buy new. Hell I learned to darn my socks at the 7 year old
level.

Good luck pursuing that first million via computer repair.
More useful and challenging, develope a bit of software that flushes
MS bits and pieces and things like Facebook, Twitter and assorted
moles from computer systems.

I have no idea what anyone's SAT scores are/were but sure can't fault a young man's choice of wanting to be a hand on a big game boat out of Hawaii. Sounds like living the dream to me.

There are lots of unemployed people.

Hank's just a burned-out old goat who can't imagine anyone not wanting to be a cog in the machine.

I'm sure working on a big game boat would be awful. Certainly not a cool job like taking x-rays or something.

Do x-ray techs really make 6 figures? I only ask because that's about double what I found for average wage rate for x-ray technicians.

Or is that just in the bay area where sh!t-dump houses sell for 1.35 million?



I find it best not to clown anyone's career choice. If you're working and being productive, then it's no place of mine to tell you what you should be doing.

I only clown on the x-ray technician field to dig at Hank once in a while.

Oh yeah..........some dream of being x-ray techs, and some dream of owning the company that built the x-ray machine.

Hmmm, I was surprised that Dan didn't declare that a solid ZING.

While there's nothing inherently wrong with Abu's low horizon dream, Hank is on point in dissing Abu for ragging on what appears to be Redhook's demonstrated ability. Face it, Redhook the idiot actually fixed a computer, something most of us haven't done and wouldn't even attempt. Way over 90% of Abu's posts are nothing more than dissing somebody about something. Obviously his mother never taught him that if he can't say something nice, then STFU. OTOH, Abu's only demonstrated talents are curing salmon eggs and photographing his GF's snatch, NTTAWWT.

+many.

im not an idiot Salmo, and i would appreciate it if you refrained from calling me it...

some day ill get better at the damn math part to make it even an option to go into the computer field....

Redhook,

True, it's unlikely that you're an idiot, but there is something about your posting style that definitely isn't very smart. And it doesn't have anything to do with math. But good on ya' for fixing the computer.

Sg

could it be the way you interpret it?

working on computers for me isnt hard at all... working ON computers, is a little more difficult, but i can still do it with help, like that of DD... what most people dont realize, is that even computer techs at shops have to learn how to do things off the internet, because their computer science degree from 2001 wont show them anything on computers that come out 6 months from now..... which is why they really piss me off thinking they are some genius that has the net world in their hands... because i can learn the same thing they learned, in the same classroom, as in the world wide web...

computer shops charge what they charge to be competetive... someone started the whole 99 an hour rate, well, then the other joe schmoe comes along and says, im going to do it for 79 an hour...

the reason noone charges 50 an hour, is because they can get 79 an hour, or 99, why only charge 50? its called MONEY, and basically greed... and im not greedy... unless you are full on building gaming computers with 1k dollar video cards in them, 50 dollars an hour is a very good wage... a regular work week would gross 2000 dollars a week, and at 8k a month, lets make it 6k due to taxes, you are still doing fairly well for yourself...

i like helping people, and if i can fix their computer, and save them some money, im helping quite a bit... i cant stand people in general that just take take take and never give.... large corporations such as the Geek Squad do exactly that.... but the are backed by Best Buy so they really dont have to worry about tanking as a small buisiness would really have to worry about usually...

my problem is, is that i like to help TOO much.. and people then say im a "knowitall" or just an asshole in general, because they take what i say out of context... one day they will see past that.... hopefully..

Fvck computers.
If you've dabbled in the carpentero thing, then why not go legitmate ?

http://www.carpenterspnwrc.org/?page_id=79

If you can get your hands and brain workin' together and can hustle, you'll be making about $40 an hour after you complete the program.
You will also get a pension when you finish your career.

Not for weaners, but if you can think on your feet and haul a$$, you'll do well.


Bottom line is this....
You have to be able to do or provide something that not every garden variety schmoe can.
That's it.
Find that "something".

That's great and all, but my teenage kid who can't get his arse out of bed in the morning can do that.

Hank - I'm not really a cog in the machine..........more like a turbocharger.

DD, ive kinda done carpentry my whole life... i helped build our cabin when i was younger, then worked with my uncle on a few projects, and my dad... i worked for the same company my dad did for 3 years before he died, and was enrolled in the CITC (Construction Industry Training Council) school program for 2 full years before he passed.. needless to say, him leaving really screwed things up, including my mental state at the time... i also have a degree in Horticulture from Renton Tech... but, a degree like that, is basically worthless, you can work at a nursery for jack, or landscaping for jack... highest i got up to doing that was 15 an hour... and was even working on houses of people like Chuck Armstrong, who is the president of the Seattle Mariners... the only way to make money landscaping is to own your own business... carpentry i was up to 18 an hour in 2 years, with some of the top supes in the company saying i should have been at 20-22, but the HR director wouldnt give it to me, because he thought that 4 of us (me, my brother, dad, and uncle) working for the same company would upset people.... so he kinda [Bleeeeep!] me around trying to make me leave... he is no longer there... i learned alot from my dad and the people that worked for him... my pops used to have "head hunters" constantly chasing him around, some offering 6 figures for him to come work for them... but he was loyal, and enjoyed where he was at.... and had some of the best carpenters (including himself) on the West Coast working for him...

i would love to get back into carpentry, but i have an issue right now that needs to be addressed before i can do that.... for now i just do little things for friends like garden construction and such for generally 20 an hour, but im still limited even doing that right now...

one day things will be just fine, but i would like to be better off than just mowing lawns for 20 bucks an hour.... id like to buy a boat someday, and on that wage, and my current situation, its not possible... so for now, i just try to keep my head on straight, and do what i can....

Redhook, sorry to hear about your Dad passing, that must have been hard to deal with. You might want to take some classes on computers before jumping in with both feet. ymmv.

I DO turbocharge their arses out of bed, Hank.

I said THEY couldn't get their arses up.

Have you thought about writing a book on parenting?

Freudian slip ? lol

I'm sure Hank's kids are all doctors raising families of their own by now.

i dont dream of graduating HS, i didnt, and am not ashamed of that, because i ACED my GED test, 10 years ago...

also Abu, dont get all high any mighty about your AK stuff, because i highly doubt as a 13 year old kid you just walked up to Alaska and they gave you a job... you rode someones coat tails to get in the door, and since then, you may have accomplished alot on your own, but you didnt start it all by yourself... so dont flatter yourself...

DD, im having some issues with the networking of all the systems i have, do you know much about that?

define carpenter? not a problem... here are some of the projects i have worked on...

http://www.chartercon.com/project/814-residence

http://www.chartercon.com/project/820-residence

http://www.chartercon.com/project/tobias-residence

http://www.chartercon.com/project/twin-firs-residence

http://www.chartercon.com/project/spring-hill-residence

http://www.chartercon.com/project/lake-washington-residence-0

http://www.chartercon.com/project/saltwater-bluff

that define it enough for you twit?

Not so much.
It can be challenging, depending on what you're trying to do.

Jesus would promote broodstock programs like snider creek. I heard he did a pretty good one back in the day.

Sorry not reading anything but the title

well i wanted to keep it simple...i run a 50 ft CAT 5 cable from my modem in the office into my room to hook up the XBOX, what i wanted to do, was get a splitter, and connect up the computer and XBOX on the same line in my room, ive seen them on Amazon for fairly cheap, alot cheaper than another 50ft CAT 5 cable (40 bucks from Radio Shack) and run another 7-10 foot cord out of the splitter to connect both machines....

i was going to get a wireless usb adapter for the computer, but the cheapos are only 150 kbps, which wont allow me to do certain things.... the 600 and 900 series ones get up there in price...i like to keep my systems hard wired so there is no lag in performance...

i have that NETGEAR one that the lady gave us, and installed the software from the website, but for some reason, it will not work...

should i order the stuff online and do it like i was planning, or just bone up the 80+ dollars to make the lappy wireless and hard line the XBOX like it already is?

RB im all for the Snider program, but unfortunately, its too late... and is going to screw the Duc in a few years, mark my words...

unemployed? i already said what i do...

what do you do? take creepy shadow pics of unsuspecting chicks a$$es?

and if Jesus were next to you, he would have socked you in your phuckin mouth already...

stay outta this, im tryin to get some answers about issues im running into...

Leave the Xbox alone...it's bad for you

What is this Netgear product model number ?

Salmo g and I don't agree on much but in this case I must
allow he as you pegged A boob LOO miss

btw how about those of us that built and maintained computers
systems and AI hardware long before the internet was as common
as dooky.

it is a NETGEAR wg111v2... ive tried to install it, but it shuts down and wont let me, ive used this download

http://kbserver.netgear.com/release_notes/d102948.asp

and after reading the Mbps (a whopping 54), screw this thing, im just gonna spend the 25 bucks to get a 150 mbps adapter....

nevermind... thanks tho...

Aboob uses Craigslist to find johns to suck off...he says the pay isn't great but he does get big tips.

He got lots of practice when he was VHAWKS little beetch...that pic he posts is not his GF it's his Sister, and her face probably looks like she got stomped with golf shoes.

That piece off a$$ wouldn't crack my top 10 aboob. Keep reaching for the stars sugar tits.

says the dude with some creepy rapist photo of himself creepin up on some random chicks [Bleeeeep!].... or, you took it off the net...

Aboob makes a good punching bag.

and everyone i know that has seen what you write towards me has laughed their mother phuckin a$$ off...

put your e-boner for me back in your hard drive and grow up...

So you are on Maui with a girl sitting next to you and you choose to continue to worry about a fishing forum maggot? How long do you think the girl will put up with it?
Redhook has had the same story and pictures on every fishing forum. It only gets worse from here. Nothing has changed.

what are you talking about? that i asked for help on something?

and i aint a maggot... ODH is a maggot... i just would like to be treated like everyone else is...

i have changed if you havent noticed... then again, most people misread stuff i type anyways...

whatever...

If cocks were different colors..Aboob mouth would look like a rainbow.

This thread reminds me of this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsGP35Vd6qQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

somebody forgot to flush in the downstairs bathroom

Real tempting quote for the signature line:

"i just would like to be treated like everyone else is"

You wouldn't be so irritating Redhook if you didn't tell us how smart you are all the time.

Yeah, that must be the problem.

You are just ASKING for it. You have a Blades-like can't-stop-posting problem.

$40 for 50' of Cat5 cable?! You need to learn how to figure stuff out or your life is really going to be a stuggle.

At the point where you are spending a week trying to get a marginal computer working, it is far from "cheap" even if you haven't spent a dollar.

BTW, PLEASE do not open a business. You really, really, REALLY don't get it.