Hi

Is there a newsgroup similar to this for computer problems?

Dave

David Lang wrote:
Hi

Is there a newsgroup similar to this for computer problems?

Dave

uk.comp.homebuilt

In message , David Lang
wrote
Hi

Is there a newsgroup similar to this for computer problems?


Go to the news archive at
http://groups.google.com/

Put into the search box a few key words associated with your problem.

You will get a list of questions and answers as well as the newsgroup
where the questions first appeared.

If the groups.google.com web site doesn't give a direct answer to your
problem subscribe to the newsgroups where similar question appear.
--
Alan

Is there a newsgroup similar to this for computer problems?

Whats the problem ?

David Lang wrote:

Hi

Is there a newsgroup similar to this for computer problems?

Most folks seem to post them here! (depends on how anal you want your
answers)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In article ,
David Lang wrote:
Hi

Is there a newsgroup similar to this for computer problems?

That depends on which sort of computer you are having problems with.

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

Hi

OK, didn't want to tie up the group - but!

I run Windows XP Home. Swimbo just purchased a new PC. I want to save My
Documents (550MB) to a CD so I can re load it on to the new machine.

The alleged Wizard keeps coming up with the error message that it can't
complete the task.

I've shut down & re started, I've run Norton Win Doctor, Norton OBC and
Windows Registry Repair. I've uninstalled & reinstalled the CD device
driver. I've downloaded & tried Nero and Deepburner, both of which come up
with error messages.

I've tried 4 brand new CD RW discs - Memorex 16x-24x. I've been onto
Microsoft's alleged help FAQ and tried what they suggested.

If you put a CD into the drive you can read it no problem. I've tried just
about everything I can think of!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a very large hammer on standby - but I can't afford to lose any of my
stuff.

Could I upload My Docs to the web somehow & download it again?

Dave

Buy a usb to usb cable and transfer that way.

In message , David Lang
writes
Hi

OK, didn't want to tie up the group - but!

I run Windows XP Home. Swimbo just purchased a new PC. I want to save My
Documents (550MB) to a CD so I can re load it on to the new machine.

The alleged Wizard keeps coming up with the error message that it can't
complete the task.

I've shut down & re started, I've run Norton Win Doctor, Norton OBC and
Windows Registry Repair. I've uninstalled & reinstalled the CD device
driver. I've downloaded & tried Nero and Deepburner, both of which come up
with error messages.

I've tried 4 brand new CD RW discs - Memorex 16x-24x. I've been onto
Microsoft's alleged help FAQ and tried what they suggested.

If you put a CD into the drive you can read it no problem. I've tried just
about everything I can think of!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a very large hammer on standby - but I can't afford to lose any of my
stuff.

Could I upload My Docs to the web somehow & download it again?

As a path of least resistance,

Why not buy another hard disk

When a 200gig HD costs about £65, it's hardly a huge investment

Do your reinstall on the new HD and you can then connect the old HD and
recover what you want

I always use separate HDs for data and programs. That way you don't
suffer from the problems you are having

--
geoff

In message , raden
writes
In message , David Lang
writes

As a path of least resistance,

Why not buy another hard disk

When a 200gig HD costs about £65, it's hardly a huge investment

Do your reinstall on the new HD and you can then connect the old HD and
recover what you want

I always use separate HDs for data and programs. That way you don't
suffer from the problems you are having

Oops didn't read the OP properly, did I ?

Still - take your HD out and stick it in the other machine, then you can
just copy the required files across

--
geoff

In message , raden
writes
In message , raden
writes
In message , David Lang
writes

As a path of least resistance,

Why not buy another hard disk

When a 200gig HD costs about £65, it's hardly a huge investment

Do your reinstall on the new HD and you can then connect the old HD
and recover what you want

I always use separate HDs for data and programs. That way you don't
suffer from the problems you are having

Oops didn't read the OP properly, did I ?

Still - take your HD out and stick it in the other machine, then you
can just copy the required files across

Answering myself again

or buy a USB stick and transfer it

--
geoff

David Lang wrote:

I've tried 4 brand new CD RW discs - Memorex 16x-24x. I've been onto
Microsoft's alleged help FAQ and tried what they suggested.

If you put a CD into the drive you can read it no problem. I've tried just
about everything I can think of!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a very large hammer on standby - but I can't afford to lose any of my
stuff.

Could I upload My Docs to the web somehow & download it again?

A quick and more direct solution to the file transfer problem would be a
network cable (or wireless lan cards if that sounds like too much
wiring). You can then share the "my documents" folder on the first
computer and then point the My Documents on the other at it across the
network. Thus maintaining only one copy of the folder and saving you
from ending up with various duplicate files in differing states of
update on each computer.

(You can also use the network tobackup critical information on one
computer to the other)



As to your CD problem:

what error message are you getting?
If you are using CDRWs, can you reformat one successfully?
Have you tried CDRs?
Has it ever worked in the past?

It could be the drive itself is shagged. If so, not to worry they cost
peanuts! ;-) (sounds like a good excuses for a upgrade to a DVD writer)

Failing use the writer on the new PC to do your backups via the network.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

David Lang wrote:
I run Windows XP Home. Swimbo just purchased a new PC. I want to save My
Documents (550MB) to a CD so I can re load it on to the new machine.

Have you tried splitting it into two CDs instead of one?

The alleged Wizard keeps coming up with the error message that it can't
complete the task.

Any more details about why? Access denied?

I've shut down & re started, I've run Norton Win Doctor, Norton OBC and
Windows Registry Repair. I've uninstalled & reinstalled the CD device
driver. I've downloaded & tried Nero and Deepburner, both of which come up
with error messages.

What do the error messages say?

I have a very large hammer on standby - but I can't afford to lose any of my
stuff.

It is high time you got a backup strategy worked out then!

Could I upload My Docs to the web somehow & download it again?

What sort of internet access do you have? (You can do it, but it could
take a long time. With ADSL it should be slow but manageable.)

There are a variety of ways to transfer files between PCs without using
an internet connection though. If you have ADSL, you probably also have
a network connection. I presume the new computer does too. In which case
a crossover cable should enable you to network the two computers.

Other strategies include transferring a hard drive, serial port
connection, USB connection, and writing to a memory card.

Rem

I run Windows XP Home. Swimbo just purchased a new PC. I want to save My
Documents (550MB) to a CD so I can re load it on to the new machine.
The alleged Wizard keeps coming up with the error message that it can't
complete the task.

Try copying the data to a different directory i.e. c:\mystuff - and burn
at a slow-ish speed (12x is a fairly safe bet) - that way, if its an
error due to a file lock / file being written as it tries to burn,
you`re using a different file to the one being altered.

You might also want to temporarily enable file sharing on that
directory, just in case XP tries keeping it locked to your account.

Are you in the right account for accessing the data concerned ? - that
could be part of the problem...

In article , "David
Lang" says...
Hi

OK, didn't want to tie up the group - but!

I run Windows XP Home. Swimbo just purchased a new PC. I want to save My
Documents (550MB) to a CD so I can re load it on to the new machine.

Why not network the machines together instead?

The alleged Wizard keeps coming up with the error message that it can't
complete the task.

If that's the files and settings transfer wizard it will try to
transfer a lot more than just My Documents. If it's just My
Documents you want to move, then just write the folder manually to
CD.

I've shut down & re started, I've run Norton Win Doctor, Norton OBC and
Windows Registry Repair. I've uninstalled & reinstalled the CD device
driver. I've downloaded & tried Nero and Deepburner, both of which come up
with error messages.

I've tried 4 brand new CD RW discs - Memorex 16x-24x. I've been onto
Microsoft's alleged help FAQ and tried what they suggested.

Have you disabled XP's excuse for built-in CD writing before you
tried Nero?

If you put a CD into the drive you can read it no problem. I've tried just
about everything I can think of!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a very large hammer on standby - but I can't afford to lose any of my
stuff.

If it's that big a deal just take the hard drive out of the old
machine, stick it in the new one and copy the files that way.

Could I upload My Docs to the web somehow & download it again?

You could, but it's a sub-optimal solution :-)

David Lang wrote:
Is there a newsgroup similar to this for computer problems?

Yes, there are plenty! You need to be more specific

alex

--
Alex Meaden
Technical Support Officer
Computing Service
remove "+nospam" from address to email

"David Lang" wrote in message
news
Hi

Is there a newsgroup similar to this for computer problems?

Dave

The simple answer is yes. I belong to 12 PC groups such as XP, Networking,
broadband, XP basics, Excel, Win 98 etc
Just click Newsgroups in Outlook Express and put in your subject and a list
will appear which you can then select you want to subscribe to.
Quite easy really
Blair

On Sun, 14 Aug 2005 00:18:39 GMT, "David Lang"
wrote:

Hi

OK, didn't want to tie up the group - but!

I run Windows XP Home. Swimbo just purchased a new PC. I want to save My
Documents (550MB) to a CD so I can re load it on to the new machine.

The alleged Wizard keeps coming up with the error message that it can't
complete the task.

Don't use the wizard and don't even think of using the M$ backup
protocols.

Do you have any other CD writing software? If all you want to do is
dump your "my documents" folder to CD then use Nero or (if you
absolutely have to) Roxio.

I think you will find it worth every penny to invest in a copy of
CD/DVD writing software. Personally I use Nero.

If you end up deciding your CD writer is knackered, DVD writers are
now under £30.

--
Warning: Do not look directly into laser with remaining eye.

On Sun, 14 Aug 2005 00:18:39 GMT, "David Lang"
wrote:


I've tried 4 brand new CD RW discs - Memorex 16x-24x. I've been onto
Microsoft's alleged help FAQ and tried what they suggested.

IIRC, the capacity of CDRW disks is far less than straight write once
CDs. I thught it was about 500mb at one time.. IF this is the case,
you may simply be trying to fit more onto the CDRW disk than it can
take, hence it can't complete the task.

Try splitting the docs into smaller archive sizes - say 300MB and
200MB worth in two folders. Then try burning one folder to CDRW.

On another tack - 2Gb USB pen drives are now down to around £64 from
Crucial, which would make trnsferring data between machines a doddle.

Regards,

"David Lang" wrote in
:


I've tried 4 brand new CD RW discs - Memorex 16x-24x. I've been onto
Microsoft's alleged help FAQ and tried what they suggested.



TRy a different brand of CDRW - believe it or not, I had the same prob with
transferring to BiL's computer, using a CDRW

Eventually he took it back to the shop that fitted his RW drive, and after
a lot of work they tried another (Sony) disc.

It worked.

Nobody could explain why, so we quit while we were ahead

Or try a CDR, they're dirt cheap.

Maybe the Nero INformation Tool (free download) could tell you something

mike

Thanks to all who replied - the USB pen drive looks like the answer - Dixons
have a 1GB for £59:99 so I'm off to Bluewater!

SWIMBO wants to play with her new toy!

Dave

David Lang wrote:
Hi

OK, didn't want to tie up the group - but!

I run Windows XP Home. Swimbo just purchased a new PC. I want
to save My Documents (550MB) to a CD so I can re load it on to
the new machine.
The alleged Wizard keeps coming up with the error message that it
can't complete the task.

My Documents is a special folder with odd settings & restrictions. Try
copying all the data to a new Temp folder and then burning that set instead.

"Nobody" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 14 Aug 2005 00:18:39 GMT, "David Lang"
wrote:


I've tried 4 brand new CD RW discs - Memorex 16x-24x. I've been onto
Microsoft's alleged help FAQ and tried what they suggested.

IIRC, the capacity of CDRW disks is far less than straight write once
CDs. I thught it was about 500mb at one time.. IF this is the case,
you may simply be trying to fit more onto the CDRW disk than it can
take, hence it can't complete the task.


CD-RW come in 650 and 700 meg flavours.

It sounds like he has a CD reader, rather than a writer.

Bob

"David Lang" wrote in
:

Thanks to all who replied - the USB pen drive looks like the answer -
Dixons have a 1GB for £59:99 so I'm off to Bluewater!

SWIMBO wants to play with her new toy!

Actually I think it's by far the best solution if you don't mind lashing
out.

My 512Meg stick has transformed data transfer between my computers, I think
my CD writer can feel the draught!

mike

mike ring wrote:
"David Lang" wrote in
:

Thanks to all who replied - the USB pen drive looks like the answer -
Dixons have a 1GB for £59:99 so I'm off to Bluewater!

SWIMBO wants to play with her new toy!

Actually I think it's by far the best solution if you don't mind
lashing out.

My 512Meg stick has transformed data transfer between my computers, I
think my CD writer can feel the draught!


It's more tricky to move the email over (assuming you don't use a webmail
system).

For that you either need to use the FAST wizard, or use Export/Import from
your mail tool

David Lang wrote:
Hi

OK, didn't want to tie up the group - but!

I run Windows XP Home. Swimbo just purchased a new PC. I want to save My
Documents (550MB) to a CD so I can re load it on to the new machine.

The alleged Wizard keeps coming up with the error message that it can't
complete the task.

I've shut down & re started, I've run Norton Win Doctor, Norton OBC and
Windows Registry Repair. I've uninstalled & reinstalled the CD device
driver. I've downloaded & tried Nero and Deepburner, both of which come up
with error messages.

I've tried 4 brand new CD RW discs - Memorex 16x-24x. I've been onto
Microsoft's alleged help FAQ and tried what they suggested.

If you put a CD into the drive you can read it no problem. I've tried just
about everything I can think of!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a very large hammer on standby - but I can't afford to lose any of my
stuff.

Could I upload My Docs to the web somehow & download it again?

Dave



Hi Dave,

I don't think anyone has answered your question, just come up with other
ideas. For starters I think Nero is the best way to go, you don't
mention if you have tried Nero or Nero Express or what errors you had
with them! Nevermind, with Nero you'd want to create a data CD then drag
and drop your My Documents file onto the 'burn area'. This will simply
copy your office files/picturs etc. It will not copy your favourites,
stored email or desktop settings.

Once you have added all the files you wish to keep to your 'burn area'
then you should check that your blank media has enough space to store
your files. Look at the bar bellow, it should be blue and not cross
over the 650mb line unless you are sure you have 700mb media.

For now I would recommend you use a new/blank disk to burn. It's worth
noting that CD-RW and CD-R disks are burn in exactly the same way [2]
(as a write-once per session, read-only disk), the only difference being
that once a CD-RW has served it's purpose you can 'format' your disk
so it acts as a blank disk again [2].

At this point you should continue and burn your disk, try selecting a
lower speed (anything bellow 12x should work even on the slowest of
PCs). Furthermore it should be noted that whilst a CD is burning you
are adviced not to use your PC in anyway, this includes the playing of
music or running of other background tasks. Older PCs are prone to
suffer from buffer-underruns which basically means the PC cannot supply
data fast enough to the LASER [3].

If you still continue to have problems I recommend you try some other
media, even a cheap CD-R. It would also be good if you could quote
(even roughly) some of the error messages... Screen dumps would be
optimal if you know how to do this (check google.com). My final piece
of advice to you would be to close everything down except your CD
burning software (this includes internet and music players) and as much
as you can running in the right corner by the clock (look for the
icon to expand this list) and to disable any power-saving modes or
screensavers.

HTH and good luck!

[1] NERD Alert: Yes I know that CD-R and CD-RW are physically burn't
differently since the disk surface uses different technology. This
explains the difference in speed between the burn speed of CD-R and
CD-RW. Also I know proprietry software is available to use CD-RWs as
'floppy disks' but requires special software to be available on both
burner and client machines.

[2] Nero includes this option.

[3] This is known as a buffer underun and newer drivers have BURN
(Buffer Under RuN) protection which slows the speed of writing down
proportionally to the amount of data coming into the drive. This does
not always work and can sometimes create disk difficult for certain
drives to read (IME).

--
Regards,
Aaron.

David Lang wrote:
Thanks to all who replied - the USB pen drive looks like the answer - Dixons
have a 1GB for £59:99 so I'm off to Bluewater!

SWIMBO wants to play with her new toy!

Dave




This is a huge amount of money, check out Amazon and ebuyer.co.uk, you
could also use storage on you digital camera (assuming you have one!).

--
Regards,
Aaron.

"PC Paul" wrote in
:


My 512Meg stick has transformed data transfer between my computers, I
think my CD writer can feel the draught!


It's more tricky to move the email over (assuming you don't use a
webmail system).

For that you either need to use the FAST wizard, or use Export/Import
from your mail tool

You got it in one - I make sure all email operations stay on one box.

Though in Eudora and Pegasus (can't make up my mind which one I like best),
it's pretty simple.

I'm just afraid of forgetting what's where if I run email on both.

mike

mike ring wrote:
"PC Paul" wrote in
:


My 512Meg stick has transformed data transfer between my computers,
I think my CD writer can feel the draught!


It's more tricky to move the email over (assuming you don't use a
webmail system).

For that you either need to use the FAST wizard, or use Export/Import
from your mail tool

You got it in one - I make sure all email operations stay on one box.

Though in Eudora and Pegasus (can't make up my mind which one I like
best), it's pretty simple.

I'm just afraid of forgetting what's where if I run email on both.


Me too. I use to feel that way but it got to be a pain when I was away from
home.

Since I use a mail forwarding service (mail.com) I have that set now to
forward my mail both to my ISP for OE use, and to my gmail account (got to
get that 2493MB filled somehow!).

I use popfile for Spam filtering, BTW. Works very well after the first few
days training - only have to teach it a new type of Spam about once a
fortnight now.

"Aaron" wrote in message
. uk...
David Lang wrote:
Thanks to all who replied - the USB pen drive looks like the answer -
Dixons have a 1GB for £59:99 so I'm off to Bluewater!

SWIMBO wants to play with her new toy!

Dave




This is a huge amount of money, check out Amazon and ebuyer.co.uk, you
could also use storage on you digital camera (assuming you have one!).


Even better, get one on Argos' "16 day moneyback free rental" scheme, since
you are only using it once. When you take it back, say it didn't fit around
the back (other cables too close) or you don't like the colour.

Bob

David Lang wrote:
Thanks to all who replied - the USB pen drive looks like the answer - Dixons
have a 1GB for £59:99 so I'm off to Bluewater!

SWIMBO wants to play with her new toy!

Dave

Try:
http://www.directusbstore.com/

I have been very happy with their prompt service, and I have not found
better prices.

Rem

In article , "David
Lang" says...
Thanks to all who replied - the USB pen drive looks like the answer - Dixons
have a 1GB for £59:99 so I'm off to Bluewater!

You could get a couple of 802.11g USB WiFi dongles for about half
that price.

PC Paul wrote:
It's more tricky to move the email over (assuming you don't use a webmail
system).
For that you either need to use the FAST wizard, or use Export/Import from
your mail tool

It's very easy with Thunderbird (Mozilla)

Copy across the Profiles dir and all subdirs to the new PC, install
Thunderbird, if Tb doesn't pick up the Profiles dir it will create a
default. Go into profile.ini or whatever it's called in the default,
edit the location to point to the new dir.

The procedure is as described on the Tb help website for moving the
mailbox to another location.

Of course, if you're using OE, you need to install Tb on the old machien
first to import the OE files into the Tb profile.

Owain

"PC Paul" wrote in
:



Me too. I use to feel that way but it got to be a pain when I was away
from home.

Since I use a mail forwarding service (mail.com) I have that set now
to forward my mail both to my ISP for OE use, and to my gmail account
(got to get that 2493MB filled somehow!).

I use popfile for Spam filtering, BTW. Works very well after the first
few days training - only have to teach it a new type of Spam about
once a fortnight now.

I've never got on with training filters, and I don't like downloading any
part of spam, so I've always uswed Mailwasher (old free version).

A few simple rules catch just about all spams, and as I've got to eyeball
the headers anyway, just to be sure, it suits me and is IMO much quicker
all round.

I'm trying poptray now, and it seems just as good, maybe a bit better on
entering rules.

mike

mike ring wrote:
"PC Paul" wrote in
:



Me too. I use to feel that way but it got to be a pain when I was
away from home.

Since I use a mail forwarding service (mail.com) I have that set now
to forward my mail both to my ISP for OE use, and to my gmail account
(got to get that 2493MB filled somehow!).

I use popfile for Spam filtering, BTW. Works very well after the
first few days training - only have to teach it a new type of Spam
about once a fortnight now.

I've never got on with training filters, and I don't like downloading
any part of spam, so I've always uswed Mailwasher (old free version).

A few simple rules catch just about all spams, and as I've got to
eyeball the headers anyway, just to be sure, it suits me and is IMO
much quicker all round.

I'm trying poptray now, and it seems just as good, maybe a bit better
on entering rules.

I've used Mailwasher before, it's OK but I find popfile is much more
flexible (It can sort my mail into categories other than 'SPAM' and 'NOT
SPAM' very easily, and add a header to them for later sorting into
mailboxes.

And it doesn't need extensive whitelists when it guesses wrong...

In article , Owain
URL:mailto
It's very easy with Thunderbird (Mozilla)

How do you stop it dispaying HTML then? It's my only real beef about
Thunderbird. I've read the FAQs etc time and time again but no success.

--
AJL

Andy Luckman (AJL Electronics) wrote:
In article , Owain
URL:mailto

It's very easy with Thunderbird (Mozilla)


How do you stop it dispaying HTML then? It's my only real beef about
Thunderbird. I've read the FAQs etc time and time again but no success.


How about View\Message Body As\Plain Text ?

--
Howard Neil

In article , Howard Neil
wrote:

How about View\Message Body As\Plain Text ?

Tried that, but it only affects the current message. Even then, it still
loads images when attached.

--
AJL

Andy Luckman (AJL Electronics) wrote:
In article , Howard Neil
wrote:


How about View\Message Body As\Plain Text ?


Tried that, but it only affects the current message. Even then, it still
loads images when attached.


Oh. I've just tried it and you are right. I would have expected it to
work. Sorry.

Have you tried Tools\Options\Advanced\Privacy\tick "Block loading of
remote images in mail messages" ? (I have not tried this, either)

If this does not work I can only suggest asking in the Thunderbird
Support forum of MozillaZine :-

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewforum.php?f=39

--
Howard Neil