HELP is at hand for General PC queries, not Foxestalk ones

[danny.]

Probably cheaper to buy a new one - impossible to fix

[DB11]

Guys the internal connector on my Dell Inspiron laptop seems to have bent/snapped meaning that the power cable does not sit in properly. I have managed to cellotape the power cable to the laptop but the battery does not charge. It just means I can use the laptop as long as it is plugged in. I guess my laptop has kind of become a desktop!

Any ideas what I can do here? Is this likely to be a cheap repair? The laptop is over 3 years old now.

If I am understanding you right, the DC jack just needs replacing. Take it to a decent computer shop, should be no more than £65.

[red5]

Depending on the jack type and possible damage, £45-55

[danny.]

Depending on the jack type and possible damage, £45-55

Hope that's the case then!

I posted what I did as on 2 pc laptops that broke as you mentioned I was told that they couldn't be replaced or soldered and I would need a new motherboard, which worked out to be more than a new laptop!

[JoeyB]

anyone know of any decent software to decrypt dvds so that i can copy my boxset and stick episodes on my iphone please????

[DB11]

anyone know of any decent software to decrypt dvds so that i can copy my boxset and stick episodes on my iphone please????

There are lots of tutorials on Googlr

[danny.]

It's quicker to just download them as torrents tho

[Danno]

Whys my ipad keyboard gone like this

[DB11]

Whys my ipad keyboard gone like this

Settings > General > Keyboard > 'Split Keyboard' is set to yes

[Hitesh]

DB11 - one for you...I havent used any tools in a few years so looking for a good diagnostic utility so i can run some scans on my RAM and Hard drive - i've had a few blue screens recently and need to figure out where the fault is!

Im running Windows 7 btw

[DB11]

DB11 - one for you...I havent used any tools in a few years so looking for a good diagnostic utility so i can run some scans on my RAM and Hard drive - i've had a few blue screens recently and need to figure out where the fault is!

Im running Windows 7 btw

The OS isn't really relevant, you should get a good diagnostic tool that runs from CD so the machine will boot to the diagnostic program before even reaching the operating system. For RAM there's a really good program called MicroScope Duo. For hard drive use Seagate SeaTools for DOS (the one for Windows is like a cut down version and not as in depth, even though you can run it from within the Operating System).

It can be very difficult to get your hands on MicroScope Duo though, and with both you have to burn them to a disc and boot your computer to the disc.

[Rusko187]

Whys my ipad keyboard gone like this

Much as you do the pinch to zoom in and zoom out when your thumbs are at the bottom of the screen on the keypad pinch in and out to change it.

[Hitesh]

The OS isn't really relevant, you should get a good diagnostic tool that runs from CD so the machine will boot to the diagnostic program before even reaching the operating system. For RAM there's a really good program called MicroScope Duo. For hard drive use Seagate SeaTools for DOS (the one for Windows is like a cut down version and not as in depth, even though you can run it from within the Operating System).

It can be very difficult to get your hands on MicroScope Duo though, and with both you have to burn them to a disc and boot your computer to the disc.

Cheers - turned out to be the hard drive which was causing issues. Any suggestions for a good laptop hard drive? - need around 350GB-500GB space.

[DB11]

Don't get a Western Digital one, they are terrible! I'd probably lean towards the Seagate brand, although anything but Western Digital

[Captain...]

Need help, anyone who can help me will get a good repping.

I can't open an excel file on my laptop, I need to use this file every week to submit my timesheets, but I can't open it, it says it is a corrupt file...

...but I can open the same file from the same e-mail on every other computer I have tried, I have copied the contents of the file to a new spreadsheet, renamed it, tried all kinds of things, but every time I try and open it or a variation of it on my laptop it tells me it is a corrupt file.

[The Blur]

Need help, anyone who can help me will get a good repping.

I can't open an excel file on my laptop, I need to use this file every week to submit my timesheets, but I can't open it, it says it is a corrupt file...

...but I can open the same file from the same e-mail on every other computer I have tried, I have copied the contents of the file to a new spreadsheet, renamed it, tried all kinds of things, but every time I try and open it or a variation of it on my laptop it tells me it is a corrupt file.

Have you tried to access it either in Skydrive or Google Drive- they are an online storage service and they both have a variation of Excel (SkyDrive, since it is owned Microsoft resemble Excel more closely) so you could save the timesheet on there (from your laptop or from an alternative computer) and try to open it in there. No guarantee that it will work but it got be worth a try.

[Captain...]

Have you tried to access it either in Skydrive or Google Drive- they are an online storage service and they both have a variation of Excel (SkyDrive, since it is owned Microsoft resemble Excel more closely) so you could save the timesheet on there (from your laptop or from an alternative computer) and try to open it in there. No guarantee that it will work but it got be worth a try.

I can access it and edit it on Google Drive, but I need to submit it as an excel sheet and I lose all formatting when I copy from Google Docs to Excel, and if I try and download as excel it still says it is a corrupt file.

Edited 28 January 2013 by Captain Shrapnel

[Lobsterboyuk]

Need help, anyone who can help me will get a good repping.

I can't open an excel file on my laptop, I need to use this file every week to submit my timesheets, but I can't open it, it says it is a corrupt file...

...but I can open the same file from the same e-mail on every other computer I have tried, I have copied the contents of the file to a new spreadsheet, renamed it, tried all kinds of things, but every time I try and open it or a variation of it on my laptop it tells me it is a corrupt file.

Have you tried the "Open and Repair" option? (It's an option from the "Open" button drop down)

[Captain...]

Have you tried the "Open and Repair" option? (It's an option from the "Open" button drop down)

Wasn't aware of that, just tried it, but it still says corrupt,

But have a +1 for thinking of something I didn't.

Edited 28 January 2013 by Captain Shrapnel

[DB11]

Need help, anyone who can help me will get a good repping.

I can't open an excel file on my laptop, I need to use this file every week to submit my timesheets, but I can't open it, it says it is a corrupt file...

...but I can open the same file from the same e-mail on every other computer I have tried, I have copied the contents of the file to a new spreadsheet, renamed it, tried all kinds of things, but every time I try and open it or a variation of it on my laptop it tells me it is a corrupt file.

Could be an indication that the hard drive on your computer is failing as certain sectors cannot read files so saying the file is corrupt.

As you say it opens everywhere else. Are all the computers using the same version of Office?

[Lobsterboyuk]

Wasn't aware of that, just tried it, but it still says corrupt,

But have a +1 for thinking of something I didn't.

Hmm..

Have you tried a repair/reinstall on your excel install? You can do it from control panel/programs. Have you applied all hot fixes/patches/service releases?

Most likely is that one of your excel program files is at the "wrong" release version and something in the affected spreadsheet is triggering a bug in excel program files

[Captain...]

Hmm..

Have you tried a repair/reinstall on your excel install? You can do it from control panel/programs. Have you applied all hot fixes/patches/service releases?

Most likely is that one of your excel program files is at the "wrong" release version and something in the affected spreadsheet is triggering a bug in excel program files

Tried to repair it, no joy, probably going to have to uninstall and re-install the whole lot, I can't see a way to just do it for excel, I have to do the whole shebang of the Office Suite, which will take an age, it seems to be affecting all files that I am e-mailed now.

Could be an indication that the hard drive on your computer is failing as certain sectors cannot read files so saying the file is corrupt.

As you say it opens everywhere else. Are all the computers using the same version of Office?

Same versions different versions, it works on every computer but mine.

[Captain...]

Finally got it sussed, turns out the problem was with the trust settings, basically it didn't trust anything that had come through the web, anything created myself was fine, and by some others, but not from some other sources.

To fix it I went to file>options>trust centre>trust settings>protected view

Then uncheck all of that, which also gives the added advantage of switching off that enable editing crap.

I am very happy anyway, as this was really pissing me off and made working very difficult.

[The Blur]

Every time I start up my computer, I get an annoying notification from Java telling me that I need to perform an update however when I attempt to, it always fail. I was thinking of uninstalling Java but is the software essential?

Edited 9 February 2013 by ChickenBoy

[ousefox]

Anybody got any tips on increasing computer speed?

Mine has been running really slow for a while now. Youtube videos play all the sound, but the picture pauses is one of the problems.

Also when i type it gets stuck and then spells things wrong etc..

Any free programmes worth using?