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

[The People's Hero]

Recently my laptop has stopped connecting to the wifi - it still can see the router and detect the connections but any attempt to connect to it ends up failing unless I'm in the same room: it only seems to happen occasionally - happened last Wednesday/Thursday but worked fine Friday morning, and on the train Friday, as well as at my other halfs house over the weekend; also worked here Monday/Tuesday but dropped out yesterday lunchtime and is doing so again this morning.

I've checked my drivers and they're up-to-date, I can connect fine if I'm in the same room as the router (not a practical long term solution) or if I wire myself to the router (also not a practical long term solution), but once I connect in the room and start to back out it stays for a while then drops. Any ideas as to why it wouldn't connect?

In layman's terms there might be something locally interfering with the exact channel you're trying to use. Try swapping that and you should be golden. If you still have problems, let me know.

[Wymsey]

Probably non-PC.

Every time I answer my BT landline, the BT wi-fi router (which is in a different room) gets disconnected for around 10 minutes immediately afterwards.

And when internet loads up again, connection restarts very slowly.

Any reason for this?

[Ollie93]

Bought a G-drive external hard drive for my macbook air. Took it to work to copy some files onto it from windows but now I cant put anything from my mac onto it. Its running a windows NT file system. 

 

Is there anyway you can run it for both windows and mac?

[DB11]

Bought a G-drive external hard drive for my macbook air. Took it to work to copy some files onto it from windows but now I cant put anything from my mac onto it. Its running a windows NT file system. 

 

Is there anyway you can run it for both windows and mac?

 

You need to format it so that the file system works on both. Loads of links on how to do it, here's a few

http://www.mactip.net/guide-how-to-format-an-external-drive-to-work-seamlessly-with-macs-and-pcs-without-third-party-software/

http://www.cnet.com/uk/how-to/the-best-ways-to-format-an-external-drive-for-windows-and-mac/

http://www.pcworld.com/article/250431/how_to_share_an_external_drive_between_a_mac_and_a_pc.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Format-a-Hard-Drive-on-Mac-to-Work-on-Mac-and-PC

[potter3]

Bought a G-drive external hard drive for my macbook air. Took it to work to copy some files onto it from windows but now I cant put anything from my mac onto it. Its running a windows NT file system. 

 

Is there anyway you can run it for both windows and mac?

 

NTFS is read only on Mac. FAT32 works for both but there is a 4GB size limit for a single file. You can use Disk Utility on your Mac to format the drive but you will lose the files already on it so make sure you still have them saved elsewhere.

[MC Prussian]

Okay, here's my dilemma:

 

After years in the field and always paying attention to saving data, I've finally managed to accidentally format one of my memory cards (a Compact Flash one) with data on it, thus resulting in a (superficial) deletion of all files.

 

Now... I know that there's ways to recover said data (photos and videos), and I've already used a software that allowed me to pull the missing JPEGs again.

 

But how do I recover my video files (.mov-files; Quicktime)?

The software is able to detect the files, so they're all still there. But I can't make them work so far. If I open one of those recovered, yet unusable files with VLC for instance, it does give you a few seconds of picture information at times, so the data really must be still existing.

 

Is there a reliable software out there that can fully recover my .mov files or do I have to consult a data recovery specialist?

 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[The Doctor]

I've got a couple of directories in my downloads folder which I've deleted but remain there. When I try to delete them again it tells me they're no longer located in there - how do I get rid of them?

 

I've tried running cmd as administrator then 

 

>c:\users\me\downloads\

>dir /x /a

>rd Mirror_~1 (the SFN of the directory I want to get rid of)

 

But it just shows up saying directory not empty. 

 

I've also tried in cmd 

 

>c:\users\me\downloads\mirror

>del *.*

>Y

 

but that requests confirmation of deletion (Y) but doesn't actually delete it.

[DB11]

I've got a couple of directories in my downloads folder which I've deleted but remain there. When I try to delete them again it tells me they're no longer located in there - how do I get rid of them?

 

I've tried running cmd as administrator then 

 

>c:\users\me\downloads\

>dir /x /a

>rd Mirror_~1 (the SFN of the directory I want to get rid of)

 

But it just shows up saying directory not empty. 

 

I've also tried in cmd 

 

>c:\users\me\downloads\mirror

>del *.*

>Y

 

but that requests confirmation of deletion (Y) but doesn't actually delete it.

 

Have you tried right clicking the folder and pressing delete? Sometimes the simple things work when the clever stuff is playing up

[The Doctor]

Have you tried right clicking the folder and pressing delete? Sometimes the simple things work when the clever stuff is playing up

Pops up with the error message no longer located in "c:\users\me\downloads\"

[CollinsLCFC]

Can anybody advise on the best way to clean the cooling fan on a laptop?

 

I have bought FM16, however, I think my laptop keeps over heating and turns its self off unexpectedly. Really frustrating and I know its not healthy.

 

I will buy a cooling mat, but think I need to clean the fans as well! Any tricks/tips would be greatly appreciated.

[DB11]

Can anybody advise on the best way to clean the cooling fan on a laptop?

 

I have bought FM16, however, I think my laptop keeps over heating and turns its self off unexpectedly. Really frustrating and I know its not healthy.

 

I will buy a cooling mat, but think I need to clean the fans as well! Any tricks/tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

Unscrew the panel that is covering the fan (remember which screw went where as they can be different types) and then selectively pull out all of the hair and shit that is clogging up the fans. Then use some compressed air to blow really hard into the fans and that should dislodge anything else that is there.

[red5]

Most laptops will not have a cover and the laptop will need to be stripped, then the hsf will need removing and the fan separating to clean it out. 

[CollinsLCFC]

Thanks for the advice guys.

It seems my laptop is on its last legs and I am just going to replace it.

Can anybody reccomend a good laptop or the specs I should look at for a laptop to play FM16 and decent general use. Not looking for a typical gaming laptop, Football manager is all I will play.

Not the biggest Whiz with laptops, so don't know what I'm looking for! Don't want to rip myself off, but don't want to buy something on the cheap for it to be under par.

Hoping to find something in the region of £300-£400, is this do-able?

[Guest CityFan 06]

Is there anyone who has an Asus chromebook laptop and has the full version of Microsoft word? Basically, even if I try to download the full office 365 it will not work but wondered if anyone has a tip on how to get it (the full version)

As a result of the chromebook not having Microsoft word full version installed, they advise to use word online but when it comes to using images on that, the related document's text and images on word online go everywhere and all out of place.

Thanks!

Edited 16 November 2015 by @LeicesterFox1884

[DB11]

Is there anyone who has an Asus chromebook laptop and has the full version of Microsoft word? Basically, even if I try to download the full office 365 it will not work but wondered if anyone has a tip on how to get it (the full version)

As a result of the chromebook not having Microsoft word full version installed, they advise to use word online but when it comes to using images on that, the related document's text and images on word online go everywhere and all out of place.

Thanks!

Try Open Office

[The Doctor]

My laptop screen has just gone like an analogue tv channel that wasn't tuned properly - could see the images but the colour contrast was a lot dimmer and the image was juddering across itself. I turned it off, turned it back on and now the screen doesn't work at all. What's likely to have gone wrong?

[DB11]

My laptop screen has just gone like an analogue tv channel that wasn't tuned properly - could see the images but the colour contrast was a lot dimmer and the image was juddering across itself. I turned it off, turned it back on and now the screen doesn't work at all. What's likely to have gone wrong?

Loose screen connection. Could have come loose from dropping the laptop?

[The Doctor]

Loose screen connection. Could have come loose from dropping the laptop?

 

It's not been dropped - at most it's been jostled in a laptop bag every so often. It's started working again after a few hours rest, then just cut out again, without the static like effect, just went along with power, turned it back on and the screen wasn't lighting up. Turned it off and on again and it's working again. Seems to be working fine again for a few hours now on a raised platform (so the fan intake exposed) so I don't know if it could be a result of overheating?

[DB11]

It's not been dropped - at most it's been jostled in a laptop bag every so often. It's started working again after a few hours rest, then just cut out again, without the static like effect, just went along with power, turned it back on and the screen wasn't lighting up. Turned it off and on again and it's working again. Seems to be working fine again for a few hours now on a raised platform (so the fan intake exposed) so I don't know if it could be a result of overheating?

 

Or the raised platform could be that the connection isn't as loose.

[The Doctor]

Or the raised platform could be that the connection isn't as loose.

Ive had it open and the connection seems fine. There's certainly nothing loose, so unless the cable is failing (going to check that tomorrow when I get a chance to bring home a vga cable) I don't think it's that.

Only seems to be happening when running games - fm at the weekend, skyrim tonight, and the incidents with skyrim were graphic intensive and proceeded by some serious lagging. Not sure if that could point to a failing graphics card?

[The Doctor]

Ive had it open and the connection seems fine. There's certainly nothing loose, so unless the cable is failing (going to check that tomorrow when I get a chance to bring home a vga cable) I don't think it's that.

Only seems to be happening when running games - fm at the weekend, skyrim tonight, and the incidents with skyrim were graphic intensive and proceeded by some serious lagging. Not sure if that could point to a failing graphics card?

 

Worked fine for a couple of weeks until today, got knocked slightly on the front end (bit of cardboard fell on the palm rest) and the static effect returned, now the screen has no display. Had it open and no sign of obvious damage - anyone got any clue what might have been the original cause or what might have gone wrong now?

[Guest CityFan 06]

Hi Guys,

 

Apologies on starting another thread but I was just wondering whether anyone else had a problem with speed on a Toshiba laptop? Granted it was not the most expensive laptop in the world but it is quite slow when it searches on the internet and the videos are poor on Iplayer and channel 4 catch up etc. Ive got plenty of space on the laptop and do not have many files at all really, just wondering if anyone else had a similar problem and managed to resolve it? 

 

Cheers 

[The Blur]

Hi Guys,

 

Apologies on starting another thread but I was just wondering whether anyone else had a problem with speed on a Toshiba laptop? Granted it was not the most expensive laptop in the world but it is quite slow when it searches on the internet and the videos are poor on Iplayer and channel 4 catch up etc. Ive got plenty of space on the laptop and do not have many files at all really, just wondering if anyone else had a similar problem and managed to resolve it? 

 

Cheers 

 

I used to have a Toshiba laptop and never had any problems with it speed wise. 

Edited 21 December 2015 by The Blur

[Captain...]

I used to have a Toshiba laptop and it was a piece of shit, that probably doesn't help. I do remember it had a load of pre-installed software that would run in the background and just kill the processor until I uninstalled/disabled it, but then this was back in the days of Vista.

 

To be honest it sounds more like your internet is the problem than the laptop, do you have any performance issues when watching DVDs, or videos you've downloaded? If the only issues are with websites and streaming content then it is most likely internet related.

[red5]

The make has nothing to do with it, it depends on the spec, though even the lowest spec machine should cope with internet videos, unless it's one of them low speed battery saving crap cpus.