Computer Questions Not Worth Their Own Thread

[aimeeandbeatles]

I have a portable hard drive, which is smaller than a standard external, and it came with the cord. One end plugs into the USB port on the computer, the other one (which is a smaller version of a USB plug) goes into the drive.

I also think some bigger external drives need to be plugged into an outlet, as the USB doesn't provide enough power for it to run.

 

[Zelig]

What is the best way to transfer files (movies, music) from laptop to computer?

Via network. Put them on the same network, and share the appropriate folders.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Do mainframes still exist? I tried googling it, no luck.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Very much so. IBM still makes them.
A mainframe is pretty much a computer focused on a lot of calculations with a lot of input/output.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainframe_computer
LTG aimee, or at least LTW.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

What are they used for?

 

[Turner]

Did you read the link?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Okay, now I see. Was looking in the wrong section of the link. Stupid me.

 

[LucyDuke]

I want the clock in my tray to show seconds. Right now it says 2:19 AM, I want it to say 2:19:48 AM. Is this possible? I can't find anything in the regional or date and time settings. Google shows me some shareware stuff but I don't want that. It's Vista.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Dont think Windows has the option to do that. They removed it back in the Windows 95 days because it was using up too much memory, and never put it back. Imho, I dont mind it. A changing seconds display in the corner would attract my attention too much and distract me from what I am doing.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

In RAM, what does "random access" mean exactly? I know that on older computers, they ran on tapes, which all the programs were in a certain order, and you had to rewind or fast forward to the program you wanted. While on hard drives you don't have to, it'll find it on its own. Does it have anything to do with that?

 

[Turner]

In RAM, what does "random access" mean exactly? I know that on older computers, they ran on tapes, which all the programs were in a certain order, and you had to rewind or fast forward to the program you wanted. While on hard drives you don't have to, it'll find it on its own. Does it have anything to do with that?

LTG aimee, or at least LTW.

Indeed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAM

You know, aimee, I can appreciate your inquiring mind. Really, I can. But a lot of these could be answered with a few searches on Google or Wiki.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

It makes sense now.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Another question: While in the repair shop, I seen a computer with four optical drives. WTH???

 

[Cutlass]

There's nothing stopping you from doing that. The reason to do that if they are read/write drives is to do a lot of disk copying.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Well, I didn't see exactly what they were.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

My new computer comes with LCD monitor.

Why exactly don't you touch LCD screens? The tech teacher said not to, but didn't explain why. Googling just brought up a bunch of LCDs with "Touch" in their name.
EDIT: Googled with different terms. Seems like it'll "induce dead pixels." Induce is a fancy word. There's a few dead pixels on this screen but they're off to the side.

Also, are LCDs better for the eyes? Googling seems to indicate it is, but it was all antedoctal, and also something about not having as much monitor flicker. My mom says she doesn't have half as many headaches since she got the LCD.

Another question: I was reading up on BIOS viruses, and one of the sites said that the BIOS chip is usually detached from the mobo. Does this mean, that if you wreck your BIOS, you can simply pop in a new chip? The only thing I found was a picture of somebody using a tool to pull out the BIOS chip.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I want the clock in my tray to show seconds. Right now it says 2:19 AM, I want it to say 2:19:48 AM. Is this possible? I can't find anything in the regional or date and time settings. Google shows me some shareware stuff but I don't want that. It's Vista.

You could try analog clock. IIRC, on Windows 98 I'd use ClocX. On my new Vista rig, there's a built-in one.

Also, did a quick search on some freeware sites. In particular, this one replaces the Windows clock and will allow you to show seconds (and also has skins).

 

[Cutlass]

My new computer comes with LCD monitor.

Why exactly don't you touch LCD screens? The tech teacher said not to, but didn't explain why. Googling just brought up a bunch of LCDs with "Touch" in their name.
EDIT: Googled with different terms. Seems like it'll "induce dead pixels." Induce is a fancy word. There's a few dead pixels on this screen but they're off to the side.

Also, are LCDs better for the eyes? Googling seems to indicate it is, but it was all antedoctal, and also something about not having as much monitor flicker. My mom says she doesn't have half as many headaches since she got the LCD.

Another question: I was reading up on BIOS viruses, and one of the sites said that the BIOS chip is usually detached from the mobo. Does this mean, that if you wreck your BIOS, you can simply pop in a new chip? The only thing I found was a picture of somebody using a tool to pull out the BIOS chip.

You don't touch most LCD screens because the surface is not hard. So if you pressed on them you could damage what is behind the surface, or damage the surface. You particularly do not want to touch the surface of anything that might scratch or cut through it. You can still clean it, but do so very gently. A touch screen is built differently, and made to handle it, but you still have to be careful about damaging the surface.

The LCD refreshes different from a CRT. The CRT both projects more light towards you, but because of the nature of the way it refreshes, it is prone to giving many people eye strain. And that leads to headaches. Basically, most do not refresh fast enough so that the average person sees it flicker.

Whether or not the chip that stores your BIOS can be pulled or not depends on how the mobo is built. I'd really have to research or see it to know.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Thanks.

Here are the specs on my new computer. How decent are they? (I'm paying the same amount I was on the old one, not losing any money from transferring as my other one died completely.)

Computer: FOXCONN MCP61M05
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (Brisbane, BH-G2)
2200 MHz (11.00x200.0) @ 2210 MHz (11.00x200.9)
Motherboard: FOXCONN M61PMV
Chipset: nVidia nForce 6100-405/430
Memory: 4096 MBytes @ 315 MHz, 5.0-5-5-15
- 2048 MB PC5300 DDR2-SDRAM - Kingston 2G-UDIMM
- 2048 MB PC5300 DDR2-SDRAM - Kingston 2G-UDIMM
Graphics: XFX GeForce 8400 GS
nVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS (G86), 512 MB DDR2 SDRAM
Drive: WDC WD5000AAKS-22A7B0, 488.4 GB, Serial ATA 3Gb/s
Drive: , IDE
Sound: nVIDIA MCP61 - High Definition Audio Controller
Network: NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Build 6001

Will provide other details if required. (It has an LG DVD-RW for optical drive. I don't know why it didn't show up properly in the program. )

 

[Zelig]

Thanks.

Here are the specs on my new computer. How decent are they? (I'm paying the same amount I was on the old one.)

Computer: FOXCONN MCP61M05
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (Brisbane, BH-G2)
2200 MHz (11.00x200.0) @ 2210 MHz (11.00x200.9)
Motherboard: FOXCONN M61PMV
Chipset: nVidia nForce 6100-405/430
Memory: 4096 MBytes @ 315 MHz, 5.0-5-5-15
- 2048 MB PC5300 DDR2-SDRAM - Kingston 2G-UDIMM
- 2048 MB PC5300 DDR2-SDRAM - Kingston 2G-UDIMM
Graphics: XFX GeForce 8400 GS
nVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS (G86), 512 MB DDR2 SDRAM
Drive: WDC WD5000AAKS-22A7B0, 488.4 GB, Serial ATA 3Gb/s
Drive: , IDE
Sound: nVIDIA MCP61 - High Definition Audio Controller
Network: NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Build 6001

Will provide other details if required. (It has an LG DVD-RW for optical drive. I don't know why it didn't show up properly in the program.)

Worth maybe $550, total.