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I have 2 computer problems:1) Compaq Presario 2140 laptop. XP Pro. Dial-up modem will not work - when I try, I get the "no dial tone" message. Phone line is securely in place. Phone line works, and desktop computer dial-up using same line also works. Any suggestions?2) Dell 8400 Desktop. XP Pro. I have Spyware Blaster downloaded, but cannot get updates. When I try, message pops up saying problem reaching server, try back later, blah, blah, blah. Uninstalled and re-installed, but no luck. Then downloaded Spyware Guard. When first tried to download update, box popped up with 3 options (think...

Boston Teen Arrested in McAllen Break-In An 18-year-old Massachusetts man has been charged today with breaking into a McAllen pawn shop and stealing handguns. An officer found Atbin Hoshang Forghan of Canton, Massachusetts, outside Danny's Pawn Shop before dawn. Forghan allegedly was carrying stolen munitions, a bulletproof vest and a switchblade. Forghan was arraigned today on charges of burglary and possessing prohibited weapons. Bond is 550-thousand dollars. Investigators say Forghan traveled to McAllen by bus from the Boston area earlier this week and he had visited the pawn shop. McAllen police also contacted Homeland Security officials. An investigator with the...

The Reg launches downloads site By Team Register Published Thursday 16th December 2004 12:05 GMT Site offer We’re absolutely delighted in the run-up to the Festive Season™ to be able to offer our readers a little something from the Vulture Central “get-something-for-free-pay-nothing-ever” department.Indeed, we’re sure that fans of El Reg will find this a refreshing change from the inexorable “buy-now-pay-2020-at-86%-APR” Yule orgy of capitalism which has so sullied the spirit of Christmas.So, with all temptation to utter "bah humbug" pushed firmly from our minds, we direct you immediately to our all-new downloads service, offering a range of gratis and shareware...

Can anyone help me? The picture on my monitor has turned sideways, the top on the left, bottom on the right. I've rebooted twice. Tried the buttons on the monitor, propeties on thr right click.... Even swapped monitors with another computer. The picture is still sideways. I'm not even sure who to call about this. My ISP nephew says he has never heard of such a problem. Does anyone know how I can fixed this? My neck is getting really sore...

LOS ANGELES - Hollywood movie studios on Tuesday sued scores of operators of U.S.- and European-based computer servers that help relay digitized movie files across online file-sharing networks. The copyright infringement suits expand on a new U.S. film industry initiative whose initial targets were individual file-swappers. The defendants this time run servers that use BitTorrent, which has become the program of choice for online sharers of large files because of its immunity to industry attempts to confound file-swappers with bogus decoy files. "Today's actions are aimed at individuals who deliberately set up and operate computer servers and Web sites that,...

Am I the only who finds Visioneer scanners hard to configure? I had to reinstall the software recently. Before, I was able to select "scan" and have the image go to Microsoft Paint as its destination. Now, though, when I configure the Scan button, I don't see Paint as a selectable option for a destination. The closest option is to create a PDF file, but that doesn't help, because I eventually want to insert files into PowerPoint. How can I tell "One Touch" (the Visioneer software) that I want images to go to Paint?

we spilled coffee on our keyboard - compaq presario 2100 laptop - caps will not work and y key has gone nuts - any suggestions before we ship it off... help yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyybyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyn

I have had to format C: so many times, I need a new way to get my computer back quickly. I have a dial up connection so updating my Windows packages and Norton virus definitions and other such stuff is a real pain. I have tried several backup meathods and none so far are satifactory. I would love to be back up in a few hours instead of days with all my software installed with the proper serial numbers with all the updates and settings that I like, down to my wallpaper and file locations. I want one of those...

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's largest personal computer maker, Lenovo Group Ltd., said Wednesday it is buying control of IBM's PC-making business for US$1.25 billion, capping the U.S. tech giant's gradual withdrawal from the business it helped pioneer in 1981. The agreement, which forms the world's third largest PC business, calls for Lenovo to pay IBM $650 million in cash, $600 million in Lenovo Group common stock and for Lenovo to assume $500 million in net balance sheet liabilities from IBM.

I have a problem with my Apple G3 and after a day of pulling out my hair, It dawned on me that the best place to have my questions answered is right here. I had gotten my G3 when it was brand new, than gave it to my son, who after a few years gave it to my other son. The G3 having gone full circle I have it again. The problem is I can't get it to boot, I have OSX and the update to it. When I start the system with OSX the installer never comes up, when...

Corporate PCs 'riddled with spyware' By John Leyden Published Thursday 2nd December 2004 17:23 GMT Corporate systems are riddled with spyware, according to a study by an anti-spyware firm. Companies voluntarily using Webroot's Corporate SpyAudit tool had an average of 20 nasties per PC, Webroot reports.Most of the items found were harmless cookies. But average five per cent of the PCs scanned had system monitors and 5.5 per cent had Trojan horse programs, the two most nefarious and potentially malicious forms of spyware. The audit - based on scans of more than 10,000 systems, used by more than 4,100 companies...

Tiny nanocables, 1,000 times smaller than a human hair, could become key parts of toxin detectors, miniaturized solar cells and powerful computer chips. The technique for making the nanocables was invented by UC Davis chemical engineers led by Pieter Stroeve, professor of chemical engineering and materials science. They manufacture the cables in the nano-sized pores of a template membrane. The insides of the pores are coated with gold. Layers of other semiconductors, such as tellurium, cadmium sulfide or zinc sulfide, are electrochemically deposited in the gold tube until a solid cable forms, then the membrane is dissolved, leaving finished...

Here's your fixSo Your Computer is Running Slow When you first bought your computer, it zinged. It was faster than the computer you replaced. It was "upgraded"! But lately something happened. It slowed to a crawl, taking forever to boot up and net surfing - especially for you dial-up users - became excruciatingly, impossibly slow. It is possible to recapture that lost speed. What happened? There are a few culprits. We personally hate long winded explanations, so we will keep this short. Or, you can forget the explanations and just skip to the fixes. For those of you still with...

Hi, My computer has been a lot slower lately, and I'm thinking I can remove at least a few of the items checked below. I've run Registry First Aid, to clean up invalid files, paths, shortcuts, etc. and still am having performance issues. Eventually, I'll purchase additional RAM, but in the meantime, any advice or freeware you would recommend, to speed up? Many thanks for any tips.

Three computers...$2000 worth of software. This stuff extends about 12 feet above....I know where everything is....I have no life...at least during the daytime. I still have my old 555mgh Compaq from 1998...runs perfectly.. 1999...just moved in... 2004 I'm a packrat when it comes to hardware...

WEB GURU NEEDED By Michelle Malkin   ·   November 28, 2004 02:13 PM Reader Michael S. Sanders asks if he is "the only one who cannot download any of your graphics on your site." No, Michael, you are not the only one. It's a pretty common problem, unfortunately. Is there anyone out there who can help? If so, my e-mail address is malkin@comcast.net.

Phishers tapping botnets to automate attacks By John Leyden Published Friday 26th November 2004 13:55 GMT Computer criminals are making phishing more potent by automating attacks. Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) analysts reckon fraudsters are using automated tools and botnets to ramp up attacks. It estimates attacks grew by an average of 36 per cent a month between July and October.Scam emails that form the basis of phishing attacks often pose as 'security check' requests from well-known businesses. These messages attempt to trick users into handing over their account details and passwords to bogus sites. The details collected this way are...

By Gene J. Koprowski Published 11/24/2004 11:56 AM CHICAGO, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- A team of scientists is developing a "virtual tumor," a computer model viewed over the Internet by cancer researchers around the globe. It is used to observe the tumor as it develops from a single cell organism to a neoplasm, an uncontrolled growth of tissue.The cutting-edge project, in the planning stages right now, and others like it, promise to harness the power of the Internet in the battle against cancer -- and in other crucial scientific endeavors -- in the coming years, experts told UPI's The Web.Last...

Need some help from our resident computer experts. My computer died last night. The hard drive started making a racket and the thing locked up, so I'm 100% sure it's a mechanical problem with the drive. I know physically changing the drive is easy but then configuring it could be a real bear.My question is how big of a problem is it to get the thing back up and running again? It's a 3-4 year old Gateway given to me by my son when he bought a Dell notebook. It has a good lcd monitor, would I be better off...

I hope I am posting this in the right area :) I have a web page that SHOULD automatically refresh itself every x number of minutes. It isn't. I am trying to figure out if there is a setting on my computer that will fix the problem? I have already gone into options and clicked on automatically check for newer version of web page. This didn't fix the problem though. The page I am trying to refresh (automatically) works fine at home on my home computer. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks