The Tech & PC Chat Guide

[Prometheus]

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you have any useful and helpful guides that you would like to add please feel free to add a reply.   DO NOT comment about the topic itself or any of the replies. If you want to add to what someone else has already posted or comment on their work then send a PM to that person directly.   Let's keep this topic clean and free of any kind of chit chat.   Anyone not following this should be and will be reported to the Led-by and Mods.

 

 

 

Guide Index
Warez Policy
We Need to Know
Links You Should Know
Things you should do before asking
Informative Guides
Hiding or Locking Files/Folders
How to narrow down problems with Firefox
State Your Currency!
How to change your IP address
Windows XP Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
How to make older Firefox add-ons work with newer versions of Firefox
Before you post a question answer the common questions the helpers will be asking you because you left it out.

 

 

 

Warez Policy
No talking about downloading copyrighted material. It's ok to help someone with an issue with a P2P program but we can't teach them how to use it in general. So, here's aconclusive listing of my warez policy for the PC Chat forum:
No talking about warez No talking about piracy No talking about downloading copyrighted stuff without permission
Simply put:   Someone saying they downloaded something, or asking for help with P2P software, or whatever OK   Someone wrongly saying that's warez and not allowed Don't post   Someone saying that no, it isn't warez OK   Eight more people saying that it isn't warez Don't post
If we just avoid the warez topic altogether, we'll all have a much easier time.

 

 

 

We Need to Know

Operating System (OS) Plus the version. Motherboard (mobo) Brand and Model (if you're having motherboard problems, it'll also help us if we know the brand and date of your BIOS). Processor (CPU) Brand and Speed Video Card Brand and Model Amount of RAM (The speed might help in some cases but rarely) Internet connection type (Also be sure to include if you use a router [Linksys, D-Link, or a computer acting as the firewall] or not, and if you're connected to it WiFi, ethernet or usb) Sound Card Brand and Model   If you can't answer all of the questions, then get the following program, Speccy. If applicable, the most important part is Hardware with problems: Brand and Model.

 

Make sure you've updated to the latest drivers for your computer, as well as the item with problems,

and OS, and that you've completely read the manual and any other text documents for your troublesome

hardware or software (you'd be surprised how many issues can be solved just reading that stuff alone).

 

 

 

Links you should know
Microsoft.com plus Microsoft Windows Update Apple.com plus Quicktime and iTunes nVidia.com plus nVidia Drivers ATI.com plus ATI Drivers

 

in case you don't know, there are base links to the more common hardware and software makers. Most of them

are covered in the PC Chat Internet Directory.

 

 

 

Things you should do before asking

Before posting a topic [software problem], make sure that you've done all the following.   1| Run an anti-virus scan and make sure the scanner is up-to-date.   2| Run Adware/Spyware scanners. Also remember to check if they are up-to-date as well. Also as an added suggestion, run Adware/Sypware scanners about once a week. This helps keep the spyware out and remember BEFORE each run have them check for updates.   3| Perform a System Restore to an earlier point in time prior to the problem.   4| Make sure to remove any program installed after the occurring of the issue.   5| Perform a full disk error check and a Disk Defragmentation.

 

Doing these things will fix most problems you have with your system.

 

 

 

Informative Guide Websites

Before posting a topic [software problem], make sure that you've done all the following.   WindowsStartup If you're not sure what those items are listed in MSConfig's Startup tab, look for it here to see if it's a needed item or something you can live without.   KarbosGuide A useful website with lots of info on PC's, Windows and other software.   BlackViper A website with useful information about all services that came with Windows, from ME to 8.

 

If you have any other recommended websites, PM me or the forum leader to add it.

 

 

 

Hiding or Locking Files/Folders
For XP How To Encrypt a Folder in Windows XP from Microsoft Support.   For Vista/7 Encrypt or decrypt a folder or file from Microsoft Support.     For those not using the above Windows OS versions; try one of these programs.   FolderLock | Password Protect Folder

 

You can also get a USB thumbdrive/External HDD, and install programs on it and run it off of there....of course this is not

suggestion-ed for games or anything else that needs faster access time, but for something like an IM client or IRC, then this is

perfect just don't have the option set to have the IM client run at start up then you'll get some errors unless the thumbdrive is

installed.

 

 

 

How to narrow down problems with Firefox
Before posting a topic [software problem], make sure that you've done all the following.   1| Exit Mozilla Firefox.   2| Go to C:\Documents and Settings\YOURNAME\Application Data\Roaming\Mozilla if you're using XP, Go to C:\Users\YOURNAME\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla if you're using Vista/7.   3| Rename that folder; eg: Mozilla-MINE   4| Restart Mozilla Firefox and see if the problem still occurs.     If the problem is fixed, then do the following.   1| Exit Mozilla Firefox, go back to Mozilla-MINE [or whatever you named that folder], then copy the folder bookmarkbackups found in \Firefox\Profiles\_______.default.   2| Paste the bookmarkbackups folder in the new Mozilla folder at \Firefox\Profiles\_______.default.   3| Reinstall your themes one at a time and see if you have the problem occurs again.   4| Reinstall your extensions looking for the problem again.
If the problem is still present, then ask your question in the forum and give as much detail as possible and be sure to mention that you have already done the above.

 

 

 

State your currency!
If you do happen to post about an items cost, in any form. Please include what currency you are using. This will help save time and grief, and help people make wise purchases.   Exchange Converter

 

Conversions are not always 100% accurate, as exchange rates fluctuate daily.

 

 

 

How to change your IP address
Static IP You'll have to call your ISP and ask them to change it.
For Dynamic IPs [with a router] Log into your router and go to the Status page and find the Release and Renew buttons. Click Release and wait about 5 secs then click Renew and a new IP address should be assigned.
For Dynamic IPs [without a router] [Windows] Start -> type: cmd At the promt type: ipconfig /release Then type: ipconfig /renew

 

 

 

Windows XP Guides
Optimize XP - A Windows XP Optimization Guide Clean Spyware and Viruses + Optimize Windows XP to improve home, work and gaming performance safely. Windows XP's default configuration is far from optimized. This Free guide will help you improve your overall system performance without having to manually edit the Registry.
Diagnose XP - A Windows XP Diagnostic Guide The following Free guide will help you troubleshoot the most common causes of system problems. Diagnosing System problems can be very complicated and time consuming. There are no simple solutions. Windows XP systems should never Lock-up (freeze), display Blue Screen Stop Errors or Randomly Reboot. These are all warning signs something is wrong or misconfigured with your system.
Driver XP - A Windows XP Driver Guide Installing the latest drivers improves system performance and application compatibility. Updated drivers include numerous bug fixes as well as system optimizations. It is recommended for optimal system stability to only use Official drivers and not Beta or Prerelease versions. Performance differences between driver versions including Beta or Prereleased drivers is negligible. The only time Beta or Prerelease drivers should be considered is when a serious application bug is fixed in the Beta or Prerelease version and the component manufacturer has not yet released the Official driver version that includes the bug fix.

 

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: My browser's homepage keeps changing from what I had it at before. A: Run Ad-aware, Spybot and HijackThis. At least one of these will catch it and help you fix the problems and set things back to what they should be.   Q: There is something running on my computer and I don't know what it is. A: Run your anti-virus (if you don't have one, get one use the AVG link above) also run the spy-ware removal tools listed in the previous question&answer.

 

The FAQ will grow as needed [PM for other FAQ type questions to add].

 

 

 

It's preferable to use this table code, when posting your guide.

 

 

 

[tableb][font=Haettenschweiler][size=20][color=0F0F0F]*INSERT TITLE HERE*[/color][/size][/font]

*INSERT CONTENT HERE*

*INSERT ANY NOTES OR TIPS HERE*[/tableb]

 

Edited August 27, 2012 by PrometheusX

[Wolf68k]

 

How to make older Firefox add-ons work with newer versions of Firefox

1. Go to the Profile folder for Firefox XP Users: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\ Vista/7 Users: C:\Users\<YOUR NAME>\AppData\Roaming\ Then look for: Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<random characters, but should only be 1 folder>\extensions Easier method for all: XP users Start->Run ... Vista/7 Users: Start->Search: type %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\   2. Once in the Extensions folder you might find either some folders or files ending with .xpi. 2a. For the folders look for install.rdf 2b. For the .xpi you can rename to .zip and extract the files that way. Again you to find install.rdf   3. Open the install.rdf in a text editor like WordPad (preferred) or NotePad. (Personally I like NotePad++ found here)   4. First search for "em:name" to find out which extension it is and to make sure you have the right one. If it is the right one look for "em:maxVersion". It might look like 1 of 2 ways: em:maxVersion="(number)" or <em:maxVersion>(number)</em:maxVersion> There might also be more than one, usually it'll be commented before with what program it's meant for which might look like this: <!-- Firefox --> or <!-- Thunderbird --> Make sure you change the one for Firefox.   5. Change the (number) to just * and save   6. If it was in just a folder you are done. If it was in a .xpi then you need to rezip the folder with the new changes and rename it to just .xpi   7. Restart Firefox and it should be working.

 

Warning: This might not work on all add-ons and could cause other problems.

 

Always make a backup of the files you are editing before you make your changes

 

This should work for other Mozilla programs as well. It might also work with Chrome add-ons.

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