I have found that with little kids it is convenient to have videos in digital format. This is essential for various reasons.
First, no matter how hard I try to prevent it, my 4 year old gets a hold of a DVD every so often and it ends up scratched beyond usability. I now show many of my kids favorite shows and movies directly from my computer or from my iPod connected to my TV.
Second, when you are on a long road trip it is nice having movies to show your kids, or watch yourself. Unfortunately a hot car parked in the summer sun is not a great place to store DVD's, and DVD's are just one more thing to have in an already full car.
In order to convert you videos you have to have a few tools. The first is DVDFab. There is a free version that will rip the DVD for you. Second use Handbrake to convert it to a format that works with your media devices. Remember that the better the quality the more hard drive storage space you will need. Another option instead of Handbrake is to use DVDShrink and lower the quality of the movie so you can burn your own copy to a normal single layer DVD. Use the copy and store your originals somewhere safe (I have found that the top of a closet, or very high shelf has worked so far but I did catch my 4 year old climbing up shelves the other day).
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
General Diagnostics
When a computer crashes there are many possible problems, each with different solutions, but it is useful to be able to quickly recognize what type of problem you are facing.
The first step is to determine if the problem is with hardware (a physical part of the computer), of software (programming, operating system, etc.) based. Often these problems both manifest themselves the same way so it can get a little sticky deciding what's wrong. You don't want to start spending money and replacing parts only to find out that the problem was with the software, of course after you've reinstalled an entire operating system and find the problem is still there makes you wish you had just replaced the broken part. Laptops can also present their own set of problems since they have more hardware components than a traditional desktop that are very difficult to change out or check.
First, little glitches like a program crashing is usually software. Pay special attention and try and recreate the problem. If you know what causes the crash, then you can usually fix the problem by removing or reinstalling the problematic program.
If a computer crashes and will not turn on.
Pushing the power button does nothing, and you are certain that it is all plugged in and has power then you are probably looking at a power supply issue.
If when you push the power button it acts like it is turning on, you hear some noise, and some lights flash, but nothing shows up on the screen the computer promptly turns back off then you are probably looking at a logic board problem.
A laptop acts like it is starting up and everything seems right but you see nothing on the screen you either have a bad display, or you settings are set to use an external monitor. Try plugging in an external monitor to see if you get an image. Sometimes the display will be bad, but the laptop will still work with an external monitor.
If a computer starts up but gives errors during startup that prevent the computer from starting. Sometimes the computer will tell you the problem and sometimes it just freezes.
This is when it gets a little hairy. You might have ram problems, a hard drive failure, or something wrong with the operating system. Pull out one ram module and try the start-up again. Replace the ram and pull out the next until you have tried starting up with each one out. If one is bad then the computer will work with the bad module out, but not with it in.
If RAM is not the problem then see if you can boot into safe mode. Press F8, F10, or F11 when the computer starts up. You are trying to get into the boot menu. If you can do this choose safe mode and see what you get. If it starts up in this mode you either have a bad peripheral or the system is stuck in normal start-up. Try a System Restoreby going to Start- All Programs- Accessories- System Tools- System Recovery. Choose the most recent recovery point and follow the wizard. This will not destroy any data but it will downgrade some recent updates.
If this doesn't work then you probably have a more serious problem. You can try unplugging other devices within the computer, network card, video card, cd-drives, and see if any of these make a difference. Most computers don't have a lot of things to unplug, and usually the peripherals aren't causing you problems. You will need to run a complete system recovery. You do this by inserting you recovery or installation cd. Boot to it and choose System Recovery. You can often do this and not lose any data. It will take sometime, but is better then losing all of your data. Keep in mind that if the recovery process seems to work and doesn't give you any errors then your problem is not hardware. Even if in the end the computer still doesn't boot. Hardware problems usually prevent a recovery from even starting.
When a system recovery fails then it is time to try a clean install of the system. This will erase your data so hopefully you've backed everything up. If not, remove the hard-drive and stick it in a friends computer and back-up your data, then put it back and install the system.
Sometimes it will be necessary to erase everything on the drive before you can attempt an install. Doing a complete reformat of a hard drive can take some time but does fix some problems. I've seen computers that kept having errors even after a complete reinstall. By writing zeros to the drive and then reinstalling again the problem went away.
Good luck.
The first step is to determine if the problem is with hardware (a physical part of the computer), of software (programming, operating system, etc.) based. Often these problems both manifest themselves the same way so it can get a little sticky deciding what's wrong. You don't want to start spending money and replacing parts only to find out that the problem was with the software, of course after you've reinstalled an entire operating system and find the problem is still there makes you wish you had just replaced the broken part. Laptops can also present their own set of problems since they have more hardware components than a traditional desktop that are very difficult to change out or check.
First, little glitches like a program crashing is usually software. Pay special attention and try and recreate the problem. If you know what causes the crash, then you can usually fix the problem by removing or reinstalling the problematic program.
If a computer crashes and will not turn on.
Pushing the power button does nothing, and you are certain that it is all plugged in and has power then you are probably looking at a power supply issue.
If when you push the power button it acts like it is turning on, you hear some noise, and some lights flash, but nothing shows up on the screen the computer promptly turns back off then you are probably looking at a logic board problem.
A laptop acts like it is starting up and everything seems right but you see nothing on the screen you either have a bad display, or you settings are set to use an external monitor. Try plugging in an external monitor to see if you get an image. Sometimes the display will be bad, but the laptop will still work with an external monitor.
If a computer starts up but gives errors during startup that prevent the computer from starting. Sometimes the computer will tell you the problem and sometimes it just freezes.
This is when it gets a little hairy. You might have ram problems, a hard drive failure, or something wrong with the operating system. Pull out one ram module and try the start-up again. Replace the ram and pull out the next until you have tried starting up with each one out. If one is bad then the computer will work with the bad module out, but not with it in.
If RAM is not the problem then see if you can boot into safe mode. Press F8, F10, or F11 when the computer starts up. You are trying to get into the boot menu. If you can do this choose safe mode and see what you get. If it starts up in this mode you either have a bad peripheral or the system is stuck in normal start-up. Try a System Restoreby going to Start- All Programs- Accessories- System Tools- System Recovery. Choose the most recent recovery point and follow the wizard. This will not destroy any data but it will downgrade some recent updates.
If this doesn't work then you probably have a more serious problem. You can try unplugging other devices within the computer, network card, video card, cd-drives, and see if any of these make a difference. Most computers don't have a lot of things to unplug, and usually the peripherals aren't causing you problems. You will need to run a complete system recovery. You do this by inserting you recovery or installation cd. Boot to it and choose System Recovery. You can often do this and not lose any data. It will take sometime, but is better then losing all of your data. Keep in mind that if the recovery process seems to work and doesn't give you any errors then your problem is not hardware. Even if in the end the computer still doesn't boot. Hardware problems usually prevent a recovery from even starting.
When a system recovery fails then it is time to try a clean install of the system. This will erase your data so hopefully you've backed everything up. If not, remove the hard-drive and stick it in a friends computer and back-up your data, then put it back and install the system.
Sometimes it will be necessary to erase everything on the drive before you can attempt an install. Doing a complete reformat of a hard drive can take some time but does fix some problems. I've seen computers that kept having errors even after a complete reinstall. By writing zeros to the drive and then reinstalling again the problem went away.
Good luck.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Airport Printing from Windows 7
A year or so back my wife and I purchased an Apple Time Capsule. We thought it would be a great solution to backup our data and turn our printer into a networked printer. We both had Apple Laptops and a Dell desktop running Windows XP. We also had a HP 1315 all in one printer. The time capsule worked perfectly and aside from losing the ability to scan, our printer worked great from anywhere on the local network.
This year I upgraded my desktop computer to Windows 7 (after a short terrible spell with Vista). So far I have loved it, but the printer on the Time Capsule started giving us trouble. I couldn't get it installed (driver wasn't available) and when I finally figured it out it would only print part of the first page then lock the printer up.
My solution came after long searches and one lucky guess.
First, in order to get the printer to install and find the right driver I had to install the printer directly to the desktop by following the manufacturers instructions. Once the printer and drivers were installed I unplugged the printers usb cable off of the desktop computer and plugged it into the Time Capsules usb port.
I then ran the bonjour print wizard and chose a generic driver.
I now had two printers installed (one locally and one via bonjour). In the Devices and Printers I Right Clicked on the bonjour printer (HP PSC 1310 -2) and chose "Printer Properties". In the advanced tab I clicked on the drop down menu labelled "drivers" and chose the driver for the HP PSC 1310 that I had installed directly to the computer.
After this I clicked okay, restarted and then was able to delete the printer installed locally.
My second problem was that the printer would now print but get stuck half way through the first page and then the printer wouldn't respond unless I turned it off and back on.
The solution to this problem was one I figured out on my own. I'm sure I'm not the first to do this, but I couldn't find any posts online outlining this.
I went back to Devices and Printers. Right clicked on the Bonjour Printer (HP PSC 1310-2) and chose 'Printer Properties". In the advanced tab I changed the radio button that said "Spool print documents so program finished printing faster" to the one that says "Print directly to printer". After clicking okay I was able to print any size and length of document without any issues.
Once again, after a few months of not being able to print from my windows desktop without unplugging the printer from the Time Capsule and into my desktop, I am now able to print directly from all of my computers.
This year I upgraded my desktop computer to Windows 7 (after a short terrible spell with Vista). So far I have loved it, but the printer on the Time Capsule started giving us trouble. I couldn't get it installed (driver wasn't available) and when I finally figured it out it would only print part of the first page then lock the printer up.
My solution came after long searches and one lucky guess.
First, in order to get the printer to install and find the right driver I had to install the printer directly to the desktop by following the manufacturers instructions. Once the printer and drivers were installed I unplugged the printers usb cable off of the desktop computer and plugged it into the Time Capsules usb port.
I then ran the bonjour print wizard and chose a generic driver.
I now had two printers installed (one locally and one via bonjour). In the Devices and Printers I Right Clicked on the bonjour printer (HP PSC 1310 -2) and chose "Printer Properties". In the advanced tab I clicked on the drop down menu labelled "drivers" and chose the driver for the HP PSC 1310 that I had installed directly to the computer.
After this I clicked okay, restarted and then was able to delete the printer installed locally.
My second problem was that the printer would now print but get stuck half way through the first page and then the printer wouldn't respond unless I turned it off and back on.
The solution to this problem was one I figured out on my own. I'm sure I'm not the first to do this, but I couldn't find any posts online outlining this.
I went back to Devices and Printers. Right clicked on the Bonjour Printer (HP PSC 1310-2) and chose 'Printer Properties". In the advanced tab I changed the radio button that said "Spool print documents so program finished printing faster" to the one that says "Print directly to printer". After clicking okay I was able to print any size and length of document without any issues.
Once again, after a few months of not being able to print from my windows desktop without unplugging the printer from the Time Capsule and into my desktop, I am now able to print directly from all of my computers.
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