When Task Manager in Windows has been disabled that is a clear indication you have a virus. Often they will disable Task Manager and can disable the Services for your anti-virus software as well. I've had lots of problems with viruses disabling AVG, which is why I no longer use it. Since using AVAST 4 Home Edition I haven't had this problem and have remain virus free. I also don't use the Windows Firewall since I know its not secure at all, so I use Zone Alarm instead. Oh, and Windows Defender on Vista is a piece of shit. It misses a lot of stuff so I replaced it with Avast.
Official Computer Help Thread
- Thread starter ArchfiendRai
- Start date
As far as what...
- Drive access
- Startup and programs
- Mouse
- Internet
Each can have different causes.
For Drive access, suggest clearing out temp files and various caches (perhaps with something like CCleaner) and then defragging the Hard Drive.
For startup and programs, you may just have a lot loading, (some not needed). You could either try looking at Task Manager and seeing where your CPU utilization is at, or perhaps look into a program like Security Task Manager, which reports everything you have running in memory. The free download is a 15 day trial if you decide to use it. If it is reporting something you do not use, then see about taking steps to remove it. You may save a lot that way. Take its own recommendations with a grain of salt though.
For mouse, see if you have a mouse control in control panel and see if it allows you to adjust sensitivity.
For internet, not much to recommend, I normally regularly clear out history, caches, temp files and cookies to keep it running smooth.
Piriform CCleaner
- Drive access
- Startup and programs
- Mouse
- Internet
Each can have different causes.
For Drive access, suggest clearing out temp files and various caches (perhaps with something like CCleaner) and then defragging the Hard Drive.
For startup and programs, you may just have a lot loading, (some not needed). You could either try looking at Task Manager and seeing where your CPU utilization is at, or perhaps look into a program like Security Task Manager, which reports everything you have running in memory. The free download is a 15 day trial if you decide to use it. If it is reporting something you do not use, then see about taking steps to remove it. You may save a lot that way. Take its own recommendations with a grain of salt though.
For mouse, see if you have a mouse control in control panel and see if it allows you to adjust sensitivity.
For internet, not much to recommend, I normally regularly clear out history, caches, temp files and cookies to keep it running smooth.
Piriform CCleaner
- [Direct] http://www.ccleaner.com/
Well...
You could try a reset of your gateway or modem, if you even have such. If you have the option, flush its memory of systems connected to it.
Check your browser, some plugins can cause delays, depending upon what they are doing.
Check to see if you are running any programs that could be running background downloads. I know for myself, I sometimes see slight delays on Tuesdays for Microsoft (Windows/Office) automatic update. And on Wednesdays for iolo (System Mechanic/Antivirus). I generally turn off automatic update options on other products I use with it, many do not and suffer the consequences.
Are you on comcast... feel sorry if you are, with their throttling.
Try a antivirus scan... they (viruses) can slow a connection.
Running bittorrent client, try throttling back the upload bandwidth.
Are you on multiple systems with hubs. A switch to dynamic smart switches can balance the load better.
EDIT1: If you are on a wireless router or gateway, check to see if anyone else has been connected and using your bandwidth. If so, you might be able to thwart their efforts by changing your system IP and the recognized gateway IP's to be a very small range. I would not do that, unless you know what you are doing, as it could kill your connection.
EDIT2: If on DSL, check around your house to see if you have the filters on all phone devices except the modem/gateway. If not, it could be causing interference. Alternatively, try connecting, and one at a time, try it with an individual item(fax/phone/etc...) disconnected. If it works better after pulling a particular device, it either is going bad, or needs a filter.
You could try a reset of your gateway or modem, if you even have such. If you have the option, flush its memory of systems connected to it.
Check your browser, some plugins can cause delays, depending upon what they are doing.
Check to see if you are running any programs that could be running background downloads. I know for myself, I sometimes see slight delays on Tuesdays for Microsoft (Windows/Office) automatic update. And on Wednesdays for iolo (System Mechanic/Antivirus). I generally turn off automatic update options on other products I use with it, many do not and suffer the consequences.
Are you on comcast... feel sorry if you are, with their throttling.
Try a antivirus scan... they (viruses) can slow a connection.
Running bittorrent client, try throttling back the upload bandwidth.
Are you on multiple systems with hubs. A switch to dynamic smart switches can balance the load better.
EDIT1: If you are on a wireless router or gateway, check to see if anyone else has been connected and using your bandwidth. If so, you might be able to thwart their efforts by changing your system IP and the recognized gateway IP's to be a very small range. I would not do that, unless you know what you are doing, as it could kill your connection.
EDIT2: If on DSL, check around your house to see if you have the filters on all phone devices except the modem/gateway. If not, it could be causing interference. Alternatively, try connecting, and one at a time, try it with an individual item(fax/phone/etc...) disconnected. If it works better after pulling a particular device, it either is going bad, or needs a filter.
Simply try rebooting your router. Power it off for 20 seconds then plug it back in.
Mine (actiontec) will get wrapped around its own axle every once in a while if some strange data comes downstream from the DAHotel (the interconnect from the tel company).
You may need to update your router's firmware. Follow the manufacturer's instructions TO THE LETTER or let a pro do it or you'll turn it into a brick. Make sure to download the emergency recovery software if they offer it just in case.
DSL Reports has some great tools, but appears ATM down because of server overheating. Ooops.
Make sure you have the recent patches for Windoze, especially the one from early July that deals with DNS poisoning. (This one hosed Zonalarm's firewalls for a while before ZOnealarm fixed their software. Make sure you get the newest version of their firewall if you use it and don't already have it.)
Mine (actiontec) will get wrapped around its own axle every once in a while if some strange data comes downstream from the DAHotel (the interconnect from the tel company).
You may need to update your router's firmware. Follow the manufacturer's instructions TO THE LETTER or let a pro do it or you'll turn it into a brick. Make sure to download the emergency recovery software if they offer it just in case.
DSL Reports has some great tools, but appears ATM down because of server overheating. Ooops.
Make sure you have the recent patches for Windoze, especially the one from early July that deals with DNS poisoning. (This one hosed Zonalarm's firewalls for a while before ZOnealarm fixed their software. Make sure you get the newest version of their firewall if you use it and don't already have it.)
I could also be your ISP. If you are using Comcast right now now expect your connection speed and connection quality to be gimped. I know several people who have Comcast Internet and they are all suffering connection issues similar to yours. The company has seriously mismanaged their network and are struggling to keep a aging infrastructure working while delivering HDTV content and broadband Internet access. They have little choice but to invest billions in infrastructure upgrade costs, but I would also recommend that they change how their network works altogether.
The biggest issue right now with Comcast is that it is a shared network. All of the Digital TV, HDTV, VoIP, and broadband Internet traffic is going over one network to multiple clients and back. This is a great deal of traffic, and everyone is sharing that bandwidth. Comcast's infrastructure just doesn't have the capacity. They've had to scale back the quality of their HD channels to free up some bandwidth. The fact is their network cannot handle the capacity they are carrying, period. What they need to do is rebuild their infrastructure so that each household has its own dedicated line. This is how Verizon FiOS works, basically each household has a dedicated fiber line that runs from the central office to the pole outside of their home. The last few hundred feet is coaxial cable which goes to the router the technician sets up in your home. Actually they put in two, the main router which has WiFi and a second router which provides access to the digital telephone service. The theoretical maximum bandwidth that could be possible on the FiOS or any high-quality dedicated fiber optic network is 10 Gigabits per second, that's under optimal conditions and with all of the latest technology. For now the service is 20 Megabits and has room to spare to increase Internet bandwidth as well as add more Digital TV and HDTV content. Basically having FiOS is like having your own T1 or OC3 connection in your home at a fraction of the cost.
The biggest issue right now with Comcast is that it is a shared network. All of the Digital TV, HDTV, VoIP, and broadband Internet traffic is going over one network to multiple clients and back. This is a great deal of traffic, and everyone is sharing that bandwidth. Comcast's infrastructure just doesn't have the capacity. They've had to scale back the quality of their HD channels to free up some bandwidth. The fact is their network cannot handle the capacity they are carrying, period. What they need to do is rebuild their infrastructure so that each household has its own dedicated line. This is how Verizon FiOS works, basically each household has a dedicated fiber line that runs from the central office to the pole outside of their home. The last few hundred feet is coaxial cable which goes to the router the technician sets up in your home. Actually they put in two, the main router which has WiFi and a second router which provides access to the digital telephone service. The theoretical maximum bandwidth that could be possible on the FiOS or any high-quality dedicated fiber optic network is 10 Gigabits per second, that's under optimal conditions and with all of the latest technology. For now the service is 20 Megabits and has room to spare to increase Internet bandwidth as well as add more Digital TV and HDTV content. Basically having FiOS is like having your own T1 or OC3 connection in your home at a fraction of the cost.
Two of my roommate had Comcast Hight-Speed Internet. Both had severe problems with their connections for a long time. One tried to have his problem resolved for 4 months before someone actually came out to try and do something about it and the technician who came barely knew how to use his equipment. Comcast techs had to come often for both of them and consistently the level of incompetence I observed in what they were trying to do was shocking. Eventually they both got fed up with it. We were moving anyway, one bought a condo and me and the other moved to be closer to his work. I still see my old roommate on a regular basis, we're old friends and all three of us hang out a lot. We also play Final Fantasy XI together online a lot too.
My old roommate switched to FiOS and the other I'm currently with switched to Verizon DSL and neither have had problems. Now, our DSL does go out when there is heavy rain, but that's due to the aging phone lines in this area and our building is being equipped with FiOS now so it'll be available soon. I was there when FiOS was installed in my old roommate's new condo and I was very impressed with how knowledgeable the technician was. He was able to answer all of questions while the Comcast guys didn't have a clue as to how to answer my questions or tried to dodge around them. I also like Verizon's cable TV service, their set top box is more feature rich and responsive than the ones Comcast gives out, and they organize their channels in a logical manner whereas Comcast pretty much puts them where ever. The Internet connection is stable and really fucking fast. He had the 20 mbps down 5 mbps up plan and what takes me an hour to download off our 1.5 mbps DSL took only 5 minutes on FiOS.
Despite how fast that is its still below what's available in say Japan and parts of Europe.
My old roommate switched to FiOS and the other I'm currently with switched to Verizon DSL and neither have had problems. Now, our DSL does go out when there is heavy rain, but that's due to the aging phone lines in this area and our building is being equipped with FiOS now so it'll be available soon. I was there when FiOS was installed in my old roommate's new condo and I was very impressed with how knowledgeable the technician was. He was able to answer all of questions while the Comcast guys didn't have a clue as to how to answer my questions or tried to dodge around them. I also like Verizon's cable TV service, their set top box is more feature rich and responsive than the ones Comcast gives out, and they organize their channels in a logical manner whereas Comcast pretty much puts them where ever. The Internet connection is stable and really fucking fast. He had the 20 mbps down 5 mbps up plan and what takes me an hour to download off our 1.5 mbps DSL took only 5 minutes on FiOS.
Despite how fast that is its still below what's available in say Japan and parts of Europe.
I asked that a few pages ago and got this response. I'm not impressed so I'll just stick to copy and paste into Word-dokuments. I'm a bit to paranoid to rely on something that doesn't look really thought through. :huh.:
Excuse me while I whip out this rant!
Microsoft seriously screwed the pooch when it came to Vista. Their Mojave Project, a kind of Foger's Coffee-style test, was an attempt to show people that Vista wasn't as bad say many people thought it was, but after almost more than a year since the OS was released they did NOTHING to try and stop the torrent of bad publicity. The Mojave Project itself was poorly managed also and looks like a joke. It does nothing to stop the bad publicity and bad impressions people have of the OS. At this point getting people to change their minds about Vista is a lost cause.
In reality Windows Vista is not as good as Windows XP. It has major compatibility issues with older software including games which are the bread and butter of the home market that Microsoft so desperately tries to cling to. Direct X 10 is crippled by the elimination of DirectSound3D which is required by nearly 99% of all games with 3D positional sound and is one of the requirements for Creative's EAX 3D positional sound to work. Creative designed a work around only for their most top of the line cards creating a DirectSound3D to OpenAL wrapper. A few months ago Creative came very close to loosing their entire customer base when it was learned that they were releasing crippled drivers for all but their most expensive sound cards for Windows Vista. The OS also has no native support for OpenGL, a commonly used graphics API often exclusively used by Id Software who made Doom 3, Quake 4 and Quake Wars: Enemy Territory. Instead Direct X 10 does some rather piss-poor OpenGL emulation which I have tested with Doom 3, an OpenGL game, an'sd believe me when I say their OpenGL emulation sucks. Only the most recently Nvidia and ATI drivers can fix the problem since they come with native OpenGL drivers. In addition, Vista is plagued by bad performance due to Windows Media Protection, a multilayered service they incorporated into Vista to placate the MPAA and RIAA to make it very hard for anyone to copy protected media like music and movies and constantly scans your video ports and audio ports for any attempts to try and circumvent that protection regardless of the fact that current copyright law says making a personal backup copy of music and movies is perfectly legal. Due to all of this scanning of the system Vista is not as responsible as it should be because its always watching to see if you're doing something wrong. To top it all off, a Microsoft spokesman also admitted that UAC, User Access Control which is that service that nags the fuck out of you to enter a password for just about everything you do, was designed to annoy users in order to get application makers to write better programs. Yeah, piss off your OS users to get program makers to improve their software there's logic for you. Microsoft gets served a nice big frosty can of FAIL for that one.
While some companies have made the transition to Vista, a few regretting the decision afterwards, the majority are waiting to see how Windows 7 will turn out. I've been following this little saga to see if Microsoft is headed in the right direction or if they're about to seriously fuck up and thus bring a final end to their relevance in the PC market altogether. As of now their dominance hangs on by tiny thread, a thread made thinner since they stopped selling Windows XP. The big issues are clear, Windows is bloated, it contains over a decade of legacy code dating back to the early 90s in an attempt to try and stay compatible with older software, but they fucked that up pretty badly. Only recently has Windows 64-bit really matured enough to be a usable OS for home users. Before, Windows XP 64-bit was suitable only for business users since the 64-bit version has serious Win32 compatibility issues which were worse than Vista's. Drivers for 64-bit Windows were also rather poor and subpar compared to 32-bit Windows. Microsoft has busted their ass and put a lot of pressure on hardware manufacturers to improve their 64-bit drivers and now they are pushing 64-bit Windows Vista on the PC manufacturers. So, if you buy a new Dell, HP, Sony or Toshiba desktop or laptop you will most likely get 64-bit Vista. Performance of the OS is another huge issue, for reasons I pointed out Vista performs slowly than XP. Not only does its multiple layers of anti-piracy code slow things down but their new Direct3D accelerated Aero Glass desktop requires a lot more horsepower under the hood than Microsoft first admitted. The specs on the box of Windows Vista are deceptive, you actually need a little more than the recommended requirements really use the OS properly. For one thing the OS is sluggish with 1 gigabyte of RAM, which was more than enough RAM for XP. Switching to 64-bit does nothing to improve performance, but going 64-bit does improve on memory management and disk access. 32-bit Windows is limited to a maximum of 4 gigabytes of RAM, but you'll only see about 3 gigabytes usable. 64-bit Windows can use up to a 1 terrabyte or more of RAM and can address extremely large hard drive volumes.
In the ongoing Saga of Windows 7 I recently learned that Microsoft is looking for a way to cut out the bloat in Windows. Their idea is to kill off the Win32 code that's there and replace it with .Net code which runs faster and uses less code. Whether this will work or not is anyone's guess as I'm not all that familiar with how well .Net code performs. Like Visual Basic, .Net programs require a runtime to run, its not compiled code but interpreted code. How Microsoft intends to prevent loosing backward compatibility with all existing Windows software by doing this is as yet unknown. They could take a lesson from the Steven Jobs play book (why not they copy Apple enough already) and build legacy software support into the OS as a fast emulation layer. Using the virtualization capabilities of today's modern processors Microsoft could make something similar to Mac OS X's Rosetta (allows Mac OS 9 software to run on Mac OS X) for compatibility with older software and games without that much of a performance hit especially if the main core of the OS is leaner and faster. This is, of course, asking quite a lot of Microsoft who have made an art form out of dashing out hopes and expectations. They'll also have to make the hard decision of whether or not to bow to Hollywood again and build another anti-piracy service again into Windows. Obviously, the current system in Vista is proof that DRM is a bad thing that only annoys the fuck out of legitimate consumers rather than stopping the criminals. DRM is a failure no matter how much the MPAA and RIAA kick and scream claiming its not. One only needs to look at many groups like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails to see examples of music groups who found major success in ditching DRM, and the RIAA. Finally, there have some murmurings of a new version of Direct X ... Direct X 11. Not a lot of details are known about this next version of the graphics API so I don't a lot of say about it yet.
In conclusion, Microsoft has a lot of hard decisions to make. They need to focus on what their consumers truly want instead of what they think their consumers want because its pretty fucking clear that strategy isn't working. A lot of you on this group probably don't realize just how much in trouble Microsoft is right now. In many ways the company is its own worst enemy. The company's obsession to out-do Google is a major cause of a lot of their current problems. In fact its this very thing which distracted them for a year and a half while Vista floundered due to bad publicity. Its like the company is a spoiled child, they see another company that's a huge success in a market that they don't compete in and they get jealous and throw a tantrum because they want to be a big success in that market too. This is how Microsoft has been trying to compete with Google, a company which wasn't competing with them at all and was and still is a huge success. Steve Balmer needs to get his head out of his ass and set the company's priorities straight. They are first and foremost a software company, they were a huge success when they stuck to that and that alone, but in recent years they've begun to crumble under their own weight as they branch out into more and more markets they have no business being in because its clear by how they are performing that they have no fucking clue of what the hell they are doing. Microsoft is trying to be every PC user's one-stop shop for everything, and its not possible to be that. Not even Apple can do that, thus they know better than to try and get into the Internet search business. They have their music business which has been a huge success and that's it. Microsoft needs to cut the fat and realize that they can't be a Jack of all trades and master of all. With Apple and Linux gaining more and more market share their dominance is dwindling little by little. In the past couple of years Apple and Linux market share has actually grown more than at any other time before. Much of that is due to Apple's move to Intel processors and that fact that their computers can now be dual-booted with Windows and Mac OS X. There is also the overwhelming success of the Ubuntu Linux operating system which has been gaining a lot of market share with Home Users just this year alone and is now being offered by several companies including Dell preinstalled in new PCs and laptops. Linux is also dominating in the corporate world on servers and is taking over the Cell Phone/PDA/Portable Media Player OS market as well.
If Microsoft continues on its current course and doesn't shape up its act I don't see a very rosy future for them in three or four years time. That is the time frame in which Windows 7 is supposed to be available. It remains to be seen if they can pull a rabbit out of their hat and save their own collective asses but right now I don't see how they can do it with their current strategies. Only time will tell if Microsoft will remain dominant or loose their relevance altogether. I don't see the company failing completely and closing up shop, but I do see them becoming a smaller player in the market rather than the big powerhouse they are now in three or four years if they don't change things quickly.
There ends my rant.
Microsoft seriously screwed the pooch when it came to Vista. Their Mojave Project, a kind of Foger's Coffee-style test, was an attempt to show people that Vista wasn't as bad say many people thought it was, but after almost more than a year since the OS was released they did NOTHING to try and stop the torrent of bad publicity. The Mojave Project itself was poorly managed also and looks like a joke. It does nothing to stop the bad publicity and bad impressions people have of the OS. At this point getting people to change their minds about Vista is a lost cause.
In reality Windows Vista is not as good as Windows XP. It has major compatibility issues with older software including games which are the bread and butter of the home market that Microsoft so desperately tries to cling to. Direct X 10 is crippled by the elimination of DirectSound3D which is required by nearly 99% of all games with 3D positional sound and is one of the requirements for Creative's EAX 3D positional sound to work. Creative designed a work around only for their most top of the line cards creating a DirectSound3D to OpenAL wrapper. A few months ago Creative came very close to loosing their entire customer base when it was learned that they were releasing crippled drivers for all but their most expensive sound cards for Windows Vista. The OS also has no native support for OpenGL, a commonly used graphics API often exclusively used by Id Software who made Doom 3, Quake 4 and Quake Wars: Enemy Territory. Instead Direct X 10 does some rather piss-poor OpenGL emulation which I have tested with Doom 3, an OpenGL game, an'sd believe me when I say their OpenGL emulation sucks. Only the most recently Nvidia and ATI drivers can fix the problem since they come with native OpenGL drivers. In addition, Vista is plagued by bad performance due to Windows Media Protection, a multilayered service they incorporated into Vista to placate the MPAA and RIAA to make it very hard for anyone to copy protected media like music and movies and constantly scans your video ports and audio ports for any attempts to try and circumvent that protection regardless of the fact that current copyright law says making a personal backup copy of music and movies is perfectly legal. Due to all of this scanning of the system Vista is not as responsible as it should be because its always watching to see if you're doing something wrong. To top it all off, a Microsoft spokesman also admitted that UAC, User Access Control which is that service that nags the fuck out of you to enter a password for just about everything you do, was designed to annoy users in order to get application makers to write better programs. Yeah, piss off your OS users to get program makers to improve their software there's logic for you. Microsoft gets served a nice big frosty can of FAIL for that one.
While some companies have made the transition to Vista, a few regretting the decision afterwards, the majority are waiting to see how Windows 7 will turn out. I've been following this little saga to see if Microsoft is headed in the right direction or if they're about to seriously fuck up and thus bring a final end to their relevance in the PC market altogether. As of now their dominance hangs on by tiny thread, a thread made thinner since they stopped selling Windows XP. The big issues are clear, Windows is bloated, it contains over a decade of legacy code dating back to the early 90s in an attempt to try and stay compatible with older software, but they fucked that up pretty badly. Only recently has Windows 64-bit really matured enough to be a usable OS for home users. Before, Windows XP 64-bit was suitable only for business users since the 64-bit version has serious Win32 compatibility issues which were worse than Vista's. Drivers for 64-bit Windows were also rather poor and subpar compared to 32-bit Windows. Microsoft has busted their ass and put a lot of pressure on hardware manufacturers to improve their 64-bit drivers and now they are pushing 64-bit Windows Vista on the PC manufacturers. So, if you buy a new Dell, HP, Sony or Toshiba desktop or laptop you will most likely get 64-bit Vista. Performance of the OS is another huge issue, for reasons I pointed out Vista performs slowly than XP. Not only does its multiple layers of anti-piracy code slow things down but their new Direct3D accelerated Aero Glass desktop requires a lot more horsepower under the hood than Microsoft first admitted. The specs on the box of Windows Vista are deceptive, you actually need a little more than the recommended requirements really use the OS properly. For one thing the OS is sluggish with 1 gigabyte of RAM, which was more than enough RAM for XP. Switching to 64-bit does nothing to improve performance, but going 64-bit does improve on memory management and disk access. 32-bit Windows is limited to a maximum of 4 gigabytes of RAM, but you'll only see about 3 gigabytes usable. 64-bit Windows can use up to a 1 terrabyte or more of RAM and can address extremely large hard drive volumes.
In the ongoing Saga of Windows 7 I recently learned that Microsoft is looking for a way to cut out the bloat in Windows. Their idea is to kill off the Win32 code that's there and replace it with .Net code which runs faster and uses less code. Whether this will work or not is anyone's guess as I'm not all that familiar with how well .Net code performs. Like Visual Basic, .Net programs require a runtime to run, its not compiled code but interpreted code. How Microsoft intends to prevent loosing backward compatibility with all existing Windows software by doing this is as yet unknown. They could take a lesson from the Steven Jobs play book (why not they copy Apple enough already) and build legacy software support into the OS as a fast emulation layer. Using the virtualization capabilities of today's modern processors Microsoft could make something similar to Mac OS X's Rosetta (allows Mac OS 9 software to run on Mac OS X) for compatibility with older software and games without that much of a performance hit especially if the main core of the OS is leaner and faster. This is, of course, asking quite a lot of Microsoft who have made an art form out of dashing out hopes and expectations. They'll also have to make the hard decision of whether or not to bow to Hollywood again and build another anti-piracy service again into Windows. Obviously, the current system in Vista is proof that DRM is a bad thing that only annoys the fuck out of legitimate consumers rather than stopping the criminals. DRM is a failure no matter how much the MPAA and RIAA kick and scream claiming its not. One only needs to look at many groups like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails to see examples of music groups who found major success in ditching DRM, and the RIAA. Finally, there have some murmurings of a new version of Direct X ... Direct X 11. Not a lot of details are known about this next version of the graphics API so I don't a lot of say about it yet.
In conclusion, Microsoft has a lot of hard decisions to make. They need to focus on what their consumers truly want instead of what they think their consumers want because its pretty fucking clear that strategy isn't working. A lot of you on this group probably don't realize just how much in trouble Microsoft is right now. In many ways the company is its own worst enemy. The company's obsession to out-do Google is a major cause of a lot of their current problems. In fact its this very thing which distracted them for a year and a half while Vista floundered due to bad publicity. Its like the company is a spoiled child, they see another company that's a huge success in a market that they don't compete in and they get jealous and throw a tantrum because they want to be a big success in that market too. This is how Microsoft has been trying to compete with Google, a company which wasn't competing with them at all and was and still is a huge success. Steve Balmer needs to get his head out of his ass and set the company's priorities straight. They are first and foremost a software company, they were a huge success when they stuck to that and that alone, but in recent years they've begun to crumble under their own weight as they branch out into more and more markets they have no business being in because its clear by how they are performing that they have no fucking clue of what the hell they are doing. Microsoft is trying to be every PC user's one-stop shop for everything, and its not possible to be that. Not even Apple can do that, thus they know better than to try and get into the Internet search business. They have their music business which has been a huge success and that's it. Microsoft needs to cut the fat and realize that they can't be a Jack of all trades and master of all. With Apple and Linux gaining more and more market share their dominance is dwindling little by little. In the past couple of years Apple and Linux market share has actually grown more than at any other time before. Much of that is due to Apple's move to Intel processors and that fact that their computers can now be dual-booted with Windows and Mac OS X. There is also the overwhelming success of the Ubuntu Linux operating system which has been gaining a lot of market share with Home Users just this year alone and is now being offered by several companies including Dell preinstalled in new PCs and laptops. Linux is also dominating in the corporate world on servers and is taking over the Cell Phone/PDA/Portable Media Player OS market as well.
If Microsoft continues on its current course and doesn't shape up its act I don't see a very rosy future for them in three or four years time. That is the time frame in which Windows 7 is supposed to be available. It remains to be seen if they can pull a rabbit out of their hat and save their own collective asses but right now I don't see how they can do it with their current strategies. Only time will tell if Microsoft will remain dominant or loose their relevance altogether. I don't see the company failing completely and closing up shop, but I do see them becoming a smaller player in the market rather than the big powerhouse they are now in three or four years if they don't change things quickly.
There ends my rant.
To be honest there really isn't anything else that I know of that would download as a document other than txt, the best ones available downloads to html. One is Ficsavers.com which they download for you then you download the file from them, has multiple fanfic fandoms that you can get and also has a batch downloader for FFnet for multiple stories. The best FFnet downloader would be DeFFNetIzer which allows you to download to html the way you want using various templates.
If you have a mac you could try DownloadStory but since I don't I have no idea what's the features are on it.
If you have a mac you could try DownloadStory but since I don't I have no idea what's the features are on it.
Hmmm...
From what I can tell, the Lexmark 2300 all in one has a secondary name called the Lexmark X2350.
That is not that unusual. Toshiba for years did the same thing with their notebooks. Normally it indicates what market it was targeted to or what outlets it was sold to.
According to the Lexmark site, that takes a Printer Cartridge #1 ( also called reference number 3577141111 ), and is available for 21.99 USD p[lus shipping from them and is in stock.
For reference. The Lexmark Web site is:
Lexmark
I suggest in any case checking out who has cartridges for the X2350.
EDIT: Here is a direct link to the cartridge page on lexmark's site:
Lexmark #1 cartridge (Part#: 18C0781)
From what I can tell, the Lexmark 2300 all in one has a secondary name called the Lexmark X2350.
That is not that unusual. Toshiba for years did the same thing with their notebooks. Normally it indicates what market it was targeted to or what outlets it was sold to.
According to the Lexmark site, that takes a Printer Cartridge #1 ( also called reference number 3577141111 ), and is available for 21.99 USD p[lus shipping from them and is in stock.
For reference. The Lexmark Web site is:
Lexmark
- [Direct] http://www.lexmark.com/
I suggest in any case checking out who has cartridges for the X2350.
EDIT: Here is a direct link to the cartridge page on lexmark's site:
Lexmark #1 cartridge (Part#: 18C0781)
If you're from the US you can also try certain stores for the ink cartridges like these:
* Staples
* OfficeMax
* Micro Center
* Best Buy
* Circuit City
The first 2 in this list are probably you're best bet out of the bunch but the others have cartridges also but nowhere near the selection of the first 2.
* Staples
* OfficeMax
* Micro Center
* Best Buy
* Circuit City
The first 2 in this list are probably you're best bet out of the bunch but the others have cartridges also but nowhere near the selection of the first 2.
I don't know where she could get stuff there in NZ. I'm pretty sure they don't have those stores listed there.
Online probably.
Here's the setup sheet from Lexmark that shows how to get to the cartridge.
www.lexmark.com/publications/pdfs/2007/2300/setup-sheet.pdf
Online probably.
Here's the setup sheet from Lexmark that shows how to get to the cartridge.
www.lexmark.com/publications/pdfs/2007/2300/setup-sheet.pdf
My experience with Lexmark printers has me wondering if manybe they're built by Fisher Price. I had this one for a long time that would actually slow down while printing when the computer became busy with something. I had another one which wasn't much better. Eventually I went back to HP. I used to repair HP printers for a living so I know how reliable and durable they are. The printers I used to repair were sometimes twenty years old and were still running as if they were brand new.
What I really don't like is how ink jet cartridges have a poor shelf life. If you get new cartridges and use them once and don't print anything again for a few weeks the cartridges dry out on you. Someone told me that shouldn't happen but it happens to me and to everyone else I know who has a ink jet printer. Color laser is getting less expensive and the quality is improving to the point to where laser is now able to compete with ink jets. So, in the future I intend to get a color laser printer since I don't print that often but when I do I like to do it in color and I want the cartridges to last. Laser cartridges don't dry out when they sit for a long time because they're already dry.
What I really don't like is how ink jet cartridges have a poor shelf life. If you get new cartridges and use them once and don't print anything again for a few weeks the cartridges dry out on you. Someone told me that shouldn't happen but it happens to me and to everyone else I know who has a ink jet printer. Color laser is getting less expensive and the quality is improving to the point to where laser is now able to compete with ink jets. So, in the future I intend to get a color laser printer since I don't print that often but when I do I like to do it in color and I want the cartridges to last. Laser cartridges don't dry out when they sit for a long time because they're already dry.
Yes it's a crap printer.
But it was second-hand and free
And thanks for the help.
Though I didn't end up needing it... *cough*
Caught a bus to the next biggest town (umm... 20km away?)
And went to the Warehouse stationary shop there.
Which is where computerish stuff is :sisi:
And pens and pencils and school stuff and art supplies
Warehouse Stationary. Whoop whoop ^_^
- That pdf is handy though. The guy in the shop gave me a photocopied bit of it, but having the whole thing is helpful. For next time. If there's a next time.
Thank you for the help!
But it was second-hand and free
And thanks for the help.
Though I didn't end up needing it... *cough*
Caught a bus to the next biggest town (umm... 20km away?)
And went to the Warehouse stationary shop there.
Which is where computerish stuff is :sisi:
And pens and pencils and school stuff and art supplies
Warehouse Stationary. Whoop whoop ^_^
- That pdf is handy though. The guy in the shop gave me a photocopied bit of it, but having the whole thing is helpful. For next time. If there's a next time.
Thank you for the help!