Rob Pegoraro

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Tech Support Friday
Post Home Computing Guide
With Fast Forward's Rob Pegoraro
Friday, Nov. 30, 2001; 2 p.m. EST

Home computers are faster, cheaper and more powerful than ever--but for many buyers, there are also fewer reasons to buy a new computer than ever before. When do you "really" need to upgrade to a new computer? Of all the features manufacturers like to talk about, which ones are actually important to consider when shopping for a new machine? Which ones don't matter much?

Talk about these questions, and more, when Rob Pegoraro hosts his regular discussion on personal-technology issues, at 2 p.m. Friday.

Problems with your hard drive? Take your question to the Fast Forward instead! It's a repeat engagement of "Tech Support Friday," in which Rob Pegoraro takes your queries, scrambles madly to get answers to them from the collective Fast Forward brain trust and replies within mere minutes.

Below is the transcript.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

Rob Pegoraro: Hello again... It's been a couple of weeks since we last met like this, in which time I've covered XM's new satellite radio service and, in today's paper, this season's choices in home computers. We've already got a lot of questions about the second topic but, as ever, anything's fair game.

So--on with the show!

Alexandria, Va.: Hi Rob,
Perhaps you or one of the chatters can help me because the tech support of the major pc manufacturer, who shall remain nameless, from which I bought my system can't.

My hard drive is toast--it wheezes and clacks--it's dead. The dead drive is a ATA/66, can I replace it with a ATA/100? Is there any kind of compatablity factor I need to know about? Is there anything I need to know before I buy a new one?

Rob Pegoraro: ATA/100, as the name might suggest, runs a lot faster than ATA/66. If your motherboard doesn't support it (a likely case if it's an older system) you'd need to add a controller card to your system. Beter to go with an ATA/66 drive and keep things simple.

Mclean, Va.: RE: cheap PCs, what have you heard (reliability, upgradeableness) about powerspec PC from Micro Electronics. Thanks

Rob Pegoraro: Micron's been around a really long time, but the company has had a turbulent year--first it was going to leave the PC market, then it got bought out and taken private and has gone back to direct sales. I haven't heard bad things about its products in the past but haven't heard much of anything about them recently.

Any Micron users here?

Washington, D.C.: Xbox? GameCube.
GameCube? Xbox.
Xbox? GameCube.
GameCube? Xbox.

Rob Pegoraro: PlayStation 2?

Bethesda, Md.: Do you know of a simple computer that connects to the Internet and has e-mail capabilities only? I'm thinking of getting something like that for my elderly mother who doesn't need a lot of programs. Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: Most companies have given up on the "Web appliance" market, but Cidco and Vtech still make some stripped-down, e-mail-only devices. They remind me a bit of those Brother and Smith-Corona word processors some people had in college... and may yet share their fate.

Compaq also makes an "MSN Companion," but that costs a bit more to buy and to use each month.

Bloomington, Ind.: I keep trying to make my computer faster by adding RAM. I went from 32 to 96 to 128.
I still don't see that big a difference. How much RAM do I need to get a computer working at a decent speed?

Rob Pegoraro: 128 ought to have more pre-XP versions of Windows running fairly well. But if that upgrade hasn't worked, your processor may just be too slow. How old is this PC?

Silver Spring, Md.: Rob - If I have no time for or interest in digital moviemaking or high-falutin' computer games, but want to get a Mac that can run OS X, it would seem that the best bet is to look for a used G3 blue-and-white tower (probably at eBay) rather than buy a new G4. (An iMac is out of the question because I need a bigger screen size.) Would you concur? I've heard that a G4 is preferable for running OS X, but have also read that a newer G3 (i.e., no older than the b&w tower, circa 1999) will do fine. Thanks for your advice. (I've gotten fed up with Windows and want to return to the Mac universe; currently have a 10-year-old IIsi that I stopped using in April '99.)

Rob Pegoraro: You really notice the difference between a G3 and a G4 if you turn on all of OS X's graphics effects (in partiuclar, the "genie" effect when you minimize a program into the dock). A G3 is certainly fine for mainstream use, so, yeah, I'd check out a used desktop. You could always throw in a G4 upgrade from PowerLogix or whoever later on.

BTW, just last night Apple finally released DVD player software for OS X that works on old machines (that is, ones with PCI graphics cards instead of AGP hardware).

Alexandria, Va.: I was given a 486, and would like to update this computer, what do I need to do this? Or should I just buy a new one?

Rob Pegoraro: Either install Linux on the 486, which will tolerate the slower processor much better than Windows, or junk it.

Harpers Ferry, W. Va.: My Gateway computer freezes up after I look at only a few pages. Also, e-mail (Microsoft Explorer) frequently crashes with a message "illegal procedure." I had slight improvement after defragmenting my hard drive. Is this a problem with my computer or is it a problem with my ISP?

Rob Pegoraro: With your computer. What version of Windows are you running? How much memory do you have installed?

Washington, D.C.: Hi, Rob-- Why wasn't IBM included in today's Computer Buyer's Shopping List?

Rob Pegoraro: I get this question from somebody at least once or twice with every computer-guide issue. Here's what I wrote to somebody earlier today:

It's no omission at all. IBM competed in the home-computer market for many years with its Aptiva line, but in October 1999 shelved that line and walked away from the retail market. Its NetVista line can certainly serve well as a home computer, but these machines are primarily designed and marketed for office use. So when we look at what machines consumers are likely to consider, IBM has to take a back seat to the manufacturers that still have an active presence in the consumer market.

Yes, IBM's got a long resume in the PC market. But that and $3 gets you a medium latte at Starbucks.

Washington, D.C.: I will be purchasing my first PC in 8 years for CADD use. Is it too early to get XP as the installed operating system before the bugs are worked out?

Rob Pegoraro: You don't really have a choice, unless you buy a refurbished or used PC. Windows Me has dropped right off the market. Win 2000 is a little easier to find, but not by much.

Bethesda, Md.: Apple is about open another store in Clarendon, Va. Should it be taken as a serious rival to Microsoft?

Rob Pegoraro: Of course. The Mac OS and Linux may not have a big chunk of the market, but those two platforms are the *only* serious rivals to Windows on the desktop. And in the home-computer market (as opposed to servers), only Apple really counts as a serious rival so far.

Rockville, Md.: It seems the actual reason PC sales aren't doing so well is because computer hardware has far outpaced software requirements. Several years ago, hardware could hardly keep up with software requirements, but with multi-MHZ increases every few months, that equilibrium has come and gone, and how do we justify buying a Ferrari or Porsche just to buy groceries at the local corner store? Bragging rights, that's all!

Rob Pegoraro: Exactly.

Readerville: After reading all the reviews in the Post today about computers, I'm left with one question: which one would you buy?

Rob Pegoraro: I'd go with the iMac or the Sony Vaio. The other PCs we looked at are just... generic. HP and eMachines are probably the worst of the bunch, strictly on tech-support grounds.

Arlington, Va.: I want to buy a new computer. But:
1. I do NOT want XP -- WIN2K would be OK.
2. I want more than 2 extra PCI slots.

Question: Where to start looking

Eric

Rob Pegoraro: Buy refurbished or buy from a custom-build shop (a Dell or a local builder) that can put Win 2000 on the box instead of XP.

Washington, D.C.: Okay, I admit it: I'm almost a complete computer illiterate. That's one of the reasons I got an iBook. Right now I'm looking for an external CD-RW to go with it. The Iomega Predator I got a while back left me flumoxed, at least partly because of a glitch in the included software that meant it couldn't work with the iTunes program that came with my computer. Apparently, it's a correctable glitch, but since I couldn't even figure out what they meant when they said "disable the following extensions," I wound up returning the machine. Can you suggest anything to take it's place? Preferably something where I just plug it in, hit a button, and end up with a pristine data or music cd?

Rob Pegoraro: Apple has updated iTunes a few times with software that supports more third-party drives--what you should be able to do is buy a drive, plug it in (*without* installing any software) and have iTunes support it out of the box. Get one of these drives and you should be fine: http://www.apple.com/itunes/notes.html

Springfield, Va.: I had to recently buy a new PC (an electrical storm fried my processor, even though the machine was off), but I wanted to salvage my data on my old hard drive. How can I do that? And once that is done, do you have any suggestions about what I can do with the machine (donate, recycle, etc.)? My growing pile of electronics in the basement thanks you!!

Rob Pegoraro: Try plugging the old drive into one of the ATA connectors inside the new machine (you may need to reset its jumpers so it acts as a second drive, not the primary).

Chantilly, Va.: RE: OPERA 6.0

Installed the new version on my work computer. no problems. installed it on my home computer. Problems.
1. Locked up the creative soundblaster
2. Turned photographs into what can only be described as bad abstract art. Reversed colors and looked like they were painted with a 2" brush.

So, reload 5.12, and all is well again.

I e-mailed opera with my problem and told them that the maker of my video card (Aopen) had gotten a number of these same complaints. still waiting opera's response.

Rob Pegoraro: Interesting. I've got a reviewer trying it out this weekend--I'll tell him to watch out for this.

Silver Spring, Md.: GameCube? XBox? PS2?

Nah.

Dreamcast.
$49.95 and going fast...
(But can I admit that I still miss the Atari 2600?)
As for the potential OS X user, a G3 will be quite sufficient. Just be sure to load up on RAM (256MB minimum) while it's still cheap.

Rob Pegoraro: You're wrong: The Atari 5200 is *the* way to go here :)

Washington, D.C.: Will loading my trial version of MS Windows XP on my Windows 98 machine at home erase Windows 98 and all my applications? Should I buy another machine to test it on? Should I leave it in the package!?

Bob

Rob Pegoraro: No, it shouldn't. (It might anyway, but that's just computers for ya.) The normal install for XP includes an option to back up the old Windows installation for a later restore; I had no problem using this when I reviewed XP.

Bowie, Md.: When I retired my last computer I was thinking about buying a low-end machine expecting to retire it fairly soon (financial consideration). Thank goodness reality intervened and I didn't buy an e-Machine.

What should a shopper do to avoid machines with quality problems that don't show up on the spec sheet -- like bad fans and electrical connections that come loose?

Rob Pegoraro: Buy from a reputable manufacturer with good tech-support policies. And remember that TANSTAAFL (there ain't no such thing as a free lunch). In other words, nothing wrong with paying a little more for a reliable machine.

Harpers Ferry, W. Va.: I am running Windows 98 and have 128 MB

Rob Pegoraro: That oughta be enough. I'd try upgrading to the latest version of IE, for starters. But sometimes Windows just comes down with deep-seated problems that are only cured by a complete reinstall... wihch is always a complete pain in the butt.

Washington, D.C.: How do I determine what kind of RAM I need to upgrade my HP Pavilion from 128 to 256 (or higher)?

Is it something I can do myself (a bit technically adapt but no engineer)?

Rob Pegoraro: You can look this up at most chipmakers' Web sites, if you have the model number of your machine (like, Pavilion XT938 or whatever). See, for instance, http://www.crucial.com .

Washington, D.C.: I've been having problems lately with icons for graphics files just up and changing for no reason.

I have your standard images (quicktime image for .jpegs, grey camera for .avis, etc.). If the folder in which those images are located is open, lately, the whole folder will essentially "reload" itself, and I may have Adobe Acrobat imaegs for jpegs, and some Realplayer Take 5 thing for .avis It's not always the same, though.

What the heck is going on?

(I'm running Windows 98).

Rob Pegoraro: On a Mac, you could fix this by rebuilding the desktop file (hold down two keys at startup). On a PC, it gets a little more complicated. Do you see any messages popping up when you run RealPlayer asking if it should be the default app for certain file types?

Washington, D.C.: Rob -

I'm thinking of upgrading my CD burner to get one that can fill out an 80 min/700 MB disc. I look and look and manufacturer's specs, but apparently none of them are willing to let you know whether their burners can perform this function. What good burners are you aware of out there that do this?

Rob Pegoraro: I wish I knew. I was dumb enough to buy a box of 80-minute discs myself a while ago. Anybody had any luck with these things?

Re: Dell and XP: I ordered my Dell a bit over a week ago, and the only choices were WinXP and WinXp-Pro.

Rob Pegoraro: So much for that... I have seen some other manufacturers still offer Win 2000. For instance, Alienware (they build gamer-oriented PCs) still offers Win 2000 on is laptop, or did as of last night.

Annandale, Va.: re: PowerSpec PCs

You got your brands a bit mixed up. The earlier writer asked about PowerSpec PC's, the house brand from MicroCenter.

Although I don't own any, I have a co-worker who buys them regularly and has not reported problems beyond those you'd have with any computer. He's a power user, so they get used pretty hard, too.

It used to be that they used a unique case, alot like Packard Bell did, with the expansion cards sideways, making adding anything difficult. But now they use standard motherboards and cases.

Rob Pegoraro: Ah. That would be different. Can't say I've heard anything, pro or con, about that brand until your post. Thanks for the report...

Washington, D.C.: Processor speeds are rapidly rising. What is the minimum you would now recommend for a home office user? I don't use my PCs for games or heavy graphics. Nor do I see much reason to upgrade to XP for the foreseeable future. Thanks.

Scott

Rob Pegoraro: For those uses, the minimum processor speed is the slowest system you can buy. Save the cash for memory, a better screen, CD-RW drive... or for some nice dinners out on the town.

Reston, Va. 20191: So, Rob---can a user buy a Linux machine ready to go out of the box anywhere?

Rob Pegoraro: Sure, but it takes some looking around. No consumer PC vendor has yet taken the plunge with a home-computing setup built on a Linux distribution (although I'm told a number of companies are doing just this in China). Dell offers some Linux workstations, and there's always more specialized, smaller firms (for instance, VA Linux used to ship Linux PCs).

Ellicott City, Md.: Hi, Rob,

What's the status of the judge's ruling, expected today, on the fate of -Home? I'm a Comcast broadband customer and will hate to go back to dialup or stand in line waiting for DSL installation.

Rob Pegoraro: Dunno. Chris Stern, the reporter who's following this, said it was up in the air. It's really up to the judge, and, frankly, the federal judiciary has not impressed me much this week with its grasp of the Internet.

If @Home does get shut off, this will be--by far--the most egregious example of corporate malfeasance that I've yet seen in the Internet business. The people responsible should be ashamed of themselves.

Rockville, Md.: For Bethesda, Md. - I would not recommend any type of web appliance, simply because most vendors have gone out of business or abandoned them, including Sony, 3com, and Gateway. If they can't make it work...

As a 12 year veteran of PCs, I would lean towards an -iMac- for the novice user. Windows is still too difficult to use, IMHO!

Rob Pegoraro: I'd concur with that. A used or refurbished iMac hardly costs more than some of these Web appliances.

Alexandria, Va.: I have a 4 year old Dell with 75% of it's hard drive free;(don't understand RAM!!)(Got a zip drive I've never used-don't have big files, just internet and wordprocessing). I want to buy a wireless laptop and network through a router. I have no idea how to upgrade my Dell and if the wireless will work since I live in a 16floor condo-(with cement walls). What would I do about the Windows sytems not matching(curently using Win 98). I'm using Cox DSL(when it works it is just great). Thanks for your help.

Rob Pegoraro: Most of the wireless-network cards out there should ship with regular Win 98 drives, so I wouldn't worry about that. The signals themselves will pass through most walls, up to a point.

The biggest hassle probably will be networking non-matched Windows operating systems. XP doesn't play very nice with older OSes, as we reported shortly after its release. I'd ask the wireless-network vendor if it's got any advice on this.

Arlington, Va.: I have not had any success with any of the four video capture cards I have installed in my Athlon AMD K7 no name pc. It's fast enough--1.4 GHz, 512 DDRAM. Soundblaster 5.Live, Nvidia Geforce 3 64MB graphics card.

Have tried ATI All in Wonder tv tuner, 3dfx Voodoo PCI 200, and Pinnacle PCTV Pro and Pinnacle DC-10Plus. None have worked!

The cards all had their own IRQ--11--and no conflicts indicated (excepting ATI, which had issues with Soundblaster, I have read about). Help!

Rob Pegoraro: This is pretty much why I don't like Windows!

Hmm... have you tried these things all in the same PCI slot? Have you known that slot to work before? It seems unlikely that three different vendors would all ship a product with the same incompatibility.

Chantilly, Va.: For Arlington, Va.: Computer show next weekend at the Capital Expo Mart. You can buy just the computer (no software included) and whatever OS you like.

I can heartily recommend Windows 2000 Pro. About $145 at the show.
The price of computers at the show -- 1GHZ will cost you about $475.00.

Rob Pegoraro: But how do you know that reseller will be around to support you later on? I've heard really mixed reports about buying at these places. If you know what you're doing, you can find some bargains, but if you don't, it seems you're taking a bit of a risk.

Washington, D.C.: Would really like to get a laptop, but unfortunately the purse strings are a bit tight right now, are prices ever going to come down on them? Was thinking of going to anonline auction site and try to get a cheaper, possibly refurbished one, or would this just signal impending disaster?

Rob Pegoraro: Having seen a friend of mine buy several questionable laptops off eBay, I don't recommend that. Stick to refurbished units sold--and warranteed--by their original manufacturer.

Upstate New York: Hi Rob,
We are planning on buying a new computer in the next few weeks and want both a CD-RW and DVD drive. Can you give me some advantages/disadvantages to separate CD-RW and DVD drives vs. a combination drive? Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: A combo drive frees up a drive bay for future use, but two drives makes it faster to copy CDs. It also gives you a backup in case one drive goes bad (not that there's a huge risk of that either). You might be able to save a little bit of money with a combo drive, but it depends a lot more on the current sale/deal/discount.

Mclean, Va.: RE: RE: Cheap PC. Actually it's Micro Electronics from Columbus, Ohio not MicronPC. They have a retail store, MicroCenter, in Fairfax. They're touting their PowerSpec Celeron 1.1 G with 256MB, 133MHz SDRAM DIMM, floppy, modem, CD-ROM and 20G ATA HD for $499. Sounds too good to be true?

Rob Pegoraro: Not too good to be true--that's got some low-end equipment that explains the cheap price. (CD-ROM vs. CD-RW, only a 20-gig had drive, no Ethernet.) I wouldn't buy the system for that reason.

Reston, Va. 20911: Hi Bethesda - one solution for an email and web surfing-only capability is WebTV. When I bought mine it was about $250 with the keyboard. The connect fee is $25/month. It is neither fancy nor fast but it is simple. (I wish the keyboard were a bit larger.)

Rob Pegoraro: That's true as well, although I wonder how long Microsoft will even take new WebTV subscriptions. It just doesn't seem to care about this technology one bit... there's been no change to the hardware or service in years.

CDguy: Hi Rob,

I like to play music CDs at work, and hence I've copied several of my CDs so I have the original at home and a copy at work. Unfortunately, sometimes they just don't play right on my boombox at work. Either the CD won't play at all, or in some cases when the sound level drops down, the CD software assumes the track is over and stops recording the track it was.

Can you recommend any CD-burning software that might alleviate this problem? Also, this is legit, right? The RIAA isn't going to beat me in a darkened alley is it?

Rob Pegoraro: How old's the boombox? Really old CD players don't like CD-Rs much, let alone CD-RWs. Do your burned CDs play fine on other stereos? Then replace the boombox.

Washington, D.C.: Re: Digital photo storage and transfer

Hi, Rob -

I just bought a new computer, and need to transfer about 300 digi-photos from old computer to new. I was horrified to find that four 250mg Zip disks could handle, oh, about 80 of these photos. I can't afford a Minds-Work Digital Wallet, can't afford another $150 - 200 in Zip disks, and don't know what my other options are. Help?

Rob Pegoraro: If both computers have Ethernet, you could get a crossover cable and set up a network to transfer the files. Or you could use Direct Cable Connection, which will take a *long* time but won't need your active supervision. Or you could physically remove the drive from one machine to the second, switch it to run as the secondary, and copy the files from one drive to the other.

Tampa, Fla.: I see you recommend the Sony. I usually find their products overpriced. What do you think of the Gateway or the Dell, both of which have been recommended by knowledgable friends?

Rob Pegoraro: Yeah, traditionally, Sony's made you pay a price for that nifty shade of purple the Vaio desktops come in. But that price premium has shrunk lately, especially when you figure you get two i.Link ports in the box.

Gateway still has the best tech-support *policy* (its actual implementation may not always be so great). Dell has the best deals--the company has basically set out to drive at least one of its competitors from the market via a price war that it can afford but competitors can't. Dell also offers the most flexibility in customizing the computer.

But in terms of the hardware itself, both companies are selling fairly generic PCs. You'll probably find many of the same third-party components inside either box.

Slashdog: I'm thinking of buying a G4 and playing with LinuxPPC/OS X. But I got one problem, I've never used a Mac. I know I want one, but I don't know what to expect. Are they all the same? Don't want an imac, or a toaster G4 because they don't seem upgradable, but I still have no clue of what price/hardware to go for.
thanks, Matt

Rob Pegoraro: Well, the system to get then is a Power Mac G4 desktop. The problem here is that these just aren't as good of a value as an iMac--Apple's prices in this line run well above a lot of PCs. (I know, I know, you do get a lot of extras--but c'mon, $2,500 for the middle-of-the-line G4, w/out monitor, is a bit much these days.)

I'd go with the cheapest G4 and upgrade everything after you get it--RAM, hard drive, whatever.

Washington, D.C.: Where can I find a company that repairs laptop screens? The maker went out of business but I believe it is the same OEM as Dell.

Rob Pegoraro: Uh-oh... the screen is *the* most expensive part to fix. I've never needed to get this kind of repair myself (well, yet :). Any recommendations here?

Alexandria, Va.: I have used Eudora for email for many years because I prefer by far the layout of the mailboxes, but my 3.0 version is probably 5 years old and showing its age. I have to use Outlook Express at work, and I really don't care for that kind of layout. Do you know of any programs that have the Eudora look and layout (the newest versions of Eudora unfortunately use the Outlook kind of layout)?

Rob Pegoraro: Pegasus Mail was just updated to version 4 (haven't tried it, but one of my contributors seems fond of the program). Is it the preview-pane layout that you don't like in Eudora 5? That can be disabled (just pull the frame separator between mailbox and preview all the way down), but its use of a single-window interface can't be changed.

Chantilly, Va.: Bought my last two computers at the show. Tthere are a lot of LOCAL companies that attend. Haven't had anything that I would've needed tech support for yet. Of course, I'm a power user with a 26" super tower that's getting pretty full.

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks for the report from the front...

Readerville: Your reviewer today suggested the $999 iMac rather than the cheaper one or more expensive one. You agree?

Rob Pegoraro: Yes. The faster processor won't make enouh of a difference, you can upgrade the memory yourself for a lot less cash, and if you do start to run short on space (most people won't for a little while) you can always get a FireWire external drive later on.

Gaithersburg, Md.: I have a PowerComputing Mac clone. Is it possible to connect an MP3 player to it? They all seem to have USB ports and my ancient but venerable machine doesn't.

Rob Pegoraro: Throw a USB card into one of the PCI slots! Mac OS 9 (and maybe even 8.6) will support it without complaint. I did this myself to my old PowerCC box years ago.

Winchester, Va.: Hello. First, I need to say thanks for all the valuable info you have provided here and in your column. (Constantly).....

I managed to get the latest virus (Badtrans.b) three days after it was discovered. I had the latest McAfee dat file (which they say should be good) and could not find the files. I downloaded a trial Norton Antivirus 2000 and the latest dat and it found it. I still had to boot to a Startup floppy to be able to delete the files, but what goes with McAfee? (Do you think)

Rob Pegoraro: I don't like McAfee or its parent company, Network Associates, much. They jerked me around when I tried to download a needed update to my copy of PGP (I was a nice guy and bought the paid version to use at my office) and their Web site refuses to work with any browser but IE.

Sounds like you should complain to McAfee about their product's failure.

And stop using Outlook Express! Seriously... until Microsoft releases a version that doesn't require 25 different patches to stay secure, use somehing else.

Arlington, Va.: EUDORA 5.1 looks just like 3.0, nothing at all like Outlook Express.

Rob Pegoraro: A vote for staying in the Eudora family...

Northern Virginia: Got a Dell Dimension 4300 two months ago, everything is happy 1.5 ghz 60 gig HD, and 256 mb ram, but Windows ME still takes all my memory and freezes. Should I defragment my HD to improve this? I've also considered actually getting my free XP upgrade, good idea?

Rob Pegoraro: Go with the free XP upgrade. The computer's too new for any hard-drive issues to be at fault--Win Me's just not that stable.

Chantilly, Va.: RE: Harper Ferry Gateway problems

How full is your hard disk? Sounds like you're running pretty close to full, which will not allow enough room for the swap file on the disk, even though you have all that RAM.

Rob Pegoraro: Have you tried this, HF?

re: image icon problems and 80 minute discs: I haven't run Realplayer in a while, but I don't recall the default player window coming up in a long time.

As for 80 minute discs, you can still use them, you just can't fill them to capacity, and a lot of stuff I'm doing lately with CD trees involves music in excess of 74 minutes. Still 80 minute discs seem much cheaper than 74 minute discs these days, so you're still better off buying them.

Rob Pegoraro: I couldn't even get an 80-minute CD to burn--Toast would crash out and leave me with coasters every time.

Annandale, Va.: Is it possible to upgrade any of the internal components of an IMAC? Which ones?

Rob Pegoraro: The memory and AirPort card slot are designed to be user accessible. But you can upgrade other parts if you shop around (may void warranty, though). See, for instance, http://www.xlr8yourmac.com

Alexandria, Va.: Help! Two-year-old printer quit. I made sure it was plugged in, did all the steps in the online trouble-shooting guide (configuration settings etc.), uninstalled (I think) the printer connection, downloaded the connection software from the manufacturers website and installed it (I hope). Printer acts like it wants to work, but now get weird message about "rendering system subdriver." Any ideas?

Rob Pegoraro: Try it with a different PC. But the printer itself might just be dead, in which case yer probably hosed.

Readerville: Last iMac question and why the $999 over the $799? Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: No CD-RW drive on the $799 model and only 64 MB of memory

Washington, D.C.: Now that Frank Ahrens is out of the online-chat biz, I guess we're putting the 'which is better' questions to you, just nerdier.

So, Civ 3 or Call to Power 2?

Rob Pegoraro: No one will replace Frank Ahrens but Frank Ahrens. It just wouldn't be right for me to chat with Gen-X Gurl, knowwhatImean?

Washington, D.C.: I too got my computer at a computer show and have not had any problems. Make sure it is a local dealer and you can buy with a credit card that gives you a warrenty (like a gold card or something to that effect). I have had it for over a yr and it is fine. I told the guy exactly what I wanted and it was cheaper than building it from parts (and less hassle). Of course, this implies you have some knowledge and know what you want.

Rob Pegoraro: Sounds like good advice to me...

Washington, D.C.: Is Dell service and quality vs anyone else worth the premium for a new notebook purchase?

Rob Pegoraro: I don't see Dell as having any particular advantage with notebook PCs; if anything, the fact that you can't inspect the machine in person before buying (for keyboard feel, etc.) is a bit of a disadvantage.

Reston, Va. 20911: More on WebTV -- not to sound like a booster, but Microsoft has been issuing upgrades pretty steadily. One is to add these users to the MSN Messenger community. (That works, clumsily). Another I've never tried has to do with inserting your digital pictures into outgoing mail. The added "functionality" doesn't get in the way of the simple user interface for basic operations. The one growing handicap is that this isn't Java enabled (what are the odds Microsoft would want to fix that?) so fancier web sites don't come across. But again, responsible web site designers provide alternatives.

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks for the info. No, I don't think Msoft will add Java support anytime soon. I just wish the company had tried to do more with this asset. WebTV was really something when it debuted, but Microsoft has let it fade into the background.

A cynic would say Microsoft bought a competitor to crush it. But that wouldn't be fair. Would it? :)

Columbia, Md.: I had a quick question about Comcast and -home. Comcast is saying (sort of), that connectivity should not be effected, but services such as Email and News will be.

All the news reports say the entire network plug could be pulled as early as today.

Which one is the truth. Can Comcast run without these services (specifically DNS)?

Rob Pegoraro: I think Comcast doesn't quite know what to do yet. The one fallback option it's mentioned to users--getting a NetZero account--is so inadequate, it's offensive. 10 hours a month of ad-supported, Windows-only access does not in any way compensate for losing broadband access. It's just a joke!

Wirecat: I just got an XBox as a gift. I can't stop playing Madden 2002. It has to be experienced to be believed. My wife came downstairs last night and couldn't tell for a few moments whether I was playing the game or watching the Iggles-Jets game on TV.

Rob Pegoraro: I had to reply to this just because of your ID...

Washington, D.C.: I've been using Mac OS X for a while now, and I'm absolutely in love with this operating system. It lets people be as simple or saavy as they like. I can be a power user and take advantage of its Unix roots and my wife can be a total novice and not have to see any thing that would scare her. Most importantly, anyone in between can find find their comfort level.

My experience with Microsoft XP is that the entire thing is geared to the extremes only. It's either wizards or code.

As far as I'm concerned, Apple has the product. Do you think they have a chance?

Rob Pegoraro: OS X is, indeed, a fine piece of work. It will be even better as more developers update their software for it. But the real test won't come until Apple makes it the standard, default OS on every Mac, instead of making it a half-hidden alternative to OS 9.

I expect that to happen by March at the latest.

Arlington, Va.: 80 minute CD-Rs: I had no problem with them at at all Cheap, too -- PNY 110 pkg at Best Buy is frequently on sale for $14.95

Rob Pegoraro: What kind of CD burner are you using?

Washington, D.C.: So I don't need to download Toast? I can just walk down to Office Depot, pick up the Iomega 4x4x6 cd-rw, plug it into my port and record away? What's the catch?

And while I have you, it sounds like I can use my $99 Cannon S-300 printer as a reasonably-good-quality digital photo printer, so long as I use photo paper. Are we talking 4x6 glossies here or something else, something more along the lines of a really good photocopy?

Rob Pegoraro: No catch at all--Apple updated iTunes for other people's hardware. Installing Toast, or using the version Iomega bundles, will just get in the way.

The S300's a general-purpose printer, but even low-cost printers can do deliver really impressive output if you buy the good paper ("good" = as much as $1 per page of glossy photo-grade film).

Arlington, Va.: I use a CREATIVE CD-RW, & EASY CD Creator v4.

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks! Hope the guy with the blank CD is still here...

Arlington, Va.: re: Athlon incompatibility with video capture cards

Yes--the cards all have gone in the last of two PCI slots remaining. I tried it in another one, but the IRQs were then shared with three other major components and, of course, the card did not work.

Do I disable the ACPI steering (God help me) as a last chance and reassign IRQs (again, I don't feel very sure about this)

Rob Pegoraro: I feel even less sure! This is a little over my head... but I would cross my fingers and reassign the IRQ for the other PCI slot.

You might want to see if you need to have so many IRQs tied up. If nothing's plugged into the parallel or PS/2 port, yank its IRQ. (This is one reason why I keep bitching about manufacturers who insist on including every port invented since 1980--why waste the IRQ on obsolete hardware?)

Silver Spring, Md.: How can I Windows to associate opening gif files and jpeg files with IE. I installed Adobe Photodeluxe and it became the default to open those extensions. When I uninstalled it, I created a new jpg association to IE since the extenstion wasn't there anymore. However it said that Adobe PhotoDeluxe is associated with it. I've tried installing it, then changing it to IE and that worked unless I uninstall Adobe again. Ideas?

Rob Pegoraro: You can change this, but not where you'd expect (i.e., the Control Panel). Open My Computer, select Folder Options from the Tools menu, and click the File Types tab.

wiredog: 80 minute CD's. I have an HP 7002 burner, about 3 years old. Easy CD Creator had no problerm with the disks, (first time I've booted Windows in months) but xcdroast (Linux) couldn't handle them.

Rob Pegoraro: More feedback on 80-minute CDRs...

Arlington, Va.: Hey Rob. I live in a high-rise condo building in Ballston. We just got a notice that MetroNets is going to soon be operating their highspeed internet access service in our building for only $21.95 a month. Sounds like an incredible deal. Do you know anything about this company and its reliability?

Rob Pegoraro: MetroNets is talking to the condo board in my building too. Have yet to hear much about its service... it's been pretty under-the-radar so far. (Web site at http://www.metronets.com, naturally)

Clifton, Va.: Sir,

Found the buyer's guide in today's WP helpful.
What recommendations do you have for monitors?
Size and quality?

Rob Pegoraro: A 15-inch CRT is too small, a 19-inch is too big and too heavy. 17 inches is about right for most people. A flat-screen CRT (where the tube doesn't bulge outward in a convex shape) is worth paying extra for.

But an LCD may be best of all. Much lighter to set up, uses less electricity and gives you the full screen to view--so a 15-inch LCD is actually pretty close to the usable area of a 17-inch CRT (which will be more like 15.7 inches viewable).

Also, LCDs are just cool.

Arlington, Va.: You said: "why waste the IRQ on obsolete hardware?"

Obsolete does not mean non-functional. If you have valuable accessories, you don't want to dump them -- they may be worth (in terms or replacement cost) much more than a new computer. E.g., a 35mm slide/film scanner, or several parallel printets.

Rob Pegoraro: Or you could buy parallel-to-USB adapters. The Mac universe seems to have survived this transition without harm.

Raleigh, N.C.: About cheap computers or hardware. Ubid.com is generally a safe place to buy such things. Most hardware as a limited manufacturer's warranty and is refurbished. There are some good deals, and some not so good deals.

MacOS X is grandiose.

Rob Pegoraro: Good tip (UBid.com deals directly w/ manufacturers who are looking to get rid of hardware.)

Winchester,Va: Re CD Burning.....I've made copies on my PC that played in my PC drive, my CD player, my friends home player, but not in his 1999 Corvette CD player.

Do the manufacturers care, or is the confusion to their benefit?

Rob Pegoraro: Obviously, your friend's gonna have to get rid of the Vette. May I take it off his hands?

(CD head units for cars were about the last category of CD players where CD-R playback was an issue. I don't know why this was the case.)

Portland, Ore.: Notebook question: I have a chance to buy a Fujitsu Lifebook-- C series-- for $200, 2 years old, 266, 64 RAM-- but hard drive is dead. I can buy a new HD for +/- $100. Is a dead HD a signal to stay away, or is it a decent deal? Thanks!

Rob Pegoraro: Could be. How did the hard drive die?

Also, do you know the seller? If you take the computer home and find other problems, you'll want to be able to return it for a refund. It's not going to be worth paying for any sort of extensive repairs.

Re: PowerSpec PCs: They're alright, as long as you don't get the integrated motherboard type (where the sound card/graphics card is built in). For some reason, anytime I want to upgrade the machine, it has a ton of problems. A friend with a non-integrated motherboard model doesn't have any of my problems.

Rob Pegoraro: One other item on MicroCenter's products...

Severn, Md.: I have read all about the different computers. I am interested in buying one for my home, but it doesn't sound like any of them have everything that you need. I would like to have at least the ability to record cds, hook up video camera and use microsoft office. Can you give me any ideas.

Rob Pegoraro: You sound like a Sony or Apple buyer. (Microsoft's new Office v.X for Mac OS X actually looks a lot *better* than Office XP for Windows.)

Bethesda, Md.: My PowerMac (6100-60) is 7 years-old but does all I need - writing, Internet, e-mail. I don't do data bases, checkbooks, music, DVD, et al. Because of its age, should I replace my computer which is working fine, or will it crash soon? My friends tell me it's a dinosaur but I read that comment today by Goodrum that upgrading is preferable to buying a new one. Please advise. Thank you. Ed Alexander

Rob Pegoraro: Your computer's past the age where upgrading makes sense--unless you enjoy tinkering for its own sake. The Mac is unlikely to die anytime soon, but it's also not going to be able run OS X--and, at some point, most future Mac apps. That doesn't mean replacing it now, hoever--*if you're happy with how it works for you.*

Washington, D.C.: I'm shopping for a new desktop system and I'm bewildered by the number of options. Does it matter what kind of memory my PC uses? Is the speed of the hard drive as important as the size? Is a 1.6 GHz Pentium 4 as good as a 2.0 GHz? All I want to do with my computer is use the Web and maybe watch online films.

Rob Pegoraro: For those uses, the answers are not really, no and yes. A machine with SDRAM (as opposed to DDR or RDRAM) will cost less to upgrade. The hard drive speed doesn't matter for Web browsing. Get the slower processor.

Tampa, Fla.: I'm now running Windows 98. Will my applications continue to run if I load Windows XP or I have to get an updated version of Word, etc.?

Rob Pegoraro: Most oughta work fine, but some games will probably need some fiddling (via XP's application-compatibily mode).

Just a couple of other questions before I go...

Washington, D.C.: Why hasn't everyone on earth gone out and bought the greatest invention ever invented throughout all of recorded history, a TiVo?

Rob Pegoraro: That's an excellent question. If you know the answer, you oughta send your resume into TiVo... I think they'd pay well for your help!

Bethesda, Md.: Any good advice on an MP3 player? I, of course, want totally incompatible things. I want a lot of memory/storage space so that I can put enough stuff on there for a long flight, but I want it to be lightweight enough that I can take it jogging. I'd also like the id3 thing.

And, of course, since I am not Enron and actually have to make sure my checkbook balances at the end of the month, I want it to be cheap.

Rob Pegoraro: That's tough. The hard drive-based MP3 players and MP3-compatible CD players that will store enough music for your long flights tend to be too big to take jogging easily (the iPod isn't, but costs $399). I'd look at the Archos jukebox, which is bigger than the iPod but smaller than the other hard-drive units.

Rob Pegoraro: And that's all he wrote! My fingers are feeling numb and our server has been taking its time to show me the last few reply pages--I think it's telling me to give it a rest already.

I know a missed several dozen questions, but e-mail me (rob@twp.com) and I'll get back to you when I can.

Thanks...

- R

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