What happens when you discover your copy of Windows is invalid? You probably will get a Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) notification informing you that you’re illegal, and you need to purchase a legal license.
This can happen for a number of reasons, and not simply piracy. Perhaps you bought a computer second-hand and were told your Windows install was valid, only to find out later that it wasn’t. That’s a pretty common scenario, and a darn annoying one. If you search the net and Microsoft’s web site for a way to activate your copy with a legal key you purchased, you may find yourself in a bit of a mess.
You see, it isn’t terribly obvious that you CAN in fact simply activate Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 with a new legal key – and without reinstalling anything at all. Finding the information on how to do this is rather difficult, and I’m not sure why.
Not to worry though – it’s a piece of cake!
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Scottie Computers activation, wga, windows
A lot of people think that defective RAM modules are easy to detect. They think that if you get a blue screen of death, the error message will reveal that the memory is bad, and that’s that. Problem is, it’s nowhere near that simple.
There are two steps to diagnosing bad RAM. The first is that you are able to recognize the possible symptoms of bad memory, and the second is actually using a tool to confirm that your theory is correct. Then you just replace the bad module, and off you go.
A defective memory stick can cause a LOT of different problems, some of which might surprise you. It may seem that your hard drive is corrupted or defective, when in fact it’s the RAM that’s bad! It can all get very confusing.
And so, here I shall endeavor to describe what to look out for with your RAM, and what to do about it.
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Scottie Computers, Do-It-Yourself memory, RAM, repair
Printing with 64-bit Windows can be a lot of fun if you don’t have a 64-bit driver.
As I mentioned in Windows x64: How to Print to Any Printer Even Without a 64-bit Driver, there are ways to make your printer talk, even if they are a bit involved.
There is one other trick in particular that you might want to try first, though: use a similar 64-bit driver from the same manufacturer and fool Windows into thinking that everything is working fine!
Before you read any further, do visit the manufacturer’s web site again and check for the availability of a 64-bit driver for your specific printer model. It turns out that Canon, for example, released a boatload of 64-bit drivers a few weeks ago. So, if you have, say, a Canon LBP5100 color laser printer, there is now a 64-bit driver available! WOOHOO! Took long enough, though…
For the rest of you, read on!
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Scottie Computers printer, windows, x64
If you’re one of those people who likes to build and upgrade your own computers, or if you have just decided to make your first attempt at upgrading an older system, there is one thing you may be wondering: Do I have to reinstall my OS?
Unfortunately, most people I talk to say one of two things:
- “I just always reinstall the OS.”
- “I upgraded once and I didn’t have to do anything to the OS, so that’s what I’m going to try this time.”
Well, Option #1 will certainly work all the time, no matter what. As for Option #2, whether or not the OS will boot depends on the hard disk controller driver. So, just because #2 worked for one upgrade doesn’t mean it will work for another.
Fortunately, whether you use Windows or Linux, there is a very easy way to prepare for a motherboard upgrade.
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Scottie Computers OS, reinstall, ubuntu, windows
One of the most common computer problems I see people facing is a faulty or corrupted hard disk drive. In many cases, the solution to the problem is a reboot, and the OS automagically runs a utility like Windows’s chkdsk that repairs the errors.
Sometimes, the problem is a bit more severe than that and more drastic measures are required. Most people I’ve encountered were unnecessarily afraid of running any kind of tool to scan and repair their hard drive. But it doesn’t have to be all horror and blood and gore: with a little knowledge and a few specialized bits of software, you too can be a genuine Disk Doctor!
Now, this will not be an exhaustive guide to fixing all disk problems, cloning the data from a bad disk onto a new drive, and so on. That would take quite a bit of time to explain, and a lot of it simply requires some experience. What I can tell you, though, is how to diagnose a bad drive yourself. At least you won’t get taken for a ride by some money-grubbing repair shop if you end up needing a hand to finish the job!
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Scottie Computers, Do-It-Yourself diagnostic, hard drive, repair, sector
Over a month ago in my post on the Intel SU2300, I promised I would create a simplified guide to installing and configuring CrystalCPUID. Well, it took a lot longer than I had hoped, but here it is!
CrystalCPUID is a lovely little piece of free software that can allow you to really, severely underclock your processor. We’re not talking SpeedStep underclock here – we’re talking running your 1.2GHz processor at 98 MHz.
That may sound a bit crazy, but it is apparently quite possible since I’ve done it myself on my little SU2300-powered lappy. My battery life jumped from 3 hours and 50 minutes to a whopping 7 hours. Of course, if I start watching videos or something, the processor jumps back up in clock speed, thereby draining the battery faster and reducing battery life. But if I’m just reading a PDF or something or surfing the web over ethernet, well, who needs their processor cranking along at anywhere near full speed?
So, without further ado, this is how you get CrystalCPUID working on your machine to extend your battery life!
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Scottie Computers battery life, laptop
©1976, MGM
I’m mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take it any more!! (great movie, Network was…)
As if it wasn’t bad enough that Intel couldn’t write a driver that takes full advantage of the GMA500 in certain netbooks, now apparently they’ve resorted to sneakily “modifying” what “Enhanced SpeedStep” actually does.
I’m talking about the Celeron dual-core SU2300 processor in those fabulous “thin and light” notebooks that are quickly replacing netbooks so that everyone (except you) can make more money.
So, what’s the problem? The SU2300 does not have the “SpeedStep” that you think it does… which explains why no one can get it to work!
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Scottie Computers, Spare Me! Intel, processors
Everyone has run into this problem at least once: you are running a program, and you minimize it to the task bar. Later, you try to restore the window by clicking the program on the task bar, and nothing happens.
You’re program is running, but its window has somehow moved outside the desktop area. Firefox – bless its flaming little heart – just loves to do this to me.
Since it was such an annoying problem, I managed to figure out a couple of ways to restore the “hidden” window…
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Scottie Computers task bar, windows
One of the most handy features in Windows is the ability to right-click on a file, and select an option to edit that file in a particular program, like so:
The big problem is that sometimes, your favorite program doesn’t come with a right-click context menu option. Or, maybe it does come with such an option, but it doesn’t work for some reason.
Whatever the case, you can very quickly and easily add whatever program you want to the right-click menu in about 30 seconds.
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Scottie Computers explorer, menu, windows
Let’s say you have just purchased an external harddrive case, and stuck a spare harddrive in to make your own external backup drive. Or, maybe you have an existing external drive or USB stick that you wiped clean.
In both cases, you may find that your drive no longer triggers the AutoPlay feature in Windows. In fact, it may not even automatically show up in Explorer at all!
What to do?
It’s surprisingly easy to fix such problems by creating a new autorun.inf file on the external storage device.
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Scottie Computers autoplay, autorun, windows
