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Weekend Show, 2 September 2007 | |
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Posted 12 September 2007 One serious problem that can cause slow boot ups is hard drive damage. We
recommend you always back up your data for this reason. Once you have backed
up all your important information, you should run
the chkdsk command to test your hard drive.
Our view is a resounding "NO". If your computer is doing everything you want
then upgrading the operating system is a recipe for despair and heartbreak.
This applies to Windows computers as much as Macs.
Our apologies to callers we couldn't get to. The next Weekend show is scheduled
for October 28. If you have any comments or questions, please contact
us or subscribe to our newsletter.
Weekend Show, September 2007
Our September weekend spot revisited the Mac versus
PC debate. The new Apple Macs are offer some very good value for money, with
spyware and viruses still being a curse for Windows users, this is a good time
to look at the alternative. We also got through a few callers.
Network printing on a Mac
Judy called about sharing her Canon printer between a Windows and Mac computer.
Macs these generally play quite well on Windows networks and sharing printers
is fairly easy as described on
the Apple website. If you hit problems, Apple also have some troubleshooting
tips.
Dramm Timing error
Milo called about an error message when his computer starts; "DRAMM Timing Error".
This is to do with the memory and either a memory module has a problem or there
is a BIOS problem on the motherboard. Fixing this problem requires the services
of a computer tech as playing with the BIOS or motherboard is not recommended
for inexperienced users.
Long time to shut down
Robert's finding his computer is slow shutting down. Slow shutdowns indicate a
problem with software tidying itself up. We'd suggest uninstalling all unnecessary
software and checking error logs
for any problems during the shutdown.
Long time to boot up
Ian called with exactly the opposite problem; his Windows computer was too slow
starting up. Much of the advice is same as the preivous advice. We'd also suggest
downloading and running the excellent Cleanup!
Utility
Switching MYOB between Mac and Windows computers
Margaret has made the switch to Mac and was wondering if she could copy her MYOB
data between platforms. The simple answer is "yes", just use the backup and restore
tools. MYOB have details on their website.
Upgrading Operating Systems
To finish on our Mac theme, Ben called about an old Mac he's inherited that runs
OS9 but has a disk to upgrade to OSX. He wanted to know if it was worthwhile upgrading.
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