Forum: PCTechBytes Today!

Hi there, I am having problems sending a PM as it says I do not have sufficient privilages. If you can sort this for me it would be appreciated. Thanks

For those of you who do not fear the black, murky*depths of the command line, here’s a very useful tip for viewing your system information all in one convenient location. Just click Start, then Run and type cmd and hit OK. This will bring you to the command prompt. Next, type systeminfo.exe and hit...

It’s fourth and goal on the one yard line. Twitter is driving for the go-ahead score. The ball is hiked and Twitter is stopped short. The NFL wins the game!Or do they? The NFL recently promised to crack down on fans Twittering play-by-play action during NFL games.*We can certainly*understand why...

It happened on May 14, 2009. The day the world stopped spinning and people sat with empty gazes at the computer screens, their mouths slightly ajar, their fingers frozen over the keys. Phones rang, babies cried, dogs barked, but no one could do anything about it. Google had stopped working. Search...

Well, he probably wasn’t a man. In fact, I would bet anything he was just a greasy, prepubescent teen sitting there in his room, holding his Dorito-stained XBox 360 controller and gazing at his thirteen inch television through smudged glasses. I can imagine his mouth hanging ajar as I repeatedly...

If you have a Dell computer, there is a chance it has some type of external diagnostic light to help you or the technician servicing your computer determin the problem with your PC. Sometimes the diagnostic light on your Dell will be the power button itself, or it might be a series of lights on ...

Netbooks have become the new gadget (This is based on* the highly scientific polls I have taken with myself and my dog–we both agree). So I ask myself and my dog (who promptly farts and falls back to sleep) “What’s the deal with these netbooks? Why does everyone want them?” They are tiny, they are ...

Windows 7 RC1 will be released soon, and this generally means the Ready To Manufacture version will not be far behind. As people are still abandoning the Microsoft boat and diving into the vast, sparkling sea called Apple, I have to wonder exactly when did people lose faith in Windows. For me, it...

Conficker was supposed to devastate the PC community today, this April 1st 2009. Not since Y2k has the world braced for such an impact to their digital lives. Yet, as with Y2k, Conficker didn’t seem to have much of an impact. This doesn’t mean it won’t pop up next week, or even next month, and ...

It’s been a while since we’ve done a Daily Download, but I felt compelled to let everyone know about Microsoft’s free program called SteadyState*. No longer can children log into your home computer and push that magic button (invisible to adults) that often changes the screen resolution to 640×480...

* Windows Vista is a cesspool of sin and corruption. You have no rights as a user and cannot do anything without prying eyes being able to track your every move. Or course, I’m kidding. Vista is a very secure Operating System that gives users the ability to allow or disallow items from showing up...

There comes a point in everyone’s computing life when they need to reinstall Windows. Some people do it more than others and some panic and just go out and buy a new PC. Reinstalling isn’t fun for most people. They would rather be walking on the beach, sleeping or even getting gut-shot and left for...

The battle lines have been drawn and the war is raging on your living room. The prize is your eyeballs and, eventually, your cash. This is the war of television content in the form of movies and shows–a war that only a year ago wasn’t on the horizon. But as more and more companies come More...

Twitter has officially become cool. While this might be good news for most people, this is certainly not good news for geeks. It’s the Geek Way to stay on the bleeding edge of technology, to sit there in the corner grinning as cool kids ask “What are you typing, dork?”* It’s what we do, what ...

As I type this I am wiping the H D on my Gateway laptop. I want to load Linux on it. I've been to http://www.ubuntu.com, also Googled Linux and tried to download, all it asks me for is what area they already know about, I'm close to. I make a selection, hit download and it puts me into another...

Sony Vaio VGN-SZ381p Computer boots up no problems, except that there is nothing on the screen. It is a blank, black screen. The backlights do work and I am able to control them via the keyboard (brightness). Also, I can activate the VGA output to another monitor. Is this a common problem? Is...

HP Pavilion a1125c-XP media center 2002-3.20Gigs- new 180G HD. Three mon. ago I was seriously ravaged by a Trojan. After a restore or three, I was able to resolve the problem and start the hunt for the dastardly beast. I not only found it, I found two of them. I smot them smartly about the head...