Douglas Godbey

Fri
30
Dec
Dennis Faas's picture

A Christmas Story, Part 2

We apply power to the system and suddenly, we have a problem. Even though I had correctly installed that wonderful 20 GB hard drive, including the Master/Slave/Cable Select jumper, the drive was not identified by the system! After a lot of ... additional research and a fair amount of testing, I discovered the awful truth! The 20 GB hard drive was too big! Yes, that is correct. The system would not accept a drive much bigger than 12 GB. Time for a BIOS upgrade since the Dell systems allow BIOS Flashing. It was time to download an appropriate BIOS load for the system. However, when I try to apply ... (view more)

Fri
30
Dec
Dennis Faas's picture

A Christmas Story, Part 1

This is a Christmas story. It is also a tale about the extension of the life of a computer. I suppose you could say that this posting is a good example of what you can get for the new computer user. This saga starts with a phone call from a good ... friend describing her desire to purchase a computer for her husband. He was sharing her system that was in use most of the time for business purposes and it was difficult for him to have the use of it. Therefore, the need was real. Her problem was that funds were extremely tight and she did not have the money to buy a computer. "I only have $100 to ... (view more)

Wed
28
Dec
Dennis Faas's picture

Linux for the Human Race

As a long time UNIX Systems Administrator, I enjoyed the ebb and flow of data processing in a rather intense world of Commercial UNIX. Working with operating systems with names like AIX, Solaris, HP/UX and Irix, I was surrounded with a complex but ... orderly set of environments that although similar at first glance, were fascinating in their strengths and differences. Each was UNIX at the very basic core, but the different philosophy and approach of each vendor made working with each one an interesting experience. And I mean that in a good way! When I discovered Linux in 1994, I had no problem ... (view more)

Sat
10
Dec
Dennis Faas's picture

Web Page Server Codes

Have you ever seen the Server Code pages flash on your screen? So have I! In fact, I got curious as to what those three digit codes really mean. I was surprised to find so many. Anyway, I decided to make a list and share it with you, so here it is, ... the entire Web Server Code list. Print this out and save it for when you'll need it. 100-199 SRCs provide confirmation that a request was received and is being processed. (silent) 100 This is good. The request was completed and the process can move along. 101 Request to switch protocols (like from HTTP to FTP) was accepted. 200-299 SRCs report that ... (view more)

Thu
24
Nov
Dennis Faas's picture

A Grab Bag of Goodies!

The posting today is more of a 'grab bag' than anything else. Mainly because I have had many little things come across my desk that deserve to be passed on but not enough information to make up a full post. First off, Open Office. There is a new ... release of the Open Office office suite, Version 2, and it is a corker. If you want or need an office suite for Windows, Linux (any distribution), UNIX (almost any flavor), or the Mac, this is the one to download. There are many goodies in the package and it works like a dream! Database, word processing that also does web pages, spreadsheet, ... (view more)

Mon
14
Nov
Dennis Faas's picture

Wi Fi Cautions

So many people have become enamored with home wireless internet access, and with good reason. It's simple, relatively cheap, and very convenient. Now you can watch TV in the family room while playing poker online. Yeah! It's so easy in fact, that ... all you have to do is run out and buy a wireless router, a wireless card, plug them up and then by basically using the default configuration for both, start surfing! Unfortunately, that is exactly what most people who don't know better do. What many people don't realize is, as easy as it is for you connect to your new wireless connection, it's ... (view more)

Tue
08
Nov
Dennis Faas's picture

First Programming Tools, Part 2

In Part 1 we talked about some general purpose text editors. All good tools and you really should have one on hand for use. But, since we're thinking of writing HTML code, why not use a Web Page Editor? These editors are designed specifically to ... make web page development easier. Some of them even provide a browser function that allows you to write a little and then look at it as though you were using your web browser with out loading it. There are a lot of them available, some are quite expensive and have a learning curve (time to learn) that is really long before you become proficient. I ... (view more)

Tue
08
Nov
Dennis Faas's picture

First Programming Tools, Part 1

It occurs to me that there are a lot of folks that, like me, enjoy using the computer. It becomes more than a fancy typewriter or a games machine or even a jukebox for playing music. We start thinking about how much we would like to make the ... computer do what we want. We want to 'program' the machine! Strangely enough, it doesn't take years of education at the college level to do that. There are tutorials and free software available that we can collect and use to become the magician. Not to mention the thousands of books that are sold in bookstores that cover the subject. So, exactly what ... (view more)

Thu
31
Oct
Dennis Faas's picture

Space used by Programs, Part 1

Infopackets Reader Victor V. writes: " Dear Dennis, I love your newsletters and read them every time I receive it. I have a question for you and I hope you can help. Can you tell me how can I tell what programs are taking all my space in my hard ... drive and how to remove them? I am running out of space! " My Response: To get a general idea of what is installed on your system, you could start with the Add / Remove programs in the Control Panel. Here you will find a list of installed programs. Since all programs are installed to folders (99.99% of the time, anyway), you can then attempt ... (view more)

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Douglas Godbey