Computer questions you'd be embarrassed to ask any where else!

BrensBenz wrote: »

Yes, Linkedin is a pain.
It's a kind of online CV database, much frequented by employment agencies and idle surfers. The "endorsements" are a joke, usually bestowed by buddies on buddies. I wasn't aware that strangers could endorse your skills but perhaps the deliberately confusing architecture of linkedin's website is to blame.

To clarify, they are connections, but have not seen anything I have done.
If it's a CV database, who could rely on endorsements like this, on my CV

BrensBenz wrote:

Alternatively, you could bask in the glory of praise from the great unwashed. For a nominal fee, I could be persuaded to endorse you too!

Sound like an idea, how much for an unwashed endorsement.?

I have a Dell PC about 8 years old running windows xp I think.
I went to turn it on last night and all I get is an amber flashing light on the power switch, won't turn on at all.
Any ideas? Is it kaput?

Thanks

Bw

looksee wrote: »

I am waiting to see the same thing myself, along with millions of other people I guess :-) As far as I can see it does not mean much more than, carry on as you are, but if things go wrong there will be no patch to fix it. I am about due a new computer at this stage anyway so I am not proposing to do anything till I upgrade.

This is a decent enough article on what to do when support for XP finishes next month:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2102606/how-to-keep-your-pc-secure-when-microsoft-ends-windows-xp-support.html

martinn123 wrote: »

we will all be ''hacked'' to death, we will all catch a ''virus''

It's the Y2K all over again.......We are Doomed.

Yep, you're right! My XP-powered laptop burst into flames last night and a herd of those pesky, nine-legged dibbity dibbity worms hid in the smoke, laughing hysterically. Their laughter fanned the flames and the laptop burned through my desk and set fire to the carpet, the woof's tail and on through to the basement and beyond. Minutes later, black gold oozed into the basement but the methane cloud exploded, casting the dibbity dibbity worms through the windows and levelled the street.

When the fire brigade left, I found that all of my life's work had been consumed in the fire. I am now stateless, roaming the planet, an outcast.

Upgrade immeejitly or you too will be cast into the vastness of.....this dark.....place....like.....totally.

fleabag wrote: »

Ha! ha! I thought as much myself. A clumsy ploy to get people to spend money. I would have thought an 'old' operating system would be less vulnerable to viruses and hackers anyway as I imagine they would be using/targetting the newest versions. Anyhoo, thanks for the replies, one less thing to worry about ...:)

It's the opposite really. The fact that so many people are still on XP is a golden opportunity, there'll be lots of people targeting it and any vulnerabilities found will be deliberately held back on being exploited until after support ends as then they know it'll never actually be patched.

Holding onto XP is a bad idea.

Blowfish wrote: »

It's the opposite really. The fact that so many people are still on XP is a golden opportunity, there'll be lots of people targeting it and any vulnerabilities found will be deliberately held back on being exploited until after support ends as then they know it'll never actually be patched.

Holding onto XP is a bad idea.

OK, I'm worried again now. Does this mean that for example, my online banking details, Paypal account and personal details will be vulnerable?

looksee wrote: »

I used refill cartridges ONCE in an inkjet (epsom) printer, and that banjaxed it for good. Now I have a laser printer and the cartridges are a horrendous price, but seem to last longer, and I have a feeling refill laser cartridges are a better prospect than ink jet refills. I hope.

List your make & model, and how much you currently pay, and from where.

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

This more a printer problem. There are lines printing across the page. Someone told me 'the heads are the problem' and the printer is knackered. I don't know what that means but I don't want to dump it as its not that old. I usually get the cartridges refilled, could that have been the cause? Any way I can save it?

Are the lines vertical or horizontal? If it's a HP, there'll be a "Maintain your Printer" option, and then click on "Align your Printheads". Whoever told you that your printer is knackered probably wanted to sell you a new one.

martinn123 wrote: »

I think that might be a bum steer,

Surely if you " delete the driver ".....it will crash.

Just going on previous, personal experience with a HP printer. No amount of troubleshooting and recalibration helped but when I deleted ALL "history" of the printer from the computer hard drive and re-installed it ("Install new printer") using the software (and probably drivers) already on the installation disk, all was well again, and still is! I don't think I needed to replace "separate" drivers but, if necessary, they're usually obtainable free from Mr. Google.

I'm no technohead or clairvoyant but I could foresee a scenario where sales staff were preparing to tell me that "it's knackered, mister. Ya need a new wan". That spurred me to hit "delete". Maybe I was lucky.....or maybe I got one over Hewlett Packard!

martinn123 wrote: »

sorry that was just a play on words, ....steer....driver......crash....

Must try harder.

Duh, waaaayyyyy too clever for me, a simple country lad with the top of his wellies turned down.

However, my training is to search for the root cause of problems, rather than applying bandages on symptoms. I think I may have the root cause for most problems on this thread - dunnn de dun dun duuuuunnnnn: IT geeks take perfectly good words and give them new meanings, without permission.

For example: In our youth, what did the word "application" mean? Or "drive / driver"? Or "domain"? Or "buffer"? Or "windows"?

It isn't hard to take a word and give it a brand new and obscure meaning - two-year-olds and their great grand parents do it all the time - so it's time to set up an anti-makey-uppy-word police squad, with powers to arrest and torture IT geeks with a tenuous grip on vocabulary. I will gladly assume the position of Chief Commandant Commissioner of this force and look forward to using some of the tools in my shed on these miscreants.

You're welcome.

DeVore wrote: »

As an IT geek... it must be said that we do take joy in a decent pun or re-use of a word in a different context. Many of them are in an attempt to make the item more recognisable to non-computer people (eg: Windows) but others are just in jokes

You may not be aware (pharmaceuticals are great) but when you became an IT geek, you became "different". Language, memories, social training, communication skills, etc. were "deleted" and replaced by Geekish. A pun which might render you and your geek buddish helpless with laughter will barely register with the 99.9% of the world's population that have not become geeks. This expains why geeks now have no concept of Plain English and can't even write "help" advice. Come on, tell us: Who really wrote your post?

Fortunately, medical science has made great strides in curing Nerd Syndrome - it involves an eency weency operation just below your hairline. You could be out of hospital in a few days. The procedure is regarded as successful when you are observed going to "Help" on a website and exploding into a rage..........just like the normal, 99.9% of the population do.