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    Looking for performance laptop, budget ~$1000

    I'm looking for a new laptop, and have a budget of $1000 US. Currently I have an HP business notebook, the nw8240, which I really like - my only complaint being that it runs rather hot. I'm looking for something similar in functionality as a replacement, and I've sort of been out of the loop...
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    Looking for an external storage solution

    OK, what I'm looking for is some sort of external hard drive (maybe 500 GB or so) that I can use with my laptop while at college. I'll be going back to school in August and I have a few internal hard drives lying around here at home from computers I used to use in high school and middle school...
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    Partition table

    I'm fairly sure I have managed to destroy the master boot record of one of my hard drives, by attempting to restore a MBR backup using `dd`. The drive contained a FAT partition (Dell's standard utility partition), an NTFS partition, and about 70MB free space at the end. Is there any way for me...
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    What is a reliable keyboard?

    Hi! I'm looking for a keyboard that is able to register more than three key presses at a time, hopefully as many as possible. I hear that this problem is caused by the matrix underneath the keys not containing diodes and thereby not recognizing certain key combinations (...
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    Using my new hard drive

    I just found an old 30GB HDD lying around, which I hooked up as IDE0 slave. It has a bunch of data on it which I don't want to delete and don't really have anywhere to transfer to. I also want to install Linux on this HDD, perhaps a disk install of Knoppix, or Debian. I'd go for Gentoo but since...
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    !?!? Misreported free disk space on NTFS

    I had 6 gigabytes of space left on my primary partition. I created a 4GB file and then deleted it. Now Explorer tells me I have 200 MB left... what happened!? o_O I tried running chkdsk and scanw32. The reported free space kinda moved around between 171 MB and 227 MB. Also chkdsk "couldn't...
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    ISO creator (not ripper)

    Is there a program I could use to create an ISO directly? I don't mean rip one from a CD, I mean directly create one from a filetree? Thanks! -fs
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    Aaaagh! Help! >_<

    Wow. I attempted to install the Yamaha Y-SXG50 v3.12.21 (MIDI software synth driver) in Windows XP. I reboot, and odd crap starts happening! In most cases, when I log in (doesn't matter whether as admin or as normal user account that I use), while everything is still loading, the taskbar will...
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    UPnP

    I've noticed that many applications use something called Universal Plug and Play (UPnP). This seems to be some sort of a zeroconf API for port forwarding. Is this true? Is there a program somewhere that I could use to manually forward ports using UPnP? Also, Azureus has a UPnP plugin that...
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    :roll;

    A better version of :roll:! What do you think? :P -fs
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    Oddness in Windows Explorer

    In most folders on my hard drive, I right click, go to new -> folder, and a folder will appear called "New Folder" with the name editing box open, so I can change the name. However, for anything in the Shared Documents folder, I'll go new -> folder and nothing will happen. I refresh, and there's...
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    What's the difference?

    Seagate 200GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model ST3200822AS, OEM Drive Only Seagate 7200.8 200GB 7200RPM SATA NCQ Hard Drive, Model ST3200826AS, OEM Specs are nearly identical except for 0.5 ms difference in seek time. I searched for the product numbers at Seagate's site. The first one shows up...
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    Slipstreaming, SATA, and SP2

    Well, as of right now, I don't have a computer of my own, but I will be getting one soon (this is what I plan to get). Now I've heard that people have trouble installing Windows XP directly onto an SATA drive, and that I need to create a boot floppy of some kind with SATA drivers on it. I've...
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    Slipstreaming, SP2, and SATA

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    Is 400W enough?

    My planned system has quite a bit of "extras", such as a GeForce 6800 NU, SB Audigy2 ZS, DVD+/-RW drive, and SATA HDD - will a 400-watt power supply be adequate to power the machine? Thanks. -fs
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    Random disconnects?

    OK, well I just got DSL a few days ago and am already having some problems. First, here are the specs: Router/DSL modem combo: Westell Versalink Gateway 327W Other router, not used: D-Link DI-524 PCI wireless adapter: D-Link DWL-G510 When we first set up DSL with the 327W, there was a...
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    ND-3520A

    NEC seems to have updated their popular ND-3500A DVD burner - here is a revew of the new ND-3520A. Seems at first to be only a speed improvement, but apparently there is a new chipset at work... what do you think? Heh, I only noticed it because NewEgg removed the silver ND-3500A from their...
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    Building a new system

    My planned system is here. I'm on a slightly flexible budget of $1500. Questions: 1. Sound card. I am looking for some nice sound (surround sound would be nice, but not really paramount I guess), geared mostly towards gaming and MIDI, since I don't really listen to MP3s much. Must support...
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    What's a good keyboard?

    My old computer had a generic keyboard which only allowed me to press three keys at a time. Is this a limitation of the PS/2 spec, or was it just that keyboard? Either way, in order to solve this problem, what keyboard should I get? Do the numbers of keys that it is possible to press at one time...
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    What's a good PCI sound card?

    I have a bit of headroom in my $1500 budget for a new comp at NewEgg, and I thought I'd put in a PCI sound card. But I don't really know any good names for sound cards... anyone have a recommendation for a good card that's between $75 and $100? Thanks! -fs
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    MIDI problems

    I'm using a Dell Dimension (I know, I know - to my credit I did not choose it of my own free will :P) and when I try to play MIDI files, I will often get notes that are slightly off when it comes to timing. It annoys me no end. -_- I created these MIDI files using Finale 2005. When I play them...
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    Odd taskbar problem in WinXP

    Something really odd is happening in WinXP. Often the taskbar will go into some odd mode where clicking the button corresponding to an open window will not bring up the window. Instead, it will make the button flash, just like how window titlebars sometimes flash orange when the program has some...
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    System-building advice?

    My plan can be found here. I'd like to fit within $1500 - I do have a really old Viewsonic VG150 15" LCD from 1999 which I suppose if I was really hard-pressed I could live with, dropping the monitor I have in this list, but I'm trying to find some other option to lower the price without...