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    Download vista for testing in a VM

    Is it possible/legal to get a copy of Windows Vista and run it in a VM? I have a thinkpad with Vista Home Premium preinstalled. I'd like to run Vista in a VMware Virtual Machine to test things before installing on my thinkpad. I saw some posts here on the subject, but they all involved having...
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    Vibration from treadmill - bad news?

    We got a treadmill not too long ago and are actually using it. The only place to put it was in my upstairs office, about 12 ft from where the home server is -- tower model sitting on the floor. There's definitely some decent vibrations in the floor when we're running. Given that we're...
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    Does anyone know if going back to old System Restore point will affect iTunes?

    Thanks. I forgot you can "undo" the system restore so I'll just try it.
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    Does anyone know if going back to old System Restore point will affect iTunes?

    I asked this on an iPod forum and got no response, but maybe someone here will know. I spent several hours this past week customizing ratings and tags in my iTunes library. Now I have a piece of software, which I installed shortly before the iTunes changes, which gives an error when I try to...
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    Convet CD-R ISO to DVD-R ISO, then add files to it?

    I'm using Ghost 11 (Save and Restore)... My goal here is to have a bootable Ghost CD and have the ghost image on that same disc. Ghost 11 comes with a Recovery CD ISO. I can boot that and restore from a separate DVD disc, but I'd really like to use one disc. Is it possible to convert that...
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    Automatically copy photos from card reader to HDD under XP?

    Bump? Is there no way to (easily) create a custom response when Windows notices that a memory card has been inserted with pictures? It pops up a window offering to open them in Explorer, play them with picture viewer, etc... I'd like to create a "launch a program" action, which I could simply...
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    Automatically copy photos from card reader to HDD under XP?

    Is there a way to setup XP where pictures on a card inserted into an (internal) USB card reader are automatically copied to a folder on the HDD? There's that little Windows popup that sees the card has pictures, and asks what you want to do with them, but even the "copy files to folder on HDD"...
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    Hard Drive Temps - what are yours reading?

    Thanks. Yeah I had that setup going - an 80mm fan stuffed in one of the cages, making the drives stick out over the mobo -- but I replaced it with a HDD cooler. That really hasn't helped - I get more direct circulation now but warm air from it's mate offsets the active cooling. So I think I...
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    Hard Drive Temps - what are yours reading?

    I have cooling issues with my case. . Due to the cramped internal 3.5" drive cages, I can only fit 2 drives in each cage (meant for 3), and even then only one of those drives can have a HDD cooler. The other has to be turned upside down to mooch off of the circulation of it's mate's cooler...
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    OK to mount hard disks upside down?

    Ok excellent. Thanks.
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    OK to mount hard disks upside down?

    I can't imagine it's a problem to mount HDDs upside down, but I just want to make sure there are no stupid unofrseen issues that will create problems down the road. I have cooling issues with my case, and the only way I can keep the drives cool is with one upside down so it's "sharing" a HDD...
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    Mixing 1.5 and 3.0 Gbs SATA HDDs in RAID5 array?

    I have three 250GB Maxtor 1.5Gbps drives in a RAID5 array. I need to add a 4th drive for a hot-spare and there's a pretty good deal on a 3.0Gbps drive. Would there be any issues if the 3.0Gbps drive were to join the 1.5Gbps array? I emailed Highpoint, the vendor of the RAID controller...
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    Looking for help figuring out where my audio cables go

    My first time building a system.... Almost done but I can't figure out where to plug my 4-pin audio cables. I have at least one optical drive that I'd like be able to get audio when playing DVDs/CDs, and I have a system monitor cable that will trigger an alarm if temps get too high. My past...
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    Noob questions. Please help me identify these cables.

    Tried that. Unfortunately, this isn't exactly an "enthusiast" case. It's a beast - the only reason to consider it would be if you need 6+ HDDs. If you do, it's a great deal, but it's not popular enought that there are discussions of it that I can find. Also, I assume that thermometers would...
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    Noob questions. Please help me identify these cables.

    Thanks. But where do you place the thermometers? For the CPU thermometer, do I just instert it into the cooling fins? Unfortunately, no. The case is pretty cheap. A brief set of instructions is on the outside of the box but no documentation on cables.
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    Noob questions. Please help me identify these cables.

    I just got done building my first rig. I've gotten everything cabled except for the following, which I'm hoping you can help me identify (or reassure me that no harm can from from just plugging them in). I got a case with a front panel LCD temp gauge and fan control - the case also has LEDs...
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    Incorrectly mounted cooler the first time

    First time building a rig and, like a bonehead, I oriented my Arctic Freezer in the wrong direction initially. I pulled it off and replaced it in the proper direction, but do I need to reapply the thermal paste?
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    DIY $150 Home "Super" Network

    edit - oops wrong thread
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    OEM Core 2 Duo at TigerDirect - 12 month warranty?

    Thanks. I'm ok with a better heatsink for less money. Excellent. Thanks again.
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    OEM Core 2 Duo at TigerDirect - 12 month warranty?

    Tigerdirect is offering a $50 rebate on a couple of Intel 965 mobos if you also buy a Core 2 Duo, and I just noticed that the rebate requires the OEM version of a C2D. I read that the main differences b/t OEM and retail are 1) whether it includes a fan, and 2) the retail has a 3 year warranty -...
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    OEM Core 2 Duo at TigerDirect - 12 month warranty?

    Tigerdirect is offering a $50 rebate on a couple of Intel 965 mobos if you also buy a Core 2 Duo, and I just noticed that the rebate requires the OEM version of a C2D. I read that the main differences b/t OEM and retail are 1) whether it includes a fan, and 2) the retail has a 3 year warranty -...
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    Advice on home file server

    I had almost forgotten about this thread... and had no idea the reaction my noob questions would bring:). Yes, I'm going with the C2D for encoding performance. Along with the occasional DVD, I encode a lot of home video - both for my own family and the immediate family. I tend to...
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    Is this PSU adequate?

    Thanks. If I can ask another question... I grabbed one of my 160GB Maxtor SATA drives and it says on the label +5v 678 mA, +12v 960mA. Does this mean it's drawing ~1A on the +12v rail AND .6A on the 5v rail?
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    Can I use on-board SATS for boot drive and PCIe SATA RAID for data

    I'm building a fileserver. I'm leaning towards an Intel board that has on-board RAID1, but I'm planning on using a PCIe SATA card for RAID5. I'd like to be able to boot off of the on-board controller and use the SATA drives on the RAID card for data - to insulate my data drives from the OS...
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    Is this PSU adequate?

    I'm building my first PC. It's going to be a C2D (6400) system used primarily as fileserver/xvid encoder, no gaming. I'm going to have 5 hdds, using an Intel board with integrated video, a PCIe SATA RAID card, and a PCI PVR card. Trying to find out if this Cooler Master RS-430 400W PSU...
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    How much faster would C2D 6600 be vs. 6300 for Xvid encoding?

    That's a very helpful link - thanks. I just wish they had run it with a 6300, too.
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    How much faster would C2D 6600 be vs. 6300 for Xvid encoding?

    I'm getting ready to build a C2D fileserver that also frequently be encoding to Xvid. Right now, my 2.8Ghz Prescott it's taking me about 5 hours to encode a 2GB file. Anyone care to ballpark what a 6300 might reduce that to, and would the extra cache of a 6600 buy me much over a 6300 when...
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    Any reason NOT to consider this board?

    Getting ready to build a C2D system primarily as a file server and video encoder. I won't be doing any gaming at all on it, so I was looking for a board with integrated video to keep costs down. TigerDirect has the Intel DG965WHMKR for $69AR (and with purchase of a C2D, which I will be doing...
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    Low end video card for build-your-own file server?

    I'm getting ready to build a core 2 duo system. It will be used primarily a file server, as well as frequent video encoding and casual photoshop use. I will not be doing any gaming on this system. I may want to load Vista on the system eventually, and would like to at least be able to run...
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    Advice on home file server

    I hadn't considered PCIe. I assumed that PCIe was still mainly a graphics bus and/or would be too expensive. I discovered several PCIe raid cards that are about the same price, though, with 10x the performance (the Highpoint rocketraids have been getting good reviews). And since I won't be...
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    Advice on home file server

    I'm looking to build a home file server, and despite several weeks of reserch I still can't seem to find all of the right pieces. I think my goals for disk expansion are what's limiting me. Can you guys weigh in on the best way to accomplish the following: I have 2 goals for the server...
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    Cracking XP passwords - EBCD not working

    That's what I thought. I unlocked the admin account and set a password within the pasword policy, but I still got a logon failure and when I booted back into EBCD the account was locked again. This is why I was wondering if policies were affecting things. So I installed XP into a different...
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    Cracking XP passwords - EBCD not working

    We had somebody in our company fired for stealing a while ago. My boss wants me to look at his laptop and see if there is anything else incriminating he should be aware of. I've tried the Emergeny Boot CD and Offline NT/XP Password Editor (which I think use the same routine), changed the...
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    Is there an easy way to migrate a profile under W2K3?

    I brought a test server home from work. By habit, I configured everything --apps, desktop, etc-- under the Administrator account. The rest of my home computers use a different login ID. I'd like to replicate the Start Menu items, desktop, and other customizations to this new "home" ID. I...
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    Battery died... do I need to get a new one

    Thanks guys. Chaos - I accidently left the keys in it... in the position that keeps charge to the vehicle. My tape adapter that serves as input for my XM radio was still in, so the tape drive motor was on all night. It seemed simpler to say I left something in the cig lighter than explain...
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    54 or 108?

    If all you are doing is surfing the internet (regardless of how many people are surfing) then you might as well get 802.11B. 11Mbps is faster than your internet connection, even degraded The only real reason to get G/N routers is if you do a lot of transfers behind the router. Live/streaming...
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    Where can I read more about wireless media network?

    Try here.. If this is just for internet surfing then any will be fine. Your wireless speed, even degraded, is going to be much faster than your DSL/cable-modem's max speed. If it's for xferring b/t PC's behind your router, then maybe it makes a difference... but as a user of 3...
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    Battery died... do I need to get a new one

    I'm embarrased to even be asking this question, but I left a device plugged into my cigarette lighter last night and my battery is thoroughly dead this morning. The battery is only about 6 months old I know I can jump it and let the alternator recharge it a bit, but will it fully recharge...