May 13, 2008
The Mic Is On: Join Guest Hosts Phil Gerbyshak and Diego Orjuela
ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 6:59 pm
It’s Like Open Mic Only Different
Here’s how it works.
It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME.
The rules are simple — be nice.
There are always first timers and new things to talk about. It’s sort of half “Cheers” part “Friends” and part video game. You don’t know how much fun it is until you try it.
Let’s talk about computers…
- Do you know your computer could be working better, but you’re not sure how?
- Does your computer have a pesky little error message that you just can’t get rid of?
- Wondering what the pop-up box that keeps showing up on your screen means?
- Want to know the latest about virus protection, wireless networking for your house?
Got any other nagging computer questions? Never fear, we’ve got the answer for you!
Join Relationship Geek Phil Gerbyshak, MinuteFix CEO and founder Diego Orjuela and the MinuteFix tech support community as they host Tuesday Night Open Comments. Test drive the world’s greatest tech support community and say goodbye to your pesky computer problems…for at least one night!
Oh, and bring links to share — about computer problems.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Related article
What is Tuesday Open Comment Night?
Filed under Community, SOB Business, Successful Blog |
C'mon. Let's talk!
319 Comments to “The Mic Is On: Join Guest Hosts Phil Gerbyshak and Diego Orjuela”
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Hi Phil and Diego!
drew said
Don’t forget me. This is Drew, the Community Manager.
Jennifer Therrien said
Hi Diego! Hi Phil!! LTNS :)
Becky McCray said
Hi, guys! Hi, Glenda!
drew said
So, do we have any questions this evening? Anyone want to talk about their PC problems? If you have a Mac, you probably don’t have problems. hahahahaha (Mac guy here, of course)
chris savage said
Hello all!
chris savage said
I bought a Vista laptop last year and just started to get a blue screen of death occasionally when it tries to connect with a wifi network and doesn’t. Do you know why this could be?
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Hey Becky, fancy meeting you here!
Phil Gerbyshak said
Hi Glenda!
Hi Becky!
Hi lurkers! What’s your techie questions :)
Phil Gerbyshak said
How’s everyone tonight? Weather finally broke here in Milwaukee. We just might see summer yet!
drew said
It warm here today in Brooklyn. Not bad after 48 degrees yesterday.
Becky McCray said
Here’s my tech deal - Sounds like this would be a great tool for my sister! She’s not techie, and we’re in a small town, with few choices for support.
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Phil, here in Vancouver, not sure we’ll see spring before summer hits!
Phil Gerbyshak said
Becky - you are totally right! MinuteFix is GREAT for folks in a small town. Has she given us a test drive yet? Where is she tonight?
Tammy Lenski said
Hi there, Liz, Phil and Diego.
I was planning on stopping in tonight just to say hi, but I’ve just spent a hair-tearing hour trying to get my husband’s PC to recognize his Linksys Wireless-G card. Ugh. It’s a driver problem I’m quite sure, but I can’t fix it.
Is this the kind of thing your new service will help we simple earthlings resolve?
Rick Cockrum said
Hi Phil, Diego, Glenda, Becky!
So what’s the fastest brand of memory stick at a reasonable price?
Phil Gerbyshak said
Glenda - No spring? No kidding! Us either. We got a peek of spring, but that’s about it. Oh well. Summer is close by!
Phil Gerbyshak said
Tammy - absolutely! We have some techs going to join us tonight, as well as our fantastic community manager Drew, so perhaps one of them might be able to give it a go. Throw the brand out there and any error messages, and we’ll see what we can do (or you can go check us out for real). First 5 are no charge.
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Hi Rick!
Phil Gerbyshak said
Rick - while our technicians may have a different opinion, I love my 4 GB Kingston card. I won it, but it typically goes for about $50-$65.
drew said
Absolutely Tammy. So long as he can connect somehow to the internet we can either walk him through or we can phone him with Skype and help him that way.
Brooke said
Don’t get too excited yet Phil - I’m in MN and the icky icky cold and rain is drifting your way!
DaveOlson said
Hey everyone… thanks Becky for the twitter reminder
Phil Gerbyshak said
Thanks Brook! I was just singing “Let the Sun Shine In!” Guess I’ll start singing “It’s Raining Again!” :)
Marti said
Good evening everyone! Panic here this morning, as daughter left a flash drive plugged in and when I got up and turned the machine on, all I got was the black screen of death. So if that ever happens to any of y’all, check for unknown peripherals that are plugged in. Soon as my tirade was over and previously sleeping daughter came in and unplugged her flash drive, all was well.
:-)
Tammy Lenski said
Great! Here’s the scoop: Rod’s hard drive died and the new one’s in. It’s not recognizing the Linksys G card, which worked fine before. Turns out the drivers weren’t installed. I downloaded the most recent drivers from Linksys, taking care to make sure I selected the correct version. He’s running XP.
I unzipped and double-clicked the drivers, then ended up with a shortcut to G card on the desktop. When I open that, I get a screen that looks like it’s searching for a wireless signal. But it doesn’t find one (I’ve got all three of our other computers sitting here connected to the network, so it’s working for sure) and just sits there looking rather static.
At a total loss what to do next…
Phil Gerbyshak said
Good tip Marti! Thanks for sharing it!
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Ah, I do have techie question. I’ve been considering a battery pad for my laptop for when I’m out and not close to an outlet. Any recommendations? What features should I look for?
Phil Gerbyshak said
Hey Dave!!! Long time, no talk! How are you my friend!
Tammy Lenski said
Phil, on an aside…it’s great to “see” you again. Liz, are you back on this side of the pond? How did it go?
DaveOlson said
Hi Phil… Nice to see er… uhm… chat with you again
drew said
Hey there Glenda. What kind of laptop do you have? Do you run Windows or Mac? That will make a difference as to what product I recommend.
Brooke said
You are welcome Phil! Glad to spread the good news! lol
EVERYONE seems to be having computer issues lately. So we are in the process of upgrading my system because I can feel it slipping away!
Tammy Lenski said
Hey, Dave! Good to connect with you last week? longer ago? on Twitter.
Marti said
I suggest everyone find online storage for their important documents and pictures as well. I upload my documents to Yahoo “My Briefcase” for free. I’ve been doing it for five years, and was able to recover bank records etc when our last computer died. Make it habit once a week or once a month. All hard drives die sooner or later.
Phil Gerbyshak said
Tammy - It is great *seeing* you too! Thanks for coming to the party!
Liz is still out pf pocket across the pond as far as I can tell.
Marti said
That is the extent of my technical knowledge, as I am mostly a technotard - LOL
Phil Gerbyshak said
Brook - you’re right. LOTS of folks with computer problems lately. Maybe it’s the weather :)
DaveOlson said
Hey Tammy… yeah Twitter is definitely reconnecting me. :-)
Phil… I think I just lost a comment to Akismet. I had a link in it but it didn’t show up. Not sure if that’s a tech problem we can solve tonight. :-)
DaveOlson said
Marti,
I use a Mac and time machine. It’s what saved me last week when my drive crashed.
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Good suggestion, Marti. My concern with online storage is how secure are they, really? I try to back up to an external harddrive, but I’m not consistent. Too geeky for me.
Tammy Lenski said
Marti, I use a Mac and back up using JungleDisk and Amazon S3. Easy as pie. Cheap.
Dave, I knew you were a kindred spirit, you Mac person you!
Marti said
@DaveOlson - LOL! There have been many times i wished for a time machine. Does yours run on the flux capacitor?
DaveOlson said
Tammy, I was afraid I would be the sole Mac evangelist here. I just with there was an Apple store within a thousand miles.
Rick Cockrum said
oooh!
I want a flux capacitor! :)
Douglas Wong said
Re: Linksys wireless G card. Make sure you are either using the linksys wireless card service or the XP Wireless Zero configuration service and not both simultaneously. If both services are running, they conflict and you won’t be able to successfully use the card.
Diego Orjuela said
Hello Everyone!! Sorry, I had a small problem of moderation so my comments weren’t coming up. Hello from MinuteFix!
Tammy Lenski said
Dave, as a Mac person, I’ve been sitting here cursing in a distinctly un-mediator-like way at my husband’s PC, saying under my breath, THIS is why I own a Mac, this is why I own a Mac, this is why…
I know you’ll understand this! :)
Brooke said
Hey Phil…It’s Brooke NOT Brook. Sheesh… :)
DaveOlson said
Marti… lol… no seriously it’s the back-up program with apple’s operating system. Worth it’s weight in gold… or flux.
Phil Gerbyshak said
a few folks are trapped in moderation. I’m going in :)
drew said
Dave, I bet your pardon. I am a Mac guy. I don’t even own a PC. I fix them through Parallels. hahahahah
Marti said
Glenda, I have had the same Yahoo ID for ten years, and I’ve never had an issue retrieving documents I uploaded to “My Briefcase” there.
I think an external hard drive is a good idea. Just set a time, like a Sunday morning, that you dedicate to saving files. Trust me, you will be glad….someday.
Tammy Lenski said
Phil, when you said you were going in, all I could see in my mind’s eye was Scotty on Star Trek…you’re our hero!
DaveOlson said
Tammy… I used to be a PC only guy. Built, sold, serviced and supported them. Then I found a Mac. Always thought it was for people who didn’t know much about computers but since getting one, I’m really enjoying the noticeable lack of troubleshooting needed.
Phil Gerbyshak said
Brooke - sorry :(
Brooke said
Hey all you Mac people - I have a REALLY silly basic question…How do I find my files in a mac? All my docs? Like windows explorer for PC.
Phil Gerbyshak said
I have gotten everyone untrapped. Sorry about that. Email philgerb@gmail.com if you’re stuck in comment jail.
Welcome all first-timers, fun timers, and old timers!
Jennifer Therrien said
OK.. am I here NOW?? LOL
Marti said
“Old timers” (that’s me) *grin*
Diego Orjuela said
Hey guys! We were stuck in comment jail, but now we are out!
DaveOlson said
Hey Brooke… the answer is look in the ‘finder’ It’s the icon that looks a bit like a face on a two-tone blue box. Or just open your hard drive on the desktop
Phil Gerbyshak said
Setting phasers to stun…and going back in to fix the hung comments.
Cover me Tammy :)
drew said
Brooke, what OS version are you running? If it is Panther you can go to the upper right hand corner to the icon that looks like a magnifying glass. Type in any word you want that may be associated with a file and then double click when you see the file you want!
Tammy Lenski said
Welcome, Diego! Glad to see you’ve been freed.
drew said
It is called Spotlight
Rick Cockrum said
hi everyone!
DaveOlson said
Here’s my computer problem link then I’ve gotta go buy a new garage door opener at home depot before my 7pm meeting
http://daveolson.ca/2008/05/13/thank-you-geniuses/
Marti said
Just an aside, I love, love, love, those PC vs Mac guy commercials.
Phil Gerbyshak said
No spam from you Dave. I just checked.
Lots of ads for prescription meds though. Anyone want some?
Douglas Wong said
Diego, do you need a tech?
Drew Odom said
I do too Marti. I look them all online to make sure I can laugh over and over.
Tammy Lenski said
Anyone see my Linksys problem description from higher up in the comment thread. Any suggestions? It just freezes on the “Create a Profile” screen.
Phil Gerbyshak said
Hi Chris Savage! Sorry I missed you before!
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Yeah Marti, I know I should regularly backup. One of those things that doesn’t always get done. Hmm, wonder if there’s a way to lock my computer at a set time so nothing else can be done until a backup is done.
Douglas Wong said
Where’s Drew for all the MAC questions?
Jennifer Therrien said
Am I here NOW?? LOL Hellooooooooo? :D
Diego Orjuela said
Doug, very funny, I’ve got hundreds.
Marti said
Hi Rick!
DaveOlson said
sorry I gotta run to home depot and pick up another garage door opener before my 7pm meeting.
Have fun!
Phil Gerbyshak said
Marti - Diego - Douglas - Drew - Jennifer…
WELCOME! *hugs*
Phil Gerbyshak said
bye Dave!
Hi Rick!
Drew Odom said
I hope that was a manly, fist on the back hug PHil! hahahah
Phil Gerbyshak said
Douglas or Jenn - can you help Tammy?
Jennifer Therrien said
*HUGS* Phil.. I thought you fell off the face of the earth, my dear!
Diego Orjuela said
Tammy, thanks, happy to be free!
Rick Cockrum said
Marti! Old Timer!
Glenda, lose two or three years worth of data and you’ll make the time.
Phil Gerbyshak said
Jenn - I’m here, just working on about 1 million things, which leads all to believe I’m fallen off the face of the earth.
Sorry :(
BIG HUGS to you!
Jennifer Therrien said
Let me look at the question..
Douglas Wong said
Hi Phil, will you be pubbing later?
Marti said
We have a veritable museum of computers, going all the way back to the Commodore 64. We even have an original “Pong”.
:-)
Phil Gerbyshak said
Marti - I’m an old timer too. An old S.O.B. And proud of it! Successful and Outstanding Bloggers - ahoy!
Phil Gerbyshak said
Drew - It was whatever type of hug makes YOU feel comfortable my man!
Jennifer Therrien said
Doug.. can you help Tammy? You’re better at the Linksys stuff than I am :)
Douglas Wong said
Shout out to Diego,Drew,Phil and Jennifer from Montreal, Canada
Phil Gerbyshak said
Douglas - not sure what you mean? What’s *pubbing*?
Becky McCray said
@phil - And a Great BS’er!
Phil Gerbyshak said
Marti - an original Pong? WAY cool! I’ve got emulators that play that stuff now. MAME rocks!
Drew Odom said
Hey there Doug. Glad you made it, my friend. I hope they ask you questions since you are clearly the best tech in the North!
Douglas Wong said
Jenn check # 46. I posted a response for Tammy
Marti said
Off topic, but my mind wanders…this is the first time in 25 years I have not had a child in school. THAT, is old-timer.
Jennifer Therrien said
I hope you mean North America, Drew.. and not “North of the Equator” :D
Phil Gerbyshak said
I just found Dave’s need for help. It’s been freed!
Phil Gerbyshak said
Wow Marti - way cool! How’d you manage that?
Brooke said
Marti - I LOVE Mac vs PC commercials too!
Thanks Drew - but let’s say you search in the spotlight and you find it. How do you know where it is? The path?
Phil Gerbyshak said
Ah yes Becky - I am a GREAT BS-er :)
Douglas Wong said
Thanks Drew !I’m the only tech in the North
Trisha said
How should I maintain my laptop? Like how often should I defrag? How often should I let windows update (I have xp on a thinkpad)? What else should I do to keep it running smoothly?
Tammy Lenski said
Doug, don’t understand your comment, “Make sure you are either using the linksys wireless card service or the XP Wireless Zero configuration service and not both simultaneously.” Not a huge PC person.
Where do I check for that Zero config service?
Marti said
Plus we have always been early adopters. As I said, we had the Commodore 64, and I remember when we first got dial-up and about the only things on the Internet were “bulletin boards”. I even used to know a little DOS (gawd I’m old - LOL)
Phil Gerbyshak said
By the way Becky, you’re a pretty awesome BS-er yourself!
Tammy Lenski said
Hi, Becky McCray. How’s life since SOBCon?
Marti said
Hi Becky (and all those I forgot to greet, my apologies)
Phil Gerbyshak said
Wow Marti, I know a little DOS too.
Drew Odom said
I just typed in passwords in my Spotlight because I wanted to find a spreadsheet called passwords.xls. I then double clicked it and recongnized where it was at. However, to see the path…pull up a finder window. then type your keyword in that upper right hand space with the magnifying glass. When you do you will see all the files that have that word as well as a path directory at the bottom of the finder window.
Jennifer Therrien said
I know DOS :D
Marti said
Phil, I am old - LOL We bought the Pong console when it was NEW. I guess technically it’s not a computer, because it plugged into the TV. We dragged it out a couple of years ago and it still worked though.
Becky McCray said
Hey, Tammy and Marti!
I’ve gotta run, but was great to see everyone.
In the spirit of Phil, big hugs all around!
Douglas Wong said
Hi Tammy, go to start/run type services.msc , hit enter. Look for a linksys service and then a Windows Wireless Zero configuration service. If both services are running, stop the Windows one and set it to manual, not automatic startup. then use the Linksys green icon in the systen tray to configure and connect to you network.
Phil Gerbyshak said
Bye Becky! GREAT seeing you tonight!
Diego Orjuela said
Bye Becky, thanks for stopping by!
Marti said
Woo-hoo for the DOS heads - LOL
Bye Becky, good to see you (even briefly)
Tammy Lenski said
Phil and others who were at SOBCon: Had a great conversation with David Bullock today. He’s one very cool and smart guy. Really digging the new world of social media. I think he’s going to become a powerful voice.
Phil Gerbyshak said
Sorry Marti - my mom got us one at a yard sale used, so you’ve got me by a few years.
Douglas Wong said
Tammy the Linksys servcie might say Wmp54g or something similiar.
Phil Gerbyshak said
Dang Jenn - you know DOS too? You’re a smart whipper snapper, just like me and Marti :)
Phil Gerbyshak said
Tammy - very cool you talked to David. He’s definitely someone to know. I’m looking forward to connecting with him too.
Diego Orjuela said
Trisha — All you need to do is run auto windows update and let it work its magic. Also, you can defrag once a month and that should be sufficient unless you are constantly creating new files and trashing them.
Phil Gerbyshak said
Drew - I had no idea you were such a Mac lover. Is there a doctor in the house that can help this man?
nero said
@Trisha
It’s a good idea to have defrag running as a continual process. I personally don’t recommend the Defrag offered onboard with Windows but far prefer a 3rd party product like Raxco’s Perfect Disk or O&O Defrag.
The main benefit of either is that they’ll both do real time perpetual defrag as well as boot-time defrags which keeps boot sector files at the outside of the hard disk meaning faster boot times. The fact that you can schedule defrags or use the real-time option means you set it and never have to think about it again. Since the drive is constantly being optimized you’ll never see a degradation in system performance and even better, you’ll never have to remember to do it manually.
Diego Orjuela said
@ Phil, don’t get Drew started on Macs, we have enough of him and that around here ;)
Tammy Lenski said
Ok, Doug, I stopped the Windows Zero config service and set it to manual.
There’s no green linksys icon in the sys tray, though there’s an odd RSS-like gray/purple icon there that wasn’t there before. When I mousover, says WPC54GSv2 is inactive.
There is a new Linksys shortcut on desktop, but that’s where I get stuck. When I double click it, I get a “Creating a Profile” page but none of the buttons work and it almost looks like a screenshot instead of a real, interactive box. I’d take a screenshot if I had a clue how to do it on a PC…
Phil Gerbyshak said
OK Diego, I’m sure Drew is planning to flame me, but I’ve got a Mac, and I don’t see how it’s any easier than a PC. I think it’s all personal preference. Sorry Mac friends.
Drew Odom said
Doug, perhaps you could Skpye chat with Tammy to have a more direct conversation? Just a thought. I don’t know if anyone is having tennis eyes the way I am. hahahaha
Douglas Wong said
Tammy, sorry you have to reboot after stopping services.
Trisha said
I was always afraid of the auto windows update, I’ve heard of cases when the update itself was bad and caused people to have problems.
Tammy Lenski said
I know DOS too. Though I try to hide that fact from the known world. And from my fellow Mac addicts.
Phil Gerbyshak said
Tammy - the PRT SCRN button in the upper right is the print screen button. Go to start | run and type in MSPAINT and hit enter. Save it there as a file and try to upload it that way.
Brooke said
thanks Drew!
Phil Gerbyshak said
@Trisha - my experience with auto update has been much more positive since XP Service Pack 2. In 95/98, I had problems too. Now, pretty darn slick!
Phil Gerbyshak said
@Tammy - don’t your mediation clients demand you know DOS? :)
Diego Orjuela said
@ Phil, I’m with you — I am Windows guy all the way. I won’t pay more for design. But that is probably because I use my computer for business, nothing else. I just want to get my work done and be productive. I’ve never felt that Mac can make life easier for me. Drew will argument otherwise, but that is why he’s on the team — we need to see both sides of the story here at MinuteFix.
Douglas Wong said
If that doesn’t work, make sure, the windows service is set to manual or better yet disabled. Uninstall the Linksys card, remove it from the pc. Then reinstall the driver, don’t put the card in until the linksys software tells you to. That should resovle your problem.
Brooke said
Thanks for telling us about mybriefcase Marti - that’s cool!
Drew Odom said
@ Brooke. No problem. My pleasure. Email me anytime for Mac assistance. drew@minutefix.com
Diego Orjuela said
*waiting for Drew to explode over our Mac dissing*
Phil Gerbyshak said
Good call Diego. We LOVE Drew and we need to see both halves. Good point!
Tammy Lenski said
Doug, I rebooted. Nothing changed. Still no icon other than that strange purple-y RSS-like one. Linksys “Creating a Profile” screen still strangely un-interactive.
Tried removing and reinstalling the driver, nothing new. Hmmm….
Marti said
Glenda, I think there are programs that you can set up to auto save your files to a secondary storage like an external hard drive. Does anyone know for sure? My husband keeps saying we need something called RAID, which is not the bug spray, but some sort of secondary backup system.
Phil Gerbyshak said
Drew has to be nice tonight or I’ll move him back to comment spammer :)
Drew Odom said
You see, Mac people are different. We are NOT defensive because we have the comfort of a fully operable computer 99% of the time. We don’t have the accumulated anger of a PC user. hahahahaha
Marti said
@Diego - LOL
Tammy Lenski said
Hey, Diego, I use my Mac solely for business too. Haven’t yet found anything it can’t do that my ol’ Dell Latitude could…
Phil Gerbyshak said
So what’s the worst tech support you’ve ever needed/gotten/given?
Tammy Lenski said
I’m SO with you, Drew. We Mac people are fairly Zen…because we can be.
Phil Gerbyshak said
My favorite: The guy who called in at 6:30 am before his wife woke up, needing to delete the history from his address bar. We told him he needed to type 20 completely new URLs to erase the 20 that were already there. I wonder how that worked out…
Drew Odom said
Thank you Tammy. I appreciate a woman with a sound mind.
Douglas Wong said
Tammy
Step 1. Make sure windows wirelss zero config is disabled.
Step 2. Physically remove the linksys card from the computer.
Step 3. Uninstall the Linksys driver from Device manager.
Step 4. Reboot.
Step 5. Reinstall Linksys driver, do not put card into computer until the linksys software prompts you to.
Diego Orjuela said
@ Tammy — thing for me is that I run a lot of Internet products, lots of newly released Beta developments which are often only available for Windows. I do see, however, that Mac works very well for general business purposes. I’ve seen Drew work on his trusty MacBook Pro, and he does just fine. Also, being in startup mode, I try to cut any costs I can — for that I think Windows is the way to go. Would you agree?
Diego Orjuela said
Doug is our wireless expert, everyone. The man lives and breathes this stuff. Great to have you on our team, Doug. Thanks for making it tonight!
Marti said
After my father-in-law died, we talked my mother-in-law into getting a computer. She purchased a new Toshiba Satellite laptop which had Vista installed. *shivers at memory*
To set up the wireless internet connection through AT&T took a solid week of talking to tech support. We finally had to turn off all of Viata’s firewalls and security systems.
I pray it never goes out. Teaching grandma how to use the computer has been enough of a challenge *shivers again*
Drew Odom said
Good point Diego. If you remember, early on when I still had a PowerBook we had quite a few problems because I didn’t have Parallels then and had to find a library PC to work on. I would be interested to know from the two other Mac folks if they think MinuteFix would benefit the market by offering Mac support.
Marti said
Oh Phil, you are evil! (I like that - LOL)
Brooke said
Drew - know anything about Adium - IM for Mac?
Phil Gerbyshak said
Brutal Marti, absolutely brutal! If she can get online, MinuteFix can help her :)
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
ewww, Vista!
nero said
I’d like to make a general comment with respect to Windows Update (WU) vs Microsoft Update (MU).
At some point during the process of running WU users of XP will be offered the chance to “improve the update experience” by installing the components to change over to MU.
WU is exclusively the mechanism to patch and update the operating system whereas MU will update all MS products on your machine such as Office.
What Microsoft neglects to mention is that by using MU your machine is running the update service on a nearly constant basis. If you notice uncommon levels of machine unresponsiveness or sluggishness it can most likely be attributed to MU.
To verify if this is the case open up the task manager and look for this process:
wuauclt.exe
Users of Microsoft Update will find it in the list on a nearly consistent basis eating up memory and churning up the CPU.
To repair the problem simply visit http://www.windowsupdate.com using Internet Explorer (exclusively, no other browser will work) and select the option to revert to Windows Update.
You can always manually run an update search for Office products from within the Help menu in Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
Diego Orjuela said
@ Glenda — we’re with you!
http://www.minutefix.net/blog/2008/05/02/top-five-vista-annoyances/
Tammy Lenski said
Doug, tried all of that. Everything stops going according to plan at Step 5 when the driver installer tells me to insert the wireless card. I do that, click next…and nothing else happens. No icon in the sys tray except for RSS-type one, and just the same shortcut on the desktop that leads to the same problem when I double click.
I’ve double checked that the Windows Zero Config is disabled.
Urgh.
Phil Gerbyshak said
@nero - wow, I’d never heard of that before. Very good to know! Thanks for sharing (and glad to have you on the team!)
Drew Odom said
I do Brooke. I use Adium exclusively as it keeps me up to date with chat contacts on almost all other chat platforms (other than Skype). I LOVE it.
Diego Orjuela said
@ Glenda, we’re with you!
http://www.minutefix.net/blog/2008/05/02/top-five-vista-annoyances/
Marti said
My son had a roommate who worked at a call center and he said the first thing they had to ask every caller who said their machine wouldn’t come on, was, “Is it plugged in to electricity?”
Phil Gerbyshak said
@Marti - an old wives’ tale (possibly true, not sure) says Dell reduced their tech support hold times by 80% by putting on their hold music “While you’re on hold, why not reboot your computer?” Not sure if it’s true, but it’s sure believable.
Diego Orjuela said
@ Marti, that is too funny.
Marti said
I wish intelligence was communicable through cyberspace, my IQ would go up 20 points from this discussion!
:-)
Phil Gerbyshak said
Worst tech support employee? George: http://chroniclesofgeorge.nanc.com/
Douglas Wong said
Hi Tammy is that a laptop? your supposed to turn off the pc/laptop before installing the card. The software, should shutdown your pc/laptop automatically for you befroe inserting the wireless card.
Brooke said
great - so I have never been able to upgrade it. Iy says a new version is available - I click install updates - it downloads - and extracts updates - and - now it’s doing something new…
Phil Gerbyshak said
I’m evil? Only my laugh Marti :)
Phil Gerbyshak said
Go Brooke Go! Maybe this is your lucky night!
Diego Orjuela said
@ Phil, thanks for the link to George, hadn’t seen it. Good blogging material!
Marti said
Just teasin’, Phil, you’re a doll. Loved the Dell story!
Drew Odom said
You can’t get Adium to upgrade Brooke?
Phil Gerbyshak said
@Diego - you’re welcome George is terrible.
@Marti - I know you are. You’re a doll too dear! I’ve done tech support in some form or fashion since right after Windows for Workgroups came out.
Tammy Lenski said
Yeah, it’s a Dell laptop, old one. Keep trying to get him to buy a new one at least. Maybe this’ll do it.
Did follow the Linksys instructions that came with the card and am the one who installed it before his hard drive failed; all was working then. The software isn’t shutting down the laptop before asking me to insert the card. It installs, then asks me for the card…then just kind of stops but kicks out the icon and shortcut before that.
I even re-downloaded the driver’s zip file in case the first one got corrupted. Alas.
I think I’ll pack it in for the night. Husband will have to use his work laptop for a while longer.
Thanks for your patience, Doug! Goodnight Phil and everyone.
MinuteFix is a terrific idea and I hope it flies high!
Diego Orjuela said
Thanks Tammy, good night!
Phil Gerbyshak said
night Tammy!
Brooke said
apparently tonight it worked! You are good luck Drew! But it would not load growl - but whatever…(I think…)
Phil Gerbyshak said
Yay Brooke!
We keep Drew around to rub his head for luck. Thanks Drew!
Brooke said
Can you tell me what Growl is?
Diego Orjuela said
@ Brook — things always work when tech support is on the line!
Marti said
*WARNING* Self-promotion alert!
Back in January, we had to upgrade our machine, and I wrote this piece:
http://enterthelaughter.com/blog/2008/01/23/helluva-year/
Douglas Wong said
Goodnight Tammy!
Drew Odom said
Sure. Growl is a third party app. that allows little “pop up” windows in the upper right hand corner of your screen to let you know when you have new IM messages, Skype messages, etc. It is pretty cool. I use it too!
Diego Orjuela said
Great writing style Marti, wow.
Phil Gerbyshak said
Marti - love your self-promotion. Best part?
HILARIOUS!
Marti said
@Diego - thanks *blushes*
Brooke said
tru Diego!
So can I download skype too on my mac? So if I have a web cam I am set with skype?
Drew Odom said
I use Skype on my Mac and run it and Adium both. I keep up with all of our techs and all of my personal friends using those two. I say “Go for it!”
Diego Orjuela said
@ Brooke, yes, Skype is available for Mac. First what you need is a mic, although I use Skype mainly for chat. A web cam is optional but makes the call much more fun.
Diego Orjuela said
Does anyone here use Goolge Docs? What do you think about it?
Marti said
Have any you heard of (or are into) “steampunk”? I think it sounds awesome!
http://tiny.cc/j4xsf
Example:
Diego Orjuela said
Checking out Steampunk — haven’t heard of it.
Diego Orjuela said
Follow-up question to Google Docs. Does anyone think that is the future of desktop computing — shifting online?
Marti said
@Diego - yes I have used Google Docs and I like it a lot. I’m working on a new book and I have used it to share with other writers.
nero said
@Drew
Adium…shmadium.
Check out Digsby at http://www.digsby.com. Not only is it a multi protocol chat client (Y, AIM, MSN, G, Jabber, ICQ) but they’re building in Skype chat support with integration to launch Skype for voice comm AND…it already integrats with Facebook, Twitter, MySpace.
And if you don’t think that’s cool enough…how about being able to email your contacts directly without having to access your webmail or email client…natively from the application.
http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/5144/91635182kj0.png
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Just downloaded and installed Adobe Reader 8 without hubby’s guidance! That deserves a Klondike!
Diego Orjuela said
Alright Glenda!
Jennifer Therrien said
Gotta run, guys, think we have to evacuate.. see you soon, and wish us luck!
Diego Orjuela said
Evacuate where, Jenn!?
Douglas Wong said
With any product like Googledocs, there is always the “Question of Security”. I don’t see corporate America adopting GoogleDocs!
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Has anyone tried Robot Replay? Saw it on Leo Laporte’s show last week. Looks cool!
Diego Orjuela said
Doug — maybe not Google Docs, but one day, do you think it will all be online? I’m still on the fence about it…
Marti said
Becky McCray, Susan Reynolds and Liz Strauss have all contributed chapters. Chris Brogan was kind enough to read the draft and provided a foreword. Jeremiah Owyang spoke to me on the phone (after I asked for his help via Twitter!) and gave me some great paragraphs about speaking in public.
We all shared the same Google docs to compile the book (still a work in progress due to grandma’s infirmities)
Drew Odom said
Jenn lives in Florida and the fires are very close. They are having to evacuate. Please say a prayer or chant or something for those folks, guys. I appreciate it!
Marti said
Hooray for Glenda!
Thoughts and prayers to Jennifer!
Diego Orjuela said
@ Glenda — I have used clicktale.com, I’m checking out Robot Replay, looks pretty cool.
Marti said
TO Liz - Miss you, love you darlin’……
Marti said
Phil & Diego, you are doing a spectacular job as hosts!
Diego Orjuela said
Thanks Marti! This is so much fun, I must admit, it’s my first time in Open Comment Night, much more than what I expected!
Douglas Wong said
Goodnight all! It was defintely an interesting experience, participating in open mike night.
Marti said
@Diego - Congratulations on a very successful first night!
Diego Orjuela said
Drew asked me to let y’all know (in his words) that his browser is freezing up and will be with us in a few. Changing computers — hopefully to a Windows machine ;)
Diego Orjuela said
Thanks for making it Doug!
Phil Gerbyshak said
I’m back. My PC froze up. Rebooting fixed it.
Jennifer Therrien said
I’m back.. false alarm.. ARGH!
Drew Odom said
I apparently need to rub my own head as my browsers are totally freezing. I am on a new computer now.
Phil Gerbyshak said
@Marti - good luck on the book. Let me know if I can help.
And thanks for the vote of confidence. It’s fun hosting here!
Drew Odom said
Brooke - glad I am good luck for you! And Nero…digsby? Are you kidding me? hahaha
Phil Gerbyshak said
Yay Jennifer! Glad you’re back.
Drew - get to a PC immediately. Your Apples are no good in this Orange MinuteFix world ;)
Marti said
So glad Jennifer - that’s really scary. Welcome back Phil and Drew.
Jennifer Therrien said
The Fire Dept told us to go back.. for now.. it’s shifted out of our path.. thanks for the concern everyone :)
Jennifer Therrien said
Thank you, Marti.. it’s surreal outside.. wish I had a good camera to take a pic of it!
Drew Odom said
All of my technology is being crazy right now. Geez! I need some tech support. Anyone know how to fix a 3-year old Treo?
Diego Orjuela said
Welcome back Jenn!
Brooke said
okay - I’m lookin at digsby - seems like an all in one thing. So what is the argument for and against?
Jennifer Therrien said
Thanks, Diego.. ! :)
nero said
Brooke
The argument for is what you see..the argument against is a whiny Mac user ;)
Phil Gerbyshak said
Catching up…
I like Google Docs…and Zoho, and other online document collaboration tools.
The future? I think software as a subscription for home users, with online collaboration being key for home users more and more, so Granny can see everyone’s pictures, and stuff like that, even more so. I think as memory sticks get bigger, we’ll see full OS boots off of them for more and more folks. You plug it in, and it’s just like home.
In the office, I expect we’ll see a return to dummy win-terminals for many, connecting to a SharePoint (or something else) site for documents and stuff, with any installed thick clients running in a Citrix-like environment.
Phil Gerbyshak said
Thanks for hanging out Douglas! As usual, you are a star contributor! Rock on!
Marti said
Phil, I’d be honored to have your input. Offer extended to all SOB’s *grin*
Write me at martilawrence@gmail,.com and I’ll add you to access the Google docs. It’s a humorous self-help manual. Title is 7 Ways You Screw Up Your Life and How to Unscrew It.
Drew Odom said
I use Adium because the GUI is more similar to Mac so it seems like a native program. It was also built by former Apple employees so it acts very similar to apps built for Mac and thereby makes it seem very native.
Diego Orjuela said
@ Phil — Love your comment about apples and oranges. I think that is exactly what we are trying to compare here.
Jennifer Therrien said
Nite Doug :)
Phil Gerbyshak said
Thanks Marti. Email coming!
Brooke said
So pc only for now…got it.
Well I want to thank Drew and Diego for all of their help! I really appreciate you letting me run you head for good luck - now adium works great!
I had a great night talking with you all!!
Glad you are okay Jenn!
Diego Orjuela said
Thanks for stopping by Brooke!
Jennifer Therrien said
Thank you, Brooke :)
Phil Gerbyshak said
By Brooke with an E. Take care and thanks for playing along!
Brooke said
Or I as some say…BrookEEEEEEEE…VERY original! ;)
Phil Gerbyshak said
AWESOME! I can remember that :)
Diego Orjuela said
So Jenn, is everything ok the time time being?
Brooke said
you make me laugh Phil!!
G’Bye!
Jennifer Therrien said
Yes, Diego, they sent us back home, but told us to be ready, if the wind changes direction again, we’ll have to go, no way around it. The Interstate is closed, and most of the main roads, so it’ll be difficult.. but.. we’ll be fine. My animals are very upset and restless.. but they’ll make it :)
Marti said
Great to see you again Brooke. Always a pleasure to get to chat with you!
Diego Orjuela said
Jenn, that is incredible, I’m so sorry to hear you are in such instability…
Marti said
Jennifer, I hope you stay safe.
I guess there is no truly “safe” place on earth to live. Folks ask us why we live in tornado alley, but heck, there’s earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes….bad stuff can happen anywhere.
(Sorry, didn’t mean to be a downer)
((Double sorry, didn’t mean to sound like such an old hippie - LOL))
Jennifer Therrien said
LOL Marti… you’re right, there is no “safe” place to live.. so. I might as well enjoy the sunshine and beach in Florida as anywhere! (I’m an old hippie too ;) )
Phil Gerbyshak said
Here in Milwaukee, we have to watch out for falling wheels of cheese…and the occasional cow tipping accident. Not so bad really.
Marti said
@Jennifer - Groovy!
:-)
Drew Odom said
Well, I think I have all of you beat for naturally dangerous places to live. Go wikipedia Bedford-Stuyvesent. hahahahah
Diego Orjuela said
@ Drew, I grew up in Bogota, Colombia. Try to beat that.
Marti said
@Phil - ROTF at cow tipping! I haven’t heard of that in a while!
(Falling wheels of cheese very funny too!)
Jennifer Therrien said
I didn’t know you live in Bedford-Stuy, Drew.. Outta Site, man! :D
Phil Gerbyshak said
@Drew - do the words “You’re a freak!” mean anything? Didn’t Billy Joel have a song about Bedford-Stuy?
@Diego - you’re a wild and crazy guy! Glad to have you here now.
@Marti - glad to share a laugh. Wanna go snipe hunting?
Drew Odom said
No thatnk you Diego. I konw what they do to crackers like me. hahahah
Marti said
Marti jumping through links
Diego Orjuela said
@ Phil — me too!
Jennifer Therrien said
*Feeling unloved*
Phil Gerbyshak said
We love you Jenn. Glad you have no fires in your home. Sorry to hear the animals are crazy.
Marti said
Phil, maybe we can get one o’ these city boys to go snipe hunting…..*grin*
Jennifer Therrien said
Aww.. thank you Phil :)
Phil Gerbyshak said
And we want to hear about your crazy neighbors, or cow tipping, or orange groving, or whatever you Florida folks do for fun :)
Marti said
{{hugs}} to Jennifer
Phil Gerbyshak said
I don’t think Diego and Drew could handle a snipe. Jenn could play though.
And I know you’d be good at that Marti.
Drew Odom said
So, are there any other tech issues? I am ready to roll now! :)
Diego Orjuela said
We’re here for you Jenn!
Phil Gerbyshak said
Drew - I have a Dell laptop where the battery doesn’t always charge. Got any suggestions?
Jennifer Therrien said
Cow tipping?? Not hardly! We just dodge tourists !
Jennifer Therrien said
@Phil.. get a new battery :)
Phil Gerbyshak said
Dodging tourists? Fun!
Diego Orjuela said
Phil, I’m with Jenn! Get a new battery!
Drew Odom said
Get a Mac Phil! hahahah
Jennifer Therrien said
Don’t listen to Drew, Phil!!
And yes, we love to give them bad directions when they ask for them.. it’s quite comical :D
Diego Orjuela said
Yes, Phil, buy a Mac and spend twice as much on batteries ;)
Drew Odom said
Diego does have a point. You will look cooler though Phil. Trust me. YOu will look cooler!
Phil Gerbyshak said
New battery? OK.
I have a Mac. I was using it to do our MinuteFix Minute Tips. Then I forgot how to log in. No idea what the password is. I’ll figure it out soon!
Jennifer Therrien said
Good one Diego!
Phil Gerbyshak said
I have 4 PCs and a Macbook. And 5 iPods. Do I look cool now?
Jennifer Therrien said
Do you have a Timbuk2 bag, Phil? If not, no you don’t look “cool”.. not YET anyways :)
Drew Odom said
Nice Jenn. Nice! hahahah. She got you Phil.
Jennifer Therrien said
Thank you, thank you *curtsy*
Phil Gerbyshak said
I do have a Timbuk2 bag. It’s called the blogger bag. I love it. :)
And yes, I’ll be buying a new battery very soon! Thanks for that :(
Jennifer Therrien said
I haven’t seen your murse, Phil! Send me a pic?
Diego Orjuela said