From the category archives:

Hardware

CPU cycle

February 7, 2012
CPU cycle

System: Acer Aspire M1640, Intel Core Duo E4700 2.6GHz, 2 GB RAM, Windows Vista Home Premium Q: I have noticed in Windows Task Manager that the CPU seems to regularly cycle from 100% down to about 50% and I wondered whether I might need to [...]

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Boot sequence

February 1, 2012
Boot sequence

Q: I have made a DVD by copying the Ultimate Boot CD. But to be able to test it my Windows XP Professional machine needs to start up from DVD. When I use F8 at startup so I can alter the BIOS, I can’t get [...]

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Wireless printing

January 23, 2012
Wireless printing

Q: My daughter who is disabled spends a lot of time in her bedroom and when able uses a desktop Vista PC, however the amount of disability paraphernalia has left no room for a printer. There is an HP 2575 printer downstairs connected to an [...]

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No charge

January 19, 2012
No charge

System: Acer Aspire 7730 Q: My laptop is around two years old and has been intermittently temperamental for a while. Just recently it won’t charge and won’t boot up even when plugged into the mains. Is there anything that can be done or is this [...]

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Extra! Extra!

January 16, 2012
Extra! Extra!

System: Acer Aspire M1610 Q: I have been fortunate enough to be given a computer, but I don’t have any other equipment at present. Apart from a monitor, mouse and keyboard what other equipment do I need, eg printer, cables, leads, etc? Could you please [...]

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Digital switch

January 3, 2012
Digital switch

Q: Where I am located in the UK, we are now faced with the forthcoming digital TV switchover. No problem is expected with my TV’s as they are already digital, or, for the ones that are not; include set top boxes to convert them. The [...]

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Unreadable discs

December 23, 2011
Unreadable discs

Q: Being a long time reader of PCU I have a question about my CD R/RW drive, a CyberDrive Cw088D. Over the last month are so I have been experiencing a problem where I cannot burn discs or read ones which I have burned from time to [...]

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Recording LPs

December 20, 2011
Recording LPs

Q: Is there any software for converting music from LP records into the computer from my turntable so the music can be listened to in digital form or burned to a CD? I’d appreciate any help. A: Converting from vinyl to MP3 isn’t hard, it’s [...]

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Sound advice

December 15, 2011
Sound advice

System: Compaq Presario SR1000, Windows XP Home Q: I can’t get any sound out of my computer. The following message comes up when trying to play music, “Windows Media Player cannot play the file because there is a problem with your sound device. There might not [...]

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Web pages not loading

November 8, 2011
Web pages not loading

Q: I moved my computer from the floor to an elevated position on the desk. The move necessitated removing and reinstalling all of the connections. When I next attempted to go online, I could not load any pages. I am hooked up through a Linksys router and [...]

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