Text 23044, 178 rader
Skriven 2012-03-29 21:17:31 av Stephen Haffly (1:396/45.27)
  Kommentar till text 22982 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: puter fun 429
=====================
Hello Michael,

On (28 Mar 12) MICHAEL LOO wrote to ALL...

Ruth told me you had a question, so I looked up the message. I will try
to answer your questions to the best of my abilities.

 ML> I run my computers into the ground, as everyone knows; this
 ML> Acer has had its share of drops, jostles, temperature
 ML> changes, and similar catastrophes, and I started out
 ML> hating it, but it's proved to be more robust and more
 ML> fixable than any of the others.

Acers do seem to be pretty sturdy.

 ML> But several times in the last 6 months I've had this weird
 ML> problem - the screen flickers and goes blank. Lilli was
 ML> present when this first happened (it happens after some
 ML> jostling and thus generally on the road), and she said
 ML> try removing and reinstalling the battery. And so it was -
 ML> a pair of screws under the battery compartment had come
 ML> loose, and after I tightened them with the best thing
 ML> available, a nail file (it is a weird kind of Phillips-
 ML> like head and nothing else handy worked), the screen was
 ML> back to normal; at which my estimation of Lilli's sagacity
 ML> really went through the roof. Well, about 4 months ago and
 ML> about 2 months ago and about 1 month ago this happened,
 ML> and the same solution was effective each time. Today,

I think Lilli was just thinking of the battery, but it it led you to
find the loose screws, and if tightening them is what fixed the problem
and not just removing and reinstalling the battery, then it was a good
solution. However, I would have suggested one more thing. Go to a
hardware store and get a little tube of Locktite Blue 242 thread sealer.
Remove the screws that keep loosening and put a drop of Locktite on the
threads and then screw them back in (please use a jewler's screwdriver,
not a nail file). Once that is done, the Locktite will help lock the
screws in place and keep them from working loose.


 ML> alas, it didn't work, and after 4 tries, success. But the
 ML> interval between incidents is decreasing and the amount of
 ML> effort required is increasing. I'm not too awfully concerned
 ML> and am going to wait for a while (until my finances repair
 ML> themselves) before getting a replacement system. The plan is
 ML> when no amount of fiddling and diddling can fix the display,
 ML> I'll go buy a cheap monitor and a biggish hard disk and
 ML> do a final backup of all my data and programs.

Try the Locktite and see if it helps prevent the problem from
reoccurring.

 ML> Questions.
Answers:

 ML> Is this sensible?
If you can find a cheap monitor, and if you are willing to work with
that system tied to the monitor, then I see no reason for the "biggish
hard disk" to go along with the monitor. You may prefer to get an
external keyboard and mouse (a wireless keyboard and mouse combination
would work well for this purpose) to go along with the monitor. Then
just set the laptop to blank the display when the lid is shut instead of
suspending or hibernating. In effect, you will turn the laptop into a
very compact desktop computer. This may be a more sensible way to go
until you can replace it.

 ML> Can I get a machine that still runs XP, which I rather like,
 ML> plus I have discovered that I can't stand both Vista and
 ML> Windows 7. And if not, what should I do to make my experience
 ML> more XP-like, or better, Windows 3.1-like?

You could. The problem is that Microsoft has already determined that XP
will only get security updates for about 2 more years. That has been
extended a number of times over when they originally said that they
would be pulling the plug on XP. I don't expect them to extend it any
further. You will probably have to bite the bullet sooner or later
because you may find that it will be increasingly difficult to find
drivers for the newer hardware that is or will be coming available. I
would skip Vista entirely. It was the beta test for Windows 7. Go with
that one and then look at web sites like:

http://www.askvg.com/download-windows-xp-luna-theme-for-windows-7/

It explains how to install a theme in Windows 7 that gives it the
appearance and feel of XP.

My other suggestion is that for a travel computer, you consider a
netbook such as the Acer Aspire One 722 which has a dual-core AMD C60
processor, 2 Gb RAM, and an 11.2" screen. That one is small enough to be
very portable and big enough to be kinder to the eyes and friendlier to
fingers than the old 7" or 9" EeePC netbooks were. Since it would be a
travel machine, you may wish to look at those which contain a Solid
State Drive (SSD), as those are much more able to stand the bumps of
travel. The SSD does not have any heads to crash and they are much
faster than the older Hard Disk technology while using less power. This
equates to longer battery life.

If you would be willing to give up Windows XP entirely, you could go
with a Linux distribution such as Mint, Ubuntu, Fedora (what I use), or
Scientific Linux or Centos (both long-term support versions of Red Hat
Enterprise Edition). The last two will have updates until well into
2017. If you are only using the computer for web surfing, Email, and
some writing, then this would be more than adequate. The only area a
Linux-based computer is weak in is games. I don't recall you spending
much time playing games requiring high-end graphics when we last saw
you. You could take a distribution on a test-spin by downloading and
burning an ISO of some Linux distributions to a CD or DVD as appropriate
and booting from there They don't touch the hard drive, so unless ou
install one of them, you don't do anything to change your current
installation.

Here's one without any milk products. We bought a couple of avocados
today, and I thought I'd post a recipe that uses avocado.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.04

      Title: Zesty Wheat Berry-Black Bean Chilli (?)
 Categories: Chilli, Chilies, Beans, Vegetarian
      Yield: 6 Servings

      2 tb Extra-virgin olive oil
      1 lg Yellow onion; chopped
      1 lg Yellow bell pepper; chopped
      5 cl Garlic; minced
      2 ts Chilli powder
  1 1/2 ts Ground cumin
      1 ts Dried oregano
    1/2 ts Salt
    1/2 ts Fresh ground pepper
      2    (15 oz) cans black beans;
           - rinsed
      2    (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes;
           - undrained
      2    Chipotle peppers in adobo;
           - minced *
      2 c  Vegetable broth
      2 ts Light brown sugar
      2 c  Cooked Wheat Berries
           Juice of 1 lime
      1    Avocado; diced
    1/2 c  Chopped fresh cilantro

  Recipe courtesy EatingWell.com

  Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell
  pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper, and
  cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add
  beans, tomatoes, chipotle to taste, broth and brown sugar. Bring to a
  boil over high heat, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes.

  Stir in cooked wheat berries and heat through, about 5 mins more. (If
  using frozen wheat berries, cook until thoroughly heated.) Remove
  from the heat. Stir in lime juice. Garnish each bowl with avocado and
  cilantro.

  * Canned chipotle peppers (smoked jalapenos) in adobo sauce add heat
  and a smoky flavor. Look for the small cans with other Mexican foods
  in large supermarkets. Once opened, they will keep for up to 2 weeks
  in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer.

  Recipe From Television Food Network, G.P.

  MM Format by Dave Drum - 01 January 2009

  Uncle Dirty Dave's Archives

MMMMM


Regards,

Stephen
Professional Point in DOSBox running on Linux.

... Proverbs 3:13 | Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

--- PPoint 3.01
 * Origin: Thunder Mountains Point (1:396/45.27)