Posts from July 2011.

Getting 3d to work from an HTPC.

So I recently decided to give 3d a try. Information was difficult to find as it’s really not as popular as you would think. I will tell you the hardware I have and perhaps it will assist readers even if they don’t have the exact same hardware.

TV:    Mitsubishi 73inch DLP WD-73C9

Video Card:   ATI Radeon HD 4600 Series

3D Adapter:   Mitsubishi 3DA-1 3d Adapter for 3d DLP TV  (Some newer tv’s do not need a 3d adapter)

The first thing you need to do is add a new resolution.  For my current drivers that is under My Digital Flat-Panels in the HDTV Support area.  If the Add button is grayed out you may need to set resolution to 1920×1080 first.  Anyway you want to add the resolution of 1841×1036 at a refresh rate of 60 (this custom resolution is so the complete image fits on screen).  Some people say 24hz refresh rate instead but i’m not sure if thats needed with my particular 3d adapter.   Once you have your resolution added then go and switch into that resolution.   Once you are in your new resolution make sure overscan is not enabled which is under My Digital Flat-Panels in the Scaling Options area.    Make sure your 3d mode is activated in your TV’s menu options.

To play 3d content in Side by Side (SBS) format you simply play the video using pretty much any software player then use the 3d adapter remote to toggle to L | R format.  If the 3d looks inverted go into the TV menu’s 3d option and reverse it.  Playing 3d blurays is a different story.  For blu-ray movies I have typically see people downloading blu-ray ISO’s and using AnyDVD software to load them into Cyberlink PowerDVD 11.   Since blu-ray 3d is not the SBS format you will need to put the 3d adapter into NORMAL mode.

I hope this article helps someone out there because it sure was a pain for me to find this information!

Do you play chess?

I realize this is pretty off topic but in between online computer repair jobs I can usually be found playing online chess on chessworld.net.  If you enjoy chess I think you should give the following website a try:

Online chess

Chessworld is all about casual gameplay.  Some players don’t play but 1 move each week.  I currently have about 70 active games going on and I would say about half of my opponents make a move multiple times per day but thats completely optional.

Are you a computer repair technician?

I have been considering starting up a separate website dedicated on information catering to computer repair technicians.   What’s that you say?  It’s called technibble?  No no no.  I am not talking about a website about running a computer repair business I am talking about a website for information on computer repair.   For example newest tools to use,  techniques to speed up jobs, details on viruses perhaps even including full install logs?  If you are a computer repair technician then post your opinion below.   If I get a few requests but not enough to warrant a dedicated site perhaps I will create a category on this blog that caters to some of that type of information.

support.com is hiring technicians

I received an invitation to work for support.com today that had the following info:

  • 17 days of training required on tools and processes used in service delivery. All training hours paid at standard rate.  Instructor-led training classes delivered online Monday- Friday 9am -5:30pm EDT.
  • Post – training, minimum 20 hours work required; up to 40 hours available. Willingness to work for at least 3 months post-training
  • Work to be performed on scheduled shifts
  • $13.50/hour

followed by a special unique link that forwarded me to: http://quiz.support.com/mini_cl.php
Now I already gave my special link to someone else but I figure since I know a lot of curious computer repair technicians visit my website I thought i’d provide the forwarded link just in case it works to apply.  Now I realize 13.50 isn’t much but I know some of you need the money.   I hear mixed reviews about the performance of support.com but none the less I have to give them props for hiring American employees rather than getting their staff from India.

Don’t use speed boost software!

Please stop purchasing software that is designed to speed up windows.  Occasionally yes you may get a tiny tiny tiny performance boost in some situations.   It is far more likely that you will run into a program that messes something up.   I have seen it countless times where a speed boost utility will set certain services to manual which should never be set to manual.   You may not notice a problem initially but then issues start coming up out of the blue such as system tray icons not showing up.  You may find that suddenly windows updates don’t work.  Don’t even get me started on those registry cleaning programs.  I have NEVER EVER seen a problem fixed by a registry cleaning program!

Mikko Hypponen gives a basic summary of computer viruses

Customers often ask why computer viruses are made or why an anti-virus sometimes isn’t enough.  This brief interview will help answer that.   I submit any undetected viruses to F-secure because in my experience they take their job very seriously.  I remember there was a time when Norton wouldn’t allow me to submit a virus without a 24 hour delay.

I remember dealing with Mikko Hypponen in Dec 2005 when I ran into a seriously dangerous wmf exploit.  This was one of those very rare situations where a picture file virus was possible.  You didn’t have to open any file,  just viewing a website that had one there would be enough to infect you.  When I reported the exploit to F-secure, Mikko Hypponen responded to me directly.  Mikko can really get the word out quick!  Word about the exploit was all over the internet within a few hours.  Chances are you never even heard of the wmf exploit of 2005 and you can thank Mikko Hypponen for that!

Remote repair vs in-home repair

There are many people out there that feel in-home computer repair has an advantage over remote computer repair.   In my opinion in-home computer repair only has a few advantages.  For example if i’m at a customers house I can resolve issues caused by hardware failures.  Repairing boot issues is of course much easier when i’m there in person.  When I am repairing a computer remotely I can take as much time as I need to get the job done right.

Some customers have questioned the amount of time it takes me to do some of my services.  Just because such and such company came to your house and resolved a virus in 15minutes doesn’t mean they did a good job.  I can remove most non rootkit viruses in significantly less time than 15minutes!  I can’t however guarantee your other 300,000 files on your less than stellar hard drive are virus free in 15minutes.   It’s just not possible to be completely sure without lengthy in-depth checks.  Do you really think a computer repair technician that comes to your house can dedicate the time to do the same amount of lengthy checks?  Only if they charge by the hour!

There’s a lot of low quality computer repair technicians out there that will just give up after a few minutes and recommend you reinstall windows.  Do you know how many clients I have had to walk through a reinstall because I couldn’t repair the issue after successfully connecting to their machine?  ZERO.  I hope this isn’t coming off as bragging because it’s not that not resorting to reinstalling makes me a great computer repair technician,  it simply means I am not an amateur you might find in the corner of a certain large electronics store.

 

Signs of a powerful virus…

There have been reports of well over 4 million people infected by TDL4.

The biggest signs that you have a TDL4 infection is if you get script errors like the following when you don’t even have a web browser open:

You may also hear sounds in the background from websites that you can’t even see.  This is because the virus is hiding in the background browsing websites.  If you are experiencing these issues please get an expert to take a look as soon as possible.

How I find really good laptop deals.

Step 1:  Visit a deal website such as dealnews.com or slickdeals.net

 

Step 2:  Remove any laptop that does not have Windows 7 64-bit unless you know what you are doing.

 

Step 3:  Decide if you want a laptop with a decent video card or not (I recommend a decent video card as you never know when you’ll miss the multimedia benefits of having one).

Anything in the “1. High End Graphics Cards” or “2. Midrange Graphics Cards” at the following website: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html should be suitable for most users.

 

Step 4: If the price is over 400 dollars (or 700 dollars for one with a decent video card) then remove it as its not likely a good deal.

*Take note that some laptops have other features that I do not take into consideration when searching for a “good deal.”  For example I do not look at weight, appearance, and battery life.

 

Step 5: If you are searching for a laptop with a decent video card it probably means you want something with a powerful processor to handle multimedia applications.  Try to avoid any laptops that aren’t Intel (yes I realize AMD has some good ones but i’m keeping it simple) if the intel processor says Celeron then try to avoid it.  Look for Intel’s that say one of the following:  i7, i5, i3, Core 2 Quad,  Core 2 Duo

 

Step 6:  Aim for a laptop with at least 4GB of ram.

 

Step 7:  I try to avoid rebate deals but if its too good to pass up make sure you have a copy of the rebate form prior to making your purchase.
That about sums up my quick list of steps to take when searching for a good deal on a laptop.  Don’t forget to take things into consideration that you might be interested in.   For example screen size, battery life, weight, dvd burner, etc.

Welcome

Welcome to the Computer Repair Tech blog!  I should be updating the blog very soon with useful posts!