How do I either recover my Mac OS X password or else get around needing it? [more inside]
posted by Navelgazer on Dec 24, 2009 - 11 answers

How can I dial back the crazy eyes? [more inside]
posted by wexford_arts on Dec 14, 2009 - 10 answers

My new homebuilt PC is DOA (Dead on Assembly). Athlon dual core with an ASUS motherboard, GeForce 9500 and 2 GB of RAM. It is a barebones kit from Tiger Direct, so I shouldn't have any imcompatible parts. [more inside]
posted by COD on Dec 12, 2009 - 9 answers

PSU was missing from computer. Bought a new one, now it gives me one continuous BIOS beep when I turn it on. What have I done wrong and how do I fix this? [more inside]
posted by battlebison on Dec 10, 2009 - 4 answers

Probable PC power supply issue - how to confirm and what to get? [more inside]
posted by mattholomew on Dec 10, 2009 - 4 answers

I'm having wifi troubles with my MacBook, and the lack of connectivity for the weekend gave me the shakes. Help me before the withdrawal gets worse! [more inside]
posted by COBRA! on Dec 7, 2009 - 6 answers

I want to upgrade my son's PC for Christmas but I'm overwhelmed by the options and I figure somebody here can point me in the right direction a lot faster than I can figure it out myself. [more inside]
posted by COD on Dec 4, 2009 - 9 answers

My external hard drive has been making some very odd noises for a while and I’m looking for a good replacement. Your input would be appreciated. [more inside]
posted by The Lurkers Support Me in Email on Nov 18, 2009 - 12 answers

I need some help repairing some text files. I don't really understand regular expressions and so on enough. [more inside]
posted by yesno on Nov 2, 2009 - 14 answers

My Inspiron 1545 thinks I'm pressing ctrl and I don't know why. [more inside]
posted by Pope Guilty on Oct 27, 2009 - 5 answers

I need to put an older version (2.x) of Firefox onto my computer. I am using the latest Kubuntu version (Karmic, still in beta for a few more days). How do I do this? [more inside]
posted by mannequito on Oct 20, 2009 - 9 answers

How much should I charge for camera and editing work ? [more inside]
posted by dawdle on Oct 16, 2009 - 6 answers

My new computer freezes or reboots when I'm pushing it (e.g. encoding video). Can you help me figure out which part is bad before I start having to ship things back to newegg and pay restocking fees? [more inside]
posted by chndrcks on Sep 30, 2009 - 19 answers

Windows Vista 64. Computer started bluescreening at random a few days ago, with increasing frequency - it's up to several per day now. [more inside]
posted by sailoreagle on Sep 2, 2009 - 13 answers

I am a soon-to-be high school senior interested in Java programming. I bought the Core Java Volume 1 book authored by Sun engineers. I believe I have unzipped, or decompressed, however it's said, the Library Source Code and Documentation using the command line. However, when I look at the folders using the GUI, the folder says it's still zipped. I'm a complete newbie at this who just recently learned about the existence of the command and read a little about how to use it on the internet. Can somebody help me?
posted by bookman117 on Aug 14, 2009 - 22 answers

I used to feel pretty confident with computers / IT in general (80s child). Now I need a boost to get back up to speed, especially digging around in the OS / filesystem. Recommend me a good book / website / hands-on project? [more inside]
posted by KMH on Aug 6, 2009 - 7 answers

What's your stake in international tech standards and OOXML?(I'm working up a thesis and I could use some input from the computer literate world) [more inside]
posted by trcook on Jul 30, 2009 - 3 answers

Shouldn't I be able to get "on-demand" wireless networks to WORK on my computer? Why can't I? [more inside]
posted by EmpressCallipygos on Jul 27, 2009 - 9 answers

What is a modern mainframe computer? IANAP [more inside]
posted by mhh5 on Jul 7, 2009 - 15 answers

I have a text file containing a list of image filenames and I'd like to be able to point at a folder and have it select, move or label based on the list of filenames. Is there software, script or tool that makes automating this possible? [more inside]
posted by tinamonster on Jun 25, 2009 - 22 answers

DIY computer case, Theres a lot of cool computer cases out there that people have built. I want to join the ranks. Yet I cant seem to find any tips on getting started. Any links, know of some blogger who posted a how to or a step by step account of what they did? I want to use Ponoko or hand craft to make a PC case from wood or acrylic for a micro ATX board I have.
posted by tropikal on Jun 23, 2009 - 7 answers

I'm in the middle of grabbing all the parts to build a new PC for myself. I have pretty much all the components, but I can't figure out which kind of memory I need to go with an Core 2 Duo E8500 (3.16GHz) and ASUS P5Q-E. I've looked at both Intel's and Asus's websites, and of course the Google to no avail. Details on what I'm looking for inside. [more inside]
posted by arcolz on Jun 22, 2009 - 8 answers

My desktop computer has just died so I'm thinking of finally buying a notebook to replace it. Problem is, I know very little about the notebook 'scene' and have no real idea what's good and what's not. Out of all the notebooks available from here, which one would you get? My budget is $2000 but I'd go as high as $2500 if there was a compelling reason to do so. And if there's any extra accessories I'm really going to need, let me know. Thanks!
posted by Effigy2000 on Apr 8, 2009 - 28 answers

My husband and I are Apple noobs and can't get a straight answer from any sales people: is the Mini adequate for our needs? [more inside]
posted by Subspace on Apr 1, 2009 - 37 answers

I'm looking for an effective storage solution for computer parts. (More inside.) [more inside]
posted by shesbookish on Mar 30, 2009 - 7 answers

Cheap digital video? Help me do time-motion studies on myself. [more inside]
posted by jon1270 on Mar 19, 2009 - 11 answers

I have to do a demo of a content management system. I was never completely proficient with the tool to begin with, and I haven't used it for two years. I'm not a programmer. I've never done a software demo before. And I have only the weekend to prepare. I need your help. [more inside]
posted by Valuev on Feb 26, 2009 - 5 answers

Is there anything special I need to do to old computers before I can legally send them abroad from the UK? I've got all the technical aspects covered, and know what's what on the software front, but we are essentially dealing with electrical equipment, and I know nothing about what the law has to say to that. [more inside]
posted by Brother Dysk on Feb 10, 2009 - 3 answers

Spreadsheet question: Display Greater Value? I know this is one of those "you-either-know-it-or-you-don't" situations, and I just don't know. [more inside]
posted by guptaxpn on Feb 5, 2009 - 6 answers

My facebook, delicious and flickr aren't working, but all other sites are fine. What's wrong and how do I fix it? [more inside]
posted by carofowler on Feb 2, 2009 - 8 answers

Looking at getting a new computer. Is it worth waiting for USB 3.0? [more inside]
posted by echo target on Jan 19, 2009 - 15 answers

I allowed perl access past my firewall (Am I even saying that right?). Should I be worried? And how do I learn more about the subject so I'm not so clueless in the future? [more inside]
posted by dicetumbler on Jan 11, 2009 - 8 answers

I just want to mask off part of my XP desktop with immobile, box-shaped graphics that float above all open windows, all the time. [more inside]
posted by Rykey on Dec 29, 2008 - 6 answers

How much energy does my old laptop use? [more inside]
posted by clearlynuts on Dec 26, 2008 - 4 answers

My laptop using wireless connection can not access the rest of my wired network workgroup. I suspect a router issue. [more inside]
posted by Jackie_Treehorn on Dec 18, 2008 - 20 answers

I need help finding a replacement service for the very recently defunct Convenos, a web-based meeting application for use with PCs. [more inside]
posted by mrmojoflying on Dec 2, 2008 - 6 answers

What is the easiest, most foolproof way to move files and programs from an old PC computer (XP) to a new one (presumably Vista, sigh). [more inside]
posted by JoanArkham on Oct 24, 2008 - 14 answers

I just cobbled together a computer for the first time, and while it powers up OK (fans and drives awhirring) I get nothing on the screen. No signal input. What did I mess up? Did I kill my CPU? [more inside]
posted by saguaro on Oct 17, 2008 - 12 answers

Nasty, sticky virus that won't go away! The virus scan says it is called 'win.32.Agent.pz' and we've thrown everything we've got at it to get rid of it - Spybot (also in safe mode) and ESET - and it won't go away. Help! [more inside]
posted by cooker girl on Oct 7, 2008 - 12 answers

My computer is showing that I'm connected to the Internet, but it's not actually connecting. My usual trouble shooting tricks aren't working, so does anyone have any ideas? [more inside]
posted by Airhen on Jul 23, 2008 - 8 answers

I'm thinking of buying Bioshock for the PC. Is my system up to the task of playing this game with all (or close to all) its graphical bells and whistles? System specs inside. [more inside]
posted by Effigy2000 on Sep 6, 2007 - 17 answers

Does anyone have experiences with Gillware for recovering data from a dead hard drive, aside from user bhance? They are cheaper than the big enterprise-level data recovery companies, but I'd like to see comments from more than one person if possible.
posted by matildaben on Jun 17, 2007 - 3 answers

My scrollbar has disppeared and won't come back! I'm sure this is a stupid question with a simple answer, but I can't seem to get google to work for me to help answer it. I'm running MS Word on OS X, and my vertical scrollbar on the right hand side disappeared a few weeks ago. I nosed through pretty much every menu looking for a way to bring it back, but I can't seem to find it. It's becoming more than just a minor nuisance. The horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the window appears just fine, it's only vertical that has gone missing. What do I need to do to bring it back?
posted by booknerd on Feb 19, 2007 - 2 answers

Refurbished Mac: Good idea? Bad idea? [more inside]
posted by contessa on Feb 2, 2007 - 42 answers

I have two SATA drives installed on my machine. My computer works fine except for the fact that roughly every two or three weeks my computer will fail to boot with a message reading "NTLOADER is missing. Press CTRL ALT DEL to reboot." I can fix the problem temporarily by opening up my computer case and swapping the drives around on the motherboard (putting the cable for Drive 1 into SATA 2 and vice versa), at which point Windows will boot up fine and function without a problem but as I said, within the space of two to three weeks, the problem comes back. Hope me, please! System specs inside. [more inside]
posted by Effigy2000 on Dec 28, 2006 - 14 answers

My computer keeps locking up and/or rebooting! Help me find the problem. [more inside]
posted by Effigy2000 on Oct 18, 2006 - 31 answers

I want to learn to create simple Windows desktop applications for my own personal use. What programming language should I start learning? [more inside]
posted by LeeJay on Jul 21, 2006 - 21 answers

Suggest an ultralight laptop? (more inside) [more inside]
posted by CunningLinguist on Jan 17, 2004 - 23 answers