Hey all - I have an old HP laptop from 2005, still working, but quite old now. I was tempted to recycle it, but I have a chance to give it a new life. I also have a kid on the way, so I was thinking about wiping it and making it the kid's computer in 2-3 years when he's likely to be interested in it. Thoughts, suggestions? [more inside]
posted by cyclotronboy on Oct 25, 2012 - 7 answers

How can I go about transferring my OS to a new SSD but leave my other programs without totally breaking everything? [more inside]
posted by _DB_ on Jul 23, 2012 - 11 answers

Inherited a MacBook Pro! Looking for some help/guidance for a PC user. [more inside]
posted by dbirchum on Feb 17, 2012 - 15 answers

What was the first computer operating system to use device drivers as we would recognize them today? Bonus question: when was that specific term first used?
posted by idiopath on Jun 14, 2011 - 14 answers

Does anyone have any experience with either Sugar or Qimo OS? Looking to build a computer for my 4 y.o. son. [more inside]
posted by askmehow on May 26, 2011 - 2 answers

I have been looking for an Ubuntu users group in New York, N.Y. Does anyone know of such a thing? That is - a group of users (with a few enlightened and charismatic geeks among them), for mutual support, learning, and troubleshooting. (I'm not talking about learning Linux, now - just making the best of Ubuntu!) Ubuntu is a beautiful thing, and when it 'just works', it just works. But often it...well, doesn't, and you have to find a workaround. The online Ubuntu community is great, but it would be nice to tear my hair out (and exult in my occasional success) among flesh-and-blood people.
posted by ferkit on Jan 3, 2011 - 9 answers

Mac OSX Filter: How can I change the details displayed for files in a directory while in list view? [more inside]
posted by reenum on Aug 24, 2009 - 7 answers

Sometime around the beginning of this year, my Intuos2 Model 0608-U 6"x8" Wacom tablet driver stopped loading upon login and restart. I reinstall it every time I login/restart. All of the tips, tricks, workarounds suggested by both Wacom and Apple do not work. I am running Mac OS 10.5.7. Is there anything left to try? [more inside]
posted by iamkimiam on Jul 28, 2009 - 5 answers

Advice for a server newb who needs help getting started with a simple media/backup/torrent server? [more inside]
posted by wastelands on May 29, 2009 - 12 answers

WTF? I thought I knew what I was doing! I reinstalled WinXP on C:\ and it screwed up all my drive letters and made a secondary partition into a system partition. Help me get it back to normal! [more inside]
posted by jluce50 on Jan 10, 2009 - 7 answers

What Linux Should I Use?-Also need advice/help setting up drivers/random linux stuff? for my computerI'm a pretty knowledgeable guy about computers. I also want to be able to have vista on my computer, and hopefully keep my laptops extra functionalities such as fingerprint reader. [more inside]
posted by Javed_Ahamed on May 1, 2008 - 27 answers

Best Linux Based OS? [more inside]
posted by slowtree on Nov 28, 2007 - 21 answers

I am going to be buying/building a new computer soon to replace my Powerbook G4 and I am debating whether to get a Windozer or a new Mac. I thought I might be able to build my own X86 machine and install OSX on it using something like OSX86. Has anyone done something like this? [more inside]
posted by Aanidaani on May 30, 2007 - 12 answers

A long shot, I know. Can the monitors on Intel iMacs be connected to a Windows box? [more inside]
posted by Gordion Knott on Sep 4, 2006 - 10 answers

What are some books and resources that can help a Windows expert make the transition to Linux for good? [more inside]
posted by sprocket87 on Jul 7, 2006 - 13 answers

What is the best OS for my old (650MHz Dell with 128MB RAM, 25GB hard drive) PC that I plan to give to my friend's parents? I plan on completely wiping the hard drive, and starting from scratch, but... [more inside]
posted by ObscureReferenceMan on Jun 2, 2006 - 28 answers

Three days ago, my Verizon DSL stopped working. Now it's working again but is quite slow. Any thoughts as to the cause? [more inside]
posted by cahlers on Jun 14, 2005 - 14 answers

Laptop Clean XP Install:
1] My (on board?) sound card is unrecognised. How do I find out what drivers to use?

2] What programs do you really think I need? I already have VNC, VLC, Firefox, Thunderbird and AVG installed. What else should I add? (Freeware/OS appriciated but not needed.) [more inside]
posted by twine42 on Dec 16, 2004 - 8 answers

Here's a hard one: why can’t I copy my files? [More griping inside] [more inside]
posted by Termite on Jun 28, 2004 - 7 answers

I'm considering upgrading the processor (and possibly the motherboard) on an older PC. Am I going to have to reformat the HD? Obviously, I'll back up all the data just in case, but I was under the impression that the OS would just find the new hardware upon booting up for the first time. The 14 year-old at the local CompUSA claims otherwise--that I'll have to rebuild the OS once I put the new processor in place. So which is it?
posted by jpoulos on Dec 30, 2003 - 8 answers