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

Does anyone have any recommendations for a quiet PC? [more inside]
posted by ascullion on Nov 19, 2007 - 17 answers

What could cause every desktop computer in the same house to begin randomly powering down on their own? [more inside]
posted by Teevee's Bella on Feb 22, 2007 - 18 answers

Can you help me, in words of one syllable, get my new external hard drive working again or at least rescue my music and pictures? [more inside]
posted by mygothlaundry on Jun 6, 2006 - 6 answers

Why can't I burn a music CD? [more inside]
posted by Miko on Oct 17, 2005 - 9 answers

Hopefully simple question about hot-swapping between PCs and Macs. [more inside]
posted by jonathanbell on Jul 13, 2005 - 8 answers

I have a room with six computers, each with a copy of a few new FPS games. I want to play deathmatches, etc. (using all 6 computers) with people outside the room. What is the minimum recommended bandwidth to connect this room to the internets in order to maintain a high quality gaming experience? Does it matter how many people outside the room are playing or is the amount of data being passed in and out of the room fairly consistent regardless of whether there are, say 6 or 18 people playing outside the room?

Super bonus points for estimated monthly bandwidth costs at a commercial location in the DC metro area.
posted by i love cheese on Feb 12, 2005 - 7 answers

I need recommendations for e-mail spamfilters for the PC. I use (and love) SpamSieve on the Mac, and now need something similar for a friend running Outlook 98 (or 2000, can't remember) on Windows 2000. What's the best PC spamfilter?
posted by jdroth on Dec 13, 2004 - 8 answers

My PC resets whenever I boot from power-off state. [MI] [more inside]
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Dec 6, 2004 - 16 answers

Can I dock MSN Messenger on the side of my (Windows XP) screen? [mi] [more inside]
posted by sanitycheck on Nov 26, 2004 - 4 answers

My PC has developed a sudden allergy to various types of Media files (Windows, Quicktime) causing the PC to freeze and have to be rebooted! (MI) [more inside]
posted by zaelic on Oct 16, 2004 - 1 answer

Is there any free app that will allow an officefull of networked Macs and one PC to share an address book?
posted by signal on Aug 24, 2004 - 10 answers

My old PC (Celeron 466, 128 MB RAM) died after many years of loyal service. I inherited a gutted computer case (mother board, power source, a Pentium III processor, nothing else.) Can I cannibalize my old PC for parts to build a new computer? More inside... [more inside]
posted by zaelic on Jul 29, 2004 - 12 answers

Some months ago I bought a RAID card for my desktop PC, and a second hard drive. I'd like to set up a mirrored RAID array just to decrease my chances of ever losing any data. My problem is that the instructions are clear on how to install the card, but not on what to do if I ever experience trouble. Can I take one drive from a mirrored array and put it in another machine? If one drive fails, will the other just keep trucking and boot the PC? Any experience getting a mirrored RAID set up, or recovering one, would be appreciated.
posted by scarabic on May 5, 2004 - 7 answers

Trying to solve the problem of my computer spontaneously restarting. (more inside) [more inside]
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Apr 26, 2004 - 15 answers