Tips Of The Day For May 2000

Tip Of The Day For May 29, 2000: If you get a strange error message on your PC, look to see if it has a code attached to it, such as "XXX0000231". If it does, you can use this code to search for possible answers to the problem. Enter it into a good, wide-coverage search engine such as Altavista, and you will probably get a few hits that will help you resolve the issue. It's certainly worth a try!

Tip Of The Day For May 26, 2000: The best time to update your motherboard's BIOS is at the time that you install it. Installing the latest BIOS usually provides support for the latest features (such as large hard disk drives) and fixes problems that have been reported since the last BIOS version. However, make sure you save the old BIOS image to a file for reflashing later if needed, since occasionally new bugs are introduced in newer BIOS code.

Tip Of The Day For May 21, 2000: To meet the ATA/ATAPI standard, IDE/ATA interface cables are supposed to be limited to 18" in length. Since some cases are large and devices are far apart, many companies are producing cables that are 24" or even 36" in length. These longer cables may work in your system, but may not. Be careful if you go over the 18" limit. It may be possible to get within the 18" if you rearrange the locations of components in your system.

Tip Of The Day For May 16, 2000: It is common to see software sold at incredibly low prices at computer shows. These boxes are almost always marked as being "not for resale" or "academic versions" and do not convey a full and proper license to use the software. If the deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is, so be sure of what you are buying.

Tip Of The Day For May 11, 2000: For the best results when extracting digital audio from a CD or DVD player or recorder, use the slowest speed supported by your drive. (Some high-quality units can do flawless digital audio extraction even at high speed, but many cannot. If you do DAE often, it's worth experimenting to see what your drive can and cannot do.)

Tip Of The Day For May 7, 2000: If you are having problems with buffer under-runs while copying a CD-ROM to a CD-R drive, here's one possibility to consider: the source disk may be scratched or dirty. This is something that many people wouldn't think to check. If the source drive has problems reading the disk then it will retry the read, and if it isn't able to get the information off the disk fast enough, you'll create a coaster with your CD-R.

Tip Of The Day For May 1, 2000: Many users of older PCs are experiencing problems when attempting to add or upgrade their system memory. Some older PCs are not capable of using the latest memory modules containing new, high-density memory chips. As a result, the system may recognize only a fraction of the memory, or may fail to function entirely. Check your motherboard manual and be sure of what you are buying. Ask the vendor for assistance if necessary, and ensure you can return the item if it is incompatible.

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