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| The 911 Guardian Phone unveiled at 2005 International Consumer Electronics Show has an 800-ft range from the base station and no monitoring fee, allowing the user to access the 911 (emergency) operator directly. Available in the US in April 2005 for $139. (Reuters) |
Somsubhra Barik: My PC configuration is Intel Pentium IV 2.8 GHz, 512 MB DDR RAM, 80 GB HDD, Intel Original 845 motherboard, ATX cabinet with SMPS, D-Link Data/Fax/Voice 56 kbps external modem (DFM-560ES), Windows XP Professional. I generally keep the modem switched off unless I use the Internet. If I do not switch the modem on during the booting process, it is not detected by the system. I have to switch the modem on and detect it every time I want to access the Internet. I?m told it is a common problem with Windows XP.
TechTalk: Unlike Windows 98/ME, you have to switch the modem on when Windows XP loads. This is a problem with Windows 2000 as well. The stop-gap solution is to switch on the modem, right-click on My Computer from desktop and go to Properties> Hardware>Device Manager. From the Action menu, select ?Scan for Hardware Changes?. The PC will detect the modem.
The other solution is to start Windows with the modem switched off and go to the Control Panel. Switch to Classic View. From Phone and Modem Options, click Modem>Add. Since your modem is switched off, Windows won?t be able to detect it and will automatically accept your previous modem as currently installed.
Alternatively, remove any installed modem from Device Manager, switch off the modem and then click on the Add button. Select the checkbox ?Don?t detect my modem; I will select it from a list? and click Next. From the Model list select ?Standard 56000 bps Modem?. (You can also click Have Disk and instal your modem from the driver CD that came with your modem, though ?Standard 56000 bps Modem? works fine). Click Next. Select the port where your modem is attached (COM1 or COM2) and click Finish.
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| A one-inch hard drive with an 8 GB capacity from Hitachi on display at the Las Vegas show. (AFP) |
Rahul Gupta: I have a Pentium IV PC with 80 GB HDD and Windows 98 and XP. I want to instal Red Hat Linux. I have the Linux CD but don?t know the installation process. Also, is it true that Linux doesn?t support FAT32?
TechTalk: Installing latest Linux distributions has become as easy as installing Windows. Boot your PC from the Red Hat CD or an installation boot floppy disk. Select your package by choosing Personal Desktop, Workstation, Server or Custom. Since you are running multiple operating systems, you should be especially careful in partitioning and formatting your hard disk. You will be asked to choose between automatic and manual partitioning, using Disk Druid. Select manual partitioning. You will have to delete an existing Windows partition to make room for different Linux partitions. For more on disk partition, visit http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL-3-Manual/x8664-multi-install-guide/ap-partitions.html. The rest of the installation process is similar to Windows.
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| A man checks out the interior of a car surrounded with the latest video and audio equipment from Jensen, on display at the mobile electronics section of 2005 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. (Reuters) |
Finally, you?ll have Grub or Lilo as the bootstrap loader to choose between your operating systems. FAT32 is a file system on which Windows operating systems are based. Linux uses a different set of file systems (ext2, ext3, etc). But the latest Linux distributions can share many Windows (FAT or NTFS) files.
Anindya Kar: My PC is has Celeron 1.1 GHz processor, 256 MB SD RAM, 80 GB HDD, 52X CDROM drive, Mercury 810e motherboard with no AGP slots. I have 230V power supply. Can you suggest a good PCI graphics card within Rs 5,000?
TechTalk: Motherboards without AGP slots are not able to provide good graphics performance. You can opt for a system upgrade, rather than spending Rs 5,000 on a PCI graphics card. There are some budget PCI graphics cards available for Rs 500-700, but they offer little performance improvement.
The 32 MB Matrox G450 PCI is the best option (provided you can lay your hands on one). The card costs around Rs 3,500 and is manufactured specifically for the Intel i810-based systems. It has features like third-generation DualHead technology and can be optimised for resolutions up to 1600x1200.
Write in with your computer-related problems to TechTalk. Be sure to include the configuration of your PC and be specific about the problem. Write to techtalk@abpmail.com
