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Computer advice thread ("What's the best way to do this?")

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  • Did you guys miss this part of my post?
    Never fear, because there is a perfect place, and it is free! Click this link and you can take Computer Science 101 at MIT.

    http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-00-introduction-to-computer-science-and-programming-fall-2008/
    You can take CS 101 at MIT for free via pre-recorded video lectures online. It's the perfect thing for you, and many other peoples.
  • Did you guys miss this part of my post?
    Okay, so if I took that course, do you think I'd be prepared for the first course I wanted?
  • Did you guys miss this part of my post?
    Okay, so if I took that course, do you think I'd be prepared for the first course I wanted?
    Absolutely. You might even be beyond it.
  • Did you guys miss this part of my post?
    Never fear, because there is a perfect place, and it is free! Click this link and you can take Computer Science 101 at MIT.

    http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-00-introduction-to-computer-science-and-programming-fall-2008/
    You can take CS 101 at MIT for free via pre-recorded video lectures online. It's the perfect thing for you, and many other peoples.
    Some people do prefer a real sit down course with a real instructor you can ask questions of, etc. My wife is one of them. We've been discussing what to do as she would like to take an intro to programming course to help her better understand programmers when she works with them and maybe do bit of small-time programming herself (she's a print and web graphic designer without any real programming knowledge other than some really basic javascript). I'll mention this class to her just to see if she's interested, but I have a feeling she still would want a "real" course.
  • edited May 2011
    @Lou - I prefer actual courses as well. I think it's a procrastination thing in addition to a preference in learning style. I can easily imagine watching two or three of those web lectures and then just kinda forgetting about the whole thing if I didn't have the added pressure of being required to show up for class, do homework, and prepare for exams.
    Post edited by HungryJoe on
  • @HungryJoe I'm not that much better in that respect, to be honest. It's part of the reason why I often like to have some sort of project in mind when I go off to learn a new programming language, technique, API, etc. -- it gives me something I can work towards and measure my progress with. Even then, unless I have a hard deadline for this pet project, I'll also sometimes procrastinate without the hard deadlines of a real class.
  • @Lou - I prefer actual courses as well. I think it's a procrastination thing in addition to a preference in learning style. I can easily imagine watching two or three of those web lectures and then just kinda forgetting about the whole thing if I didn't have the added pressure of being required to show up for class, do homework, and prepare for exams.
    There are course materials and exams and such you can do. But yeah, will power is important.
  • Laptop RAM upgrade:

    This is what dell.com says my computer needs:
    Official RAM

    Here is what I am actually looking at buying:
    Newegg RAM

    Is there any reason the newegg won't work in my comp? CAS latency is different, but I think that doesn't matter. Also, dell says "DDR3 SDRAM", while newegg only says "DDR3". Is that an issue, or is it still the same thing?
  • Looks the same to me. Does your laptop have two slots or one?
  • Is there any reason the newegg won't work in my comp? CAS latency is different, but I think that doesn't matter. Also, dell says "DDR3 SDRAM", while newegg only says "DDR3". Is that an issue, or is it still the same thing?
    My experience has been that pre-built computers and laptops can be really picky about the memory you use. I bought generic ram for my laptop once only to have it not work at all. I'm not saying buy the dell ram though. What I did is I went to Kingston's website and they have ram that they know will work with your computer. It was far cheaper than the manufacturer in my case.
  • 2 slots.
  • edited June 2011
    If you have any doubt, you may want to try Crucial.com for your RAM. I haven't priced them vis. a vis. NewEgg, but they have always been reasonably priced IMHO. They also have a little app you can download to automatically query your computer to determine what type of RAM to get and they have been very good about returns without any hassle, restocking fees, etc. when I've purchased incompatible RAM (according to their own compatibility tools) that didn't work. Plus, they're the direct store for Micron RAM and I happen to like Micron RAM.

    Of course, their site is currently down for maintenance, so I can't currently compare their price as opposed to NewEgg's.

    Edit: Okay, the site's back up, and they're charging about $21 more than NewEgg for what appears to be RAM with the same specs. Not sure if the pluses of Crucial are worth the extra $21, but I guess you can use their memory adviser tool just to properly spec out the RAM you need, I guess, and then buy RAM with the same specs elsewhere.
    Post edited by Dragonmaster Lou on
  • What's the best way to get rid of a RECYCLER virus on like 50 school computers, if you don'tknow enough to manually edit the registry?
  • What's the best way to get rid of a RECYCLER virus on like 50 school computers, if you don'tknow enough to manually edit the registry?
    If you have any virus or malware the only solution is to completely reinstall the OS on all machines. If you have a lab full of computers, you should have some sort of imaging system setup that you can use.
  • What's the best way to get rid of a RECYCLER virus on like 50 school computers, if you don'tknow enough to manually edit the registry?
    If you have any virus or malware the only solution is to completely reinstall the OS on all machines. If you have a lab full of computers, you should have some sort of imaging system setup that you can use.
    Unfortunitely, I don't think there is one. Yesterday I went through the old programs and had to delete stuff from 2005.
  • Unfortunitely, I don't think there is one. Yesterday I went through the old programs and had to delete stuff from 2005.
    You can't manage 50 machines by hand. You will be there forever. I don't know what is good nowadays, but get the best modern equivalent that does the same thing Norton Ghost did and image those bitches.
  • Unfortunitely, I don't think there is one. Yesterday I went through the old programs and had to delete stuff from 2005.
    You can't manage 50 machines by hand. You will be there forever. I don't know what is good nowadays, but get the best modern equivalent that does the same thing Norton Ghost did and image those bitches.
    There's no anti-virus that will work?
  • There's no anti-virus that will work?
    There is no way to 100% trust a computer that's been infected with malware.
  • Unfortunitely, I don't think there is one. Yesterday I went through the old programs and had to delete stuff from 2005.
    You can't manage 50 machines by hand. You will be there forever. I don't know what is good nowadays, but get the best modern equivalent that does the same thing Norton Ghost did and image those bitches.
    There's no anti-virus that will work?
    It's possible that there is an anti-virus that will work, but there is no way to confirm that it worked 100%. A rootkit could easily fool you. Once a computer has been infected it is now untrustworthy until all of its software has been replaced.

    In fact, viruses are getting more insidious. Someone recently discovered a way to infect laptop battery firmware. That means that even if you reinstall the OS, the battery in the laptop could re-infect the new clean OS immediately on boot. To be super absolutely sure you have to reflash all firmware of every component of the machine. Any modifiable software on the computer or any of its parts must be replaced with known-good bytes.

    If you are even more paranoid, you have to start the computer in a clean environment. And even if no infection is detected, if that computer left the clean environment it can never be trusted ever again.
  • edited August 2011
    Unfortunitely, I don't think there is one. Yesterday I went through the old programs and had to delete stuff from 2005.
    You can't manage 50 machines by hand. You will be there forever. I don't know what is good nowadays, but get the best modern equivalent that does the same thing Norton Ghost did and image those bitches.
    I was just fired from there, but where I worked we easily managed 2000 computers using Symantec Ghost Solution Suite, which is basically the enterprise version of Norton Ghost. We could take up and push images remotely, as well as execute commands, copy files, and install software. During imaging, the software automatically changes the name of the machine an image is pushed to to the proper name of the machine, and even puts it back into the domain.
    Post edited by Victor Frost on
  • Well, we're making images for the computers. The virus has probably been there for many years, so any earlier images are worthless. What kinda pisses me off though is that we should have done this from the start; I spent like 12 hours installing and uninstalling shit from them already.
  • Another dumb question: Would it be bad/inadvisable to get an HP computer now? I'm asking from the point of view of the mere fact that my wife told me that she read that HP is "getting out of the business".
  • edited August 2011
    Another dumb question: Would it be bad/inadvisable to get an HP computer now? I'm asking from the point of view of the mere fact that my wife told me that she read that HP is "getting out of the business".
    HP is selling their PC business to someone else yet to be determined just like how IBM sold their PC business to Lenovo. HP computers suck, so it's never a good idea to buy one unless there is some ludicrous discount like there is with the Touchpad.
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • HP computers suck, so it's never a good idea to buy one unless there is some ludicrous discount like there is with the Touchpad.
    Yeah, that's the main reason I'm attracted to this particular HP. It's pretty deeply discounted. Why exactly do they suck? Is that just to say that they suck for someone like you, who has lots of expertise and wants something better, or would they still suck for me, someone who has very little expertise and so doesn't know any better?
  • They're just not well built, and their customer support sucks giant balls. Is it a desktop or laptop?
  • edited August 2011
    Yeah, that's the main reason I'm attracted to this particular HP. It's pretty deeply discounted. Why exactly do they suck? Is that just to say that they suck for someone like you, who has lots of expertise and wants something better, or would they still suck for me, someone who has very little expertise and so doesn't know any better?
    At first you wouldn't think it was bad for you, but later on you would learn that I was right. The bloatware and crapware that are pre-installed would give you a shitty experience unless you reinstall a clean windows. The cheap non-standard hardware will cause weird problems down the line. It will probably only last two or three years, let alone five. The poor design will cause it to fill with dust and overheat. The power supply will probably just fail on its own. The magic smoke will come out. Then it will accidentally cause an evil demon to be summoned and disease everyone in your house.
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • My HP laptop really crapped out on me after 2 years. The touchpad buttons went to shit (the slightest touch of the buttons would cause them to click), the keyboard was crapping the bed, the battery life was always garbage... Just buy an Asus, Acer, or Lenovo.
  • Yeah, that's the main reason I'm attracted to this particular HP. It's pretty deeply discounted. Why exactly do they suck? Is that just to say that they suck for someone like you, who has lots of expertise and wants something better, or would they still suck for me, someone who has very little expertise and so doesn't know any better?
    At first you wouldn't think it was bad for you, but later on you would learn that I was right. The bloatware and crapware that are pre-installed would give you a shitty experience unless you reinstall a clean windows. The cheap non-standard hardware will cause weird problems down the line. It will probably only last two or three years, let alone five. The poor design will cause it to fill with dust and overheat. The power supply will probably just fail on its own. The magic smoke will come out. Then it will accidentally cause an evil demon to be summoned and disease everyone in your house.
    After a year and a half working with over 1000 HP workstations, THIS IS ALL TRUE.
  • Demons and diseases are things I generally try to avoid. I will not get the HP.
  • My printer wasn't printing properly and my document didn't save properly. Can I recover it from the print queue somehow? Would it be stored in a temporary file somewhere? It's due tomorrow.
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