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Try it, can’t hurt. Right-click, Save as —.jpg. Insert it in, and report back to us. Be careful about using copyrighted ones in a public doc.

I just did it in Open Office 3 and it works.

Try uninstalling and reinstalling from the CD.

. I can only presume that it did update the file in My Documents because there was a link to it on my Desktop.

You can’t presume that. Was the file actually updated, or was there just a link there.? Links are part of the desktop, therefore the system, not data.

I feel a good backup means having all your data OFF the C partition, and backing up the 2 partitions separately. I’ve been using Tweak UI for years to move the location of My Docs to the D partition, and treating of the 2 partitions as separate entities. I never have to use System Restore, which does only SYSTEM files,not program files. My C image has all my system and program files, and backs or restores in 14 minutes. There is a good discussion of backups at this site, I think under the XP forum.

Or run MalwareBytes AntiMalware.

I advertise my business on craigslist. It’s old and barely functional.

Computers are not a public safety issue so no such rules.

Consumer electronics are exactly that – produced to consume and throw away – a terrible model for the future of our planet.
80% of Western economies are based on consuming what the Far East produces so they in turn can lend the West money to be able to pay for the consumption.
The more we consume the cheaper the goods get.

If you want a top quality operating system that runs and runs with practically any device of any age then install Ubuntu Linux.

I hadn’t thought about the safety issue on cars. Duh. Of course.

The consumption issue as sad. I myself threw out a whole carton full of old hard drives and optical drives, and a mobo, this week. Not obsolete stuff, dead stuff. I know of no place to recycle them within a driveable distance. During this same week, I inspected 2 ancient computers and 2 dead CRT monitors in my apt bldg’s dumpster. I always cannibalize for a few old cards or CD-ROM’s for my old clunker. It wasn’t an even trade.

There was a show on PBS, I think on Frontline, showing what happens to supposedly recycled comp parts in 3rd World nations, possibly some nation in Africa. They’re just poured into huge dumps, where the indigent comb through for parts and materials to sell. Not recycling as we think of it. A guy was reading the HD of a woman in the US on his own computer. So even the supposed recycling of dead parts has a glitch in the system.

And I am building a Linux computer soon or more likely I’ll dual boot till I get used to it. This last dead mobo and 2 HD’s were a turning point for me. And I’m looking more into recycled parts, but not hard drives, too risky. Here’s another place, recommended by a mod at VirtualDr.com

http://www.pcsurplus…e.com/index.cfm

Cliff–

The constant technological upgrades are really great for you builders and people who can afford it as a hobby. The wealth of parts is staggering, like being in, let’s say the Library of Congress or the Met Museum or the cheese dept at Zabar’s. I spent some months on the Tom’s Hardware forum, and saw a side of computing that none of my clients or I ever use. Was most impressed by the case with the slim fishtank attacked to the side, the one made from hand-carved wood, and the one with the 9 hard drives. After looking around, I answered queries only at the XP and software sections.

Being almost totally unemployed the past 2 years, I built because I didn’t have the money to buy a new one, and because I wanted XP again. For the “soccer moms” and auto mechanics and “Joe the Plumbers” using their comps as glorified typewriters and for getting pics of the grandkids, the new technologies are overkill.

What do you do with your obsolete and dead parts, Cliff?

Thanks, Peterg. Good point about peripherals.

Anyone have any idea what happens to the 54″ TV’s when they go to TV heaven or when the technology becomes outdated?

HP desktop for $299 + tax and shipping: http://www.shopping….g/p6300z_seriesI think it’s a mistake to choose XP over Win 7 but if you must, use your old XP disks to install on the new PC. It’s a pain to do but it saves you $300.

My printer, scanner, many apps won’t run in Win 7. Did you consider that in your cost? I can replace the software with open-source, but the peripherals? Would you buy a used printer or the Brooklyn Bridge on Ebay? BTW–I have a perfectly good printer, the same model as mine, in the closet, to use when this one goes. My scanner is a refurb that I bought about 6 years ago, not from Ebay, and runs beautifully. Actually I repair computers as a sideline business. I have MSDN XP Pro and Home licenses, don’t buy new copies. Not a mistake to keep XP. it works well for me, but not quite like my TV that has never needed a repair since I bought it in 2000. You’ve bought into MS’s concept that newer and faster and more hip (the dancing windows in Vista” src=”http://lounge.windowssecrets.com/public/style_emoticons/default/evilgrin.gif”>) is better. MS mproved XP for 9 years, then they replaced it with an Edsel. Now they’re replacing the Edsel with an admittedly better system that will need 9 more years of tweaks. Pleeeeeese. /rolleyes.gif’ class=’bbc_emoticon’ alt=’:rolleyes:’ />”> But is it 7 better than XP? I’ve advised all my clints that unless they have some pressing need for a Win 7 feature, and if it works well for them, keep XP until the 2014 deadline. By that time, Win 7 will have some wrinkles ironed out too. But by 2014, MS will try to convince us that Win 7 is too old, and therefore inferior to the next one. I’m dual booting with Linux soon, and will have the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, the general non-geeky public is not even aware of Linux. Linux will even run on this clunker.

MildBill- I don’t beieve I’m a victim. I believe that marketing is victimizing EVERYONE, and a lot of sheeple don’t see it, or have lost any real priority of how to spend their money. (See Joan below.)

Technology is not progressing to answer consumer demand; the tail is wagging the dog. Did the public demand a tri-core, then quad core CPU or mobos with 16 GB RAM, or was it the other way around? Did we know we had to edit our videos before the mfers told us we needed to?

[/color]Mfers can’t keep drivers for old parts, but don’t need to constantly change those
scanners (just an example). Did the public demand multiple changes in printers and scanners every year? If they sell a really reliable scanner that people can rely on for years, and build a reputation for quality, why take it off the market? Bec, of course, they won’t work with Vista, or Win 7, or whatever comes next.

Was the public clamoring for 54″ TV’s, or high-def? Did they know that Zune, Ipod, Kindle, Nook, Ipad were essential to their happiness before they actually bought them? Did anyone contact the cell phones and say they needed the internet while away from home?

I can’t afford a BMW, because there’s also Toyota. Lower down the scale there’s Hyundai. I don’thave to walk into the BMW place and explain to them I’m low-end. But I have no problem finding parts for my 15-year old Toyota either, oddly, not even the computer inside Why is it my mecahanic still repair my car easily, but 15-year old parts for a computer would be unthinkable. In fact trying to run a 15-year old comp with today’s apps would be impossible, so don’t bother.

The sheeple have accepted it as their way of life, and as us older folks die out, the old ways of consumerism will be long forgotten. And the person who brought up the Model T is waaaaaaaay off here. [/color]We’re not supporting American workers. We’re supporting 3rd-World countries and China, where many folks can’t afford to buy the elecronics they’re producing.

I have a customer who has 4 of those huge TV’s at her place. She and spouse are uneducated, spouse has a small contracting co, let’s call them by NYC area standards, middle-middle class. Home is maybe only $650,000, way below the Westchester County average. As my primary field is home repair, I can say the house was cookie cutter and built of junk, and with almost no surrounding property. So they’re below many of my other clients.

I was there during the last TV installation, done by specialists in TV installation. Price was $500, at that was 2 years ago. I wanted to shake her by the shoulders (but of course, didn’t:)

“Joan, you’re living a modest life. Are you really a happier person now? Would your life be blighted without the 500 TV channels, of which 496 are still pouring out garbage? The content hasn’t improved, only the medium is ever-changing.” (cf: McLuhan)

“Would the kids be considered uneducated (the worst insult I can think of) without the latest Ipods and smart-phones? Yet you nickel-and-dimed me about repairing the closet door. Is the door that keeps falling on people’s toes less important than the $3000 TV’s?”

What will the Joans of the world do when the technologies on those TV’s get a few years old? Have them removed, parts replaced, and rehung on the wall? Or just put them out on the lawn for garbage pickup, along with the old computers?

Will look into buying a burner after I get my rent and health insurance money together. And your own imaging software is what? I have EASEUS Todo Backup and Seagate Backup, and both have done well by me so far, but not on DVD’s.

No need to worry about my spending “a little more time” in maintenance of DVD’s, or even pouring more money into yet more parts. If any car had as many components that broke down as often, or required as much maintenance as computers, we would all RMA our cars every few months, and we’d be walking everywhere. Or if I were told that I could no longer get parts for a 5-year old car. (Actually mine is 15, but hey, it’s aToyota.) “The medium has become the message,” to paraphrase McLuhan a little.

I don’t have a DVD burner, never had any use for it, but even DVD burners die.

The smallest HD I’ve found on the web is about $38+shpg. I just hook my backup drive onto an existing SATA or IDE cable, then take it off. Don’t fuss with more hardware than necessary. KISS.

So you have your image, buy a new DVD player, but don’t they keep changing the DVD formats, with that built-in obsolescence principal that keeps the computer parts industry so lucrative?

My C drive image is about 7 GB. How do YOU handle the splitting problem?

My IT friend finally started testing today. The video connector on the mobo is a little loose, and one stick of RAM is either bad or disliked by this mobo. This particular mobo has a history of not “liking” certain RAM, but my friend has no mobo for DDR2 to test the stick.

Will start reassembling tomorrow and decide if the loose video conn. is worth the aggravation and postal expense of an RMA. And yes, I probably need that little plug-in front speaker to hear beeps. But sometimes there’s a BIOS setting to transfer the beeps to the onboard audio.

The other problem, of using UBDCDWin has been resolved, because the drive with my image has died also, so I have to redo everything from scratch: 86 programs, 9 years of XP tweaks, dozens of settings. But over the years I’ve learned to keep good notes, lists and program installers.

Thanks to you both for your help.

Did you try what I suggested? If not, you haven’t ruled anything out definitively. Try POST with RAM and Graphics only; no addin cards, no hard drive, no anything. If the PSU is good and if all is well with your motherboard, you will get a message to the effect, “No boot device”. If you don’t get that message, then you either have bad RAM or a DOA motherboard.

For these troubleshooting techniques, you don’t need to be able to hear beep codes, just look at the monitor.

Graphics, sound, LAN are onboard. I had already told Byron somewhere above that I had tried it with minimal parts, then only 1 RAM stick, out of the case. There’s nothing on the monitor, and no post. And, yes, it’s a functioning monitor, thankgoddess they’re all interchangeable for testing. PSU and RAM are good.

Pardon me while I stick pins into a voodoo doll of Newegg. Are they supposed to be responsible for checking out parts before they send them? Or is that the responsibility of the mfer?

bb-You missed the mobo specs at Newegg and my previous descriptions. You also missed that the HD is brand new, not even formatted yet.

And the RAM is fine, bec I was using it until the old mobo died. There is no posting or any other beeps bec of the reason I cited above, which you didn’t read. Everything is onboard, as I tried to keep the build as simple as possible.

Byron– I might have an old AGP graphics cards from this comp, but….

Yeah, it’s hard when you have no testing equipment and not enough old parts to swap out. If I had foreseen the past 2 years of nightmares with the thing, I never would have built it. Hindsight is 20/20.

I’m waiting for a my friend to email back if he wants to look at the mobo. He has testing equipment and parts, as he’s a retrired IT person who still works part-time..

I’m totally disgusted because I went througfh 3 Thermaltake PSU’s under warranty in 3 months, and Gigabyte is screwing me. TG they’re opening a MicroCenter near me soon, ending the long nightmare of packaging , shipping and RMA’s.

If they send me a good mobo, will I still need a dongle to produce post codes? Can you cite a dongle online, pref at Newegg? This is weird. I’ve had 6 computers, 8 mobos total, and never one that had no means of beeping.

I solved the on-off problem. The 4-pin next to the 20-pin wasn’t fitting in tightly.

I tried the mobo out of the case,check all wires, pulled RAM, and still no beeps or post..

As I said, the manual claims the beep comes from the 4 pins I’ve marked in red, but I’ve never had a matching wire. Never had a front speakers on this case or any case, and my old XFX mobo just had a built-in beeper. I thought case wiring was pretty standard. I’ve been all over the net trying to find my missing beeps. Maybe I should ring Gigabyte next week.

So it’s not posting or showing video, and is “beeping” silently, but we don’t know what it’s signaling. But if the mobo’s DOA, does it matter?

should say front AUDIO wire