Hmmm?

Just finished watching The Gadget Show, MM? ;-)

Doc: Er, no. What did I miss?

Thanks MM. Better the Devil you know, particularly when you know nothing, as in my case, so I'll stick with IE!

I need to have a blitz on my broadband availability in my apartment this weekend.

Just what is the danger of using an unencrypted WiFi signal? I well understand the problem of others piggybacking and running up costs in the days when we paid by volume of data. But, what can go wrong now?

Why don't I want to continue with my WEP encryption? Because I'll need at least two, if not three WiFi transmitters to get me the coverage I need and I have heard one cannot have the same WEP codes on more than one transmitter. Yes/No ?

TP

Well I was setting up my broadband WiFi recently. I couldn't get it to connect from a notebook. I let the adapter software just find any connection. I thought it was mine. I started surfing the internet and everything was very good. I had a look at the file system and tried to access files on my main PC. I found a shared folder and browsed it. I found the 'my pictures' and a fodler called dad's pictures. The PC used to belong to my deceased father, so I openned some of the picture files. There was a picture of a woman breastfeeding her baby. Other files in the shared area looked like bank statements, CV letters and stock trading details.

I recognised the woman as someone who lives two doors away!!!!!!!!

So, Haystack, you are saying that I don't protect my WiFi from neighbours, by something like WEP at least, they will be able to look at my hard disk by simply using Windows Explorer ?

Scarey.

TP

Haystack. Are you saying you recognised her from her breasts? RESPECT!
:-)

Hi you guys, I need a little help pls, how do I ID what type of slot my motherboard has? I want to hook up three monitors using one pc. ( A Matrox P750 wont fit!)
My pc's a Dell Dimentions 5150c 2.8 D/820, 12 wks old. Can't find any info that came with it. TIA Mike....

chartist2004

Not good news, I'm afraid.

First off, it's not a Dell 'Dimentions'. It's a Dell 'Dimension'.

Entering 'Dell Dimension 5150c 2.8 D/820' in Google gets you various web sites for a specification. After having a quick skim at some of them, I chose the following:-

http://www.cnet.co.uk/misc/print/0,39030763,39195843,00.htm

and on it I found the following remark:

Design

The Dimension 5150c is undeniably attractive. Its silver and white colour scheme gives it an almost (whisper it) Mac-like appearance, and its slim, upright chassis gives it the look of a games console. The front panel is very uncluttered, but hit the open button and the top half automatically slides upwards then horizontally along the top of the case to reveal a selection of ports. There are two USB ports, mic and headphone sockets, and an ultra-slim optical drive that was originally designed for laptop use.

The Dimension 5150c's internal layout is very different to that of an ordinary PC. True to its BTX roots, there's a fan located at the front of the case that draws cool air over the processor and motherboard chipset in a very efficient manner.

By using the smallest BTX variant (picoBTX), Dell has been able to cram the components of the Dimension 5150c into a relatively small space. It's just 310mm high, 91mm wide and 363mm deep, so it's just as happy under a desk as it is taking pride of place next to your monitor.

The only drawback of its diminutive stature is that there's very little room for upgrading with internal components. There are vacant PCI Express slots (x16 and x1), but only half-height cards will fit. As a result, the Dimension 5150c can't accept large, powerful graphics adaptors.

The 5150c's BTX design makes it a cooler, quieter PC, but there's not much room inside to upgrade

The 5150c's laptop DVDRW drive may also cause problems for upgraders. There's no possibility of adding a second internal drive as there physically isn't room for one, and swapping it for a new one could prove costly, as laptop drives are typically more expensive than their desktop counterparts.

Features

In adhering to the Intel Viiv standard, the Dimension 5150c uses a dual-core CPU and Windows XP Media Center Edition, and has a 5.1-channel audio card. Various processor options are available, but Dell recommends the Intel Pentium D 820, which runs at 2.8GHz. In our review sample, this is joined by 1GB of DDR2 533MHz memory and the Intel 945G chipset. The latter affords the 5150c an integrated graphics adaptor, which in this case is the rather pedestrian ATI Radeon X600 SE.

Despite its poor graphics performance, the Dimension 5150c is a perfectly capable PC in other areas. Its dual-core processor is quick enough to handle intensive tasks like video encoding, and it can multitask without breaking a sweat.

There are five discrete audio ports at the rear of the PC, courtesy of the motherboard's integrated audio card. This features an optical digital Sony/Philips Digital Interface (SPDIF) output port for driving a set of surround-sound speakers using cables that provide the highest possible sound quality. The 2.1-channel speakers provided in the package weren't very impressive but you can always customise your PC with a superior 5.1-channel speaker setup (an extra 70 on the Dell site).

If you really do want to run three monitors, maybe you should knock it out on eBay and think about buying a more upgradeable machine?

I am trying to connect an Apple Mac laptop to a Windows xp network so it can share a BT Broadband connection on the windows machine.

I know nothing about Mac's and the windows wizard does not find it.
Can any one point me in the direction of an Idiots guide please.
Graeme.

TP:

Encryption is only part of the issue. The key thing is to restrict the routers to allow connexion only from the MAC addresses (hardware addresses that look like this 00:11:50:7c:e2:ba) of your computer(s). That way, your neighbours can't get into your network and examine any of the contents of your computers.

You can use the same WEP key, AFAIK, on each router. What I would do is set each router to use a different radio channel. The laptop (which I assume is what you're carrying around) should simply offer you a choice of base to link to -- pick the one with the strongest signal.

PS for Haystack: But did the baby look like you?

Just reading about U3 drives. Does anyone have any experience of them?

http://www.u3.com/

SC,

http://www.theshowguide.co.uk/index.php?main=showvenues

Two earlier ?s

I have an Epsom R 300. I went to PC World and they quoted 50+ for a set of inks.

At the computer fair I paid 20 for 3sets. I had no problems and to my eyes the photos were as good if not better than the Epsom inks.

I have used these inks for many years on other machines without problems. The address above should get you there.

AS far as cleaing screen buy a cheap chamois leather square from the pound shop, marvellous I use it for cleaning the screen and my glasses, Keeping it slightly moist, in a plastic bag, after washing it with the smallest amount of washing up detergent.

Thanks Fred

MM.

Thanks for that on WiFi.

My current set-up is an ADSL modem router with WiFi. It is set to require WEP and it is next to my laptop which communicates with the WiFi. I also have a PDA with WiFi and that provides me with a quick way of checking e:mails as it saves having to boot up the laptop.

I now want to move the laptop into a different room.

I plan to use an Ethernet cable from the existing router to one of those internet devices that transmit the signal through the electricity mains sockets.

I'll put a similar socket device in the other room and feed that, via ethernet cable, into another WiFi transmitter. In theory that will enable me to have the laptop WiFi connected in the other room - and also for me to use the PDA in that room as well. Hence the wish to use the same WEP codes, as it seems simpler. But I must admit that I had not thought of forcing that new WiFi device on to a different channel.

If this all works as I hope I'll have the ability to use the laptop and PDA in the new room - and still be able to use the PDA in the current room as I'll not be getting rid of the WiFi.

These socket devices seem to be well respected. I have seen one brand that is not only a socket that picks up the internet coming through the mains, but is also has a WiFi transmitter built into it. Certainly that will be neater - but I'll use a separate WiFi transmitter for the moment as I already have an unused one lurking somewhere.

You mentioned hex codes. Am I not right in thinking that WEP gives me that protection?

TP.

On a slightly different topic, I believe a 'broadband through the mains' idea was trialled in Scotland.

I live just a bit too far from my enabled exchange to enjoy anything better than 1mbps down my phone line. I wonder how it worked out? Perhaps the diameter of the copper wire isn't/wasn't the main problem?

Morning guys

i have finally received my laptop back from toshiba with a new hard drive installed but have 2 problems.

Firstly, and most importantly, the laptop says it cannot find any wireless networks to connect to meaning i cant get onto my wireless connection (run through my other machine). Is there a set up i need to do as i thought the computer should find the network automatically.

Secondly, they have installed a diff version of windows (basic rather than media centre). Is it difficult to change this using the original discs and if not how do i go about it

many thanks in advance

Also, i have got my old hard drive back and would like to try and get the data recovered (i know i should have backed it up). Can anyone recommend a company in oxfordshire or via post?

Have managed to fix the connection issue - didnt realise there was a "wireless connection" switch :-)

Fundy,

Before you re-load all your data - are you sure this might not be a chance to upgrade your version of Windows to XP or something?

I b*gg*r*d my photographic studio PC and never regret the consequencies as it gave me the impetus to move from Win 2000 - which I would not have bothered to do otherwise.

TP