webcams

Computer Aid Posted on by

I’ve had some fun with webcams during the last 2 weeks.

I purchased a ultra cheap webcam from china (via ebay), and got it running (the original driver on the CD didn’t work correctly, but the latest driver from the net did the trick).

Its supposed to be an “infrared” webcam, but its just a normal webcam with white LEDs.

The problem seems to be that at low light levels, the exposure time is so high, that you get something like 2 – 5 blurred images per second. Not good as a surveillance camera.

And the surveillance software make it even worse (it has a “capture when motion is detected” mode, but it only seems to start recoding 2 seconds after the “motion”).

Anyway, I’m investigating some other software which might do a better job.

Outlook express & faulty modem

Computer Aid Posted on by

Had a small business call about problems with email & internet (after they upgraded their computer system).

Tried to copy all their outlook express (OE) emails & folders using the export/import function… but to no avail (I think I need to brush up on my OE skills).

Eventually used the winxp “system settings migration” wizard, to copy everything over…

But still no dialup connection… eventually tracked it down to a faulty modem (the modem log showed no response from the modem), so a quick swap of modems fixed everything, except for a strange error message while sending emails, but it doesn’t stop the emails from being sent, so we decided to just leave it for the moment.

Strange ADSL problem (Switching / churning ADSL)

Computer Aid Posted on by

Went to see a client that was having problems connecting her ADSL modem (to her laptop).

It was a new connection & she was looking to move away from dialup.

I had just started getting some flu symptoms, so I wasn’t feeling to good (which might be why I didn’t fix this problem as quickly as I would have liked).

The carrier is Optus & while running the standard modem install utility, I’d get an error message about not being able to complete the modem setup.

The client had already spent a few hours on the phone to Optus, to try to get ADSL working, but was told that there must be something wrong with her laptop, or the ADSL connection is outside of the allowable range.

Any web site would give the “IE is unable to link to the web page requested”

After some poking around, I managed to ping google.com.au, so it looked like I was onto the net… but web pages would still not work… and a short while after that, the ping would also stop working… very peculiar.

Event viewer didn’t show anything wrong, but the system seemed a bit slow…

I eventually decided that the best thing to do would be to take the laptop home & try it with my ADSL connection.

Once home, I still couldn’t get the laptop to load web pages, but the ping results were more consistent: ping would always work.

So now I focused on IE & why it wouldn’t work. The answer ended up being trivial: internet options -> connections -> lan setting -> proxy server: had some weird settings. I just disabled proxy server, & everything just worked. I reckon Optus should had been able to fix this, since they deal with ADSL customers day-in, day-out)

I did some defrag, & disabled useless “utilities” from startup, then took it back.

Now things were working better: ping worked all the time (but the modem seems to have a dodgy power connector… touching it sometimes caused it to go “offline”).

Opening any web page caused a Telstra page to appear (basically saying “I don’t recognise your username & password, so I won’t let you look at the page you want).

It turns out that the client tried to get broadband thru Telstra, but couldn’t get it to work, so she switched to Optus, with the same symptoms, so then she called me.

I rang Optus on her behalf, & found out that Telstra had not “released” the ADSL service (they were meant to do it 2 day prior, but hadn’t). Optus escalated the issue.

Rang the client a few days later & she was very happy, as the connection was fixed the day after I was there.

my first business client

Computer Aid Posted on by

Rang a client last week… just to see if his computer was working ok (he had problems with the DVD buring software (Nero) & it wouldn’t uninstall… had to clean all references from the winXP registry).

Anyway, he was very impressed with how the computer was running, & he asked if I did services for businesses (I said yes). So he said that he would use computer aid for fixing computers in the small company he works in.

This is a client that a larger company has lost because of poor customer service… I just need more people like this. I guess I need a little patience…

http://www.computer-aid.com.au

laptop with physical damage

Computer Aid Posted on by

Got a call from a client: the power connector on her laptop is not working… laptop was damaged in transit.

I hope that either the plug got worked loose & needs re-soldering, or maybe the battery is dead.

Turns out that the corner of the laptop has been smashed, & there is a 2cm hole where the plug for the power supply goes & around the usb ports.

Looking at the plug, I can see that it is very loose… luckily no MB damage, but 1 or 2 of the plug connectors have been sheared off.

I remove the plug (just unsolder one lug… the other 2 are broken off).

Trying to reassemble the plug. Its a bit like a jigsaw puzzle… how do all the parts fit, so that the laptop charges & make sure the laptop knows if the battery is being charged… eventually get it all together, but there is no way the plug will go back to its original place.

I call the client and give here the options:
1) A new plug for about $50 plus my fee
2) use the old plug, soldered to a some wires that connects to the laptop MB. Looks ugly, not mechanically robust, but I’ll only charge my minimum fee

She goes with option 2)

After some wires & some tape, its all finished & working.

Toshiba laptop won’t boot

Computer Aid Posted on by

I got a funny toshiba laptop to fix…

Its only 1 year old, but has spent most of its life in “storage” (police evidence). Client has only just got the laptop back.

Client doesn’t have anything important & doesn’t mind a reformat.

First I boot a knoppix CD & it works fine & sees the HD

So I repartition, reformat, reinstall XP, & all seems to work fine.

Next day, the laptop is back… won’t boot again.

I try installing knoppix to the HD, & it also works fine

But client says it still doesn’t boot… the bios doesn’t seem to detect the HD.

I look at it & sure enough, it tries to boot from floppy, & the CD, but the HD doesn’t even show during the POST screen… I go into the bios & it doesn’t show the HD either… curious.

After a reboot, the HD is detected & it tries to boot… So I give it another reboot & then re-install win XP.

A few reboots later, & I notice that the HD doesn’t show up again…

The web gives no hint of a cause.

I flash the latest Toshiba bios (its no help)

I decide to swap HD with the one in my ibm laptop.

Wow! Taking the HD out of the Toshiba is not for the faint hearted! I have to almost dismantle the entire laptop, just to get to the HD… take the screen off, the keyboard, a bit of plastic above the keyboard (which makes load cracking & snapping noises… very unnerving).

Anyway, the IBM detects the toshiba HD every time (after 11 reboots).
The toshiba detects the ibm hd every time also…

So, put everything back (snap, crackle, pop, crunch!), & then I’m back to square one.

I suspect it could be a bootup timing problem (bios checks for HD, but HD isn’t ready to (or is too slow to) respond… by the time the HD is ready, the bios has moved on to other things…

I’ve go nothing better to do, so I boot the laptop about 100 times… I notice it detects the HD about 4 or 5 times, and the “detections” seem “clustered” ie 2 detections in a row.

I give the client his options:

1) keep the laptop always running… if it switches off, you need to reboot until it detects the HD.
2) Get a new HD, but no guarantee that the new HD will work any better (I suspect a non-toshiba HD has a good chance of working)

He decides to go with option 1)

Update 01/10/2005: Client eventually got a flat battery & was unable to boot again. He went & bought a new hdd & an external usb enclosure & is now happy.

Welcome to Computer Help / computer aid

Computer Aid Posted on by

Welcome to the computer aid blog.

From here, the plan is to post occasional computer “problems” and their solution, as I encounter them in my day-to-day work while running my company:

http://www.computer-aid.com.au

More posts will follow soon.

Given that I have recently started this business  and I am currently starting a web site (all on a minimal budget)… then the next few posts will most likely be about starting a service business, and how to do it as cheaply as possible.