Computer Help Thread

[baumaxx1]

Once the router is set up with your internet details... just plug the computer in and go! Should work. It's pretty simple and most routers have a setup wizard which guides you through it..

[Pabl0z]

Would some guru like to explain to me why can't I delete or cut any files on my external HD since I plugged it in my new pc?
I can copy files and put new stuff on the HD, but I can't delete anything!
I thought it might be some security issue and so did another guy on irc, but when I click on the disk's properties, there is no such page as "security", but there is one for my internal HD.
So what can I do?

[korge]

It sounds like you don't have the proper permissions to touch those files. Most likely, you need to be logged in on the original user that placed those files there.

[Carcrazy]

If you still have your old PC, log in and change the permissions or move the entire user folder over - if you don't, try making another user account with the info being the exact same as what was on the old PC. If your UA name is already the same, I'm out of ideas.

Google it

[Pabl0z]

I am the original user and all the users on this pc should have "full control".
I did some googling last night but I didn't find the solution yet.
And no I don't have my old pc, and I had XP Pro on it and didn't have any permission limitations on any of the accounts.
What's funny is that if I've downloaded something on utorrent, I can delete those files through utorrent, but if I try to delete those files by right-clicking on them in their folders / or pushing the delete button, I can't.

[vellu]

You could try the following:

1) Go to sharing -> "more settings" (or whatever in english version, see picture)
2) Enable sharing and goto access rights/permissions from the bottom left button
3) Change permissions for "all users" to full access.

[Pabl0z]

Didn't help. There are still no options to delete or cut any files.

Edit: Got the problem fixed. Just had to turn off the "user account control" .
Weird thing is that none of the results on google suggested that, every suggestion was to hack registry files or download additional programs.

[prince1142003]

What probably happened was the files were written with administrator ownership, which is probably why you couldn't delete them. This is a problem with XP and Vista using external drivers formatted NTFS. My suggestion would be that everytime you copy something over to the hard drive, right click on it and change the permissions on it so that the Everyone account has full permission. That should be enough. Now, if you lose your original computer (or Windows installation), you will need to go back and select every file and change ownership settings on them.

[korge]

This happens when shuttling my thumbdrives to and from my home computer to my school computer. Very annoying.

[Pabl0z]

The external drive is FAT32..

[prince1142003]

Huh. That is wierd. Incidentally, can user access permissions be set on FAT32 drives?

[vellu]

Incidentally, can user access permissions be set on FAT32 drives?

To my knowledge, no.

[Pabl0z]

Ok now this is really getting weird.
I haven't changed anything since I turned off that "user account control" and now I can't delete/cut any file on that external drive again.
WTF

[korge]

i would just say copy the stuff, format the drive, then recopy the files without the permissions stuff.

[Pabl0z]

There is no permission stuff.

[Carcrazy]

It couldn't hurt to try it, anyway. I actually think it would probably work.

If not, it was his idea. *points at Korge*

[Pabl0z]

Yeah well I don't have enough space on the internal hd to move the stuff.

I turned back UAC and rebooted and now I can cut and delete again.
I kinda knew it would work..
So I guess every time I want to delete something in the future, I have to change that option one way and reboot...

Oh I just love computers and their weird problems...

[prince1142003]

Oh I just love computers and their weird problems...

Correction: Vista and it's archaic and stupid and not-at-all refined UAC is probably the problem.
The best way to ensure that things would work would probably be this procedure:
1. Copy the contents to your Vista computer
2. Format the drive in the XP computer
3. Restore the copied content from the Vista computer.

The reason you should format on the XP computer is because sometimes, an external drive formatted under Vista fails to show up as a formatted drive under XP.

[Pabl0z]

1. I don't have room to move the files, like I said.
2. I don't have a pc with XP. (of course I could take the drive to a friend's house or something)

So until I purchase a new harddrive that procedure is not gonna happen.

[Bojan]

Maybe you could convert the drive to NTFS. You should be able to set permissions on NTFS.

[Carcrazy]

Well, for lack of a better place, I'm going to put this question here.

I need an external HDD ASAP, but I'm worried about getting one that's going to die quickly. Or, period.

Okay, so I'm planning on moving all of my music on there (a rapidly growing amount,) meaning if it dies I lose a couple hundred-thousand songs before it's all said and done. =/

Now, here are my requirements:
Space: 1TB (500GB ABSOLUTE MINIMUM)
Interface: eSATA (Preferably eSATA + USB 2.0)
Able to be left on/plugged in for hours without damage or overheating

And, that's really all I can think of right now. $140 budget, though, preferably including shipping.

Ty ahead of time! ^_^

[vellu]

Unfortunately price and reliability rarely go together.

But one product comes to mind which isn't too much (I suppose) over your budget:

BUFFALO DRIVESTATION DUO 1TB USB/FW (HD-W1.0TIU2/R1-2)

It's a dual hdd enclosure (2x500GB) meaning that you can set it to RAID-1 (mirroring) for high fault tolerance. This of course means a disk capacity of 500GB.

Should be available for about 190e. The 2TB model is around 260e.

http://www.buffalo-technology.com/produ ... ation-duo/

[Carcrazy]

Quick question.

Okay, so... the tech got here today to replace the motherboard and all that in the XPS. (It even smells like new electronics.)
Anyway, it turns out the hard drive is also shot, contacted Dell XPS support and they have a new one in the mail, which should be here sometime around Monday.

Anywho, once I get it up and working, I plan on upgrading and refurbishing a bit. A list of parts as follows:

New Geniune Dell Palmrest w/ Fingerprint reader (~$20)
New Genuine Dell M1530 Hinge Covers (~$10)
New Genuine Dell Power-button + hinge/speaker cover (~$20)
4GB DDR2-800 (2GB DDR2-667 installed atm.)
Internal 7200RPM 500GB HDD (Maybe...)

Anyway, I need suggestions on memory and hard drives. Should I get two 2GB DELL modules, or get some aftermarket online from somewhere like Newegg. I have no idea on the Dell's timings, which is why I figured I'd come ask.

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

[vellu]

If you are absolutely sure the aftermarket modules work with your Dell, then why not. Sometimes "big brand" laptops are really picky on what ram modules work with them.

[Carcrazy]

Hrmm, I guess I'll look at aftermarket and just have to do a bit more research than usual before I buy. ^.^

Ty.