I'm PC Modem®, CompUSA's computer genius. Each week I answer questions from YOU, our Internet guests. I'll pick the best questions from each week and post the answers here. I've put together an Ask PC Modem® Guide for Newbies which you may want to peruse before embarking on your quest for computer knowledge for the first time. Or, you can check my archives.
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Here are the most recent questions. Click on the "Q" or the date to see the answer:
Q(12/10/2007) Dear PC:I HAVE A COMPAQ PRESARIO I GOT FROM MY SISTER INLAW AFTER I HOOKED IT UP I TURNED IT ON AND IT STARYED UP WITH THE NAME COMPAQ OM THE SCREEN AND THE A MESSAGE CAME ON THE SCREEN THAT READ OPERATING SYSTEM NOT FOUND ON HARD DRIVE. THEN IT WAITED A FEW SECONDS THEN CAME BACK UP SAYING OPERATING SYSTEM NOT FOUND ON ANY DEVICES. ANY IDEAS AS WHAT IS WRONG. ANY HELP YOU CAN GIVE WILL BE WELCOMED. DORIS in LAKE ALFREDQ(12/10/2007) Dear PC:I purchased a HP Pavillion dv9260us, computer, the computer no longer recognizes HD-DVD's, it sees them as blank or unknown disks. The HD-DVD drive was the main reason I purchased this computer Andy in Tucson
Q(12/10/2007) Dear PC:I wanted to know what is the limit to how many usb extension cables you can connect to each other and still keep the same transfer rate as if it was only one cable. Robert in Bronx
Q(12/12/2007) Dear PC:I currently have a HP Pavilion m7650n. I need to upgrade my graphics card to play some new games ( call of duty 4 & crysis ). I would like to stay with a Geforce graphics card. What is the largest that I could upgrade to and one of my friends said I would need another power supply. Matt in Burlington
Q(12/12/2007) Dear PC:I have two questions: 1) Lets say Brand #1 1GB DDR costs 50 dollars and Brand #2 2 GB DDR (2X1GB) for 150 dollars. It is obviously cheaper to buy 2 brand #1 1GB DDR than buying 1 brand #2 2GB DDR. Is there any difference? 2) I have 512MB DDR DIMM 333MHz memory card. Is it okay to buy DDR2 DIMM? By the way I have Dell computer with Celeron D 2.5 MHz. If it is not okay to buy DDR2, what do you recommend? Jae in Lynnwood
Q(12/12/2007) Dear PC:I am wishing to buy a new vista machine, will my copoy of word 97 run under vista? k hall in rockville
Q(12/12/2007) Dear PC:what is error message 80072F7C ? Patrick in Miami
Q(12/7/2007) Dear PC:I bought a toshiba p205d-s7438 laptop 3 weeks ago i have this recurring problem.while i am busy working the monitor goes off to a grey colour,sort of like on stanby but the keyboard freezes up so i can do nothing.the power remains on,so i press the power button to switch it off and then switch it back on and it prompts me to start in safe mode which i do,i have scanned for virus and nothing my security is always on please help patrick in miami
Q(12/7/2007) Dear PC:My daughter bought a Toshiba Satellite P205-S6337 Notebook from CompUSA in August that runs Vista. She would like to downgrade (upgrade?) to Windows XP. Does she have to buy the XP program or is CompUSA offering some kind of deal to go back to XP? She has Vista Home, can she change to XP Business? Jim in Houston
Q(12/7/2007) Dear PC:I purchased a new computer case to replace my older one. I took the motherboard and the dual hard-drives out of the old case and installed them in the new case. Know that I have done this before with success, but this time the computer did not boot correctly. I went through the computer and made sure all the cables and switches were connected properly. When I turn the computer on, power runs through all components like they should, however, after a minute the bios screen appears and says something about a hanging CPU caused by an improper speed setting. The BIOS only has three speeds. I selected each of them but nothing changes. The computer will not boot. Do I have to replace the motherboard? Joe in Bennett