Category Archives: computer tips

Disable beep on Acer AO722 netbook [SOLVED two ways]

The Acer AO722 is a lovely little netbook. However, it does have a few annoyances. One of which is that when using the netbook it will make an annoyinh beep, if you plug-in, or unplug, the power supply. 🙁 I am not sure why Acer designed the A0722 this way, but thankfully there are a couple ways to disable the power plug beep! In Windows 7 go to: Control Panel > Sound > Playback Tab > Speakers > Properties >

Can I use the HughesNet Download Zone if I exceeded the FAP limit? [yes!]

The Download Zone One of the best things about HughesNet satellite internet is that every night from 2AM to 7AM EST they have unlimited downloading. HugesNet calls this the “Download Zone” and any downloading you do during that time will NOT count against your “download allowance” as specified in the fair access policy (FAP). But what if I exceed the download allowance?! After learning about the download zone, one of the next logical questions is: what if I get FAPed

Blake’s take on gaming mice for WoW etc.

My friend Blake does a decent amount of gaming. Since I have been blogging about gaming keyboards and gaming mice, I wanted to hear what Blake used… Specifically I asked him could you tell me what mouse/mice you use for your gaming sessions? Anything re: pros/cons, advice or future mice plans would also be appreciated! Blake’s response: I currently use a mouse by Red Dragon that was part of a Case kit that I bought year ag, its just a

How much bandwidth does NetFlix streaming use? [DEFINITIVE ANSWER]

Q. Hello, I am in US and have netflix and want to stream movies but i also have a sucky monthly bandwidth cap of 12.5GB. I want to make sure I don’t go over my monthly limit. Can you tell me how much bandwidth netflix streaming takes like per hourly?! Thx in advance!!! -PaulT from MN A. Great question Paul! Bandwidth caps are quite a bummer and you are wise to be aware of your usage. I can tell you

Lenovo ThinkPad X220 Service Manual PDF

I love my Lenovo X220, it truly is a superb computing machine 🙂 If you are going to add an mSATA drive or other somewhat in-depth upgrades, you may want to checkout the service manual for the X220. It is comprehensive and nicely formatted. Color photos would be nice but the black and white diagrams are sufficient. Official Lenovo X220 service manual: dl link as of 2012.01.17 Service manual rating: 4.5/5 stars (one of the better service manuals I have used!) [starreview

Download Windows drivers for Western Digital USB 3.0 PCI Express card

Question. From Storage Nut: Hello, I have a new desktop PC and I recently installed Windows 7 Ultimate on it. My next step was to add a snazzy new Western Digital PCIe (PCI-Express) USB 3.0 card. I can’t find the driver disk and, unfortunately, Win7 x64 can’t seem to find the driver nor can stinkin’ Windows Update?! I checked the western digital site too and struck out, I don’t think it is even listed?! So you’re my last best hope, to

Tip: shock protection unnecessary if you have a SSD!

The Lenovo X220 ThinkPad, as well as many Dell & HP laptops, ship with a form of anti-shock protection enabled by default. This is great if your laptop has a conventional hard drive that can be easily damaged by a fall or drop. The laptop is smart enough to pause disk activity and ‘park’ the head (or other similar techniques) to prevent disk damage. However, if your laptop is exclusively using a SSD (solid state drive) then that protection is

Using iTunes with Android devices

After transitioning away from iOS devices, I still have iTunes as my main music management software. So, I have been looking into some solutions for interfacing iTunes and Android. Thankfully with the right software they can play together pretty nicely 🙂 Top 5 Android Apps to Sync iTunes on Androidhttp://androidflip.com/top-5-android-apps-to-sync-itunes-on-android/DoubleTwist is a free media player app which rivals the default player of Android phones. The app not only play music files like audio/video in a clean user interface but also…