Category Archives: computer tips

Dell Inspiron/Vostro wireless driver for Windows 7 (Atheros 1506 802.11b/g/n)

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Recently I setup a new PCIt is a nice Dell 660s small form factor (SFF) PC which came Windows 8. The end users needed Windows 7 and that meant it was time to install one of my spare Windows 7 Professional SP1 licenses. Overall the process went smoothly, however, Windows 7 did not have a driver for the 660s’ wifi adapter. Thankfully, I was able to find a compatabile driver that has been working perfectly. Here is the download link: Dell

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Dell 660s Ethernet driver for Windows 7 (Realtek RTL8111F network controller)

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Recently I setup a new PC for Branson’s Nantucket’s architectural department. It is a nice Dell 660s small form factor (SFF) PC which came Windows 8. However, some of their architectural software is only compatible with Windows 7. That meant it was time to install one of my spare Windows 7 Professional SP1 licenses and everything went smoothly. However, Windows 7 did not have a driver for the 660s’ ethernet controller. Thankfully, I was able to find a compatabile driver

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5 monitor setup

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My good friend John Odom recently sent me a photo of his current office setup: John absolutely loves his three 23″ Apple Cinema Displays. I originally had one of them in college and then added another in law school. Eventually I traded them to him for some architectural work and he recently added a third to complete his setup. The two LCD TVs in the background are for viewing live reports and surveillance cameras. Overall he has a very nice

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How to install Optimus drivers

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Recently I did a clean Windows install on a Dell 6430 laptop. The laptop has an NVIDIA dedicated GPU as well as integrated Intel HD graphics. The best part is, NVIDIA’s Optimus feature. This cool technology can save power (use Intel graphics) when doing desktop type tasks and then switch automatically to the more powerful NVIDIA dedicated card when playing games etc. Sometimes the drivers can get a bit tricky but I can good success with the following: First, install

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Surface Pro 3 vs. iPad air (aspect ratio, screen size, PPI and more)

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Microsoft introduced the Surface Pro 3 tablet today. Some of the biggest changes from the original surface tablets: new screen size and aspect ratio! The Surface Pro 3 gets a 3:2 aspect ratio which is quite similar to the iPad with its 4:3 ratio. See the table below from pixensity.com for more details: Manufacturer and model name Year introduced Screen size Screen area Resolution Ratio PPI  Microsoft Surface Pro 3 2014 12″ 66.46 square inches (10″x6.7″) 2160×1440 3:2 216.33 Apple

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Replace keyboard on ASUS Q200E/S200E/X202E

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A nice reader recently asked for help on how to replace the keyboard on an ASUS X202E notebook. While I have some photos on the initial disassembly process, I did not have photos of the rest of the process. A significant amount of searching did not yield a complete guide to the process 🙁 However, I did find some good instructions for similar ASUS models so I am compiling that information here: Laptop replacement keyboard (without frame) for ASUS Q200

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New cool app: f.lux (auto-adjust your monitor to be easy on your eyes)

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Screenshot of the f.lux settings screen

New cool app: f.lux automatically warms up your computer’s screen colors at sunset and returns them to normal at sunrise. You can change colors, location, and other settings from the f.lux menu. The f.lux menu is always located to the left of your system clock. via Thank you for installing f.lux. f.lux (auto-adjust your monitor to be easy on your eyes)

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Does AMD’s AM1 platform support triple monitors natively? No.

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Kabini only supports two simultaneous displays If you plan on using AMD new’s AM1 platform with a Kabini Athlon or Sempron, be aware that triple display output is not supported. I tried it on my MSI AM1I motherboard just to make sure and sadly only two outputs were usable at a time 🙁 So even if your motherboard has DVI + HDMI + VGA, like mine does, you can only utilize TWO of those outputs at once. Not three. Kind of

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