Category Archives: computer tips

Cheap tech gear for telecommuting jobs in Colorado

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Mountains and wildflowers diagonal

Colorado is a wonderful state to visit for business or pleasure. This summer my wife and I will be spending almost a month there. We have a housesitter for home and will be staying at a cabin at 10,500 ft. For the portion of the stay where I’ll be working (telecommuting) I have tried out a variety of hardware and software for the job. If you are thinking about telecommuting from Colorao, this post illustrates a surprisingly capable telecommuting setup

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Auto fill username & password in Opera? [solved]

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Q. I use Opera as my new web browser. But when I tell Opera to save my username and password for a site it does not seem to do. Like now when I go to the site it does NOT autofill the stored info. It does not even prompt me to save anymore login info for that site anymore. Can you help?! A. Yes! In all likelihood Opera did save your login info, however, to autofill that info you need

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What is the latest Kindle firmware version? [answer] for all generations

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Q. Hiya. I see on my Kindle “Settings->Device Info” screen that my Kindle has “Software Version” Kindle 2.5.5 Is there a later firmware version for my Kindle?! Thx in advance. A. Yes! There are later firmware versions available.  The LATEST version depends on which Kindle you have. Judging from the info you provided, you have either a 2nd gen Kindle or a Kindle DX so version 2.5.8 is the latest version for your devices. Also here is the latest firmware

Read more Ask J.D., computer tips, Gadgets and Tech, tech tips

Does amount of RAM (size) affect hibernation time? [yes]

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Today some laptops, such as the Dell M6500, can have up to 32GB of RAM! (4 sticks of 8GB DDR3) Drawbacks of more RAM However, before you load up your laptop with as much RAM as it can hold, there are some potential drawbacks to more RAM that you may want to consider: #1 Slower hibernation times – if you use the “hibernate” feature of Windows, be aware that the more RAM you have, the longer hibernation will take. Related:

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How can I lock the Kindle DX screen orientation? [easy]

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Q. Hi. I have a Kindle DX and I really love it, but sometimes when I am reading it rotates the screen orientation WHEN I DON’T WANT IT TO. How can I “lock” the screen orientation so this will not happen? A. Great question! First a bit of info, then the solution. 🙂 Here’s how Amazon describes the screen rotation/orientation feature: The Kindle DX screen image can rotate to match the way you’re holding your Kindle. The display changes accordingly

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Adding a 3rd hard drive (or SSD + HDD + HDD) and RAID1 on Dell M6500

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NOTE: via mSATA it is possible to have FOUR drives in a M6500!!! Complete tutorial to be published soon (with photos). Here are some links in the meantime. More resources:   2nd HDD / SSD Caddy – DELL Precision M6400, M6500, M4600, M6600 [OBHD9-SATA-SATA-B] – $42.00 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebookshttp://www.newmodeus.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=269Notebook Hard Drive Caddys Drive Cloning Drive Adapters Cables Backup Software External Enclosures Desktop Brackets AC Adapters Other Products   Dell M6500 Service Manual – Documentation for removing

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How to backup StarCraft 2!

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Reinstalling Windows or building a new PC and don’t want to lose all your installed games and their updates/saves/replays etc.? Here are some tips to help! How to Backup StarCraft 2 SC2 is okay with just a copy/paste from your old Windows install into a new Windows install, however, the following slightly longer process should help make sure that you get all your saves/replays/settings as well as already downloaded updates and maps, all copied over so you’ll be good to

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ACPI\TOS620A Unknown Device driver download [solved]

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Question. from Laptop Lover: Hello, I have a Toshiba Tecra R10 laptop and I recently installed Windows 7. Almost everything is good, however, after running Windows update I still have ONE unknown device in device manager. It is called ACPI/TOS620A and I do not know what it is or how to get it working. The only other info I have listed is 2&daba3ff&0.  Where can I find the correct driver? Answer. That is the hard drive shock protection feature of your

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