Category Archives: Ask J.D.

Treasury Direct 1099-B

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Recently TreasuryDirect has been posting 1099-B forms in their online tax documents for TIPS holders. These forms can be a bit perplexing for people that never sell their TIPS but rather just hold on to them until maturity. Specifically, TreasuryDirect neglects to include the majority of the information the IRS requests. I have been putting together some notes on how to properly file the 1099-B’s, but for now here are some other resources on the topic: Treasury Direct 1099-Bhttp://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=90716Treasury Direct

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Fix Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 scanner power problem [SOLVED!]

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Q. Hiya. I have a Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 scanner for my Mac and it will not power on 🙁 I checked the power supply and it is a really expensive scanner, do you know how I could go about repairing it so it will power on again? -Shirley Barnes A. Hi Shirley! I know something you can try. I have the same ScanSnap ix500 for my PC and the scanner has a small button/switch that is normally recessed, but it

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Fix Dell XPS 13 5GHz wifi speed issues [SOLVED]

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When I first connected my Dell XPS 13 to my ASUS router I was quite impressed by the 893Mbps connection speed. However, a few days later and I could not even see the 5GHz wifi network. 🙁 I was stuck at 144Mbps and not loving it. After experimenting with the drivers, I determined that an automatic driver update had effectively disabled the 5GHz capability of the internal wifi card and that by reverting to the original (stock) Windows 8.1 driver

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Dell XPS 13 SSD upgrade to 512GB [2015]

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2015/07 UPDATE: for my Dell XPS 13 (2015 infinity display) I completed the 512GB SSD upgrade about 4 months ago and I highly recommend the upgrade! Here are the new performance numbers: ———————————————————————– CrystalDiskMark 3.0.3 Shizuku Edition x64 (C) 2007-2013 hiyohiyo Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/ ———————————————————————– * MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s] Sequential Read : 481.072 MB/s Sequential Write : 436.664 MB/s Random Read 512KB : 329.971 MB/s Random Write 512KB : 392.295 MB/s Random Read 4KB (QD=1) :

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New MacBook vs Dell XPS 13 Infinity Display

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Apple just announced their new 12″ Macbook and personally I am going to be keeping my Dell XPS 13 “infinity display” laptop. Reasons: Extra screen size for similar footprint Higher resolutions available Speaker quality (Apple might surprise here, but judging by their phones and tablets I do not hold out much hope) SD card reader Better battery life USB ports that can be used even when the laptop is charging Easily upgradeable SSD $500 cheaper (with Dell coupons) Areas where the

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Updating VMware Tools fails [SOLVED] isolation.tools.guestInitiatedUpgrade.disable = “FALSE”

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Updating VMware Tools fails with the error: Update Tools failed. Edit the virtual machine’s vmx file (2007298) Symptoms You are unable to update VMware Tools. Updating VMware Tools fails. You see the error: Update Tools failed. Edit the virtual machine’s vmx file, add the line below and try again. Please read KB article 1714 on tips for editing a vmx file. isolation.tools.guestInitiatedUpgrade.disable = “FALSE” To resolve this issue, enable VMware Tools updates from within the guest by updating the virtual machine

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SLOW Dell XPS 13 i3 CPU performance [FIXED!]

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UPDATE: The latest Dell XPS 13 BIOS version A04 fixed the processor speed issue on my XPS 13, and it no longer requires SpeedStep to be disabled! You can find the download link here: Dell BIOS DL ORIGINAL POST: MARCH 5TH 2015 I recently purchased a new 2015 Dell XPS 13 “Infinity Display” laptop. Dell has been running some coupon specials and last week you could get the model with an Intel Core i3 processor for right around $700 USD.

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