PC technical problems

[AeolianHarp]

My volume control button keeps disappearing and I'm having trouble getting it back. Any advice please will be much appreciated.

OK, I am on Linux, but I suppose it'd be similar for you. Go to computer and system tools then you should see sound and video and the volume icon there. A right click should give you the option to send it to desktop/interface, if not try looking under desktop preferences and right click the option to send it to desktop.

There is also this:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/w...2-0d8b0390f99c

[Rocco]

My volume control button keeps disappearing and I'm having trouble getting it back. Any advice please will be much appreciated.

Do you mean the one in the taskbar? What version of Windows are you using? You should be able to click the little triangle next to where it was (also next to where the Internet icon and the clock are) and then click customize. Then a window will come up.. find the volume icon in the list of icons and click to always show. Hope that helps!

[Megan]

Thank you AeolianHarp and Rocco, I managed to get it back with your help.
I am on Windows Vista, not by choice though, but it serves my purpose. I bought this laptop second hand the only problem is that the volume control keeps disappearing.

Thanks again.

[Rocco]

You are welcome!

[Harvey]

I had Vista and my computer, but Rocco fixed me up with a Linux OS and the computer is faster now and I would never go back to the Microsoft OS, but do have to bear with it at the office (Windows 7 there).

[Rocco]

I use Linux on my home computers, I have Windows 7 on my netbook though because I am going to school for IT and need at least one Windows computer for that. But that one doesn't get used much. I use Apple at work.

[Megan]

was thinking of sacking my internet provider, I'm with Virgin at present and finding them a tad expensive now. Can anyone recommend a good reasonable provider? I was thinking of staying British if possible, if I can still use the name British these days.

[Peter]

was thinking of sacking my internet provider, I'm with Virgin at present and finding them a tad expensive now. Can anyone recommend a good reasonable provider? I was thinking of staying British if possible, if I can still use the name British these days.

Well how about BT? I'm with them but went down the road before of changing thinking I was getting a better deal, but in the end it worked out more si I came back to BT- they do a good phone package and install the software free of charge.

[AeolianHarp]

was thinking of sacking my internet provider, I'm with Virgin at present and finding them a tad expensive now. Can anyone recommend a good reasonable provider? I was thinking of staying British if possible, if I can still use the name British these days.

Talk Talk is the cheapest- your phone calls are included in the package (except premium nos of course- but who is gonna ring them?).

[Decrepit Poster]

As some know, my primary computer went belly-up last Friday. Or rather its Windows7 install did, past the point of salvaging. (Thankfully, all critical data files seem to be intact.) Painful as it is to admit, I could very likely have prevented the corruption by removing a misbehaving video capture card, or at least insured that I had an up-to-date backup of my system partition. But no. My last thorough C: drive backup is some three years old and hopelessly out of date.

Having to start afresh, I decided to purchase a 256gb SSD to use as my Windows 7 partition. It arrived (from NewEgg) late yesterday morning. I have spent almost every waking moment between then and now rebuilding my OS and installing key software. I've made a good bit of headway, but likely won't be back to normal for a week or more.

Reinstalled my Soundblaster X-fi and its software later yesterday so can listen to music again. I'm not yet happy with the sound...it was better before. But it's the same card in the same PCI slot with the same software. I just gotta figure out what I had all the card's control panel functions set to before.

One thing that...oops...gotta head out for a dental appointment, hopefully no more than a cleaning.

[Megan]

Well how about BT? I'm with them but went down the road before of changing thinking I was getting a better deal, but in the end it worked out more si I came back to BT- they do a good phone package and install the software free of charge.

I decided to switch to BT at half the cost of what Virgin was charging.

[Megan]

As some know, my primary computer went belly-up last Friday. Or rather its Windows7 install did, past the point of salvaging. (Thankfully, all critical data files seem to be intact.) Painful as it is to admit, I could very likely have prevented the corruption by removing a misbehaving video capture card, or at least insured that I had an up-to-date backup of my system partition. But no. My last thorough C: drive backup is some three years old and hopelessly out of date.

Having to start afresh, I decided to purchase a 256gb SSD to use as my Windows 7 partition. It arrived (from NewEgg) late yesterday morning. I have spent almost every waking moment between then and now rebuilding my OS and installing key software. I've made a good bit of headway, but likely won't be back to normal for a week or more.

Reinstalled my Soundblaster X-fi and its software later yesterday so can listen to music again. I'm not yet happy with the sound...it was better before. But it's the same card in the same PCI slot with the same software. I just gotta figure out what I had all the card's control panel functions set to before.

One thing that...oops...gotta head out for a dental appointment, hopefully no more than a cleaning.

Wow DP, sounds like a headache to me. I just let the computer guy's in town fix any problem I can't deal with. They are very experienced and reasonably priced. There are several computer shops in my town, some can be sharks, but I have sussed out the best.

[Decrepit Poster]

Wow DP, sounds like a headache to me. I just let the computer guy's in town fix any problem I can't deal with. They are very experienced and reasonably priced. There are several computer shops in my town, some can be sharks, but I have sussed out the best.

It's a pain for sure, considering how scatterbrained I am any more. Still, I assemble my own computers and was once something of a whiz at solving system quirks. I'm way out of practice these days, and now suffer for it.

Back to the business at hand. One thing that has slowed me down is that, for whatever reason, Windows doesn't see my partitions (mine go all the way out to V!) in the same order they were in before the reinstall. I can fix that, but am not sure exactly HOW I want to re-letter them. And of course I don't dare install any functional programs on a partition that will change letter designation. I did go ahead and re-letter the partitions I want as D: and E:, where my Productivity, Utility, and Game software will be housed. Most other partitions will be use for storage, work areas, backups and the like. I will, however, do as I also do and move stuff l Windows Swapfile, its Tempfiles, and Internet Caches to small dedicated partitions.

BTW, it's nice to see good old Microsoft Money 2003 install so easily on a modern OS. Back then days Microsoft still put out produces with real staying power. Even its online investment value updating still functions! No registration or yearly renewal fees! Those were the days for sure!

[Decrepit Poster]

Didn't get as much done yesterday afternoon/evening as I had hoped. First off, Windows update notified me of 107 pending updates! Downloaded and installed them, restarted...104 fails!, 3 successes. Had to redownload those 104 and try again...a pain via slow DSL. Success! Only...with those out of the way I needed a bunch of new "critical" updates and 57 "important" updates. Downloaded and installed those, then was faced with more "critical" updates. This went on for some time.

That out of the way, I realized I am not happy with my old partition arrangement. Problem is, I can't decide exactly how I want to redo 'em. They've all loaded with files so I can't simply wipe everything and start over from scratch. Gonna have to give this some serious thought these next few days.

Then this morning I reinstalled Minecraft in its new location on the D-partition of my new SSD. My intent was to give it a quick test to insure all was well...but ya can't just test Minecraft. I can't at any rate. That ate up a few hours. No biggie. I needed a break.

[Rocco]

Sounds like Windows updates!!! Glad I don't have to put up with that all the time now... updating on Linux is much easier and faster!