How-to's and Guides
Read this before posting a new thread, so you don't look like a fool!

Guides

• Appleyum's Guide to Firefox
• Do You Need XP Pro?
• Help with USB related problems [usbman.com]
• Updating MOBO BIOS in Windows 2K or XP
• Different kinds of desktop/laptop memory and which ones are the best for me?

Index of Solved Problems

• Check here to see what problems have been solved, and the steps taken to solve them. -- Thanks Cycnus

How-to's

• Overclocking 101
• How to back up DVDs for beginners
• How to properly apply thermal compound
• How to manually remove spyware
• How to secure and fix Internet Explorer

To submit a guide or how-to, reply to this thread with the link.

Choosing between the 9600xt or 9800pro?

answer: buy the 9800 pro

(I have seen this asked at least 8 times here. In fact I have asked that question here myself. I thought this might be a quick easy guide for a very nice piece or info.)

Hard drive troubleshooting guide

Basic/Intermediate HTML Guide

Soundproof Your PC (Tutorial from CNet)

Build your own system [dslreports.com]

Quote from 77Pat : Build your own system [dslreports.com]

Thanks for that useful link. I will give it a thorough read when I'm ready to buy and assemble the parts.

Also, check out this CNet guide (PDF), which might be a little dated, but could still be helpful to computer builders (myself included).

Guide to buying a laptop: What you need and what you don't. Thanks katiek

Since Dell stopped shipping Windows XP CDs with their PCs as of recently, here is an internal guide on How to do a clean install on a Dell desktop or laptop PC if you do not have a CD delivered with your PC

Comprehensive List of Video Card Reviews [videocardforum.com]

excellent material for any person planning on purchasing a video card

Delete

Buyer's Guide for Mid-Range to High-End Computer Systems (May 2005)

***SEE post #24 on the following page for the NEW! & IMPROVED! bulletproof "PLAN B" method.
This one is sorta dated now. It still works at many stores, (& is useful to know), but CC is a special case & keeps changing.

I had a Private Message from a fellow slickdealer who asked about "HOW TO" go about doing the PM to SC @ CC on the hard drive deals we have seen over the last few months. (WD2500JBRTL for ~$33 to ~$37 & WD1600JBRTL for ~$15 to ~$23). Since CC is the worst at honoring their own policy on Price Matching, I have prepared a detailed explanation of the process with them in mind. The details are applicable at MANY retailers with a PM policy, CC is just the worst of the lot.

EDIT:Sam's Club is no longer carrying the WD1600JBRTL - PATA, they are carrying the SATA version though, online, so use Wal-Mart as a PM for that model instead.

Sam's CLub is apparently now only offering 120GB, 200GB, 250GB, & 300GB Western Digital models.

Wal-Mart is carrying;
80GB, 160GB, & 250GB in ATA
80GB, 120GB, 160GB, & 250GB in SATA

Wal-Mart 160GB ad [walmart.com]
Wal-Mart 80GB ad [walmart.com]

Quote from (name withheld to protect the guilty) : Hey there, I found you on the WD160 for $30 at CompUSA thread, and found your thread to be very informative. As I understand it, you buy the harddrive when its under rebate, then send in the rebates & wait for the sale to end. Then you go back there with a Sams Club PM, & they have to pay you the difference. Do you ever run into difficulty with that, or are the people always very easy to deal with. Also, are you just straightforward about it or do you have to sneak around it (false address/phone #, etc)? Thanks a lot for your time...

DO NOT mail in the rebate until all steps are complete, you MAY wish to return the item in question if the PM does NOT go well, & will need the UPC intact. That way, all you are out is time. There is a window of time to do both the PM AND mail in the rebate form/ a return of item if PM does NOT occur. (CC dickweed manager in your area)

It has been my experience, as well as the experience of others, that with the PM ....YMMV. You may get 110% PM as the policy states, or you may just get the matching differnce, DON'T PUSH IT!!! I have 2 CC stores here, 1 does the PM without batting an eye, the other, gives me no end of grief. CC store managers have a great deal of discretion, more than most big boxes. Now for the facts:

3 things you need to be armed with to shoot down dickwad managers:

1.) BossTone74's Corporate e-mail from CC stating they DO INDEED, PM to SC <-(linky, {thanx allholy1})

2.) Copy of the SC web page showing their "low, low everyday price"

3.) A shelf tag from SC, which SC front desk personwill print out for you if you ask nice like. Have the CSR @ SC hand write current "on-hand" number of units right on the printed shelf tag

3 things you SHOULD do:

1.) Purchase each drive seperately.

2.) Wait a week for the rebate to die "in-store".

3.) Return in the second week after purchase to make the PM, THIS is where all that "stuff" comes in handy, do NOT attempt too many at once & take gift cards.

I have 2 sons & 1 good friend neighbor, (no wisecracks about my lack of friends please)
I purchase each drive seperately, collecting the MIRs and extra receipts at the point of sale. I always d/l a copy of the MIRs off the web as backup.
As I pay for each drive, I use a different checking account, (as 2 have one of my son's names on it as well as mine, & the other has my wife's). That makes for 3 DIFFERENT names on 3 DIFFERENT checking accounts, pointing out the name, address, & telephone to use, to the clerk. The fourth gets paid cash & my neighbor's info.
(You only have 1 checking account you say? CC accepts CASH in lieu of checks, my friend.)
Simply have all the pertainant info on hand, as the MIR SAYS; "rebate good only for name printed on receipt". Only one clerk ever raised a question, & that was when I tried to PM at point of sale instead of waiting & coming back to the CSR for PM instead. Many clerks laugh & will GLADLY help you do this, they KNOW the game & could care less about a LEGITIMATE working of the rebates. Some have PMed successfully after 30 minutes but the majority have had to wait at least until the second week after rebate ending, time enough for the CSR to forget about the rebate, (which is STILL available on the system), & still within the CC return window of 30 days.

I pointed out the word LEGITIMATE, 1.) because I have a hard time spelling it, 2.) because, according to both THE LAW & CC's OWN CORPORATE POLICY, as long as the MIR addresses are truely different individuals, and the addresses are truely different, not a simple apartment number added to YOUR home which doesn't REALLY have apartments, (I do that for CAMEL ciggarette coupons ), then it is perfectly acceptable for an individual to do the shopping for another individual. Since my neighbor, my sons, & I each live in seperate domiciles, are legal adults, & most of the multiple purchases truely DO end up in their's or some other end user's computer eventually, morally & legally it's "ALL GOOD" as they say. Using a work address is a bit sticky as you are the same FAMILY/PERSON. The biggest problem is finding a willing friend who won't find rebate checks in the mailbox a great excuse to go out & get drunk on YOUR money. I've been known to use MIRs as "money in trade" I get something from someone & pay for it by sending in a rebate in their name. The worst problem I have is one of my sons is in school & likes to cash the rebate checks & spend them on food, which is OK anyway, as we would have bought the food, but makes it HELL keeping track of the rebates. Take time to make a computer notepad just for rebates, enter the name of the store, the item, any ticket bar coding, the MIR address(es) both to-and of the recipiant, contact number in case there is a problem, & the date sent in/ time until returned (6-8 weeks is normal). Check the list periodically to determine WHICH rebates are overdue. Add or remove rebates as they go out or come in. If any are late, make the call & resolve any problems. The notepad allows you to have all the info at your fingertips.

PMing after 1 week, as previously stated, YMMV, if you look for the chikky, tell her she's "cute" or use a similar adjective, (even if she looks like a first cousin to the Bride of Frankenstein-sadly, sexist as hell, but it DOES work), use the CSR's name which is on the little breast tag, get chummy, make the CSR your "FRIEND", they are usually very nice people, & ask for a gift card instead of cash, it generally goes a hellavalot smoother. Make sure they know you shop often there.
This technique is as old as commerce, it's called SUKKIN UP! Some CSRs are dickweeds and sticklers about checking for active past rebates. Come back at a different shift & feign innercent. Eventually, you will KNOW who & what time & which CC stores to do the PM at. I usually do 2 of 4 PMs on the Wednesday of the 2nd week after the end of the rebate period, & the other 2 on the Friday next. Too many PMs "at once" will set off alarms. In general, most people don't mind if you get a deal, people DO mind if you are looking like a cheat. THEN, they start to get envious & cause problems for smirking eBay reselling dirtbags. Talk to your CSR, does this person LOOK like a "next asssisstant manager" type or just an average Joe/Jill? Use discretion. You don't have to sneak around, it's OK to get a PM for someone else. Feeling guilty makes you LOOK guilty. Accept the legality of what you do & act accordingly. CC SAYS: they PM to competing stores! You are simply holding their feet to the fire. They can rescind the PM policy ANY TIME THEY WISH. They don't, it's good business.

REPEAT!......HERE IS A REALLY GOOD IDEA!!!!!

Email CC corporate & request for a copy of their PM policy vis a vis SC & the like, then you have your OWN e-mail with YOUR name on it. (Several copies have been posted over the last few months, but YOUR name on it always looks better.)
BossTone74's Copy of a typical CC Corporate e-mail on PM policy

Go to the Sam's Club immediately before attempting a PM, get the CSR there to make a printout of the shelf tag, (they can do this easily), SHOWING the regularly listed price & a handwritten note jotted on the shelf ticket about how many are currently IN STOCK!!! (Save it for the NEXT time the deal rolls around, changing ONLY the actual handwritten number in stock on the ticket.)

Gift cards have NO ID on em, take seperate ones for each PM, it makes the idea of getting the PM for someone else, much more plausible. Again, as stated, YMMV (your mileage may vary) as each store is different in managerial style. GOOD LUCK, my friend.

(DISCLAIMER: I do not, nor does slickdeals.net, advocate using FALSE IDs, addresses, or other forms of FRAUD to attempt monitary gains. If you can & do abide by the LEGAL terms of the rebate, you are guiltless of any infraction. Hold your head up high & proudly proclaim, (under your breath, quitely of course), "I have just made a SLICKDEEEEEEEEAL!!!!!!!!!!!")

My backup system is to burn 1 copy of EVERY installation CD of a program I buy. I use backups to install & avoid scratching originals. Use Nero's "verify data" function for backups, it saves a corrupt copy headache later.

Quote : DEFINITIONS: ADDRESS (PATH): A numerically described location of a particular bit or group of bits, (byte, cluster, file), a computer OS uses to store, locate, and retrieve a particular piece of information. DIRECTORY: A graphic depiction of the addresses of every piece of information stored in a Windows OS. Major divisions of the "DIRECTORY" are represented by "FOLDERS", little yellow filing-folder icons having a "Heirarchy" or system of governance comprised of "LEVELS". In a given "FOLDER" any "SUBFOLDERS" will apear first and individual "FILES" will be shown after them in the display window. To access the "DIRECTORY", right click, either on the "Start" button in the lowest left hand corner of your Desktop screen, or "right click" on the Desktop Icon named "My Computer". In either case, select the "Explore" option. This will open the "WINDOWS EXPLORER", a new screen that is a part of and tied to "Internet Explorer" or IE for short. IE is a "Browser", and will "explore" the world wide web, (Internet). "Windows Explorer" is also a "Browser" but is used to explore the INTERNAL STORAGE of your computer, not the internet. Once you have the "DIRECTORY" open, look up on the 2nd menu bar on that screen. You will see a button labeled "Folders". Click that button and the "DIRECTORY" or "Windows Explorer" screen will divide itself into left and right panes. In the left pane, locate the heirarchical tree display of folders with small + or - signs immediately in front of the folders. These are used to open or close the folder they are attached to. Clicking on a folder in the left pane will display all the "SUBFOLDERS" and "FILES" contained within that "FOLDER", in the right pane. To view "FILES" contained in any "SUBFOLDER" it is necessary to click to "focus" on the subfolder you wish to look into. FILE: An single item recognised by a computer to use for processing information of some type. Every file should have a "FILE EXTENTION" name on them such as (dot) .exe / .ini / .bat / .txt / .html / .jpg / .wma etc. These "file extensions" tell the operating system which "PROGRAM" to use to activate that file. You can find out which file extensions are associated with which programs at: File Extension Lookup [filext.com] FOLDER: A yellow, (Windows OSes), container in a computer filing system, named and holding any number of individual "FILES". LEVEL: In Windows Filing Systems, there are many "LEVELS" of folders, each can be contained within another "FOLDER" just like a series of Russian Nesting Dolls. In Windows OSes, the practical number of "levels" of "subfolders" that can be "seen" by the OS, is 8. The total number of characters in an entire address or "PATH" name that can be read is 256. Using long folder names can cause a conflict in reading the total address of a deeply buried subfolder or file, the number of characters in the "STRING" will add up to more than 256 even if there are less than 8 subfolder levels. It is advisable to use short decriptors such as "IE" for Internet Explorer when naming files and folders. many setup file names have this characteristic. PROGRAM: A group of operations, information, commands, and libraries which make up a useful working computer action. STRING (PATH): For this purpose, the word "STRING" means the ENTIRE address "PATH" name of a location in the Windows Directory. An example of a complete address "String" or "PATH" name on the storage drive D:\ : D:\Saved Setup Programs\Chat Progs\Clients\Yahoo!\Yahoo! plugins\YahSeek\YahSeek v2.0.13\(here is where the actual YahSeek v2.0.13 setup "FILE" will reside) As you can see, there are 9 colors, meaning 9 "levels" of folders in the address "PATH", (including the D:\ drive or TOP LEVEL FOLDER), The actual file in red, YahSeek, is buried so deeply, Windows MAY not be able to find it. I suspect it would, the "string" being less than 256 characters, but it MAY NOT! In this case, reducing the number of folders to this: D:\Saved Setup Programs\Chat Progs\Clients\Yahoo!\Yahoo! plugins\YahSeek v2.0.13\(here is where the actual YahSeek v2.0.13 setup "FILE" will reside) by removing one sublevel, (\YahSeek), would assure that Windows COULD see it. I often use "save page as" to save the original download page, (for later info lookup), in the same subfolder as the version itself. Microsoft updates is PARTICULARLY notorious for having many subfolders to keep n00bs from copying their pages. The dirtbags caused me no end of trouble when I go to burn a copy of the web page for someone later, some having 5 subfolders or more. It's their own fault, if they hadn't stolen Sun Java and added a buttload of stuff to conceal the fact it was stolen Java, they wouldn't need 3 extra levels of applets to make VM work. You can rename a web page as you download it, not as easy after it's in the machine, then you have to reopen, click File> "save page as" & and rename it. Generally the naming string doesn't exceed 6 levels, so windows can see all of them. 8 Levels is BAD, stuff gets invisible and you have to move it uplevel to open it. Time to make a new catagory if that happens. SUBFOLDER: A "folder" residing inside the address or location of a higher level of "folder" in the "Windows Directory". The term "SUBFOLDER" is relevant to the folder being discussed in context with the NEXT HIGHER LEVEL "FOLDER" only, there can be many levels of folders and subfolders but the term subfolder would become unweildy if more "sub" prefixes were added. e.g. sub-sub-sub-subfolder.

I place every downloaded file in it's own subfolder with the name of the program, the version number, and either the download or release date in the folder name.
Example:
Yahoo! messenger v.6.0.1392 (03-12-05)
(the actual name on the setup file inside is msgr6suite.exe )

I then drag & drop the version subfolder into the next higher level folder containing ALL the versions of that program.
Example:
Yahoo!\Yahoo! messenger v.6.0.1392 (03-12-05)

I then drag & drop the higher level program subfolder into a next higher level folder named by catagory.
Example:
Clients\Yahoo!\Yahoo! messenger v.6.0.1392 (03-12-05)
(Clients are the actual program used to chat on a "service" like Yahoo! - Yahoo is a chat SERVICE, & messenger is their official chat CLIENT. There are a lot of "CLIENTS" available for chatting on the internet and several "SERVICES" as well. [IRC, MSN, Eyeball, ICU, JMeeting, AIM etc.])

The folder named Clients may contain several individual subfolders, one for each of the above named chat service "Clients", and each of THOSE may contain several version subfolders as well. To further complicate this discussion, there may be several "UNAUTHORIZED" or unofficial chat "clients" written by someone else, that work on a particular service and they get their OWN seperate subfolders in the "Clients" folder or the Yahoo! folder. Yahoo! has at least 5 different good ones [YahELite, YahZak, Jam, Y!Mlite, YChat] in addition to messenger, the "Official Client". This occurs with almost ALL program groups, there are many "Browsers", [IE, Firefox, Mozilla, Netscape, etc.] "Download Managers" & "FTP Clients" etc.

The last step is to file the main program subfolders, by APPLICATION TYPE, in a "2nd "level" (IMEDIATELY below the TOP LEVEL or "DRIVE" (D:\) level folder. e.g...
\Audio
\Browsers
\Burning Apps
\Chat Progs
\Downloaders
\Emails
\FTP clients
\Games
\Java
\MP3s
\Pictures
\Protection (firewalls, AVs, malware detectors)
\System Hardware (every scrap of info on all my systems, S/N , Manf date, hand made diagrams to locate circuitry or chipsets to identify mobos etc.)
\System Tweaks
\Video Apps
\Windows critical updates
\Zips
that's a short list but you get the idea. Over time, you will develop more FOLDERS and SUBFOLDERS to simplify searches. As long as a logical naming system is used, it quickly becomes fixed in your mind where each KIND OF program would reside. On rare occasions when I can't decide if something like NERO belongs in "Burning Apps" or "Video Apps" I will file it in BOTH places.

Long string look:
C:\Chat Progs\Clients\Yahoo!\Yahoo! messenger v.6.0.1392 (03-12-05)

(time spent filing each download) < or = (Time spent locating it later) Very simple equation

Weigh that equation while thinking about searching through all 1,100GB, (1.1 TB), of information I have stored on just two of my computers. (440GB + 660GB)