Some web sites help you get your 'Geek' on. Mine helps you get the 'Geek' out! Fix IT Newsletter Alert Jan 2010 Issue 0028 News New pages added since last newsletter...   Articles Why Write Do It Yourself Books? The Wonder of Do It Yourself Hello For those that received the three special newsletters about the Christmas Special I thank you for your participation. I may run another Special during the coming months if I receive any feedback from those that missed out on it. The DIY Computer Repair web site is growing almost daily. The Q and A section has a lot of new problems and resolutions in case you are having a problem check there for an answer to your problem first. Normally questions in this section are fairly simple to fix if the poster has a problem that takes longer to resolve I normally do that by email. With computers evolving all the time, older technology is discarded. Such as the floppy drive. Newer computers don't have them. Another piece of 20th century hardware that is disappearing is the PS/2 mouse and keyboard connectors. Along with the parallel port and the serial port. All being replaced by the USB port. Now this can be a good thing or a bad thing. For those with Dell computers the lack of a way to connect your keyboard if the USB controller fails or is turned off can be a very large problem. Last week I received an email from a friends son, an update sent out by Microsoft for Windows 7 64 Bit Operating System shut down all the USB ports on his Dell Desktop. Now this wouldn't have been so bad if the computer had a PS/2 keyboard port but Dell in their wisdom has dropped the PS/2 keyboard port and controller. With out a PS/2 keyboard he did not have any way to go in to the BIOS and turn on the USB ports that the update disabled. The only way to re-enable the USB ports was to remove the AC power cord and then open the computer and remove the BIOS backup battery. Then after five minutes put the battery back in and power up the computer. By removing the battery the BIOS CMOS chip depleted it's supply of power provided by some capacitors thus reverting the BIOS setting to default. Now the USB ports are turned on. Because he had powered the computer off so many times before contacting me with his problem when the Operating System started it went in to recovery mode. He lucked out because he had just installed Windows 7 and had a good backup. The moral of this story? When you have a problem that you can't resolve get expert help before you trash you Operating System. And Backup often! Other news: It is official, MS will end support for Windows 2000 and Windows XP Sp2 in July of 2010, so much for extending the support to 2014! Look for support to end for Vista early this year. The Tech Support You Need - When YOU Need It! Suggested Retail Price  $57.00 ! Never pay a Geek again! Coming soon Self Computer Repair Unleashed! My new e-book to help you fix nearly every problem you will have with at computer. Even more information than the Self Computer Repair e-book. Almost as much information as the Members Only section! Truly a one of a kind e-book! 383 pages! Over 200 illustrations! Launch date pending, special 30% off for readers of this newsletter, stay tuned! Information in everyday language! No Geek! All for about a half hour of Geek time. Q and A This site contains a lot of information. As with any publication not all information is available due to space, time, or subject constraints. If you have a question that you did not find the answer on this web site  you a can ask your question here and we will endeavor to get you the most up to date answer possible! Comments? Ideas? Feedback? I'd love to hear from you. Just reply to this newsletter and tell me what you think! Yes, you may forward this email to anyone you want! If you don't have a subscription, and would like one, just go to our Fix It! newsletter signup (and get free sample pages at the same time) Here are some web sites that may be of interest to you: The company that I use to build my web sites - Need help with basic system functions: Computer help - Learn how to use your computer All the best, Monte Russell Webmaster www.diy-computer-repair.com Return to top