Hi Tony,

I have problems with my vista laptop, ive always had the same problem!!! if I do a windows update then it doesn’t restart afterwards.

I got round this by not doing updates but recently i did it by accident and now it wont restart, a couple of months ago when i did it then a guy took it back 24hrs and it solved the problem however im having trouble doing it this time.

Do you have any suggestions/instructions for me?

PS, I’m a DJ and I need this lappy tomorrow night

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If Windows Vista or Windows 7 won’t start, you can boot from the system DVD and perform a System Restore to return your computer’s configuration to an earlier state. This is a great way to undo recent problems with malware,  spyware, and viruses.

Before doing a System Restore, I’d try running Startup Repair. Then, do this:

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Recently, I bought some nice in-ear headphones: the Klipsch Custom-2 In-Ear Noise Isolating Earphone. They do a great job of eliminating outside noise because they fit in my ears like earplugs. Here’s the downside to that: I discovered that my main computer, a Dell Latitude D820 (yeah, I’m using a 4-year-old computer, what of it?!), has a low, constant hiss whenever the sound isn’t muted.

When I plug the headphones into my iPhone, there’s no background noise–just perfect silence.

So, I went searching for a solution to the problem. Turns out, it’s not a software update or a configuration problem. I just have a cheap sound card. All sound cards introduce some level of noise (though my iPhone doesn’t seem to) and cheaper sound cards introduce more noise than better-quality sound cards.  Being a laptop, my computer has the sound card built into the motherboard, which makes it prone to this type of background noise.

If this were a desktop, I could simply add a better-quality sound card and plug my headphones or speakers into it. With a laptop/notebook/mobile computer, I need to add an external sound card or USB headphones (as described later). Check the reviews–some are better quality than others.

This problem also extended to recording. I regularly record voice-overs for instructional videos, and I had a seemingly incurable problem with background noise. When I bought a digital microphone (which uses a USB connection rather than the mic-in port), the background noise disappeared. Because I wasn’t using the analog microphone port on my laptop anymore, it wasn’t subject to the motherboard-induced background noise. The headset I bought also had headphones, and those headphones were immune to the background noise, too.

Moral of the story: if you hear noise when you plug a mic, headphones, or speakers into your computer, use a USB connection instead of the built-in analog connection.

Question:

Hi Tony

I have Windows Vista Ultimate. For some reason right-clicking Computer has no effect, so how do I enter the product key?

Regards

Peter

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Question:

I just purchased a dv6500 notebook direct from HP. Before I bought it, the sales guy on the phone assured me that this laptop included a TPM chip, and thus could run Bitlocker. I bought the system with Home Basic, and then installed a copy of Ultimate (which I bought from my university for half the price HP was charging to install it), and partitioned my drive accordingly. However, the bitlocker application says that I do not have a TPM chip.

After several calls to HP, most involving supervisors and managers, I was told by technical suppport that they had never heard of TPM or Bitlocker. Finally, I found someone who would tell me that “the hardware requirements for Bitlocker are met on your notebook”. He, another sales associate whom I called, both said that the TPM chip is installed on all dv6500 notebooks.

However, since I installed the copy of Ulimate myself after purchase, HP will not help resolve any issues that are within Vista Ultimate, nor will they provide any support for me. 

Thank you for any assistance you can provide,

Chris

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Question:

Hello Tony:

Well, here’s one for you…

I purchased Windows Vista and a brand spankin’ new computer a month ago.  Needless to say, it’s bee harried at best!

Well, anywho, here’s the problem now:

Periodically (often, but not always), when I try to get online via email or internet (I have DSL), a window pops up and says “unknown error” and won’t let me get connect.

THEN a window comes up and asks me if I want to let the computer try to diagnose the problem.  I say yes. Then it says that I have more than one network connected or something like that and that I need to unplug one of them for 10 seconds….

Well, I don’t have more than one connection. So, I go into the place where you “repair network settings…” It doesn’t work, but I see my network listed, then another one called “unidentified network” listed! This isn’t all the time.

Well, after much on/off trying to get onto the internet, eventually, a window comes up and asks me if I want the computer to try to “reset” or repair or something like that, my network settings. I say yes, and it repairs. Then I can go online. Any answers?

D

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