Computer Gadget Help

If you have XP or 2000 you shouldn't need a driver.

xpost

> I loaded the disc

ha, yes it did. when it pops and saying it needs drivers you have to tell it where the drivers are, it won't (necessarily) just see them on the disc.

(as people say, you shouldn't need the drivers if your computer is newer than windows 98)

it'd be easier if you were as good at describing the actual on-screen messages as you are at describing what you feel when you see them... 8) the messages are kinda vital, as are your operating system details, otherwise we're just pissing in the dark.

Koogs wants to know what the messages said. Alas, I cannot really recall. I seem to recall that more than one came up. They were announcing a lack of something. I think they used the word 'drive'. They may have mentined 'D Drive' (?), but I think that means CD drive, so perhaps not, or perhaps it is irrelevant.

Koogs wants to know what the messages said. Alas, I cannot really recall. I seem to recall that more than one came up. They were announcing a lack of something. I think they used the word 'drive'. They may have mentined 'D Drive' (?), but I think that means CD drive, so perhaps not, or perhaps it is irrelevant.

SOUNDS LIKE IT WAS LOOKING FOR A DRIVER

(All this is on another computer, not this one.)

Get somebody who knows about these things to take a look at it.

He doesn't have a Mac.

But yea, goto my computer and click on the CD and look for stuff that might have to do with Windows 98.

the dialogue that mentioned with the D drive is your opportunity to tell it where the files are. point it at the cdrom drive (which is probably D: but can change, mine is I:)

It is odd, though - I think the booklet implied that the D would do its own work, not require people pointing at it, browsing, searching, etc.

you can still browse the cd - right click the cd drive in my computer, and select 'browse' from the context menu

this is an appallingly bad idea, unless you have a virus-checker that can see into the future.

seriously, though, pinefox: buy a mac.

[ducks]

Even an old one, onethat runs System 7. Super confusion-free

to me, it's an appallingly bad idea because it's annoying to have your computer try to automatically do stuff with every cd you put in the tray

i doubt that commercial driver/setup cds are a particularly threatening vector for a pc virus. wait, in fact i don't know what you're talking about. anything physically on a cd is not from the future, but the updates for your virus protection are...

I don't really know what kind of computer it is.

it was a joke. never mind.

there's a roundup comparison of all of them here if you need a visual aid:

http://www6.tomshardware.com/storage/20050520/index.html

It is interesting to see so many computer-intelligent people gradually arrive on this thread with so many different approaches and comments.

right then, what's the company name printed on the side of the doohickey?

funny how being the eldest child puts you into the role of familial tech support.

I don't know if I have heard of a pen drive, but like Madchen I think names can get confusing. I think there is a name for these things that I have heard, but am unsure whether it is 'flash' or 'pen'.

'dick'!

you're describing every single type ever produced.

A surprise for me is: almost all my text files are on it; so are a bunch of photos. That takes half the space. But then - the remaining space will not fit even two musical tracks! I knew music and pictures were bigger than text, but not that there was such a vast size gap between pix and music. How does a CD hold all that music? Is its space so much bigger than my little gadget?

hurray. yes, that was key.

a sheet of a4 is typically 1000 characters

cd = 650MB = 650 million characters (roughly)

BUT if the files are mp3ed they are generally 10 times smaller than they are on the cd. so i can get two whole lps on my 128M memory key as mp3s (only i can't at the mo because it's full of other junk).

are the files mp3s? what size are they? (put the mouse over them and the size should popup. failing that, rightclick and choose properties). mine are typically 2,000KB (2MB) each depending on quality and track length.

USB drives can be small and may only fit a few songs.

thats like 40 times the size, i think.

xxpost

It is right about the pictures - I have just looked at one and it is c.64 KB. But I don't know about the music. I may have got that bit wrong.

I don't think my music files are called mp3 - I think some of them may be called 'wav' - but I am not at all sure about that, in fact - they may be called something else. Probably they are much more cumbersome than Koogs' ideal.

A queer thing, though, is that my computer at the home holds tons of them! I mean, hundreds!

that would explain everything! the wav files are as they come off the cd. it's an old format, good for quality, lousy for filesize. and that's why mp3 was invented - it sounds good enough (is not perfect, but ok for listening to on the bus) and is a *tenth* of the size. (ipods use mp3)

there are lots of things that'll convert cds to mps but it depends on what you want the files for.

so erm could anyone recommend a flash drive? i see this shonky-looking bytestore bytestore fella with 2 gigs for 30 quids, and this sandisk seems ok i guess. i suppose it doesnt matter that much really right? anyway if anyone's had any experience of any good/bad ones that wd be good. also i don't mind if it hasn't a LANYARD.

wait let me guess, you're all using your ipods.

> No problems at all with this, unless you have a Windows 98 PC.

there are things you shouldn't use a usb key for (there's a limit to the number of times you can write to them and some things use up that limit rather quickly) but for transfering stuff backwards and forwards they are usually fine.

(and yes, i am using my mp3 player for the larger stuff)

there's a limit to the number of times you can write to them and some things use up that limit rather quickly

seriously?! i've never heard of that before. what sort of limit are we talking about?

"Flash memory has a write endurance limit. This limit is the number of times the flash memory cell can be written until it can not be restored to its initial condition. The industry refers to this as the erase cycles. The endurance is rated between 10,000 and 100,000 erase cycles for different types flash memories."

i did read about someone who wore out his in a couple of weeks because he was using it for something that constantly rewrote the data.