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The IT Thread

The IT Thread
So, here's what happened.

While I was reaching behind the computer to get the wireless usb connector I heard a little ding from my machine.  I counted out ten seconds and then reinserted the connector and stepped back to look at the message.

Lo and behold it was a notice from WPS Office ( an open source knockoff of Microsoft Office ) that my version was no longer functional and I should download the new version.  I did as I was told and the problem is gone.

I suspect that they put out some kind of "upgrade" (and if there was a notification of it, I missed it) and they caught holy hell from other people who suddenly found their computers all fucked up too. 

I appreciate all the suggestions but it appears this was a man-made catastrophe rather than some random Windows miscue!
Robert G. Ingersoll : “No man with a sense of humor ever founded a religion.”
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The IT Thread
(12-29-2021, 02:55 AM)Minimalist Wrote: Lo and beold it was a notice from WPS Office ( an open source knockoff of Microsoft Office ) that my version was no longer functional and I should download the new version.  I did as I was told and the problem is gone.

What are these open source knockoffs of which you speak?

Ah Jim lad, shiver me timbers and roger the cabin boy.

[Image: FqbZFKpzzgCkYMXAIkkNAaMO5yJbWz32aq7r_eRl...8R09x_eX5Q]
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The IT Thread
No need to roger the poor cabin boy!  Panic I have an old version of OpenOffice that does the work for me, even though it is no longer supported. I might have bought MS Office, but wasn't willing to pony up the cash.
If you get to thinking you’re a person of some influence, try ordering somebody else’s dog around.
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The IT Thread
There's a couple of them for people who are not running a business but still need a decent word processer or spreadsheet.  I mainly use the spreadsheet for my dog rescue activities and a number of wargames use .csv spreadsheets for data.

If you put this string into Google it will give you a whole list of them.

best open source office suite

Even Microsoft has one... but you have to watch out on some of them.  They are not fully functional unless you "upgrade" to the the premium version.
Robert G. Ingersoll : “No man with a sense of humor ever founded a religion.”
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The IT Thread
(12-29-2021, 03:22 AM)Fireball Wrote: No need to roger the poor cabin boy!  Panic  I have an old version of OpenOffice that does the work for me, even though it is no longer supported. I might have bought MS Office, but wasn't willing to pony up the cash.

Well he could download (legit) the latest Libra Office but he said specifically he was using MS Office.
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The IT Thread
I quit all my IT consulting gigs. This was one of my favorite com cabinets that I thankfully did not have to do much work in. Note the roll of wire that lives there on the lower left.
[Image: 250-5019.jpg]

I also like the dangling 66 block on the right, being held in place by decades of 'seismic reinforcement'. That was our term for the layers of wire that build up and are left in place as the tech changed.
Here was the threat in the upper left corner in the IT guy's tool of choice, the fine point sharpie. I can't make out that riposte in pen above it. It was like an exchange on the bathroom stall door, LOL.
[Image: 250-5021.jpg]
test signature
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The IT Thread
Rube Goldberg would be proud.
Robert G. Ingersoll : “No man with a sense of humor ever founded a religion.”
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The IT Thread
At least the colour-coded wires made it easy to trace them.    Ha, ha.
I'm a creationist;   I believe that man created God.
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The IT Thread
Firefox has the "flexible space" addition in order to customise its toolbar in
order to separate the icons if you so choose.  The later versions of Firefox
however have increased the fixed(?) width of the space by around 4 times
that of the old "flexible space".

Is there any way to manually decrease the width of this spacer?

This is the "old" flexible space...

[Image: Arrow-Customize-Tophalf-1.png]

       Huh
I'm a creationist;   I believe that man created God.
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The IT Thread
Disabling "end cards" on YouTube videos.

Does anybody know a way to do this?  I've tried a few  3rd party alleged fixes
for this annoying function, but none has worked.  They still show under Firefox
even if you uncheck the "show" checkbox in YouTube tools.

These are the bloody things I'm talking about...

[Image: dOiPQhgch6L9c_sfp1pHnYJV2A6HJcQEoHGBIWEq...1bd1fcc46a]
I'm a creationist;   I believe that man created God.
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The IT Thread
Tim Curr...... wrong IT, my bad.
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The IT Thread
I'm buggered... well, not literally.       Tongue

I've been attempting to download a new version of Firefox,
without any luck.

I can download the complete exe. folder, but when I run it,
it crashes around halfway through the install.

I get the message "Gah. Your tab just crashed".

I contacted Firefox help, and they sent me a solution which
assumed you could actually run Firefox... double duh!

    Any ideas folks?
I'm a creationist;   I believe that man created God.
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The IT Thread
Firefox usually upgrades whether you want it or not!
Robert G. Ingersoll : “No man with a sense of humor ever founded a religion.”
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The IT Thread
I got my exe. problem fixed.  It turned out to
be a missing dll file which I must've somehow
deleted... dunno?        All good now.
I'm a creationist;   I believe that man created God.
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The IT Thread
I wouldn't know where to look for .dll files.
Robert G. Ingersoll : “No man with a sense of humor ever founded a religion.”
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The IT Thread
(06-10-2023, 01:25 AM)Minimalist Wrote: I wouldn't know where to look for .dll files.

They are probably in your refrigerator with the "dll pickles". Wink

Seriously, look for a "dynamic link library" folder/file. It's a Windows thing and I have a Mac, so I can't actually tell you where that would be found.
Never try to catch a dropped kitchen knife!
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The IT Thread
(06-10-2023, 04:03 AM)Cavebear Wrote: Seriously, look for a "dynamic link library" folder/file.  It's a Windows thing and I have a Mac, so I can't actually tell you where that would be found.

.dll files are all over the place.  A lot of the ones for Windows itself like to hang out at \Windows\System32, and ones for specific programs will usually be in the directory where the program was installed.

(Springy G takes off tattered, dusty MCSE hat, and sets it on fire because She is so done with IT)
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The IT Thread
One of my caregivers was here this morning, as usual, and as we were chewing the fat, he up and asked me if there was any way to, say, "plug in" more memory for his laptop, which is a Dell Experian (?) 3576. The alternative being to take it apart, put in memory, and put it all together again. I have no clue.
Is this sig thing on?
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The IT Thread
(07-06-2023, 07:31 PM)c172 Wrote: One of my caregivers was here this morning, as usual, and as we were chewing the fat, he up and asked me if there was any way to, say, "plug in" more memory for his laptop, which is a Dell Experian (?)  3576. The alternative being to take it apart, put in memory, and put it all together again. I have no clue.

Memory modules are fastened into the motherboard so, you’d have to have it opened and match the modules inside…if there is an open slot.  Otherwise, replace all of them with larger ones.

If it’s running out of memory when running an application, that may be due to a shortage of hard drive space as some applications use the hard drive to swap memory back and forth.  In that situation, he may benefit from a clean install of the operating system and being judicious in how many programs he reinstalls.  Yes, a pain in the butt but opening the case isn’t needed.  Heck, if he hasn’t shut off and turned back on his computer in a while, that can cause memory problems, too.

Operating systems are much better at handling memory issues these days but still aren’t perfect.  Some programs can hog a lot of memory until you fully close the offending program.  Older systems can have more problems even if they can run a newer program, they might not run it well.

If all this is beyond your skill set, he should take it to a computer store and discuss it with them.
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The IT Thread
(07-06-2023, 10:14 PM)pattylt Wrote:
(07-06-2023, 07:31 PM)c172 Wrote: One of my caregivers was here this morning, as usual, and as we were chewing the fat, he up and asked me if there was any way to, say, "plug in" more memory for his laptop, which is a Dell Experian (?)  3576. The alternative being to take it apart, put in memory, and put it all together again. I have no clue.

Memory modules are fastened into the motherboard so, you’d have to have it opened and match the modules inside…if there is an open slot.  Otherwise, replace all of them with larger ones.

If it’s running out of memory when running an application, that may be due to a shortage of hard drive space as some applications use the hard drive to swap memory back and forth.  In that situation, he may benefit from a clean install of the operating system and being judicious in how many programs he reinstalls.  Yes, a pain in the butt but opening the case isn’t needed.  Heck, if he hasn’t shut off and turned back on his computer in a while, that can cause memory problems, too.

Operating systems are much better at handling memory issues these days but still aren’t perfect.  Some programs can hog a lot of memory until you fully close the offending program.  Older systems can have more problems even if they can run a newer program, they might not run it well.

If all this is beyond your skill set, he should take it to a computer store and discuss it with them.

Taking a quick gander at a Youtube video on the subject, while it does require some disassembly to upgrade the memory on the Dell Inspiron 3576 (not Experian), the disassembly and reassembly is fairly easy. The only complication you might find is that while the machine in question does have two memory slots (presuming we're looking at the same model), it's not uncommon for manufacturers to populate both slots with smaller memory to reach the total RAM quota of the build, in which case you'd have to lose half the current memory in the process of adding more memory (and due to timing issues, it's probably advised that if both slots are currently filled, that you replace both with a single memory stick or two matched sticks). That's not absolutely necessary in every case, but it's not uncommon either.

Mountain-high though the difficulties appear, terrible and gloomy though all things seem, they are but Mâyâ.
Fear not — it is banished. Crush it, and it vanishes. Stamp upon it, and it dies.


Vivekananda
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