> -----Original Message----- > From: Tony [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Sunday, March 19, 2006 2:39 PM > To: CF-Community > Subject: hardware question. > > peeps. this is from my dad's boss, any ideas that i can throw > his way? im hardware dumb.
My thoughts (they're just guesses since we don't know what kind of computers or OS or nuthin') The USB issue may be "by design", especially in older or home-built systems. Many cases come with front USB ports but not all motherboards (especially older ones) come with headers - the ports are there but not connected. Also many front USB connections (especially those in memory card readers and such) are actually passed through from the back of the case (a cable runs through the case, out the back and plugs into a port) - sometimes these are unplugged without knowing what they are. None of this should happen in "store-bought" systems (Gateway, Dell, Compaq, etc). Rear ports are generally always "connected" (being either native to the motherboard or an add-in card). Lastly remember that not all OSs actually HAVE USB support. ;^) Earlier versions of Windows (Windows NT, Windows 95, etc) just can't grok USB. You'd be surprised how many USB "problems" are simply the fact that people haven't upgraded in 10 years. ;^) If the system is recent enough and all the hardware is good then you might look in device manager to ensure that the USB ports don't have a recognized problem. Depending the device you might also check how much power is required (for example not all ports can power a portable hard drive - you might need an external hub with its own power supply). As for defragmentation this is really dependant on the system and OS. For Windows not all files CAN be defragmented while the system is running (and many won't be done if you use the computer while it's running defrag). You can schedule a boot-mode defragment to get some of the files that normally can't be touched. Also if the drive is especially full defrag won't be able to do much - it needs some space to work. Lastly he only says "21% fragmented" not whether that's 21% of the number of of files or 21% of the total drive space in fragmented files. On a small drive with large files (movies, etc) 21% fragmentation of total space isn't so bad: large files take up most of the drive and are almost always fragmented. 21% of files (assuming this is a system drive) should be defragged - this is just because any OS will have thousand upon thousands of tiny files. 21% of total files (on a system drive) isn't great (it's not awful either tho'). Jim Davis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:200654 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
