Recent Posts

3101

General Software Discussion / Re: "Interrupts" - killing my CPU!

« Last post by Darwin on February 17, 2008, 11:04 PM »

Oh yeah... at idle, but with Outlook minimized to the tray, my notebook has 69 processes running. Don't worry, folks, I've seen the light and have already uninstalled 20 apps this afternoon and am still plugging away ("only" 337 installed at the moment...) at it. Next up is a re-evaluation of what runs on system start - the little Bluetooth app that hogs about 50 MB of RAM continuously is looking attractive for the axe - I only use it to grab pictures off my phone!

3102

Living Room / Re: tip: check your mouse before going to red alert.

« Last post by Darwin on February 17, 2008, 05:06 PM »

Good tip, nudone! Just to add to it - the same sort of behaviour is possible when the batteries in a cordless, optical mouse start to go as well, so one could also try swapping fresh batteries in to see if that remedies things.

3103

General Software Discussion / Re: "Interrupts" - killing my CPU!

« Last post by Darwin on February 17, 2008, 05:03 PM »

All right, then, I'll come clean: at idle my P-M 1.4Ghz single core anachronism chugs along at anything between 20 and 100% CPU utilization... Often it's a cocktail of BitDefender (via an svchost.exe process), Notezilla, and IndieVolume that "do it". I should probably take a look at all this, but I live with it because the computer remains fully "useable" and it's old. Very old.

3104

Living Room / Re: Ralf Maximus - MIA?

« Last post by Darwin on February 17, 2008, 04:57 PM »

I miss him, too 

3105

General Software Discussion / Re: "Interrupts" - killing my CPU!

« Last post by Darwin on February 17, 2008, 04:52 PM »

Thanks for the link Darwin, the method I knew to work was - Delete Device -> Reboot - and it didn't fail me this time either.

-nosh (February 16, 2008, 11:51 AM)

No worries! Actually, I've just realised in re-reading the thread that you were concerned about your optical drive and not a harddrive, which is what I was referring to... 

3106

General Software Discussion / Re: Maxthon (web browser) resource utilization...

« Last post by Darwin on February 17, 2008, 04:49 PM »

Sorry for the layout, I will not win an pedagogical prize for this post, I know.

-Curt (February 17, 2008, 03:56 PM)

  You're still a star in my eyes! Great post!

3107

General Software Discussion / Re: Maxthon (web browser) resource utilization...

« Last post by Darwin on February 17, 2008, 09:43 AM »

Well... as I have both FF 2 and Opera 9.5 Beta installed, I tested this out. FF is easily the lightest on resources and Maxthon the worst. The biggest difference between Opera and FF on the one hand and Maxthon on the other is CPU utilization (though Maxthon DOES reign supreme WRT VM as well). Where Maxthon is pegging my processor in the 30-80% range when busy, FF and Opera are both at or under 30%. I tested this in all three opening the same Favorites folder of 24 links.

However, overall, I think you're right, Curt. The big gains in switching to either Opera or Firefox are going to be in security and not in performance... (though Opera seemed much quicker in loading those pages than the other two).

3108

General Software Discussion / Re: Maxthon (web browser) resource utilization...

« Last post by Darwin on February 17, 2008, 08:07 AM »

PS something *must* be wrong - I opened a group of five tabs, bringing total to 7 as I'd also closed two, as I posted the above. VM shot to over 100MB and CPU cycled between 35 and 70% (both for Maxthon, of course)... It has settled to 104MB VM and CPU is cycling between 1 and 3%. I am starting to sweat - do I have a security leak?

3109

General Software Discussion / Maxthon (web browser) resource utilization...

« Last post by Darwin on February 17, 2008, 08:04 AM »

I am getting really fed up of Maxthon 2.x. I LOVE this browser, however since sometime in the Maxthon 1.5x development cycle it became a resource PIG. At the moment it's consuming 84 MB of VM (with three tabs open - was at 150 MB a few minutes ago with about 15 tabs open) and often uses upwards of 20% of my CPU. Sadly, I suspect that this is a problem with all modern browsers... or am I wrong?

I have FF and Opera installed - and neither of them have "wowed" me as being svelte, either.

3110

Living Room / Re: OK - lets get to know each other... who are you, what do you do, where from?

« Last post by Darwin on February 17, 2008, 07:44 AM »

Thank you both! Nothing yet this morning... I'll keep you informed.

Darwin--I noticed you're living in Courtenay, BC, where I was some eight years ago and spent some nice moments in Atlas cafe, if I recall it correctly. Does it still exist?

-yksyks (February 17, 2008, 12:45 AM)

Still there, yksyks, and still as popular as ever. I'm floored, actually, you're the first person on DC that I know of who has been here!

Let us know when your son arrives 

3111

Living Room / Re: Cooking my PC: what NOT to do

« Last post by Darwin on February 16, 2008, 10:34 PM »

Wow! At least it looks headed for a happy ending, Brandon. From the subject line I had feared the worst! Good thing you caught it in time 

[offtopic]

Back in November, about a week before my birthday (I do the same with Christmas), I went on some sites with my dad's login, and found out what I was getting on my little day.

-wreckedcarzz (February 16, 2008, 10:27 PM)

Man, gone are the days when kids used to check under their parents' bed for their Christmas presents! Being a naughty boy has definitely gone high-tech![/offtopic]

3112

Living Room / Re: OK - lets get to know each other... who are you, what do you do, where from?

« Last post by Darwin on February 16, 2008, 09:49 PM »

Wow! A baby boy... at 54! As the father of two boys you have my congratulations and warmest wishes for the coming months 

3113

General Software Discussion / Re: "Interrupts" - killing my CPU!

« Last post by Darwin on February 16, 2008, 11:06 AM »

PS This is the tip page that finally allowed me to fix my wife's notebook (it was refusing to change to DMA prior to working through the advice on this page): http://winhlp.com/node/10 - first hit on f0dder's search

3114

General Software Discussion / Re: "Interrupts" - killing my CPU!

« Last post by Darwin on February 16, 2008, 11:04 AM »

Good piece of advice on the PIO/DMA check. I *just* fixed this problem on my wife's laptop after months of beating my head against a wall and two days after doubling the RAM (my 5 year then dumped it on the floor and broke both the monitor and the power connection...). This made a machine that was almost unusable a SPEED DEMON. Stupidly, I used to have this problem with an old notebook and should have thought to check it long ago...

3115

Living Room / Re: KITT returns!

« Last post by Darwin on February 16, 2008, 10:57 AM »

I LOVED Firefox! 

3116

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: CD Catalog Expert on Bits du Jour today for $17.97

« Last post by Darwin on February 16, 2008, 10:31 AM »

That $17.97 pays for a lifetime licence... I'm VERY happy with Where Is It? but if I was in the market for a cataloger, I definitely download a trial of CD Catalog Expert and see if I liked it before the Bits du Jour offer ended! FWIW, I unsuccessfully tried to find a review of it and came up with pretty much nothing... Tom's cataloguer thread is an excellent starting point - there are even some free alternatives mentioned, if I recall correctly (the one I'm thinking of is VERY expensive for corporate/enterprise use but free for personal use).

3117

General Software Discussion / Re: How to search for folders by size?

« Last post by Darwin on February 16, 2008, 07:43 AM »

Apparently Avafind can do this (or something similar?) as well. Was just reading about it after following Nosh's link to it from the "My favorite software!What's yours?" thread...

PS Great work, Don 

3118

Living Room / Re: KITT returns!

« Last post by Darwin on February 15, 2008, 12:43 PM »

Let's remember a bit the old one, presented by a new mechanic! 

Jalopnik

 

-Mark0 (February 15, 2008, 11:48 AM)

 

3119

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Scanahand RC1 Released

« Last post by Darwin on February 15, 2008, 12:41 PM »

I wondered if the discount code shouldn't perhaps be moved to a secure area... Anyway, thank you again for this discount and for the nifty new app, erwind 

3120

Living Room / Re: KITT returns!

« Last post by Darwin on February 15, 2008, 10:55 AM »

No David Hasselhoff, other than a cameo in the pilot movie. Thankfully, to the best of my knowledge, he doesn't sing in the movie...

3121

Living Room / Re: Love - You have 4 minutes to choose your perfect mate

« Last post by Darwin on February 15, 2008, 10:51 AM »

Sorry, fodder - I don't speak German! However, I'm not sure what prompted me to write "dubbed" as normally Showcase subtitles foreign movies...

3122

Living Room / Re: Love - You have 4 minutes to choose your perfect mate

« Last post by Darwin on February 15, 2008, 09:15 AM »

Looks interesting - not what I expected. I should watch out for a dubbed version to run on Showcase here in Canada or on A&E in the States!

3123

Living Room / Re: Love - You have 4 minutes to choose your perfect mate

« Last post by Darwin on February 15, 2008, 09:10 AM »

Ha ha - there's even an English language IMDB entry for Shoppen here: http://german.imdb.com/title/tt0805613/

3124

Living Room / Re: Love - You have 4 minutes to choose your perfect mate

« Last post by Darwin on February 15, 2008, 09:04 AM »

The movie Hitch features a pretty funny speed-dating scene. Although I know it's not the only movie/tv show to have featured speed-dating, it's the only one that I can clearly remember!

Found this reference to Shoppen - a German movie on speed dating (2007)

EDIT: added link to Wikipedia entry for Shoppen...

3125

Living Room / KITT returns!

« Last post by Darwin on February 15, 2008, 08:50 AM »

Just read about the return of Knight Rider to our televisions this coming Sunday night and immediately thought of DC, where the original show's mix of kitsch, action, and tech (I'm sure) make it a nostalgic favourite for many members. This two hour movie is a pilot for a new series to join American Gladiators (I've never seen either the original or the remake) and Bionic Woman (really like the remake and am surprised that it's not done/doing well). Read the original article here, at the Globe&Mail's Arts Section.



NB This is my FOURTH attempt at posting this and the first time I've remembered to copy the text before posting...