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Tech Support

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 12:35 pm
by FredRomero
1. I'm trying to combine several Word documents and create one pdf so everything will be downloaded by our families with one click. The problem is that each Word document has different margin settings (I didn't create these documents), so when I tried to combine it into one document, the formatting got really messed up. Is there a way to merge documents while allowing them to keep their own margin settings? Otherwise, I need to reformat everything or I guess I could scan print outs, but I don't want to do that because I want something editable.

2. Making this more complicated is that my mouse is acting funky. It sometimes double clicks when I single click, so it's very difficult to highlight paragraphs. It will stop highlighting or move sections of the paragraph. I checked the settings and they look normal. The HP help section first told me to make sure I'm using the mouse correctly -- I'm not using my penis so I think I'm doing that part right. Next, they told me to try reinstalling the driver. The first instruction was to unplug the mouse. The second instruction was to doubleclick on something...so HP isn't helpful. Any other ideas? The operating system is XP

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 12:40 pm
by A_B
If you make individual PDFs of each, you should be able to combine them after the fact without issues.

As for the mouse, does it need to be cleaned? You can always put your cursor at the front of the first word of the paragraph, hold down shift and push the down arrow til to get past the paragraph.

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 12:41 pm
by Steve of phpBB
FredRomero wrote:1. I'm trying to combine several Word documents and create one pdf so everything will be downloaded by our families with one click. The problem is that each Word document has different margin settings (I didn't create these documents), so when I tried to combine it into one document, the formatting got really messed up. Is there a way to merge documents while allowing them to keep their own margin settings? Otherwise, I need to reformat everything or I guess I could scan print outs, but I don't want to do that because I want something editable.

2. Making this more complicated is that my mouse is acting funky. It sometimes double clicks when I single click, so it's very difficult to highlight paragraphs. It will stop highlighting or move sections of the paragraph. I checked the settings and they look normal. The HP help section first told me to make sure I'm using the mouse correctly -- I'm not using my penis so I think I'm doing that part right. Next, they told me to try reinstalling the driver. The first instruction was to unplug the mouse. The second instruction was to doubleclick on something...so HP isn't helpful. Any other ideas? The operating system is XP
Don't know nuthin' about mouses, but if you convert each Word document to its own pdf, and then merge the pdf's, would that take care of your first issue?

If you have one of the later versions of Acrobat, you may be able to do this in one step using "Combine Files Into a Single PDF." Just put the Word documents into that process, and hopefully you will come out with one merged pdf, with each Word document retaining its own fucked-up formatting.

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:05 pm
by Scottie
FredRomero wrote:2. Making this more complicated is that my mouse is acting funky. It sometimes double clicks when I single click . . .
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/266738

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:10 pm
by FredRomero
I think I just made things worse. I downloaded the latest Adobe reader and it looks like you need to pay adobe for any file combining.

Thanks for the mouse link, Scottie

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:13 pm
by Scottie
FredRomero wrote:I think I just made things worse. I downloaded the latest Adobe reader and it looks like you need to pay adobe for any file combining.
Acrobat Reader won't be of any use to you. You need Adobe Acrobat, from which you can create PDFs.

Unless the documents are confidential, personal, whathaveyou, any one of us with Acrobat can combine them for you. That, of course, depends of email attachment size restrictions. But I agree that making one large PDF is the way to go.

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:36 pm
by FredRomero
Now my boss wants me to look into purchasing Acrobat. Should Standard do the job or would I need Pro? Looks like they have a free trial so I may just do that. Also, this has lead to another question. If I combine the 5 PDFs the total size will be about 600 kb. Will that size be an issue e-mailing it to parents? We decided it's too much to ask parents to follow a link and click on a download.

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:41 pm
by Scottie
Fwiw, I use Adobe Acrobat 9 (Standard). And it does, by far, anything I need to do with it. You don't need Pro to combine documents.

600KB is nothing. They should get that as an attachment with no problems at all. You only have to worry about attachments when you get up around 10 MB. Or, less common these days, 3MB on older platforms.

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:47 pm
by Gunpowder
I've had this problem, but it was years ago so I can't quite remember. But I do believe that there is a way to normalize the margins in a PDF file. Or maybe I just went through and edited them all individually.

If you want, Romero, you can PDF them all together and send them to me at layontheice @ gmizzail and I'll see if I can do it easier with BUSINESS-CLASS PDF SON

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 4:40 pm
by Shirley
There are free pdf merging tools as well. I think the one I used was cleverly named "PDF Merge".

http://bit.ly/WtqOrq

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 6:06 pm
by FredRomero
Used PrimoPDF and got the job done easily. Thanks for the offers to do my work for me, but I don't think my students are ready for South Florida BUSINESS CLASS.

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 6:36 pm
by Weatherfrog
Print them all out and then scan them as one document. Boom.

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 5:34 pm
by Johnnie
Because the question will inevitably pop up, the website you use to download all your software in one shot is: http://www.ninite.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 2:57 pm
by travzilla
Microsoft Office. I've had an Office 2013 preview since I got my laptop, but it has now expired. i think I also have Office 2010 installed on here but it needs a product key.

I'm worried that I'm a mopron if I just buy the latest Office when there is an easy way to get it (or an alternative) for free that all the cool kids are using.

Do I suck it up and just buy it?

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 9:19 pm
by Rush2112

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 4:00 am
by Johnnie
I have a Motorola MotoActv MP3 player. Recently, connecting it to my computer makes it go blue screen of death on me. I have no idea why. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers from Motorola's website a couple times now with the same result.

This is the error message I get when I log back in:
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: d1
BCP1: 00000004
BCP2: 00000002
BCP3: 00000000
BCP4: 933B7D70
OS Version: 6_1_7601
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 768_1

Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\040713-38532-01.dmp
C:\Users\Desktop Computer\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-73772-0.sysdata.xml

Read our privacy statement online:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid= ... cid=0x0409" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt
Does anyone know what this means? I have no idea what the hell makes an MP3 player's software suddenly decide to turn my computer nuts.

ETA

Installed it on my laptop with zero issues. Just plugged it in and it completely installed and recognized everything. Didn't even need to download drivers from Motorola.

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 10:24 am
by cerrano
i was looking into upgrading my fios from 25/15 or whatever to their quantum 50/25 service. i went to speedtest.net and i'm noticing that my download speeds were about 18, but my upload speed was 19. that ain't normal, right? anybody have this issue on their network? verizon or otherwise?

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 5:27 am
by DaveInSeattle
Anyone a google talk user?

Here's the issue: My LadyFriend and I were IM'ing, using google talk, and all of a sudden, something came up in the box where she would type, that neither her or I wrote.

She, naturally, is completely freaked out, that someone had hacked into our IM session. I guess that's possible, but I don't really see how that would happen.

So I told her that she should change her password...but I'm not sure what else I can tell her or have her do to reassure her.

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 7:40 am
by govmentchedda
AussieDave wrote:Anyone a google talk user?

Here's the issue: My LadyFriend and I were IM'ing, using google talk, and all of a sudden, something came up in the box where she would type, that neither her or I wrote.

She, naturally, is completely freaked out, that someone had hacked into our IM session. I guess that's possible, but I don't really see how that would happen.

So I told her that she should change her password...but I'm not sure what else I can tell her or have her do to reassure her.
I'm pretty sure Oiler uses Google Talk, but he's never here anymore. Perhaps he'd answer a PM, if he's even signed up on the new board.

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 7:42 am
by Brontoburglar
I use Google talk more than anyone should. (We have it at work and so it's my primary communication method)

I've seen it before where a conversation from earlier will randomly pop up. It'll be like three or four lines from something I previously said and it's completely random. Did you both see it?

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 8:02 am
by DaveInSeattle
Brontoburglar wrote:I use Google talk more than anyone should. (We have it at work and so it's my primary communication method)

I've seen it before where a conversation from earlier will randomly pop up. It'll be like three or four lines from something I previously said and it's completely random. Did you both see it?
nope....just she saw it. And it was just one line....

Very strange...

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 8:07 am
by Brontoburglar
AussieDave wrote:
Brontoburglar wrote:I use Google talk more than anyone should. (We have it at work and so it's my primary communication method)

I've seen it before where a conversation from earlier will randomly pop up. It'll be like three or four lines from something I previously said and it's completely random. Did you both see it?
nope....just she saw it. And it was just one line....

Very strange...
Yeah, that's what's happened to me before. The person on the other end hasn't seen it. Does she save her chat histories? She could just search that line and I'm going to guess she'll find she typed it somewhere.

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 10:26 am
by Scottie
govmentchedda wrote:
AussieDave wrote:Anyone a google talk user?

Here's the issue: My LadyFriend and I were IM'ing, using google talk, and all of a sudden, something came up in the box where she would type, that neither her or I wrote.

She, naturally, is completely freaked out, that someone had hacked into our IM session. I guess that's possible, but I don't really see how that would happen.

So I told her that she should change her password...but I'm not sure what else I can tell her or have her do to reassure her.
I'm pretty sure Oiler uses Google Talk, but he's never here anymore. Perhaps he'd answer a PM, if he's even signed up on the new board.
Didn't he sign up as "bytheway"?

Google is constantly archiving everything on Earth. If you look at our little forum here, there is a Google Bot indexing the place around the clock. So if you are using Google Talk (or Google anything) you might find something a little bit behind the "real time" on occasion. What you're looking at is a cached version. If you just re-load (after clearing your caches), it will usually put you back in "real time", as it were.

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 10:32 am
by Scottie
And just to directly answer AussieDave's query, that is not (not likely) an account being hacked. It's just the software failing on the server side. Back when Gmail first started, similar errors occurred. Once it gets its legs, it will be far cleaner. My two cents.

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 3:52 pm
by sancarlos
So, I recently was issued a new work laptop, which is great. But, the IT people have layered on various filters and blocks that I have to work around, now. for instance, when I go to the animated gif thread, I'm just seeing a static image. Any advice on how to allow the animations to go forward? Gracias.

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 4:15 pm
by Scottie
Need to know:
PC? Mac?
What operating system are you using?
What browser are you using?
What programs (of which you are aware) are installed that might be able to block page elements? Virus scanners? Security suites? Yada? Yada? Yada?
. . . and so on.

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 4:25 pm
by sancarlos
Scottie wrote:Need to know:
PC? Mac?
What operating system are you using?
What browser are you using?
What programs (of which you are aware) are installed that might be able to block page elements? Virus scanners? Security suites? Yada? Yada? Yada?
. . . and so on.
Thanks, Scottie.
HP pc
Windows 7
Explorer 8 (could change)
I don't know what software they use to block, but they assuredly use some off the shelf stuff
Symantec Endpoint protection
that's about all I know

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 4:37 pm
by Scottie
Before we get into anything else, in Internet Explorer go to Internet Options and then the Advanced tab. Scroll down to the Multimedia section and make sure that "play animations in web pages" is checked. And uncheck "show image download placeholders".

On the same tab, in the Security section, uncheck "block unsecured images...".

Empty the cache(s). Restart the browser. See if that works.

What else have you found that is being blocked? There are two places the IT guys can block elements. They can do it on the server side (their side) or the client side (your side). The client side we can probably fix (unless there are rights restrictions).

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 8:32 pm
by Denis
FredRomero wrote:1. I'm trying to combine several Word documents and create one pdf so everything will be downloaded by our families with one click. The problem is that each Word document has different margin settings (I didn't create these documents), so when I tried to combine it into one document, the formatting got really messed up. Is there a way to merge documents while allowing them to keep their own margin settings? Otherwise, I need to reformat everything or I guess I could scan print outs, but I don't want to do that because I want something editable.

2. Making this more complicated is that my mouse is acting funky. It sometimes double clicks when I single click, so it's very difficult to highlight paragraphs. It will stop highlighting or move sections of the paragraph. I checked the settings and they look normal. The HP help section first told me to make sure I'm using the mouse correctly -- I'm not using my penis so I think I'm doing that part right. Next, they told me to try reinstalling the driver. The first instruction was to unplug the mouse. The second instruction was to doubleclick on something...so HP isn't helpful. Any other ideas? The operating system is XP

1. There are a couple freeware PDF converters that allow merging but they are extremely tedious and are limited (watermarks, min pages). Not to mention their scheisty presence on your computer and will end up in resident memory for unexperienced users. Avoid them at all costs. Best thing to do is get your hands on a full Acrobat, whether from a colleague or, dare I say, t0rr3nt. You should be able to get full use of it unregistered, even if for just 30 days or whatever the terms are without paying nothing.

2. Sounds like the mouse is physically busted. Replace the mouse cheap ass. You can get a good basic Logitech or MS mouse for $6 from any office store.

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 8:33 pm
by cerrano
Denis wrote:
FredRomero wrote:1. I'm trying to combine several Word documents and create one pdf so everything will be downloaded by our families with one click. The problem is that each Word document has different margin settings (I didn't create these documents), so when I tried to combine it into one document, the formatting got really messed up. Is there a way to merge documents while allowing them to keep their own margin settings? Otherwise, I need to reformat everything or I guess I could scan print outs, but I don't want to do that because I want something editable.

2. Making this more complicated is that my mouse is acting funky. It sometimes double clicks when I single click, so it's very difficult to highlight paragraphs. It will stop highlighting or move sections of the paragraph. I checked the settings and they look normal. The HP help section first told me to make sure I'm using the mouse correctly -- I'm not using my penis so I think I'm doing that part right. Next, they told me to try reinstalling the driver. The first instruction was to unplug the mouse. The second instruction was to doubleclick on something...so HP isn't helpful. Any other ideas? The operating system is XP

1. There are a couple freeware PDF converters that allow merging but they are extremely tedious and are limited (watermarks, min pages). Not to mention their scheisty presence on your computer and will end up in resident memory for unexperienced users. Avoid them at all costs. Best thing to do is get your hands on a full Acrobat, whether from a colleague or, dare I say, t0rr3nt. You should be able to get full use of it unregistered, even if for just 30 days or whatever the terms are without paying nothing.

2. Sounds like the mouse is physically busted. Replace the mouse cheap ass. You can get a good basic Logitech or MS mouse for $6 from any office store.
sadly, fred don't live here no mo'.

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 11:57 pm
by sancarlos
Scottie wrote:Before we get into anything else, in Internet Explorer go to Internet Options and then the Advanced tab. Scroll down to the Multimedia section and make sure that "play animations in web pages" is checked. And uncheck "show image download placeholders".

On the same tab, in the Security section, uncheck "block unsecured images...".

Empty the cache(s). Restart the browser. See if that works.

What else have you found that is being blocked? There are two places the IT guys can block elements. They can do it on the server side (their side) or the client side (your side). The client side we can probably fix (unless there are rights restrictions).
All those were already checked or unchecked the way we want. Things being blocked only occurs when I'm connected to the company network, but the lack of animations on the gifs is always the case.

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 2:24 pm
by Shrew
Can anyone give me advice about keeping a laptop in the trunk of my car? I ask because I usually throw it in there while I am out and about. On one of the first warm days this year I left my cell phone on the front seat and it went into shutdown mode until it cooled off.

Is it detrimental to laptops and if so, are there any inexpensive methods to making sure I don't damage my computer?

Also it came with a "free" Norton protection system. The last time I checked Norton was a very large program and not worth the expense and the amount of memory it takes up.

Scottie and Johnnie were kind enough to recommend free antivirus, malware, and firewall programs but since my last computer is now probably a right rear quarter panel to a Ford Fusion; could I please get some suggestions?

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 3:35 pm
by Scottie
A laptop will typically (depending on the brand) go into shut-down mode when overheating. Detrimental? Yes. Computers do not like heat. That's why you always find semi-frigid temperatures in server rooms. If you must leave one in a trunk, put a couple of freezer packs near it, the type that won't leak. Y'know, those blue things. Something to keep the trunk temperature down.

Norton? Uninstall it. (Control Panel > Programs).

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 3:42 pm
by Scottie
free antivirus, malware, and firewall programs
Step One: Install CCleaner and run it a couple of times every day (it only takes a few seconds).

I don't use anti-virus software. But a free one that is popular is AVG. I recommend not using anti-virus software but that's just me.

Malware/Spyware:
Malwarebytes
Super Anti-Spyware
Spybot - Search & Destroy

Firewall:
ZoneAlarm

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 3:56 pm
by Scottie
sancarlos wrote:Things being blocked only occurs when I'm connected to the company network, but the lack of animations on the gifs is always the case.
Let's say, for example, you have a laptop that you cart around. On your home network, everything works. At your office, some things don't work. That tell us that the animations (etc) that are being blocked are being blocked on the server side of the office's network. There's not much you can do about that short of using a proxy.

I'd flat-out ask them why they block animated gifs (or any other animations). Do they also block Flash? Again, I'd ask why. They may not even be aware they are blocking animations as it could be an unintended consequence of a larger blocking (ie - pr0n, gambling/poker sites, etc).

"Oh, I was looking at The Economist the other day and noticed some of the page didn't load; just a placeholder. Any idea why that is?"

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 4:37 pm
by sancarlos
I meant to post this earlier, but a couple days ago, I clicked Windows Update and downloaded a bunch of updates. Animated gifs now work!

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 5:00 pm
by Shirley
Scottie wrote: I don't use anti-virus software. But a free one that is popular is AVG. I recommend not using anti-virus software but that's just me.
AVG got very bloated a few years ago. I no longer recommend that one. Go with Microsoft's Security Essentials. It never gets in the way and it just works.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... s-download" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 5:24 pm
by howard
Ford Fusion. Irony?

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 11:20 pm
by Johnnie
So I use Tunlr to get Pandora to work in Korea.

But that isn't a cure-all for other websites. What's the best way to VPN so that I'm effectively "in" another country? My IP address is still tied to South Korea and they completely block porn sites.

Also, I fear Germany will be a lot more restrictive if I want to download, say, Mad Men or Game Of Thrones when I get over there. I've heard of your internet company sending thousand Euro fines that you should "just pay and learn from." It's also illegal to have an unsecure network in Germany too.

So, besides the 3rd degree of what I should do to avoid trouble altogether, what's the next best option?

Re: Tech Support

Posted: Sun May 12, 2013 9:55 am
by howard
My business partner in the tech company is now my roommate. He knows this shit, as soon as he wakes up I'll ask him. He described a procedure for this sitch for my old roommate, when he moved to Germany.