Windows 7

Here’s the additional things you will need:

• Logitech built-in webcam
  [R151795]
  http://support.us.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R151795&fileid=202014
• Ricoh Card Reader (R5C832)
  [R230630]
  http://support.us.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R230630&fileid=331575
• Touchpad Software (to enable scrolling & middle click)
  [R271843]
  http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R271843&fileid=401254

Version: 1.0

Features:

• Visit friends automatically (Limited to 20 friends).
• Always on top window.
• Right click to stop run.

Instructions:

1. Launch Pet Society & Pet Society Visitor.
2. Click Calibrate, click the top left corner of Pet Society.
3. Change Runs to desired run.
4. Click Run

Screenshots:

Symptoms: Reddish screen, backlight would turn off by itself.

Possible Problems: LCD backlight failure.

Solution: Replace backlight or Replace LCD.

Cost: $75 for a used AUO B121EW02.

My laptop is more than 3 years old, and the LCD decided to die on me right after my warranty is over.

To get it recertified for warranty would cost me $300. To get it repaired without the warranty would cost me $400 from Dell.

The LCD had a red tint to it, it is most likely the inverter or LCD backlight that is failing, but a reddish screen would most likely indicate a failing backlight. I can replace the backlight tube for $10, which is something I would like to avoid because it would require tearing the LCD apart and solder the new tubes. Too risky and much work for $10.

Other 3 screens used by Dell for this M1210 laptop is a AUO B121EW03 (AUO3214), Samsung LTN121W1 (SEC3157) and the Toshiba LTD121EXPD (LCD58E), listed in the most desired to the least desired. The LCD came with my laptop was a Toshiba LTD121EXPD. It is one of the worst LCD with light leakage from the bottom.

Toshiba LTD121EXPD (LCD58E) (Dell XPS M1210) vs AUO B121EW02 (AUO2114) (Dell 710m)

source: http://www.notebookforums.com/thread165050.html

From the picture above, you can see how faded the color is compared to a Dell 710m screen.

Why I chose a B121EW02 instead of B121EW03? Because it has a better viewing angle.

Here’s the reddish screen.

After replacing the LCD.

Conclusion: LCD are not hard to replace, but is it worth it to replace? You can get LCDs for ~$80 from eBay claiming that they are new (They will provide a compatible one).  Different LCDs have different quality, it depends if you are picky as me or not. Since my laptop has a 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo, 4GB of RAM and GeForce 7400 (not great but better than onboard graphic cards). It is still worth it to replace the LCD considering that a similar spec new laptop would cost at least $500.

If you laptop is slower than a Core 2 Duo, consider upgrading.

Here are some tricks that I have learnt during my years of studying in University at Buffalo.

Printing Tips

1. Avoid printing during peak hours (print turnaround > 1hr)
   During peak hours, consultant have tendency to mess up sorting just to keep up with the printers.
2. Release multiple print jobs at the same time.
   Releasing multiple jobs at the same time will lower the chances of loosing printouts.
3. Count/check your print jobs.
   Count to see if you have missing print jobs or may have held someone else’s print job.
4. Printing PDF documents.
   Some PDF files are pain in the ass to print. I found “Print as Image” in Adobe Printing Preference helps a lot.

Printing Hints/Tricks

1. You can send printout from one computing site to another computing site (e.g. Capen to Lockwood)
   Hint: Adding the right printer through Internet Explorer.
   
2. You can sent printouts to one particular printer
   Hint: Adding the right printer through Internet Explorer.
   
3. You can cut the printing queue by sending to another print server (e.g. iPrint Anywhere server has short queue.)
   Hint: Adding the right printer through Internet Explorer.
   
4. You can release print jobs from the computers in the hallway.
   Hint: You need the iPrint URL.

Computing Sites Hints/Tricks

1. You can disable the 15 minutes timer on Express Stations
   Hint: Task Manager
   
2. You can use Remote Desktop
   Hint: Command Prompt
   
3. You can release print jobs from the computers in the hallway.
   Hint: You need the iPrint URL.

Home Computing Tips

1. You can access your S: Drive from home.

   Windows Vista/7:
   Map Network Drive –>https://ubfs.buffalo.edu/ubfs/myfiles/1st_letter_ubitname/2nd_letter_ubitname/ubitname
   (e.g. https://ubfs.buffalo.edu/ubfs/myfiles/j/d/jdoe)

   Web Browser:
   https://ubfs.buffalo.edu/

2. Off Campus VPN
   https://ubvpn.buffalo.edu
   or read here: http://ubit.buffalo.edu/software/win/ubvpn/offcampus.php
3. Printing from home (iPrint Anywhere) (Requires Off Campus VPN)
   Read: http://ubit.buffalo.edu/iprint/anywhere/index.php

   When connecting to printer, there might be a failure (that is what I encountered)

   To overcome this problem, go to \\iprint.buffalo.edu\ using Windows Explorer. Connect to the desired printer yourself.

Symptoms: BSOD in Windows

Possible Problems: Software/Driver compatibility problem.

Solution: Reformat.

Cost: None!

The laptop will have BSOD in Windows itself. Too many software installed, hard to trace which software/driver was the culprit. Windows reinstalled using an unaltered Windows DVD. This means no HP JUNK SOFTWARE! Most of the time, you don’t need them and they use too much resources.

Used compressed air to clean the heat sink from the outside. Hopefully no big pieces of dust are stuck inside like the David’s Dell. Didn’t want to disassemble the whole laptop (keyboard, top plate, wires, motherboard) just to clean the heat sink.

Conclusion: Don’t install too many conflicting software.

• Drive Fitness Test (DFT)

Fujitsu

• Diagnostic Tool

Samsung

• ESTool (Internal Drive)
• ESwin (External Drive)

Seagate/Maxtor

• SeaTools

Toshiba

• n/a

Western Digital

• Data Lifeguard Diagnostic

I stumbled across this software which is capable of checking your hard disk health. It is called CrystalDiskInfo which is an open-source software.

Lets take a look at my 250GB Western Digital Caviar SE16 (Western Digital Blue) which is more than 3 years old. From the report below, I can see that it has developed some errors. Looks like I have to backup this hard disk more often!

Here is my other hard disk, a 1TB Western Digital Green which is less than a year old and is in good health.

David’s 250GB Western Digital Scorpio which have failed. Notice the Reallocated Sector Count and Current Pending Sector Count which have lower values compared to the drives above.

Download: http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html

Symptoms: Computer crashed, unable to load Windows. Reinstall doesn’t help.

Possible Problems: Overheat, Hard Disk Failure.

Solution: Replace Hard Disk.

Cost: $75 for 320GB Western Digital Scorpio Black

The heat sink was completely clogged with dust. Cleaned the heat sink with compressed air, here is one big chuck of dust.

After cleaning the heat sink, reinstalling windows did not work. Windows installation crashed. Now that is not a good news. Took out the hard disk to determine the manufacturer and model. In this case, it is a 250GB Western Digital Scorpio Blue 5400rpm (WD2500BEVS).

Since it is a WD hard disk, I downloaded the Data Lifeguard Diagnostic tool and ran the basic & extended test. The hard disk failed both test.

I ordered a 320GB Western Digital Scorpio Black 7200rpm to replace this hard disk.

10/05/09: David’s new 320GB Western Digital Scorpio Black! One of the fastest hard disk available for laptop. 5 years warranty!

Windows installation went smoothly. No more problems now!

Conclusion: Hard disk failure can happen, and sometimes you can tell if the hard disk is going to fail. Possible symptoms of a failing hard disk includes: Corrupted files & operating system, sluggish performance, noisy hard disk.

Conclusion: Computers will collect dust in the heat sink. If you notice slow performance or overheating, it is possible that the heat sink is clogged. When a computer overheats, it will try to cool down by slowing down (throttling), hence the slow performance. I would recommend cleaning the heat sink every 6 months depending on the usage and surrounding.

I was introduced to this by FLiPMaRC at club3g.com

This allows you to view RAW thumbnails as well as opening it in 64-bit applications.

FastPictureViewer WIC RAW Codec Pack

A free collection of 32 and 64-bit raw image decoders for Windows 7, Vista and XP.
FastPictureViewer, the fastest image viewer!     Windows Vista introduced a modern and extensible imaging framework called Windows Imaging Component (WIC). The operating system comes with built-in support for several common image formats including jpeg, bmp, png, gif, tiff and HD Photo. WIC makes it possible for 3rd parties to add first-class support for image formats to Windows, complete with thumbnails in Explorer, preview and slideshow support in Photo Gallery / Photo Viewer and metadata search integration.

The FastPictureViewer WIC RAW Codec Pack provides such platform support for additional formats through read-only image decoders, simultaneously available in both 32 and 64-bit flavor.

WIC-enabled image viewers such as Windows Live™ Photo Gallery, Windows 7’s Media Center and our own FastPictureViewer Professional “automagically” gain the ability to open and view new image formats, play slideshows etc, so does all .NET 3.x and WPF-based applications.

http://www.fastpictureviewer.com/codecs/