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Q: What is the difference between CD+R and CD-R?
A: There is no such thing as CD+R. CD-R is CD-Recordable, which means you can write ONCE to it.

DVD recordable have two standards: DVD-R and DVD+R, but there are really no practical difference between them to the consumer, and most if not all drives will read/write both with no practical difference.

So again, there is no such thing as CD+R. Someone was very confused and assumed that since DVD recordable have two versions: +R and -R, CD recordable must have two versions as well. That is simply not true.

There is something called CD+G, but that's basically some graphics recorded on audio CDs (G = Graphics), and playable on some special screen-equipped audio-CD players.

Q: I plan to buy a solid state drive (SSD), which is basically flash memory packed into a hard drive case and accessed like a hard drive (through SATA, IDE, whatever). I have heard that it is bad to defrag a SSD. Is that true, and why is that so?

A: The "random access time" of an SSD is so fast that "defrag" it is pointless.

On a regular HD, the head have to move from track to track. On an SSD it's instantaneous (well, just about). Thus, defrag is pointless. If there is no appreciable "gap" between blocks of data, then defrag is not necessary. After all the idea of defrag is to move the data so it can be read as a contiguous segment as possible, so the read head doesn't have to jump around to get the data.

Also, on flash memory, each cell can only be read and written X number of times. (that X is actually in the millions) In order to improve reliability, flash drives (and SSDs) have what's called "load levellers" that purposefully SPREAD OUT the data so each cell is used equally as much as possible. This actually fragments the data. However, such is NOT a concern on SSD, as stated before.

Thus, if you defrag an SSD, not only you will NOT see any gains, you will actually defeat the load levelling feature, increasing those frequently used cell's chance of failure, and thus, decrease reliability of the entire drive. Of course, you may be shaving off only fraction of a percent in reliability, but why borrow trouble?

Q: Is it possible to run 64-bit OS, such as Vista 64-bit, on a 32-bit CPU? I don't care how slowly it runs, if it runs at all.

A: No, it would not be possible. 64-bit OS would issue 64-bit commands to the CPU, and 32-bit CPU would not understand those commands at all, and will crash (for the geeks, it would be "invalid opcode" error).

I suppose you *could* write a virtual machine that emulates a 64-bit CPU, and run the OS within that, but then you have to intercept very single call an OS can make... pass-thru if necessary... Why? When 64-bit CPUs are readily available?

Q: Is there such thing as an external video card? So I can get better video for my laptop / notebook? Something that I can play a DECENT game with? The built-in Intel GMA is pure ****, if you know what I mean.

A: Brother, I share your pain. I have a Sony VAIO laptop that has the Intel 965 and no decent action game will run on it. However, there are no such thing on the market.

A prototype was demonstrated in Taiwan last year, and two companies have announced products. However, neither have reached market a year later. Looks like it's pretty dead.

I can see why too. The device itself will cost like $200, NOT COUNTING cost of the video card that you plan to use. And even then, the ExpressPort's bandwidth does not come CLOSE to PCI-E x 16 port that the video card really needs. So the video card will really be running at half-speed or worse. They'd be better off designing ExpressPort video card instead, if there aren't so many variants on the market...

Q: I used _________ to convert some AVI files to a Video DVD format folder. However, I was browsing it when I noticed that while the VIDEO_TS folder has a whole bunch of files, AUDIO_TS folder is empty! Does that mean the conversion failed?


A: No. Video DVD does NOT require the existence of the AUDIO_TS folder. The VOB files in VIDEO_TS folder contains video, audio, AND subtitle data (if any), even multiple sound tracks. Some conversion programs like to put that folder there, just for completeness' sake. Don't worry about it.

Q: What is a .LIT file? It seems to be an e-book but I don't know how to open it.

A: It's Microsoft Reader. You can download it free at http://www.microsoft.com/Reader/

Q: What do I do if I want to launch a group of screensavers randomly, like the way I randomize wallpaper?
A: For XP, I used to recommend ScreenSaver Druid, but that one has a relatively odd interface. I tried Random ScreenSaver Starter, but it crashes on Vista. So I recommend the free ScreenSaver Commander. It works perfectly in Vista, and you can activate / deactivate individual screensavers, order them in a list or go at random, with no problems, at all. Its only problem is that it doesn't read the Screensaver names properly. For example, the Screentime "Sunset 23" is read as "ScreenTime Screensaver Engine". However, it also shows the filename, which will tell you which screensaver that was.

Q: How about a wallpaper randomizer as well?
A: I use John's Background Switcher. It can download RSS feeds (example: flicker top 100), filter those feeds (Flickr Top 250 that had to do with cars), as well as play pictures from a directory, and more. It can even add a calendar and other features. And it is absolutely free. Obviously, to download you need to be online.
A second option is Wallpaper from MSN, which not only gives you some of the best licensed wallpaper from major movies (some examples are Slumdog Millionaire, Yes Man, Notorious, Hancock), but also major games (Prince of Persia, PGR4, LEGO Batman) and your regular landscapes, closeups, nature, and so on. What's more, you can edit those by adding additional characters and dialog bubbles/boxes. It will also do "slideshow" if you want it to.

Q: Now that Microsoft has opened up POP3 access to Hotmail, how can I integrate that with POPfile? Without Popfile the mail gets through, but I can't make Popfile work with the mail client at all.
A: What you need to realize here is POPfile itself is a POP3 proxy. What you want is

(Your Mail Client) --regular POP3--> (PopFile) --SSL POP3--> (HotMail POP3)

However, POPfile itself must be configured to be able to do SSL. So go to add/remove programs, pick POPfile, "change" the install, then pick the SSL option. It'll go download the SSL component. You'll need to restart Popfile.

Say if your mail client is Outlook Express, then under the Properties of that connection, in the servers tab, incoming is "localhost" (or 127.0.0.1, same thing), outgoing is "smtp.live.com" as they specified. The trick is in the account name. Now that you need to use SSL, the stuff here would be "pop3.live.com:yourname@hotmail.com:ssl" (without quotes, of course). Note the ":ssl" at the end. The program knows to use port 995 for SSL automatically.

With these settings, your POPfile should now work with the new Hotmail POP3 access.

Image via WikipediaQ: My Adobe Reader seems to be getting slower and slower. Can I make it run faster somehow?
A: As Adobe Acrobat Reader gotten older, it lost the word "Acrobat", and it's gotten much bigger and slower as Adobe kept adding stuff into it. If you want a snappy program, you have two choices: slim down the Adobe Reader, or adopt the alternative Foxit Reader.

You can download and run PDF Speedup (scroll down to it), which removes a lot of the plugins in Adobe Reader 9 that nobody uses and slows things down. However, it will also remove the auto-update, among other features.

Or you can download the alternative Foxit reader which is lighter and doesn't have that much "bloat". However, it's not the official reader. It's up to you.

Q: What's the simplest way to make my computer at home accessible to a computer elsewhere (with password protection and all that) like my work PC or my laptop?

A: Simplest way is with LogMeIn free. You just need to register and install the appropriate extensions/plug-ins on the home PC. Then on any remote PC, go to logmein.com, login to your account, and you'll see the computer ready to be controlled. You can initiate full remote control, or just file transfer session (i.e. grab a file you left at home).

Correction: apparently the FREE version only lets you remote control, NOT file transfer. The "Pro" version, which you do get a 15-day trial, lets you do both, but costs money.

A truly free alternative is Team Viewer, which is free for personal use. Install it at home, and it'll generate a self-ID and a password. The other computer also installs Team Viewer. I'm using it to control my home PC now, and transfer files. It works great.