Plug-and-Play Doesn’t Work, Pt 1*

Windows 95 introduced a method for automatically detecting and installing (configuring) newly attached devices, which was called “Plug and Play” (PnP). The idea was that you could insert a relatively new super-enhancer, like a graphics card, or sound card, (there was a big deal called “multimedia” happening then, if you recall– “The new Pentium II, with MMX!”) into a slot inside your machine and Windows would automatically make it work.

This worked so well that folks quickly re-dubbed it “Plug and Pray”.
(For the sake of fairness, and for those of you with a historical sense, it is my belief that the responsibility for the bad name PnP acquired lies at the feet of the card makers, particularly Creative Labs Sound Blaster cards, as much as it did Microsoft.)

Before Plug and Play came along, adding a new device to your PC was a huge ordeal. There were tiny switches (called “dips”) and little wire bridges (“jumpers”) and IRQs, and such, that had to be fiddled with in an agonizing series of trial-and-error attempts that would try the patience of the most stalwart soul.

Fortunately for all of us, Windows and device manufacturers have been (for the most part) working hard to make the concept behind PnP a reality. Each successive iteration of Windows has become better and better at easy, automatic, device installation. By the time of Windows XP, it was a rare occasion when Plug and Play required additional efforts on our part before our new scanner/webcam/printer/graphics card/etc. would function as it should.

With Vista we have a whole new set of issues. PnP works almost exactly as it should, effortlessly. As long as we’re adding a brand-new, Vista compatible device, all you have to do is plug it in and power it on. The problem we have in Vista is with our old devices — devices manufactured before Vista was a gleam in Microsoft’s eye — like that old, reliable Deskjet 970Cse.

Tip of the day: Get those recalcitrant devices working, Pt.1.
The first step in installing a new device is to follow the instructions that come with it, and (usually) inserting the Installation CD, and letting Plug and Play ‘do its thing’.
Frequently this is all you need to do (although you may be asked to reboot).

The first troubleshooting step, should this fail, or should Vista reject the device, is to go online and visit the device manufacturer’s website. There you should look in their “Support” section for “Drivers” and/or “download drivers”. Find the most recent release for your version of Windows (Vista users may have to do a Web Search) and take careful note of whether it is the 32-bit, or 64-bit version. Almost all of you out there want the 32-bit version. [If you are unsure whether you have 32 or 64-bit Windows: right-click My Computer and select Properties. The info titled “System” will tell you your version.]

Now click on the download link, and when asked if you want to “run” or “save” this program, click on “Save”. You will be (or at least, should be) asked where you want to save the program to, and since it will most likely have a bizarre and forgettable name, save it to your desktop.

Once the download is completed and saved, close your web browser and any other programs you have running — it shouldn’t be necessary to shut down your protection, like antivirus, but be prepared to hit “allow”, quickly.
Now double-click the download. Usually, a wizard will open, asking you to hit “Next”, “I agree”, “Next”…just follow along.

When it’s done, odds are good your device will now work as it should, but whether it does or not, the next step is to restart your machine (“reboot”). This process will resolve the majority of, but not all, device related issues. Vista users may run into a situation where the device in question is no longer “supported” by the manufacturer, or simply hasn’t gotten around to writing Vista drivers yet. A Search for “Vista drivers for make+model” will likely turn up a solution.

There are further troubleshooting steps you can take if this does not resolve your issue (see links below. Also, there are websites that specialize in nothing but device drivers, and these are often an excellent place to start looking for hard-to-find drivers. I am including one such site below.

https://techpaul.wordpress.com/2007/07/12/adding-hardware-when-pnp-doesnt-work-part-2/

https://techpaul.wordpress.com/2007/07/13/concluding-add-new-hardware-when-pnp-doesnt-work/

Today’s free link: DriversPlanet From site: “DriversPlanet.com is the Web’s trusted resource for technology enthusiasts, IT consultants and IT professionals searching for any device driver. DriversPlanet.com provides an easy way of finding drivers in one spot enabling you not to get lost in worldwide chaos of drivers.”

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Tech Gift for Back-to-School*

There are some technologies that really do make me say, “gee, I wish they had that when I was a kid”, and one of them is the hand-held document scanner.

A hand-held document scanner is pretty much exactly what it sounds like it is; a portable device that allows you to “scan” text and images into digital form so you can store them on your computer… and thus access them for later study.
It’s kind of like having your very own pocket Xerox machine.

This is simply a “must have” if you are a researcher, or a student, as it replaces hand-writing out your notes, or carrying pockets full of coins to feed into the library’s copy machine.

When you find a relevant passage in a book, or other document, you simply pass the device over the text, much like you would use a highlighter. Later, you attach the device to your PC via a USB cord, and thanks to OCR, you can open your scanned passages in a text editor, like Word.

Hand-held document scanners (generally) come in two flavors; a true “pen” style — as pictured above — and a “wand” style.

The “pen” style makes it easier to capture just the lines of text that you are interested in. However, you must pass it in a fairly straight line, and wobbling it high or low may cause you to have to re-scan the sentence (most have a preview window).. and some people use a plastic ruler as a guide.

I prefer the “wand” style, even though it (usually) means capturing a whole page. The color versions of these devices are surprisingly good at scanning images. Another advantage of the wand is if you are scanning tables and charts– the included software allows you to open the scanned tables in a spreadsheet program, like Excel.

Tip of the day: A simply fantastic Back To School gift (either for yourself, or someone you love) is a hand-held digital note taker. They’re quite reasonably priced.
My personal reco is to go with the slightly pricier wand scanner, and to go with the pricier-yet color model.

I won’t say which one is “best”, but I will say that I agree with this PC Magazine review (read it here).

Today’s free link: SyncBack is a backup program that also functions as a file synchronizer, such as keeping your thumbdrive files and desktop files updated. From ZDNet:”Easily backup, synchronize, or restore your files to another drive, FTP server, ZIP file, networked drive, or removable media.”

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Pen Scanners– A Back-to-School Must

There are some technologies that really do make me say, “gee, I wish they had that when I was a kid”, and one of them is the hand-held document scanner.

A hand-held document scanner is pretty much exactly what it sounds like it is; a portable device that allows you to “scan” text and images into digital form so you can store them on your computer… and thus access them for later study.
It’s kind of like having your very own pocket Xerox machine.

This is simply a “must have” if you are a researcher, or a student, as it replaces hand-writing out your notes, or carrying pockets full of coins to feed into the library’s copy machine.

When you find a relevant passage in a book, or other document, you simply pass the device over the text, much like you would use a highlighter. Later, you attach the device to your PC via a USB cord, and thanks to OCR, you can open your scanned passages in a text editor, like Word.

Hand-held document scanners (generally) come in two flavors; a true “pen” style — as pictured above — and a “wand” style.

The “pen” style makes it easier to capture just the lines of text that you are interested in. However, you must pass it in a fairly straight line, and wobbling it high or low may cause you to have to rescan the sentence (most have a preview window).. and some people use a plastic ruler as a guide.

I prefer the “wand” style, even though it (usually) means capturing a whole page. The color versions of these devices are pretty good at scanning images. Another advantage of the wand is if you are scanning tables and charts– the included software allows you to open the scanned tables in Excel.

Tip of the day: A simply fantastic Back To School gift (either for yourself, or someone you love) is a hand-held digital note taker. They’re quite reasonably priced.
My personal reco is to go with the slightly pricier wand scanner, and to go with the pricier-yet color model.

I won’t say which one’s “best”, but I will say that I agree with this PC Magazine review (read it here).

Today’s free link: SyncBack is a backup program that also functions as a file synchronizer, such as keeping your thumbdrive files and desktop files updated. From ZDNet:”Easily backup, synchronize, or restore your files to another drive, FTP server, ZIP file, networked drive, or removable media.”

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Positive meaning to word “geek”+spyware

I want to apologize to you in advance for a word I will use in this blog from time to time, and that word is “geek.”

When I was a boy–many years ago now–“geek” was a completely pejorative and insulting word. A “geek” was typically a socially inept, small, quiet, know-it-all (who usually wore glasses) kid who couldn’t connect his bat with the softest-thrown baseball or catch a football to save his life…and he used big words all the time. Perhaps in your day you referred to ‘him’ as a Pointdexter, nerd, dork, or wimp. Back then there was no doubt or question about it–“geek” was a put-down: a derogatory statement. Period.

Today, I proudly declare: I am a geek. When I do, I am not broadcasting my pride in my inability to catch a football. (I can catch; and, even throw a tight spiral.) I am saying that I’m “into” computers and electronic gadgets, and I know a little about how they work.

At some point and time our common usage of the word “geek” has changed. It is no longer used strictly as a ‘slam’ and a put-down (however, if that is your intent, I believe the other words I listed above are still 100% negative…although Bill Gates may have softened the word “nerd” some…). If, in the course of reading this blog, you see me use the word “geek”–please rest assured that I am always using it with the nicest of meanings. I even use “geek” as a compliment. Really.

Tip of the day: lotu mentioned in a comment to yesterday’s post on defragmention that spyware, if it gets onto and runs on your machine, will cause it to (amongst other unpleasant things!) suffer performance degredation and make it run slower. I intend to spend a fair amount of time discussing malware, and spyware in particular, and how you can combat and remove it. I will return to this topic in the future. But for today I just want to make this point: If you connect to the Web, you need to run anti-spyware programs. Notice I that I wrote programs. Plural.

That fact is, no one anti-spyware application is 100% effective at stopping and removing spyware. There are many anti-spyware programs available and some are more effective than others. Some are great at stopping keyloggers but fall down when it comes to Trojan Horses, and others are visa-versa…as an example. So I strongly recommend running two anti-spywares, in the hopes that one will catch what the other missed. (There are many free anti-spyware applications [and some are adware disquised as anti-spyware] available. For my more detailed descriptions and fuller listing, click here.) I cannot stress to you strongly enough to install and run some kind of anti-spyware program…and preferably, two. In that vein, today I will provide not one, but two, Today’s free links.

Today’s free link #1: AdAware SE Personal from Lavasoft. “Ad-Aware 2007 Free remains the most popular anti-spyware product for computer users around the world, with nearly one million downloads every week. Our free anti-spyware version provides you with advanced protection against spyware…”

Today’s free link #2: SpyCatcher Express from Tenebril. “Allows novice PC users to remove aggressive spyware . Stops next-generation, mutating spyware. Blocks reinstallation of aggressive spyware. Removes spyware safely and automatically.”

Copyright © 2007 Tech Paul. All rights reserved.

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