windowsnerd.com » Hardware Info

Western Digital media player update

Nerd — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:30:54 +0000

The new Western Digital media player should be out soon. Looks like a hard drive. You plug a usb drive in to it and then hook it to your tv. It plays all media types for the bargain price of about $100. Not as cool as a Popcorn Hour C200 but way better than an apple iTV.

How slow is your clock speed in power saver mode?

Nerd — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:15:10 +0000

1st – High performance – 2194
2nd – Power Saver – 1097
3rd – Balanced – 2194

So you can see that the CPU clock speed drops more than 40% in power saver mode on my Dell Precision 6300.

So if you have ever wondered why your computer was so slow when it is unplugged, go check your power settings.

Checking CPU speed from the command line

Nerd — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:02:16 +0000

wmic cpu get CurrentClockSpeed

I was trying to find about the quickest way to look for my CPU speed again. I think i like this little wmi one liner. Processor clock speed should be easier to look up, but MS thinks you want to know the model, stepping number before what it is to a normal person.

Dell Vostro 1400 blue screens on windows update after clean install

Nerd — Sat, 09 May 2009 09:18:15 +0000

Just reinstalled Vista Ultimate off the Dell disc. Fresh happy clean install, then let it update and KABOOOM! Blue screen. The problem is in the Intel chipset/matrix drivers. The easiest way to fix it is:

Go in the BIOS

Disable Flash cache

Switch from AHCI to ATA disk mode

save and reboot

This will unbluescreeen, allow you to update all of your patches, then go grab all the latest drivers and firmware from Dell Support.

Linux does this too on certain machines/chipsets. Man it is a pain when they switch interfaces, the OS guys take years to recover.

DD-WRT on wrt54gl and wrt54g v8.0 works great!

Nerd — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:05:59 +0000

DD-WRT micro goes on the v.8. The standard generic goes on the gl’s. So far the only tool I will miss in the micro firmware is the ability to increase radio power. I have the v8 at home and the other 3 at work so I’ll give a review after more experience rolls in.

For now I’d recommend giving it a try. Just download the .bin file that matches your model, and apply it just like a linksys firmware. If you want to switch back, download the latest from linksys.

Killawatt power measuring wondertool of DOOM. or OH NO MY FRIDGE IS A SINNER

Nerd — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 01:39:13 +0000

The Vatican just decided that polluting is a sin. So to help out, windowsnerd will give you tools to protect your soul.

Take your tv to confession and buy a killawatt!! Spend $17 on this thing then start the fun. Plug your TV in to it. See how much power it is sucking while it is off? That is crazy AND makes the Pope sad. Now you have a few options to atone for your sins:

-go to confession

-Pick up some x10 gear and create a wireless power network that shuts all the offenders off while you are away.

-Hook major offenders up to cheap surge strips and turn things off that aren’t in use.

-Buy more efficient appliances

-Use that pesky light switch that controls a wall outlet for no good reason(until now) Leave the house? Flip the switch and kill power to the toaster, tv, and a few lamps. No reason to power the computer monitor or the automatic cat whacker if you aren’t around to see them work.

There is a way better one called Watt’s up pro. It will do a bunch of samples and connect to a pc. It costs $115.

Windows xp,vista, 2003, 2003r2 and quad core chip support

Nerd — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 22:16:38 +0000

Yes, you can run a dual quad core processor system with XP, Vista, 2003, and 2003r2. (excluding home editions.) Microsoft defines a processor as a single unit despite the number of cores within the CPU package. So go forth and buy your giant dual quad core machine. Just remember you need to run a 64bit OS to address a lot of RAM. and 4GB ain’t gonna cut it for 8 processors.