new boring computer questions

pretty thumbnails is the first thing i turn off...

I'm looking for a program that will automatically zip files and name the compressed package after folder names. For mac preferably. Does this exist?

automator lol?

depends on what you mean by automatically? in os x if you ctrl-click a folder you can choose "compress" and it will make a zip file named after the folder

I guess what i need is something that will name the packages by the folder path (two levels of folder), but i think i can make with the ctrl-click. Thanks.

you mean like if you have photos/myeuropeanvacation/eurodisney/*.jpg, you want the zipped file to be myeuropeanvacation_eurodisney.zip, but not photos_myeuropeanvacation_eurodisney.zip ?

ok I have no idea how it works or what it even does but I read the blurb and thought of adamrl's recent question so:
http://googleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/introducing-google-drive-yes-really.html

it's a usb drive in space

i'm looking for an online organizer thing, as simple as possible, don't even really need scheduling but just a place to keep todo lists

i've heard something called "astrid" is pretty good?

http://workflowy.com

i can't wait to re-immanentize my entire gestalt

http://app.asana.com

Word files both with doc and docx extensions have started opening in Word 2007 by default on my laptop and I want them to open in Word 2010.

This happened without me knowingly changing anything - they used to open in Word 2010 by default. How do I change it back?

start button ---> Settings ---> Control Panel ---> Default Programs ---> Associate a file type or protocol with a specific program

click on .doc, then Change Program. It may find the Word 2010 location by itself; scroll around if it doesn't. Repeat for .docx

may work slightly different depending on which version of Windows you have, etc.

Ok, so I want to be able to work from home more easily via remote access. I login to my work pc using the standard windows remote access thing. My home computer is a Dell laptop. At work I have a double-monitor setup, whereas at home I just have this crappy laptop screen to work off, and that makes working harder since I often have to have a few documents open at once. Could I just buy like a 22" monitor for home use and hook it up to my laptop? Would I actually get a wider view or would it just enlarge everything?

if you are talking windows remote desktop, there's a display option to 'use all my montiors'. never tried it though. you could probably try it off an hd tv if you had one.

In terms of second monitors most can plug into laptop vga(?) ports and you can create a double wide desktop or pull all your docs over to the "big" screen, don't know a lot about remote access though

Or yes if you have a newer tv you should be able to run a hdmi cord from the laptop to it.

Remote Desktop doesn't just mirror what's on your work screen, it actually gives you whatever resolution you want. So if you have a larger monitor at home, you'll get more screen real estate. I have no experience using multiple monitors on the client side remotely, though.

Oh yeah, actually I have an HDMI out on my laptop and I already run it to my TV to watch movies, but it didn't occur to me that I could change the settings so the TV would be a double-wide monitor instead of a bigger version of my laptop screen. But apparently there's a windows 7 setting that lets you do that, says the internet

yeah, just turn off mirroring or w/e

How do I get this stupid appbario12 toolbar out of my system (Windows 7 Home Premium)? Uninstall is not working. I think it may be the root of other problems I've been having the past couple of days.

idk but if you google "appbario12" all the results are removal instructions

Tried three or four, no help. I think one of them was even a trap for more mischief.

have you tried running combofix?

Ugh I got some stupid MyPCBackup thing on my system that only finally disappeared when I uninstalled Chrome! Every other suggestion I could find didn't work. Also manually deleted the files it put in the program files directory. It went away, but I've been meaning to log on to that laptop again and check registry entries and all that. I run Spybot S&D and Malwarebytes anti-malware usually, but this laptop also has a Norton account.

Maybe I should try that--uninstall Firefox. Combofix seemed to clean up some stuff, but appbario's still there, and I still can't get my mp3 cover art back.

Appbario messed with your iTunes cover art, or something else? Either way: new low for viruses/hijackers when it comes to music fans. I'd never heard of that!

I don't know what caused it--it all started when I stupidly/idly accepted a download for something called "Codec Performers." Much weirdness after that, including mp3 files that all carry that ugly, generic musical note icon, instead of the cover art I wasted hours and hours chasing down. I feel stupid for caring. (It's not iTunes, just stuff I keep on the hard drive/Media Player.)

Un/reinstalled Firefox, but that didn't do anything. I think I'll just live with it until I buy something new in a year or two.

About a year ago, I don't know why, things I typed into the address bar on Firefox no long defaulted to a Google Search page--Yahoo became the default page. Is there a way to switch this back to Google? I hate the Yahoo search pages.

go to Menu (3 horizontal lines thingy in the upper right corner), click Options, then choose 'Search' from column on left

Thanks--worked.

Any thoughts on this, if I swapped in more memory?

Basically its for office work, music and the internet.

https://www.chillblast.com/chillblast-diploma-i3-10100-slimline-office-pc.html#product-details-tab-customise

Any thoughts on this, if I swapped in more memory?

Basically its for office work, music and the internet.

https://www.chillblast.com/chillblast-diploma-i3-10100-slimline-office-pc.html#product-details-tab-customise🕸

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rge17TciHfU

Would you really see much impact in throwing more than the existing 16gb into that?

Ive not been looking for a while tbh

See, this is why I have to ask basic questions on here. The person at the shop said ...

"If the default storage of 500GB is a little small for your needs, that can be customised (via the link provided) to either upgrade the 500GB Seagate BarraCuda Q5 M.2 PCIe Solid State Drive to something larger, or additional storage can be added too."

(Thanks for the answers, btw).

When you say music are you talking about creating or what, exactly

Storage wise for office work and internet you arent going to fill 500gb and its def quick enough

I dont know enough about the i3 to know what would be the likeliest limiter as it is configured there between processor (128GB maximum memory suggests not tbh), storage and RAM but id guess its the RAM so if you think youll be maxing that out in your usage then another 16GB might be no harm to throw in

Thats really up to you and whether you want to spend that now, could always retain the option to do it later at negligible extra cost or effort too

Storing music rather than creating.

500GB might not go far in that case (depends on volume and quality, obv), but external 4tb drives are cheap (and you'd want a backup anyway)

(which several people have said now!)

I've been using the same desktop pc to make music since 2011 (fully offline, which I think really extended its lifespan), but it's starting to show its age (windows 7, 8gb Ram, processor is Intel i5 2.80 Ghz, whatever that means, etc).

Do I:

1) Upgrade this same computer? Get new more Ram, swap out some other stuff? I would have the local place that looks like the Lone Gunmen's hangout do this.

2) Better to just get a new machine?If so, where do people do this these days? Do I still just go on New Egg like I did over a decade ago? I could also talk to that local place about building something.

Gonna jump like 7 versions of DAW software too, lol.

How about this? Would I need/want more than 16gb Ram if all I care about is running my DAW (smoothly)?

https://www.costco.com/dell-inspiron-desktop---13th-gen-intel-core-i5-13400---windows-11.product.4000139132.html

Just saw this

https://www.howtogeek.com/887938/inexpensive-ways-to-breathe-new-life-into-an-old-pc/

....just be careful that your new daw most likely won't be able to open any of your old projects...

adding more RAM and adding an SSD are the two easiest ways to improve your old computer's performance.

if you decide to get a new machine, building a PC is easy and fun. i'd recommend doing that. newegg is kinda scammy nowadays, kinda like amazon where you need to make sure the part is shipped and sold by newegg. check out pcpartpicker. if you have a microcenter near you, check it out, i like them a lot.

What kind of DAW is it? A lot of people steadfastly maintain old computers/OS just because they can't abide the new version of whatever (usually adobe software). If you don't want to open up your machine, apparently you can plug in an external SSD for more swap/storage. Also, laptops have gotten bizarrely cheap relative to standalone PCs, if making music on the go is a plus.

Cubase, lol. Hopefully I'll like the newest version but it seems pretty similar, which is a pro and a con for different people.

Thanks for the tip re: new egg, I'll check out pc part picker. After doing some more research I'm pretty set on building something.

I have a couple old Macbooks I need to get rid of. I'm not sure I can get them to boot, and I can't remember if the hard drives are encrypted. I basically want someone to tell me it's fine to take them to the local ewaste dropoff business, but what should I really do?

Oh hm maybe I should just bring them to an Apple Store