The Fake Geek - Part 26

C:13:01 error with Sony camera

Hi,
I am Madhu, I have sony cybershot digital camera model T7 and currently I am
getting error C:13:01 error.I have changed memory stick however still I am
getting the same. Please let me know what all are the options I need to try to fix the problem.
appreciate your quick response.Thanks and regards
Madhu

You stumped me! I havn’t actually heard of that error yet. However I did search the net and a few fixes did turn up.

“Here’s the solution that finally worked for me. Take any lead pencil. Take the eraser and rub it on the gold contacts on the memory stick as if you are erasing writing on paper. Do this for about 30 seconds or more until you get all the gold contacts. Put the stick in the camera, switch to ‘Setup’, then turn the camera on. The ‘C:13:01’ error will automatically disappear. At this point, quickly format the memory stick using the camera’s format feature.” -Robert Roque
Try to take out and then reinsert the card many times. Recommended will be about 20. (I forgot where I read this.)
Keep in mind these are not my fixes and I can’t verify if they will work or not. They have certainly worked for some people.

From both “fixes” it sounds as if the error stems from a problem with the contact between the camera’s card reader and the memory cards themselves. Now if the camera is under warranty it should be covered, but I’ve heard that Sony may try to charge you.

Let me know how it turns out and if it doesn’t work I’ll make a call to Sony for you.

The Fake Geek

Can I make my dial-up internet wireless?

The only internet I can get where I live is dialup. I have a notebook with
802.11 b/b wireless, how can I get my dialup to be wireless? I would like to
have my desktop keep connected to the internet, with the router on it, so my
laptop is free of cables.

What your going to need is a special type of router and a special type of dial-up modem. Both are not sold in many places but I’ll show you where to get them off some of my favourite online sites: Newegg.com and Amazon.com

Most routers (wireless and wired) will only have Ethernet ports on the back and dial-up modems don’t use those to transfer data. The connection type that you need is called Serial. So you’ll be looking for serial ports on both your new modem and wireless router.

For the modem I found a page on Newegg filled with Serial Port enabled devices here. Any of those modems should be fine. If you need help choosing something specific just ask but you don’t need anything fancy, especially for dial-up.
The router may be a little harder. Serial port enabled routers are scarce and the best deal I’ve found is this one here at Amazon.com. It should work fine with dial-up but it is a B router which is now about two generations behind. But again unless you’re moving up to Cable Internet you should be fine.

Then it’s just a matter of setting everything up! If you need any help ask away!

The Fake Geek

Are you a nerd?

are you a nerd???

Gosh learn how to read. I’m a geek.

What do I need to watch DVD’s on my laptop?

What are the basics that I need from a laptop to access the internet anywhere
and watch dvds?

HI I recently started a business that is linked with the interenet. I want to
buy a laptop to be more efficent when I’m on the road. What requirements do I
need to have for the purpose of internet access anywhere and dvd watching
capability?

What you’ll want to look for is a DVD drive to play those movies and if it’s a quality laptop it’ll have a DVD burner/reader combo that can burn and read any type of DVD optical disk out there. Now chances are when you buy a new laptop it’ll come with Windows Vista and Vista’s included media player has a great DVD player feature. If you get Vista Premium then you’ll get the Media Center program which is much fancier.

To access the Internet your going to need a WiFi card and luckily most laptops will have that built in. Keep in mind however that this is only going to access the Internet when your in range of a router. If your somewhere where there is no router then there’s going to be no Internet. And if there is a router available then you’ll need the password to get in. (Although many people don’t secure their routers.)

There are also WiMax options available for people in Canada. You can read about those here.

Thanks for asking!

The Fake Geek

Why Outlook Express isn’t in Vista

How can i use OUTLOOK EXPRESS MAIL IN VISTA

Thanks for asking!

Outlook Express was replaced with Windows Mail in the Vista version of Windows. Mail retains most of Outlook’s features and introduces junk email filtering and phishing detection.

It’s also a lot prettier.

The Fake Geek.

Which Motherboard should I get for a P4?

what type of motherboard should I buy, I have 2GB of RAM all DDR, Intel Pentium
4 2.80 Ghz, Geforce FX 5700 GFX card

Thanks for asking!

Let’s narrow down our choices for motherboard by taking a look at your specs:

CPU: Pentium 4 Northwood 2.8 GHz

Socket Type: Socket 478
DDR Ram
AGP Graphics Card

Now there aren’t that many choices anymore for Socket 478 motherboards out there, however one that I would recommend (pretty good price as well) is the BIOSTAR P4M80-M4 478 VIA P4M800 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard. It has DDR support and an AGP video slot.

Actually I’ve heard good things about the company that makes this board. Biostar isn’t an Asus (a very well known and respected motherboard manufacturing company) but I think they make good boards as well.

Now you’re going to want to read the manual to make sure that there aren’t any hidden caveats. Review your techie knowledge on installing these guys and off you go! Remember! I’m here if you have any questions.

The Fake Geek

What size monitor should I buy?

what size of lcd monitor to buy

This really is one of those things where personal preference trumps specs. What size monitor should I buy? It’s a question that I guess everyone whose ever bought a monitor has pondered about. It really depends on what you’ll be using the monitor for and your personal lifestyle.

For gaming go with a monitor 20” or bigger. When your fragging the enemy you really don’t want to be squinting. You’ll also want to have some good specs see this post.
For the casual internet surfer go with something around 19”. Don’t even look at the 15” or the 17” those are much too small to be looking at all day. 19” is a fair compromise between screenspace and cost.

What size of monitors do you guys have and what do you use them for? I’d be interested to hear about that.

The Fake Geek

Will Vista work on an XP network?

in compatability Windows Vista on a home network running on
Windows XP

Just a quick note: Please ask more detailed questions. This doesn’t really give me much to go on. Now let’s see….

Windows Vista is completely compatible with a network using Windows XP computers. Now you didn’t specify what type of network and what your using it for. Sharing the internet across the network is no problem both XP and Vista handle routers the same way.

For File and Print Sharing things are a little bit different (mostly interface tweaks and small functionality changes) but nothing overly large that should present you with a problem.

Thanks for asking!

The Fake Geek

Should I get a LCD or TFT-LCD?

What is the diffrence between standard LCD and TFT LCD hybrids? and which is
better for gaming? I am currently looking at 2 20″ wide screen monitors each
with 2ms response time, 3000:1 contrast ratio, and 300cd/m2 brightness (both
cost the same amount) The only diffrence between them is one is says LCD the
other TFT LCD (ps the TFT lcd one is samsung the other is LG)

Heck if their the same price go for the TFT-LCD. They used to be much more expensive.

TFT are active matrix displays as opposed to Passive matrix. They have a transistor for every pixel on the screen and provide much better image quality and resolution then a normal LCD would. This fits perfectly into gaming. Brand wise I also adore Samsung and think their monitors are very well made.

For gaming you will always want to look at 2ms response time; anything less produces blurring on the screen when you’re playing or watching movies and games. You’re also going to get a pretty sharp image with the 3000:1 contrast ratio. I think the Samsung choice is great. You’re looking at the 206BW right?

Go for it.

The Fake Geek

When will Vista Service Pack 1 come out?

Hey my computer is running sluggish. I have had it for 2 months and its crashing too. I heard Vista SP1 is going to come out soon. Will that help?

Microsoft recently announced that they will be releasing SP1 early on next year. Unfortunately for a lot of us (myself included) we were expecting one in the fall. But I’ll wait for quality. Check out the announcement here.

There are a few Vista updates already that address performance so I’d mosey on over to Windows Update and download all the critical and performance updates. But keep in mind that they may not speed your computer up. For example it’s going to depend on what programs your running and what your doing on the computer. Yesturday I posted a few things you should be doing every week to ensure your computer stays up to speed. You can check those out here.

The Fake Geek