Posts by Thomas Sanchez2

Since most of the discussions on this topic seem pretty dated (at least the ones I managed to dig up), I wanted to throw this out there. I’m 36, and I recently set up my own small business here in the States—it’s an IT-related service, though not programming. My goal is to learn how to code on the side. I want to pick up a skill that actually has staying power and will be in demand, but honestly, I have no clue where to begin. My current coding knowledge is basically zero. I mean, sure, I messed around with some simple stuff in BASIC and later Visual Basic back in grade school, so I think I still grasp the basic logic, but let’s just assume I’m starting from square one.

The sheer amount of tools and languages available today is overwhelming, and I’m feeling pretty lost. Should I be teaching myself using online resources like Udemy, SmartNinja, or something else? Does anyone have actual recommendations on what to study first and how to kick things off? Educationally, I only have my high school diploma. I definitely have the drive, I just need some guidance to get moving.🙂

I hit up Lowe's, H&M, and IKEA to test out a bunch of different chairs. In the end, I’m leaning toward the Team Liquid one since it's been recommended to me, and honestly, the value for the money seems pretty solid here:

None of the options at Lowe's really worked for me. IKEA has the Mark chair, which is actually decent—at least in my opinion—but I have a feeling this Neon one might be the best fit, though I guess we'll see how it holds up after using it for a while longer.

Bottom line—you really have to go try a chair in person to know if it works for you.🙂

It looks like installing the latest drivers directly from the manufacturer's site actually did the trick. So far, everything seems to be running fine. 🙂

darkcyclist92 said:That is clearly a problem with the graphics chipset; my assumption is that a single pin isn't soldered properly or perhaps it loosened up due to overheating. Alternatively, there is a possibility that the display's ribbon cable is having issues distributing signals across one of its pins... though that all depends on the specific factory design of the device (some screens have their own dedicated chips, others use COF cables, and some don't have chips within the display assembly at all), and even COF cable issues are possible, though unlikely in your case.

The fact that this is isolated to Microsoft Office doesn't change much, as it would likely show up in any similarly intensive program, but it serves as a clear indicator that the fault lies within the chipset or the controller managing it. My suggestion is to simply ignore it and let it run until it eventually dies.

It is easy enough to claim that it might "hypothetically" be a driver issue. The fact that you are running those recent Windows updates actually makes things worse if the chipset manufacturer pushed out a buggy "up-to-date" driver for an obsolete chipset, or if they lumped an entire series of chipsets into the same driver package.

If you are feeling curious, try playing around with the refresh rate within the driver's control panel; for instance, try setting the screen refresh cycle to 60Hz. That should address the flickering problem you demonstrated.

By the way, are you seeing any issues when running video games, assuming you even play them?

Makes sense. A few days ago, I updated just the graphics drivers directly from the manufacturer's site, so it seems fine for now (though I guess that doesn't mean much yet). I played around with the refresh rate before (for an external monitor), but that didn't help anything. The laptop belongs to a colleague and she only uses it for work, so she doesn't play games on it. Thanks 🙂

wearymason4 said:...try unplugging your mouse

It only seems to happen when I'm using Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel. 🙂

I think I’ve got a bit of an issue with my laptop, or maybe it's just how it's behaving on my monitors (it shows up on both the main laptop screen and the external one I have plugged in).

Here’s the situation:



You can see it happening at the bottom of the screen—basically, I'm scrolling through a Microsoft Excel sheet when it happens. It looks like some kind of screen flickering, I guess. I just finished installing Windows 11 Pro and everything is completely up-to-date. Does anyone have any clue why this is happening? Is this probably a hardware failure? Or maybe there's something I can try to fix via software?

Sam Clark75 said:Don't just buy online; you really need to test them out in person. A chair that feels great for one person might be a total disaster for someone else, so you’ve got to hit up some stores and actually sit in them.

I can suggest my own setup, though. I've been using it for a few months now and I'm finally happy with a chair—especially after struggling through some cheap office junk and those basic ones from IKEA. For context, I'm about 5'6" and spend all day sitting at work, so if that helps:

urbanheron4 said:I'd personally recommend gaming chairs if you're into the look. They tend to be pretty well-designed ergonomically for long sessions, and those lumbar and neck pillows actually make a huge difference.

I think this one offers a solid balance of price and quality.



I'm not sure what your budget is, so maybe check out the rest of the selection too.

Thanks for the suggestions. Can I actually try out these specific chairs (or any others) at an IKEA or an HG spot?

Sorry if this is the wrong subforum. I couldn't find an existing thread through the search bar, so I figured I'd just start a new one—what high-quality office chair would you guys recommend?

Is it even possible to buy one just by looking online, or am I right in thinking I should actually test a chair out in person before deciding if it works for me?

I'm about 6'1", spend a ton of time sitting, and all that...
Where can I try some out and actually buy one? Looking for solid recommendations. 🙂

Kenneth Martinez55 said:Modern laptops just don't have the option to switch over to IDE mode anymore.

Honestly, I think it's pretty crazy to even attempt this on a laptop like yours. You could just run VirtualBox on Windows 10 and spin up an instance of XP inside there—it can even run in full-screen mode if you want.

Alright, thanks again everyone 🙂

wearymason4 said:Have you tried messing around with the Compatibility settings in Windows 10? I mean, just right-click the program, hit Properties, go to the Compatibility tab, and try setting it to run as if you were on Windows XP. Maybe that might work?

I mean, I haven't done it, but I honestly have no clue how that would even be possible. Click on what exactly? What program are we talking about?

Noah Miller6 said:Look, if you haven't actually tried it yet...

I already checked all that, but I don't even see a 'CSM Support' option in my settings. Everything else has been set up exactly how it was supposed to be a long time ago.

Jerry Robinson56 said:Format that drive on a different computer so it’s actually "clean," then try running Windows XP again. Let me know exactly what error message pops up.
Honestly, it might just be smarter to grab an older laptop and call it a day. That would probably solve the whole issue.

Yeah, I think I'm just going to stick with the older laptop running Windows XP after all. Thanks!

Noah Miller6 said:Look, I'm telling you again, just hit F7 if you haven't already so you can actually see all the settings in the BIOS.

I get that, but the option just isn't there. 🙂 Here's a screenshot to prove it: https://ibb.co/qBthdVX

And here are two more shots from the BIOS:
https://ibb.co/fxtbqvw
https://ibb.co/TYzR2nL

Noah Miller6 said:Hit F7 in the BIOS to unlock more advanced settings.
If you want to get Windows XP installed, you’re going to have to switch from SATA to IDE in the BIOS.

Like I said before, 🙂 there isn't an IDE option here; the dropdown menu only shows SATA.

ironcyclist58 said:Are you even sure that laptop supports Windows XP? Looking at the manufacturer's site, I only see drivers listed for Windows 10.

I don't know for sure, but it should work—it’s not exactly cutting-edge hardware. I haven't seen anything suggesting it would be impossible (so far). Maybe there's just some weird trick involved that I'm missing.

wearymason4 said:Yeah, you'd probably need specific SATA drivers for that chipset..

Right, but how am I supposed to pull that off? 🙂

swiftowl7 said:As someone who uses XPa, this is the first time I've ever heard of a situation like this. I install it wherever I want.

It's a pretty strange issue that it won't show the CD as a boot option. Does that happen with every single disc you try putting in?

I have a program for making USB boot drives; shoot me a PM if you're struggling. I'm traveling right now, but I can help you out tomorrow if it's still needed.

I even tried using a Windows 7 boot CD, but nothing. The BIOS recognizes it as a device, but it refuses to add it to the 'boot' list.

wearymason4 said:Is the USB set to MBR or GPT? It really ought to be MBR.

Yeah, Rufus sets it to MBR, but it's still not doing anything.

--------------
So, yeah. Still stuck.

Hey everyone, I’ve got this older laptop from my job that I need to get Windows XP onto. It runs some legacy software that just won't work any other way—and before anyone asks, a virtual machine is absolutely not an option here. I need a fresh, bare-metal installation of Windows XP.

The laptop is a Dell Inspiron (MacBook Air). I’ve wasted well over 10 hours on trial and error at this point, and I honestly can't get a USB stick or a CD installation to boot for the life of me. I’ve downloaded about a dozen different ISO files and cycled through tools like Rufus, ISOtoUSB, and WinSetupFromUSB, but nothing works.

The BIOS is one of those 'modern' ones where you navigate with a mouse, and there’s zero option to select a USB drive for booting unless I format it to FAT32 (from what I've read on various forums, it won't recognize or boot if it's NTFS). Even when I do that, the BIOS sees the stick, but it just refuses to boot from it. Same deal with the CD; it won't let me choose it as a boot device—it only lists the HDD.

Inside the BIOS, I’ve already disabled things like 'Fast boot' and 'Secure boot.' The only other setting I see is AHCI; everything else seems locked or unavailable. I've seen people online mentioning turning off 'CSM,' but that option doesn't even exist in my BIOS.

Does anyone have any clue how to pull off a fresh Windows XP install on this thing?

Just so we're clear, it currently has Windows 10 installed.

I've seriously never run into a problem like this before; I've always been able to boot from a USB or CD on basically any computer. Is it actually possible that it's just impossible to install Windows XP this way because the OS is too old?

I'm at a total loss. I've scoured all of Google and every tech forum I could find, so I figured I'd ask here to see if anyone has dealt with this specific nightmare.

Here is the BIOS: https://ibb.co/Fxs2r90

Mark Hill90 said:If it helps, Polytech makes conference room phones. They're those three-way speakerphones you usually see sitting in the middle of a boardroom table, and they aren't cheap.

Yeah, anyway, I actually found that they make exactly what I'm looking for, so thanks!

I’m trying to track down a specific piece of gear—it’s used for conference calls when you have a group of people sitting around the same table. This device has these little "arms" or stalks, and it basically focuses on whoever is speaking at that moment, while zooming out or adjusting whenever everyone else starts listening...

The whole thing seems to be fully automated. Honestly, I have no clue where to even start looking for something like this (I've tried pretty much everything), but I just can't seem to find it. I'm not even sure if it plugs directly into a laptop or how the whole setup actually functions.

Does anyone happen to know what this kind of tech is called or what the actual name for it is?