Matthew Cox8 said:It’s honestly pretty bold if I actually have to shell out for that too.
I wouldn't call it bold. Google Workspace is its own standalone software suite just like any other app—it isn't tied to macOS. If you want it, you've gotta buy it.
Microsoft Office is actually separate software that doesn't come bundled with Windows; if you didn't pick up a license separately, you won't find it pre-installed on your laptop.
That "Not Responding" message is actually totally normal given the circumstances. I run into the exact same thing whenever I do a fresh OS install and try to move my Google Drive folder location (I'm on Windows 8.1 myself). Moving files isn't exactly an instant process, and how fast it goes really just comes down to your drive's read/write speeds.
Just kick off the move and let it ride until it's done. It’ll show as "Not Responding," but hang in there—you'll get what you're looking for in the end.
You can totally do that through Gmail since you've got access to Microsoft 365 tools like Word online. Once you upload the doc, you and your friend can both jump in and edit it at the exact same time. It’s actually pretty cool because you can see exactly which part of the document the other person is working on in real time.
What you’re describing is pretty much how Remote Desktop functions by default—there isn't really anything special you need to tweak there. The setup you're actually looking for is going to require installing some extra software.
When it comes to the Windows environment, setting up the OS is basically just hitting "Next, Next," reading the prompts as they pop up, and you're pretty much done in no time. Browsers work just fine right out of the box without needing any extensions; it really just depends on what you're looking to get done.
Yeah, you can grab the files using any live DVD (or even a USB), like Hiren's boot. But wait, didn't you mention you have that accounting software running on there? Is it an older version or something recent? Older accounting setups are usually just a bunch of files and a database that run through something like the command prompt. Technically, you could migrate that too. But honestly, your best bet is to check with the software vendor first before you try anything.
There’s this service called OpenDNS where you can set up an account and basically pick and choose which sites get blocked or allowed. Once you've dialed in your filters, you just need to plug their DNS IP addresses into your router settings. It’s been a minute since I actually messed around with it, so I’m not entirely sure if they’ve updated the interface or anything lately, but the link is right there if you want to go down the rabbit hole and check it out.
If we're talking about a standard home router, you aren't going to get much mileage out of it since they usually lack advanced networking features. Then again, it really depends on which specific model you've got. Regarding the topic at hand: blocking BitTorrent ports isn't going to do much because BitTorrent can run on pretty much any port. Even if you block the standard ones, someone can just switch to any other open port and be back in business.
I'm assuming we're dealing with a typical home user here?
Here are a few alternative ways to handle blocking BitTorrent downloads:
block access to the big public torrent sites via DNS or by editing the "hosts" file so they can't even reach the site in the first place (as for private trackers, they usually require an invite anyway, but if they have one, you'll need to block those too)
strip the user of admin rights so they can't install any software, including a BitTorrent client (though that won't help much if they decide to run a portable app)
throttle the bandwidth available to the user—assuming the router actually supports that feature. Crank it down just enough to allow for smooth web browsing and watching YouTube, but keep it slow enough that any major download would take an absolute eternity
placidrider48 said:So, for about three days now, things have been getting weird; after I boot up and load Windows, the screen starts looking all "colorful" with these random lines and artifacts, usually right after I open a browser. Then, boom, BSOD. Once I reboot, everything seems fine, which is strange because this has happened twice in the last three days. WhoCrashed says it isn't even generating any crash dump reports, and I'm not seeing any red error flags in the Event Viewer either. One of the errors I did manage to dig up in the Event Viewer looks like this:
The thing that's tripping me up is that the crash actually happened at roughly 1:09 PM, but the system time in the log says 11:08 AM. I guess maybe there's a sync issue somewhere.
It’s a hardware issue, plain and simple—specifically with that 945 chipset on the motherboard. Since this is a budget-friendly board, the chipset just has built-in memory addressing limits. Even though the board claims to support 4 GB, you can't dump the whole 4 GB into the OS because a chunk of it is always being reserved for other system services and devices. Because we're talking about a physical limitation here, an update CPU micro code or a BIOS update isn't going to fix anything; the problem isn't a software bug.
If you're rocking a Dell, just head over to their site and grab the .CAB file specifically for your model. It’s got all the drivers you'll need bundled up in one spot.