Hardware

Infopackets Reader Dion E. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am trying to convert a tape to CD by transferring the audio to my computer, and then recording it to CD using my CD burner. To convert the tape to CD, I am using an audio cable to go from my ... earphone jack of my tape player to the sound card of my computer. The problem is that my computer is recording the tape audio in 1-channel mono sound (and not stereo!). I am reasonably sure that the original recording is in 2-channel stereo. What should I do? Thanks in anticipation for any help you can offer. " My response: I have a few ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jules E. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have a low-speed USB (Universal Serial Bus) connection on my computer. Can you tell me if there is a way to convert this to a high-speed USB adapter, and is it possible to do so without replacing ... the existing unit? I have an external USB DVD drive and would like to burn at 8x and 16x speed, but my current hardware configuration prevents me from doing this. Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated. " My response: It is not possible to "convert" a low-speed USB hub to a high-speed USB hub, per se. Also, most USB ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jim B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have Windows XP and Nero Express CD burning program. I have burned many audio CDs using .WAV, and .MP3 source sound files. The one thing that can't understand, however, is why the track titles never ... get burned onto my audio CD. They always show up as 'Track 1' and 'Track 2', instead of the actual song title. Can you recommend a good burning program that will burn titles also? " My response: Just to recap: the type of CD you are referring to is a standard audio CD -- the kind that you can play in virtually any CD player. In ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Trevor V. writes: " Dear Dennis, My computer includes an integrated sound card built onto the main board. In your opinion, would it be worth my time to add a dedicated sound card such as 'Creative SoundBlaster Live!' to increase ... sound quality and CPU performance? What do you think? " My response: Generally speaking: most dedicated soundcards will almost always perform better (both CPU wise and sound quality wise) because there is more hardware devoted for the task at hand (I.E.: producing sound). Comparably: a dedicated sound card has many chips and transistors to ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jim B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have Windows XP and Nero Express CD Burning software that came with my CD Recorder. I have burned many CDs with music (wav, mp3 and others). My problem is that whenever I burn a standard audio CD ... (in .WAV format), the track titles never appear. When I play the disc in my CD player, the track names always come up as 'track 1' or 'track 2', etc. Can you tell me why this is so? " My response: What you are referring to is a feature called "CD Text". You can only burn Track Titles on a standard audio CD if: a) both your CD ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Lai C. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have recently organized all of my critical files into 1 single folder. The rationale for organizing in this manner is so that it is easy for me to locate my files for the purpose of backing them up ... onto CD recordable. My Critical File Folder contains over 5 gigabytes (GB) worth of data -- with some files being quite large in size. Ideally, I would like to store all the files 'perfectly' onto 8 CDs in order to save time and media [hint: 8 CDs x 700 megabytes each = 5.6 gigabytes, which is enough to store the backup folder]. The way things ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Aimee P. writes: " Dear Dennis, I would like to transfer some photos from my work laptop to my personal laptop. What is the easiest way to do this? Is there some cord I can buy that can connect the two laptops which will enable me ... to transfer the photos quickly? The work laptop is a Toshiba Satellite Pro Pentium 4 on Windows XP. My personal laptop is an old Compaq on Windows 2000. Any advice is appreciated! " My response: There are a number of ways you can transfer your photos [or any other file type, for that matter] from one laptop to another. My answer is in no ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Karen S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I ordered a new computer, digital camera (Kodak: model CX7530), and an Easy Print and Share printer from Dell a little while ago. I've recently had some time off work, and had a technician come over ... and set everything up for me. To my dismay, the technician told me that I am missing the digital camera software, power cable, and transfer cable (so I can transfer my photos to the computer). I called Dell for assistance, but they were unable to help me because I waited too long after my order to place a complaint; I was, however, able to ... (view more)

What's the easiest, most cost-effective way to repair a scratched CD or DVD? That was the question Infopackets Reader Manny K. asked earlier this week. In Part 1 of our discussion, I provided instructions on how to properly clean a CD or DVD using a ... cotton swab; at the end of the article, I also asked Infopackets Readers to send me their best home-based remedies for repairing a scratched disc. In Part 2 , I provided a brief explanation of the comments I received, and then proceeded to quote the findings of our Readers. Part 3 is the final stage of our discussion and will continue where we ... (view more)

Since asking Infopackets Readers for their opinion on the best solution for Removing Scratches from CD or DVD compact disc, I have received a land-slide of great suggestions and insight. So far, the consensus has been that many users have ... successfully reported using ordinary house-hold cleaners, such as wood polishers (Pledge), Brasso (a metal polisher), and toothpaste (an abrasive tooth polisher) for small surface scratches. For deep scratches, by far the best recommendation I've received is to take the disc to a local DVD video or CD music rental store and have them repair it. These stores ... (view more)