Got a question about technology? Ask it here. Discussion of hardware, software, TiVos, multi-region DVDs, Windows, Macs, LINUX, hand-helds, iPods, anything tech related. Better than any helpdesk!
Oh going back to the software firewall thing. I put in Comodo, and after some teething trouble getting it not to block my network connection, it works fine.
In terms of what a software firewall does that anti-virus won't to: I'd forgotten how much spyware, and overenthuriastic checking for new drivers is built into standard software these days until I had to retrain a new firewall. For example my printer driver wants to report to HP every time I print. Adobe reader, in spite of my setting it to check for updates only every 30 days tries to check for updates every time I load it. (Given that a lot of my work these involves downloading and reading pdf documents blocking that is a real time saver. And yes I'm aware that Adobe patches real security holes. Once a month I unblock and allow it to update. ) Most anti-spyware software won't catch these things; and if they do what good do they do: you don't want to remove your printer drivers or adobe reader, you just want to disable the spyware aspects.
Dell to offer Ubuntu Linux preinstalled and supported on it's desktops and laptops: [link]
Bold move. Totally a good one in my humble opinion as anything to keep Microsoft on it's toes is good. Plus the idea of a granny buying a PC for email and the web and NOT getting the PC infected with 4903 viruses and spyware things is good.
Cool. I think Ubuntu could make a good OS for basic stuff, but it does need some more polish. And fix that mencoder bug
iTunes help!
I have all my music on an external firewire drive. In preferences I have pointed iTunes to the correct folder on that drive, but none of the songs show up in my music library (in the iTunes screen) unless I double click the file in the folder. Is this because I lost a directory file when the old computer died? Will I have to double-click every song? Are my ratings and playlists lost forever or can I get all these things from the iPod? Which leads to the next issue...
The new computer only has one firewire port. All the music is on an external firewire drive. The external drive does have an additional firewire port. Can I connect the iPod thru the external drive?
I'm not sure what the problem is (but I think it's fairly common for external drive users). Did you try the "Reset" button in the Preferences / Advanced screen? Did you try specifying the folder again? Do you have "Keep iTunes Music folder organized" checked?
Not sure if any of these is/are the solution....
Yes, yes, and yes. And I tried quitting iTunes after specifying the folder. I didn't have this problem when I first put the music on this drive (with the old computer).
I kind of wonder if I should use the iPod as my starting point. I'll lose some things that I haven't synced, but I probably won't remember what they were.
aurelia, it might be worth deleting the aliases in your itunes library and starting over from scratch. allowing the library to relearn where all your songs are could fix it.
I think what you need to do is go back, re-specify your itunes library, check keep itunes library organized.
Then go to Advanced --> Consolidate Library
I've tried the suggestions from SA and le nubian. Now I have a completely empty iTunes library.
I also tried replacing the iTunes music folder on the hard drive with an alias of the iTunes music folder on the external drive. No love.
I'm at a loss.
How about the firewire connection question? Can I connect the iPod thru the external drive?
