Now it's Apple's Turn- Huge Battery Recall for Apple Notebooks

In a relative sense, this is probably on a larger scale then Dell's, with 1.8 million batteries eligible for replacement. As with the Dell recall, the batteries were manufactured by Sony. Sony has stated this will be the last major recall of batteries they produced.

Follow this link to see if your previous G4 or iBook G4 battery is eligible

Apple's statement reads:

Apple has determined that certain lithium-ion batteries containing cells manufactured by Sony Corporation of Japan pose a safety risk that may result in overheating under rare circumstances.

The affected batteries were sold worldwide from October 2003 through August 2006 for use with the following notebook computers: 12-inch iBook G4, 12-inch PowerBook G4 and 15-inch PowerBook G4.

Apple is voluntarily recalling the affected batteries and has initiated a worldwide exchange program to provide eligible customers with a new replacement battery, free of charge. This program is being conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and other international safety authorities.

URLs from August 22, 2006

Crucial Mac software: College Edition: One person's opinion

Laptop Security programs that help you track & protect your laptop
--LaptopSecuritySolutions
--Absolute.com
--Trackion.com
--ComputerSecurity.com

Bandwidth Speed Test

Secure erase your hard drive
--Windows
--Mac

Restoring a hard drive:
--We recommend Norton Ghost

URLs from 8/15/06

Dell Battery Recall Program -- see also our separate entry

University of Michigan Consumer Satisfaction Survey
--Apple & Dell improve their ratings

Importing booksmarks from Explorer into Safari:
--activate the Debug Men, then use the import from the Debug Menu

Best type of cable for cable modem

Syncing the Apple Address Book with your cell phone:
--Check Apple's web site to see if your phone works with iSync
--Set up your phone with iSync
--If your phone is not supported try OnSync

Get rid of the 2 sec. gap between tracks on audio CDs burned from Nero
--This may work for Windows MediaPlayer, our original question

Massive Dell Battery Recall

Remember the exploding Dell computer form a while back? Dell has now issued a recall of 4 million laptop batteries, affecting some Inspiron, Latitude and Precision mobile workstations and XPS units shipped between April 2004 and July 18, 2006. This is by some reports the largest battery recall in history. Before the Mac users gloat, the batteries were manufactured by Sony.


To see if you qualify for a replacement, click here.

URLs from 8/8/06

Changing drive letter assignments:
--Windows 2000
--Windows XP and 2000 - Last resort

Getting rid of virus pop ups with Stinger

Microsoft's Content Advisor:
--Turn it off!
--How to remove it if you forgot the password

Joining Airport base stations:
--#1
--#2

Emily in Greensfork and Chris asked about various items -- ribbon cords and power cords. We did not mention this on the air but you can check MicroCenter, either the store at Mosteller and I-275 in Cincinnati or online.

URLs from 8/1/06

Power Mac fan won't turn off

iMac G5 repair extension program

URLs from 7/25/06

Windows Media components for Mac Quicktime

URLs from 7/18/06

Troubleshooting Windows XP Shutdown issues

Mac OS X: Viruses and Security

Here is an interesting post on Macs and Viruses from Symantec's site. The most salient point I want people to get:

"Simply put, at the time of writing this article, there are no file-infecting viruses that can infect Mac OS X."

That's a pretty amazing track record considering OS X was initially released in March of 2001. We often debate on the show about the state of Mac virus and malware threats. In my not so humble opinion, the only reason to have antivirus software at this time on a Mac OS X machine is to prevent spreading them to Windows users (and even then, it would have to be done manually by the user!).

URLs from 7/11/06

Invalid System Disk error help
---more help

Stand-alone installer of Windows XP Service Pack 2

Error Loading Operating System Message When You Restart Your Computer During Setup

PC Anywhere preventing Welcome Screen in Windows XP

Even Microsoft loves the new Macs ;)

Listeners may remember me saying the only computer to buy for a new student is an Intel based Mac because it can run Windows and the Mac OS. This picture show even Microsoft agrees with me. :)



This picture is a demo of Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007 running on a Macbook Prop. Now THAT'S a ringing endorsement. More info can be found here.

Everyone, please have a safe and happy Independence Day!

URLs from 6/27/06

Windows 16 bit subsystem error: Microsoft Knowledge Base Article

Java download: Click Here

French iTunes update

Adding markers to MP3- Search for "adding markers tp MP3" on Google or Go to go to www.versiontracker.com and search for "mp3 editor"

PageOverCommit error with Windows 3.1- This error only occurs when you have over 256 Meg of RAM. It is related to virtual memory and swap file space. Below are some sites that talk about the problem:

• http://kb.iu.edu/data/abqq.html
• http://kb.iu.edu/data/abpe.html
  
• http://www.windowswarrior.com/winsys.htm
• http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MMER-3XRMZG
• http://miataru.computing.net/windows31/wwwboard/forum/11742.html
  

MPC laptop screen backlight intermittent- Check your warranty as it's probably a loose cable- MPC Support

New variant of beagle virus

USB flash drive not being read on Mac with 10.2.8
--Try reformatting the flash drive on a windows computer
--Newer versions of the OS solved some compatibilities

Windows XP performance on a Macintosh using Parallels Workstation

Try Office 2007 on the web, without installing it on your machine

Microsoft has made available a web based "test drive" of Office 2007. It is radically different in terms of interface, so if you use it you may want to check it out this way- no fuss, no muss, no installation of beta software!

You can check it out here.

URLs from 6/20/06

How much performance gain is there having matching memory modules on a MacBook Pro?
--Look below the charts about 3/4 down the page.

Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close

Ebay Acquires Skype (last fall)
--http://www.skype.com/

Moqvo is a provider of RSS based social media technology.

Stumble Upon: Helps you find web sites

iMac power LED colors

Keeping favorites from AOL

XP's No-Reformat, Nondestructive, Total-Rebuild Option

This is a great article from Techweb that describes how to rebuild, repair, or refresh an existing XP installation without destroying anything. Oddly, Microsoft has kept this somewhat under wraps. It is a wonderful complement to our earlier post about fixing XP in eight easy steps.

The article can be found at this link. I recommmend printing this out and keeping it for future use (use the "Print This Story" option at the bottom).

URLs from 6/13/06

Safari Debug make Mac Safari act like Windows Internet Explorer

Limewire - Is it safe? Is it legal?
--Other possible sites:
--Pandora - Neat music web site
--Myspace.com
--Download.com

Windows Vista System Requirements

We discussed this on the show to day and I was too low on the processor requirements. I mentioned the bare minimum requirements. Here are the main specs you need to it to run Windows Vista capably:

• 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor.


• 1 GB of system memory.


• A graphics processor that runs Windows Aero (direct X 9 capable)


• 128 MB of graphics memory.


• 40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space.


• DVD-ROM Drive.


• Audio output capability.


• Internet access capability.

Here are the bare minimum requirements:

• A modern processor (at least 800MHz).


• 512 MB of system memory.


• A graphics processor that is DirectX 9 capable.

There is more information at this link.

Windows Vista Beta now open to the public

Microsoft has made the beta version of Windows Vista available to the general public. You can find information by clicking here for the 32-bit version. If you want the 64 bit version, click here.


Please make sure you back up your data before installing! It's a BETA for a reason!

URLs from 6/6/06

Parallels Desktop for Macs - allows you to run Windows on your intel based Mac
--UPDATE: the final price is $79.99, but $39.99 if you pre order.

Apple II introduced June 5, 2006

Bandwidth speed test

People stuck in glass elevator in the new New York Apple store

Turning off Java Script in Windows Internet Explorer:
From the menu, choose: Tools -> Options -> Advanced then uncheck the debugging option

Repairing windows XP with 8 commands

Macromedia Breeze: on behalf of a listener, we'd like to hear from anyone with experience working with this software in a University setting.

QT: an alternative to Apple's Quicktime for Windows

Apple offering free iPod Nano to students with the purchase of a new Mac

If you purchase a new Mac and a 2 gig iPod Nano, you can get a $179.00 rebate (the cost of a 2 gig Nano from the Apple Education Store). Other iPods are eligible too, but the maximum value of the rebate is $179.00 According to the rebate form, faculty members and staff are eligible too!

More information can be found here.