IT Professional in Birmingham, B48

RE: after an hour i have to reboot as i cant open any more webpages, after that its fine but this is reo

I sometimes have a problem with my laptop using a wireless connection, in that the connection will sometimes just drop. We had the problem badly using a Sky provided router, and this has gotten much better when replaced by a Draytek one. However, I still get the occasional wireless drop, and the quickest resolve is to switch the wireless off for about 5 seconds, and then switch it back on. I still do not know why this is, although I have suspicions that it is related to Intel wireless cards - unfortunately these account for probably 85% of the internal laptop wireless cards in use today.

RE: desk top and email links

You may need to be a bit more specific about what you are clicking, what you are expecting and what you are seeing. However, overall it sounds like you might have a corrupt Internet Explorer or something along those lines. I would start by trying to re-install that, and otherwise try Firefox as a superb alternative to IE.

RE: laptop wont start up

Hi Alan, Computer - yes. Laptop - not really, new laptops that are worth their weight cost upwards of £700, before you re-purchase any software that you need (such as Microsoft Office) because either it is OEM version, or it no longer works on the new OS. I would expect the breakdown of a laptop motherboard repair/replacement to look something like this; Diagnose: £50 Replacement motherboard (source and fit), or time to repair existing board: £200 Collection/Delivery (assuming a send-away repair is required): £50 So I don't think it is unreasonable to expect a £300 bill. If it comes out less - brilliant, but it is better to be prepared for the worst?

RE: Installing windows small business server 2003

Hi John, SBS2003 is a very powerful server platform, despite what some people might say. It offers not just file and print sharing, but remote access, powerful Exchange email server (including remote email and email on your mobile), and a central point for things like Windows Updates and Antivirus management - can you tell that I am a great believer in SBS? If you want to continue with SBS (and I would definately recommend doing so if you have more than about 4 users on the network), then it is definately worth getting to know it better. Some of the REQUIREMENTS of SBS are that the server is installed as a domain controller, so really the answer to your question from that sense is NO. You would need to purchase Windows Server 2003 Standard Server, and thus new CALs for it. Adding Windows 2000 and XP (pro) clients to the domain should be fairly easy, if you understand how it all works. Macs are slightly more complex but it is still achievable, and I believe it is easier to connect a Mac to an SBS network than a 'Vanilla' Windows Server 2003 domain. If you are interested, I'd be happy to discuss setting up and potentially maintaining this server for you, or in fact any of your server-related questions. Please let me know if you would like any further information from me. Jon

RE: desktop can take hours before it starts

Hi Dave, When you first switch it on (or after you reset), you will sometimes see a message quickly saying 'Press F2 to enter setup'. Sometimes it is 'Press DEL to enter setup' (the key named 'Delete' rather than backspace, which is above the return key). You need to do this and go into setup. Look through the options for 'SMART' option, relating to the hard disk. Quite often SMART is not switched on by default, for reasons that elude me. SMART is the hard-drive Self-monitoring and reporting tool. Once switched on, save and exit from Setup and watch to see if a message appears from smart noting that your hard drive is about to fail. That is my best guess, failing that it could be just that Windows (or whatever OS you run) is corrupt and needs re-installing, maybe that you have a virus, or that you have installed software that slows your PC to this state (I have seen an otherwise ok PC take 30 mins to be useable from boot after Norton 360 was installed). Let us know if that helps or not.