Annoying problem
 

My old desktop PC got fried from a power surge in my dorm a little less than a week ago. I just bought a new Gateway MX6931 laptop and the darn scroll portion of the touch pad will work in every program.. except Firefox, which I always use instead of IE. I have a wireless mouse that I used with my old desktop, but not here at home so I'm stuck with the touch pad for now. I have looked through the mouse and touch pad settings and whatnot and can't figure it out. Its the new version of Firefox and Windows Media Center.

Any ideas?
Also thinking about getting LoJack for laptops since college campuses seem to be prime for laptop theft.

Your issues.
 

Hello,

#1. Download the latest Synaptics TouchPad drivers from www.synaptics.com. You'll be glad you did, as Gateway doesn't expose the full functionality of their own products, apparently.

#2. LoJack for Laptops is good. One of my customers evaluated this as a potential solution for laptop theft. The problems were:

a. It "phones home" to Vancouver, CA. This was not something that my customer wished it to do.

b. It requires Windows to run. Their program hides in the BIOS and inserts itself into Windows. Putting Linux or a Knoppix bootable CD into the drive will render their program useless.

However, it is burned into the BIOS, and Gateway is one of the manufacturers that offers this service as a value-added option. If you're going to run Windows, this is a definite plus to have.

The other option you're going to want to look into is encryption of your sensitive data. Please look at TrueCrypt (www.truecrypt.org) if you're going to be toting a new laptop around a college campus, where many students have found alternate (read: theft) ways of supporting themselves.

Thanks,

Mitch

Thanks! Drivers updated and everything is golden. I absolutely love this laptop just FYI. Great hardware for the $.
I think I am going to invest in the LoJack. I would guess that most punks that steal laptops on campus wouldn't think to use a Linux boot CD to circumvent something (The LoJack software) they don't know is even there.

Funny story, when I was buying the laptop I asked the guy at Best Buy if they sold LoJack and he said no and that he doesn't recommend it because you "have to send your PC in to get a GPS tracking chip installed, etc. etc. blah blah bull**** and more bull****." I feel sorry for people who shop for stuff like this at Best Buy and have only the Geek Squad's or sale's rep. word to go on.

Did they also promote the $100 surge protector? Secondary warranty? What else?

Haha yeah they offered the $99 installation of anti virus and spyware software (sold separately of course), and they also promised to make my computer run 15-20% faster with their "system diagnostic software". The guy also tried to sell the $299 extended factory warranty
The only reason I bought it there was to take advantage of the good deal and get a computer before I headed back to campus tomorrow.

Are you saying that does not come installed on the Gateway? Or were they offering to sell and install something that was already installed?

Meanwhile comprehensive system diagnostics comes free from responsible computer manufacturers. Why then would they offer to sell you something that comes standard and free? Or does not come on Gateways either?

Its how best buy makes money.....
 

Unfortunately, Best Buy amd their ilk make little to no money on the hardware and attempt to make it back on services and overpriced hardware. I have a friend who works at CompUSA who explained to me to never buy cables there. The cables are 500% of what they cost online. People, in general, are also too lazy or scared (mostly scared) to install av or antispyware software.

The computer came with a 60 day trial version of anti virus software. BB wanted me to purchase a different antivirus software and anti spyware software from them, then pay them $99 to install it.

Gateway included something they call Big Fix, which I have yet to investigate. But what BB was insinuating was that I should hand over my *brand new* computer, and they could magically do something that could make it run 20% faster w/o upgrading the RAM or processor or any hardware. It was all just a bunch of crap. I will never trust the Geek Squad after what they did to my last computer..

It's true... in my stupider moments I wonder if I'd be better off doing freelance consulting for random IT scut work like this.

sounds like Best Buy...
 

Best Buy,

The store where the sales people know less than you think, and see how much of a rube they think you are by preying on your fears.

If I didn't have ethics, I could make over 100K a year working in sales for them. Yes, I know how much their salespeople make on average.

Sometimes having to work in the BOFH position gives you the ability to execute :).

The truth is that Best Buy makes their money on software and services. They make next to nothing on PCs. No store does. The only companies that do are Dell and Apple. PCs are big money-losers to sell you game software, anti-virus software, anti-spyware software, anti-spam software, and other accessories which you may or may not need.

Dell does because they have one of the best supply chains in the industry, and the Wal-Mart like tactic of screwing many of their vendors.

Apple charges a lot more than the other PC vendors, however they do deliver a quality product (most of the time) that has a very solid OS and application bundle behind it. They are the BMW of the computer world, and charge accordingly.

HP/Compaq, on the other hand, makes money hand over fist on Proliant servers and printer ink. They make more money bundling a printer with a PC than the PC itself due to the fact that buying the ink makes them the profit. The Proliant servers are everywhere and are an industry standard. Those servers are probably the reason why HP bought Compaq. Their x86 server line before the Proliants was not good. HP makes more money on Printer Ink than Proliants. Does that tell you anything?

Gateway/eMachines makes money apparently from "kickbacks" from the vendors for installing trial versions of their software, namely Symantec (who is rolling in dough from Microsoft's perceived inability to produce a decent OS, and who purchased Veritas with money made from the fact that XP wasn't built well).

Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist here, but the reason you don't see Mac OS X, Linux, or other OSes pushed is because you can't sell a ton of corollary services and software around the product to the consumer. What good is a product that you sell at a 2% profit margin (max) which doesn't need several hundred dollars of additional software with yearly subscription fees that sell at a 50% margin or better? Why be in business selling PCs if you can't make a decent profit margin? Not enough people buy game software.

You can sell all of those services (read: very expensive app servers, customized POS systems, and software like Oracle) to corporate customers, which is why IBM Global Services makes a lot of money on alternate OSes like Linux.

You're just seeing the American business machine in action. Nothing personal, it's just that PCs take up a lot more space than a DVD player or iPod in the warehouse, and therefore it costs a lot more to sell it. Someone's got to make up the margin cost.

Mitch

Interesting ! Thanks for the outlook.

Kensington retractable cable laptop lock

DaughterofV has one of these, and so far, so good. In the dorm room it's locked to the table, allowing her (and her roommate) a bit more peace of mind as they walk in and out of the room, including company. For travel, the cable has a spring loaded retractor and winds into itself like a tape measure, into a package about the size and shape of a stack of two carabiners. If you're never going to leave it unattended, no biggie. If you're going to the library and want to be able to leave it on the table as you browse the shelves, or go to the washroom, just lock it to the table again. More paranoid? Carry it with you in your backpack, or have a trusted friend watch over it.

By the time the thieves have physical possession of your system, I have serious doubts that any installed program would be any kind of deterrent or recovery tool.

btw, I know the link is from Best Buy, but of course this product is available everywhere....

I happen to work and live close to a cable manufacturer who I trust and who offers their very wide array of products at wholesale (or very close to it) prices. I have sent several friends, customers and colleagues there. I would send my fellow dwellars there as well.

DataPro -- You won't be sorry.

Yeah I'm thinking about getting one of those cables for when the laptop is in my room and I'm not there. I can't tell from the BB website picture but it looks like that cable could be cut by just a pair of wire cutters. Something stronger would be more reassuring.

Maybe this? http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/fsb/Images...an%20Atten.jpg