Eugene's observations

If you are a long way from the exchange and want to make the most of what you get, here are two top tips:

1. Connect your router to the master socket - the one closest to the point where your phone line enters the property. Now use a wired connection (Ethernet if you can position the wire safely or mains electrical circuit with a couple of adapters otherwise) to transport the signal to your computer(s).

2. So small and oft forgotten, microfilters account for many a poor broadband signal. Generally speaking, skip the tiny devices that plug right into the socket and use either one built in to the socket itself, or one with a little tail. It is worth spending a little more to get a quality components. Better ones will contain something like

   • 1 Spark Gap
   • 4 Ferrite cores
   • 5 Diodes
   • 5 Capacitors
   • 7 Resistors
   • 2 Transistors

   Cheap devices are smaller as they may contain only

   • 1 Ferrite core (2 coils)
   • 1 Diode
   • 2 Capacitors
   • 2 Resistors

   and can not do a decent job of filtering the high frequency broadband from the lower frequency analogue voice signals. If your phone line sounds anything other than crystal clear, disconnect all other devices connected to the phone line and see if the problem remains. If it does, replace the microfilter with one costing no less than £5.

I have recently set up three different clients with dual boot configurations - that is: the ability when you switch the computer on to select which operating system you want to run. This is done by dividing up the disk (partitioning) into three sections: one for each operating system and a third for the shared data (photos, music etc.)

• The first was Windows XP and Linux (Mint Distro) to give the user the opportunity to evaluate Linux as a free alternative to Windows.
• Then XP as it had been used for four years on one partition and a new installation of XP on the other. This let the user get used to a much faster clean install without giving up the option of using programs the source files and/or product keys of which were long lost.
• Finally was Windows XP and Windows 7 to give the user time to ease into the new user interface while keeping a slippered foot in the door of the comfortable.

Sometimes it is quicker to reinstall Windows than identify and resolve all faults. With Vista and later this has to be done by booting off the hard disk but in XP is can be done from the CD. However, if Windows is so corrupted that the repair option is not offered some small adjustments can make it return - although the omens for a successful repair are not good.

Boot to Recovery Console and then
copy {ODD}:\i386\ntldr C:\
copy {ODD}:\i386\ntdetect.com C:\
attrib -H -R -S C:\boot.ini
del C:\boot.ini
BootCfg /Rebuild

Now remove all hardware not essential for a boot.
Next time you boot off the CD you should have a repair option.

Before you launch into a repair of Windows XP make sure that service packs later than the level on the installation medium are removed, and that Internet Explorer is not at a later version than on the CD. Details at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917964/

There is one other cause of repair failure that can be easily fixed: a corrupted registry hive. In this case just follow the instructions at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545/en-us

A client asked me to design a new bespoke PC for him last week. I did so and sent him a detailed specification that would be balanced in the likely use he would put it to. This totalled £618 inc. VAT. He looked around the Internet and found a Dell Optiplex 380 and wondered why the PC I specified was £219 more expensive.

After a testing time trying to find out the full specification of the Dell PC I was able to send my client the results as a table that compared my initial spec (£618), the Dell headline version of the Optiplex 380 (£399) and the Dell version that matched most closely the balanced system I had proposed for him. The Dell headline version of their system was indeed £219 cheaper, but the components were generally much more modest and did not include items such as a monitor display - in the use my client typically puts his PC to this computer would perform like a dog with no legs.

By 'customising' the Dell specification to match as closely as possible the PC I designed for my client the cost rose to exactly £999 - a £381 difference. And what's more, if a Dell main board fails after a couple of years it is next to impossible to get a replacement as Dell are the sole suppliers.

I knew that custom built computers were better value for money than mass produced ones in the long term but I hadn't appreciated just how much of a saving there is from day one. I should add that I believe Dell are no worse and indeed, somewhat better than other off-the-shelf distributors including large nationwide shops.