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"Lost" CD-ROM drive, USB drives

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Started 14 years ago by SeniorCitizen
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goodgotd
Member

ah. the memory card reader is for the cards that go in my digital camera. Digital film, if you want to think of it that way. your netgear box is probably a router, and likely has both wired and wireless connections- I prefer wired.

Those specs on the computer are good for a hand-me-down, (I've given away a boatload of ones not as good- but back a ways) but if it runs into serious fix-its or needs upgrades it's going to be hard to justify. Cheaper in the long run to pick up a low-end system. Parts for systems like that are starting to get harder to find and are priced way above what the newer stuff goes for.

the 1.3 ghz P4 isn't bad- by circa 2004 standards. this system was about low-middle of the spectrum when I put it together in 2006, and it's double the speed, 4 times the installed memory (and should have had twice that) had 4 times the hard drive space- and a fair video card in it.

here's a drive that should work for comparisons- (and it's a DVD-RW as well as a CD-RW) I haven't checked east coast suppliers for a while, but newegg uses flat-rate shipping so the difference should be minor.

SAMSUNG Black EIDE/ATAPI 22X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM $24.99 $6.98 Shipping

as for 'logical drives'- also known as partitions (before windows assigns drive letters), here's an explanation I put together for somebody else a while ago.

Oh, "partition". Think I have a mental block for this word.

think of data as water, and a new hard drive is a bathtub made out of window screen on a frame.

making a partition of the whole hard drive is like putting in a waterproof liner (bucket) that just fits inside it. making more than one partition is like putting a series of smaller form-fitting buckets in until as much as you want to put water in has watertight compartments that you can move your data (water) between.

this analogy also explains why partitioning a hard drive reduces the total space somewhat- the 'walls' of the bucket(s) take up space that otherwise could hold water (data).

better?

kittens? oy. With 8 housecats and a bobcat-lynx cross, I cringe when I hear that.

Posted 14 years ago #
GMMan, Hexadecimal Blacksmith
Blocked

Wow, Linda, your computer is ancient (beige says it all). I would be looking to get a brand new spanking computer, though you might not be able to. It makes me cringe thinking about 128 MB of RAM. (I have 521MB, and it's not doing me much good. It "just gets by".)

Posted 14 years ago #
Dragonlair
Member

128 MB is too small for XP! That's what my old computer has (not used - slightly flaky monitor). That's also why it was never upgraded from ME to XP.

It does sound ancient. It may even be a Gateway 2000 (not just a Gateway). They dropped the name after 2000 got here. I guess they didn't think far enough ahead!

Posted 14 years ago #
goodgotd
Member

Brand spanking new isn't needed to get a *lot* better than that. Pacific Geeks has refurb systems cheap (reuse the monitor, etc), and IIRC I found a 3 ghz P4 with a gig of ram, 80 gig hdd, and pretty good video for <$150, off lease. He's happy with it, he uses it to play video to his 56" HDTV as a 'video wall'.

east coast... I'll have to break down and look at tigerdirect again.

the laptop I use is a 1999 gateway solo 2550 P-3m 450 with 192 megs, and I've seen installs of XP pro on the same model. the next system up in memory has a lesser CPU- a K6/2-450- but 256 megs of ram. this one has 512 megs and does pretty well- but it doesn't share the ram with the video card aside from static stuff.

Posted 14 years ago #
SeniorCitizen
Member

Dear Helpful Folks: My computer may be old to all of you, but I LUV it! Does what I need it to do (usually). OK, am using Win2000 Pro & MS support will end in July. Hey, one year ago I advanced from Windows 98SE!

As for storage inside puter, it doesn't contain any personal stuff. I put EVERYTHING on floppies and, just recently, fell in luv with Flashies; I have 8. I use my puter to type letters, do bookkeeping (Quicken 6, DOS), read newspaper on-line, and research things that I find interesting. And I read a lot of legal papers on-line. Most important, I visit giveawayof theday first thing every morning!

So if anyone can tell me WHY I should get a newer computer with newer operating system that I'd get frustrated trying to learn, let me know. This thing is doing what I want it to do and isn't that what matters?

In May 1997 bought a brand-new Chevy S10 pickup truck. Previous vehicle was a 1985 Chevy S10 pickup truck that I sold with 72K miles. Present truck just hit 36,500 miles and though dents on both sides, runs like dream. Can see no reason why I'd need a newer vehicle. Does what it's supposed to do. Just like my beige computer! (GMMAN, they make puters in colors besides beige & gray?)

But I DO have a real nice monitor. emachines E19T6W HD-Ready. 19". Hey, don't even know what "HD" means, and I don't care! It works, and that's what matters.

I'll leave y'all with this: I owe no one, and have zero balance on all my charge cards. I live within my means. If there's something 'big' that I need, I save for it. Learned long, long ago there's a difference between NEEDING and WANTING. Hence, am defending my beautiful old beige computer

PS -- my last vehicle didn't have a radio, so I used to sing while driving. But my 1997 Chevy DOES have a radio. For months thought it was broken cuz it wouldn't stay on one station; kept changing. Took me time to learn I shouldn't hit the scan button. (Yes, it's okay to laff at myself.)

Posted 14 years ago #
Dragonlair
Member

I'm not putting down your old "beige" computer! I'm one of those strange people who likes BOTH ME and Vista! I use my PC for personal usage and one of my biggest sections of data is my Cross Stitch free pattern library (zipped it's over 2 GB) with thousands of patterns! I also have over 500 games.

As far as your statement about frustrated trying to learn -- to me that's the FUN of a new operating system. Learning the new features! Most new setups have ways of making them look like the old setup (at least in part) so you can "grow" to the new stuff slowly.

I replaced my car last year because it was just getting to the point where it was ready to need major repairs and was too old to be worth it. It was a 1991 Honda Civic Wagon with about 25,000 miles! It had about 35 miles on it when I bought it in October of 1991. Yes, that mileage was accurate - not wraparound.

I also have no debts and wait as long as possible for any major expense. However, I no longer think of a computer as a luxury. In today's environment, it's a necessity! It's also a heck of a neat toy!

Be careful with those flash drives. Like any portable media, they can become corrupted so you should have backups of your data. I got 6 flash drives free from that Pepsi/Amazon promotion in '08. Five are 2 GB and the 6th is 1 GB. Free is good!

Don't ever be ashamed of your way of life. It's yours and that makes it good!

Posted 14 years ago #
SeniorCitizen
Member

Dragonlair, thanks for your words and for telling me Flashies can become corrupted. Did not know this. Anyway, here's what's gone on in my life for the past 2 hours. Phoned a few computer repair ads from craigslist. After explaining "Computer doesn't recognize CD-ROM, and then some" here are responses I got:

1) Windows 2000 is old. You need a newer operating system. It will have to be purchased, plus the cost to install it.

2) We charge $125 an hour and it could take a couple of hours.

3) The CD-ROM needs to be replaced. We have the part. It will cost at least $150 for materials and labor.

4) (Ad read FAST same day service) "Will you be available on Friday?"

5) (Person in town where I live) "How about 3:30 today? I will diagnos the problem at no cost and tell you what I will charge". Yup, have an appointment today.

Posted 14 years ago #
Dragonlair
Member

Any media can be corrupted, whether it be floppies, CDs/DVDs or flashdrives. Even hard drives can crash or develop "bad spots". Backups are a good idea no matter what media you use.

Your 4 reminds me of Sears! They used to have priority service for refrigerators. When my last Kenmore had problems, I called them (on Monday) and they could not even come to look at it until Thursday! I called someone who had some advice to try (it didn't work) so I went out on Tuesday, purchased a new Whirlpool from HHGregg and it was delivered on Wednesday. So much for the Thursday visit (I refused it from the start).

I will no longer buy any Sears appliances now because of their "new" service attitude!

Posted 14 years ago #
SeniorCitizen
Member

Dragonlair: REALLY chuckled with your Sears story! What's happened to them? They used to be top-of-the-line. However, Kenmore continues to be a super product! Years ago contracted with Sears Home Improvement to repair the house fascia. 2 days later a pile of materials was delivered to my backyard. Called Sears; when's it going to be installed? We'll call you back. Weeks later Sears called. Are you happy with the installation? they asked. Huh! Materials are ruining my grass; still piled in my backyard. Come pick it up. Long story short, I got to keep all the materials, Sears never picked it up. I sold most of it.

Posted 14 years ago #
Terri218
Member

Linda, be careful about storing your files on floppies because I don't think there are any new computers which have floppy drives anymore. If your present computer dies, you will either have to hire a tech to copy all the files off your old computer and transfer to a new computer or you will lose all your files. That's what happened to me. The downside of progress. I also feel that new "improved" machines are not as good as old ones but business drives "bigger and better" things so they can sell new ones.

Posted 14 years ago #
SeniorCitizen
Member

Terri, thanks for the head's up. Makes sense. But I think I have that problem conquered. I so enjoyed all my different colored floppies I bought an exterior floppy drive that can be plugged into a USB hole. ... Way back when the 5-1/4 inch disk were being discontinued, you would have chuckled at how upset I was. Had just really learned about computers and was determined NOT to change. But you know what happened. Introduced to floppies and my life was great again. Now it's floppies and Flashies.

The way a female might feel they don't have enough pairs of shoes, I feel the same way about Flashies!

Posted 14 years ago #
Terri218
Member

I didn't know there was such a thing. That would have solved my problem.

Posted 14 years ago #
Dragonlair
Member

I've heard of them but when my last computer was on it's last legs (even if still have it), I copied the floppies to CDs and "flashies" to be able to save the data that was worth saving (most were software products that were obsolete). I had already phased out the 5 1/4 floppies as that drive (on my 2nd computer) gave out long before we gave up the PC and it wasn't worth fixing.

I find the capacity of the flashdrives so far more than the 3.5" floppies that the floppies are just "trash".

One thing to note - if your cd drive is vertical, you've got a problem with the "mini-cds". I had one that way. I ended up booting the Old PC (with the horizontal drive) and copied the CD to a flashdrive so I could install the webcam driver.

It takes all sorts of tricks to keep up with the old and new technologies now!

Posted 14 years ago #
GMMan, Hexadecimal Blacksmith
Blocked

Ahh... Floppies. The only reason I use them was to rebuild an image of Windows 98 that came with my Y2K laptop (which is now barely operational). I wanted to combine the original Windows disk that came with the computer with the actual Windows files that was extracted by a custom reinstaller on the disk (they use "encryption", though it's just some sort of an archive/imaging format that's not encrypted). I'm actually considering ripping out the floppy drive from my computer, but then there would be a oddly shaped hole from the front.

Posted 14 years ago #
SeniorCitizen
Member

UPDATE: Phoned craigslist advertiser who services Westchester, NY. Nice, professional-looking ad. He lived only a few blocks from my home. Over 3pm-5:30pm. Told him CD-ROM not recognized, and asked him to make it so puter doesn't call for a password to get on because I had to hit "Enter" to sign on, though password was not needed.

Bottom line right now is -- have SAME problem as before, but NOW
1) I can NOT send or receive mail,
2) ALL SETTINGS for EVERYTHING are back to "factory installed"
3) I use one email address daily, but have 2 others. Main address book had around 110 names. This was BEFORE he worked on my computer. Well, I now have over 2,500 addresses!
He imported from I-don't-know-where a mailing list I maintain for local govt that was NEVER in Outlook Express to begin with!

... he had installed another CD-ROM drive after telling me the one I had "wasn't working". The one he installed didn't work either. So since I had another one he put this one in. "Wasn't working". Told me he thinks "there's a problem with the motherboard where it connects to the CD-ROM. Not worth the $ to fix. Buy an exterior
CD-ROM drive."

So, I have more problems than I had before !!!!

Posted 14 years ago #
Delilah
Member

Let's see, an exterior CD/DVD drive would plug into a USB port, and your USB ports have also disappeared. Yeah, that's a real helpful suggestion (she said sarcastically).

A couple of years ago, both of my optical drives (CD/DVD-ROM and -RW) disappeared. I don't remember any USB ports not working, though. Turned out I'd burned out the part of the motherboard that controls the optical drives (a fan died and the motherboard overheated). I had to replace the motherboard, and the memory I had wasn't compatible with the new board, so had to replace that, too. I wasn't happy about it, but it put me in good shape for the upgrading I did this year, as the new motherboard was/is much more powerful and able to handle the extra memory and larger, faster hard drives. Which is why I now have a very nicely configured computer in a BEIGE case.

Anyway, back to your problem(s). It doesn't sound like anyone has done a comprehensive diagnosis of your computer. If both the CD-ROM drive and the USB ports have disappeared, it's highly unlikely that the problem is with both of those things just happening to die at the same time (just as unlikely as both of my optical drives just happening to die at the same time). So something a bit more comprehensive, like a motherboard problem, sounds like a real possibility.

And unfortunately, the best repair people do tend to be the busiest...

Posted 14 years ago #
wizzard_of_ozz2004
Games Master

Well i don't think that the usb's are a problem anymore. Linda said that the flash drives are showing up ok now so the usb's must be functional.

Posted 14 years ago #
SeniorCitizen
Member

To Delilah: I sooo enjoyed what you wrote. I really enjoy sarcasm! Makes sense what you wrote, however ... puter doesn't recognize CD-ROM drive, nor does it recognize the USB-Flash Drive in Control Panel, Admin Tolls, Removal Storage, etc. Xs appear. But I can put a Flashy into what I labeled "E-Drive" and it recognizes it as the D-Drive. On other page it's explained how puter chooses drive letters. Fascinating.

A NEW day has dawned and watch out! Am determined to solve puter problems, or find a hand-me-down from a friend, or buy an external CD-ROM drive ... and more Flashies! I think maybe the HP OfficeJet J4680 All-In-One printer (recently installed) is incompatible with my HP Laser 1012.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. My appreciation runs deep. -- Linda

Posted 14 years ago #
Dragonlair
Member

Linda,

Each printer has it's own driver (software) for the operating system. I can easily see that an OfficeJet and a laser might have incompatible drivers. If you don't have a driver for your new machine, you should be able to download one from the HP site. I had to do that when I got my new machine because the driver CD it came with only had XP drivers and I needed one for Vista!

Your flashies being recognized as D (and probably E) is not a problem in itself. It simply clarifies that your CD drive is not being seen at all. If you don't have anything plugged into your USB drives, your system might not see them.

If you get an external CD drive and plug it in first (either slot), it should be your D drive again! Just remember that position isn't important, it's order of "assignment" that determines the drive letter unless you're doing something odd to hard-specify them.

I have one of those multi-card readers (I think it's a 15-in-one) that has 4 slots for different size memory cards from digital cameras. Until a few months ago, it came up as F, G, H and I every time I booted. I could remove them at one time and usually did to keep my list of drives from looking clutters. Some Vista upgrade took care of that. I can still use them, dynamically, but they don't come up by default any more. I have a piece of clear plastic gently taped across the front of my system using to keep dust out of the slots because I don't use them.

As for the memory card in my camera? I don't have to take it out. The camera comes with a USB cable that I can use instead!

Posted 14 years ago #
SeniorCitizen
Member

Dragonlair: You're a sharpie; probably right that the 2 printers are not compatible. Here's exciting news about what I did. Got my HP Laser printer to work all by myself! Goodness only knows what buttons I clicked or what I did, but it's working and that's all that matters. (And sure, you gotta confuse the matter talkin' about cameras. LOL)

And I phoned my ISP and it took only a few minutes to correct my Outlook Express outgoing mail problem. Even learned that SMTP means "Simple Mail Transfer Protocol". See, even in the darkness there's some light!

I'm on my way to purchase an External CD-ROM at either Best Buy or Staples in NY. Read about them on-line and though confused (as usual) because ads said DVD, CD, USB, etc. I'll figure it out at the store.

Posted 14 years ago #
SeniorCitizen
Member

Me again. Sorry. Could use someone's help on this new problem.

I know the 2 USB holes in the front of my puter work because I put in a Flashy and can open it. It shows it's the D-Drive.

Today I purchased an external i/o Magic 8x portable DVD-RW USB 2.0. Model #1DVD8P (I think.) Followed instructions: 1) Plug each of the USB Y-cable ends into available USP ports on your laptop, Netbook or PC. 2) Plug the single end of the Y-cable into the back of the Slim DVD drive. ... then it reads "Your computer will automatically detect the new device. (It may take a few second for the device to connect).

Well, my computer didn't detect anything. Nothing happened. So I put in a CD-ROM (silver record) into this new thing. Nothing happened. Checked "My Computer" to see if what drive letter this new thing is being called, and NOTHING appears.

What I don't understand is that puter can open my Flashy, but won't open this when it's plugged into the same hole as I put my Flashy in.

Too late to phone iomagic.com so thought maybe someone here could help me.

Posted 14 years ago #
SeniorCitizen
Member

UPDATE -- My new external i/o Magic CD-ROM works perfectly. And ... y'all ready for this ... even the internal CD-ROM is working! I phoned the Magic company and talked with Drew in Tech Support. He instructed me in simple English. Went into the Registry and made 2 deletes! Based on the excellent service I just received from Drew I wouldn't hesitate telling anyone to buy a Magic product.

Whiterabbit, Robert and pavid wrote about "filters" on this thread. Didn't understand it, and was fearful of removing anything from the Registry (unless it was AOL!) Anyway, Drew from Magic had me delete 2 Registry keys. Didn't take notes but I the words were Upper Filter and Lower Filter. Now I have 2 CD-ROMs ... and 10 Flashies cuz I bought 2 more today.

Thank you EVERYONE for your help. Again. But now I know the difference between a drive and a driver, and the lettering system a computer uses for it's drives. HUGS to all of you !!!! (yup, I am ecstatic right now.)

CASE CLOSED.

Posted 14 years ago #
Dragonlair
Member

Congratulations - on all points! You got new goodies and kept your old goodies. You even got your email fixed.

Most of all, you've learned something and was able to fix it yourself (with some help from others). The learning means your day is not wasted and I know myself the euphoria you feel when you solve a problem!

Now enjoy your goodies. The only advice I would give you is a little late now. I would say to keep notes and type documents on what you fixed and why so if you ever have a similar problem again, you have documentation to help you find and fix it again.

You should see the System Change and Game Install text files hubby and I have been keeping for the past 3 years on what we changed and when. That is beside our "notes" on how to fix things.

Posted 14 years ago #
pavid
gamer extraordinaire & knowledgeable computer nerd who likes to argue, but is still a very nice guy

Good for you Linda. You just keep asking the questions and we'll keep providing the answers. I will also promise to you to use easy step by step instructions next time you have a question.

Take care and have a good day.

Posted 14 years ago #
Delilah
Member

Hi Linda,

Congratulations! I am SO glad my suspicions about your motherboard appear to be unfounded.

I'm not familiar with the Y-cable approach to connecting an external CD/DVD drive. Makes sense that the external drive wouldn't have worked before the registry entries were deleted, tho, because it seemed the USB ports were not consistently functional at that time, and the Y-cable connection requires both/2 USB ports to be working.

I have to echo Dragonlair on taking notes/documenting changes you make to your computer, and how you fix problems. My handwritten notes are not particularly coherent, but I am good at entering the date and time, and can usually decipher what I wrote. I do aim to go to the edit file approach (Notepad or somesuch) some one of these years.

Best wishes,
Delilah

Posted 14 years ago #
SeniorCitizen
Member

Healthy/Happy weekend to everyone!

First a question (pavid said I could keep asking!):
I know exterior Magic box records videos. Can someone tell me what the interior Samsung CD-R/RW SW-2485 can do? Is this just for data recording on CD-ROMs or does it do videos also? Also, what does Quantum Fireball lct 2020 do?

Dragonlair: Some of your posts sound like I wrote them. (no, not as computer-sharp as you, but give me time!) Just like you, I'm a note/record keeper. Wanted to take notes the other night as to what I deleted from Registry w/the help of Drew from Magic, but felt I would be taking too much of his time to write down the long string of numbers he had me locate. If you ever so my loose leaf with computer info am sure you'd be impressed. Thing my "troubleshooting" index tab is the fullest! And just so you can understand the types of records I keep, have kept a diary of daily events since 1980! Even have a Works database showing location, name and date created of around 1,000 file folders & binders. Yes, notes ARE important. (Guess this is for Delilah also.

Earlier wrote I bought 2 new Flashies so now have 10. Made mistake. I had NINE, so now have 11. New ones are 8GB each. Today am going to put software from my silver records onto my these Flashies so that I'll have duplicates. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

Last: All your names were mentioned this morning when counted my blessings before getting out of bed. On the (good) chance I forgot any, today I'll print a list and keep it at my bedside. Sometimes we lose track of, and don't appreciate, what we have. -- Linda

Posted 14 years ago #
Dragonlair
Member

It sounds like your internal CD drive is "just" for CDs and not for DVDs. Given the age of your computer, that would be about right. One that writes DVDs also will do CDs. I've done both on mine.

Remember - if it writes DVDs then you can use DVDs for data as well as video. They hold up to 4.4 GB of data where a CD "only" holds up to 700 MB.

I'm glad you do keep notes. Hubby and I have a series of Excel spreadsheets that we use for different kinds of records besides the notepad files for the changes we make to the computer, when, why and where.

I have one for "software" that has one worksheet for "general" software, one for games (almost 550 now), one for registration codes (for everything) and one that's a summary so I know how many of what I have. I LOVE numbers!!!!

I don't keep track of all the folders I make. I tend to make and re-make them often as I change my mind on organization. LOL

I think you're doing fine. Even general notes on the registry will help because it's probably not a good idea to be playing in that area unless you know what you're doing. I go in to look when I need to but I don't like even doing that - it can be dangerous to your system if you remove the WRONG thing!

Enjoy your nice spring weekend!

Posted 14 years ago #
SeniorCitizen
Member

Dragonlair: Am I understanding you right? If I have a DVD drive I can also record DATA onto a DVD+R and/or DVD-R disk? Bought from Walmart a machine that can record from my TV onto a video tape or a DVD disk. And, can transfer from tape to disk, etc. Never used the thing cuz found it confusing. But I DO have packages of DVD-R & DVD+R. And yes, just noticed they record 4.7GB. Holy smoke!

As for the "age" of my computer, over the years it's had replacements so can never tell what I have on it from one day to the next! The Samsung drive was just installed the other day.

You wrote: "I don't keep track of all the folders I make. I tend to make and re-make them often as I change my mind on organization. LOL." HA! Me, too. But when I realized it had become a problem (2 or 3 folders with the same name!) that's when I began keeping track of my folders on a data base. Will tell you again, Dragonlair -- you sound an awful lot like me. I feel sorry for you! LOL.

Posted 14 years ago #
Dragonlair
Member

Linda,

I take that as a compliment!

I use an old form of Roxio Creator (version 9) and I do write to my CDs and DVDs as data. If they are +R or -R, you can still write to them. It's the same procedure as writing data to a CD, just bigger! You can write and leave the disk "open" so you can add to it later. When it gets near filled, you can "close" it. The reason for "closing" is to make it easier to be read on another machine but that's not been too much of a problem for me. There are free packages to burn data to a CD/DVD besides the Roxio I have. I never updated it because it works fine and I can't see paying for features I don't think I need. If you watch sales, you can get blank DVDs for about 20 cents each (in packs of 25 or 50) and CDs for 10 cents each (or less) in up to packs of 100. Other than Memorex, I've not seen too much problem with any brand. Memorex DVDs had about a 25% failure rate for me which I considered unacceptably high. El-Cheapo gfm (store brand from Meijer) works fine!

The 4.7 GB is based on 10, the 4.4 GB is based on powers of 2. That's the difference. Also, you don't want to push it too near the end - you need extra for the header and the "finisher" and any "gaps" between burning sessions. Yes, writing to a DVD or CD is called "burning" because a laser burns the information onto the disk.

Having multiple folders with the same name isn't necessarily wrong. I've got "Media", "Patterns" and "Other" scattered all over the place! DH and I also have "personal" folders under our names in several places. We don't have separate logins to the computer. That would just cause more headache!

BTW - I freely admit it - I'm a GEEK and a NERD! I just like computers and have worked with them for about 35 years. I've owned my own computer for over 20 years and I'm on the 4th one. The 3rd one is still usable but slow and week compared to modern standards. It runs ME.

Diane

Posted 14 years ago #
pavid
gamer extraordinaire & knowledgeable computer nerd who likes to argue, but is still a very nice guy

Hi Linda,

The Quantum Fireball lct20 20 is a hard disk drive with a 20 gig(gig = gigabyte) hard drive. I found this information by plugging your phrase "Quantum Fireball lct 2020" into a search engine such as Google.com (in fact it was the first result from Google). I found tons of results in a different search engine but I already had an idea that Quantum Fireball was referring to a hard disk drive. A cursory scan of the first couple of pages revealed an entry for "Quantum Fireball lct20 20" which indeed turned out to be a hard disk drive.

I'm not sure if you know how to use a search engine but it is actually quite easy. Just go to http://www.google.com and type your question inside the outlined box then press the Google Search button. Try this for yourself. Go to http://www.google.com and type the question "What is a Quantum Fireball lct 2020?" (you don't need the quotes). Guess what the first answer is. As you type you should notice that google presents a list of possible answers. If you think one of the possible answers helps then click on it in the list, otherwise just keep typing until you have asked your question.

I hope this admittedly cursory answer helps you explore and discover the power of the Google search engine. There are all kinds of search engines but for now just play with Google. Above all else have fun and if you have questions just keep asking. We will all try to help as best we can.

Take care and have a good day.

David

Posted 14 years ago #

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