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November 11, 2005
Dear CNET members,
Mark your calendars for November 25, folks! It's my pleasure to personally invite you to reserve a spot for our 2005 Holiday Helpdesk. So what's the Helpdesk all about? CNET experts Brian Cooley, Dan Miller, Molly Wood, and Tom Merritt will be live, all day on November 25, via streaming video, delivering important holiday buying advice and helping you find the best gadget gifts!
But here's the best part: We're offering an exclusive opportunity, available only to our CNET members, to book a call in advance. That's right--no Joe Schmoes allowed! So reserve your spot now by e-mailing us. Just send us your number and a time you'll be available, and we'll call you on our dime. Last year the phones were off the hook, and we expect them to be busier this year, so reserve your spot now to get personal help from one of our CNET experts. I'm looking forward to hearing you live on November 25. Now let's tackle Coach Alan's hard drive dilemma.
Coach, I hope this newsletter finds you well and recovering from the Katrina tragedy. You are in good hands with our community of members, who are always willing to offer a helping hand. Given the limited amount of info from your question, many possible things might have gone wrong so that your computer won't recognize the hard drive, so I will start you with this week's winning answer by Charles (second-time winner), who goes through a few possible solutions and scenarios. And if that doesn't work out, no worries, read through the honorable mentions and other advice from our members. With all this knowledge, I hope you will figure out a solution in no time. Members, if you have anything to add to this week's topic that wasn't covered by our members this week or have any additional tips for the coach and others, please join us in this week's discussion. Thank you for your participation!
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Member Question of the Week
Hello. I am a Katrina victim, and I took my hard drive out of
my computer when evacuating so that my data would not be lost.
I uploaded it on a laptop when I reached safety. Now, I have
gone home and tried to plug the hard drive in, and I cannot
get the computer to recognize the hard drive. I have the
recovery CD and that helps the computer recognize XP, but it
cannot boot up. Can you help me?
Submitted by:
Coach Alan
Hi, Alan! It sounds like your data is safe, at least. You didn't mention whether your computer was exposed to water, so I'm playing a bit of a guessing game here. But it sounds like your optical drive is reading the recovery CD, so that suggests that your optical drive, and the other major components of your computer, are working properly.
Remember, whenever you're working on a computer, you must power the machine down and physically disconnect the power cord every time you make a change. If you do not, static discharge can easily damage or destroy your computer. With that said, here are a few things to try...
Submitted by:
Charles W. of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
For
Charles'
efforts, we're sending him his choice of any
Help.com Learning CD.
Community Buzz
 Each week we take a look at topics discussed in the forums.
Best regards and enjoy!
provide digital zoom?
Member mutchkr questions why digital camera manufacturers insist on providing digital zoom when it's terrible and is really an editing package standard. Is digital zoom no more than a useless sales item on the camera itself, or are we missing something here? Read what other members have said and tell us what you think.
More from the Digital cameras forum
New PC or gut the old one?
When it comes to upgrading a computer, are you better off buying a new one or gutting the old and replacing it with new key parts, such as the motherboard, the CPU, and such? It seems like such a waste to trash an old computer when it still has some reusable parts. What's your opinion? Help this member out with your
best advice.
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How to make a rescue CD?
Member EmiLee69 made bootable rescue disks using a floppy disk for every computer she has ever owned, but because her new computer has no has floppy drive, she needs some advice on making a bootable rescue CD. Can someone point her toward some step-by-step directions?
More from the Computer newbies forum
Recommendations for CD labelers
Member sharpwitz is getting ready to sending out some brochures with CDs and needs your recommendation for a CD labeler with an easy process as well as great software flexibility for customized CD labels. Can you suggest one that has worked well for you?
More from the PC applications & utilities forum
Mac nugget: Data recovery for Mac
Member david darlow just recently upgraded his Mac from 10.2.8 to Tiger, with an Erase and Install, and thought he had everything backed up on an external hard disk. Now all his data is inaccessible. Is there any way he can get it back? See what others have chimed in to say. If you have any suggestions, hook him up.
More from the Mac OS forum
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Check out next week's question:
For the holidays, I plan to give family photo calendars to relatives. I'd like to be able to do it myself rather than use one of those photo sites, so that I can save money, add my own personal touch, and just be more in control of the project. Any suggestions for utilities
and software, as well as tips, shortcuts, warnings, etc. on how to make this project simple and fun?
--Submitted by:
Melanie J. of Cincinnati, Ohio
If you have the answer,
e-mail us at messageboards@cnet.com.
If we choose your response, you'll get a
free Help.com CD.
Have a question?
• Multimedia
• Internet Security
• Digital Cameras
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• PC Upgrading
• PC Troubleshooting
• Digital Music
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| Member Profile of the Week |
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User name: web86
Location: Boynton Beach, Florida
Member since: February 20, 2005
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About me: 56 and a disabled Vietnam veteran. I finally bought my first computer! (read more)
Each week we feature a CNET member who contributes to our community. Fill out your profile to get a chance to be featured in our newsletter and win a CNET t-shirt!
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Simple question, simple answer
Help your fellow members
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Click here to see full answer
