Subscriber Cosby Chaney wrote with an unusual problem involving an external hard drive.

Hey Terry.
Got this problem. I have this 160 gig external drive that I’ve had for maybe a year or so. I originally used it for back ups for my home computer, but for the last six months or so have been using it connected to my DVR.
I had this DVR from “Charter” that only had this tiny H.D., maybe forty meg or so, and couldn’t store much high def, so I added the external.
Of course the DVR had to format it to use it and now I just had the box changed out to one that has adequate storage. (160 gig, same as the external drive)
By now you’ve guessed that my computer has no idea that I’ve plugged anything in. I don’t remember any software coming with this unit.
Any idea how I might make an introduction between these two?
(Been to “device manager, dealt w/ the “wizard” etc. )

Continue reading Converting an External Drive from DVR to Computer

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Get a free 10-hour per month dialup Internet account — it’s great for light use, for access while traveling, or as a backup for your cable Internet connection!

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Program: Audacity
Publisher: the Audacity developers at http://audacity.sourceforge.net
Category: Sound Recording and Editing Program

Audacity, which is a free, open-source audio recording and editing software package, was one of my Shareware Picks of the Week.

The Audacity project is hosted at that home of open-source software SourceForge.net. SourceForge provides storage space, a version control system, bug-tracking software and more for open-source projects. Audacity is available for Windows, Mac OS9, Mac OS X, Linux and Unix.

What can I say about Audacity? WOW! I’m amazed that you can find many of the free open-source projects that are available.

In most cases, they are either small focused applications or they are complicated applications that appeal to a broad range of users. Audactity, on the other hand, is a complex program that appeals to users who want to record audio.

By that, I mean that it is complex programming — it is easy to use.

Read more in my article Software Review: Audacity Sound Recorder/Editor at Terry’s Computer Tips.

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• Cingular 8525 Smartphone Gets the Heave-Ho
• Updates Last Week discusses updates from Microsoft and other software publishers whom I track
• Digital Video Recorder or Home Theater PC?
• Travel Access to a Home Theater PC?
• More on SATA Hard Drives
• My Computer Security Software Recommendations
• More on the CounterSpy 2 Update

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