External Hard Drive Not Recognized?- Here’s Your Solution
January 10th, 2013
I recently bought a new PC with Windows 8 installed. I had an external hard drive that I used as a backup drive for all of my documents, pictures, videos and music. The drive I was using was a Maxtor One Touch III which worked quite well for several years on my Windows XP based system. When I tried to hook it up to my new Windows 8 PC it was not recognized.
I did some research and tried to see if Maxtor had drivers for Windows 8, which they did not. I did some more reading and apparently the last driver update they did was for Windows Vista, so anyone with a Windows OS after Vista was SOL. My first impulse was to run out and buy a new external drive, but I decided to dig into the problem a little more.
I disassembled my One Touch III and inside was a simple 2.5 IDE hard drive. I hooked it up to my Windows 8 PC with an IDE to USB 2.0 adaptor I had and plugged it in to see what would happen. Viola! It worked. This made me realize that the enclosure the drive was in was the problem and not the hard drive.
I then set out to find me a nice 2.5 inch IDE Hard Drive Enclosure on Amazon
I thought if I had this problem there had to be others who had the same problem. If you have an external hard drive that was working on your Windows XP or Vista, but is not recognized by your Windows 7 or Windows 8 PC then I would give serious consideration to trying this before giving up on your old hard drive. Amazon has a generous return policy so if it does not work, I’ll bet you can return the enclosure and get your money back.
Please leave me a comment if you give this a try and it works for you. I would love to hear if this helps, and I’m sure others would too.
Got a solution to a problem that you think others might need? Click Here to send me an email and let me know about it.
Elder Scrolls V Skyrim – Maximize Your Fun By Getting The Guide
April 21st, 2012
For those of you who bought the game “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim“ you already know that Skyrim is a vast, complex world with many adventure opportunities. To give you an idea of how big Skyrim is the guide is 650+ pages. (but we will get to that later)
The Empire of Tamriel is on the edge. The High King of Skyrim has been murdered. Alliances form as claims to the throne are made. In the midst of this conflict, a far more dangerous, ancient evil is awakened. Dragons, long lost to the passages of the Elder Scrolls, have returned to Tamriel. The future of Skyrim, even the Empire itself, hangs in the balance as they wait for the prophesized Dragonborn to come; a hero born with the power of The Voice, and the only one who can stand amongst the dragons.
Elder Scrolls V Skyrim allows you to live another life, in another world. Play any type of character you can imagine, and do whatever you want; the legendary freedom of choice, storytelling, and adventure of The Elder Scrolls is realized like never before.
It also allows you to be who you want to be by the way you play. Choose from hundreds of weapons, spells, and abilities. The new character system allows you to play any way you want and define yourself through your actions.
If you like RPG’s then many are saying that this is the best game they have ever played.
To maximize your fun you will have to get the guide. The world of Skyrim is massive and to get through this massive world without missing out on about half of it you need a massive guide. You need Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Prima Official Game Guide .
What you will find in this guide is everything you ever wanted to know about the game: Every major quest and side quests. Tips on beating the enemies, all locations for the goodies. All magic potions and spells. A map poster, Every inn, every guild, every side game.
When you crack it open it sounds like one of the many books you encounter in the game itself: heavy duty binding, high quality paper; this thing creaks open like a book meant to last the ages. As thick as the guide is, it doesn’t dilly-dally. You will not see any goofy introduction, no “welcome to the world of Skyrim” preamble, it gets right to the point and illustrates an incredibly painstaking training portion that lasts over 100 pages. It’s fun to read, as well. I was afraid it would be a bit of a spoiler while reading the training portion, but with a game this immense you realize that it’s thoroughly impossible to give anything major away.
If you decide to get the guide make sure you get the hardcover version. The guide is a true work of art. Everything from the art work, to the layout, to the sturdiness of its frame, this strategy guide is a rarity in that most people will actually look forward to perusing its pages instead of feeling forced to resort to it when they get stuck on a battle or puzzle. Its insane level of detail and high quality of writing make this guide a gorgeous companion to one of the best games ever created.
PS3 Repair Guides available in both paperback and Kindle editions
March 21st, 2012
PS3 Repair in paperback
I was looking through Amazon the other day and noticed that there is a paperback book out on PS3 repair called The Ultimate PS3(tm) Repair Guide
The description of the book does not give much detail. Just states that it is a complete and detailed repair guide for the PS3 and does not require the reader to have any kind of electronics background.
I know some of you enjoy getting a real book versus a pdf file or access to a membership site with videos when you are doing your PS3 repairs. If you are then please check out The Ultimate PS3(tm) Repair Guide
PS3 Repair Guide for Kindle
If you don’t mind reading books in a little smaller format and want to save some money then check out Ultimate PS3 Repair Guide – Fix all PS3 Problems DIY Manual
Another Kindle PS3 repair guide I saw was the Playstation 3 Yellow Light of Death Repair Guide
Read Kindle Ebooks without the Kindle
February 27th, 2012
You may already be aware of this, but I just wanted to make sure. You can read Kindle Ebooks without a Kindle. Kindle offers free apps that anyone can download and install on their device of choice and have access to the complete Kindle library. As of right now they have apps for the iphone, Windows PC, Mac, Blackberry, Ipad, Android, and Windows phone 7.
I downloaded the apps for my Windows PC and my iphone. I purchased my first ebook and started reading it on my PC. I was waiting at the doctors office and pulled up my iphone to read there and was pleasantly surprised that the app asked me if I wanted to continue reading from where I left off on my PC. When I said yes it jumped right to the page and I continued reading. The next day when I was back reading on my PC the same thing happened. Fantastic.
I was seriously considering getting a Kindle before, but am not so sure right now. I’ll continue to use my current method and see how things go. I just wanted to make sure everyone was aware of this.
Oh, one other thing. If you are an Amazon Prime member you can get certain titles for free on loan for as long as you want. Then when you want another one the free one is taken away. Kind of like a library system without the due dates.
If you get a chance, head on over to Amazon Kindle and download your app of choice and start taking advantage of the lower cost ebooks without the need to purchase a Kindle. Click Here to get your free Kindle App
Zoysia Grass end of growing season update
February 10th, 2010
I took pictures of the area where I planted the grass to show what transpired since I planted it. The answer is, not much! I did not get much if any distribution this year, I am hoping it will spread out this spring.
Here are the pics so you can see for yourself. I really did not like the color of the grass when it started turning cold but if it looks good in the spring and summer and keeps the weeds out like they say then I guess I can deal with the color during the cold months.
You can see the three patches of Zoysia in this picture. The first is in the lower left corner and then the other two are located on each side of the tree in the middle of the section of grass.
Here is a close-up shot
These pictures were taken in late October I think. I will update again this spring.
Ease gallbladder attacks with Beano?
January 15th, 2010
This post is for information purposes only. I am not a doctor. I am just telling you a true story based on my real life experiences.
I recently had my gallbladder removed after several years of not being able to eat certain types of foods without severe pain. I was scheduled to have it removed about 1 year ago, but another health issue arose which caused me to have to postpone it until that issue was resolved.
I always had a lot of gas from eating no matter what it was or how much. This is fairly common with gallbladder problems. To combat the problem I tried Beano. I would take three before each meal. The amazing thing is that I quit having gallbladder attacks immediately. I continued to take them and did not have an attack for 1 full year while taking the beano. I could even eat some of the foods that caused me problems before with no problems while on the beano.
Toward the end of last year I decided to go ahead and have the gallbladder surgery again as the beano was not a cure for my problem, but only helped with some of the painful symptoms. I’m happy to report that I am now completely back to normal with my gallbladder removed and no longer take the beano.
A coworker was describing her fathers symptoms to me one day not long ago and I remarked how it sounded just like what I had going on prior to my surgery. She said that he would not go to the doctor because he did not have insurance. I told her about the Beano and how it had helped me make it through a whole year without any attacks. She said that she was going to get some for him and have him try it. I ran into her today and asked how he was doing. She said that he has not had one attack since he began taking the Beano. It has been about 6-8 weeks now. She did say that he takes 4 pills with each meal instead of the 3 that I took.
I was amazed to hear that her father had the same results that I did so I wanted to post them here in case it may help someone else. I am not advocating using beano in place of doing the surgery. If you think you have gallbladder problems you need to see a doctor and think about surgery. What I am trying to get across is that beano may make your life less miserable until you get the problem taken care of.
I hope this helps some of you out there. Please let me know if you have similar results or not. I would be curious to find out.
Zoysia Grass- Spring Update
January 8th, 2010
Well, winter is finally over and the grass is really starting to grow now. I have mowed my yard 4 times so far this year already. The zoysia grass is just now starting to get green. It appears that the zoysia actually dies each year and new growth comes up each year, so it is like the perennial flowers you have in your garden. The old grass is dead and yellow and stays that way until the new grass grows up big enough to cover it.
My zoysia is not completely filled in yet and I see no spreading of the patches I planted last year so far. I guess I’ll keep watching, but to be honest it is not performing as I had hoped it would. I may try to takes some plugs out and spread them around to see if I can get more coverage that way because I think it will take years to get coverage the way I am currently going.
Here are the pics…remember I have already mowed my yard 4 times this year. The pics were taken on May 4th, 2010. Don’t know when the next update will be. but if there is anything significant to report you will see it here.
Here is a close up of one of the patches.
Zoysia Farms Rep Comments about my planting methods
June 8th, 2009
Company representative comment on June 02, 2009:
Planting methods are completely up to the individual and their circumstances. Over the years we have heard numerous alternative methods to the one we recommend. Just about any of them will work as long as the basic planting principles are followed. The posting is certainly one of the alternatives we hear most commonly. In this case planting the complete piece of sod and in the future to use it to withdraw plugs for future plantings. It is the easiest, simplest and quickest way to get the grass in the ground and growing. This will work.
The down side is that it will spread the slowest under this method. Zoysia grass spreads tenaciously but slowly by sending out rhizomes (shoots beneath the soil) and stolon shoots that spread above ground across the soil. Planting complete pieces of 10 inch by 15 inch sod, the total outside linear area from which the stolons can spread is 50 inches (10+10+15+15). Planting 150 individual plugs one-inch square (4 linear inches each) the linear area is 600 inches. More work yes, but that’s a lot of additional spreading area.
In the first year Zoysia grass puts most of its energy into establishing itself in its new home and does not do much spreading. In the second growing season it will start to spread and fill in the adjacent areas and continue to do so until it is fully filled in.
Our recommendations for the most economical and fastest fill in method, is to plant 1 square inch plugs. For faster fill in plant more plugs closer together.
Areas by roads can be very hot in the summer and get road salt in winter which makes for difficult growing for most grasses, but Zoysia is also very salt tolerant and we have heard from many customer who have had great success in similar locations to this.
One last thing, I enjoyed reading this blog. It is very nicely done.
Vinyl shutters are a cheap way to improve your home
May 31st, 2009
I’ve lived in my house for just over 7 years now. It is located in Central Ohio in one of the many subdivisions that surround Columbus, Ohio. It was built by one of the big home builders in this part of the country and over all is a nice house.
We spend a lot of time in the back yard and one thing that has always bothered me was that the back of the house looked bare compared to the front. The front has vinyl shutters on the windows and all the other nice things but the back has nothing. So I decided I wanted to put shutters on the back of the house so it would look as nice as the front.
The place I used to get my shutters online was ExteriorSolutions.com . They had a large selection and they offered a 105% guarantee that they will have the lowest price. They also charged no shipping on my order. I received the order within just a few days and that was it. The way online shopping should be.
The product I ordered was Builders Edge raised panel vinyl shutters. They were excellent in quality and easy to install the whole project only took me about 2.5 hours to complete at a cost of only $200. If you are looking for a cheap and easy way to improve your home I highly recommend putting vinyl shutters on the rear of your house to match those on the front.
I also highly recommend ExteriorSolutions.com as the place to get the shutters.
Here are the before and after photos of my project as well as a side view showing how your house will stand out against others that do not have them.
Hope you find this useful…good luck in your home improvement project.
Before
After
Comparison
My Zoysia Grass Adventure- Follow along
May 31st, 2009
I have had a problem lawn in the front of my home since we built it in 2002. It only seems to be getting worse as time goes on. A few months ago a saw an ad in a magazine for Zoysia grass and how it was the most wonderful thing to happen since sliced bread. I did some research on Zoysia grass and found out a few things that kind of bothered me, like the fact that it turns yellow after the first frost and does not come back until ground temps reach 50 degrees. It also will spread to other areas so if you don’t want your neighbors yard to get it then you need to put some sort of barrier up.
Even after all of this I decided to try it but I wanted to keep it in a small contained area that I could control. My thinking is that after this area is filled I can determine what to do from there. If I like it, I’ll just use plugs from this area to do the rest of my yard. If I do not like it then I can dig it up and plant grass seed with not to much work. So, if you have been thinking about planting Zoysia grass at your home you may want to follow along with my adventure.
I decided to buy my grass from Zoysia Farms out of Maryland. They are the folks whose ad I had seen in the magazine so I figured I would give them the business. I did some searching on the internet and found their website but also ran into some other sites that had many negative things to say about the company. So, I guess this will also be my review on how Zoysia Farms stacks up against their website and magazine ad claims.
The area I chose to plant in Zoysia grass is the area between my driveway and my neighbors driveway, and the street and the sidewalk in front of my house. (I did talk to my neighbor before doing this as part of this area is on his property. He agreed to go along with it.)
I had read online that many of the people complained about the plugs being hard to cut and plant so I decided to just plant the whole chunk and get it established and then if I wanted I would use the free plugger to spread it around after that.
I’m getting a ahead of myself a little. I ordered my plugs online through the Zoysia farms website. I had calculated that I was trying to cover about 180 sq ft. I used their online calculator and said I wanted two plugs per sqare ft and the calculator said I would need 2 basic packs + 1 free pack (300 plugs) plus 1 basic pack of 100 plugs. That would give me 400 total and I needed 360 to cover 2 per sq ft.
I decided to up the order to the 4 basic pack plus 2 free and they would throw in the step on plugger for free. This was a total of 600 plugs. The total was $43.30 with shipping. I placed the order on May 14th and received a nice email saying that they shipped to Ohio on a regular basis and that my order would be filled the next time they shipped to Ohio. May 26th I received another email saying that they had shipped my order. I received my order on May 28th.
I opened the box and found pieces of sod basically. 4 pieces total and 1 of them was almost broken in half.
I was a little confused as to how the 4 pieces equal the 4 basic packs plus 2 free packs that I paid for but after reviewing the website they say that each pack divides into 150 1X1 squares so 4 X150 is 600. I think it is just a little marketing going on here. I also received the free step on plugger and a nice set of instructions that were very detailed. Since I was not going to plant the grass right away I set it outside in a place that would not get direct sunlight and watered it down as the instructions directed.
The 2nd thing I noticed was that I did not or could not see any of the scoring they talked about on their website that makes it easier to seperate the pieces. To me it looked like they just cut 4 pieces of sod and mailed it to me. Here is a picture of the bottom side of a piece of sod.
The instructions did clearly say in large print at the top, IF YOUR GRASS ARRIVES BROWN, DO NOT BE ALARMED so all of the negative comments I had seen on websites that started off with this complaint went right out the window as far as I was concerned.
The instructions also said to think of planting your grass as once in a lifetime. So, I knew that I should take the time and put out the effort to do a good job. If I were doing my whole yard I knew I would be in for quite a bit of work.
As mentioned earlier I had decided NOT to cut the pieces up into smaller pieces right away but to just plant the whole piece and then plug it after it was established.
I laid the sod down in the area I wanted to plant it and used a flat shovel to cut the sod around it. I then removed the piece and finished digging out the area.
I noticed there was quite of bit of small rock in the soil probably left over from when the house was built. The instructions clearly said not to plant in rocky soil so I kept digging until they were all out. I filled the hole back up to the proper lever with a mixture of top soil and miracle grow potting soil that we had left over from the flower planting a couple of weekends before. I soaked it real good with water, placed the zoysia sod in place and packed around it with more of the fresh dirt mixture to fill in the cracks on all sides and stepped on it to make sure it had good contact with the dirt underneath.
I planted the other 2 pieces of sod on each side of the tree. I watered them all well and plan to do so everyday for the next 3 weeks as the instructions say. I tossed the torn up 4th piece as I thought I had plenty to do the job already and did not want to mess with it.
The whole process took me about 2 hours to complete. I will be updating this blog to keep those who are following along informed on how it is coming along.
I hope this may help someone else who is curious about Zoysia grass and Zoysia farms. Please come back in a few weeks to see how my new grass is doing.
Here are a few more pictures to show what the area looked like before the Zoysia grass takes over.
As you can see the area is thin and some areas don’t seem to grow at all.
Here here is a close up of one of the sod pieces after it has been installed completely. As you can tell I left a little area around it as described in the instructions to keep out the competition.
Hopefully things will work out and this area will fill in and turn out to look nice. It has been a battle over the years for me. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would rate the experience so far as a 7. Most of the rating obviously comes from my experience with Zoysia Farms since that is all I have had other than the planting of the grass itself. My biggest complaint would be the quality of the order. Since I basically paid close to $40 for 4 small pieces of sod I kind of expected the pieces to be in tip top shape. Since one was torn I have to ding them for that. Only time will tell if the Zoysia grass will grow and if I have any problems how they will support me. Stay tuned….other than that, the order process and delivery process was fine.
If it works out the way I hope then I will have my own Zoysia grass to do the rest of my yard from this original order so will be getting off cheaper than I would have it I had ordered it all at once.
Please check back around mid June as I should have some growth by then hopefully and will have more pictures posted. Thanks for following along. Enjoy your summer.
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