Ask A Geek

Q: I am having problems with my USB ports. They turn on and off when a device is connected. They won’t work with my Garmin GPS, cell phone, satellite meters or portable hard drive. I bought my computer as a refurbished from tech for less last year, there is no start up disk to make it fresh again. I have a Gateway GT4024 with XP Media Center Edition 2005. I tried to roll back drivers, look for updates, driver robot, power management and system restore. The problem started when I had my portable USB drive plugged in for one week it was unplugged everyday by mistake. When I bought five new USB cords for the house it stayed plugged in and worked for two days . Now my USB ports constantly turn my devices on and off.

Q: How do I know if my cell phone can connect to my computer with Bluetooth to do things like dial-up networking, transferring the phone book, or other tasks?

A: Not all devices that have Bluetooth in them are created equal. Bluetooth uses profiles to figure out exactly what the device can do. You can read more about what types of profiles exist over at Bluetooth.com or at Wikipedia.com. Read the rest of this entry »

Q: I have a Samsung sgh-a437. I am trying to put ring tones on it using Bluetooth on my Macintosh. It says you have to be discoverable to do it but on the Samsung I can’t do it. is their a way to make it discoverable so my mac can find it or do I have to make the phone find the Mac?

Q: How would I know if a cell phone supports Netflix? What should I be looking for in the description of the phone?

A: There are no cell phones that currently support Netflix’s watch now feature. It should be noted that there are lots of rumors out there that there will be an app released soon for the iPhone that will let you download a video onto the iPhone from Netflix but that it wont be the watch now feature. It is rumored to work the same way iTunes, where you would download the entire video and then be able to watch it.

You can find a full list of devices that support Netflix on the Netflix Ready Devices List and we suggest you check it often as it will change often. Currently the only way to watch videos on a pocket sized portable device, like a cell phone, would be to load them onto the device. The iPod Touch and iPhone can easily download videos rented or purchased from iTunes but most other devices don’t have that luxary yet. Down the road I am sure this will change but that is how it is for now. Read the rest of this entry »

Q: How can I copy a voicemail to a MP3 file?

Q: My LG rumor from Sprint… yeah well I was just texting on it one day and all of a sudden the screen turned white (it’s usually blue). I could still kind of see everything but it was hard to see. Then all of a sudden it just turned completely blank (white)!! I tried to turn it off and it went blank but this time it just turned black- like it usually does when it’s off.

When I tried to turn it back on it went back to that blank white screen again! I tried taking the battery out, dropping it, everything! It just stays like that and when I took it to the sprint store they said they could fix it but it would cost $100!

So obviously it can be fixed but how? If this is possible to do by myself i would LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE to find out how. I am in desperate need of a phone and i can’t get a new one soon.

If you have any questions or anything just comment on my question and i’ll be happy to answer them. Please, don’t put this question off, and answer ASAP! and thank you, thank you, thank you! p.s. sorry for the super long question

Q:  I have a Nokia N79 cellphone. It keeps rebooting randomly, but it seems to happen most often when I access the text messages menu. This started happening right after I updated firmware on it. I have tried everything from soft-reset to hard-reset. The firmware version is 20.175. I really need your help in resolving this issue.

A: I went to the Nokia site and found this Nokia disclaimer concerning device software updates (assuming you are in the USA):

Note: Nokia device firmware cannot be downgraded. Once you have upgraded your device, you will not be able to restore to the earlier version. Nokia cannot guarantee compatibility with third-party add-on applications that are not supported by Nokia.

You might want to try to contact Nokia and tell them that the firmware broke your phone and see if they will work with you to get it fixed. They might offer you a new phone at a discounted price if you ask the right way.

Q: I don’t have internet at home and frankly I can’t afford it. Will purchasing a wireless card allow me to access the internet on my computer? Its not an old computer I don’t think( M1330 dell, 3GB).

I’m just confused and I do have an unlimited data on my phone. The thing is if I can in fact use these cards to get internet am I limited to what I can buy? I have a Sprint phone and a Dell computer. So will I have to get a Sprint card?

How much do these things usually run and what determines the type of card I should purchase? All I really want is unbroken internet access so that I can watch a youtube or netflix video online. I want to be able to watch it all the way without any pauses or freezes. I am really tired of just using the internet from 8-3 at work. I use the public transportation so would I be able to use this card on the bus?

Someone suggested the cheapest broadband service and then get an internet adaptor so that I don’t have to fuss with a wireless card.

But what is “broadband’” and is that something I will have to get from like comcast or AT&T? I want avoid their outlandish prices.

A: Broadband really just means a fast internet connection and currently that would include cable and DSL for residential customers. There are a few other options but those are the most available options right now.

Your unlimited data plan on your Sprint phone is not really unlimited. If you read the contract it is limited to 5GB of data transfer. To put this in perspective this is probably 4 or 5 Netflix videos. Read the rest of this entry »

Q: I need to buy a phone and I want one on that I can watch Netflix movies on. I can’t afford an iPhone, but it is the only one that I know will work. When I’m pouring through cell phone descriptions, what should I look for that will tell me for sure that I can watch Netflix movies on that particular phone?

Q: I don’t have Internet at home and frankly I can’t afford it. Will purchasing a wireless card allow me to access the internet on my computer? Its not an old computer I don’t think( M1330 dell, 3GB).

I’m just confused and i do have an unlimited data on my phone…now the thing is if i can in fact use these cards to get internet am i limited to what I can buy? I have a sprint phone and a dell computer. So will I have to get a sprint card?

How much do these things usually run and what determines the type of card I should purchase? All I really want is unbroken internet access so that I can watch a youtube or netflix video online. I want to be able to watch it all the way without any pauses or freezes. I am really tired of just using the internet from 8-3 at work. I use the public transportation so would I be able to use this card on the bus?

Someone suggested I the cheapest broadband service and then get an Internet adaptor so that I don’t have to fuss with a wireless card.

But what is “broadband’” and is that something I will have to get from like comcast or AT&T? I want avoid their outlandish prices