Intel Graphics Driver Crashes on XPS15

On my XPS15, I’ve noticed recently that the Intel graphics driver crashes a quite a bit (mainly when using Google Chrome). Although it recovers successfully, it’s still pretty annoying. A couple of days ago, I finally reached the end of my tether and started seriously looking for a solution (as compared to a quick Google search and then get distracted).

I came across a thread on Dell’s community forum: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3519/t/19658452 which discussed this problem. Bas66 commented on here and provided instructions to obtain Beta version Intel drivers which should resolve the problem, and also how to install them (via a tutorial intended for MS Surface - http://www.windowscentral.com/how-install-intel-beta-graphics-drivers-surface, but it still applies albeit for a different graphic adapter model).

Dell Vostro 3350 Laptop with Windows 10

So this week I’ve bought an ex-corporate Dell Vostro 3350 with the intention of it replacing Di’s aged Pentium D desktop which is struggling since the Windows 10 upgrade. The laptop came pre-installed with Windows 10 Professional (a digital entitlement upgrade from the Windows 7 Pro that came on the laptop), and seemed quick enough. However, I’m not one to use a laptop as it comes, especially when it’s not brand new. Plus I noticed some of the devices weren’t installed correctly, so I took the opportunity to reinstall on the mechanical disk to ensure I have the right drivers before reinstalling onto the SSD that’ll come out of the desktop.

Windows Update Error 8007000E

Twice recently I’ve reinstalled Windows 7 on a machine, only for Windows Update to fail when checking for updates. On both machines it gave an error 8007000E.

The first machine (belonging to my nephew), I couldn’t fix, so left it with him with automatic updates enabled in the hope it’ll fix itself.

The second machine is this Samsung netbook. As it’s already had me over a barrel, it won’t do me over again! So onto the Internets I went… I’m not alone here, as there’s no shortage of machines in a similar situation. But luckily, Henk Hoogendoorn has blogged about it over at http://henkhoogendoorn.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/some-clients-not-updating-reporting.html and suggested that it needs a further Windows Update and a cheeky config change to get it to work.

Reinstalling a Samsung NC10+ Netbook = Painful

I’ve had to do a restore on a Samsung NC10+ which is an Atom N450 based netbook from a few years back. But for some reason, the recovery stuff just won’t work and I’ve had to do a clean install of Windows. And the Samsung support website… well, it’s not much support at all. In fact, I don’t think they even remember releasing the NC10+. Only the original NC10.

Luckily, Windows 7 installs drivers for most things, but missing the two important ones… Video and Wireless. So after a long hunt, I’ve found the needed drivers to be:

LG G3 - No fun here

Edit 04/04/2016

I should have updated this post sooner. Usually I’d just include an addendum at the bottom, but I’ve re-worded a few bits in the content as my original review was maybe a tad harsh, and I’ll explain why below. It’s just a shame it took so long for the Marshmallow update to be available, as I’d already had enough with the handset and wanted back to an Apple where things are just simple!

A Decent 10" Android Tablet... Does one exist?

My son bought an Android tablet around 18 months ago with a combination of Christmas and Birthday money. It became an extension of his body with him taking it everywhere to play games and watch YouTube videos about Minecraft and Garry’s Mod.

He recently leapt into bed one night (forgetting the tablet was on his bed) and broke the screen with his knee. It was a complete accident, but he was absolutely devastated by what had happened. I explained that if we couldn’t get a screen, I’d pay for half of any replacement as he had looked after it so well up until the accident.

TP-Link Archer C2 - First Impressions

As mentioned in my last post, I was in the hunt for a new router to replace the aging Buffalo WHR-HP-G54. I’d found that it wasn’t capable of handling fibre broadband speeds (hardly surprising… given that it’s running a 200MHz single core CPU with barely a few megs free of the 16Mb RAM).

I ended up dropping by PC World and picking up the TP-Link Archer C2 for £49.99 (a few quid more expensive than it was at Scan, but PC World was closer, so I was saving petrol money and around 30 minutes of my time for the round-trip).

Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 Fun (or not...)

Out of contract with my previous supplier, I was free to find a new supplier. Luckily, one of the benefits of my job is that I get free fibre broadband, so it was a simple decision :)

Anyway, back to the point of my post.

I last used the Buffalo a few years back when on Virgin Media’s “National” service (no longer available - a good thing as it was trash) when their supplied Netgear had weak wi-fi. Since then, there’s been well documented problems with OpenSSL and the Heartbleed vulnerability and I was sure that the Tomato firmware running on the Buffalo would be affected. It turned out that as I was using an official release, I was OK but I still fancied trying DD-WRT as it was the original reason for me buying the Buffalo in the first place.

No dial tone, but broadband still works?

It seems whenever I need to make a phone call on the landline, it’s broken. Yesterday I picked up the landline handset and it was dead. No dial tone. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

I tried the usual steps at first (unplug it, plug it back in) but no joy. Onto the broadband I went. Works fine. Weird. I’ve had this before and leaving stuff unplugged overnight seemed to fix it, but on this occasion it didn’t help. So today, Di picked up a cheap landline handset from the Asda and she tried it while I was at work, but still no joy. Which only means one thing… calling the provider :(

New site using Hugo

I’ve been looking for a while at various blogging engines for my website and came across Hugo which is a static page generator.

The bonus of this is that I don’t have a demand on any SQL databases, nor do I have to remember a password every time I want to update the site. Unfortunately, this does mean I’m tied to a computer for updating the page all the time. I’ll see if I can find a way around that though if I get chance :)