iPhone 3Gs Searching / No Service - The most common message on iphone with Orange, O2 and Vodafone

Much as I love my iPhone 3Gs and the features that it offers, it does get incredibly frustrating that the signal strength on the iPhone 3GS is so much worse than other handsets. I understand that this is due to the design of the internal aerial which is small in comparison to other phones. Apple seem to realise the problem as they are billing the 4G as having a better aerial that covers most of the case.

The iphone messages Searching and No Service are the most common ones and appear when there is signal for other phones on the same network.

If you are getting an iPhone 3GS or already have one bear in mind that the network coverage maps that any network supply will not be accurate for the iPhone which is likely to show the No Service/Searching messages in areas of lower signal strength but where other phones can still make or receive calls. A prime example of this was over the weekend when I was out of coverage for several hours. The iPhone 3G was switching between No Service, Searching and low signal during this time but my other Nokia 6233 handset had a consistent one or 2 bars signal during the whole time.

Our other phone a Nokia 6500 on the 3 network also had a constant signal and this was in a built up area so not a remote location away from transmitters.

Windows 7 Solitaire Games ActiveX failed to start

I recently upgraded to Windows 7 on one of my PCs but when my wife came to play Solitaire it wouldn't load, giving an ActiveX error. As this was an upgrade from Vista I decided that a clean install of Windows 7 would be a good idea.

However having done this the error persisted so it appeared to be some form of hardware/driver error. Some forum posts appeared to suggest it could be video driver related so I installed the latest nVidia drivers for the onboard video card.

Unfortunately although this improved the situation with the error no longer occurring the Solitaire software would still not run.

SO its back to the drawing board - and back to running good old reliable Windows XP - no problems there and its so much faster!!

Dell Inspiron 531 AMD Athlon 5000+ Locking up

I've recently had a problem with my Dell Inspiron 531 AMD Athlon 5000+ locking up, the PC boots fine and memory checks all look ok but after about 5 mins the PC locks up and cannot be used. Memory was swapped out, Windows reinstalled, all to no avail.

Everything pointed to a problem with the processor chip overheating but the fan was still running fine. I removed the processor heatsink and fan, added some more themal compound and replaced it.

So far it seems to have done the trick, the PC has not yet locked up and is running well.

iPhone 4G - Battery Life and Signal

The iPhone 4G has now been officially launched and it looks like Apple have taken the comments on the 3GS onboard by addressing the problems with terrible battery life and poor signal on the iPhone 3GS.

I look forward to seeing how the iPhone 4G performs in real life

iPhone 4G Leaked Photos

Some more photos of the iPhone 4G have surfaced. Apparently it is likely to be announced by Steve Jobs in the next few days. Hopefully it will resolve the iPhone No Service problems that have plagued the iPhone 3GS.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/7731572/New-secret-iPhone-4G-prototype-discovered-in-Vietnam.html

Next Generation iPhone - iPhone 4G found?

A prototype iPhone, the next generation iPhone 4G has been found at a bar in California. Apple have now claimed the phone back from website Gizmondo who had revealed its existence thus proving that it is a genuine iphone under development.

Key features shown on the next generation iPhone 4G are camera with flash, front facing camera and squarer design.

More information on their website http://gizmodo.com/5520164/this-is-apples-next-iphone

Acer Aspire Dead/Black screen and not booting?

I love my Acer Aspire netbook but recently it refused to switch on and although powered up nothing was showing on screen. I initially thought the screen may have switched to external so tried an external monitor but that made no difference.

Having done some research on Google I found that there is a known problem with the Acer Aspire One that if the battery powers off while it is in sleep mode then it can corrupt the BIOS. Totally bizarre and no something I have every encountered in twenty years of PC use but I followed the instructions below and it is now working fine! In fact I am typing this up on the Acer while at the studio.

http://www.qrpcw.com/2009/01/acer-aspire-one-bios-recovery.html

to summarise the info

The AA1 has a built-in BIOS recovery routine, making it possible to flash the BIOS even if the system doesn't boot anymore. It's only meant for emergencies and may void your warranty, so use at your own risk.
Follow the steps at the link above and then the BIOS has been flashed and all settings reset to default.

It worked for me and my Acer Aspire is back to normal. In future I will ensure that I shut it down rather than the battery running out while it is in hibernate/sleep mode.