Nathan Said:

Whats up with my DVD Writer?

We Answered:

I wore out two DVD burners since July 2005 - but I burned and verified over 200 DVDs with a lot of data during that time.

The problem is that the mechanism that positions the laser diode to read the disk simply wears out or its lubrication fails - dinky little plastic parts. I will not try to lubricate it because I have never read anything about it and it might rely on Teflon-like parts which are supposed to need no lubrication. Oil would probably be too sticky for such small parts.

A possibility is that dust has settled on the laser diode lens or the photodiode lens and a little puff of Air Duster will remove it - but don't breathe on it because human breath leaves a residue that will pick up more dust.

Internal-mount DVD burners are very inexpensive these days, you can get an HP or Memorex or Sony or other big brand name for less than $60, if on sale the price will be lower.

Or you can get an external unit with a USB interface for less than $100 made by the same companies, it can be handy for use among several computers until you get a replacement for the Lite-On unit you now have.

Please understand that computers are machines and they do wear out, anything with a moving part is eventually going to fail - do you have backups of your hard drive ?

Heat is the other enemy of electronics, make sure cables inside the computer are well away from the fan on the processor before you put the covers back on the computer.
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Lisa Said:

compare various report writer?

We Answered:

SQL really doesn't have much in the way of report-writing capability alone...when tied to a reporting package like Crystal Reports or SAP, that's another story.

Cobol has basically-unlimited report capability but has nothing in the way of a GUI, report layout painting or other similar RAD features of the aforementioned report packages.

Micheal Said:

Open source or propriety software?

We Answered:

I think people are already content with their software, be it expensive or what not. If they got Word, they don't see any need for others.

Sue Said:

. Describe the basic features (query, report writer, etc.) for each package.?

We Answered:

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Sergio Said:

Is there any way I could verify how good still my computer's DVD Writer is?

We Answered:

Nero had a set of tools that required you to use a CD, or DVD to check your Media unit...
Nero DiscSpeed does some testing (Microsoft only i believe)...
http://www.nero.com/enu/tools-utilities.…

Another Microsoft package
http://www.cdspeed2000.com/index.html

There are several other software packages, but i am not certain if there is a free open source testing software...

You can always use the MD5sum system to verify that your DVD copy equals the original MD5sum. You need to do a search for a Md5Sum software for Linux, mac, or Microsoft operating system since you do not indicate what you are using... I use the Md5sum system and find it very good at determining when my DVD burners are making to many coasters...

JR

June Said:

Salaried Telecommute Positions?

We Answered:

Hi DH.

I'd like to "telecommute" as well. Who doesn't want to trash the alarm clock and do work in their "jammies"?

Someone told me about a site:

"legitjobsathome.com"

that charges you a reasonable annual fee for their listings.

You might also try "google"-ing some of software companies out there. Try Microsoft.com and see if you get any results that interest you You might want to contact some of the big publishing "houses" (Doubleday, etc).

What sort of technical writing background do you have? Any particular field?

I'll be watching the answers you get and maybe I can learn something as well.

Good luck!