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Look no further than your kitchen for laptop stand [Virginian - Pilot](Virginian - Pilot Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Any recommendations for an effective, reasonably priced laptop cooling stand for my Dell Studio laptop. I feel the heat! - Barbara Fleming I use a cake or cookie cooling stand, and that works fine. The heat from the laptop induces a convection current of air beneath the metal rack that cools the machine. I know there are commercial cooling stands, including some with fans, but just an ordinary metal cake or cookie rack works just fine. Adding a video card My computer came with "onboard video" instead of a regular video card. Because of that, the computer doesn't meet the requirement for some of the video games I play. Are there any gotchas when it comes to adding a video card? - David Braun Yes, there are some things to consider. Make sure the computer's power supply is robust enough to handle the added current draw from the video card. Some computers, even those that are sold as high- end computers, have power supplies that are just barely powerful enough for the base computer. When accessories are added, it puts too much load on those small power supplies. Contact the manufacturer of your computer to ask how much more load you can safely add. Video cards usually state - right on the carton - how much power they require. Leave a margin of error: Get a video card that doesn't take every last watt from your power supply. Nowadays, most computers will disable the onboard video when you add a video card. However, a few still require that you disable the onboard video manually - usually by changing a few jumper switches on the main computer board. Check your manual to see if that's the case for your machine. If you are not sure, then that's another question to ask the manufacturer. Copying installation files You explained how to move program installation files from floppy disks to a CD and warned that it may not work. Wouldn't using an external floppy disk drive be a lot less complicated? They're inexpensive and will always be available for transferring old files on floppies. I understand that this does not make any difference if the program won't run on the new computer. - David Seltzer Yes, I should have mentioned external floppy disk drives. David is right when he says they are inexpensive. And the drives attach to the computer using a USB connection. Most computer stores carry these drives. If you can't find one locally, here are some examples in the $20 range: www.tinyurl.com/dzf7y2. Bill Husted writes about technology for the Denver Post. Send questions to [email protected]. (c) 2011 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |