2 computer related questions...

[YourMotherShouldKnow]

1. My CD Burner isn't reading any CDs that I'm putting in. Blank, real, or the lens cleaning CD...it doesn't matter. CDs are just spinnin' in there. Is there a way to fix that?

 

2. How can you tell how many people are actually visiting your website? Are any of the numbers legitimate? Like hits, visits or pages? I've been going by the visits number but there are all kinds of other sites showing up with 0 hits so I dunno what that means.

[Base]

Is it a newly installed burner or has it previously been working??

 

I don't think hit counters work very well as they will increment for every page visited, ie, as I move around your site to different page it will go up! Mine has some stats attached from the provider but I've never bothered looking at them, yours may do the same which could be more accurate...

[Harald F. Metzner]

Hello,

 

on cd repair look at

 

http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/cdfaq.htm

 

or find someone who can.

 

On the stats of my server, i use the built in stats-tool from my provider, i think this is the only one to rely on.

[where02190]

CD drives are cheap, even burners, and good ones can be had for $25-30, just replace it.

 

Most host providers have as part of their package some web based utilities that give you counts on hits, pages and visitors on an hourly, daily and monthly basis. Webalizer is probably the msot popular. Check with your host provider to see what they provide with your hosting package.

[Flemtone]

If you're going to replace a CD burner, you may want to pay the extra 30-40 bucks and get a DVD/CD burner. With the option of being able to back up 4.7G of data on a single disk, it's great for archiving old audio files that you may want to access in the future.

 

Most DVD writers burn CD-R/RW also, and there are sales on different models virtually every day. Today, for instance, there's this one:

http://www.pcconnection.com/ProductDetail?sku=5430000

 

$99, with a $50 rebate, and this writer also burns CD-r at 48x, and is compatible with DVD+/-R DL (dual layer), that can store up to 8.5G per disk.

 

It just opens up more options.

 

Peace,

Tim from Jersey

[Dylan]

Originally posted by where02190:

CD drives are cheap, even burners, and good ones can be had for $25-30, just replace it.

Exactly. For $60 you can buy a dual layer DVD burner that holds upwards of 9GB! My 8X Lite-on DL DVD Burner has been flawless and it was $65 after shipping from newegg. Otherwise, you can buy a 52X CDR-W from them for about $25 after shipping.

[Phait]

Originally posted by LanceKringle:

2. How can you tell how many people are actually visiting your website? Are any of the numbers legitimate? Like hits, visits or pages? I've been going by the visits number but there are all kinds of other sites showing up with 0 hits so I dunno what that means.

If you're on a payed server, you might have Cpanel, which includes Webalizer (in my case)... so it'd be www.yourdomain.com/cpanel/ then you login with your user info there. From there you can manage a bunch of stuff, and check domain stats. Visits are what matter.

 

If you don't have such a provider (maybe a free one or you don't have server access) then... I don't remember, before I was hosted on a "real" server I had a counter I used that was pretty reliable but I don't remember the place.

[YourMotherShouldKnow]

Cool! I didn't know DVD/CDRs were so cheap nowadays. Thanks.

 

Edit: Base, the CD burner worked fine for a few years. I mean, sometimes it wouldn't read the CD but I could always get it to work before.

 

Re: website hits...my provider uses Webalizer and it gives you lots of stats. It's just that I'm not sure how accurate they are. I've been going by the "Visits" number to get a rough idea. But on the lengthy "vliew all sites" list there are lots and lots entries listed with "0 visits" or "0 hits". I can understand if googlebot doesn't count but...I don't understand the others being there.

 

Or if that doesn't make sense...is, say, the daily "hits" number perfectly accurate?

[Jeff Leites]

Take a look at CQ Counter . It doesn't display a count on your page, but it keeps track of a lot of info and stats. It's free, and you can put a different one on each page of your site. I like to look at it to see where my hits are coming from, and what folks were searching for that brought them to me.

[deanmass]

At least blow it out with compressed air first. I t might just be some crud on the laser.

[AudioMaverick]

Lance, if the writer is "a few years old", then $40 to $80 for a new CD or DVD writer is a worth while investment.

 

As for web counters... Most complaints I come across are when web designers use the same names (like "index.htm") in every sub-menu they create. The nomencature tends to elude most counters. So, if you see over 5,000 hits for "index.htm", you don't normally know which one(s) the number is representing. By using unique names (not necessary for the called frame files (like "top.htm" & "left.htm"), you can determine more accurately which parts are getting the hits. On my site, for my topics I name the sub-folder and main HTML file by that name. But, I do leave a dummy "index.htm" file in each sub-folder, to trap users who try to force the FTP window. Most ISPs cover for that, anymore. Old habits...

 

Hope this helps.