Computer froze, lost $2800

[BlowFish]

Yeah had some good stuff at SI I remember Vladym Griefer posted a lot of great stuff and a few others that escape me now. The Motley Fool (TMF) I think was a few years before that but can't remember when they added the Devils Den. Met some good 'cyber buddies' at TMF and even met a couple in real life who where trading at a London prop shop.

Certainly understand where you are coming from with chat. I blow hot and cold on that. There are a whole bunch of pluses but of course it can be a bit distracting, really that's a personal discipline thing I guess. The room here is pretty laid back and quite fun worth a try.

Anyway rather drifted off topic but I think the computer freezing has been done and dusted anyway.

Cheers.

[johnnycakes78704]

I think the easiest way to prevent this if your friend is adverse to changing brokers is to upgrade the computer. It is a far cheaper alternative than to have another mistake such as this happen.

How much software is your friend running? What are their computer specs? Research this and figure out what is best for you.

My personal recommendations is a dedicated machine for trading and a laptop I don't think would cut it. Remove all "fun" software such as media players, bloatware, games, and strip it of all but the necessary programs that the operating system would run. Regarding the operating system, I would also recommend Windows XP Professional. Vista is not yet integrated with all peripherals and if they have any trading software downloaded there is no guarantee that it will work with Vista. In addition, Vista requires a massive amount of RAM to run.

Processor speed should be in excess of 2.5GB. RAM should be above 2GB. I would also recommend a dual DVI flat screen setup to run multiple charts with easy visibility.

note: I represent no computer company, work for no computer company, and am only a computer geek working his way into the markets.

[MC]

	Quote:	johnnycakes78704
	I think the easiest way to prevent this if your friend is adverse to changing brokers is to upgrade the computer. It is a far cheaper alternative than to have another mistake such as this happen. How much software is your friend running? What are their computer specs? Research this and figure out what is best for you. My personal recommendations is a dedicated machine for trading and a laptop I don't think would cut it. Remove all "fun" software such as media players, bloatware, games, and strip it of all but the necessary programs that the operating system would run. Regarding the operating system, I would also recommend Windows XP Professional. Vista is not yet integrated with all peripherals and if they have any trading software downloaded there is no guarantee that it will work with Vista. In addition, Vista requires a massive amount of RAM to run. Processor speed should be in excess of 2.5GB. RAM should be above 2GB. I would also recommend a dual DVI flat screen setup to run multiple charts with easy visibility. note: I represent no computer company, work for no computer company, and am only a computer geek working his way into the markets.

A laptop can work just fine, mine has 17" with vista ultimate, 2gb ram, dual core intel processing, DEDICATED video ram (this is crucial, cheaper computers share your system ram and rape your performance).

DVI or vga will make NO difference for charting, maybe if you run games or watch TV on the computer.

Also Vista is supported very well mainstream now, all in all the major brokers support it and IMO Tradestation works better for me under Vista than it does on XP pro. I do agree that extra software should be avoided, though I'm guilty of running a ton in the background while trading and it really dosen't impact my trades.

Just my 2 cents as a tech geek that builds systems and works in the industry till I can break through on the market.

[johnnycakes78704]

	Quote:	mcichocki_
	DVI or vga will make NO difference for charting, maybe if you run games or watch TV on the computer.

I'm thinking of DVI for streaming TV and market news. I'm just thinking quality. Certainly no games though.

I'm a tech geek too and would rather build my own desktop than laptop.

[MC]

	Quote:	johnnycakes78704
	I'm thinking of DVI for streaming TV and market news. I'm just thinking quality. Certainly no games though. I'm a tech geek too and would rather build my own desktop than laptop.

I have 2 pc laptops, 1 mac laptop, one bada$$ vista ultimate media center I built and another basic workstation I built.

I'm lookin for the emoticon with taped glasses and pocket protector. LOL