E-chat Top Tips And Advice

[Homer Thompson]

Welcome to the e-chat tips and advice thread.

The idea of this thread is to collect all the tips, advice and help given on e-chat so that it can be easily found by all without having to search through the forum, or start new threads and wait for help.

So, basically, if you have a problem or are looking for advice check here first to see if someone has already posted the help you need.

Feel free to contribute your own advice too - although to keep the thread tidy, I might delete it

Topics covered or suggested so far :

Covered

• FM2009 Graphics (qos_75)
  
• Essential Free Software - Security (jay_7)
  
• Essential Free Software - Productivity (jay_7 & Kincardine)
  
• FM2009 - Troubleshooting (Mr X)
  
• PC Tuning/Optimisation (jay_7)
  
• Buying a Laptop/ PC advice (jay_7)
  
• Mac Hints & Tips (Reina & superandy_07)
  

Suggested

• x-box 360 3 red lights - ????
  
• Getting your Xbox 360 online - ????
  
• Console Wars. 360 - ??. PS3 - ??. Wii - Mr X
  
• Buying a Tv Advice - ????
  
• Burning videos etc to DVD - ???
  
• best places to get printer ink cartridges etc - caleycasual?
  

[qos_75]

Great stuff Mr X.

A guide for installing Kits, Logos and Backgrounds into FM09

1) You may need to create a graphics folder where all your kits will be stored. To create them simply click these tabs on your PC.

Start > MyDocuments > Sports Interactive > Football Manager 2009. Create a new folder called ‘graphics’. Once this has been done, open the graphics folder and create new folder called ‘kits’.

This gives you the filepath:

MyDocuments/SportsInteractive/FootballManager2009/Graphics/Kits

Once you have downloaded your desired kit pack, extract the zip/rar file into the above filepath.

2) Load up FM, go to Options > Preferences > Display and Sound

3) Untick ''Use skin cache'' box

4) Tick ''Always reload on confirm''

5) Then click ''Confirm''

6) Then finally restart FM.

7) Kits should be now be displayed in the Club information screen

Follow the same method for installing logos and backgrounds. Again you need to create sub folders within the graphics folder called 'logos' (badges) and 'backgrounds' for all your stadiums. Facepacks should be extracted to a subfolder entitled 'players'.

Recommended site for FM Graphics: Sortitoutsi

Installing a Skin

This is done in much the same way as the other graphics. You would make a folder within the graphics folder called 'skins'. This is where you would download and extract your desired skin. It differs slightly in where you find it when you load up FM.

1) Start up FM.

2) Click on options > preferences.

3) choose "display & sound" and select the skin.

4) Tick the option "reload on confirm" and untick the option "use cache".

5) press confirm.

This will search for all new skins available and on the drop down list of skins the one you have downloaded should be there ready to choose and load. Sometimes it is worth fully rebooting FM after the first five steps if it does not appear.

Most skins will remove the white veil that covers the background and will give a clear picture of your stadium backgrounds. I recommend the Steklo skin, but there are other equally pleasing skins available.

By following all these steps for the logos, backgrounds and skins, this should leave you with a stiff and moist feeling in your sexy parts, as you marvel at the new look of your game.

An example:

--------------------

[jay_7]

Essential Free Software

Security

When you connect your PC to the internet, your first priority should be security software. Retail stores like PC World will do their best to sell you something from the Norton or McAfee ranges – however these should both be avoided at all costs, no matter what the salesperson says it can do.

If you already have Norton or McAfee installed on your PC, I recommend removing it at your earliest convenience. Both products are made by the same people and as such, are essentially exactly the same product, dressed up differently. Both products use up an enormous amount of system resources so this slows down your computer considerably, especially on system startup.

To remove McAfee products, download and run the McAfee Consumer Product Removal Tool from here

To remove Norton products, follow the steps detailed by Symantec here

So now you know what not to use, what security software should you be considering for your PC?

Well there is no short answer unfortunately, it really depends on what your expectations are and if you’re prepared to pay for the software or not.

Everyone should have the following:

• One Anti-Virus application, having two would be detrimental to system performance and would likely result in poorer virus scan quality.
  
• At least one Anti-Spyware application. These work differently to Anti-virus applications where one will detect and remove what the other misses.
  
• One Firewall: Even though most operating systems come with a firewall, they are not very good and unless you have a firewall built into a router or a dedicated hardware firewall, your PC can be left exposed to the outside world.
  

Recommended Free Security Applications:

Anti-Virus:

• AVG Free Edition
  
• Avast!
  

Anti-Spyware:

• Spybot: Search & Destroy
  
• Lavasoft Ad-Aware
  

Firewall:

• Zonealarm
  

Of course you could use a security suite like AVG Internet Security which includes several individual products; Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Rootkit, Anti-Spam, Web Shield and Link Scanner and a Firewall.

Recommended Security Suites:

• AVG Internet Security
  
• Avast! Professional Edition (Does not include Firewall or Anti-Spam)
  
• Comodo Internet Security (Does not include Anti-Spyware but does include an Intrusion Detection System)
  

[jay_7]

Essential Free Software

Productivity

So you now have a suitable set of security products on your PC, what now? Perhaps you’d like to be able to write a letter, create a spreadsheet, browse the internet, adjust digital photographs etc? For your convenience, here is a list of free software that does just those things.

Office Software:

• OpenOffice – Want to have a full Office suite without forking out your hard earned cash for Microsofts offerings? OpenOffice would be just the thing you’re looking for. OpenOffice includes a word processor, spreadsheet application, slideshow application and a database application. Not only this but it’s able to read and save files that are compatible with Microsoft Office products.
  

Internet Browsers:

• Firefox
  
• Opera
  

Email Clients:

• Thunderbird
  

Graphics Editors:

• Paint.net
  
• GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)
  

PDF Readers:

• Adobe Reader
  

Added by kincardine

Can I suggest a couple of additions?

For a calendar that integrates with Thunderbird then Lightning is pretty decent.

Also, if you use Open Office then a dictionary needs to be installed to use the spell checker.

[Homer Thompson]

Football Manager 2009. Installing and troubleshooting

Installing and Steam

Q. My product key on the back of my manual doesn’t work.

A. Due to some sort of printing cock-up some of the letters are not clear. Eg is it a zero or an “o”, a lower case “l” or an “i” and so on. Click on this link to enter your code and have it shown in a way you can actually read it!

Q. What is Steam?

A. Steam is an application that lets you download games via the internet and keep them automatically updated with the latest patches. It also does some other things, like check you actually own the game! To letting you chat with friends in the Steam “community”

Q. Do I need it?

A. No. Si Games and Sega chose to use this as one method of buying, installing and patching Football Manager 2009. You can still install off the DVD and register the game without using Steam

Q. How do I use Steam?

A. Once you’ve download the Steam client, you can either use Steam to download FM2009 (by using the product key on the back of your manual) or you can install FM2009 from the DVD and then register the game with Steam, using the same key.

Q. Why would I want to use Steam?

A. The advantages of using, are that you can have the latest patches automatically downloaded and installed.

Q. Whats the downside?

A. You have to have the steam client running while you play FM2009.

Q. Do I have to be connected to the internet all the time I play?

A. No. You can put Steam into “offline” mode.

Q. How do I install without Steam?

A. Simply install the game from your DVD and follow any instructions. When it comes to activation, choose “online” or “by phone” if your PC is not connected to the internet.

Troubleshooting

I was going to put together a list of questions that have been asked on here, but the SI forums already has a very good FAQ for technical issues. You might need to be logged onto the SI community forums to view it, if you're not registered its free and simple to do.

SI FM2009 techincal FAQ

[jay_7]

PC Tuning/Optimisation

Is your PC running as fast as it can? Perhaps you’ve noticed a slow down over a period of time? This guide will allow you to ensure you’re getting the best possible performance out of your PC.

An extremely common cause of PCs running slowly is the choice of Anti-Virus. As covered in the guide on Essential Free Software: Security Products, McAfee and Norton will hog a lot of resources on your PC thus slowing it down considerably. After following the instructions for removal of these products, you will notice a big increase in the performance of your PC (which you can keep by using one of the recommended products from that guide).

An important tool you can use in monitoring the performance of your PC is Task Manager. The processes tab allows you to see how much of your memory that any process is using at any one time. Anything that is using a lot of memory is worth investigating – use Google to lookup the process name and find out what it does before ending it or you may end up having to reboot to get your PC to work properly again.

If your PC is slow to start but runs fine after a short while, consider investigating to find out if your Anti-Virus is configured to run a scan on startup. It might also be worth having a look at the “Start > All Programs > Startup” folder. If there’s anything in here that isn’t essential it will slow down the startup of your PC. The other place to investigate unimportant startup files is in MSConfig. Click “Start > Run” and type “MSConfig” then click on the Startup tab. Be careful in here as there are entries that are required from the startup so it would be best to investigate anything before unticking any of the boxes to remove it from the startup processes (Or even start a new thread to ask about the process you are unsure about!)

There are tools out there that claim to clean and thus improve the performance of your PC. Put simply, if you do use any of these utilities and notice an improvement after running them, then your PC should never have been in that state in the first place. The likes of “CCleaner” is a useful tool for clearing out Temporary files etc but should not be used to improve the performance of your PC. While on this topic, I cannot stress enough, the importance of not using so-called “registry repair facilities” like Registry Mechanic. I have seen numerous cases of PCs that no longer boot after running these utilities because the registry cleaner “cleaned” an entry vital to the PCs normal functionality.

edited to add - keysor_soze found a great programme that does all the above, and more, in a nice easy interface. Called Toolwiz its well worth a look

[jay_7]

Buying a Laptop/PC Advice

Looking to buy a new laptop or PC? Then this is the guide for you!

CPU/Processor

Two manufacturers of CPU dominate the market; AMD and Intel. Simple enough so far, right? After this, there is the range of CPU’s that each manufacturer provides to consider. Here are those ranges:

AMD:

Sempron – the ‘Tesco Value’ model of the AMD range. A reasonable enough CPU if you’re only intending to surf the net, write letters etc.

Athlon – While the Athlon is a step up from the Sempron, remember this is only a single core CPU.

Athlon X2 – This range is AMD’s bread and butter. The most common CPU to be seen in any AMD based computer system these days. A dual core CPU that will take just about anything you can through at it and affordable too!

Turion: This is AMD’s mobile range of CPU’s designed for laptops and is based primarily on the Athlon X2 range.

Phenom – This range is AMD’s multi-core offerings: tri-core and quad-core. These are for the real power hungry users that will be running CAD software or other process intensive programs.

Intel:

Celeron: the ‘Tesco Value’ model of the Intel range. Celeron on it’s own refers to the single core offering, Celeron D refers to the dual core offering and Celeron M is the budget laptop CPU.

Pentium: Intel’s answer to the AMD Athlon range. Similar to the Celeron, Pentium 1, 2, 3 & 4 all refer to single core CPU’s and the Pentium D or Pentium Dual Core is a slightly better performing offering in the dual core department than the Celeron.

Core DUO: Again this CPU is a slight improvement from the previous dual core offering, the Pentium D.

Core 2 Duo: Intel’s Core 2 Duo range is by far the most commonly used CPU in computers at the moment. They perform well, and are suitable for most uses at home.

Core 2 Quad: Intel’s multi core offering. The Core 2 Quad is a high performance CPU that run most process intensive programs very well indeed.

Intel Core i7: One for the future. This CPU is still a quad-core but makes use of something called “Hyper-threading” to make this CPU appear like it actually has 8 cores.

RAM/Memory

Put at its simplest, you can never have enough RAM. At the moment, the upper limit of most PCs capacity for RAM is 4GB. Having anywhere between 2GB to 4GB will serve you well these days. Once 64-Bit processing becomes the norm, you can expect a huge leap in the amount of RAM PCs will accommodate.

Hard Drive/Storage

Obviously most folk will have photos, music, videos, documents etc… But what size of Hard Disk Drive (HDD) will you need? Well most systems these days will come with at least a 160GB HDD – but if you know you have a lot of data or if you intend to have a lot of data – look into a 320GB HDD or over. HDD sizes go right up to 1000GB (1TB) now. An important thing to remember is unless you go for a physically small computer – you are not restricted to this capacity. It is entirely possible to purchase a second hard disk and have this installed at a later date to work with your existing hard disk.

Graphics

Remember kids, integrated graphics are the work of Satan. Unless you are literally only going to use your PC to surf the net or you’re short of cash, avoid integrated graphics at all costs and even then – I’d advise you not to go for this option!

The two big players in the graphics card market are ATI (owned by AMD) and Nvidia. Looking into a graphics card is generally a case of balancing the price you pay with as high a model number as you can get. It’s that easy. The bigger the numbers involved in your card, the better it will be. Your card will have a model number which details the GPU (Graphical Processing Unit) and it really is a case of the higher the number, the better it performs. Your card will also have memory built into it – again it’s a case of you can never have too much memory. Go for as much as you can afford.

Operating System (O/S)

I’ll only deal with Microsoft offerings here (although there are others – and some are even free!)

Windows XP Home – Yes the XP series is still available! XP Home edition is suitable for most folk using their PC at home and it’s quite cheap now compared to what it used to cost!

Windows XP Pro – Everything that XP Home has plus more advanced network options.

Windows XP Media Centre Edition – Everything XP Pro has plus Microsoft Media Centre (for viewing pictures and videos, listening to music – even watching TV if you have a tuner!)

Windows Vista Home Basic – Nothing fancy about this O/S. No frills and as the name suggests – very basic.

Windows Vista Home Premium – Think of this as the direct upgrade from XP Home but it has Microsoft Media Centre (no fancy network options though)

Windows Vista Business – A very cut down version of Vista. Business has none of the entertainment options that Home Premium offers but has all of the fancy network options.

Windows Vista Ultimate – As the name suggests, this offering contains everything from the entire Vista range.

Finally, my advice would be to shop about! Use websites like Dell, Comet, Currys, PC World and compare like for like to find the best value for money. Good luck!

[jay_7]

Mac Hints & Tips

Cool things you can do on a Mac - There's some links on there to other useful blog posts and if you read the comments to that blog post, you'll pick up a few cool tips

Keyboard shortcuts - On the tin

Keyboard shortcuts - Apple's 'fishul page on shortcuts

LifeHacker - A guide on making the jump to Apple

Mac Apps - superandy's favourite Mac apps

Mac Specialist Apps List - Mac Specialists list of essential apps for your Mac

Thanks to Reina and superandy_07 for these links.

[NorthernLights]

I've been using MyDefrag for a while now and I love how good this free piece of software is - http://www.mydefrag.com/

If you're looking for a free alternative to the defragger that comes with Windows then I suggest this.

[Peterhead Dave]

If you're wanting to keep your hard-drive nice and tidy, free of temporary files etc, then I would recommend CleanUp! I've been using it for years, and although it only mentions Windows 95-XP, it works on Vista and 7 too.

It basically seeks out any sort of temporary files, and if you're paranoid you can blat your cookies, history etc etc as well. Used in conjunction with a good defragger (see above), it could help keep your HDDs nice and responsive.

www.stevengould.com

[Tonsilitis]

Upgrading to Windows 7 from XP

I run a little business from home and we have 2 desktop computers in a wired network plus a laptop and a netbook, both connecting wirelessly. I also have a couple of wired peripherals - a Dell laser printer and an NAS drive for backup.

When you upgrade from XP, you get a clean install i.e. all your programs are wiped and you have to reinstall everything. Thats a problem if you have OEM software and no disks! In my case, fortunately I had pretty much everything I need but you need to go through your computer and identify what you have to reinstall - in my case I printed off serial numbers etc and kept them in a file plus where appropriate downloaded the latest version of programs and kept the install files on a USB key.

I thought that the Win 7 install would effectively reformat the drive but it does'nt. Instead it moves all the user data and some other XP files to a folder called "Windows Old". You should backup all your date before upgrade but if you have lost something, there's a good chance you can find it in this folder. Incidentally, because its a copy of nearly everything on your old system, windows old is very big and so you need plenty of free disk space. In my case, on a 500gb disk, I was using around 130GB pre install and over 250GB after it. Once you are happy that everything is working OK and you have everythingyou need, Windows Old can be deleted.

A lot of my programs pre-dated Win 7 and some even pre-dated Vista but I have had no difficulty in getting any of them to run in Win 7. That said, I have installed 32bit Win 7 all round as I know some programs do not support 64bit. My 2005 version of Photoshop Elements for example runs perfectly.

Win 7 is supposed to make networking easy but I spent most of a weekend cursing and flitting between machines trying to get my wired kit to see the wireless laptops. Eventually, I had a lightbulb moment and rebooted the router after which everything worked just as it should. Lesson is, if your Win7 network does not work, reboot the router before you do anything else.

I was very impressed by the way it handles adding kit such as printers. Our Dell network printer, for example was install by simply adding a network printer and letting windows find the drivers etc for it on the internet. Plug anything into any of your network computers and, if the are part of the same workgroup, its instantly shared - very clever!

I upgraded my laptop first which is quite old. It only had a 80GB disk so I took the opportunity to upgrade the disk (to 320GB) and the memory. As I had bought upgrade versions of Win 7 that gave a problem as it looks for an earlier version of windows which ain't there on a clean disk. Fortunately it does let you install the software but won't let you register it and after 30 days - no registration, no computer. Fortunately, I found a website which shows you how to get round this problem and all is well. I don't feel I have done anything illegal as I did have a valid copy of XP and still have the old disk with that on it. If you are going to use this fix when you install Win 7 skip the page looking for your installation key - leave it blank. You will enter it after applying the fix!

Was it worth it?

There's no doubt its a slick operating system with a lot of nice features. For the most part though, they don't add anything much in terms of our productivity and if that is your criteria, I would'nt bother. XP is not as pretty but its stable anda good platform for business applications. If, like me, you are a sucker for the latest versions of everything, go for it. It is a nice system.

[I Support A Pub Team]

Advice on Buying a New TV

A TV now is much more complicated than a screen which shows a picture, and can often be a minefield when bogged down with all the technology and specifications listed on websites or what you've been told by numerous different sources.

Screen Size - Sounds simple. Many people can confuse where the screen is actually measured, for the screen size measure from corner to corner across the screen itself, what ever this measurement is will be the screen size of the set. Also when choosing a TV remember that 9 times out of 10 the showroom you are viewing the TV in will be bigger than where the set is going, so the sets will look bigger in your house than they do in the shop.

HD Ready/ Full HD - Another area of the new TVs that can be confusing. Most sets now are coming as HD Ready which means - when fed a High Def signal such as Sky HD, Virgin Media HD etc, the set will be able to produce the HD picture on the screen. HD Ready TVs can start from as little as a 15" screen. The next step up is Full HD, Full HD will be indicated by a sticker/logo or icon saying FULL 1080 HD. Having a Full 1080 HD set will be of benefit when watching Blu-Ray movies, PS3 etc. Full 1080 is the resolution of the set and is described as an overall tighter picture than a HD Ready set because more lines are making up the picture. Sky HD and Virgin Media etc are not currently broadcasting Full 1080 content but will be hopefully within the next few years.

Freeview/ Freeview HD - All sets now have intergrated Freeview, this means you can access uptp 103 channels for no monthly subscription or fee. Freeview HD which is now coming into the market is the freeview service with HD channels such as BBC HD, ITV HD and Channel 4 HD. This process is happening up and down the country hopefully to be able to view the World Cup in high def for free. You can only get Freeview HD if you have a seperate Freeview HD box, Freeview HD tuner intergrated into the TV aswell as a HD Ready TV at the least.

Connections - TVs now are full of connections allowing more equipment to be linked to your set. Connections include HDMI which allows you to connect High Def equipment to your set, the more HDMIs you have the more future proof your set will be. Scarts allow the connection of non-high def equipment such as DVD player, Video Recorder, Sky and Sky Plus, Virgin media and anything else non-high def. VGA connections allow you to use your TV as a monitor for a computer or laptop.

Contrast Ratio - Contrast is all to do with colours. The higher the contrast the more natural the colours will be, its described as the blacks being blacker and the whites being whiter.

50Hz, 100Hz, 200Hz - This is the refresh rate of the screen. Standard 50Hz will be on a wide proportion of TVs on the market. 100Hz is a better refresh rate, this means that the image apears smoother on the faster moving objects such a footballs, racing cars etc, great for sportand movies, 200Hz again is the same principle as the previous just a faster refresh rate giving smoother images.

Thats a quick overview of key features to look out for when buying a new TV set. Ask wherever you are buying about these features and if you can get a demo of TVs side by side to compare them.

There are plenty of great TV sets out there with all the whistle and bells, but your going to pay for what you get. Think what you are putting through the set, what you are going to be watching and justify if you would pay the extra money for the extra features on the set.

Happy TV hunting. Any questions just ask and I can try to respond as quick as possible.

[Guest Kincardine]

Essential Free Software

Security

When you connect your PC to the internet, your first priority should be security software. Retail stores like PC World will do their best to sell you something from the Norton or McAfee ranges – however these should both be avoided at all costs, no matter what the salesperson says it can do.

If you already have Norton or McAfee installed on your PC, I recommend removing it at your earliest convenience. Both products are made by the same people and as such, are essentially exactly the same product, dressed up differently. Both products use up an enormous amount of system resources so this slows down your computer considerably, especially on system startup.

To remove McAfee products, download and run the McAfee Consumer Product Removal Tool from here

To remove Norton products, follow the steps detailed by Symantec here

So now you know what not to use, what security software should you be considering for your PC?

Well there is no short answer unfortunately, it really depends on what your expectations are and if you’re prepared to pay for the software or not.

Everyone should have the following:

• One Anti-Virus application, having two would be detrimental to system performance and would likely result in poorer virus scan quality.
  
• At least one Anti-Spyware application. These work differently to Anti-virus applications where one will detect and remove what the other misses.
  
• One Firewall: Even though most operating systems come with a firewall, they are not very good and unless you have a firewall built into a router or a dedicated hardware firewall, your PC can be left exposed to the outside world.
  

Recommended Free Security Applications:

Anti-Virus:

• AVG Free Edition
  
• Avast!
  

Anti-Spyware:

• Spybot: Search & Destroy
  
• Lavasoft Ad-Aware
  

Firewall:

• Zonealarm
  

Of course you could use a security suite like AVG Internet Security which includes several individual products; Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Rootkit, Anti-Spam, Web Shield and Link Scanner and a Firewall.

Recommended Security Suites:

• AVG Internet Security
  
• Avast! Professional Edition (Does not include Firewall or Anti-Spam)
  
• Comodo Internet Security (Does not include Anti-Spyware but does include an Intrusion Detection System)
  

I think this section needs a little refresh.

As far as free antivirus software goes Microsoft seem to be doing well with the Security Essentials. Some reviews I read would put it on a par with (or ahead of) Avast and AVG.

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

Also, my wife's laptop had one of these rogue viruses that said her computer was infected by viruses and she had to pay to get rid of them.

She had Ad-Aware installed but it didn't deal with it so I used Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware which was excellent.

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

Anyone else got tools/utilities to add?

[jay_7]

I think this section needs a little refresh.

As far as free antivirus software goes Microsoft seem to be doing well with the Security Essentials. Some reviews I read would put it on a par with (or ahead of) Avast and AVG.

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

Also, my wife's laptop had one of these rogue viruses that said her computer was infected by viruses and she had to pay to get rid of them.

She had Ad-Aware installed but it didn't deal with it so I used Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware which was excellent.

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

Anyone else got tools/utilities to add?

Great shout my man. Malwarebytes is an excellent tool, I even use it myself now and on clients computers but I've never thought to update this.

I'll wait a bit for other suggestions and then I'll tidy this up.

[Stu]

Is AVG still the best for virus, security etc? I used to se it but have enjoyed free McAfee subscription for 18 monhs with my new PC. Really don't want to pay for it so am interested in the alternatives.

[Granny Danger]

i am looking to buy a windows based tablet for work purposes. Anyone got any experience/suggestions?

[monkeyblair]

HELP PLEASE!!

My home PC is fecked and I have now lost I Tunes as well as all other programmes.

Not too bothered about the PC as getting a laptop as a replacement bu does anyone know if it is possible to download I Tunes again with all my music still on it?

[Gaz]

HELP PLEASE!!

My home PC is fecked and I have now lost I Tunes as well as all other programmes.

Not too bothered about the PC as getting a laptop as a replacement bu does anyone know if it is possible to download I Tunes again with all my music still on it?

Downloading iTunes again is easy. If your music was purchased through the iTunes store then I believe you can just re-download it.

[monkeyblair]

Downloading iTunes again is easy. If your music was purchased through the iTunes store then I believe you can just re-download it.

Unfortunately most of the music on my I Tunes was transferred from my CD collection which I think is more of an issue?

[forehead7]

Have a look around you computer first, you won't be able to check your iTunes but mine has the media folder location as "C:\Users\Stuart\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media" (Stuart being the name of the folder that has my documents, pictures, downloads, music etc). That's where all my Iron Maiden songs are(which are definitely the ones that I imported from CDs).

You'll need to transfer it to your computer via usb/external hard drive (or maybe some sort of cable connecting the two laptops, never used anything like that though).