Core Duo vs Core 2 Duo?? Need Advice Please.

Looking to purchase a new laptop this week. Was looking at a brand new black MacBook (Core 2 Duo) due to its price and configuration, but when searching on eBay and Craigslist, I noticed that I can get a MacBook Pro 15" (Core Duo) for the same price, maybe a few dollars more, also sealed, brand new.
I don't do any editing (photo or video) and will mostly use the computer for web browsing, emailing, etc...
What do I do?? Is the difference between the 2 chips so significant that I should not consider buying a machine with the Core Duo?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I didn't get the MacBook Pro (bought the c2d MacBook w/2 GB RAM and 200 MB HD) because:
1. It was somewhat smaller and lighter.
2. I liked the keyboard layout a bit better, felt the Pro palmrests were a bit too long.
3. I got a top of the line MB for about a middle of the road Pro.
The weight/size is what I wanted. I have a high end Windows desktop machine w/all the digital editing and design software I can ever use, so this is a portable writing, email, and web browser. I love it for that.
I'm a believer in buying as much machine as you can afford, as it lasts longer between tech change outs. But I understand the arguement of buying on the tail end of the curve, where the bargains are better. My problem with that is that when the OS's change out, they always seem to run slower with each upgrade to the oldest hardware. 512 MB RAM may have been acceptable back when the MacBooks PPC's were first released, but 1GB seems to be minimal now. The oldest machines can't have as much RAM as newer ones, so it continues to get slower, unless you don't upgrade. Another advantage of upgrading continuously, is that the code is debugged by Apple as time goes on, these aren't often widely acknowledged, and the latest code is usually the most secure, most efficient. It's the nature of software development. Next up is usually, but not always, better. Windows ME was a good example of a new OS that was worse than it's predecessor, but XP was better than those that preceded it. From a security POV I bet that Leopard will be better than Tiger, and I assume that Apple OS development is pretty similar to the way that all OS's are developed, ie. choose the new features, id the bugs that will be fixed that weren't fixed last time due to time/priority constraint, code, test, id bugs, prioritize them, eventually release, even with known bugs because your marketing costs drive the release date.

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Major Issues with installing 4tb internal. Really need advice please

In the process of a long needed upgrade to my 2010 Mac Pro Quad core 2.8 and have run into a serious headache that I really need advice on so I can get back to work. I've already spent 2 days dealing with all of this...
Just did a new SSD install and Migration which went fine but I'm also updating the rest of the internal drives. My main (non boot) drive was being upgraded from a Seagate Barracuda 3tb to a 4th Deskstar NAS (it was showing as compatible with my desktop, see links below). My 3tb ran fine for years but now due to it being heavily used I want to switch to a new drive and I can also use a bit more space.
The issue I'm running into is that initially on boot, my system was telling me it couldn't recognize the disk and it wasn't even showing up in Disk Utility. I had to purchase a SATA USB 3 kit to attach it as an external to get it to show which worked without problem. With the USB kit I was then able to partition it (GUID, Mac OS extended journaled) and format it properly. After reinserting the drive into my tower as an internal it failed to show again. After a few attempts of restarts and trying various bays it popped up but showed as a non formatted drive and I was told again that the system didn't recognise it. I was then given the option to initialise and was then actually able to then format and partition it though Disk Utility while it was installed as an internal.
Figured that was problem solved but when I went to check the drive and getting ready to transfer files over I noticed that Disk Utility was only allowing the First Aid and Partition options but not Erase, RAID, Restore which I'd never seen before. I then also noticed that none of the drive connection info was in the same format nor will it even provide drive bay info, connection info or read/write status (See screen shots). This is what I can't figure out and really need to clarify before I put full trust into using this drive.
Any info would be greatly appreciated...
Deskstar 4tb internal info which is installed in Bay 2
3tb Seagate which I trying to retire and transfer from.
Here are the weblinks to the Deskstar 4tb drive and the compatibility list but I support isn't allowing me to add direct links so add the www. before hand.
(Drive - eshop.macsales.com/item/HGST/0S03664/) (compatibility list - eshop.macsales.com/Descriptions/specs/Framework.cfm?page=macpromid2010.html).

What OSX version?
Disk Utility in later versions of ML and I think Mavericks have problems formatting with 4 TB internal drives.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1661024
http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/112266/why-doesnt-my-mac-pro-see-my-new -4tb-sata-drive

ITunes. Entire music list has the exclamation marks and I can't open music because it cannot be located. I'm 67yr old and need advice please.

I'm 67 yrs old and asking for advice please.
I'm unable now to play the music in my iTunes playlists. 90% of the tunes have exclamation marks now and I can't 'locate' the music. How can I locate the music or remove the exclamation marks on my iTunes music list?

Typical reasons for missing files are, you've deleted the files, they are on a disconnected external drive, or the drive has a changed drive letter, you've moved the folder where the files live in some other fashion, a third party app has rearranged the files, or iTunes has got confused about the layout they are supposed to be in.
Generally you need to work out what has happened, reverse the action and everything will be alright again. If it is something you can't/don't want to undo, e.g. a drive letter change, then as long as you can track down the current location of the folder containing the media then my script FindTracks should be able to reconnect it to iTunes.
tt2

Mac Pro Quad core Intel Xeon upgrade advice please!

Hi all, i have a Mac Pro Quad core 2 x 2.8ghz Intel Xeon (2008 model) with 4gb RAM.
I am planning on giving it some upgrades and a fresh OS install as it is slowly grinding to a halt (particualrly noisey hard drives)
Can anyone recommend best/fastest/silent! S-ATA hard drive to upgrade to?
Can anyone recommend a good replacement ATAPI DL DVD-RW Drive as mine is also on its way out.
Ram upgrade. Lots of space for RAM so what would you all recommend?
Ultimately i am finding myself working with alot of large PS file and so would welcome any suggestions to improve/soup-up the processor/performance.
Thanks for any advice in advance...

24GB RAM gets cost ly when you look at 800MHz FBDIMMs in 2x4GB
You shoudl have added more as 4GB is vary basic and miinimal
Any SATA drive device is fine. WD Black 1-2-4TB / WD 10K VRs are fast but not as quiet though I do hear those WD Blacks.
A single SSD for a system is nice.
10.6.8 works best in that system.
Your GPU most probably is in need of an upgrade.
You should never need to do a reinstall of the OS. Clone. Yes. And start wit h a new OS by not upgrade in place over the old OS but that is when to clean install, clone and use Set up Assis tant.

My 3dmark scores are a joke need advice please

Hello, well I cant understand why my 3dmark scores are so bad, 6494.
my pc
MSI KT3 Ultra
512 Corsair cas2 PC 2700
80 gig barra 7200 (OS running on it)
40 gig barra 7200
30 gig WD 7200
Win XP Pro
Leadtek GF4 4200 64meg
I have configured my bios according to the settings guide on http://www.amdforums.com/showindex.php?s=&threadid=124482
Hard drive have also been defragged
I have also used River Tuner and have changed my settings from default to Core clock 279 Memory clock 567 that gave me an increase of around 400 points. But its still not what I had expected. what would be a safe limit to reach ?
I have the FSB set to 148x10.5
I would have thought my scores would have been around the 10,000 mark.
Anyone have any ideas as to why the score is so low or any ideas on how to improve performance.
I am so dam disapointed, it seems no matter what i try with this board it doesnt work.

hey Grandad,
try closing/disable PC Alert 4 AND Cooler XP,
and don't forget the programs running at the background, such like anti-virus programs (McAfee/Norton). Those services must not running while benchmarking.
TIP: the time of benchmark is also important.
After starting WinXP/system your processor is cold.
And a much better cooling is very recommended.
10 degrees celcius colder means 1000 points more.
ATTENTION: Don't adjust the PCI reserved megabites (for DirectX/OpenGL) at the display (drivers) properties.
I did that once, i had a lack of 40 fps at every benchmark test.
i hope this is usefull for you.
Thats why i got 10025 points with my GF4 Ti 4200 XP )

Add RAM or buy a new machine? Need advice please.

Hello,
I am asking this question for a friend who owns a 5 year old iMac. It only has a 500GB hard drive, and it is almost full (475 GB are in use, and we recently had to dump some items because it had reached it's limit). It has the factory-installed 8GB of RAM, but there are two empty slots which can hold 4GB each (or a grand total of 8GB of additional RAM, for a total of 16GB of RAM).
He also is a HUGE user of iTunes, and he has a 1.5 TB external drive that contains all of his iTunes files (we have iTunes set to automatically place all iTunes files onto the external hard drive so that it does not take up hard drive space on the iMac).
He is running OS 10.8, Lion (and wants to upgrade to Mountain Lion).
So, here is my question.....Will adding 8 GB of RAM make this machine "faster"? This machine has gotten very, very slow over the last year. When you launch any application, you get the spinning beach ball for a few minutes and then eventually, sooner or later, the app will come up. But everything moves very slowly----everything.
I was thinking that if we added the 8GB of RAM, that would fix a lot of our slow problems. Am I correct here, or would this not do anything? I was wondering if a 5 year old iMac with 8GB of RAM even has sufficient power to be running Lion in the first place.
Any thoughts on this? Thanks much!

smitty195 wrote:
Will a full hard drive slow down a computer? I was under the impression that it was RAM. This might be very important, because his hard drive is extremely full. Last week, he was getting messages that his hard drive was full, so we took lots of "stuff" out and put it into the trash can and deleted it.
Yes for a couple of reasons. OS X needs plenty of room to move around and work in, plus read and write becomes slower on that part of the hard drives platter.
At this point your friend really needs to backup if he is not already doing so and
1. Farm out his photo's, movies and/or music to an External HD, as per the following article's:
iPhoto '11: Move your iPhoto library to a new location
iMovie '11: Copy or move a project to an external hard disk
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder
or
2. Have an Apple Authorized Service Provider replace the 500GB Hard Drive with a 1T or larger Hard Drive.

I'm ready to upgrade to an iMac. need advice, please.

i'm a designer/photographer.
i always have 3+ CS6 apps open, as well as lightroom, acrobat, and the web. i don't do video but am thinking more about it.
i store and manipulate a lot of RAW photos.
i am going to get an imac, but unsure how much to upgrade it. right now i have an early mac pro tower w/ 1tb drive that is almost full. i think that in the next 4+ years i'll need at *least* another tb.
Two questions:
1. i really only want a 21.5" imac but i'm not sure i can get enough storage without going for the 27".
can i?
2. if i *have* to go for the 27", which sounds better for my needs... the 3tb fusion or 512 flash?
thank you.

If you are a serious designer and photographer and want to get into video in the future, then your only REAL option is to go for a higher end, 27 inch screen iMac.
Get a 27 inch screen model with the fastest i7 CPU, either the 2 or 4 GB VRAM GPU will be more than enough for graphics, photos and video work.
I am on the fence on the fusion drives at this time as there have been postings about slowdowns when using for either video work and/or 3D animation work.
IF you can afford either the 512 GB or 1 TB Flash drive, go for one of those options.
Get a 27 inch screen iMac with the base 8 GBs of RAM and install cheaper, Mac compatible third party RAM.
The 27 inch iMac models are the only ones that still have user installable RAM and the 27 inch screen models can take a max. of 32 GBs of RAM.
IF you need an optical drive, you need to budget for one of these as the new iMacs no longer have bulit-in optical drives.
Make sure to budget for 3-year extended AppleCare.
Also, budget for two external drives. One either a large storage (2-4 TB ) fast data connected (USB 3.0 or THunderbolt) standard hard. drive OR another SSD in an external enclosure for normal everyday working storage.
The other external drive needs to be used exclusively for a data backup drive.
Good Luck!

New to Garage Band..Need advice please...

Hello everyone,
I would like to get back to playing the piano and am extremely confused about MIDI controllers and digital keyboards or pianos. I just want to be able to play the piano when I feel like it and then if I want to record some stuff, I can just plug it in and record some of my stuff. I am looking at keyboards/controllers and just can't figure out the difference. I was thinking about M-Audio 61 but have no idea if this will work as a piano and as something I can record onto the computer. Thanks a lot in advance.

A controller is just an input device, it doesn't create its own sounds. So if you want to make music with it, you always need a program that creates the sounds, like GarageBand. You'll have to fire up your computer each time you want to play. If that's okay with, you, it will work perfectly together.
If you are looking for a standalone device, you should look into a digital keyboard (lots of fancy sounds) or a digital piano (better piano sound) and make sure it has a Mac compatible USB connection (otherwise you'll have to buy a midi interface to connect it). That way you can use it both ways - play it just by itself or connect it to the computer to use GB or other programs.

Logic Pro + Node + Studio Setup, Need Advice, Please Help.

Hello everyone.
Ive just recently bought Logic 7.1 for my Quad PowerMac G5, and Im loving it!
Im going to build a studio in my garden (yup, im no pro). And I was thinking of purchasing a PowerBook for the studio and offload all processing and storage to my Quad machine (located in my study room in the house).
Im also considering purchasing another PowerMac G5 as for my server, and I would like to setup the server to also process Logic data and storage. Is this possible? Would i need to buy Xsan?
Another question, can I use more than 1 PowerMac G5 for Logic Pro? Also, how do I setup a Node? And in order for the Node to work do I need to purchase more Logic Pro USB Keys?
You may be wondering why am I going to purchase a PowerBook for the studio, well the answer is, i don't feel its safe to have a very expensive machine in studio, don't want it to get damaged by environment such as damage or theft, plus i spend alot of time studying.
One more thing, I have a PowerBook G4 and IMac G5, can i also setup Nodes on these machines aswell?
Any input would be brilliant. Also, your suggestions on studio setup would be also welcome.
Thanks in advance.
Haresh
Quad PowerMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.4)

You won't need Xsan. I would test things out before getting too far into the idea. Your host should really be the strongest computer, all 3rd party, EXS, etc..plugins are not nodeable. You can use more than 1 node but as I see it your bottleneck would be the PBook. You can use regular file sharing just fine for this. You will need 1 USB key for each computer running Logic, the Node app requires no key. Therefore, you can run Logic on your book and 3 nodes with 1 key if you like. I would encourage you to use an iMac G5 as opposed to a Pbook if you really want to flex Logic muscle, which from the sounds of it, you intend to. iMac G5s are even cheaper than the Pbooks. Another thing to consider is some people have had no luck setting up Nodes-I've never had problems with it but there are some out there, maybe they're weird, maybe I am-but don't be 100% reliant on Nodes all the time until you have proven that in practice.

Partitions on external hard drive. Need advice, PLEASE!

Can someone explain to me about partitions on EHD's. I have just installed Leopard, and at present I have 3 partitions on my LaCie 250Gb Firewire external drive. I need to create enough space to allow TimeMachine to do a backup (about 120Gb).
I know that I have to use Disk Utility to do this, but can someone tell me if there is a minimum number of partitions to have on a volume like this? What would be your recommendation?
Also, could someone tell me if it is possible to run Tiger on an external drive? Or would that have to be run from the Mac HD? I have some software and games etc that will only run on Tiger. A step by step guide would be much appreciated.

Hi! You can have many partitions on an external drive. One for Leopard, Tiger, Panther, OS9 (if capable) data, pictures, music....you get the picture. I'm not sure what you are using the partitions for now but remember usually reformatting into another partition scheme erases everything. As an example you can have a partition for Time Machine, another for the Tiger OS, and one for a Leopard bootable clone for use in an emergency. I'd recommend that if you plan on changing your current scheme that you do so with disk utility in Leopard. Create your partitions in the disk utility and then clone to the partitions. When you choose two or three partitions then you can grab and drag the bars to change each one's size. Again remember that if you already have a Tiger partition that reformatting will erase the data.
In Leopard open the disk utility and on the left side you'll see a disk drive such as 279.5 GB Maxtor and then listed under that and indented to the right will be the volumes or partitions with the names you have assigned to them. To partition click on the drive itself (not the volumes under it) and then on the right side of the pane will be listed first aid,erase, partition, raid, and restore. Then click on partition and the pane will show the current partition scheme such as only 1 volume (partition) or as many as you currently have. In Leopard you can resize the partitions but that gets a little complicated. If you click on current the tab pops up listing up to 16 partitions that can be created. When you select the number you want and then click apply the new scheme will be formatted erasing the current data on the entire drive. You can assign the names you want to the volumes such as Time Machine, Emergency Drive or whatever you want. Just remember you're erasing the drive so be sure that's what you want to do. Resizing partitions depends on how full they are, what size you want to change them to and takes some practice to master. I typically have soemthing like the following:
300 gig Main Drive with Leopard
300 gig drive with bootable clone of Leopard as a backup
400 gig drive with 2 partitions (1 for time machine and 1 for an emergency
Leopard clone with no added apps and only
utilities such as TechToolPro.
120 gig drive with three partitions
1. a previous system (Panther in my case)
2. a 9.2.2 System
3. a data partition for a quick data backup of something important
Your scheme can vary but give it some thought before you embark on something you're not going to want to change tomorrow. Tom

Photoshop - FW workflow - need advice please!

I've been using ImageReady CS2 along with Photoshop CS3. Just
upgraded to CS4 Design Premium and now I have Fireworks, and am
interested to start using it.
In my current workflow, I build web files in Photoshop, save,
close, then open in ImageReady and add slices, setting optimization
for each slice. I export slices, save, and close the file in
ImageReady. Then back to Photoshop for more work, back to
ImageReady for more slicing, etc.
How can I do the same thing between Photoshop and Fireworks?
It seems like I can't just save as .psd in Fireworks and have it
remember slice settings when I come back - is that true, no back
and forth?
If so, what's the recommended workflow? Something like this?
1. Build/work in Photoshop.
2. Open in Fireworks, do slicing. Save as....what?
3. Do more work on original Photoshop file. Save.
4. Open in Fireworks and somehow slip the slices from the
previous sliced version onto the new Photoshop?
Or...?
Or perhaps I just need to stick to ImageReady CS2?
Any links to articles or tutorials (or prior posts here) on
this or similar topics would be very helpful.

Fireworks is much more powerful than ImageReady; it's a
complete design
tool for screen graphics. Unless you have some complex bitmap
editing to
do, you can build your entire design within Fireworks, even
make use of
it's pages feature for mock ups.
And yes, you can open AND save PSD's within Fireworks. FW is
pretty good
at opening PSD files. If you need to open the file again in
PS, save it
as a PSD file while in FW. Photoshop will recognize any
guides or slices
you create while in FW,but it will not pick up any
optimization settings.
Bob Meador wrote:
> I've been using ImageReady CS2 along with Photoshop CS3.
Just upgraded to CS4
> Design Premium and now I have Fireworks, and am
interested to start using it.
>
> In my current workflow, I build web files in Photoshop,
save, close, then open
> in ImageReady and add slices, setting optimization for
each slice. I export
> slices, save, and close the file in ImageReady. Then
back to Photoshop for more
> work, back to ImageReady for more slicing, etc.
>
> How can I do the same thing between Photoshop and
Fireworks? It seems like I
> can't just save as .psd in Fireworks and have it
remember slice settings when I
> come back - is that true, no back and forth?
>
> If so, what's the recommended workflow? Something like
this?
>
> 1. Build/work in Photoshop.
>
> 2. Open in Fireworks, do slicing. Save as....what?
>
> 3. Do more work on original Photoshop file. Save.
>
> 4. Open in Fireworks and somehow slip the slices from
the previous sliced
> version onto the new Photoshop?
>
> Or...?
>
> Or perhaps I just need to stick to ImageReady CS2?
>
> Any links to articles or tutorials (or prior posts here)
on this or similar
> topics would be very helpful.
>
Jim Babbage - .:Community MX:. & .:Adobe Community
Expert:.
http://www.communityMX.com/
.:Adobe Community Expert for Fireworks:.
http://www.adobe.com/communities/experts/members/206.html

I want to record guitar/bass at a entry pro level with a EMU 1212M - I need advice please......

Hi,
I am new to recording music and am looking for a cost effective way to record at true 24bit/dithered to 44.1k+ quality for my home computer. I have a pro electric guitar vox amp and mic + top line PC computer.
I would like to get some opinions about EMU 1212M and If it is best suited for my needs.
Can I go line out 1/4 jack from my amp to the 1/4 jack on the EMU without any quality loss? Also can I take my condenser mic and go line without any quality loss?
I have read that using a preamp is the best way to go, If I get this card will I suffer any quality loss from not connecting my instruments to a preamp first?
I read that people are having trouble using fruity loops with this specific card, is this true, and is there another software besides fruity loops that's better suited for this card?
A few people report they wind up buying a interface for there guitar to interface with the card for better quality, Is this true or necessary?
In short, would the 1212M be a good place to start off at a entry pro level home recording? What limitations will I have using the pre-installed Cubeace LE edition? Any thought are welcome.
Thank you,
Jay lyons

I'm into recording music, too, but I'm a little more experienced with it. Thing is I just use a MIDI keyboard and a microphone for vocals and other instruments, but I'm looking into the e-mu system for guitar parts. You're definitely going to be very limited in what you can do with any included software (personal experience), so you should get software that will work just for that. there's alot of free stuff out there like audacity, but I use voyetra record producer deluxe edition because it's easier and has more than just the basics. you can try it for 30 days, if you want.

SONY CD/DVD Player won't work with my HD DVR. Need advice please.

Just purchased it and I wired to the HD DVR receiver. Can't get it to setup or work at all. Any clues out there? Thanks.

snafu wrote:
Just purchased it and I wired to the HD DVR receiver. Can't get it to setup or work at all. Any clues out there? Thanks.
Are you saying you connected the DVD player to Verizon's STB (HD DVR)? If that is the case, there is no configuration that will work since there are no active inputs on the boxes from Verizon.
You need to connect the DVD player directly to an input on your TV or Home Theater system (if you have one).
If a forum member gives an answer you like, give them the Kudos they deserve. If a member gives you the answer to your question, mark the answer as Accepted Solution so others can see the solution to the problem.

A strange day with my G5?? Need advice please!

Hi -
The system in question is a dual 2.3 GHz Power PC G5 running OS 10.5.4.
Since replacing the power supply about a year ago, the system has never been a problem.
It's almost 2 years old and is still under AppleCare.
Today I started up in the morning and ran Quickbooks. After some routine check writing,
my desktop picture disappeared and the monitor started to display random, scrolling code.
The random numbers and letters covered the entire monitor. I have never seen anything like it
on a mac before. I held the power button to restart. Computer came up, things seemed fine.
After working, without incident, with a word processing program for 5 or so hours I put the G5 to sleep and went downstairs. About an hour later I walked by the room and noticed a VERY LOUD noise coming from the computer. Seriously, it sounded like a frigging jet taking off!! I guess it sounded like a really loud fan. I have never heard this sound come out of a mac- ever. I held the power button to restart. System came up fine. I shut down.
Then after dinner I went back to the G5 (actually to post here!) and the system stopped in mid-boot!
The circulliar gear thing that spins to let you know the computer is starting - just stopped.
Again I did a reboot and everything came up fine.
I'm just wondering if anyone has seen any or all of these things and if there's any advice. I'm wondering if thy're connected to one malfunction?? I make a living using this computer so I'm just trying to stay ahead of whatever the problem is. Any help or advice is appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your help
Mike

Hi-
my desktop picture disappeared and the monitor started to display random, scrolling code.
Sounds like a kernel panic. Actual, not random, but a report of what happened.
What is a kernel panic? (Mac OS X)
Try and run the Apple Hardware Test, which is on the original install discs.
Power Mac G5, Apple Hardware Test 2.1: Interpreting Certain Error Messages
RAM is a very common cause of panics and startup problems. Test the RAM using Rember.
Damage to a drive directory is a remote possibility as the cause of the panic, and is of definite concern with general startup problems.
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck
There are other causes of kernel panics other than hardware. Have you installed any new software lately? How about updates?
Resolving Kernel Panics

Went to update my ipod,now I am not able to use itunes because of an error... I have downloaded itunes again, saying it is uploaded then click itunes get error 7! Called for support, they are a joke !! Need advice please ...

Went to update my itunes upon request from apple, updated now I have an error 7.
I went to apple site to download itunes get message saying it is uploaded successfully.
Go to itunes unable to because of error message. Called apple... they are a joke you have
3 months to use the "phone service" after 3 months you have to pay $19.99 to talk to someone.
Apple says update.. ha ha dont do it.. you wont be able to use your itunes.
Any one have any suggestions in how to fix this issue??

Hello cindib77,
We've an article that provides further information and steps that can help resolve this error.
iTunes for Windows: "Error 7" message when opening iTunes
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3074
Cheers,
Allen

Core Duo vs Core 2 Duo?? Need Advice Please.

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