Sorry, been away from the forums for a bit now that everything is working..
Hi!
Is the thinclient you purchased like a separate laptop? or an attachment between your MJ and your laptop?
To answer your question, it is a standalone computer that you run all of the time just for MJ, but it doesn't use much more power than a CFL lightbulb. Most everyone will tell you that MJ runs better/more stable on a thinclient (TC) and I agree. Since I put MJ on a TC, it has been worry free for me, but I was always messing with it on my big computer.
A thin client is a PC with a very small form factor (size). They are not really high powered computers, but mainly used by large companies with a substantial computer network. The TC is actually just a terminal to access the network, and all of the main programs and information are stored on the network. Some of these TC run a version of Win XP that is "embedded" (XPe) meaning it runs off of a smallish flash drive instead of a hard drive like a normal PC.
Companies usually lease these TC for lots of money, then when they go off-lease, they find their way to liquidators and eBay for cheap. People have figured out how to configure and optimize these small, sometimes outdated, but low power (8-20watt) computers to run MagicJack, and depending on the setup they run quite well. Now that there is a consumer market for repurposed TCs (for Magicjack), they are not so cheap anymore and some models are more scarce.
Once you set it up, you can use a program called TeamViewer (free) that allows you to remote manage your TC from another computer over the internet (you can be sitting right next to it) and you don't have to leave a separate monitor/KB/Mouse hooked up.
Would it be difficult to reformat my ports? MJ does not respond to any 3 of the ports anymore and it will on another computer.
Is there anyway of doing this so I can keep using this computer and MJ will hopefully once again work?
I would first get the MJuninstaller from the MJ/talk4free website and try that. Search the forums for "uninstaller", and don't use any pay crapware that your search turns up, only the tool from MJ site.
http://upgrades.talk4free.com/tools/mjRemover.exe
I'm not sure what you mean by "reformat the ports." Your USB ports are managed by windows and the settings/drivers are controlled in the device manager and in the registry (I wouldn't play around in there unless you know what you're doing). you could uninstall the drivers in device manager or try manual registry entries, but again, I don't recommend it unless you know what you're doing or can endure the pain of fixing it. I can't really say what the problem would be or how to fix it. My guess is that your computer has retained some setting relating to MJ (tigerjet USB device) that has screwed it up (but it could be a genuine hardware problem with your PC or the MJ dongle). In the case of a broken dongle, I have read that MJ will send you a new one for about $20, but you said it works fine on another PC, so...
Windows computers are funny in that they tend to get some setting corrupted because of some software/hardware conflict and it stays that way forever until you reformat and do a fresh OS install (or are able to find the problem and fix it manually; i.e. registry entry). I've fought with this sort of thing over the years, and now I just don't have the time to babysit my computers anymore. Plus, I'm lazy and once I get all of my stuff on my computer, I don't like to reformat, so this is not a option for me. I picked up a TC from a guy on here for $55 and that was the best money spent for making MJ work right (plus my wife was gong to kill me if I didn't get the phone working reliably).
If you want to use MJ problem free get a TC that is configured for MJ and be done with it. Contact
Alpman in the forums or by IM/email. You can't beat his prices, and he stands by his products
I hope this helped you out some. feel free to contact for more questions, and don't hesitate to post your questions/results in the forums.
cheers
