PC Problems? I am a PC TECH. [Archive]

johndowe

09-06-2009, 01:09 PM

Hi there.

About installing Windows...

Installing windows isn't just popping in the win DVD in and letting the cpu go until it displays the desktop, that's only the first step.

Then you need to get and install your processor board's drivers, your audio, video, modem, network card drivers, and drivers for all the other cards you have in your cpu, some of the interfaces are integrated in your main board but they still need drivers, windows comes with GENERIC drivers that DO work but only only for simple applicationd like the ones that come bundled with windows, if you want to play music or videos or play games you WILL need the proper drivers for all your cards and integrated interfaces.

You will also need some players and support software, like Quicktime (iTunes) to view apple files like .MOV videos, although they are getting rarer and rarer you will still need it, you will also need JAVA, for alot of internet sites, there are many more but those 2 will suffice for now as an example.

So in conclusion, windows shouldn't even be avaliable to the general public, it should be installed by pros who take the time to do a good job installing all the drivers and the software you will need to begin to use your PC.

Unfortunately, there are some people who have cpu stores and install win but do not do a thorrough job, they don't install all the drivers, and don't install any of the software that is required to use the pc more effectively, but what they do is not illegal, but it should be, some people are more conciencious than others, on the other hand it isn't a cpu field exclusive, it is true for almost every field.

JohnDowe.

randolph

09-06-2009, 01:20 PM

johndowe

09-06-2009, 01:36 PM

Hi there.

A bit of help on burning CD & DVD's.

If you have burned CD and DVD you probably have made at least a few bad copies, and i don't mean copy protected software, but data disks from files on your CPU, why does this happen?

Well, that question is not that easy to ansewer as one may think, computers are the most complex pieces of equipment ever crerated by man.

First: The burner, some burners are more selective about the discs they "like" or "dis-like" one disc brand may work great for your drive but not on your freind's drive, it is not a quality problem as much as a compatibility problem, but i have found that "MAXELL" and "MEMOREX" discs usually work with most drives, but for music cd's for your car cd player, MEMOREX do not perform so well, so if you have a brand that performs well for you and your drive stick with it, if not try other brands until you find one you make the least amount of bad copies.

Second: The speed of the drive and the disk can influence the outcome of the burning session, if your drive is 12X and the disk is 16X you should not burn any faster than 12X, the best speed would be about 10X, to make sure your drive's hardware can do the job properly.

Third: The cpu system, if you have an older cpu with a new DVD drive you probably won't be able to make a good copy at maximum disk/drive speed, you will have to slow down a bit.

Fourth: What are you doing? With the computer when you are burning discs? The right ansewer should be nothing else than the burning software, within reason of course, why? Because the disc writing process is very time critical and if the cpu is buzy with another program while the burning process needs the cpu's attention but doesn't get it, you will have a bad copy.

Fifth: Make sure your disks are clean and free of contaminants aspecilaly the source disc.

PS Some burners are more compatible than others, i haven't even come close to testing them all i only tested 3 brands and i like LG's the best for DVD's they take any brand of CD and DVD's, but their CD drives suck, go figure.

JohnDowe.

johndowe

09-06-2009, 01:46 PM

Hi there.

Hey Randy that was QUICK i wasn't even finished with the posts i was working on, but no problem.

Ok, went to HP no drivers, i'll have to go look elsewhere, and contact people that hold banker's hours.

I'll get back to you.

But did you plug it into your laptop and have the cpu search for drivers on the internet? It sometimes works.

VERY IMPORTANT: Please let me know when the problem is solved, so i don't waist my time solving a solved problem.

JohnDowe.

johndowe

09-06-2009, 04:17 PM

Hi there.

The required software for a new PC to be "functionally literate" are:

iTunes/Quicktime @ www.apple.com FreeWare, but you shouldn't use it as your main player, aspecially with MP3/4 players it erases music files it thinks you didn't pay for, it used to do that i don't have an mp3/4 player to check with every version, usefull to play ".mov" and other apple format files, other players use it's codec's.

Real Player @ www.real.com FreeWare the original internet streaming audio and video player, still as good as ever and it'd codecs are also used by other players.

DivX @ www.divx.com FreeWare one of the most used video format for long videos like hollywood movies, and the codecs are also used by other players.

Winamp @ www.winamp.com (optionnal) one of the best players IMO, the playlist system is the one i like the most.

Java @ www.java.com FreeWare used by many if not most internet based programs, also used for internet games.

WinZip @ www.winzip.com used to be FreeWare but it still is almost, used to create, compress and decompress .zip and .rar files, there are others but this is the most popular.

Avast anti-virus @ www.avast.com one of the best, and the best i have tested, but haven't tested them all, the virus database is updated almost daily, 6 months free pay after, but it is one of the best, worth the price, also protects against spyware.

Adobe Flash player @ www.adobe.com FreeWare, for internet explorer to display flash animations.

Adobe (acrobat) Reader @ www.adobe.com FreeWare, used to read ".pdf" files, which most technical documents and e-books are.

Silverlight @ www.microsoft.com FreeWare, in the sence that if you have windows you already paid for it, allows you to see silverlight animations.

Messengers, (optionnal) they allow you to chat with other users, there are several, most common are windows messenger @ www.microsoft.com and/or Yahoo messenger @ www.Yahoo.com both do the same thing roughly the same way and are FreeWare.

Burning software & DVD player, those are manditory if you have a DVD drive and/or recorder, you should use the one that came with your recorder, but if you bought your cpu second hand, or store assembled, you might not have the cd, but the software SHOULD be installed, otherwize you will have to buy it, WinDVD was the best DVD player until Correl bought it, now it's ok at best, burning software for most uses i like NERO @ www.nero.com and ez cd/dvd creator, nero is more down to business, while ez is easyer to use.

JohnDowe.

Mel Asher

09-06-2009, 05:04 PM

Hi there.

By this time most of you have probably seen me, either as a joker or very serious.

This said, in my professionnal life i am a PC (ONLY) technician, one of the best i know, and i do know quite a few, i specialize in hardware problems i can do software problems too.

VERY IMPORTANT, I WILL NOT ANSEWER PASSWORD BYPASS QUESTIONS, and other hacking posts.

Also, you should read the next few posts they conatain alot of usefull info.

JohnDowe.

JD

Although I know we have a few technical members in our forum, it's great to have someone offer their services as a PC Troubleshooter. So we'll all forgive your slight immodesty and all queue up for your services. To take a little of the pressure off you, folks might also try Webuser's Advice Forum.

:respect:

johndowe

09-06-2009, 05:48 PM

Hi there.

Mel.

Immodesty? When most techs have trouble finding drivers, because they didn't bother opening the case and looking for the maufacturer and the p/n. and too lazy to install programs that come with the hardware they installed or disabling a device that doens't have a driver installed instead of looking for one, doing a fast format that doesn't check the hard drive while installing windows in a used system just to save time, there is too much ignorance and incompetance in most technical fields, not only by the end user but by suposedly knoledgable people who should know their products and how to take care of them, but as it stands a good consciencious tech in any field is HARD to find.

Most people want fast, fast, fast, but fast, fast, fast, is usually botched that's why i don't do fast i do good, if my customers are in such a hurry, i tell them to go elsewhere, then when they aren't satisfied with fast, fast, fast, then come back to me, and they are happy with my slower but consciencious work.

Also i have been in the computer industry since 1978 when i went to colege in electronics and had some computer programing courses.

PS What's up doc?

JohnDowe.

johndowe

09-09-2009, 01:02 AM

Hi John,
Speaking of drivers, My HP laptop with Vista will not operate my HP Scanjet 4470c. HP has no driver to run it on Vista. I searched the internet and got some drivers that don't work. :frown:
Any suggestions?
Randolph

Hi there.

Went to HP even sent then an email they're too lazy to lift a finger to help you, i am not a programmer so i can't program one for you.

But if you UPGRADE to XP, there would be some drivers your scanner, and as a bonus you'd get a virtual RAM, Hard Disk & CPU upgrade, you'd have to contact the manufacturer of your CPU DIRECTLY to get the drivers, but it would be an improvement over vista, cause it sucks big time, but since your cpu is so powerfull you don't realise it.

HP used to be one of the best companies for products and support, but no longer, now they are slave to the allmighty dollar and F*** everything and everybody else, sad isn't it.

JohnDowe.

Tread

09-09-2009, 08:21 AM

If you setup and install windows, you probably have worked with Windows 7. What's your opinion compared with XP? We all know Vista is crap and you don't have to name general Windows weaknesses. I want know if it is better to keep XP as long as possible or switch to 7 soon?

randolph

09-09-2009, 10:08 AM

Hi there.

Went to HP even sent then an email they're too lazy to lift a finger to help you, i am not a programmer so i can't program one for you.

But if you UPGRADE to XP, there would be some drivers your scanner, and as a bonus you'd get a virtual RAM, Hard Disk & CPU upgrade, you'd have to contact the manufacturer of your CPU DIRECTLY to get the drivers, but it would be an improvement over vista, cause it sucks big time, but since your cpu is so powerfull you don't realise it.

HP used to be one of the best companies for products and support, but no longer, now they are slave to the allmighty dollar and F*** everything and everybody else, sad isn't it.

JohnDowe.

Hey John,
Thanks for checking for a scanner driver. Your right Vista sucks, is it difficult to convert back to XP?
Randolph

johndowe

09-09-2009, 01:34 PM

Hi there.

Tread, i have not had the chance to dabble with win 7, i work fixing used cpu's and UPGRADE from vista to XP, but if it follows the trend you're better off with XP, i'm told the requirements are quite high, and you'd have to re-install all the software you currently have, save all the files you created, the pics, videos and zip files you saved, save all the game's save files AND look for win 7 drivers which in all probability do not exist yet (if ever), and to close, there is the old saying: If it ain't broke don't fix it.

As i said in a the first few posts, they shouldn't even sell win retail, cause very few people know how to do the job properly, go see them if you haven't already.

JohnDowe.

johndowe

09-09-2009, 01:48 PM

Hi there.

Randolph, read the previous post to Tread, and my second post about installing win, if you have a good copy of win XP sp2 or better, with a GOOD KEY, microsoft (notice the lack of capital letter) has been cracking down on keys and many keys that should be good have been blacklisted, that beeing said, there are ways around that, the real problem is the drivers, but do not fret i can help you with that, post your cpu make & model #, or if it is a clone find the board Manufacturer and model #, and all cards too, and i will see if drivers can be found, and if they are i will post the links to them, if they are avaliable, you will have to save all the files you want to keep, pics, videos, saved web pages, real player and other downloads, your contacts, your favorites (internet explorer's and other if you have them) savegame files etc. etc. onto cd or dvd, and read the first post i entered if you haven't already.

JohnDowe.

johndowe

09-09-2009, 05:59 PM

Hi there.

More for Tread, At first i wrote Randolph a little mistake on my part (sorry).

I went to microsoft and got the system requirements for win 7 they are pretty high:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itproinstall/thread/9038c21f-5184-468c-bf5b-9f54bca70c5c

P4 2GHz (probably poor performance since it IS microsoft) or Dual Core 2GHz...

2GB ram THAT IS ALOT OF RAM FOR JUST AN OPERATING SYSTEM.

20-25GB Hard Disk space, it is alot...

Video cards, need a top of the line card or close to top of the line.

But on the up side if you can't find win 7 drivers you could use vista drivers.

I reitterate that i have not touched win 7 but, form what i see it is nothing to write home about, XP still seems to be the best choice to me.

For resonable performance: (XP)

CPU: Celeron 300, or P3 400MHz
RAM: 256MB
Hard disk space: 8GB Fully upgraded with Office XP.
Video card: Pretty much any card AGP or PCI Express interfaces including integrated video "cards" with ram sharing.

When installed properly (with ALL the appropriate drivers and software) the system is quite stable and reliable, and microsoft still supports it, but for how long i do not know.

JohnDowe.

Tread

09-10-2009, 05:02 PM

First I got a shock of the requirement, but that wasn't the min. It is the run best at full installation and all effects requirements.

I don't want to fix a not broken XP with win 7, I want a new notebook and don't want to format it completely and install XP on it. 7 seems not to suck as vista, and at some point Microsoft and other software producer drop XP anyway, and then I would have to install win 7 anyway. I think I will wait some month and look first how 7 works before I'll buy a notebook.

johndowe

09-10-2009, 06:29 PM

Hi there.

That's what i suggested.

JohnDowe.

modman1996

09-13-2009, 10:12 PM

I have a 2 year old machine enpower ense10 here are the specs
2.4 g quad core processor
4 gigs of ram
160 gig hard drive
navidia gts 8600 video card
dvd burner,
N series wireless card.

I am thinking about upgrading to windows 7 from xp. My computer came with vista and I hated it and I went to xp. vista made a lot of my older soft ware not work.

Should I upgrade to 7?

johndowe

09-14-2009, 12:18 AM

Hi there.

Modman, your Computer is above win 7 requirements, so it will run fine, but it's weakest link is it's hard drive, 160 gig is a bit small, it was huge when it first came out, 3 years ago, if you were to upgrade to win 7 i would suggest you get a 500 gig drive, then upgrade, if you must, if xp works great for you, why fix it if it anit broke? Is there a piece of software you really need or want that ONLY runs on win 7 ?

I have not touched win 7, but microsoft is a company, and it's main goal is to be profitable, this being said.

There are 2 reasons microsoft launches a new windows, first to make money, secondarely, to support new hardware, but supporting new hardware only requires new drivers and maby a new piece of software or two, not a whole new windows.

So since XP works well, and is still supported, keep it, save your money for your next cpu, in a few years, which may come with win 8 or whatever they will call the next win.

Should you decide to go ahead and buy win 7 ($$$) you will have to save all your files, pics, movies, FAVORITES, saved games, work files, real player downloads, other downloads onto CD or DVD, and win vista drivers will work with win 7, will your older software work under win 7? i don't know, and usually they will say "some softwere may not work" so goto WWW.MICROSOFT.COM and ask them if your most important older software will run under win 7.

JohnDowe.

Excaliborg

09-14-2009, 02:31 PM

greetings mr johndowe, i believe i can be of assistance, by your leave of course.

to my knowledge MS have actually extended support for XP for a few more years. as to programs that work with Windows 7, the majority that work with Vista work with Win7, with the exception of daemon tools. you might also experience some issues with older games, mainly games dsigned for XP.

now as to the whole Vista debacle. if the final release of Vista had been as good as the betas or release candidates, all would have ben fine. but MS being a for profit company, they messed it up. as johndowe says, if you have a stable working install of XP, dont change. Vista is a very resourse hungry beastie, so if you dont have the recommended specs, dont waste your time and ignore the minimum requirements. what "minimum requirements" actually mean is the bare minimum to get the os to successfully load without crashing. in my experience i have found Vista to be mostly stable, but there are more than a few gremlins that can hamstring your pc. one thing i can not stress enough is that your pc should always be up to date with the lastest patches and updates and anti-virus, anti-spyware.

johndowe

09-14-2009, 04:26 PM

Hi there.

Welcome, my fellow tech, and i appreciate your help, i as every one on the planet, do not have all the ansewers, and i see that we concur on microsoft products.

If there was a new operating system that would run all my apps (office, games, acdsee, cd/dvd copy programs etc,) programmed in assembler i would change in a heartbeat, but vista & win7 aren't it.

JohnDowe.

johndowe

09-14-2009, 04:29 PM

Hi there.

Excaliborg, since we will be sharing this thread, i would like to see your views on hard disk partitions?

Also i wrote 3 posts about computers, posts #2, 4 & 6, so you agree with them?

JohnDowe.

Excaliborg

09-15-2009, 11:54 AM

post 2 you have on the money. there are some nefarious types who only install the bare minimum and let the people inexperienced with technical matters fend for themselves.

for the most part i agree with what you say but the rest just a matter of opinion. one prgram i would advise people to stay away from is itunes, as it has a habit of slowing down your machine.

winamp can handle just about any audio format and it hardly ever breaks for no reason at all.

i find that winrar is better than winzip, as it can open way more formats and can even be used as a replacement for windows explorer.

anti-virus is a matter of personal preference, some are better than others but whatever you do, you gotta be protected.

i have never been a fan of divx. a good codec pack to use is Combined Community Codec Pack, http://www.cccp-project.net/. plays everything and includes zoom player and media player classic, two of the best movie players.

anything else i missed?

Excaliborg

09-15-2009, 12:16 PM

hard disk partitions? eish. the only reason i would partition a drive is if i were to create a recovery volume for my machine, beats the hell out of having to install every application you use when rebuilding your machine. but im a rather lazy bum so i dont it.

other than that i just add more drives. bigger is better :)

ive been typing and deleing trying to make my mind up one way or the other. so let me just say this, i dont partition my drives cos i dont need to and havebt had the need to for a very long time.

sissygirl

09-15-2009, 01:31 PM

I need to upgrade from ms2000 pro to XP. anything special I need to do?

Excaliborg

09-15-2009, 03:56 PM

I need to upgrade from ms2000 pro to XP. anything special I need to do?

first things first. make sure you back-up all data that you want to keep, this includes favourites, lonks to frequently visited sites.

second, make sure you have the installation disks/files for your applications that you use and the drivers for all devices that are attacked to your pc, sound, grafix, printer, etc. or at the very least know where you can get them.

next make sure that the xp disc you are going to use is in good condition. no excess scratches and whatnot. and remember kids, piracy is not cool:no:

next make sure your pc is able to boot from cd or dvd drive. also you got to make sure your pc meets or exceedsthe RECOMMENDED requirements for xp:

300 MHz CPU *
128 MB of RAM *
1.5 GB of available hard disk space *
Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher-resolution video adapter with at least 8 MB of video RAM and monitor
CD-ROM or DVD drive
Network adapter
Sound card and speakers
Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device

* Actual requirements will vary based on your system configuration and the applications and features you choose to install. thats from the chaps over at MS. but i would suggest something more in the region of a P4 and above. a higher spec comes in handy if you are going to be using the media centre edition of xp or if you are oing to install fancy themes and whatnot. reason being is that not many people have a clear idea as to what they are going to be using a pc for and may end up with a slow machine. so ask yourself, "what am i going to do with this machine?"

if you require further assistance dont hesitate to ask

johndowe

09-15-2009, 04:15 PM

Hi there.

Hey, Excaliborg, i agree, partitions are useless, unless you have a hard drive that is bigger than the max partition.

And, win 2000 to xp, i concur.

JohnDowe.

Naked Freedom

09-15-2009, 04:30 PM

Hi there.

Hey, Excaliborg, i agree, partitions are useless, unless you have a hard drive that is bigger than the max partition.

And, win 2000 to xp, i concur.

JohnDowe.
i prefer to have 2 partions on one hard disk...one smaller (about 10 Gb) where i load the os and the bigger for other purposes....
i have multiple hard drives and have partioned the master only to separate 10 Gb space for loading the OS.

johndowe

09-15-2009, 04:32 PM

Hi there.

BACK-UPS

One often neglected aspect of computing is making back-ups of one's data, yes computers are very reliable, and getting more and more reliable all the time, but they do fail eventually, and even prematurely sometimes, also some retards, make viruses, why? Just to cause mahem, and inconvinience as many people as they can, so the more important your info, the more you need to make back-ups and the more often. There has been a few companies that had their accounting on their computer, and it was stolen or broke down and the companies died because the billing info was lost, their supplyers sent new bills, but their customers didn't recieveany bills and did not pay because of that, so if the files on your computer are important to you, wheather they are pics of your kids, or your businesses accounting you have to safeguard that information, you can use CD's or DVD's and do it manually, which is my prefered methode, but there are many back-up software packages, and NERO, and EZ-CD/DVD CREATOR, have a back-up option, and shouled your computer fail, you can recover with your back-up, and you RESTORE your files, you may lose a little, (the files that you changed before you did the new back-up, but a little is way better than loosing all.

Also, the more important your info you may consider making several backups one on premesis, one at a freind's or budiness partner's, and maby in the bank's safety deposit box, should your info be VERY important, avluable or sensitive.

JohnDowe.

johndowe

09-15-2009, 04:53 PM

i prefer to have 2 partions on one hard disk...one smaller (about 10 Gb) where i load the os and the bigger for other purposes....
i have multiple hard drives and have partioned the master only to separate 10 Gb space for loading the OS.

Hi there.

Partitions seem like a good idea, but they aren't, the problem arises later, and the problem is that often one of the partitions is full and the other has a lot of free space, to solve the problem you have to save all the data and reformat the hard drive, so where's the advantage then?

If you want one drive for the OS and another for data, buy a decond drive more expensive but far better in the long run.

And 10Gb for XP is minimal, when fully upgraded with office, it takes about 6-7 gigs, add your favorite programs, no more space! Then what, backup and reformat, do win, drivers, software, restore, install the programs you couldn't...

The reason partitions were created was when the PC was the new kid on the block, hard drives were very small 5-20Mb, MICROSCOPIC by today's standards to be sure, and DOS could only handle a maximum of 32Mb drive, so to handle the increading drive size microsoft offered partisionning as a solution, before they came out with FAT16+ and later FAT32, and NTFS which can handle 100's of TeraByte drives or more, it wasn't elegant then it isn't now.

JohnDowe.

Naked Freedom

09-15-2009, 06:06 PM

johndowe

09-16-2009, 08:54 AM

do you think CDs and DVDs are reliable.....
Cyclic Redundancy Error , i don't know why it happens but it left me quite unsure of the optical disks....so i stopped creating backups on them....i think blu ray disks will suit the purpose better....but they are quite expensive comparatively.
what do u think of the static external hard disks? are they reliable??
but here also the cost is way too much...what to do???

Hi there.

CD's and DVD's are reliable, but bad burns do happen occasionally, read my post on burning CD's & DVD's post #4 on this thread, if you use NERO, you can have it verify the disk right after the burn, if your data is important, it would be very wise to check the verify box, and follow my instructions and you should make very few bad copies, over the last few months i have made over 1000 CD & DVD's and only made 5 or 6 bad copies, i always use the same brand of disks that work well with my burner to minimize the number of bad copies.

Blu Ray is essentially the same technology as CD's and DVD's, only the write density is increased, and the light emiting diode is blue instead of infra red, so the reliability should be the same, but you will have to have a more powerfull computer to burn a disk, because the burn speed is higher, you will need at least a 2GHz dual core computer, the Blu Ray recorders are expensive also, the capacity is 25Gb single layer 50Gb dual layer, so you will have to have at least that amount of free hard disk space free to make a 1:1 copy, but less if you copy files that are on your computer, in DVD drives i like LG, they will burn almost any CD & DVD BRAND, i would ASSUME that they would put the same effort in their Blu Ray drives as they did for their DVD drives, but it is just an assumption, maby mr.Excaliborg can have more practical info about Blu Ray drives.

JohnDowe.

Excaliborg

09-16-2009, 12:49 PM

blue-ray? i'd rather take a death-ray gizmo thank you very much. but anyway if you really want to find out the nitty gritty of blu-ray go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc.

i have burnt one cd and one dvd in the last year and i only had about ten faulty burns since i bought my first writer. so yes optical storage mediums are reliable. but the thing is that you have to take care of your discs. put them in a case, dont leave them in a cd/dvd drive for extended periods, no excessive heat or cold. and dont touch the recorded surface.

i always tell people when it comes to pc parts and accessories, you get what you pay for. so dont buy cheap blank discs or components. it sounds silly to do it but one of the best pieces of advice i can give anybody is that before you buy something computer related, google it and read more than one review of whichever product you are going to buy. it may save you from buying a lemon.

Excaliborg

09-16-2009, 04:12 PM

first off let me say that at one stage or another we were all n00bs. someone who knew nothing when it came to technology. we learn by looking, reading and asking. lucky for me only two people saw me as a n00b, and they fixed that by giving me a stack of pc mags and a pile of hardware and telling me to have fun.

but i digress. all too often i see people asking help in an infantile manner, using excessive question makrs and exclamation marks(not here though). the only thing this does is piss everyon else off. so dont whine, cry, moan and groan. state the nature of the problem in the best english(or whatever language you use) possible. also include what you have done to resolve the issue. provide as much detail as possible, what you were doing at the time the error occured, etc. remember that google is your friend, use it wisely.

the same goes for walking into a store and buying a pc or pc components. dont just walk up to the nearest salesperson and plonk down your cash and shout "GIMME PC!". you should have a clear mental picture of how much you are willing to spend and what you are going to use the pc for.

i hope these rambling thoughts of mine help in some way.

johndowe

09-16-2009, 09:36 PM

johndowe

09-16-2009, 09:49 PM

johndowe

09-16-2009, 09:52 PM

Hi there.

Hey Excaliborg, I like your avatar, cute kitty.

JohnDowe.

tslover586

09-17-2009, 12:45 PM

is there a software that i can get my hands on for free that will allow me to watch live tv over the internet.
if not what is the best priced best quality software that i can get to do this.

Excaliborg

09-17-2009, 01:20 PM

Hi there.

Hey Excaliborg, I like your avatar, cute kitty.

JohnDowe.

yeah me too. thats stoner cat. he and i are alike in some ways.

johndowe

09-17-2009, 04:27 PM

is there a software that i can get my hands on for free that will allow me to watch live tv over the internet.
if not what is the best priced best quality software that i can get to do this.

Hi there.

Yes there are, very many, there are 3 types:

First: The pay per month, type you install the software, select the chanels you want, the quality is usually pretty good, some charge a base monthly rate and you can watch 24/7, others you pay a fixed amount and you have so many minutes after you have to buy more.

Second: The pay the software once an watch for ever no additionnal charges, the software is not that expensive and it works well, the quality is pretty good, but varies depending of the source.

Third: FREE internet tv uses internet explorer, and either Real Pleayer, Quick time (iTunes), Win's Media Player, and/or Winamp See POST #6 on this thread, the programs are FREEWARE, but the quality of the shows and visual quality vary greatly, and there are literally thoughsands of chanels to choose from and from EVERY country on the earth.

The only bad side is internet usage, if your internet limit is low, it will be over very quickly and you MAY get a LARGER bill than you expected, aspecially with mobile internet where you get only a few 3-6 gigs per month at $50-$100+ every month, and it gets REAL expensive to exceed those limits.

To find the sites that offer these services you google: "tv on the internet" without the quotes and you will get the usual google millions of results...

None of these require any special hardware, other than a P3+ computer and hi speed internet access.

As for the best quality, because of internet and other media and software limitations, the internet TV picture quality is at the moment inferior to regular TV, so you have to try to find what you want and see itf the quality and reliability is acceptable.

ADDITONNAL: if you have a hi quality video card with all the bells and whistles, and a TV with Video in, you can connect your TV to your computer and watch internet TV on your (hopefully) big screen TV, or play your favorite game, it won't increase the quality but it will allow the whole family or freinds to watch, or even watch regular TV on your PC, only expensive video cards do that, but there are some inexpensive ($20) TV in cards that allow you to do this, AND record TV also, i have one of those cards and it works fine, with an antennae or cable tv.

JohnDowe.

twistedone

09-18-2009, 01:04 AM

Microsoft has a download you can get to see if your computer can handle Windows 7. I downloaded it, ran it, and it said my hardware was fine for Windows 7, but I may have to uninstall, and reinstall some programs.

With that, Windows 7 just lost me as a possible upgrade.

Hi there.

Modman, your Computer is above win 7 requirements, so it will run fine, but it's weakest link is it's hard drive, 160 gig is a bit small, it was huge when it first came out, 3 years ago, if you were to upgrade to win 7 i would suggest you get a 500 gig drive, then upgrade, if you must, if xp works great for you, why fix it if it anit broke? Is there a piece of software you really need or want that ONLY runs on win 7 ?

I have not touched win 7, but microsoft is a company, and it's main goal is to be profitable, this being said.

There are 2 reasons microsoft launches a new windows, first to make money, secondarely, to support new hardware, but supporting new hardware only requires new drivers and maby a new piece of software or two, not a whole new windows.

So since XP works well, and is still supported, keep it, save your money for your next cpu, in a few years, which may come with win 8 or whatever they will call the next win.

Should you decide to go ahead and buy win 7 ($$$) you will have to save all your files, pics, movies, FAVORITES, saved games, work files, real player downloads, other downloads onto CD or DVD, and win vista drivers will work with win 7, will your older software work under win 7? i don't know, and usually they will say "some softwere may not work" so goto WWW.MICROSOFT.COM and ask them if your most important older software will run under win 7.

JohnDowe.

johndowe

09-18-2009, 05:36 AM

Hi there.

If your cpu works fine, don't fix it, you're just looking for problems, if you HAVE TO, reinstall win and you don't have XP or the win you had before, (and your cpu CAN handle a newer win) and you can find all the drivers and all your software will work, then upgrade, otherwise chill, there is no rush, XP will run almost all software, exept Halo 2, only because they wanted to force gamers to buy vista.

BTW - Funny story:

Someone asked microsoft why Halo 2 didn't work on XP, they said it was a hardware problem, so he asked if he installed vista, would halo 2 then work on his cpu, the tech at microsoft said: YES, so the hardware problem is BULLSHIT, they just want to make profit, and F*** everybody, nice guys, don't you think? Don't they know there's a recession going on and not everybody could or can pay ($279 in Canada) for vista.

microsoft software; inferior products at a premium prices.

PS. microsoft only publishes Halo, other companies designed and programmed it, but microsoft did put in their 2 cents on the vista thing.

JohnDowe.

Excaliborg

09-18-2009, 12:56 PM

Microsoft has a download you can get to see if your computer can handle Windows 7. I downloaded it, ran it, and it said my hardware was fine for Windows 7, but I may have to uninstall, and reinstall some programs.

With that, Windows 7 just lost me as a possible upgrade.

c'mon fella. this one has been floating around teh interwebs for many moons now. when you have your existing operating system and a new operating system that you would like to try, install on a different drive, dual-boot if you have to but one thing that is hardly ever advisable is to upgrade the existing os to the new os. while it works just fine and dandy in theory and in lab environments, real life application works way differently. a fresh install is always the better option compared to upgrading, as it means that your os has no baggage and little niggles from the previous os. and of course the previous os is still there, just waiting to wreak havoc.

as to windows 7, i can honestly say the MS have done good this time round, and hopefully the final release will be better than the release candidate. what i can say about win7 is that overall it has a slicker feel than vista and its a whole lot faster.

you might also want to try out the following:
How to install Windows 7 on VirtualBox:
http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-install-windows-7-on-virtualbox/

if you have any further questions about windows 7, ask and i'll do my best to answer.

johndowe

09-21-2009, 06:39 AM

Hi there.

I almost forgot that win can be upgraded instead of reinstalled, the reason is because it IS a bad idea, and i never do it, a fresh install is the best, everything is new and any viruses, spyware and questionable software is erased, the results beeing; minimal chance of getting the same problems as before, of course if you go to the same sites you KNOW you got problems with, you will have the same problems again, so be carefull.

As for bad sites, if you went to a bad site and got some virus or spyware, or some other nasty piece of software, don't go back to it when you have fixed the problem, the internet is a BIG place, whatever you are looking for, there are way more than 1 place to get it, and there is one magic tool to use and it is called "GOOGLE", you can find everything with it, but sometimes you have to be very specific and patient, usually google gives millions of results, but it has the very usefull "search within results" function to do more filtering but WORDING is very important, it often will make the difference between finding what you are looking for or not.

JohnDowe.

lindas

09-21-2009, 09:00 AM

johndowe

09-21-2009, 09:15 AM

Hi there.

I do not use firefox, define "openedit" is it an editing function or a web page?

If it is a function check the programs/pages it opens, if it is a webpage those are pop-ups, a pop-up blocker that works with firefox may stop them but there are so many ways to make a pop-up that it is very hard to block them all.

Mr. Excaliborg may have a better ansewer if he uses firefox.

JohnDowe.

Excaliborg

09-21-2009, 01:04 PM

Hello
I have a problem with Firefox.
As soon as I have openedit, I get a page poping up.
I also get new pages coming up, all opening in new windows,they arelike Russianwomen, Adulr firends, No Game, Find Beautiful RussianWomen.
I have tried to get Norton to block them but it doesnot work. Norton alsofound a program which areseeking up cookies.
Have you got a suggestion to what I can do to stop this.

Friendly greetingsform Linda

someone has been very nawty tsk tsk. only play;). i havent used firefox in a while but i shall do my best to assist. sounds like you have a browser hijacking infection. and that can be very nasty. what you need to do is this:

> disable your internet connection
> open firefox and clear all private data and diable any add-ons>
> also check the security settings, make sure radio boxes regarding installation of add-ons and suspicious sites
> pay a visit to your temp directories and remove all items found therein
> next restart your pc and boot into safe-mode by pressing F8 immediately after the BIOS info is displayed
> once you have logged in, run a full scan using norton av. what this does is only the core system components will be started and everything else can be scanned
> next i would recommend that you find another anti-virus, something like nod32, AVG, avast or anti-vira. i recommend nod32 or AVg as these two the ability to actually scan for malicious links and notify you of items trying to install without you knowing. these products also have internet security versions with firewall. but for most people the normal anti-virus and the windows firewall is sufficient

i think once i get the damn dsl working properly, i should do a write-up on anti-virus and firewall programs for informational purposes

johndowe

09-22-2009, 12:14 AM

Hi there.

Good job Excaliborg, i never used Firefox, i was thinking to wack it, (un-install & reinstall)

Good idea on the firewall & antivirus tutorial, go for it.

JohnDowe.

Excaliborg

09-26-2009, 05:37 PM

hello my good friends, i bring you greetings and hope you are safe in the love our lord. i am coming to you via special ways of internets. google prince obi for a good laugh:lol:

anyway, to the anti-virus...almost AV companies have business editions of their products but i will not be mentioning those. one thing you must understand is that no AV product is perfect and that the majority of AV programs are incompatible with each other, so install one only.

AVG: http://www.avg.com/

this program comes in a few flavours:
free edition thats just a basic AV and you can t set your own scan parameters
complete paid for version where you can define your own scan parameters, has anti-rookit (searched for root-kits hidden in your OS), anti-spyware, link scanner (blocks dodgy websites and checks links for threats), web sheild (monitors your network connection for threats and stops dangerous connections) and resident shield (works in the background scanning all files that you access).
and avg intertnet security version that is the same as the above but has a firewall built in.

i have used the free edition and curently have the paid for version installed. both are easy to use and simple to understand. the resident shield in the paid for version might slow your machine down when you access files as each file is scanned (i have disabled it cos speed is important to me). i havent used the Internet Security version but whichever version you choose, you will be getting a great product that will keep your protected.

nod32 http://www.nod32.co.za/ppc/download_antivirus.php?gclid=CLmP4LqdkJ0CFVtm4wods kbE3Q

the acronym NOD stands for "Nemocnica na Okraji Disku" (hospital at the edge of the disk), a pun related to the Czechoslovakian medical drama series Nemocnica na okraji mesta (hospital at the edge of the city). little joke:D

this is another great AV program but it does tend to get a bit paranoid when scanning files. again this program comes in a fewflavours:

ESET Mobile Antivirus is aimed at protecting Windows Mobile Smartphones from viruses, spyware, adware, trojans, worms, rootkits, and other unwanted software. It also provides antispam filtering for SMS messages (bit silly but ok)
ESET Smart Security incorporates anti-spam and a bidirectional firewall along with traditional anti-malware features of ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
and the not normal AV but no free edition, just 30day trials.

CA http://shop.ca.com/virus/antivirus.aspx?gclid=CJOxldKgkJ0CFUQA4wodhQ6f1w

havent used this program extensively but it does what it says its going to do and the support people ar friendly.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus http://www.kaspersky.com/

this is a little more confusing as the below producs are for home and small businesses. but anyway.
Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 combines antivirus protection with a personal firewall and an anti-spam filter.
Anti-Virus 2010 solution provides complete antivirus protection that allows you to surf the web safely and keeps your PC free of viruses, Internet and email worms, and Trojans.
Internet Security
Special Edition for Ultra-Portables special edition of Kaspersky Internet Security is designed and customized to work on small and ultra-portable PCs, also known as Netbooks.
Kaspersky Mobile Security is a convenient and reliable solution that protects smartphones from Internet attacks, malicious programs and SMS spam. It also provides protection of data stored on a smartphone should the device be lost or stolen.

another great program to use, my second best in fact. it is a lttle more complicated to use but once you get to know it, it becomes a lot easier.

these are the AV programs that i have used and would recommend to someone looking for a good AV.

Avira Anti-vir is another but i havent used it. http://www.avira.com/en/pages/index.php

there are many AV programs out there, and which one to use can be difficult to choose. your best bet would be to do some research on the AV of your choice.

google search results for the most popular:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=opera&rls=en&q=anti-virus+programs&aq=f&oq=&aqi=g1g-s5g-m4

you will notice i havent said anything about firewall programs, as i havent used any stand-alone firewall programs. i've either used an AV with a firewall or i've used the built-in firewall that ships with windows. not the smartest choice but then again i dont like waiting for the firewall to learn my surfing habits, but thats just me.

again google search results for the most popular:
http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=firewall+programs&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

if you require any further help, ask johndowe or myself.

johndowe

09-26-2009, 06:57 PM

Hi there.

Good job, but what about AVAST av?

JohnDowe.

Excaliborg

09-27-2009, 04:48 AM

um i forgot about that one. i havent used it as extensively as Kaspersky or AVG but is still a good product to use. nut for some reason it rubs me the wrong way. im not sying its bad, but it could be better.

johndowe

10-04-2009, 09:04 AM

Hi there.

Don't forget to go see my "Bad ware and other computer nightmares to avoid" thread.

JohnDowe.

DSL

10-04-2009, 03:18 PM

Anyone know about virus attacts and how to stop them.?

When i web search for some websites sometimes i get hit with an
( Adobe Reader license agreement popup window ) when i try to close it
it will install some nasty addware virus program that will take over your system and turn everything upside down! even when i click no on the
adobe reader it will install it any way and you can't get rid of it without
formatting your hard drive!. if you know a removal tool that can get rid of that bad apple without formatting my hard drive or anyone else.
i don't have the virus now but its out there and can be a pain in the ass.
thanks.

i also get a fake virus window saying that your system is under attack! and now scanning.

i do have McAfee security center too.

johndowe

10-04-2009, 03:33 PM

Hi there.

DSL, if you are trying to open a ".pdf" file you need Adobe's reader, and it IS freeware, and all web brousers are aware of this and will ask to install adobe reader in order for you to see the file, even if you already have an older version of adobe reader (aka Acrebat), so it is hard for me to know if it is an attack or just the brouser doing it's job.

So, could you tell me which site is it that you experienced this event, so that i may see for myself?

Also if it is detected as an attack, it may verry well be one, if you d/l and read ".pdf" files you do need adobe reader, you should get from adobe direct @ www.adobe.com it is freeware, but there is a licence agreement when you install it.

JohnDowe.

DSL

10-04-2009, 04:53 PM

Its like opening one of those pdf links in google but i was searching
for adult shemale pics and movies and the pop ups from behind them which is
where i got it from i don't have it now but it does pop-ups from
time to time when i search the web in google but now everytime i see that i just
re-start my pc to clear it because my pc freezes also when that happens.

Hi there.

DSL, if you are trying to open a ".pdf" file you need Adobe's reader, and it IS freeware, and all web brousers are aware of this and will ask to install adobe reader in order for you to see the file, even if you already have an older version of adobe reader (aka Acrebat), so it is hard for me to know if it is an attack or just the brouser doing it's job.

So, could you tell me which site is it that you experienced this event, so that i may see for myself?

Also if it is detected as an attack, it may verry well be one, if you d/l and read ".pdf" files you do need adobe reader, you should get from adobe direct @ www.adobe.com it is freeware, but there is a licence agreement when you install it.

JohnDowe.

DSL

10-04-2009, 05:02 PM

Oh yeah a while back i did get a notice warning from my isp
because of that. they were detecting virus activity on my cable
modem and they had to upgrade my email security.

johndowe

10-25-2009, 11:36 AM

Hi there.

It's nice to see that all PC everywher are operating within normal operating parameners.

JohnDowe.

TracyCoxx

11-03-2009, 06:33 AM

johndowe

11-03-2009, 07:09 PM

Here's a PC problem...

When my PC boots up, it says:
Warning, your CPU fan failed or speed too low

I checked the settings, and the voltages were
Vcore voltage 1.27V (I've seen this reporting low before)
3.3V Voltage 3.34V
5V Voltage 5.05V
12V Voltage 12.08V

The CPU Fan speed warning was set to 800RPM, and the actual speed was 266RPM

The computer either boots up and is very slow, or programs don't run, or it doesn't come up at all.

Hi there.

It seems that the bios is reporting correctly and the CPU is over heating, time to change the CPU Fan, it shouldn't cost more than $10-15, for a reg fan and $20-30 for a premium fan, + installation if needed, but you HAVE to have the RIGHT FAN, it is BETTER to have it done professionaly, because it is easy to break some of the fan/cpu tabs and the fan (with heat sink) will never fit again and if powered the cpu will SELF DESTRUCT, REALY.

JohnDowe.

randolph

11-03-2009, 08:07 PM

Hi John,
I had a new wireless router installed "Linksys". The loading of Firefox and Mail seems somewhat slower that it used to be. Is there something I can adjust to speed things up?
Randolph

TracyCoxx

11-03-2009, 11:04 PM

Hi there.

It seems that the bios is reporting correctly and the CPU is over heating, time to change the CPU Fan, it shouldn't cost more than $10-15, for a reg fan and $20-30 for a premium fan, + installation if needed, but you HAVE to have the RIGHT FAN, it is BETTER to have it done professionaly, because it is easy to break some of the fan/cpu tabs and the fan (with heat sink) will never fit again and if powered the cpu will SELF DESTRUCT, REALY.

JohnDowe.

Ok thanks. I didn't know if I needed to replace the fan, or if there was a power supply problem and the CPU fan was underpowered because of that low Vcore voltage reading I saw.

johndowe

11-04-2009, 04:51 AM

Ok thanks. I didn't know if I needed to replace the fan, or if there was a power supply problem and the CPU fan was underpowered because of that low Vcore voltage reading I saw.

Hi there.

The CPU Voltage varies from 1.2 to 1.5 Volts, depending on the CPU, if you tell me which cpu you have i can check what the proper voltage should be, but the 1.2 to 1.5V (approx is generated on the main board from either the 5V or the 3.3V of the Power Suply (PSU), but it's usually the 3.3V, if replacing the fan doesn't help you have to change your main board, if you have opened the case, check if the capacitor tops are flat or "bubbled" if they are there is a major problem with the main board, and has to be replaced and if the Voltage to the CPU was always LOW it should be fine.

The capacitors are the smallish cans that are spread throughout the main board and have a y type indent in the aluminium case top, they should be flat, but the Y is there to allow the pressure of the bad cap(acitor) to make it bubble to see that it is bad.

Also the fans do not work off of the cpu voltage, but the 5V or the 12V and those are fine.

JohnDowe.

johndowe

11-04-2009, 05:23 AM

Hi John,
I had a new wireless router installed "Linksys". The loading of Firefox and Mail seems somewhat slower that it used to be. Is there something I can adjust to speed things up?
Randolph

Hi there.

Do you mean loading the programs or downloading data from the internet?

I assume that you mean from the internet, it's the word "seems" that bothers me, but anyway, i'm sure you knlw that, there are many things that may make the internet "seem" slower or faster, like filesize, the files that are on the internet are getting bigger all the time and it can make your internet "seem" slower, that beeing said:

There are 2 wireless connection speeds 54Mb/s and 108Mb/s the first is most common and cheaper since it is older technology, but due to many factors your wireless connection may not connect at the maximum speed and thus the internet "seems" slower because it is.

To check this you right click on the wireless icon on the tray next to the clock and click status, make sure:

1- you are connected to the right network, some have slower internet than others, and may not have "password" (wep key) protected their internet and you may be using their internet, essentially getting free internet from them, which is unethical.

2- The signal strength is good; at least 2 or 3 green bars.

3- Look at the connection speed, it should be 54.0Mbps or 108Mbps if it is less you probably have interfearance of some kind, walls, people etc, or other wireless networks nearby and some wireless phones use frequencies that are close to wireless networks, and sometimes interfeer with the connection.

But the most important factor is that wired network connections work at 100Mbps without any interfearance while wireless work at 54Mbps and are more prone to interfearance.

Also linksys make good products, so the problem probably isn't in the hardware, but there are a lot of router setting that you can change but but do not make much difference in speed, but in security, and is your network "password" (wep key) protected? It should be otherwise others may use your internet and at the end of the month you may have a big surprize when you get your bill.

JohnDowe.

randolph

11-04-2009, 08:30 AM

Do you mean loading the programs or downloading data from the internet?

I assume that you mean from the internet, it's the word "seems" that bothers me, but anyway, i'm sure you knlw that, there are many things that may make the internet "seem" slower or faster, like filesize, the files that are on the internet are getting bigger all the time and it can make your internet "seem" slower, that beeing said:

Hi John,
Thanks for the analysis. Actually, the internet is working well, its the computer that's taking longer to load programs like Firefox and Windows mail. they used to load almost instantly, now they take several seconds to load. It's not a big deal but I would like them to work faster.

alphanumeric

11-04-2009, 04:31 PM

Okay then here is my problem, a few months ago I bought an HP desktop (Model m9405f) i bought it refurbished. It was a pretty good deal I got a $1600.00 system for around $800.00 Now A few months ago, the system would just randomly crash. I hadn't created the system restore disks, but I thought well I'll just perform a system restore and then I'll make the system restore disks.

So anyways, I perform a system restore, and when my system restarts I get a "Code Purple" In essence what it is is a tiny bit of code HP sticks in the start-up to check against a tattoo to the EEPROM chip on the motherboard.

Now I have done no modifications to the computer, but they may have when refurbishing it at the store I bought it from.

I was simply going to wait until windows seven came out and simply put the new OS on my system, but my financial situation is not the same as when the problem occurred. I read that you could remove the hard drive and install it into another computer and edit the problem there. But I attempted that yesterday only to discover that HP rivets 90% of there computers together so getting to the hard drive is virtually impossible without permanently disassembling the case.

So my question to you is this:

Could I get a burn a linux DVD and run it in the CD drive and THEN access the files I would need to delete or modify to get my system up and running?

The reason I am sticking with windows is my desktop is used primarily for gaming. and trying to run windows games in linux is a pain I don't want to get involved in.

Also let this be a lesson to everyone else! DON"T buy HP. in fact build your own system. That's what I'm definitely doing next time.

vaje

11-04-2009, 06:07 PM

Boot your machine from some Cd or DVD. (it could be RIPLinux or BartPe live cd)
Locate this file: "c:\hp\bin\configcheck\run.py" and rename it to run.p_ this solves your problem.
Sometimes resetting the CMOS helps too.

Good luck!

vaje

11-04-2009, 06:09 PM

Oh, yes, and don't buy brand computers next time. Build your own...

alphanumeric

11-04-2009, 06:33 PM

Okay, quick update, I went to the hp site and found out how to remove the hard drive cage and took apart my external hard drive, used the connector to hook up to the HP hard drive and erased the two files causing the problems.

So now my main gaming rig is once again back up and running.

So now I can put off getting windows 7 for a little while longer Yay!

johndowe

11-05-2009, 02:20 AM

Hi John,
Thanks for the analysis. Actually, the internet is working well, its the computer that's taking longer to load programs like Firefox and Windows mail. they used to load almost instantly, now they take several seconds to load. It's not a big deal but I would like them to work faster.

Hi there.

The reason it takes longer is because the internet programs check for an internet connection and with wireless it takes a bit longer.

JohnDowe.

johndowe

11-05-2009, 03:05 AM

Hi there.

Factory built CPU's are made to do pretty much everything but the manufacturer also wants to make a GOOD profit with the machine, and offers what they think the consumer needs, or want them to "need".

Those CPU's are Jacks of all trades, but master of none, and the noname brands kinda follow the same trend, but as Excaliborg said;you always get what you pay for, and i often say; the "clones" are both the best and the worst computers, depending on the price and the "reputation" of the builder.

If you decide to build your own CPU you have to know at least a bit about the inner workings of a computer, it definately shuldn't be your first computer, unless you are an electronic tech and know what you are doing.

But it isn't that hard, but if you do it to save money, you will probably miss your mark, because once you start researching the parts that you need, you will want better parts and those are more expensive, but your computer will be better built in return, also computer stores buy "OEM" parts, which are "mostly" the same as store bought "box" models but with some minor but important differences, first the software you get with the "box" version is usually more extensive, and the all important warranty is much longer on the "box" version and they cost more, that and the fact that the reseller buys his components from a wholesaler and in quantity he gets a better price, and another way they save money is to put in less; smaller slower hard drives, less slower memory, etc, when you build your own CPU you probably won't do that, why? Because it isn't in your best interest, if you put in less ram, or a smaller hard drive, you will have to upgrade sooner instead of later, so saving a buck shouldn't be an issue, you will get out what you put in.

As an example you put in a brand name video card and a more expensive one, you may end up with a computer that you can watch TV on and watch your computer on your big screen TV, not something most brand name computers can do.

Also, the assembly of a computer is almost fool proof, most connectors canot be plugged incorectly, and most require very little force to connect, if you would need to force something, it means you are not doing it right, look at both parts and you will see how they are supposed to "mate", the only connectors you have to apply some force to are the POWER connectors that require a good SOLID connection and you easily slide them in about half way, and then you apply a bit more force, but only if they did go in half way in, the only other exeption is ram it goes in half the way, make sure the notch(es) match and when they are alligned you push it in until the little arms on each side snap onto the small ram board.

And you only need 1 medium phillips (cross) screwdriver to build the whole thing.

And something i CANOT over stress: READ THE MANUALS THAT COME WITH THE COMPONENTS, EVEN IF YOU KNOW WHAT THEY DO AND HOW THEY WORK, YOU MAY STILL LEARN SOMETHING!

And one thing that can kill your computer is static electricity, if you are prone to it, ground yourself before you touch any of the electronics

A good well built CPU should cost you at $1500 - $2500, but can cost much more if you go over"board".

JohnDowe.

sesame

11-05-2009, 12:06 PM

I always buy assembled computers and never branded ones.
I choose special parts suitable to my needs and assemble them with the help of an assembler. One side of my computer cabinet is always open for better air circulation or if I need to tamper with the RAM or HDD, etc. My machines run smoothly.

Kakariko

11-17-2009, 03:46 AM

Steve747

11-17-2009, 10:06 AM

Hi

What you can do obviously depends on the services offered by the Router you have. Many modern routers offer a feature called QoS (Quality of Service). This allows you to set the different priorities for traffic from different applications, ports or MAC addresses (physical devices).

Obviously to be able to do this you will need to know the address, and administrator name and password for the router.

Hope this helps.

Steve

Kakariko

11-18-2009, 08:17 AM

I know the address, administrator name and password. At the main page display, I get this:

139187

(Billion is the name/brand of the router). Unsure of where to go from here...

twistedone

11-19-2009, 03:11 PM

Performance question:

I have a home built PC. I'd like to increase its performance with hardware upgrades.

My system has.

Asus M3A78-CM motherboard
AM2, 3GHZ processor (dual core)
4 gigs, DDR 800 memory. (I could add more, but would need a 64bit operating system to utilize it)
Nvidia BFG 9800 video card, PCI Express 2.

BIOS, is set to automatically overclock the processor. It is capable of doing so with this motherboard.

My question is: Would I see much of an increase in performance and speed if I upgraded to a quad core processor? The current motherboard is capable of handling it. I run a lot of games on it.

Steve747

11-20-2009, 03:52 PM

Hi Kakario

Sorry about the delay in replying. I am afraid I have used up my download limit today so i cant read your screenshot. Send me an email with the model number and I will reply with instructions. The mail link for this forum is on the top right-hand corner of the page.

Steve

Steve747

11-20-2009, 03:58 PM

Hi Twistedone

I did a lot of work on performance optimisation. Before trying to improve the performance of a system it is necessary to decide what you are trying to improve and do a lot of investigation to find out where your current performance bottlenecks are.

Are you trying to improve the frame rate on running one or more games? Then the bottleneck is likely to be the performance of the graphics card and bandwith of the bus between the graphics card and the processor.

If you are not maxing out your current two cores on whatever you are running now, adding another two cores isn't going to provide any improvement. Try measuring the processor utilisation while pushing your rig hard.

More details on what you are trying to achieve would also help.

Steve

johndowe

09-10-2010, 06:37 AM

I have an internet router, with 3 users plugged into it (including myself). Another user is almost constantly downloading, making things slower for everyone else. Also, I'm from Australia, where every ISP has download limits. I was wondering if there was a way to slow the speeds down through just one port of the router and if it's possible to have internet stop working on one port, once that user reaches a set download limit per day.

Whether this can be done or not, I'd like to say thanks all the same ;)

Hi there.

I was away for a good while but i'm back, don't know for how long though.

Yes there are ways to limit lockout users of networks, weather it is within windows or better yet the router itself, but, it is sometimes quite involved.

But before doing that, who's paying for the internet and the router? And you REALY should talk the the guy before tampering with the hardware, if you haven't already, because if you do tamper with the hardware and limit his internet incustions he may take it personally.

JohnDowe.

sailove

09-10-2010, 11:33 AM

johndowe

09-11-2010, 10:34 PM

For the most part my computer works well, but every once and a while I get online and the sites I go to won't download they say waiting for numbers of items to download and they never do has this have something to do with my virtual memory and if so how do I correct it ?

HI there.

You don't give me much to go on, so i'll give you a generic ansewer.

MOST of the time when a web page fails to load completely it's the web site's host that can't fill the demand and a time out occurs and the page doesn't download completely, there isn't much you can do since the problem isn't on your end but at the other end, all you can do is to refresh the page it sometimes works, or try later, also the problem can be poor site maintenance, and there too there isn't much to be done since again the problem is at the other end.

JohnDowe.

no1000

09-12-2010, 04:19 AM

ila

09-12-2010, 07:44 AM

also...

any spyware/malware/virus remover I can download for free???

You can try Spybot S&D and C Cleaner. You will have to do a search to get the proper spelling for the sites. You should also know that MacAfee (sic) and Norton don't like to run on the same computer as Spybot. Friends that have used Spybot and C Cleaner tell me that they are quite satisfied with both products and would never consider MacAfee or Norton again.

smc

09-12-2010, 08:12 AM

Of course, you can all switch to Apple computers and not have ANY of these problems!

no1000

09-12-2010, 12:41 PM

Of course, you can all switch to Apple computers and not have ANY of these problems!

true, but I'm not about to shell out $2000 for a computer and plus I love my video games.

smc

09-12-2010, 12:59 PM

true, but I'm not about to shell out $2000 for a computer and plus I love my video games.

Once you grasp the concept of time as money, you will see things differently with respect to the price of an Apple computer. I do not want to turn this thread into a Mac vs. PC debate, though, so I will leave it at that.

As for games, well ... as someone who could not care less about computer games, I cannot relate to that issue.

johndowe

09-13-2010, 02:09 PM

Of course, you can all switch to Apple computers and not have ANY of these problems!

Hi there.

You are opening a can of worms here my freind.

On average most computer users don't have many CPU problems PC or MAC, but once in a while you do, be it hardware or software, NO COMPUTER IS IMMUNE TO PROBLEMS, if you don't have any problems with your mac, good for you, even if i don't do macs, I DO KNOW THAT THEY DO FUCK UP OCCASIONNALLY, but the problem with the PC is not the PC hardware it's Microsoft, which does a realy crappy job with their OS (windows) it looks good, but it chokes the life out your CPU, BUT it runs all the APPS & GAMES that we all want and as such, it is a "necessary" evil, if there were another OS that would run all the apps and games i have etc. i would switch in an heartbead and i would recomend it to everybody, but it isn't the MAC.

Also one thing that makes a big difference is the tech that built/fixxed your system, as in most feilds there are good techs and bad ones, if you have a bad one you will have more problems than if you had a good one MAC or PC.

JohnDowe.

johndowe

09-13-2010, 02:34 PM

Hi there.

COMPUTER VIRUSES...

Well, there are alot of software that claim to remove viruses, but few actually do a good job, what you need is to have good protection from the start and you won't have to remove the viruses, spyware or extortionware.

The best way to get rid of any infection is to re-install your OS from scratch, but it may not always be eady, some people have staggering amounts of info on their CPU's and they canot afford to it and would need 10+ DVD's to do a backup (but anybody that has lots of info or valuable info should aways do backups because CPU's aren't perfect and as such are prone to many kinds of failures that can make your info unusable) ading a second hard disk and the price of the re installing of windows or mac os can cost you up to $200, is your info worth it? Often the $100 hard disk contains info that is worht much more than that, if it fails you are out of luck UNLESS you had a (recent) backup.

Personally, i looked for virus removal tools for a long time and i never found one that lived up to their hype, they did remove the virus but it came back a short while later, so the virus wasn't completely removed, other times the virus remover did more damage than the virus it was supposed to remove so i stopped looking and i suggest to backup your CRUCIAL info and reinstall your OS, that way you restart with a clean slate, and with a better anti-virus.

JohnDowe.

Mel Asher

09-13-2010, 03:30 PM

Hi there.

By this time most of you have probably seen me, either as a joker or very serious.

This said, in my professionnal life i am a PC (ONLY) technician, one of the best i know, and i do know quite a few, i specialize in hardware problems i can do software problems too.

VERY IMPORTANT, I WILL NOT ANSEWER PASSWORD BYPASS QUESTIONS, and other hacking posts.

Also, you should read the next few posts they conatain alot of usefull info.

JohnDowe.

JD -

I appear to have lost or corrupted my DCIMAN32.dll on my Desktop computer, and cannot access the Internet through any shortcut, although I can log onto Internet Explorer. I am on Windows XP, but have lost the original disk that I used to set up XP originally with.

Any ideas or suggestions I can use ?

Appreciate

aw9725

09-13-2010, 03:59 PM

Other than being known on this forum for fast vehicles and my infatuation with Kelly Shore, I was Director of Academic Computing at my university for five years and also chaired the Instructional Technology Committee--so I know a little something about computers as well? ;)

Without debating the merits of a ?Mac? or ?PC? and also in an attempt to keep this post relatively short, my own view is that a ?computer is a computer.? Inside they all work alike--everything is in binary. From our perspective however, there are certain applications that you want to run and you buy the appropriate hardware and software to support them. In some cases, the Mac is the clear winner. Most of my colleagues in the liberal arts and sciences use them and love them--I have owned several Mac?s myself. On our campus, we have Mac?s in the Writing Center, the Education Lab, and in the Art Department. Many of the applications used (particularly in Art) can only be found for the Mac.

In the School of Business, where I reside as a faculty member, we have several PC labs. Business has historically used PC?s. The answer ?why? could be very long--to keep it short, suffice to say that IBM specifically targeted business starting way back in the 1960?s and 70?s with mainframes and ?data processing? applications (payroll, inventory, finance, etc.). That trend continued in the early 1980?s when IBM introduced the first PC (Homework Assignment: look up the ?IBM 360? and the ?1981 PC?). At that time, a young entrepreneur named Bill Gates had just won a contract from IBM to provide an ?operating system? for the PC. For whatever reasons, and there are many, businesses in general have been slow to adopt alternatives to the PC. For one, IBM?s customer support was legendary. A ?young upstart company? like Apple, was not likely to make inroads into this corporate market--however superior their product.

Individuals however, were free to make their own choices and many users in ?non business? fields gravitated to the Apple. Especially the Mac. With its user-friendly interface, stable OS, multitude of applications, and ease of networking it was a great choice. It also had, from the start, the aura of being ?cooler? than the PC and appealed to many for this reason (Homework Assignment: go to YouTube and find the ?1984? video that introduced the Mac during the Super Bowl). However the world of business stuck with the PC through the 80?s and 90?s. One possible reason that is often cited is that by the 1980?s, computers had become a ?commodity.? That is, it was essential to the bottom line to get the ?cheapest? technology and in the ?largest quantity.? Also, ?IT? support staffs knew the PC. With so much invested most businesses were not about to take a chance on something like a Mac.

As for the issue of stability? Any computer connected to the Internet can be a target. There are far more ?hackers? who have aimed their attacks at the PC than Mac. I am familiar with some of these groups--many consider themselves to be similar to ?freedom fighters? at war against the giant capitalist beast Microsoft. Sheer numbers alone, make the PC more vulnerable. There is also the issue of Operating System stability. From the beginning, Apple had a well designed ?OS? that was based on Unix. This is the ?core? of the Mac if you will. Apple also took a ?closed? approach to hardware and software development. Steve Jobs continues this trend today with the iPhone and iPad (Homework Assignment: read about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates or watch the movie ?Pirates of Silicon Valley"). IBM, with its choice of ?DOS? and on ?open? approach to developers may have committed the ?original sin? that has been perpetuated through countless versions of DOS and Windows. What was needed in my opinion, was a ?clean break? from Windows about 20 years ago. John Dowe is correct in saying that it is the ?OS? that is to blame for most of our trouble.

So which one is ?better?? That depends? and what?s more, you are all right! Speaking for myself, I almost have to rely on PC?s for what we do in the School of Business--most of the software won?t run on a Mac. Microsoft Office is available for the Mac but not Access. As far as the features, functionality, and stability, I prefer the Mac OS over Windows--no contest. In my life and career I have used SO MUCH technology that I really don?t give it much thought anymore. A few years ago, I used to be in charge of the entire ?IT? budget for our university--in my role, I would always let users decide what they wanted--so long as they could justify how it would be used for instruction. Over the years, other than for ?Business,? I have probably bought more Macs than anything else.

smc

09-13-2010, 04:19 PM

... I do not want to turn this thread into a Mac vs. PC debate, though, so I will leave it at that. ...

Apparently, what I wrote and quote from myself went unheeded. Sorry to have opened up a "can of worms" that is so much more complex than technical matters (cf. Microsoft and how it has functioned in the world of technology).

Again, I will leave it at that, and hope the thread can get back to PC problem-solving.

sailove

09-14-2010, 04:56 PM

johndowe

09-14-2010, 11:44 PM

JD -

I appear to have lost or corrupted my DCIMAN32.dll on my Desktop computer, and cannot access the Internet through any shortcut, although I can log onto Internet Explorer. I am on Windows XP, but have lost the original disk that I used to set up XP originally with.

Any ideas or suggestions I can use ?

Appreciate

Hi there.

If it is indeed the DCIMAN32.dll that is damaged, you would need your XP CD you could use another XP CD but if it is a different version, it may do more harm than good, over the internet like this it is much harder to properly diagnose a problem than if i had the CPU on hand, at least you are lucky your CPU works you can do a back-up and then re-install win, i would strongly sugess a QUALIFIED tech to do it though.

JohnDowe.

johndowe

09-15-2010, 12:16 AM

Thanks for the replie, I have another question I would like to ask. A while ago I got a virus. My antiviral software did nothing to help. (Nortons) The only solution I found was to reload windows xp, the old copy is still on my computer taking up space on my hard drive. When I start my computer I have a choice of 2 different installations of windows.I guess my question is: is there any easy way to delete this extra copy of windows or any easy way to wipe everything off my hard drive and just reload 1 copy of windows ? I still have my original disc with product code. Your help would be appreciated.

Hi there.

Any anti-virus will stop older well known viruses, but not all anti-viruses are kept up to date to stop the newest viruses.

How the intivirus works, is first it checks for older viruses in it's database, then ith checks the "behavior" of the programs, and if it does something it deems not "cosher" then it stops the process and flags it, but the line between well behaved programs and viruses is not all that well defined so some viruses may defeat this and infect your CPU.

This beeing said, when you installed the second copy of win you made a little mistake, you had to delete the partitions and re partition the drive with only one copy of win, but what is done is done.

Trying to erase the first copy of win can be problematic, Microsoft in it's infinite wisdom (ah ah ah) has probably used some of the files from the first win in the second one also it has a virus, so to be safe i would do a back-up of your most important files check 2 -3 more times to be sure and wipe everything and start from scratch with a reformated re installed win XP.

I am thining if i shouldn't do a post on installing win in detail and with all or most of the software you need to get up an running without having to allways look for programs you used to have or you should have...

JohnDowe.

johndowe

09-15-2010, 12:26 AM

You are a life saver! Ok how do i reformat my computer if I don't have my windows xp cd? The computer currently has windows vista but I like xp better. Anyway I can download it?

also...

any spyware/malware/virus remover I can download for free???

Hi there.

You know the old saying, you get what you pay for?

Well there you go with the free anti-viruses.

But about your CPU, if it came with vista, there may not be any XP drivers, so without the proper XP drivers you could do basic computer functions like most of the programs that come with win, but if you want to play music, videos, games and other more complex software you WILL need proper XP drivers, otherwise forget XP, try 7 instead, it is much better than vista.

JohnDowe.

sailove

09-15-2010, 08:42 AM

Once again, thanks for your reply, and I like your idea of a post to install windows, but my problem is not in the installtion but in wipeing my computer clean and starting again I don't mind looking for and reinstalling programs I use (except for sound drivers, that can be a bitch) it gives me something to do besides viewing porn LOL. I guess my question is : Is there any good resource material(book) that will give me detailed info (on wipeing my comp clean for a new start) that you can refer me to ? Thanks again :)Hi there.

Any anti-virus will stop older well known viruses, but not all anti-viruses are kept up to date to stop the newest viruses.

How the intivirus works, is first it checks for older viruses in it's database, then ith checks the "behavior" of the programs, and if it does something it deems not "cosher" then it stops the process and flags it, but the line between well behaved programs and viruses is not all that well defined so some viruses may defeat this and infect your CPU.

This beeing said, when you installed the second copy of win you made a little mistake, you had to delete the partitions and re partition the drive with only one copy of win, but what is done is done.

Trying to erase the first copy of win can be problematic, Microsoft in it's infinite wisdom (ah ah ah) has probably used some of the files from the first win in the second one also it has a virus, so to be safe i would do a back-up of your most important files check 2 -3 more times to be sure and wipe everything and start from scratch with a reformated re installed win XP.

I am thining if i shouldn't do a post on installing win in detail and with all or most of the software you need to get up an running without having to allways look for programs you used to have or you should have...

JohnDowe.

johndowe

09-17-2010, 04:23 AM

Hi there.

Wiping everything is VERY easy, when you go through the process of starting to install windows, and you are at the select destimation disk drive for installation, you read and select the "c:" particion and you enter d to delete it, win will ask you to confirm and you do so (with all the partisions), and then you select the unpartitionned space (the whole disk) and you do a FULL format, it takes longe but it erases everything and it rewrites the whole disk in effect doing a good job of checking it, and you follow the rest of the win installation.

DRIVERS...

Drivers aren't a bitch to find as you seem to think, unless of course the manufacturer of your PC's main board is out of business.

Brand Name PC's: Ex: DELL Optiplex GX280.

You go on to the internet to www.dell.com and look on the page for "support or driver download".

Then you enter the model name & Number; Optiplex GX280

Then the OS Win XP

and you D/L the Audio, Video (not Monitor), Chipset, Lan, if you have a modem and other interfaces you will need to D/L them too.

Then you install them one at a time and reatart as they require.

JohnDowe.

sailove

09-17-2010, 06:15 PM

Thanks once again for your reply, I'm going to try it tommorow, so if you don't hear from me it didn't go well. LOL :) Hi there.

Wiping everything is VERY easy, when you go through the process of starting to install windows, and you are at the select destimation disk drive for installation, you read and select the "c:" particion and you enter d to delete it, win will ask you to confirm and you do so (with all the partisions), and then you select the unpartitionned space (the whole disk) and you do a FULL format, it takes longe but it erases everything and it rewrites the whole disk in effect doing a good job of checking it, and you follow the rest of the win installation.

DRIVERS...

Drivers aren't a bitch to find as you seem to think, unless of course the manufacturer of your PC's main board is out of business.

Brand Name PC's: Ex: DELL Optiplex GX280.

You go on to the internet to www.dell.com and look on the page for "support or driver download".

Then you enter the model name & Number; Optiplex GX280

Then the OS Win XP

and you D/L the Audio, Video (not Monitor), Chipset, Lan, if you have a modem and other interfaces you will need to D/L them too.

Then you install them one at a time and reatart as they require.

JohnDowe.