Author Topic: Computer Maintenance Blues (Read 19425 times)

frankcapri · « **on:** January 16, 2009, 04:19:56 PM »

I've spent 6 hours of this day so far transferring files, running scans, and installing random crap onto
the three computers I own.

It's absolutely ridiculous how much digitized junk I have.

On a positive note, I found some spyware that had been slowing down my laptop
substantially.

Just thought I'd share

smokester · « **Reply #1 on:** January 16, 2009, 05:34:07 PM »

All I ever seem to do is buy more hard drives $:-\$ I don't organise the files I've downloaded like I keep saying I'll do, I just keep running out of space, swapping things about, and end up bulding extentions to house more shite. One day I'll go through it all and end up with a couple of TBs of reclaimed memory - Lord knows that is something I'm short of in more ways than one...

oothefuxthat · « **Reply #2 on:** January 16, 2009, 05:41:08 PM »

i have a self build pc....very nice too

i am very pc literate, yet in spite of my best efforts, i recently had to do a reformat due to a virus called 'seneka'

i dont visit porn sites or moody gambling sites, i don't randomly browse sites, so where it came fom is a mystery to me.

i spent a day and a half going round in circles before calling it a day and resorting to the reformat...

...but on a lighter note, my pc now has the 64 bit o/s it was crying out for from day 1

CMF · « **Reply #3 on:** January 16, 2009, 07:07:49 PM »

Quote from: oothefuxthat on January 16, 2009, 05:41:08 PM

i dont visit porn sites or moody gambling sites, i don't randomly browse sites, so where it came fom is a mystery to me.

ah, come on! Now, why would you lie to us?

JackFrost · « **Reply #4 on:** January 16, 2009, 07:56:09 PM »

Funny you should start this thread...

I'm only posting now because i'm at home, my work 'puter crashed today. I was typing a response e-mail and all of a sudden - the blue screen of death. I reboot and get my desktop image, but no access to anything else. Boot again, blue screen of death. The Tech even got it when trying to boot up in safe mode. So he decides to install a backup image and that stars giving him problems for awhile. When I left he was nearing the complete re-install...

$:-\$

ohcheap1 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 16, 2009, 10:52:27 PM »

Please Jack, dont speak of this blue screen. I have some very vivid flashbacks which I have been trying to block.

JackFrost · « **Reply #6 on:** January 17, 2009, 01:42:52 AM »

I rarely, if ever, see the blue screen, which is why I was so astonished that it came up when all I was doing was typing...

laama · « **Reply #7 on:** January 17, 2009, 08:18:56 AM »

Please

Don't mention BSOD in public.
Twice last year my windows crash and I lost almost everything in my C disk.

laama · « **Reply #8 on:** January 17, 2009, 01:28:56 PM »

Quote from: goldshirt*9 on January 17, 2009, 10:03:44 AM

ouch that sucks.
fortunately i back everything up.
except when i forget

I sometimes forget back ups and then poo happens.

yolanda71 · « **Reply #9 on:** January 22, 2009, 03:42:50 PM »

I haven't had a BSOD since I switched to Vista, knock on wood

frankcapri · « **Reply #10 on:** January 22, 2009, 11:05:06 PM »

It's sort of odd y'all talking about that dreaded blue screen because my wife
told me it popped up on the laptop yesterday. I have a feeling the hard drive
is dying. Good thing there's nothing important on that thing $:-\$

JackFrost · « **Reply #11 on:** January 22, 2009, 11:11:40 PM »

BSOD is the Internets Voldemort...

frankcapri · « **Reply #12 on:** January 22, 2009, 11:30:54 PM »

I used to have a BSOD screen saver on my computer, and it never ceased to scare the crap out of me

JackFrost · « **Reply #13 on:** January 22, 2009, 11:37:25 PM »

Quote from: frankcapri on January 22, 2009, 11:30:54 PM

I used to have a BSOD screen saver on my computer, and it never ceased to scare the crap out of me

There was a game on the GameCube called Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem that was kind of a Lovecraftian horror survival-type game (a good one actually). But one of the things about your character was a sanity meter that would rise and fall with the players proximity to the strange. There'd be times when the screen would be kinda swirly, or the character wouldn't follow the controls properly, but occasionally it would 'go to 11' so to speak and the character would go totally apeshit. And when that terrified, one of the things that the game does as it distorts itself is to flash the BSOD.

I about poo when I saw it because I had no Idea what the BSOD meant for the GameCube.

Gave the intended scare effect, tho'...

dweez · « **Reply #14 on:** January 22, 2009, 11:38:42 PM »

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897558.aspx

frankcapri · « **Reply #15 on:** January 22, 2009, 11:42:02 PM »

^That's the one. It works well for mean pranks on geek-wise friends as well

Quote from: JackFrost on January 22, 2009, 11:37:25 PM

...but occasionally it would 'go to 11' so to speak and the character would go totally apeshit. And when that terrified, one of the things that the game does as it distorts itself is to flash the BSOD.

That game sounds awesome

JackFrost · « **Reply #16 on:** January 22, 2009, 11:46:05 PM »

Quote from: frankcapri on January 22, 2009, 11:42:02 PM

^That's the one. It works well for mean pranks on geek-wise friends as well

That game sounds awesome

It was, the story spanned centuries and you played characters from multiple eras from ancient Rome to modern-day Massachusetts each person providing a piece of the prophecy that calls some ancient evil that you have to defeat. It's pretty cool...

Methiah · « **Reply #17 on:** January 24, 2009, 01:36:03 PM »

Quote

I used to have a BSOD screen saver on my computer, and it never ceased to scare the crap out of me

Yes I used to use one of them back in the University's common computer room. I went to the toilet one time and when I came back there was an administrator hanging over it after just rebooting the damn thing.

smokester · « **Reply #18 on:** January 24, 2009, 02:18:46 PM »

^ That'll learn ya.

dweez · « **Reply #19 on:** January 26, 2009, 09:05:00 AM »

This site used to be great before the days of pop-up blockers and tabbed browsing.

http://www.turnofftheinternet.com/

I had people cold rebooting their computers because the page it went to was a full screen with no frames (looked just like the "It is now safe to turn off your computer" screen from early Windows 95. I'd chuckle when they'd tell me and I'd then introduce them to Alt+F4.

goldshirt*9 · « **Reply #20 on:** February 07, 2009, 11:06:06 AM »

anyone know a decent prog to test your ram out.
i've a suspicion mine is on its way out.
pc very slow in multi tasking especially in photo prog's

smokester · « **Reply #21 on:** February 09, 2009, 04:11:24 AM »

Quote from: goldshirt*9 on February 07, 2009, 11:06:06 AM

anyone know a decent prog to test your ram out.
i've a suspicion mine is on its way out.
pc very slow in multi tasking especially in photo prog's

Memtest was the free software that I used to use to test out possible faulty RAM. I googled it and there are still free versions although there is a pro version that does cost.

This is probably the best return that google found for your needs:
http://hcidesign.com/memtest/

goldshirt*9 · « **Reply #22 on:** February 09, 2009, 10:19:37 AM »

many thanks. will give it a go.

dweez · « **Reply #23 on:** February 09, 2009, 11:14:27 AM »

Hiren's Boot Disk should have memtest+ on it.

goldshirt*9 · « **Reply #24 on:** February 09, 2009, 11:51:04 PM »

i've a copy of that .
have run this and all ok.
will have another look to see if i have an option for ram only

frankcapri · « **Reply #25 on:** February 12, 2009, 01:38:43 PM »

Holy crap. My workhorse PC has recently started to reboot for no reason
and pop up that stupid BSOD. I just hope my new drive comes in time for
me to clone the failing drive and save all my installed programs

dweez · « **Reply #26 on:** February 12, 2009, 01:52:59 PM »

Is it a failing hdd? Do you hear a clicking noise coming from the hdd? That's usually what happens when the hdd starts failing.

frankcapri · « **Reply #27 on:** February 12, 2009, 01:56:47 PM »

I've gotten into the habit of using 1 smaller drive for my OS and installed programs.
The one on that computer is 20 GB and nearly 7 years old. It hasn't been clicking,
but it has been making more noise recently then it usually has.

I just assume it's the drive $:-\$

dweez · « **Reply #28 on:** February 12, 2009, 02:45:21 PM »

I had another drive that, right before it started to crap out, would every know and then spin even faster and made this high-pitched ascending tone. It was still under warranty so I called it in. It was a madam trying to explain to the tech guy what it was doing.

frankcapri · « **Reply #29 on:** February 13, 2009, 03:50:18 PM »

My new drive arrived today (damn New Egg is quick, less than 24 hour delivery)

I have successfully cloned my primary drive and my computer is running swell

dweez · « **Reply #30 on:** February 13, 2009, 03:59:09 PM »

Cool deal. I just picked up the following myself.

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $79.99

Thermaltake BlacX ST0005U External Hard Drive SATA Enclosure Docking Station 2.5? & 3.5? USB 2.0 & eSATA - Retail $39.99

Docking Station is pretty cool so far.

frankcapri · « **Reply #31 on:** February 13, 2009, 04:02:59 PM »

I must be a nerd because I get really giddy when I get a new hard drive

A few weeks ago I bought a Seagate terror byte drive, and then I saw
a thread on Demonoid about how Seagate was having a rash of drive failures.
I was happy to see that the one I got wasn't on the list of suspects

How does that docking station hook up to your comp?

dweez · « **Reply #32 on:** February 13, 2009, 04:04:27 PM »

USB or eSATA. It came with all the necessary cables too (oddly enough, it had 2 usb cables).

indie180 · « **Reply #33 on:** February 13, 2009, 04:09:14 PM »

Quote from: frankcapri on February 13, 2009, 04:02:59 PM

A few weeks ago I bought a Seagate terror byte drive,

I remember the first Terabyte cab we ever shipped out when I worked for Digital, it was a cab fully populated on both side's with 144 drives.

frankcapri · « **Reply #34 on:** February 13, 2009, 04:14:25 PM »

Holy crap, that's nuts. What was the size of each drive and how big physically what that monster?

Quote from: dweez on February 13, 2009, 04:04:27 PM

USB or eSATA. It came with all the necessary cables too (oddly enough, it had 2 usb cables).

That's nice when a device not only comes with all the correct cables, but more than what you need

dweez · « **Reply #35 on:** February 13, 2009, 04:17:57 PM »

Yeah, it makes up a little for the umpteen other times you get a retail item and its short something.

indie180 · « **Reply #36 on:** June 09, 2009, 02:59:05 PM »

I couldn't log on the net earlier, but I had a couple of times during the day.

It said "network couldn't recognize IP address".

So I try a few things still nothing.

Phoned my ISP's help desk thinking my router was shot or their network was down. After listening to Vivaldi's The Four Seasons for about an hour I finally get throught. 1st level support, they tell me to do all the thing's I have already tried and then rerun the set up cd, if that fails call 2nd level support.

Still nothing, called them, more of Nigel Kennedy. Back through the lot again ( learned a couple of new dos commands) still nothing. He said you have a virus or spy ware, which I know I didn't (PC get's a full scrub up at least once a week). 2 1/2 hours after a full wash down still nothing.

Then it came to me. I have my PC, two laptops and two PS3 all connected in to the router, but I grounded the kids and set it to one IP.

My son was upstairs on his PS3 (which I have noticed in the past, for some reason takes priority of IP addresses)

That was what was stopping me connecting downstairs. Problem solved.

Some help desk. $:-\$

knownassociate · « **Reply #37 on:** June 09, 2009, 04:54:35 PM »

^^I couldn't help but laugh having experienced that myself

Quote from: frankcapri on February 13, 2009, 03:50:18 PM

My new drive arrived today (damn New Egg is quick, less than 24 hour delivery)

I have successfully cloned my primary drive and my computer is running swell

I love New Egg! At the risk of sounding like a commercial, their prices and services have been great. Everything I've ever gotten from them has included all of the cables that might be required for different systems.

goldshirt*9 · « **Reply #38 on:** June 17, 2009, 03:46:57 AM »

new question

have just updated my pc
updated to I E 8 ( please no comments about using firefox )
the only trouble i have is when i use google the search box is a 1mm x 6 mm rectangle

i can still type in it to search but i cannot read the typing .
i would quess its my settings but i cannot fathom where or why. any ideas.

its fine on safari but not IE 8.

smokester · « **Reply #39 on:** June 17, 2009, 04:27:31 AM »

This may be of some help to you.

dweez · « **Reply #40 on:** June 17, 2009, 08:21:36 AM »

It probably is a WindowBlinds thing as I've used every version of IE 8 from the initial beta on (some sites I go to for work, IE works better on; Also, being in the IT field, I need to be familiar with the different browsers and such) and I've never had that problem.

ohcheap1 · « **Reply #41 on:** June 17, 2009, 10:18:14 AM »

This may help you too...........IE8 is crap!!! Get rid of it right now and reinstall 7. Just sayin.

dweez · « **Reply #42 on:** June 17, 2009, 12:20:09 PM »

Lol, I haven't had any problems (well so to speak of) with IE8.

chekovsulu · « **Reply #43 on:** June 17, 2009, 01:54:08 PM »

Me neither, I kind of like it. The only issue I've had is the time it takes to open up a new tab.

goldshirt*9 · « **Reply #44 on:** June 17, 2009, 03:26:15 PM »

Quote from: smokester on June 17, 2009, 04:27:31 AM

This may be of some help to you.

many thanks .will look into it .on the morrow

goldshirt*9 · « **Reply #45 on:** June 18, 2009, 12:18:58 AM »

bingo it seems to have solved the problem.
i removed windowblinds and all's well.
now i'll have to search for another version.