Computer and tech talk and questions

[Alpha1]

The 660 Ti supposedly runs cooler (and quieter), though.  Heat could potentially be an issue for me.  There's no AC in this house, so the temperature in the house will be the temperature of the air being pushed through the case.  It can get really warm in here on days with little to no breeze...like today. 

Video cards have a maximum temperature of 105*C before they shut down. Even if your card was hot, it won't degrade it. Laptops tend to run hotter, and they don't all fail.

[georgexu94]

 

My desktop computer kept on crashing; it would be shutting off then dumping files. Something about corrupted files. Also, sometimes it won't start- there would be no "beep" sound from the processor. Sure, it turned on but no signal. *shrugs* What should I do to fix this? It would be greatly appreciated. As in VERY much appreciated. Just desperate am I. I know extremely little with computers and technology.

Edited April 14, 2013 by georgexu94

[Lilly]

Hi there

 

I could use some advice on which computer to buy.

Here are the options I'm thinking about:

 

Used from ebay:

ASUS M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ Mainboard (http://www.asus.de/Motherboards/AMD_AM3Plus/M5A97_R20/ )

AMD Phenom II X4 965 AM3 4 x 3,4Ghz 8MB Cache

CoolerMaster Hyper 412 Slim CPU Fan

Asus ATI HD 7950 DirectCU II V2 3GB DX11

G.Skill RipjawsX 8GB DDR3 1600er

Western Digital SATA III 6Gb/s 500GB 7200rpm

Enermax Modu82+ II 525W Gamer Netzteil

Samsung Blueray Laufwerk

Tt eSPORTS Challenger Pro Gaming Keyboard

Roccat Lua Gaming Maus

Ttesports White-RA Special Tactics Mausmatte

Samsung Syncmaster P2250 22 Zoll Full HD LCD 2ms,Kontrast 50000:1 usw

WIN 7

Price: ~650€

 

Or new from a shop that would also build it for me (I actually have a screen, mouse, keyboard and Win7 already so wouldn't really need that):

 

Seagate Barracuda 7200 1000GB, SATA 6Gb/s

Samsung SH-224BB bare schwarz

LogiLink Wireless LAN 300 Mbps PCI Karte 802.11n 2T2R

Sharkoon T28 green (Window-Kit), ohne Netzteil

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 Ti Windforce 2X, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort

be quiet! Pure Power L8 CM

Intel Core i5-3570 Box, LGA1155

ASRock ZH77 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX

8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance Low Profile schwarz PC3-12800U CL9

Price: 780€

 

Which one would be the best to use, mostly for gaming and surfing? Also with the first one I would probably get an SSD for the price difference additionally but dunno how useful they are.

 

Any advice/opinions would be welcome :3

[xeyla]

I'd go with the 2nd choice, the processor is better/faster.

[TikindiDragon]

The second. As previously stated about the processor being better, you're also talking the really good makes of RAM, Graphics Card and HDD. Seagate Barracuda drives are immensely quick, and most gamers I know choose Corsair RAM.

 

Incidently unless you're using the 64-bit version of Win7 your computer will only be recognising 4gb of RAM. If you're not going to be running 64-bit there's no point in putting more than the 4gb in there as it won't be doing anything.

[Lilly]

Thank you both!

I searched the second system together myself so I find that reassuring, lol.

I just thought the ebay offer was extremely cheap for what's in, although I don't know that much about AMD processors.

Ofcourse I'll be using a 64 bit system, tiki

(Now i just need to get my old laptop sold D: )

 

Edit because I have another question:

 

Is it theoretically possible to take the first system and then get the Processor and Mainboard of the second?

The other components are ok, right? Graphic cards seem to be on par.

Edited April 19, 2013 by Lilly

[Chicogal]

Because I couldn't find the Virus thread (I remember there being one)

 

I recently discovered I had a Worm virus. D: It might have been there for months. Apparently they aren't particularly malicious, but could it have done anything really bad? I'm freaking out about it. I'm dead scared of viruses/malware/spyware.

 

I got rid of it, by the way.

Edited May 12, 2013 by Chicogal

[TikindiDragon]

Depends on what type. With most of them all they'll do is replicate.

[sarahfish89]

Because I couldn't find the Virus thread (I remember there being one)

 

I recently discovered I had a Worm virus. D: It might have been there for months. Apparently they aren't particularly malicious, but could it have done anything really bad? I'm freaking out about it. I'm dead scared of viruses/malware/spyware.

 

I got rid of it, by the way.

Worms aren't too bad compared to viruses like the FBI one or trojans, normally they use computer networks to spread and get into your computer via exploiting vulnerabilities in your computer (make sure all programs are update and you have all the updates for Windows if you use it). Worms can be used to send spam, and DoS attacks from your computer and sometimes can deleted files (rarely, but can happen). It can also open backdoors in your computer allowing other programs to enter without you knowing.

 

Here's a link to the Wikipedia article if you want to know more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_worm

 

I can provide you with a link to a program which can help you keep your programs up to date if you want?

[Chicogal]

It's been deleting .exe files on my flash drive, which I can't find now that I know about it (plugged it into a school computer and warnings came up). However, there's one other scary thing - the system on the school computers is also reporting some sort of Trojan; the file actually being named 'Trojan.' I'm unsure whether this is a mistake on their part, as it's reporting from within a game which perhaps has a file named that, as the game is a mission quest sort...

 

Yes please!

[GokaiPink]

Was browsing through the screenshot thread and noticed someone had an interesting skin for their scroll. When I went under account setting didn't see anything listed that matched. It was like an orange citrus.

Edited May 19, 2013 by GokaiPink

[sarahfish89]

It's been deleting .exe files on my flash drive, which I can't find now that I know about it (plugged it into a school computer and warnings came up). However, there's one other scary thing - the system on the school computers is also reporting some sort of Trojan; the file actually being named 'Trojan.' I'm unsure whether this is a mistake on their part, as it's reporting from within a game which perhaps has a file named that, as the game is a mission quest sort...

 

Yes please!

Whoops I missed this post, but here is the link: http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/

 

I'm not sure, but you could check with some scanners such as Malwarebytes could check your flash drive if you plug it into a computer which has it downloaded (http://www.malwarebytes.org/). You can also use an antivirus on another computer (just right click the file, and you should see an option like 'scan selected files' or 'scan with...'.

I use Malwarebytes all the time to scan my computer when it is acting weird, very useful free program. Would recommend it to all of you.

 

GokaiPink@: It's probably part of their browser.

[moddlord10]

for spy or adware i use superantispyware it is a very good program i use only the scanner it is free to use. back to topic if you want to learn about programming games i am a member of moddb there they post games and mods for games mods for games are extra things they make for games like new characters extra missions etc also many game developers are there everything a game programmer needs. i myself am a gamer i use the same name there as here. more questions write me a pm

[sarahfish89]

for spy or adware i use superantispyware it is a very good program i use only the scanner it is free to use. back to topic if you want to learn about programming games i am a member of moddb there they post games and mods for games mods for games are extra things they make for games like new characters extra missions etc also many game developers are there everything a game programmer needs. i myself am a gamer i use the same name there as here. more questions write me a pm

Superantispyware isn't much good on its own, there was a video on another forum which I can link you to which shows Malwarebytes being much more effective. I do like Superantispyware, and it can have its benefits.

Also I may check out the forum if I ever want to find out about it

[Pink]

Was browsing through the screenshot thread and noticed someone had an interesting skin for their scroll. When I went under account setting didn't see anything listed that matched. It was like an orange citrus.

It's a add on for firefox called Stylish that lets you change the look of certain sites.

The thread got locked a long time ago for some reason. I had one of the themes about 2 years ago. :\

 

Ahh.

I found something.

 

http://userstyles.org/styles/25272/splash-of-orange

 

Is that what you were looking for?

Edited May 21, 2013 by Pink

[Omen]

So, my sisters boyfriend has a laptop throwing up BSOD's every time he starts it. The Laptop is an Asus A54C.

 

The error code is below;

bad_pool_header 0x00000019 (0x0000000000000022, 0xFFFFF8A0025D000, 0x0000000000000001, 0x000000000000000)

Now, a Google search indicates this might be related to RAM. So I opened up the back of the laptop to have a look (I'm only familiar with HP Laptops, changing RAM, HDD and CD Drive). Upon looking, it seems his RAM is for lack of a better explanation, completely missing. I compared the RAM slot to my sisters HP Laptop, and hers actually has two sticks of RAM in it, whereas his Laptop is completely lacking in the RAM department (though the slot is present).

 

The Laptop has worked fine for the year prior the first appearance of this BSOD (which occurs upon starting the device). He doesn't think it's been tampered with and has never opened it after purchase. Now my question is; do Laptops have secondary/'onboard' RAM like they do with GPU cards?

 

We're already planning to purchase another 4GB DDR3 204 pin RAM for the Laptop to put into the empty slot (there is only the one slot for RAM, to my knowledge); I'd just like to know if there's a chance the BSOD is in relation to whatever RAM is onboard, if there is actually any. If not, well the BSOD is pretty self explanatory in this case.

[sarahfish89]

So, my sisters boyfriend has a laptop throwing up BSOD's every time he starts it. The Laptop is an Asus A54C.

 

The error code is below;

bad_pool_header 0x00000019 (0x0000000000000022, 0xFFFFF8A0025D000, 0x0000000000000001, 0x000000000000000)

Now, a Google search indicates this might be related to RAM. So I opened up the back of the laptop to have a look (I'm only familiar with HP Laptops, changing RAM, HDD and CD Drive). Upon looking, it seems his RAM is for lack of a better explanation, completely missing. I compared the RAM slot to my sisters HP Laptop, and hers actually has two sticks of RAM in it, whereas his Laptop is completely lacking in the RAM department (though the slot is present).

 

The Laptop has worked fine for the year prior the first appearance of this BSOD (which occurs upon starting the device). He doesn't think it's been tampered with and has never opened it after purchase. Now my question is; do Laptops have secondary/'onboard' RAM like they do with GPU cards?

 

We're already planning to purchase another 4GB DDR3 204 pin RAM for the Laptop to put into the empty slot (there is only the one slot for RAM, to my knowledge); I'd just like to know if there's a chance the BSOD is in relation to whatever RAM is onboard, if there is actually any. If not, well the BSOD is pretty self explanatory in this case.

Looking up the laptop model, it does seem to have built-in-ram (built-in 4GB SO-DIMM RAM - http://www.affordableproductreview.com/pro...ap-notebook-pc). The laptop (or any computer) will not run without any RAM, so I'm guessing it has broken somehow

 

When does the blue screen happen out of interest? As soon as you turn on the computer?

You could try booting the system from a memtest disk and check the ram to see if that is what is causing the BSOD for sure.

http://www.memtest.org/

 

Try the new RAM, if that doesn't work then you have another problem with the computer.

[Omen]

Looking up the laptop model, it does seem to have built-in-ram (built-in 4GB SO-DIMM RAM - http://www.affordableproductreview.com/pro...ap-notebook-pc). The laptop (or any computer) will not run without any RAM, so I'm guessing it has broken somehow

 

When does the blue screen happen out of interest? As soon as you turn on the computer?

You could try booting the system from a memtest disk and check the ram to see if that is what is causing the BSOD for sure.

http://www.memtest.org/

 

Try the new RAM, if that doesn't work then you have another problem with the computer.

I thought it might have had onboard RAM, but for the life of me I couldn't find where something like RAM would be located (I have also never heard of onboard RAM, the idea is new to me). In saying that, I didn't pull the whole thing apart as I'm only confident in working with Desktop setups. I downloaded and burned the memtest to a cd disc, thank you for that link. We ran it for two passes with no errors found. We then restarted the computer and it booted up normally.

 

I asked him for a more indepth explanation and he said the first BSOD occured when he started the Laptop a couple of days ago. Somewhere (I'm not sure where?) the information on the BSOD stated that if it had never happened before, to ignore it and restart the computer. Apparently it then took three attempts to actually boot up before throwing up another BSOD.

 

We'll still try placing new RAM into the expansion slot; but it'll have to wait until we're able to make the trip to the store (in the next few days, at least).

 

Thank you sarahfish89; your help has cleared up a lot of confusion.

[demonicvampiregirl]

I am having a really bad issue. It just started in the last few minutes but my scroll bar on the side will not stay still. It scrolls on it's own and I am not touching it at all. I noticed it when I had the Elder Scrolls wikia opened and I have YouTube open. I am on here and with only YouTube and DC forums open and it's still doing it. Idk what caused it or how to even fix it. I shut YouTube off and it seems fine and I just updated the stupid thing the other day and now it's doing this. Any suggestions? My OS is Win XP SP3 and my browser is FF19.

 

Okay I was wrong after shutting YouTube off it still didn't stop.

Edited June 3, 2013 by demonicvampiregirl

[MysticTiger]

I'm not too sure what your problem is, but it sounds like your scrollbar won't stop scrolling down?

 

If that's the case, check your keyboard. Make sure no buttons are stuck down or nothing is leaning against it (including your arm). Then flip over your mouse and make sure nothing is gunking up any of the wheels/lasers/etc.

 

If nothing works, reset. If it continues to do it, shut down your computer, unplug your keyboard. Then open your browser and see if it continues to do that. If it doesn't, it's your keyboard.

[demonicvampiregirl]

Nothing on my keyboard and I just took the batteries out of my mouse to check and put new ones in and it still seems to be doing that. Will blow the keyboard out see if it ever shows up again. I have never had this happen before it keeps making me think it's a virus. ;-;

 

It appears to be my mouse. I have it off atm and using the keyboard only. It started to go really nuts and wouldn't click anywhere or move and when it did move it went all over the place and caused my PC to beep as if it was clicking still. Not doing it now at all with it totally off.

Edited June 3, 2013 by demonicvampiregirl

[Shienvien]

It keeps making me think it's a virus. ;-;

Can be hardware malfunction (I've met a keyboard which caused tens of dozens of windows to spawn as soon as something was clicked, a headset which made the computer to restart when pulled out...) or a dozen other things. Do you have other mouse/keyboard you can try?

 

[demonicvampiregirl]

As I just posted it appears to be my mouse. I woke my dad up to try to see what was wrong and that was a little bit after my PC beeped. I took the batteries out and am using his wireless mouse atm. No beeps, no mouse going haywire it's working fine. I think my mouse just fried itself at that moment.

 

Keyboard was working fine and my mouse wasn't. I put the batteries in backwards though but I was trying to catch the bar moving and try disconnecting them to see if it stopped.

 

Thanks for the help anyway guys. Now I just gotta deal with dads mouse for now.

[sarahfish89]

I thought it might have had onboard RAM, but for the life of me I couldn't find where something like RAM would be located (I have also never heard of onboard RAM, the idea is new to me). In saying that, I didn't pull the whole thing apart as I'm only confident in working with Desktop setups. I downloaded and burned the memtest to a cd disc, thank you for that link. We ran it for two passes with no errors found. We then restarted the computer and it booted up normally.

 

I asked him for a more indepth explanation and he said the first BSOD occured when he started the Laptop a couple of days ago. Somewhere (I'm not sure where?) the information on the BSOD stated that if it had never happened before, to ignore it and restart the computer. Apparently it then took three attempts to actually boot up before throwing up another BSOD.

 

We'll still try placing new RAM into the expansion slot; but it'll have to wait until we're able to make the trip to the store (in the next few days, at least).

 

Thank you sarahfish89; your help has cleared up a lot of confusion.

No problem, if the RAM doesn't work and you still get BSOD then I suggest running memtest on your other parts in the motherboard and one on the motherboard to see if they can pick up any errors (if you haven't done this already). If they all come back clean, and you are still have problems with booting then I would think that it would be a malware problem in which case message me.

 

Also, I've never heard of built-in-RAM, but a search showed that the laptop model you talked about did indeed have it built in. You learning something new everyday

Edited June 3, 2013 by sarahfish89

[Caesin Miirik]

Here's a good question.

I recently purchased minecraft and downloaded it onto my computer. When I went to open it, it told me I needed to update my java. I did so, and that pacified it for the moment. But when I actually tried to go in and set up minecraft, it gives me a error message telling me I have bad video card drivers.

 

Two questions come out of this mess. Well, three...

A.) what are video card drivers?

b.) How do I go about finding the right one/ones and install them without crashing my computer?

c.) Does this have anything to do with little cards that must be inserted into the computer? If it does, even more questions follow.

 

Note: my computer is a desktop from probably around 2001, and I am not tech savy at all. Probably not a good combination in the first place...but it's all I got.