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I ordered this model by mistake but it has already shipped. Am I going to have a problem or will it run at whatever settings the machine is set at now? It is a Dell Inspiron 17r 5720 laptop.

The memory I ordered is here:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6ZP3TW0095&Tpk=9SIA6ZP3TW0095

Crucial says it needs to be this:
https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/ct2kit51264bf160bI have had no problems with modern computers running on faster SPEC RAM with the RAM running underclocked; however if you haven't already opened the RAM package yet then you should be able to return them for a refund and get the proper 1600Mhz RAM matching the speed of the memory controller. ( * If it were me in this situation, I would probably return the memory and buy the 1600Mhz RAM before opening the memory stick package unless you found a bargain on the 1866Mhz RAM to where the money saved is worth the gamble as to if your system will be picky about the memory being wrong for it. )

I have run 266Mhz and 333Mhz Pentium 4 systems on 400Mhz DDR RAM with the 400Mhz DDR running underclocked with no problems as well as my AMD A8-5545m build that only supports 1333Mhz DDR3 RAM running happily on 1600Mhz DDR3. Only problems I ever had with RAM too fast for a system was with a Celeron 733Mhz that had to run on PC-66 RAM and it didnt run at all on PC-100 or PC-133 RAM and older systems with FSB speed difference or with mismatched latency memory sticks mixed together.

I figured I'd try my A8-5545m desktop running on the 1600Mhz RAM even though it clearly states 1333Mhz DDR3 only supported. I had 8GB of DDR3 RAM ( 2 x 4GB ) left over after a 16GB ( 2 x 8GB ) upgrade of my gaming system left 2 x 4GB 1600Mhz DDR3 sticks available to be passed down to this new low power consumption computer. It was nice being able to just hand-me-down these faster 1600Mhz sticks to this build that calls for 1333Mhz sticks and save money. All memory tests with MEMTEST86 passed as well as I STRESS tested it and no problems.

However if you were adding the 1866Mhz RAM to 1600Mhz RAM, I would avoid that and only install matched FSB RAM together to avoid instability issues; however I had a system once with PC-100 and PC-133 mixed and the PC-133 down clocked to 100Mhz and no problems including MEMTEST86 passing multiple PASSES, but I have also seen other TIMES were RAM is sensitive when paired with mismatched speed RAM and BSOD and other issues show and MEMTEST86 when run on the system show many memory issues.Upon further investigation I found this PC will run 1866 so I tried it and it runs fine and it's faster. Along with a new SSD it's MUCH faster. Thanks for the info DaveLembke.No Problem... I'd run about 5 full passes of Memtest86 on it though to be sure its all happy. If the manual or support site states *1866 with an asterisk then it could be iffy running at 1866Mhz RAM if the RAM you have isn't on the suggested memory listing as tested by dell. However if its passing Memtest86 then you should be all set.

When turning it on, PRESSING the POWER button, the hard DISK spins and the fans work, but the screen stays black.

Something must be corrupted in the bios... I don't remember how to reset the bios. Please help me.

p.s. I'm sorry, I don't remember what type of Lenovo desktop it is.Last night, while on the internet, the power dimmed... all of the lights became dimmer for a few seconds... and my computer reset and began booting up; after the lenovo logo appeared the lights dimmed again and my computer reset again; this dimming happened a third time and I realized that I needed to turn off my computer. I'm wondering if the bios isn't corrupted like I thought, but maybe could the problem be due to the cmos battery? Does repeated booting ruin cmos batteries?

Thanks for reading through this... just thinking. Maybe I just need to buy a new CMOS battery?I WOULD...

However it sounds like flakey power at your place is causing all the issues...If this helps... it is a Lenovo H50 Desktop PC, AMD A8 Quad-Core, 8GB Memory, 1TB Hard Drive, Upgraded to Windows 10.

@patio Yes, that is the cause of the issues. Though, that's never happened before and today has been like normal.Replace the battery ANYWAYS...Part # CR 2032...available anywhere.

Remove all power sources when doing so.Thank you patio! Will do that now.Keep us posted and good luck...With that new CR2032 battery my computer is working great again! Thank you so much for the help patio! Great News...

A friend of mine has given me a ROG Rampage 3 motherboard and a coolermaster case. I've never built a pc before I am wondering if it is a good place to start. I've checked it out on PCPartpicker and it seems to be compatible with most modern hardware even though it was released over 9 years ago. Would it be worth spending the extra dough on a newer motherboard or a better CPU/GPU's? The budget for the entire build is around 1000USD.Paired with a Core i7 processor, 16GB DDR3 RAM ( Board supports 24GB RAM, but 16GB should be plenty ), an SSD Drive of 240GB or larger capacity, and a newer nVidia GTX 1000 series Video Card it can run most games out there. Be sure to have a good QUALITY power supply to supply reliable voltages and current loads as WELL. A 600 Watt PSU is probably what you would need. It all depends on how HEAVY the CPU and GPU will be pulling for current load power together.

I'd say only GET a different motherboard if this board has any ISSUES or you need more CPU processing power than this board supports.

Hi all,
Thank you for allowing me to post here for some help.
I want to upgrade my PC as it's"slow".. I ran a benchmark on my PC and I'm more confused. Looking for some help in what to upgrade. CPU, Graphics card, memory? My PC is generally used for average daily tasks & the only game I love to play is Left 4 Dead. My specs are below. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Motherboard - A88M-G/3.1
AMD A10-7860K APU
AMD Radeon R7 Graphics
Toshiba P300 1TB
Seagate Expansion+ Desk 3TB
Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600 C10 1x8GBWhen you say slow, do you mean in terms of just loading things and general use or are do you mean that you are getting poor performance such as low frame rates in games? If you mean the former, I'd strongly recommend getting an SSD to hold your OS and programs and then use the hard drive for storing large files. This will provide a massive boost to the general "snappiness" of the machine. If you're getting poor performance in games, you'd PROBABLY be looking at a new graphics card however that comes down largely to your budget. At any RATE, I'd say an SSD is an essential upgrade to virtually any machine.I also suggest a SSD upgrade. Also if able to upgrade to more than 8GB RAM that may help too, however an SSD HANDING the swap space of paging memory may be all you need as superfetch memory service likes to load up system RAM heavy on Windows 7 and NEWER OS which then relies on paging with swap space "Virtual Memory" where the hard drive or solid state drive acts as additional memory. So I would hold off on upgrade of 8 to 16 until after you see how it behaves with the SSD upgrade which replaces the HDD.

I'd add a R9 or better AMD -or- GTX 780 or better video card and not run on the R7 Integrated Graphics that are part of the APU. Look at benchmark results before buying video cards to see which is better for your money. ( You may have to upgrade the power supply to handle the load of a GOOD gaming video card depending on its watt rating and quality/brand. )

APU's are really just entry level gaming for GPU performance. If you add a decent video card to the system it will give much better video response and higher framerates.Yeah, slow as in, slow to boot, sometimes slow when browsing (I use Firefox with about 10-15 tabs open) I do the whole windows updates, defrag, uninstall unwanted apps,etc. as for gaming I really olny use Left 4 Dead, I find it runs ok.. it's doable.. 99% of what i do is general browsing/music. I was thinking memory, then I read CPU, but what you say about the SSD makes some sense. I'll checkout out some pricing. Again, thanks for the quick replies, it's much appreciated.

I am running a home built computer:

Main Board ECS H81H3-M4 board, LGA 1150 socket
CPU INTEL i5-4570S CPU (missing hyper-threading)
Memory ECS 16Gb (2X8GB)
Graphics GPU on-board INTEL 4600
SOUND VIA HD on-board audio (Win 10)

Windows 10 is free upgrade from retail Windows 7 OS.

Due to PSU burnout, this hardware replaced the original HP mainboard & cpu. It was activated successfully under license while W/10 was still free. I had followed rules & set up a Microsoft account before activation.

fast forward to Sept. I bought a used MSI Z97 PC MATE Socket 1150 MoBo, updated the BIOS successfully & installed it. Microsoft on-line activation would not activate Windows 10 saying no license, no Key. I followed all the procedures, including going to the store & running the "replaced hardware" troubleshooter. I understand that the license is tied to the main board somehow.

I built the system back on the ECS board & it activated.

I want to replace the Intel H81 board because it is a micro-ATX & is a very basic board. (not with the MSI board. In all my breadboarding & assembling, it went black screen, dead. Used, cheap, no loss)

How do I replace the main board & get it to activate?Read the following, it may help you out.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-changeMicrosoft likes to associate the Motherboard/CPU to their licensing. If you go the method of talking to someone in Microsoft support they might grant you an activation. I havent tried this activation route with Windows 10, but back in the day with Windows XP I had an issue with a system that its motherboard was replaced but the CPU/RAM and all other hardware remained the same. The System Recovery CD that CAME with the computer wouldnt work with that replacement motherboard because the Compaq System Recovery CD detected that the motherboard wasnt original. I ended up using a slipstream CD of Windows XP SP2 and using the key on the label on the computer case and then RAN into activation issues to which point I had to explain my issue to Microsoft India Support. I stated that the motherboard was replaced and the guy ASKED me a few other questions to which I shared with him the make/model of the computer and that everything else is the same hardware the main board died and this replacement while the same board didnt have the Compaq BIOS Flash and so the difference caused it to not activate as the new motherboard didnt show the Compaq logo like the original board did. I was granted an activation and all set when entering the key activation info. Any issues with aciivation are solved with a 2 minute phone call...it;s Free,Thanks to everybody who answered. Term-ite; I had an microsoft account linked when the motherboard was replaced. activation said so. With the replacement mobo, that statement didn't show up anymore. I went to the store, clicked hardware replaced and used the troubleshooter. No good.
Dave Lembke; I've made one phone call to microsoft some time ago wanting to activate a computer. It was a disaster. We literally were not speaking the same language. My system is a case off the shelf with parts from NewEgg, Ebay and local suppliers. No case label, no manufacturer. Windows 7 is a legal retail copy purchased on line. Windows 10 is a free image linked to windows 7. I'll try a phone call when I get another mainboard.

Hi;

Setup
I am building a FreeNAS server with an Intel S5000VSA Server Motherboard. This is the model with 8 DIMM slots.
The PSU is the original one from the Server and I have modified an ATX chassis to take this board.

I have only installed 2 x 4GB DIMM sticks and have disconnected the SSD drive that was going to be the FreeNAS Boot device (it is currently blank).
I have tried with and without both a USB and then a PS2 KEYBOARD connected.

Process
When I switch on the power at the REAR of the chassis the 2 x chassis fans connected to system fans sockets and the CPU fan come on for about 2 -3 seconds, the Status LED at the rear of the mobo comes on solid green and the ID LED is solid blue, the fans then stop, the ID LED goes out and the Status LED stays solid green.

When I hit the front panel power switch all the fans come on full power then slow down and when they do the Bit3 LED lights up solid red and the LSB LED lights up solid green, the status LED remains solid green?

When I removed the DIMM sticks the same as above happens and there is no BIOS Beeps complaining about no memory.

In all of the above there is no display on the VGA monitor.

What I have not done
I have not yet tried clearing the BIOS using either the BIOS jumper or by removing the CMOS battery.

Here is a link to the S5000VSA Technical Product Specification Manual
https://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/motherboards/server/s5000vsa/sb/d36978010_s5000vsa_tps_r1_9.pdf

Additional Background Info
The original motherboard - also an S5000VSA and PSU was salvaged from discarded server, it booted fine so I re-flashed / upgraded the BIOS and it was still working, with 4 new sticks of 4GB Memory. However once I started to install the remaining components it stopped booting with three beeps (memory error) with or without memory (know good) it staill failed to boot, so I replaced it with another similar motherboard from eBay (listed as new / old stock). This is not new / old stock as there are signs of previous use (thermal paste and STAND off glue).Do you have a known good power supply to install into it to rule this out. Its quite possible that the discarded server had power supply issues and by adding to it you loaded it down to fail completely this time.

Curious why you didn't leave the server in its original case? Was it a rack mount that you converted to tower case?I didn't leave the server in its original case as it was a massive beast :-)
I do have other good PSU's but sadly the power supply has an 8 pin CPU power connector which none of my spare PSU's do.

Anyway I contacted the seller as they had listed this as new, which it is not. I also said that I would be happy to keep it if they could help get it going. They suggested that it needed a firmware updated to run the E5400 series CPU which was running in the other S5000VSA board. They were going to send me an older LGA771 CPU but did not have any so they gave me a full refund but said keep the board.

I have ordered an L5300 series LGA771 CPU and will see if that gets it going?

When I pulled the CPU out and fired it up I get the CPU missing beep warning. Still need a proper PSU...What's the 8 Pin CPU power plug called on server PSU's as I may be able to use an ATX PSU, if not what kind of a PSU should I be looking to buy?Hi

Here is the manual for your motherboard https://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/motherboards/server/s5000vsa/sb/d36978010_s5000vsa_tps_r1_9.pdf

Looking at page 27 you will see ALTHOUGH the 24 and 8 pin sockets are standard atx PSU you also need the J1K1 power supply signal connector. If the power supply doesn't support the connector then the motherboard may not post. Mmm, interesting.

Yes on page 27 there is a table showing the Pin Out for connector J1K1 but it is not shown on the motherboard plan on page 3. The only connector that appears to match on the physical board is shown on page 3 as an 'M' Auxiliary Signal Connector.
On the Power Supply there is no 5 pin connector to match this and this PSU was fitted in the server with the original 4 DIMM S5000VSA that did boot and that I have now replaced with the 8 DIMM version.
Both the old board and the new board have a J9D1 connector but as I said the original board did not have a cable connected to it and it still worked (until it broke of course?

On page 26 when the 5 pin signal connector is listed as J9D1, this is also the name of the actual 5 pin connector on the motherboard shown in the table on pg 5 a 'M'

What type of PSU would have this type of signal cable?Ok so the L5300 series LGA771 CPU arrived, I fitted it and guess what, still not POST :-(
Only thing to try now is the PSU ?

This is the J9D1 connector that is listed on page 26 as "SSI compliant 1x5 pin connector (J9D1) providing 12C monitoring of the power supply"
Here the connector which appears on both the old and new mobo:



Looking at the Quick Start User Guide, it says attach the AUX power connector ( C ) if using the Intel(R) Entry Server Chassis SC5299-E BRP.
It then just says that if using a non Intel Server Chassis with an ATX power supply then to refer to the documentation that came with your chassis?



Hi just to check , is the Processor voltage regulator installed ? if not you will need one. Not having the J9D1 cable in won't stop the board from posting. Also do you get ant red leds showing a failure on the board or is there no lights at all.
I think I mentioned at the start after a short while the LSB LED is Green and the Bit3 LED is Red. Do you mean the 8 pin CPU power then yes it is connected.No I was meaning the regulator board which plugs into the mother board in front of the 2 CPU sockets. The board supplies the CPU core voltages .
This bard does not have a plug in voltage regulator board (from what I can see physically, or in the documentation). It does have an 8 pin CPU power plug which is connected.
I checked the output of all the power CONNECTIONS and they all seem ok, albeit not under load). This PSU functioned previously until the other board started giving constant memory beeps at POST.

Like I said, on the back of the board, the LSB light is green and the Bit3 light is red, these come on when you would expect the board to finish POST?

I purchased a Lenovo Thinkpad E580 i7-855u, which CAME with a 1TB HDD and 8 GB RAM. Upon purchase, I had the seller put in another 8GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD (on which he reinstalled Windows 10 Pro). I have attached some relevant details about the GPU and other details.

The vendor assured me that all additions are compatible.

Now, ever since I bought it, the display has had a bluish tint, which causes me a lot of eyestrain and irritation, making it very difficult to look at the screen for more than a few minutes. I have made sure that Windows is up to date and have updated all DRIVERS. I knew before purchasing that it wouldn't have the best displays (it's only 1366x768), but since my work is mostly confined to Excel and programming, I didn't mind. But the bluish tint and overall quality is so low that I can't even do that. I have tried adjusting brightness, hue, saturation, contrast, etc but to no avail.

I am wondering whether there's something fishy about the details I have attached, and what may be possible causes of the bluish display.

Thank you.This may also be helpful.Was the Windows 10 the copy SUPPLIED with the Laptop . I.E if you GO to programs and see if there is the Lenovo and Lenovo think vantage program groups. If they are there it is most likely a Lenovo copy of windows which is good. If they are not there then it is likely a generic windows which is not so good.
If it is the original copy it is better to use the Lenovo driver update tool and their drivers than ones you find on the internet
Also if you can see if a monitor plugged in has the blue tint. If it does then it is most likely the windows setup, if not it is most likely the laptop display panel.Tried another monitor ? ?

All the projects I work interface to a piece of hardware and this is often the main purpose of the software. Are there any effective ways I can apply TDD to the code that works with the hardware?

Update: Sorry for not being clearer with my question.

The hardware I use is a frame grabber that capture images from a camera. I then process these images, display them and save them to disk. I can simulate all the processing that takes place after the images are captured by using previously captured images that are stored on disk.

But it's the actual interaction with the hardware that I want to test. For instance does my software cope correctly when there isn't a camera attached, does it properly start and stop grabbing etc. But this is so tied into the hardware I don't know how to test it when the hardware isn't present or if I should even be trying to do this?

2nd Update: I'm also looking for some concrete examples of exactly how people have dealt this situation.I work with equipment and software that has frame grabber functionality for the USPS where mail rushes by a camera and with an encoder (timing/tracking) and break beam light barriers its able to get the timing right to capture the start and stop of the leading edge and the end of every mail piece to take a full to scale picture of it from a camera that has a slit in its aperture plate. The picture goes from the camera through frame grabber cable to a frame grabber card to which the software works very very fast to save the picture of one mail piece and grab the next that is about 3 inches behind it and pinched between belts moving around 23 MPH. There are all sorts of calibrations and fine tuning that I do as well as fun troubleshooting to make it all work. When its wrong the problems can be a blur capture or crushed picture if capture rate is wrong or speed of the mail going past it is too fast or too slow indicating possibly a servo ISSUE or a bearing that is dragging down a section of the machine MAKING it slower than it should be running. While I have access to making changes to the hardware and software settings, I am limited in that the hardware and software was engineered out for them. I understand how it all works which allows me to getting it to run properly and find the problems.

In your statement/question of:

Quote

But it's the actual interaction with the hardware that I want to test. For instance does my software cope correctly when there isn't a camera attached, does it properly start and stop grabbing etc. But this is so tied into the hardware I don't know how to test it when the hardware isn't present or if I should even be trying to do this?

I have the following card.
STB Systems Inc 4 Port Serial - 16 Bit ISA
FCCID=EKSUSA4COM
210-0091-001-A
1X0-0170-001

I'm LOOKING for info, driver, and documentation/manual.It appears with a little RESEARCH it may be this card

https://www.headgear.org/blackchair/stb.4port.serial.pdf

If not can you post a picture or a LINK to the DETAIL you have.

Hi -
I have Windows 7 and IE 11 in a Lenovo tower. The problems are: long running script - Internet not responding - 1 program still running. I have spent money to get these fixed but no luck. SUPPOSE I bought a new tower with Windows 7 in it would this leave my problems in the old tower? I know I would lose data but I could replace the data one piece at a timeA new computer could fix your problem, but if you have some sort of infected thumb drive or SOFTWARE or go to a website with issues or internet connection is sketchy then the problems can remain the same with a new computer. If you end up getting a new computer, I'd suggest getting one with Windows 10 as for Windows 7 security support will end in 2019 with extended support in 2020. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13853/windows-lifecycle-fact-sheet

Before spending more money though there are a few things to try as listed below. ( Rebuild Clean, Memory Test, and Hard Drive / Solid State Drive Test. )

Curious what has been done so FAR by throwing money at this to try to fix this. What steps did a repair provider take so far so that we dont suggest the same steps?

Most of the time a complete clean build fixes the issues with the original computer and no hardware has to be replaced. However hardware issues mainly hard drive/solid state drive or RAM can cause problems that CARRY over into a clean rebuild.

You can check out your hard drive or solid state drive health by downloading and running crystaldiskinfo. If it shows green then all is good. If yellow or red then there is a problem with the drive. If the computer has more than one hard drive there is a tab at the top left to select and test additional drives by drive letter selection. https://osdn.net/projects/crystaldiskinfo/releases/


If the issue is RAM related then creating a bootable USB stick or burning the ISO to a CD or DVD and booting off of that to RUN MEMTEST86 Version 7.5 Free Edition which can point out memory issues. https://www.memtest86.com/download.htm

Lastly if you have a virus that is on a thumb drive, you can reinfect the clean build by attaching that thumb drive to the clean build. So be sure that you are running an up to date antivirus and scan thumb drives and other data that is brought over to the clean build.

In the rare case if none of the above is the cause, then it could be driver related. However given your example of the issues it sounds like hung scripts and processes which driver issues/bugs I have yet to see the cause of.

Last question is are there any other computers that are in your home or office to test with to see if its really just that one computer or all computers experience the same problem which would point the finger to internet connection or network connection issues or perhaps the issue is at the website itself in maintaining a handshake to not corrupt your connection which causes hung scripts etc?

Most of use know WiFi can be done on bands other than 2.4 GHz.
But how many are there? Two? Three? More?
Here is a place for more information without too much heady tech.

List of WLAN channels
However, you will have a hard time finding routers and adapters that cover more than three bands.

The main reason for using other bands is to avoid interference in a urban location. Do not expect to use any unlicensed band for long range wireless.

Do you use any of the other bands other than 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz?
Why? How?
I had a wireless bridge once that worked on the 900MHZ band which is the same as the cordless home phones a ways back. It was made by RCA and ALLOWED for you to connect to dial-up over wireless connection. Similar to this DEVICE linked here, but mine was a different model that I am unable to find in the QUICK search. https://www.ebay.com/itm/RCA-Wireless-Modem-Jack-RC930-Caller-ID-Compatible-New/183718509154?epid=22025376974&hash=item2ac679fa62:g:UfUAAOSwQrVb4VZU

As far as other bands/frequencies with modern electronics though. I believe you would need to get a FCC license and permission to use other than the standard home use bands even if its a focused radio signal coffee can to coffee can wifi bridge.

I have a Windows 8.1 laptop that won’t PLAY my DVD’s. I keep getting a Error Code that reads. See attached. I tried the SOLUTION mentioned. But it didn’t work: here is the message.

Error PL4013: Playback failed due to a problem with the video subsystem. You MAY be using an unsupported display mode or your system may not have a working decoder installed. Please ensure that your DVD decoder is functioning properly by launching it from Start | Programs.





Thank you 🙏

ALBERT 0.
Download the FREE VLC Player and play the DVD through that and the problem should be FIXED.

https://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.htmlDave's option is the way to go. Windows 8 and 8.1 dropped built-in DVD support.I downloaded the the VLC DVD player and all is working great !!! Thanks guys !!!

Albert OCool

Hi!

I got USED MB Intel Coconut Creek D945GCCR.
I inserted there CPU Intel Celeron D 352.
It has two DDR2 slots and I inserted 2x 1GB DDR2 RAM.
I plugged in also graphic card MSI NX6200TC-TD128E and also keyboard.

I TURNED it on and speaker correctly signals power-on and keyboard diodes blinks, so was recognized.
Then LCD display blinks and turns off. MB works, fans are rotating and it looks ok - but no picture.

Then I tried to exchange display to use onboard, the same.
Then I tried to use both OUTPUTS and connected two LCDs - same.
So, I tried to exchange RAM modules, inserted only single, swap them in slots and again the same.
I removed graphic card, left there only single RAM and tried again - same problem.
Even then I tried to REMOVE keyboard, no EFFECT - even then speaker signals correctly startup.

Where I do mistake?

Thank you for all suggestions and help.
MiroYour Manual

I would check both the RAM and CPU for compatibility...

I BOUGHT 2 computers for personal use, and will only keep one.

The first is a Dell Vostro Small desktop, which should last longer since it is a business PC. The downside is it's only got a 8th Gen i3 processor-- which does get a little slow even with normal tasks. It also does not connect with 5G wi-fi, so I would need to get an adapter (for $25-50?) -- which is fine since this is the cheaper option anyway at only about $300 (it was cheaper a few days ago.

The 2nd option is a HP Slimline (https://www.staples.com/hp-slimline-290-p0056-desktop-pc/product_24330668 ), which appears to have good reviews. It would be faster with its i5 processor, and it is compatible with 5G wifi, so I wouln't need to buy anything extra. This one cost me about $360. My only concern with this one is that it may not last as long as a business computer-- Dell tells me the Vostro's are meant to last longer than their consumer models, and I understand this is typically the case.

Both of them are slim desktops, which hopefully is not a bad thing..

Which would you recommend?As long as you're not using them for something absolutely mission critical or using them in a hostile environment, chances are they will both outlast their useful life. While I'm a normally a big fan of going for business machines for their quality, Vostros aren't particularly special - they are Dell's entry level business line and are often based off of their Inspiron line. You really need to go up to their Optiplex desktops or Latitude laptops to notice a quality difference.Worth considering that Dell stated that their Vostro's are meant to last longer than *their* consumer models- that rather cleverly doesn't say anything about how they would compare to *HP*'s consumer models.

Either WAY i have "consumer" model systems that lasted for 15+ years so I wouldn't even consider there to be much difference. The main difference I'd expect is build quality which would apply mostly DEPENDING on how the SYSTEM is treated. Business laptops tend to live longer than consumer laptops even in normal use.
Quote from: Alternative Solution on November 30, 2018, 12:16:39 PM

The downside is it's only got a 8th Gen i3 processor-- which does get a little slow even with normal tasks.

Hi!

I own old laptop HP Compaq Evo N1000v.
When I restart OS it forces restart, but after OS shutdown hangs WITHOUT any action.

When I power-on laptop it works, but after power-off or restart (problem described above) it hangs only and no action.
When I wait few hours, disconnect from power (laptop has no battery), it powers on and works again.

I know that's maybe looking like cooling problem but I see that's not this - no overheat or so.

Can anybody explain me where can be problem?
Really don't know what to enter into Google or other search engine.

Thank you for all replies, suggestions and help.
MiroIs this Windows 8, 8.1, or 10?

I had a system that runs Windows 10 that would shutdown and screen would go black, but fans and drives still running and only way to get it to shutdown was to hold the power button in.

The fix for my system was to disable Fast Startup .... https://www.windowscentral.com/how-disable-windows-10-fast-startup

What was happening is that when Windows 10 was saving the contents from memory to the drive before shutdown it would do this and never get to its actual shutdown of power state. But with Fast Startup disabled it would shut down with no problems.

On another system I had where Fast Startup passed along corruption from a prior Windows session to the next boot, and rebooting the computer wouldnt fix the issue because it kept writing the information to save the session that had been BUILDING for many days in acumulated time such as if the computer was used 1 hour a day for 5 days it would show that the computer has been running for 5 hours, but in my case the computer said it had been running for 10 days even though it hasnt but thats how long that session had been building in time for and a corruption of that session was only able to be CLEARED by disabling the Fast Startup so that it would boot a new fresh session vs inheriting the problem from past sessions passed along. Problem is that I'm not using Windows 10.

OSes used in laptop are:
MS-DOS 7.10
Windows XP
Commodore OS Vision 1.3 based on Linux Mint
OSX86 Tiger 10.4
- all x86 Intel

And each does this - so I think it's HARDWARE problem.

MiroYou've basically thrown as much crap at that system as you could get to stick. Your problems are probably equivalent to that crap sliding down the wall.

+ 1 !Ok, so I need not to make my crap true, but look at laptop hardware and try this:
1. create MacOS partition table and install OSX86
2. install MS-DOS to CF card and copy its partition to HDD
3. do the same for XP and then Linux
4. create boot floppy for DOS
5. create boot floppy for XP and Linux - single floppy
and if you anywhere are lost, don't name my Q as crap.
I need not this forum for find offense - I found here always help and even - this forum helped me to do my crap real.
If you can make anything similar with this hardware, you can name my simple hardware Q crap.
If not - ask me how to do it in details and please help me with Q - without offense.
I'm not proud, but I never asked stupidity and many other users here helped me. And that helped me make my crap...
So, think you that at this forum anybody writes crap?
I think here are useful and helpful replies, comments and help!

MiroI never said ANYTHING you wrote was crap. It was analogy for what you've effectively done to the system.

You've more or less tossed a bunch of arbitrary and largely unrelated Operating Systems onto the machine. You are following convoluted series of steps that you arrive at largely through trial-and error.

There is nothing wrong with that at all.

But when you go through that SORT of twisted set of steps to get a 10 year old Macbook which predated even Apple's own BootCamp feature multi-booting between OS X Tiger, Windows XP, MS-DOS, and Linux, having additional complications is not just unsurprising but entirely expected. Heck, if the system not powering off completely on it's own is your main problem, I'd say you got off easy. Thing is, because of how you have it set up, Attempting to fix it if you don't actually know why it doesn't work could very easily just lead you down a path where you have to start the whole thing over.

Lastly- pretty much nobody else is going to have or bother to have a similarly set up system in order to diagnose and figure out the various problems you'll have, where MS-DOS doesn't do one thing, or OS X doesn't to another or choosing Linux from such and such boot screen hangs the system.

Normally, when the issues persist across all the operating systems, I'd suggest looking at the BIOS. But you can't do that because it's a Mac. Next best thing might be the power settings in the OS X settings/control panel, since those generally get saved to PRAM and could affect how the system operates with other operating systems.





Ok, I understand and I'm sorry that I meant thats crap.

But - look - this Q is in hardware section and no matter of operating system - this is really hardware problem.
Currently I have inside CF card with DOS only. I know what to do with BIOS, power ooptions and similar settings, I know OS shutdown process and also bootstrap.
I have no problem to understand how this works.

Problem is that I know not why does it hardware - understand me: if there could be software problem I could found it.
I used 3 HDDs separately with DOS, Windows from 95 to XP, only Linux and OSX single versions.
No matter what software (meaning OS or live DVD) I use it happens everytime.

It's hardware problem which began few days ago and I can't to solve it 'cause I have not so high hardware skills.
I have not problem to diagnose software, I have problem with hardware - especially with laptops - there's not possible to remove cover and Take the hands and look at it - why it works not or anything other - example: throw to scrap. And even really don't understand why this began.
Few days ago I was sleeping whole night and at next evening when I powered on laptop - then powered off, later in night wanted to power on it - that moment all began...

Now we maybe we understand us.

Thank you.
Miro

i am LOOKING at several CPU/mobo combos
also i was looking at a ryzen 5 2600 mobo combo for 180
a Ryzen 3 1200 mobo combo for 130
and a intel i3 -8100 combo for 160
and i was looking for advice and is there anyway this isnt a scam
https://www.ebay.com/itm/A-MD-Ryzen-7-1700X-8-Core-3-4-GHz-3-8-GHz-Turbo-Socket-AM4-Desktop-Processor/283289614574?hash=item41f56078ee:g:PLwAAOSwEwhcBmfh:rk:2:pf:0&LH_BIN=1

this build will be used for gaming and thank you for any future helpI'd say that ebay seller is very high risk for scam. They have 0 History as the 0 indicates next to their name. I'd avoid that purchase!

With the other AMD and INTEL builds your looking at. I would research the quality of the board and features the boards have and look at benchmark results for the processors to determine which one to go with.

Intel will be more power efficient, but you pay a premium for the INTEL brand. Additionally there are strengths and weaknesses depending on how the SYSTEM will be used. So is it for gaming or just web surfing or graphic design or programming or CAD etc. Stuff like that also determine which processor is best suited for the user. However as long as the processor meets or exceeds the minimum requirements then the software whatever it may be will run on it. However some run better than others and its not just the CPU frequency. It comes down to Cache and Internal Processor Instruction Sets that can make one processor better than the other if a PIECE of software can benefit from an instruction set that one processor has that another is lacking.If you choose them you would be their 1st customer...not a good idea.Quote from: DaveLembke on December 05, 2018, 09:06:16 AM

I'd say that ebay seller is very high risk for scam. They have 0 History as the 0 indicates next to their name. I'd avoid that purchase!

as the title say's i am looking for some help. i am building a budget pc , no gaming no overclocking (whatever that means).
no films or music ,something reliable and reasonably fast .dont want to start altering the Bios,(again dont know how to ).
so i have picked this m/board Asrockb450-pro4, and ryzen 3 2200g cpu. what i want know will it work right out of the box .no messing about.

if you can help i would be grateful.That combination would work. Just a heads up is that the Intel Equivalent of that CPU is a 7th Generation Core i3-7100. But for what your use will be it should be more than plenty of processing power and I would suggest the OS installed to a SSD for maximum performance of it and 8GB RAM minimum.

Article below shows CPU AMD/INTEL comparisons for performance and its listed in the support list at ASROCK. https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/B450%20Pro4/#Specification

https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/amd-ryzen-3-2200g-review,2.htmlChecking the CPU list for the motherboard https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/B450%20Pro4/#CPU
The CPU is listed as compatible and providing you select memory from this list https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/B450%20Pro4/index.asp#Memory
You should have no problems.
If you are installing a new drive think about getting an M2 drive. They are about the same price as a SATA SSD and reduce the cables needed in the machine as well as making data transfer faster.
Quote from: Lisa_maree on November 26, 2018, 12:39:47 PM

If you are installing a new drive think about getting an M2 drive. They are about the same price as a SATA SSD and reduce the cables needed in the machine as well as making data transfer faster.

I need suggestions of how to reduce the static electricity in my home graphic arts studio. We have a fluffy new puppy and with the dry winter weather all he has to do is rub against my leg while I'm working at my desk and there's a static electricity shock -- which causes my lighted keyboard to flicker and the computer to musically "trill". I've bought a room-size humidifier and run it all the time but it's not helping. Would an anti-static PVC chair mat over the carpeting solve the problem?
Suggestions are greatly appreciated. I'm worried he's going to "zap" my system!
ThanksThis SOUNDS more like an electrical fault rather than a fluffy static causing pet. A static discharge from your pet into say the computer tower should just discharge straight to earth without affecting any of the hardware itself.

That's not to say that your pet can't build up a charge off the carpet and shock you but it should have no affect on your PC.

Is it only whilst using the PC you receive shocks or whilst touching other electricals as well?

(Assuming that you are from the US are you using a cable and socket with an earth?) [3 pin]It is not an an electrical fault.
It is static electricity.The anti-static PVC chair mat my help.
Look here:
Quote

An anti-static floor mat or ground mat is an anti-static device that safeguards an individual or piece of equipment like a PC from an electrostatic discharge (ESD). Computer components that are sensitive to static electricity or ESD are motherboards, CPUs, expansion cards and memory devices.

Dust clouds of finely powdered substances can become combustible or explosive. When there is a static discharge in a dust or vapor cloud, explosions have occurred. Among the major industrial incidents that have occurred are: a grain silo in SOUTHWEST France, a paint plant in Thailand, a factory making fiberglass moldings in Canada, a storage tank explosion in Glenpool, Oklahoma in 2003, and a portable tank filling operation and a tank farm in Des Moines, Iowa and Valley Center, Kansas in 2007.[12][13][14]

Other pet grooming changes you can make

• Bathing. You can add moisture to your pet’s coat by bathing them with a shampoo and conditioner that moisturize pet hair. Products containing oatmeal and aloe vera are excellent natural moisturizers.
• Bedding. If your pet sleeps on a fleece blanket, trade that out for a different fabric. Fleece is notorious for building up static electricity.
• Grooming. Special ionic brushes create positive ions when used and combat static electricity.

Quote from: Geek-9pm on December 04, 2018, 12:50:01 AM

It is not an an electrical fault.
It is static electricity.The anti-static PVC chair mat my help.
Look here:
A static discharge to a keyboard can start your PC or laptop.

Accessless it happens to the computer when I bend over to pet the pup or when he brushes against my chair or the tower. But I also get static electric shocks when he's rolling around on the carpet and I pet him, or when I touch the light switch - so I really feel it's static. Yes, I'm in the US and my computer plug has a "ground" prong.

The shock caused by static electricity reveals how you can have more power at your fingertips than you ever imagined.
Static electricity builds when electrons leap between two objects that have opposing electrical charges. A stunning handshake occurs when one person has a negative charge, and the other doesn't.

Static electricity can be generated by a number of environmental causes. Producing static electricity is common when using a treadmill due to the friction created by repetitive motion. A treadmill placed directly on non-treated carpet may be more susceptible to static electricity. Dry, dusty environments can magnify the presence and intensity of static electricity. Treadmills that are not cleaned regularly can suffer from a buildup of dirt, increasing your risk of being shocked.

You guys have helped me many times before and I appreciate it ! I have a 7 yr old HP that has become unbelievably SLOW.
Could you help m find out what going on ? Malware, Virus, etc ?

model of computer and any spec info of any upgrades you have done to its hardware? Do you have the system recovery media available if we determine its best to reload fresh?Define slow - EXACTLY what is slow?I know slow is a relative term, but MUCH slower, especially when booting up then it ever was. AMD PHENOM II X4 830 processor 2.8GHZ
RAM 8 GB
No changes to computer or hardware since ive had it.
Windows 10 OS
No i don't have system recovery media.

So your biggest issue is that it's slow to boot? That's a BIG difference from the system being slow.

Try a clean boot and see how long it takes.Takes almost 4 mins And how long with a normal boot? BTW, my Dell laptop probably takes 4 or 5 minutes to boot. Once it's up and running it's great. I don't sit and watch it boot That's what coffee is for...Quote from: BuyDell on December 09, 2018, 08:03:07 AM

Takes almost 4 mins

screen will be blank until it finally boots
laptop boot problems when i finally get laptop to boot it runs like a champ
Battery is fully charged and i can run the laptop off of the charger

I have to turn on laptop most times over NIGHT and let it just sit that way, the laptop doesn`t boot and there is no hard drive activity light indicating it`s booting without a screen
so if i leave laptop running all night and then restart the next morning {have to push power button a couple of times for a couple of restart tries}
it will finally boot and then run windows 10 without issue for at least a couple of days
i haven`t tried it longer then a couple of days running
nothing in the USB ports to stop boot
flashed to latest Bios after this happened no joy
the laptop is way out of warranty
Is there a way to test hard drive/ L.C.D/motherboard what software should i use
and i have done most test Defrag, Scandisk, Antivirus, Memory test
removed everything from laptop Hard Drive Memory CPU and reset them
and thank you for reading post any help would be greatI have a older Core i7 Dell that acts similar to yours but I found that if at first boot when nothing is displayed I hold the power button to force shut it down and then less than a second after the LEDs go out tap the button again it will boot for me and like yours runs healthy with no lag or crash conditions.

My laptop has an issue with its main board. Tried different power SUPPLY thinking it was a low voltage condition maybe, but voltage is correct. It seems as though with my main board something needs to be either pre-warmed or pre-charged so that at successful boot say capacitors arent completely drained yet etc.

Cost of fixing my laptop is $220 for a main board and I can live with mine being this way because it was given to me from its prior owner that claimed it was dead. I searched all over the main board expecting to find a culprit to the cause of the issue such as liquid damage from a spilled drink etc, but no physical damage.

With my laptop that is picky at boot if I leave it running and never have it shut down or never go into a sleep or hibernation STATE it will run without problems for weeks.

While it could be seen as a waste of electricity, what happens if you leave your laptop running and have its power settings set to never sleep or hibernate and always run and never shut down? Would it run for weeks or months without problems like my Core i7 Dell laptop?

Lastly... Have you changed the RAM from the RAM that came with it or upgraded it mixing RAM? It was suggested in another forum on my laptop to try different RAM as it might be a timing issue at boot with the memory causing a black screen and failed boot. I swapped out my RAM and the condition remained so thats why I know its my main board. Additionally my laptop can run memtest86 for days without any issues so. It is what it is. Fortunately I have better healthier laptops so its not my only laptop, and for a free laptop that takes a special boot sequence I can live with that warm-boot type of requirement that mine needs.First: Thank You
what you are saying sounds about right
and im GOING to say solved because i to believe its a board problem
But mine has issues when it hot or not {no boot screen or monitor activity}
i left it running for the last 3 days with the lid partially closed because i was testing lcd screen for problems also and the screen closed when,
I dont know but it was running {indicator lights were on} but the laptop went into hibernation and wont start,
This has happened before so im not worried about future boots it wiill boot again tomorrow probably
mine has 2 STICKS ram one, 2 gig and one, 1 gig ive have not added anything but i have move the memory around in 1 slot or the other with different configurations no joy
still thats not replacing yet
ive removed everthing and tried to boot no joy
and thanks for good advice
Quote:I like to break desktops i dont even like to look at laptops at all, 5 dead ones and counting

Hey Guys

I'm still FAIRLY new to the whole PC Hardware science and I would really appreciate if you could give me tips on how I could improve the setup.
Basically I'm trying to build a budget gaming pc which will also be used for video editing. I tried to balance the cpu and gpu. The OVERALL price should remain the same.
Is any component unneccesary good for the setup?

CPU: Intel CORE i5-9600K
Motherboard: MSI B360-A Pro
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX (2x, 8GB, DDR4-2400, DIMM 288)
PSU: be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 9 (600W)

(SSD, HDD, Case, and Monitor are not listed)Quote

Is any component unneccesary good for the setup?

hi, i've been looking to have data use on different mediums, and i haven't really found the results yet. is there any advice or recommendations i can be given?

i'm looking to archive under 64 gb of memory so i thought a thumbdrive could take that and be stored away somewhere. what i mean by archive is to rarely view these files and maybe put something on it that i could've forgotten. i was told to use hdds and multiple backups, but that's not an affordable solution for under 64 gb.

then i'm looking for a 8 or 16gb solution to typical plugging and unplugging and file transfers. i think a regular thumbdrive would work, but i don't know which one. i've planned to buy a small sandisk plug-and-stay thumbdrive for work files i need constant access to and i think this is the only one of three i know to buy. so, what can you recommend?Hi Coby

The Sandisk plug-and-stay thumbdrive is a great choice for storage which stays on a laptop or desktop.

The main problems i see with pen drives are Broken connectors, worn out connectors , damage due incorrect removal, and general failures of the memory. All bar the last is COVERED by the small rugged size of the plug and stay drive.

Something to consider is thumb drives are for transferring data not as a replacement for storage like hard drives. So if you want to use for storage best to keep other copies in 2 other places say another pen drive and the cloud. thanks, lisa. this archive is personal so i would prefer it off the cloud, but if it works, i'm ok with keeping the data on two different thumbdrives. hdds for under 64 gb seems like too much.

while we agree the plug-and-stay is good for work files, i still do not know what would be recommended to keep that archive on. i do though also believe a regular sandisk could be used for the frequently transferring case, like a 16 gb sandisk ultra cz48. so still one of three solved.Quote from: coby10 on March 21, 2019, 04:22:53 PM

i think a regular thumbdrive would work, but i
don't know which one.

They are all "plug and play", so I'm not sure what you mean by this.

Hasn't been mentioned but the most common failure/data loss rate for USB stiks is NOT using " Safely Remove Hardware " from the taskbar menu...

Not the hardware itself...

My feeling is that if you want extra USB storage, a 1 TB external drive, powered by the USB port, does not cost very much more than two 64 GB thumb drives.

i'd still want hardware that isn't only dependent on safely removing it.

i have no use for the other 950 gb.

using "safely remove hardware" is great and safe, i do it, but it's not magic that prevents data loss forever,

No, it's magic that forces the OS to flush all pending writes. It cannot protect against the other ills that flash memory is heir to.

Hi!

I own two 16 GB CF cards and with OSX partition table.
On first have installed OSX86, on second Linux Mint - both are with OSX partition table.
I want to join them into SINGLE 32 GB microSD card and use both partitions together.

Why do not install directly to microSD card?
OSX86 can SEE microSD ADAPTER on CF card, but Linux Mint not. And there's problem.
How to enlarge partition table after copying to 32 GB card and put after 1st partition Linux partition?

So, not so easy join or?

Thank you for all suggestions.
Miro
You can't.
Get an external storage thing that can be read by moth systems.

>moth systems.

Mothman walks into a furniture store. "Hello, I'd like to buy a COMPUTER" He asks.

The clerk says, "Well, this is a furniture store, there is a computer store right across the STREET- why did you come here?"

"Because you had the light on"

Hi, Im Anikin

I'm planning a custom PC build.
I would like to find out which CPU I should get for the purposes of gaming and video editing. Also, I was THINKING of getting an atx size motherboard and case. I realize that I have to get other compatible hardware yet this is where I'm starting.

Thanks a lot
I appreciate your opinions and advice.I would start with a budget...3k give or take!Quote from: anikin on December 10, 2018, 04:18:19 PM

3k give or take!

Hi!

I own gaming mouse Genesis GX88 with re-programmed each of 9 buttons. It has else 2 buttons, but they're impossible to programming.
Problem of mouse is that it is really ergonomic mouse for gamers - I'm lefthander and not gamer.
I'm using buttons for easy access of functions.

I'm searching for mouse with standard SHAPE or at least with buttons on positions in picture below - it is partially photo-montage.
Changes are: two buttons below middle, middle left and RIGHT and two buttons on right up corner.



Can anybody help me to find anything similar? Or at least with 11-14 fully programmable buttons? Also - it needs DPI switcher (button or programmable by DRIVER).
No matter if wireless.

Thank you for each suggestion.
MiroSee Here...Thank you!

I selected this: https://www.amazon.com/SteelSeries-Rival-15-Button-Programmable-Gaming-Mouse/dp/B01K3DM0WY/ref=pd_sbs_147_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01K3DM0WY&pd_rd_r=096fa14f-fd7d-11e8-ae45-dfe31428ce6d&pd_rd_w=UempD&pd_rd_wg=mvFxl&pf_rd_p=7d5d9c3c-5e01-44ac-97fd-261afd40b865&pf_rd_r=SXW5K01JJ5D88YF93KFJ&psc=1&refRID=SXW5K01JJ5D88YF93KFJ

SteelSeries Rival 500

Miro

My friend's notebook hard drive is broken, I WANT to give him a mobile hard drive, can I?
You can't use a mobile (external) hard drive instead of a notebook's internal hard drive. to install Windows on. With some external hard drives, you can open the case and get the drive out, if it a regular SATA drive, and is 2.5 inch size, and PUT it in the notebook, but some USB external drives have the USB CHIP soldered on and cannot be used this way. First, make SURE that your replacement drive has the same physical size as the drive that's in your existing laptop and uses the same interface. The good news is that almost all laptop hard drives are the same size and use some FORM of a SATA interface.

Having some serious trouble with this its really only my 3rd build with minor work on each of those in between and the last one was probably 8 years ago. I've never really had any issues with those builds and this has me at the end of my rope. Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

Build first:

CPU - AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Hex Core
Motherboard - MSI - X370 Gaming Pro Carbon ATX M4
RAM - G - Skill Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2 X 16) DDR4 - 3200
Storage - Western Digital Blue 1 TB M.2 SSD
GPU - EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
PSU - Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 500 W ATX Power Supply
OS: Windows 10
Case - Rosewill Cullinen

All parts are new except for the PSU and the GPU which I swapped off of my previous build. Graphics cards only a little over a year old but the PSU is running on awhile my last build is about 8 years old.

Assembled the parts and started installing Windows 10. I've reinstalled Windows 4 times now and I've begun to notice the symptoms during the INSTALL but on the first 2 times failed to notice it. I may not have been wearing my headphones because the stalling starts off very short and can only really be noticed with audio playing. After fresh install updated windows/drivers and started downloading programs and when I started playing music that is when I began picking up on the stutters for the first time. Starts off every several MINUTES with increasing frequency and severity over time. Tried to load up a game and it was completely unplayable as the stutters get much more SEVERE and frequency increases greatly.

Tried a fresh install symptoms persisted.

Did a little research and found that after the creator update Windows 10 had issues with clearing RAM and the newest version from Windows Insider would fix it (version 1809) but updating to that didn't work either.

There were a few scripts/.exe's out there that apparently fix the problem with Windows and RAM but none of those were successful either.

Ran a memory diagnostic test through Windows that came up with no issues.

Someone on another forum suggested a second stick of RAM for stability which didn't sound like it would work but hey, I was desperate and wanted 32 GB's anyway. Obviously didn't solve the issue.

During all of this I've been running CAM diagnostic tools and have not noticed any high temps or anything else to worry about.

At this point I've tried everything my very limited knowledge base can come up with and things seem to be getting worse. Hangups now blackscreen and a few times I've had to hard reset this happened on the most resent install during GPU driver installation. At first I thought it was a software issue but with the WAY things are going it might be hardware but I honestly don't know enough to accurately determine anything from here. All help appreciated!!!

From what you have posted I would guess the problem might be the power supply. Simply testing the power supply with a voltmeter is not always enough. The power supply might have a noise problem which would only show up on the oscilloscope. And of course, the good oscilloscope will cost a lot more than a decent power supply. If you are an experienced builder, surely you must have another power supply handy that you can use for testing. Good to have a spare.
As for RAM, Windows 10 should work just fine on 4 GB. In fact, it works okay on one gigabyte, but maybe a little slow. I would suggest try using less RAM, not more.
Do you have another GPU you could use just for testing?
Have you done an exhaustive test on your hard disk drive? Do you have another hard drive you could use just to see?
The fact that you have tried to install Windows 10 four times would indicate that there is something very wrong with your system. Possibly you have a bad copy of Windows 10. Can you use another computer to download a copy of Windows 10 that is known to be reliable? Even an older version of Windows 10, even one that is over a year old, still should work good.

Here's something you can do, but only as a diagnostic. Get a good copy of one dollar Linux demo DVDs. A recent version of Ubuntu or Linux mint should work fine. But now if Linux has some trouble installing, you probably have a serious hardware problem.
Even when temps appear to be okay you can have hotspots that will cause failures. Especially in RAM. To spot a bad temp in a RAM stick you would have to have a thermal probe to see how hot the RAM gets. Or just use some other RAM sticks
when testing RAM sticks you can take sometimes an hour or more to be billed catch a problem. This is especially true if the RAM is overheating. The RAM has to be perfect, close is not good enough.

Also, testing your hard disk drive should be a vigorous test that tests every sector on the hard drive. This can take quite a while.
I assume you have another computer handy to help you get a fresh download of Windows 10. In your tool chest you should already have an older copy of Windows 10 on a DVD. Like maybe 1609, oldie but a good one.
That's all I can think of.

I hope this gives you some ideas.
End of dictation.Really appreciate your help looks like it was the power supply. Without you saying that it would have been one of the last things I would have thought of because it performed fine in my last system. Not sure how it went bad but things are smooth as ever now. Once again thanks for the info you've saved me a lot of time and continued frustration.

Thanks!!Hi

What bios revision is the motherboard running it needs to be after version 7A32v1F for the M2 and CPU you have to work reliably. This bios was dated 2018-03-29.

If it is older . Then here is how to update the bios https://www.msi.com/page/biosflash

Also here is the list of the BIOS revisions and why they were released https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/X370-GAMING-PRO-CARBON

Quote from: Lisa_maree on December 13, 2018, 12:52:10 PM

Hi

What bios revision is the motherboard running it needs to be after version 7A32v1F for the M2 and CPU you have to work reliably. This bios was dated 2018-03-29.

If it is older . Then here is how to update the bios https://www.msi.com/page/biosflash

Also here is the list of the BIOS revisions and why they were released https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/X370-GAMING-PRO-CARBON

I have a Toshiba Satelite C655. New battery. When the battey is charging the light is amber and should change to GREEN when it is 100%. Lately the light turns off instead of turning green. With the battery removed and AC ADAPTER plugged in the light comes on green. Laptop powers up and RUNS fine on AC and battery.Generic battery...or OEM ? ?Probably. Not sure.Probably not sure of what ? ?Its a oem replacement

i had a ATX0300D5WC REV.:B, before it blew out. lol.

i see ebay has plenty of the same ones, BUT i wanna see if i can find a better one.
so can ANYONE HELP me find another one that'll fit in my computer (not all PSU'S fit the same) for under 30 dollards? - i have a HP PRO 3000 MT.

thanks.Hi badlands111

We either fix the old power supply. Which in most COUNTRIES repairs can only be done by a REGISTERED technician.

Have you done any upgrades to the computer?

If not then i would suggest this power supply https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=458

Or an original NEW HP part.

Stay away from putting the computer at risk using a sub $30.00 clone power supply

Hello I HOPE you guys might be able to help me. My old computer fried so I bought a refurbished one at NEW egg. The problem is when I'm watching movies or videos it takes a long time to buffer, it's slow, I don't play games just watch movies on Netflix and YouTube. Should I buy a new computer with a better processor or just buy more RAM? I have listed my computer specs below. THANK you for the help

Dell Inc. OptiPlex 780
System Service Tag: JJ4MZL1 (support for this PC)
Asset Tag: LSE505231
Chassis Serial Number: JJ4MZL1
Enclosure Type: Mini-Tower

Board: Dell Inc. 0C27VV A00
Serial Number: ..CN1374001F04PR.
Bus Clock: 1333 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Inc. A14 08/21/2012

Slot 'DIMM_1' has 2048 MB
Slot 'DIMM_3' has 2048 MB
Slot 'DIMM_2' has 2048 MB
Slot 'DIMM_4' has 2048 MB

3.00 gigahertz Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
64 KILOBYTE PRIMARY memory cache
6144 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (2 total)
Not hyper-threaded

The problem you described would be due to an inadequate Internet connection for your needs, and not related to your computer specs, which are plenty for what you want to do.Quote from: BC_Programmer on March 21, 2019, 05:34:20 PM

The problem you described would be due to an inadequate Internet connection for your needs, and not related to your computer specs, which are plenty for what you want to do.

Hi, first time posting. I have a SSD drive inserted at my DVD drive, I mean where it does but I took it off and placed the SSD instead. Not so sure about the size, probably 500GB. It just randomly disappears. It doesn't come back after while. When it does, the system freezes for a while, goes back to normal, then, shortly after, it gives a BSoD. The error code is 'DRIVER_OVERRAN' or something like that. I don't really remember because that didn't happen for a while, and it didn't come back. I also have Ubuntu dualboot installed. I don't think I can give much more information except that it is on the E: drive.
Edit: The drive can be seen from Ubuntu, but not Windows.Is the OS on this SSD ? ?
If it's the E: drive i'll assume other HDD's are in place...
Post a screen pic of Disk Management so we can have a looksee.
Meanwhile i would swap in a new SSD data cable...Quote from: patio on December 20, 2018, 03:51:45 PM

Is the OS on this SSD ? ?
If it's the E: drive i'll assume other HDD's are in place...
Post a screen pic of Disk Management so we can have a looksee.
Meanwhile i would swap in a new SSD data cable...

When it does, the system freezes for a while, goes back to normal, then, shortly after, it gives a BSoD. The error code is 'DRIVER_OVERRAN' or something like that.

Might be BSOD Error DRIVER_OVERRAN_STACK_BUFFER.

Hello all I am just here to ASK the tech savvy about my issue....what my problem is that I had a monitor die on me before and bought a new one easy enough...but the issue with this new one is that I can't look at it from an angle before the image....can't really word it right....fades....I think looking at it dead on is ok but the image obscures when I try looking at it from the right or when I am standing up or even lying on my bed playing my ps4 (on another tv) I like to grind levels on games on my ps4 while watching videos on my computer but can't do that any more with this monitor because the image is shoddy from an angle my old monitor (which was a crappy old hp hand me down one) was perfectly ok I could look at it from any angle to bother, h I'm rambling anyhow I was wondering is there a way to sorry it via messing with settings or will I have to find a new monitor to be able to game and watch videos again? oh! and if a new monitor is needed what would I have to look for in a new monitor to avoid this issue repeating, I'm sorry about grammar my not being able to explain it properly and all that not very literate or tech savvyWhat you're finding is generally down to the monitor using a cheap LCD panel, there's nothing you can really do to improve it unfortunately. When looking at monitors, there are a couple of MAIN types of panels - "TN" is the cheapest type and is likely what you have, they can sometimes have decent viewing angles but other TIMES they can be really POOR which is what you're experiencing. The other type is "IPS" which is more expensive but has better colour accuracy and more importantly - much better viewing angles. If viewing angles are important, you're safer looking at IPS monitors or, if you're looking at TN ones, avoid the really cheap ones and check out reviews/tests to make sure the viewing angles will be acceptable.Quote from: Keeta on MARCH 19, 2019, 10:58:22 AM

I'm sorry about grammar my not being able to explain it properly and all that not very literate or tech savvy

Hey people!

I was wondering about getting an AIO for a system I was planning to BUILD. I was looking at an Intel core i9 9900k cpu and a MSI meg z390 godlike motherboard which is an eatx form factor. So I WANTED to know if I needed to be looking at something specific. I know THY there are some differences yet does the size of a case MATTER?

Is there any advise?Myself, I have a negative felling about All In One computers.
Is something breaks, How can yu fix it?

DELL is a big company with a good record. But they have had some issues. But parts are available. Here is some detail about one of the AIO systems:
Dell All In One

Make yout own All In One computer.
Do yu already have a good monitor? You can get a small computer from Intel that will plug into the HDMI port. Just add a keyboard and mouse and you have it.
Stick Computers at Amazon.

As you will see there are a wide range of price and featers.

I have this tower https://imgur.com/pOvmjnx that is with the power supply and the dvd DRIVE up. I am looking to get a graphic card could I fit one in there or am I better off just leaving it like it is and DEALING with the issues I am having. I am npot asking what card to buy. I already know I will need one for a small form computer
Hi

Looks like a HP slimline so yes you can fit a 1/2 height pcie video card, Which doesn't require PCIe power. and should be a SHORT card. Do you have the clear plastic air tunnel between the front case fan and the cpu heatsink ? I think that model had one and if it is missing the CPU will run hot.This is the inside of the case https://imgur.com/pOvmjnxLooks like my old HP DC 5800. Next time, try and list what PC it is, so more information can be gathered. Im assuming this is the PC based off my own experiences. In which case, I have a Small form factor Nvidia 310 GT inside mine with HDMI on it. Works great.

Recently, BOUGHT a new Lenovo Ideapad 330. Specs are 7th Gen Intel Core i3-7020Uprocessor,2.30Ghz | OS - Windows 10 | 4Gb DDR4 RAM with integrated Graphics| 1TB Harddisk. Use to have disk memory at 100% all the time, later after windows update, it reduced. But still, its slow and lags while using any software. Even opening windows Start button takes a couple of seconds. Any suggestion on what COULD be done?The Model 330 is an interesting one. They made these in 4GB for Walmart, and 8GB RAM for Staples and elsewhere for sale as well as they came with option for 128GB SSD or 1TB HDD as well as Core i3 or Core i5.

I bought the model 330 in the Core i3 with the 128GB SSD with 8GB RAM and paid $10 more than Walmart wanted for their 4GB RAM model with 1TB HDD.

Windows 10 seems to cause some systems with 4GB RAM to lag out due to superfetch consuming all the system RAM. SuperFetch is suppose to make systems run faster as frequently needed data is located cached on system RAM for faster use by the CPU; however I have seen systems with 4GB RAM start off looking good and then shortly after lagging as all system RAM is in use and while superfetch is suppose to dump cached data in favor of data that is needed when available free memory is low but this process of cache loading and dumping of data to access new data from hard drive starts to act like data trying to get through rush hour on a highway which makes the hard drive very busy and CPU to lag to get the data it needs.

If you go into services and disable superfetch service and then reboot this will help.

The other feature that Windows 10 has is that it saves sessions on shutdown with a feature called 'Fast Startup", so you could have your browser and programs open when you boot your computer next time. I have seen in some situations in my own use with Windows 10 where a PROBLEM in Windows 10 can carry over from shutdown to the next boot and cause the system to act slow and problematic. However by disabling "Fast Startup" Windows 10 was able to purge this corrupt session and load fresh from the hard drive and then run healthy.

Here is how to disable "superfetch":

https://www.technipages.com/windows-enable-disable-superfetch

Here is how to disable "Fast Startup":

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-disable-windows-10-fast-startup

Lastly; if your hard drive is more than 80% FULL of data, you could have HEAVY fragmentation of data on the hard drive that causes data to be accessed from the hard drive inefficiently causing the system to slow way down and hard drive light to be lit a lot as its assembling the data it needs.

Other solution if you don't want to disable the superfetch and fast startup would be to upgrade to 8GB RAM which Windows 10 works far better with for these 2 features.Forgot to add, have you verified that your system is free of malware/virus infection?

I've got an Inno3D GeForce GTX 980Ti Hybrid Black Edition GPU. A few months ago I started having problems in most games, getting the "Driver stopped responding..." error (with no apparent pattern, sometimes it crashed quickly, sometimes after an HOUR or two). I googled and tried all software solutions I could find without success. The temperature seemed to be OK. The games it never crashed in were Steel Division, XCOM2 and, I THINK, DOOM 2016.

Recently I was running Heaven benchmark to stress the GPU. I had the case open and ACCIDENTALLY touched a watercooling fan of the GPU for a fraction of a second. The system restarted and I felt a faint smell of burned electronics.

Since then I'm still able to use the GPU in 2D in Windows UI and even in menu screens of the games; but whenever a 3D scene starts, even if it's a 3D on a webpage, the whole system crashes and restarts. The device manager doesn't report any problem with the GPU. I tested with the built in CPU graphics and it doesn't crash.

In my understanding, if the main GPU processor died, the card would be completely unusable. Maybe it's a safety MECHANISM that restarts the system, because the GPU THINKS it's got no cooling (all fans are working)?

Does anyone have any ideas on what could cause such a behaviour? Any suggestions what I could test to find out what the problem is? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Other specs:
Asus Z170 Pro Gaming
i6600k
32GB ram
m.2 + ssd

Hello before I post I am well aware that this may sound like an odd or silly question. However, I don't know much about displays and would like some PEACE of mind.


I recently got a laptop from a friend and installed Ubuntu on it to use as a junk computer to play games and watch movies on. However, the screen started to bother my EYES and the way it looked was SORT of unfamiliar to past computer monitors I've used in the past. It looks very bright and colors looked washed out. When looking at either side of the screen with the color black pulled up on the sides, it looks sort of white'ish.


Is this normal for a laptop computer monitor and is it defective? Will this negatively affect the health of my eyes?

Here is the laptop brand and model: ASUS R500VJ-MH71 15.6" Laptop

And here are some pictures of the washed out screen:

https://imgur.com/a/lrUCjdo

As I previously mentioned, the side bars to the side of the main window are suppose to be black but come across lighter.Likely a failing display from what you describe...use an external monitor is simplest solution.One solution might be to adjust the brightness control of the display to be dimmer than it currently is. Not sure if because your RUNNING LINUX if this will be a problem with adjusting this or not. Some laptops have hard coded function keys that ignore the OS and others require the OS to have drivers/software that support function key use. If you look at the laptop there should be a brightness intensity function key to dim and brighten the display.

If you cant get it to dim from being washed out your other option is to add a VGA or HDMI display to the available port on the left side of it to use an alternate display for better viewing.

As far as eye health; no prolonged use of monitors is considered healthy, but you have to listen to your body. If your eyes or brain doesnt like what you see then dont force yourself to suffer through its use. You said that this is just a junk computer, so you have a better computer to use that may not strain your eyes and maybe the games and movies can be watched on that instead if your unable to dim the backlight to the display to sharpen the picture quality from being washed out from an over driven brightness back light.

Hey everyone, I had recently purchased a 320GB Western Digital hard drive from my local Goodwill, and I had also bought 4 Gigs RAM and a Dell Optiplex 3010 for a grand total of 34 dollars! Yay! I had installed Windows and had not run any tests on the hard drive considering it was from Goodwill, I should have, but I didn't. So install went smooth, and so did driver install and Windows update to SP1. I CALLED it a day after everything was installed. I then woke up and wanted to play some Civilization 3 on the desktop, but I just kept getting a black screen every time I tried to turn on the computer.

Long story short, the program WD lifeguard diagnosed the drive with some filesystem errors at around 160 GB and some before that. I was pretty disappointed because I don't have very MANY 3.5" drives. So I pulled out a Neodymium HDD MAGNET and turned the drive on and let in spin with the magnets stuck on top and the bottom. After about two minutes of it spinning, and a Full Format in WD data lifeguard, I conducted two extended tests on the hard drive, and they all came back clear, and I also tested it with PassMark, and it came back fine.

So my question is, how did this end up working and should this drive be trusted?No drive that has reported errors should be trusted, least of all one that ALREADY been discarded by someone (Goodwill donation). Notwithstanding magic magnet tricks. Of course, in real life, no hard drive can be "trusted" one hundred PERCENT, which is why we back them up.I have however had great luck with slightly worn dress shirts from Goodwill...I keep old drives as doorstops.
- Works good for that application.

Hi guys!

I'm looking for a mobo that has storage SLOTS for a HDD 3.5 and a SSD that would be good for gaming and video editing. I Was planning on using a intel i7 8700k CPU. No over clocking.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.Any BOARD that supports that CPU would do. The Hard Drive and SSD both connect via SATA Connection. Options are a board with SATA 2 or SATA 3 connectivity. SATA 2 connectivity is plenty fast. Most of the drives out there DONT quite utilize the full POTENTIAL of the SATA 3 bandwidth. So if your looking to save money SATA 2 is fast enough. However if you want a board for future upgrading to newer drives that might make better use of SATA 3 connectivity then its best to spend the extra now to be ready for faster drives later.There are a lot of ideas about gaming and computers.
Define "gaming'.
If you just want to play Pokemon, a smartphone will do the job.
Here is ONE of too many lights of current popular motherboards that might do:
https://www.gearforgaming.com/best-motherboard-gaming/
That will take you to :

MSI Mobo on Amazon.
But some would disagree.
Hi there I'm currently using Asus z370-e for 8700k with 2 hdd and 1 SSD on it, you can check it out if you want to. But most of the mobo pretty do support the standards you need only the review will be difference on each brand so checking the review and recommendation would be the best to start of. Hope it helps

Hello,
So, I'm really a noob when it comes to computers but since 8 months i've had a gaming PC. But since around 4 weeks now it starts to make strange noices constantly when my pc it turned on. I have literally no idea what this sound is or where it is coming from (listen to the attachment, it is like a clicking/ticking sound) does anyone know or recognise this sound and should i be worried? i've never opened up my pc nor cleaned it.

My specs are:
-OS: windows 10
-processor: Intel Core i5 6400 4-Core, 3.3Ghz
-GRAPHICS card: Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB
-hard drive: 500GB HDD
-RAM: 8GB DDR4
-power: 600 watt Xilence Performance C 12CM fan 82+
Sounds norm alto me.
A moth flew into the INTAKE fan. Please ignore the idiotic response above.

It's hard to discern from the recording, but if it's a clicking sound it's very possibly the hard drive. When a hard drive is dying, it MAY make a clicking sound. I strongly urge you to back up any critical data that you don't want to lose. You can replace the hd and see if the sound disappears.+1 Allan. I would also consider the CPU or PSU fans.
I agree, it can fall on the HDD and Fans, I had this before and it turns out my HDD is dying in matter of time. Removing them one by one will do the trick to figure out which causing the sound.

Hi guys

When purchasing a m.2 how much space is enough space for Microsoft operating system and how much do I have to worry about upgrades? I'm trying not to spend too much money.I have fit Windows 10 64-bit onto a 40GB SSD with 17GB free space, but nothing else was installed.

I would suggest starting with a drive that is at least 240GB in size, however if your not planning on installing software and games to it then a 128GB would be fine. You could get by with less storage capacity, but you dont want to have to add USB sticks with symbolic linking later to hack your way to a system with greater capacity when you can just get a drive that is plenty big enough and some room for current and future data storage and software installation needs.

One risk I FACE with my wifes computer running on this older 40GB SSD is that as Windows 10 updates sometimes it requires 16GB free in order to update. I have a Intel Atom Tablet that has 32GB internal storage and it complains that Windows 10 is out of date and on that DEVICE the most I am able to free up is 14GB. So in order to update it I may have to perform a trick with a MicroSD card and setting up a symbolic link to the SD Cards storage to span the internal storage to that to make the C: drive look to have more free space with the 32GB Micro SD Card added and symbolic link created for the Microsoft update target location.

Yesterday my wife wanted to install World of Warcraft to her system because she saw me playing it again and WoW is 66GB in size. I ended up installing a 320GB HARD Drive from a laptop into the desktop computer after copying my install of WoW to this HDD with my USB SATA HDD Dock before installation into her computer to avoid having to wait for the download, then POINT battlenet to this E: drive WoW location.

So I currently have i5-3570k and 8gb memory. I'm looking to upgrade to something newer. I will be using a gtx1050ti gpu. It will mainly be for gaming such as world of Warcraft, StarCraft 2, Diablo 3, Skyrim and few others. Looking to buy a new CPU/mobo/memory setup. Looking to keep it between 400-500$. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.If it were me, I'd just upgrade to a i7 and keep the Motherboard and the RAM.

The games you have listed that Core i5 is plenty for, however if your looking for better performance the Core i7 is better. The GTX 1050 TI is an ok video card, but with your current build I feel you could get far better performance with your budget if you kept that motherboard and invested into a good used Core i7 CPU and sold that GTX 1050 Ti and got something like a GTX 1660 as linked below and benchmark comparison below that.

If you wanted to you could even go more heavily into an even higher end video card and the Core i5 would still be plenty if you skip on the Core i7 upgrade. Additionally if your motherboard has room for additional RAM you could upgrade to 16GB.

GTX 1660 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814932130

Benchmark Comparison https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-1660-Ti-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1050/4037vs3650

Lastly not sure if your system has any SSD drives in it or not, but my gaming systems all now have SSD drives for fast load times and minimal lag. I play all the games you list except for Starcraft 2 and have had awesome performance with an older system with modern higher end video card and two SSD drives.

My fastest system I have is a AMD FX-8350 4.0Ghz 8-core with 16GB DDR3 1600Mhz RAM and a GTX 780 Ti video card with two SSD's a Intel S545 256GB and a OCZ 90GB. I have my OS of Windows 10 on the 90GB SSD and the large install games on the Intel 256GB SSD. Performance is fast and no need for anything better for myself yet.

One test I did a while back was to take my 10 year old computer and install the GTX 780 Ti into that system and see if it made any difference or not. The computer an AMD Athlon II x4 620 2.6Ghz Quadcore with 8GB DDR2-800Mhz RAM and a Crucial 240GB SSD with this EVGA GTX 780 Ti video card in place of the GTX 260 I had in it prior, and I was very impressed with the fact that all games except for Witcher 3 ran flawless on this system with its 10 year old CPU, Motherboard, and RAM. The issue with Witcher 3 is that the game is CPU intensive, whereas all the other titles rely heavily on the GPU and so a 10 year old CPU made little difference. Witcher 3 does run on this Athlon II x4 620 2.6Ghz but all CORES were hovering 90-100% CPU utilization and in events in the game that a lot was going on it would occasionally lag for a fraction of a second and it was all due to the CPU being flooded with data to crunch through for the game.

World of Warcraft, Diablo 3 and other games ran the same between the 10 year old computer and the new 8-core; but the CPU was quite busy on the 10 year old CPU whereas the new 8-core was just over an idle running the games.

So just wanted to run by you the POSSIBILITY of stretching the life of what you already own and invest the money into what is causing you displeasure with performance which I feel is most likely the GTX 1050 Ti and could also be lag your seeing if your using Hard Drive(s) instead of SSD(s). RAM increased from 8GB to 16GB can help as well since your gaming and might also be multitasking with it such as dual display and game on one display and other stuff running on the other as I do. The Core i5 you have is pretty good for the games you have listed and a used good Core i7 could give you greater performance for games that need more CPU vs GPU.

My thoughts are that if you take that GTX 1050 Ti and put it into a newer build where CPU/Motherboard/RAM are only upgraded the performance increase is not going to be as good as you expect it to be.

I bought a GTX 1050 Ti and returned it for 2 reasons. #1 it had no legacy support for DVI-VGA for my second monitor as well as #2 there was no noticeable performance gain from the GTX 1050Ti from the GTX 780 Ti I had been running. It felt as if actually the GTX 1050 Ti was performing worse than the GTX 780 Ti, so I returned it to the store where I got it and got a full refund. The GTX1050 Ti to me feels almost like a GT card with GTX naming.



Thank you for the input. Didn't THINK a cpu only upgrade was possible being that my cpu is over 6 years old. Thought I would need to get into the newer gen processorsWhile you might not be able to find a brand new old stock Core i7, you can find them affordably on ebay and amazon for sale used.

I have been buying used components for years from ebay and amazon and no problems yet. One system I was able to breathe new life into it swapping out a wimpy badly lagging Pentium E2160 1.8Ghz Dual Core CPU with a Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz Q6600 Quadcore for $20 and that paired with a good used EVGA GTX 570 video card for $60 I essentially helped my friend have a gaming system for $80. He is still running it as his gaming system and able to play games with no problems because the Q6600 Quadcore paired with the GTX 570 video card and 4GB DDR2 RAM meets the requirements for all the games he plays and the games play well. For his upgrade I looked up his motherboard and then looked to see the CPU compatibility list and on it was Core 2 Quad 6xxx series so I got the Q6600 for him and it worked with no bios flash required. Other boards I have worked with require a bios flash with the original slower CPU still installed and then when the flash is successful and system still healthy then upgrade to the better CPU That the prior BIOS version didnt support. He was looking to replace his old computer because it was lagging in games and he had no clue that it just needed a better CPU and GPU and otherwise everything else was fine.

I got a new motherboard and it has an onboard blueooth, it was working great then after the windows update (windows 10) couple of days ago bluetooth stops working I can't find any devices and even my computer is not listed on my phone when I search for bluetooth. I tried updating the bluetooth driver on the device manager but it still not working should I reformat my OS? My CONCERN if I do a reformat / clean install I might not be able to use my windows 10 license key, or is there any other procedure that I should try FIRST?

Here's my devices and computer specs I'm using.

1. Maximus Formula VIII
2. Intel i7-6700
3. Samsung galaxy note 9
4. Aomais speaker

Thank you in advance. Easiest fix since you have already tried a updated driver WOULD be to buy one of those USB Bluetooth ADAPTERS and see if that will fix the issue and not use the built in Bluetooth which failed to work after Windows 10 update.

Only other option is to roll back Windows 10 to earlier state before update and lock it from updates which is dangerous for system security protection by forcing it to not update EVER again in favor of the Bluetooth functionality that later version of patched Windows 10 breaks.

I assume Device Manager is happy and no yellow (!) or red (X) for the Bluetooth or other devices on the system?Thanks for the advise, I bought a dongle and surprisingly it works well, I'll be using this for now and wait if windows update will produce a fix for this. Thanks again for the tip Glad to see that fixed the issue and inexpensively.

Hi friends,
Let me explain my situation. I am not too computer literate so bear with me. I have a desktop PC that is about 3 years old. I am running windows 10 professional. This laptop has two drives. The primary or C drive is a SSD. The PC boots from this drive and has windows 10 Professional installed on it. It is a 250GB drive. Here is the drive I currently have below.

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-75E250B-AM/dp/B00OAJ412U/ref=pd_ybh_a_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MTBF7S1XCXB2B6W3C93S

The PC also has a secondary 1TB mechanical HDD. The PC is running ok. Here is my problem. The current C drive is almost full to max storage capacity. I need to install a larger 1TB SSD and then migrate all my data from the old SSD to the new larger drive and then boot from this new drive with my PC left in the last current state from the larger capacity drive and showing I have more storage now. I have EaseUS software that I intend to use for the cloning but I am STILL unsure if I can do this safely myself or do I need to let a PC repair shop do it. The guy told me they could do it for about $250 and I am just trying to save myself a little money by doing it myself, but I don't want to do this and have a problem with the computer not booting from the larger 1TB drive or not showing the increased storage from the new 1TB SSD. Here is the new drive I wish to install below. It is only $147 from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Inch-Internal-MZ-76E1T0B-AM/dp/B078DPCY3T/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1548938773&sr=1-2&keywords=samsung+850+evo+1tb

Can someone tell me how to safely do it myself or should I have someone else do it and spend about $100 more on the labor? It seems like I should be able to easily do this myself but I do not know. Any REPLIES appreciated. THANKS--If you don't mind reinstalling software that was added after you purchased the laptop, you could create a system recovery media USB stick (usually 16GB or larger in size). Backup your data to external drive or cloud storage first. Then swap out the smaller SSD for larger SSD. Then boot off the USB stick and install Windows 10 Professional Clean to it from the system recovery media that came with the laptop. Once this is completed you can copy your data back to the SSD that was copied off the smaller SSD.

Only issue you can run into with this is that if you installed programs and pointed the path to be to the HDD instead of the SSD, you can have orphaned installations on the HDD that no longer associate with the new build of Windows. But these can be backed up externally and then folders deleted of their install, and then install the software clean, then if you need data that is associated with that specific software that the data was stored in the old build, you can copy the data files over to the HDD from the external backup of that software and be back in business.

Trying to clone this laptops smaller SSD to larger SSD with a laptop is tricky. You could remove the HDD and put the larger SSD into that slot and then install Macrium Reflect and clone the smaller SSD to the larger SSD and then remove both SSDs and install the larger SSD in the slot of the smaller SSD, and put the HDD back into its slot it came out of and with fingers crossed boot it up and be back in business with the original build now running on the larger SSD. * Note: This process is tricky and a mistake could destroy data. So definitely back up any important data to an external drive before you attempt this.

A clean build onto the larger SSD is the direction I would go with this vs a cloned drive. But sharing the cloning process in case you want to go this cloned route instead. Clean builds generally perform better than a Windows installation that has aged and had programs added/removed making for some swiss cheese of the registry etc. So there is a performance gain usually in going with a clean build vs cloning drives where problems are transferred to the newer drive.

Note... Just saw a subject change when responding to this. Process is the same though in a desktop as a laptop for both procedures at least. Interesting that the subject stayed the same in my response when it was changed as the main subject. Interesting...

Quote

Subject started as: Re: I need to install a bigger SSD drive in my laptop

And was changed to: Re: I need to install a bigger SSD drive in my desktop PC

Note... Just saw a subject change when responding to this. Process is the same though in a desktop as a laptop for both procedures at least. Interesting that the subject stayed the same in my response when it was changed as the main subject. Interesting...

Best Forum Memebers

I have an old 486SX computer. It has a 486SX INTEL processor on a MICRONICS Computers mother board with old PhoenixBIOS Version 1.03.

ProbleM:

The old Quantum Prodrive LPS 170MB IDE hard drive stopped working (Weird loud noises - sytem does not Boot as usual). The operating system on the drive was DOS 6.22

I got hold of an 80GB Maxtor DiamondMax PLUS 9 ATA/133 HDD. I partitioned it to one 2GB partion and installed DOS on the created partition. This was done on another computer.

When I connected the 80GB HDD to the 486SX I get "Invalid configuration" message from the PhoenixBIOS.

I have tried all the HDD setting options in the BIOS and still when rebooting I get the "Invalid configuration" message.
It does not Boot to the DOS prompt.

Is the 80GBMaxtor incompatible with the PheonixBIOS? Can you please help.

Thank you.

Regards

JohanWhen you work with older ide drives like you are. Also with DOS remember not all bios's will detect the the drive in the same way. For DOS to boot the settings need to match. So TRY the 80gb drive in the 486 and SELECT a drive number INSTEAD of setting to auto detect. Type 14 would be a GOOD start. Also write the number down as the bios is inclined to default to auto if the cmos is reset.

Here is the details for jumpering your drive https://www.seagate.com/au/en/support/kb/diamondmax-plus-9-ultra-dma-133-jumper-chs-and-install-guide-181371en/

There is a limitation as you can see from this page https://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Large-Disk-HOWTO-4.html

BIOS Int 13 - the 8.5 GB limit
At most 1024 cylinders (numbered 0-1023), 256 heads (numbered 0-255), 63 sectors/track (numbered 1-63) for a maximum total capacity of 8455716864 bytes (8.5 GB). This is a serious limitation today. It means that DOS cannot use present day large disks.

There are other options instead of using a Hard drive like an IDE to compact flash card and then using an old compact flash card of say 512mb.
Do you understand that a 486 SX computer has almost no piratical value?
Is this for a museum?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_80486SX
Quote

...
a modified Intel 486DX microprocessor with its floating-point unit (FPU) disabled. It was intended as a lower-cost CPU for use in low-end systems.
...

Ok, so I've recently built a PC & my USB ports don't seem to be able to power my scanner (Canon Lide 220) consistently. Basically, everytime I try to scan (via Scangear software), the scan hangs or disconnects halfway.

My hardware specs are the following (let me know if any other spec might be useful to know):

- Intel i5 8400

- Asus TUF Z390-Plus Gaming

- 2*8 Go DDR4

- PSU Seasonic Fanless 520W

- Windows 10 build 1809

- 1 NVME drive

- 1 SATA HD

- Palit RTX 2060 Pro Gaming OC

- 3 Chassis Fans + 1 CPU Fan

- 1 Logitech USB mouse + keyboard dongle

- 1 Xbox controller

My PSU should be more than enough to provide for the entire system.

here are the steps that I have taken to try to solve the problem (nothing worked...):

- Try the scanner on another computer (it works fine)

- Rebooted the computer

- Try different USB ports on my computer (both MB + chassis)

- In the Device Manager:

- Verified the USB drivers (they are all up to date)

- uninstalled the USB components one by one in the device manager and have windows reinstall everything

- unchecked the power management to "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" for each USB device

- Changed the USB selective suspend to disabled

- I used the Windows USB Troubleshooter to no avail...

- Verified the MB connections (they're fine)

As a sidenote, I do not have any problem using the XBOX controller and the mouse+KB dongle. I did notice, though, that my keyboard (a Logitech K800) was not charging properly through USB (it starts charging but stops after a few seconds). This is what makes me think the USB is SOMEHOW not providing enough power.

I'm at wits END with this issue & I can't seem to find the source of the problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.Have you seen this?

https://community.usa.canon.com/t5/General-Printer-Discussion/Canon-LIDE-210-Scanner-Hangs/m-p/172518/highlight/true#M2698

It sounds like lots of users have had this problem with that printer, and some were able to resolve it by downloading the newest drivers from Canon.Hi

Checking the scanner specs it is only using 550 ma when scanning which is well within the capability of all your motherboards USB ports.
There is the latest driver software here
https://www.canon-europe.com/support/consumer_products/products/scanners/lide_series/canoscan_lide_210.aspx?type=drivers&language=EN&os=WINDOWS%2010%20(64-bit)

I don't know if you have loaded the drivers for the motherboard and usb3.1 ports if not i would, using the Asus Driver tool this will get the latest drivers for your motherboard.
https://www.asus.com/support/Download-Center/Funny story, I had downloaded the full driver+software package from the support page because I thought to myself, "well, at least I'll get both up-to-date in one FELL swoop!". Well, turns out the package is from 2015 (of course, that little detail is safely hidden from view...). But if one downloads the driver separately, the driver date is 12/2018. So, here's to the limitless power of manufacturers' well thought out and user-friendly support pages...
So, thank you for the help and helping me spot the issue. I do feel a bit silly, now, even though the fault should be squarely on Canon. Now, to get back to my scanning No need for you to feel silly as it is clearly their fault...FYI:
For USB devices,anything over 500 mA is out of range, unless have a newer type of USB in the motherboard.

Quote

he USB 1.x and 2.0 specifications provide a 5 V supply on a single wire to power connected USB devices. A unit load is defined as 100 mA in USB 2.0, and 150 mA in USB 3.0. A device may draw a maximum of 5 unit loads (500 mA) from a port in USB 2.0; 6 (900 mA) in USB 3.0.Dec 18, 2013

No, not Bluetooth.
No, not Internet.
A real analog FM receiver that picks up local FM stations over the air.
If you don' t already know this, it might be you cell phone company has removed the app that turns on the chip. (Why wood anybody do that?)

Read here:
How to Unlock the FM Radio Hidden on Your Smartphone

A large number of Android Phones use he same chip set. If yours is one of them, then you just need the right app to turn it on.
The quality can be very good on local stations. But the headphones must be attached to pick up enough signal.

Using the direct FM thing saves your data usage. No data connection misused. It is called Radio. Ask your parents. They remember.

My question. Why not AM radio also? The FM Radio is part of the more common SoC chips. They are typically disabled in hardware- you cannot enable them in any way, beyond, of course, hardware modifications. Part of the reason that aspect is disabled may be to conform to desired FCC/CRTC rulesets. That it is disabled by carriers wanted to cause people to use data so they can be charged for it is PROBABLE but unlikely- the Carriers do not control the hardware features of the phones they use. They could lock out an active FM Radio through software but most phones have the FM Radio functionality, if it is available at all, disabled even on devices that have never been associated with any carrier at all.

Quote from: Geek-9pm on December 27, 2018, 04:41:55 PM

Why not AM radio also?

My ZTE Blade 3 (2011-2015) and my current Motorola Moto G (both UK models) have FM radio fully functional. Is this a US thing?

FM ratio on one IC is not new.

About a year ago I downloaded the NextRadio app. When launched it searches for local stations....So I've always assumed I can listen to the radio 3 ways - Internal FM antenna, cell network and Wifi.