[Guinevere Wood]

Somehow when unblocking a NoScipt element in Firefox it got set to not ask anymore. But I want it to ask me each time for this element like it has done in the past. Where should I look for the option to change it? Or do I just need to reset all NoScript preferences?

Right click the NoScript icon in the lower right corner and select options. Go to the Notification tab and tick the 'Show message about blocked scripts' box.

If that is not the problem, click 'Reset' at the bottom or uninstall then reinstall the plugin for default options.

P.S.

Did you hit 'Allow scripts globally' by any chance?

[Baby K(:]

I was writing a post and all of a sudden all of the fans in my computer revved up and got even louder than usual, and my screen went black. I had to use the power button to turn it off and on again as the restart button wouldn't work. Does anyone know why this might have happened?

[Robert]

I was writing a post and all of a sudden all of the fans in my computer revved up and got even louder than usual, and my screen went black. I had to use the power button to turn it off and on again as the restart button wouldn't work. Does anyone know why this might have happened?

Sounds like overheating. The fans are temperature-controlled.

The most common cause of overheating (besides an overclocking job gone bad) is dust.

[Campbell]

Sounds like overheating. The fans are temperature-controlled.

The most common cause of overheating (besides an overclocking job gone bad) is dust.

Well I have been putting off cleaning it. Guess I'll have to do it sooner rather than later. Thanks.

[:)Colleenn]

I have a question that stumped the guys over at xoiticpc...

So my notebook won't allow me to access certain internet sites, one in particular being firefox.com. I have been trying to deduce the reason for three days now, and can't for the life of me fix the problem. I even downloaded Mozilla Developer Preview to try and access the sites through a different browser, and had no luck.

I am using a wireless router connected to a modem all within 10 feet of each other. I even unplugged the router and plugged the internet cord directly into my notebook from the modem, and the problem still persissts.

I've ensured that no RUNDLL.exe or whatever are running at startup. Performed the MSCONFIG in the Command Prompt, checked my startup programs and applications, and everything is fine. I've check my computer for missing drivers and everything is up to date. Performed multiple virus scans, and everything comes back ok.

I tried editing my MTU in the registry, played around with the protocols, disabled IPV6, played around and even unistalled/reinstalled my network adapter, and nothing worked.

I tried starting my notebook in safe mode, and still couldn't access the website.

I have pinged and tracert the few sites that won't load, and they keep coming back with either Destination Net Unreachable, or they time out during hops.

Having been told that my ISP was routing these sites through dead hubs, I contacted them, and they assured me my internet connection was working perfectly.

Well...wtf.

[courtnay]

I have a question. I am doing some research as at some point my sister wants a new tower. How feasible is it to build a computer that runs Oblivion and the Sims 3 for ￡300 (Sterling) or less. FYI, I think the Sims 3 requirements are below Oblivions.
She doesn't need an OS, Screen, Keyboard or similar and I am probably happy to build it for her.

Another question, vaguely related to the above one. I have a XP Pro licence that came with a dell computer. Will this work with a non dell computer? (I can probably borrow another XP pro disk to install if required).

A lil more than ￡300 is achievable...

CASE+PSU: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135101
CPU: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168971
MOBO: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/181968
RAM: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/158711
GPU: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/190727...or...http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173705
HDD: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124733

Roughly ￡330-￡346 inc VAT and Shipping charges. Assuming you have a DVD drive here as well.

For the OS question, often times these packed-in Windows disc from OEM PCs are tied to the motherboard. Technically, this means getting a new OS disc, but I have read of many that have gotten these Dell-provided OS discs to work on different setups. You could always try calling M$ to get another validation code, claiming a move to new a system.

[Ladymorphine]

I have a question that stumped the guys over at xoiticpc...

So my notebook won't allow me to access certain internet sites, one in particular being firefox.com. I have been trying to deduce the reason for three days now, and can't for the life of me fix the problem. I even downloaded Mozilla Developer Preview to try and access the sites through a different browser, and had no luck.

I am using a wireless router connected to a modem all within 10 feet of each other. I even unplugged the router and plugged the internet cord directly into my notebook from the modem, and the problem still persissts.

I've ensured that no RUNDLL.exe or whatever are running at startup. Performed the MSCONFIG in the Command Prompt, checked my startup programs and applications, and everything is fine. I've check my computer for missing drivers and everything is up to date. Performed multiple virus scans, and everything comes back ok.

I tried editing my MTU in the registry, played around with the protocols, disabled IPV6, played around and even unistalled/reinstalled my network adapter, and nothing worked.

I tried starting my notebook in safe mode, and still couldn't access the website.

I have pinged and tracert the few sites that won't load, and they keep coming back with either Destination Net Unreachable, or they time out during hops.

Having been told that my ISP was routing these sites through dead hubs, I contacted them, and they assured me my internet connection was working perfectly.

Well...wtf.

Try manually setting the dns server to something other then the ISP's default ones. Occasionally, the default DNS will have issues with certain websites and work perfectly fine with everything else.

Google Public DNS servers:

8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4

Also did you flush the DNS cache

ipconfig /flushdns

or

ipconfig /releaseipconfig /renew

Note: You can use Google's DNS server or any other DNS server without having issues. You aren't required to use the ISP's DNS servers. To restore to the default DNS either leave it blank or manually set it to what the ISP specfied.

edit: My ISP's DNS (provided by AT&T Worldnet) would occasionally have issues with station.sony.com URLs.

[ashleigh bryden]

I assume a lot of you have experience with cleaning computers with canned air. I've got to get around to doing that, but one thing that's concerning me is the heatsink. How do you clean that with canned air? If I spray it while it's still connected to the motherboard, the dust will just go into the heatsink itself, but I really don't want to have to remove it because then I'd have to apply more thermal paste. Any tips?

[BaNK.RoLL]

I assume a lot of you have experience with cleaning computers with canned air. I've got to get around to doing that, but one thing that's concerning me is the heatsink. How do you clean that with canned air? If I spray it while it's still connected to the motherboard, the dust will just go into the heatsink itself, but I really don't want to have to remove it because then I'd have to apply more thermal paste. Any tips?

No problem; it'll blow the dust around corners, through the vanes and out. Careful blowing through the fan, though; you can over-rev it and damage the bearings.

[Jack Walker]

No problem; it'll blow the dust around corners, through the vanes and out. Careful blowing through the fan, though; you can over-rev it and damage the bearings.

Not just that, but you will produce potentially serious voltage by spinning the fan with compressed air, as it would act like a generator. One should always stop fans from spinning when blowing air through them.

EDIT

Just for kicks, grab an old case fan, hook up a multimeter, and blow compressed air through it.

[Stu Clarke]

Not just that, but you will produce potentially serious voltage by spinning the fan with compressed air, as it would act like a generator. One should always stop fans from spinning when blowing air through them.

EDIT

Just for kicks, grab an old case fan, hook up a multimeter, and blow compressed air through it.

Not exactly true. The kind of cheap brushless DC motor used in fans doesn't generate. There is no direct connection between the coils and the supply: the coils are driven by op-amps. See a representative schematic at http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_2/chpt_13/6.html.

Over-revving the fan is still bad for it, but even revving the hell out of it (I've abused these fans by driving them with a high-pressure water jet) won't produce more than a fraction of a volt at a few milliamps.

[CYCO JO-NATE]

....

Thanks for the information.

[Sharra Llenos]

I bought this canister of "dust remover" because I couldn't find anything that called itself canned air. It looks like canned air and can be used on electronics, but it specifically states it isn't canned air, rather it's a "Compressed Gas Duster." When I spray it, only gas comes out. Should it be safe to use even though it isn't canned air?

[Taylrea Teodor]

I bought this canister of "dust remover" because I couldn't find anything that called itself canned air. It looks like canned air and can be used on electronics, but it specifically states it isn't canned air, rather it's a "Compressed Gas Duster." When I spray it, only gas comes out. Should it be safe to use even though it isn't canned air?

All if not most dusters are compressed gas and not air. This is better than air, as compressed air usually is contaminated with oil, dust and other particulates. For example if you used a bulky air compressor. The compressed gas is free of particulates.

However, you must use compressed gas correctly. Do not spray while the canister is upside-down, this is cause the liquid-state gas to boil and this may damaged electrical components. Also do not shake the canister. Try to use compressed gas dusters with a ESD compound to prevent damage from static electricity.

[Bones47]

Does anybody know if PAL DVD players can play NTSC DVDs? I'm looking at buying some dvds from Japan which is the same region as the UK, so no worries there. However, some people said that PAL can play NTSC DVDs, is this true? If so, this will confirm my purchase.

[Saul C]

Does anybody know if PAL DVD players can play NTSC DVDs? I'm looking at buying some dvds from Japan which is the same region as the UK, so no worries there. However, some people said that PAL can play NTSC DVDs, is this true? If so, this will confirm my purchase.

Apparently, most PAL DVD players can play NTSC DVDs. Contact the manufacturer of your DVD player to confirm.

[Daramis McGee]

For some reason on Windows 7 x64 my G15 keyboard doesn't automatically switch profiles when I launch games. It used to be fine on XP pro, but now I have to do it manually. Anyone know if this is a bug or known issue?

[Isabella X]

Did you disable it in the Game Panel Manager under Programs?

G-Series Profile Selector.

Mine seems to work. I can load "My Prefer Config" and right above it is Fallout 3.

[Tiffany Castillo]

Did you disable it in the Game Panel Manager under Programs?

G-Series Profile Selector.

Mine seems to work. I can load "My Prefer Config" and right above it is Fallout 3.

When enabled I still have to manually switch to it which is annoying.

[Jenna Fields]

Is "Profile Activation Notification" ticked in the Profiler under Settings>Profiler

[Monika Fiolek]

I need a good PSU that will fit into a smaller Acer computer I bought. I'm gonna buy a nice video card for it and I have $100 but I kinda don'd want to spend the whole 100 lol

I'm Canadian too.

[Jason King]

I need a good PSU that will fit into a smaller Acer computer I bought. I'm gonna buy a nice video card for it and I have $100 but I kinda don'd want to spend the whole 100 lol

I'm Canadian too.

What model of Acer? Is it a standard microATX tower, or a small desktop or slimline case?

[Big mike]

What model of Acer? Is it a standard microATX tower, or a small desktop or slimline case?

Acer Aspire M1202

http://i40.tinypic.com/xyuqp.jpg

[Kitana Lucas]

Acer Aspire M1202

http://i40.tinypic.com/xyuqp.jpg

Standard ATX12V power supplies. There are lots of decent ones in the 400-500W range at Newegg Canada, including Xclio, Antec "Earthwatts" (look for the newer models with the green case and a "D" suffix), and even some Seasonics and a Silverstone and a Corsair. That's all you need unless you're going for a high-end graphics card, which wouldn't be the best idea in that little case anyway.

[Ysabelle]

Quick question. What wattage would be needed to power a rig containing an i7 930/6GB DDR3 RAM/HD 5850/1 HDD, assuming the brand of the PSU is very good?