[Bethany Short]

If you're installing new drivers for the same old graphics card you don't have to uninstall your old drivers. But if they are from a different graphics card or brand then you do and I remember I used to use this program that I had to go into safe mode to use that would uninstall all the old driver stuff w/o taking the chipset off the mobo. I just don't remember what it's called haha.

Same card, just updating its drivers (haven't updated since I got it in December '09). Are you sure about not needing to uninstall the old drivers? Everything I've read recommends doing that. :unsure:

[Add Meeh]

Same card, just updating its drivers (haven't updated since I got it in December '09). Are you sure about not needing to uninstall the old drivers? Everything I've read recommends doing that. :unsure:

Do you use ATI or Nvidia? I know on Nvidia's site in the FAQ they say you don't have to uninstall the old drivers. And in the last thread I think it was Tig who told me that you don't have to either when upgrading the drivers on the same card, I don't know if it's different with ATI. I just installed new drivers over my old drivers and everything worked out fine. Oh yeah, Tig said there's always the chance that something goes wrong, but that's what restore points are for right?

[SiLa]

Do you use ATI or Nvidia? I know on Nvidia's site in the FAQ they say you don't have to uninstall the old drivers. And in the last thread I think it was Tig who told me that you don't have to either when upgrading the drivers on the same card, I don't know if it's different with ATI. I just installed new drivers over my old drivers and everything worked out fine. Oh yeah, Tig said there's always the chance that something goes wrong, but that's what restore points are for right?

It's an nVidia card, GTX 260.

Well, good to know I can just install over the old drivers. Fewer steps for me to mess up.

[CHANONE]

Would it be better to use the Ultimate Boot CD or separately burn both Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test and MemTest86+? I need to do the diagnostics on my laptop.

[N Only WhiTe girl]

So I just learned today that I've been accepted back to uni and am looking to replace my 5-year old laptop before classes start. http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/gateway-gateway-15-6-intel-core-i3-330m-2-13ghz-laptop-nv5905h-black-nv5905h/10137510.aspx?path=9b593f712e48a2cd2a5ebe664b2024caen02 seems to give me the best bang for the buck. Opinions? Any obvious 'gotchas' I've missed?

I realize battery life isn't spectacular, but I don't expect to take more than one class a day, so that shouldn't be an issue. Also, please note that unlike many similar posts, this is not intended to be a "gaming laptop" -- it's for school, that's it.

Thanks for your time.

Looks like you're aiming for as much CPU power you can get for the money. Due to the budget and being in Canada, what you chose is decent based on my own research for something similar/cheaper.

I have a questions about blu-ray. I want to get the complete series of Lost, but watching it on DVD on my HDTV looks pretty bad (especially since I watched most of season 6 from ABC in HD). Is it worth it to get a blu-ray player or drive for my computer now (or over this summer really)? I might just get a PS3, since it plays Blu-ray and I would use it for games as well.

Get the PS3...I got two of them and they are great Blu players that get updated all the time. Upconversion of DVDs look nice as well

[Scotties Hottie]

What damage could repeatedly pressing the power button on a computer do? My coworker says his friend kept pressing the power button to turn the computer on because they didn't realize the monitor wasn't on (.......). Now the computer won't start up properly. It hangs at the "Choose How To Start Up; Normal, Safe Mode, etc..." screen.

[Nick Tyler]

I have had http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134 for a while, but I am not happy with the operating temperatures. I think it is because of the plastic pushpin system, so I am thinking of buying some new thermal paste and attaching a screw mount behind my motherboard.

Which is a good mount I can buy? I liked the look of http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835117024, but it is out of stock.

[Lexy Dick]

What damage could repeatedly pressing the power button on a computer do? My coworker says his friend kept pressing the power button to turn the computer on because they didn't realize the monitor wasn't on (.......). Now the computer won't start up properly. It hangs at the "Choose How To Start Up; Normal, Safe Mode, etc..." screen.

Almost certainly no damage.

You get that screen if you interrupt Windows while it is starting up.

Choose "Normal" and get on with your life

[Alexandra walker]

Almost certainly no damage.

You get that screen if you interrupt Windows while it is starting up.

Choose "Normal" and get on with your life

Yeah, that's what I was thinking about not causing damage, but I should double check.

I'm told that no matter what they choose, it just hangs at that screen and doesn't continue starting up. Are we thinking damaged hard drive?

[Adrian Morales]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking about not causing damage, but I should double check.

I'm told that no matter what they choose, it just hangs at that screen and doesn't continue starting up. Are we thinking damaged hard drive?

There a small chance of it corrupting a boot file. The chance is greater on RAID setups. There is a slim chance of doing hardware damage to the hard drive (corrupted sectors).

Try booting into Safe Mode and/or reseating your RAM. RAM errors can cause a boot failure when Windows cannot correctly load the Windows bootloader into memory. I've experience a similar problem. I randomly received a: "Cannot load ntXXXX.XXX" error message while trying to boot. I tried to repair the install and it went into a BSoD. I reseated my RAM and it fixed everything... even the "Cannot load" message.

If this still freezes then you need to either: 1) Repair the Windows Install using a Windows CD/DVD, or 2) Use the Recovery Console to manually repair any/all boot files.

[Setal Vara]

There a small chance of it corrupting a boot file. The chance is greater on RAID setups. There is a slim chance of doing hardware damage to the hard drive (corrupted sectors).

Try booting into Safe Mode and/or reseating your RAM. RAM errors can cause a boot failure when Windows cannot correctly load the Windows bootloader into memory. I've experience a similar problem. I randomly received a: "Cannot load ntXXXX.XXX" error message while trying to boot. I tried to repair the install and it went into a BSoD. I reseated my RAM and it fixed everything... even the "Cannot load" message.

If this still freezes then you need to either: 1) Repair the Windows Install using a Windows CD/DVD, or 2) Use the Recovery Console to manually repair any/all boot files.

Thanks for the tips. By "reseat", you mean take out and put back in to make sure the connections are proper?

[Arrogant SId]

Thanks for the tips. By "reseat", you mean take out and put back in to make sure the connections are proper?

Yes, you can also try changing the modules around (slot 1 to 2, 2 to 1, etc..)

[Devin Sluis]

Ok, so I'm doing a bit of fiddling around with Access so I can convert a contact list in Excel that's difficult to manipulate and navigate into an Access DB that should, in theory anyway, be easier to use. (This is for my Dad by the way).

Bearing in mind the fact that I want to minimise his contact with the "workings" as much as possible, this is what I'm currently trying to achieve:

When the Database is opened, all I want to display is the Contacts Form. I don't want any of the menus or things used to actually create the DB to be shown. I used to be able to achieve this with the older versions of Access by making it a splash screen but all I seem to be able to do on this version is make the Form the first thing that is displayed, menus and all.

Is what I'm trying to do possible?

Cheers.

[Jacob Phillips]

My coworker's niece's desktop fell about 3 feet to the floor. Obviously, it won't turn on. I've heard the hard drive make a clicking noise when starting up then a whirring noise when turning off. I have a spare hard drive I'm gonna steal from another computer to see if I can get it to at least beep. Other than the hard drive, in case that doesn't fix it, what other damage can I imagine happen? I haven't checked, but I'm sorta worried that maybe the CPU/Motherboard cracked or something in the PSU broke.

EDIT: So, I went to take the heatsink/fan off the CPU...and the CPU decided to come along. This computer is so old that the heatsink and CPU must've bonded together because of the thermal paste. When I looked closer, some of the http://i45.tinypic.com/2uy4lj4.jpg came with it. I'm assuming that's not supposed to happen. Guess it's time to call her with the bad news?

[pinar]

My coworker's niece's desktop fell about 3 feet to the floor. Obviously, it won't turn on. I've heard the hard drive make a clicking noise when starting up then a whirring noise when turning off. I have a spare hard drive I'm gonna steal from another computer to see if I can get it to at least beep. Other than the hard drive, in case that doesn't fix it, what other damage can I imagine happen? I haven't checked, but I'm sorta worried that maybe the CPU/Motherboard cracked or something in the PSU broke.

EDIT: So, I went to take the heatsink/fan off the CPU...and the CPU decided to come along. This computer is so old that the heatsink and CPU must've bonded together because of the thermal paste. When I looked closer, some of the http://i45.tinypic.com/2uy4lj4.jpg came with it. I'm assuming that's not supposed to happen. Guess it's time to call her with the bad news?

It's not unusual for the CPU to come out with the heatsink (and you have to coax it off later).

But if any of those silver things broke off the motherboard or CPU (you're pointing to surface-mount components attached to the motherboard), the motherboard or CPU is a total loss. It's possible that these were shocked off in the fall.

[Chloe :)]

It's not unusual for the CPU to come out with the heatsink (and you have to coax it off later).

But if any of those silver things broke off the motherboard or CPU (you're pointing to surface-mount components attached to the motherboard), the motherboard or CPU is a total loss. It's possible that these were shocked off in the fall.

Yeah, the CPU coming with the heatsink was really funny....then I saw the silver things. I'm almost positive they came off in the fall, but they were stuck to the CPU, which kinda confuses me.

[Veronica Flores]

Yeah, the CPU coming with the heatsink was really funny....then I saw the silver things. I'm almost positive they came off in the fall, but they were stuck to the CPU, which kinda confuses me.

Depending on the CPU model, there are some of those on the underside of the CPU that are meant to be there. Get a bright light and a magnifying glass so you can look closely. If they look like they're soldered to the CPU, and there aren't broken solder joints on the underside of the CPU or on the motherboard, all is well.

[Lauren Denman]

Depending on the CPU model, there are some of those on the underside of the CPU that are meant to be there. Get a bright light and a magnifying glass so you can look closely. If they look like they're soldered to the CPU, and there aren't broken solder joints on the underside of the CPU or on the motherboard, all is well.

There are some soldered to the CPU but some definitely broke off the motherboard. So yeah, still broken.

[Marion Geneste]

Get the PS3...I got two of them and they are great Blu players that get updated all the time. Upconversion of DVDs look nice as well

Do they still sell the original fat ones? Because the slim ones are a little too expensive for me.

[Stephy Beck]

Do they still sell the original fat ones? Because the slim ones are a little too expensive for me.

Fry's Electronics( if you got one around your area) still sells refurbs of the older fat 80GB ones around the $240-250 mark I believe. Best Buy got em around the $260 mark I think. You can find new ones out there in the wild, but they'll typically cost at least the same as the 120GB Slim version (about 299 USD), so no point really.

[Katy Hogben]

Fry's Electronics( if you got one around your area) still sells refurbs of the older fat 80GB ones around the $240-250 mark I believe. Best Buy got em around the $260 mark I think. You can find new ones out there in the wild, but they'll typically cost at least the same as the 120GB Slim version (about 299 USD), so no point really.

The slims are 300? Amazon and Gamestop all had them for over 350, but I just checked Best Buy and you're right. o_O Are supplies thin or something?

[A Dardzz]

So my mum just picked up her first computer and I've spent evenings this week trying to teach her how to use it. Despite being a brand new machine (i3 processor, 4GB RAM), this thing is absolutely dog slow. I'll be typing something in OOo and nothing will show up on the screen, then whole words appear at once. Not normal. The system monitor consistently shows low CPU usage and plenty of free RAM, there aren't a ton of processes running -- none of the crapware seems to run at boot -- and, having not used Windows much in a few years, I'm pretty much out of ideas as to what to look for. Thoughts? Help?

EDIT: It's not just OOo that's slow, for the record. There are delays doing nearly everything from activating menus to closing windows.

[Kirsty Collins]

My ancient 5 year old laptop having served me well over the years, is slowly dying, so I'm thinking of getting a replacement. And I come to you, dear BGSF, for suggestions.

I don't have a particular budget, but I'd like to keep it under $1K (less is better). I'm currently in the US and prefer to order online. Things I'm looking for:

• Quiet when not under load. This is probably my most important requirement. My main use for the laptop is reading ebooks or browsing the web in bed, and fan noise is really annoying for that.
  
• Long battery life. Not critical, but I'd like it to last at the very least 2 hours of light web browsing on the battery (preferably more).
  
• 15'' or so screen. Non-wide preferred since it's small already, but I suppose it's hard to find those these days.
  
• Full Home/End/Delete, backspace and arrow keys. I'll be doing some coding on it, and whenever I have to write code on a laptop that has no home/end keys or requires a key combination (e.g. Fn+PgDn) I end up spending more time cursing than actually coding.
  
• A non-Intel graphics card. I don't plan to do much gaming on it, but it should handle 5 years old games at least on low-medium.
  
• Portability. Not that important, but the lighter the better. My http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12135_na/12135_na.HTML weighs 6 lb and I find that great. Would like to keep the next one around the same weight.

Thanks!

[Beat freak]

Hey guys, I'm going to be graduating tomorrow and am looking around for laptops for college.

The thing is that I'm going to be bringing my desktop along (I've poured my money, time and love into it, so I want it at school with me because it's a beast), so I really don't need an ultra-powerful laptop.

I'm looking for something in the $5-700 (or cheaper) range that's powerful, but not excessively so. It'll be used to take notes, browse the internet when I'm out of my dorm, etc. What I plan on doing is keeping my laptop and desktop in-sync with each other with my most up-to-date word files, so that I can always be working on the most updated document.

That being said, here are the general specs I'm looking for:

Core 2 Duo/Core i3 processor
2+ GB RAM
320+GB HDD
Any graphics device, nothing powerful required

Anything from ASUS or the Dell Outlet would be preferred, I know that ASUS doesn't load down their stuff with proprietary software and Dell laptops are probably the best you're going to do from companies like Dell/HP/Compaq etc.

[Lisa]

Core 2 Duo/Core i3 processor
2+ GB RAM
320+GB HDD
Any graphics device, nothing powerful required

Here is a decent looking Asus with actually a pretty nice GPU for the price. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220715 Also must it be an Intel CPU? A lot of decent laptops have AMD CPUs.