[alicia hillier]

You said you could sometimes get 3 minutes of boot time, which is more than enough to restore a registry.


If you are downloading from the same site when you are experiencing the decrease, then it could be on their side, but it seems more likely to be yours. A very likely culprit is your ISP throttling long downloads for "QoS" or crappy DSL/cable service causing packet loss.

for wireless you are probably getting interference. Change the channel of your wifi, and be using at least 802.11g, definitely not 802.11b. (requires the wireless node to support 802.11g, which pretty much all do nowadays) 802.11n if you can. Also: http://xkcd.com/654/

mostly sounds like a crappy ISP to me, though.

The channel change didn't work.

We switched out the cable modem for a new one. This looks to be the solution sine the new computer has had zero internet problems. Unfortunately, it looks like I need to find a new driver for the old computer since it will log into the internet for a minute, then disconnect.

[Angel Torres]

memtest86, or use Windows 7 built in memory tester.

Build in memory tester instructions: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/715-memory-diagnostics-tool.html

Sounds like a bad memory module or a module has become partially unseated.

Windows 7 memory diagnostics says there is a memory problem (but doesn't give specific information), i ran memtest86 on each RAM module separately and they all passed the test. After that i ran it all modules and no problems. Could this not be a hardware problem? (and the RAM is actually is Corsair, not Kingston )

[Harry Hearing]

After doing some research, I can't decide if I should get a laptop with an i5 or i7 processor. I read that the i7 would be faster but I read that most games would work better with an i5. So should I spend the extra cash for a PC with an i7 or not? :unsure:

[xemmybx]

I just had one of those blue screens of death and my pc did an automatic restart. I know there is some way to look up what event caused it but haven't had a need to look for something like that in years. Can someone tell me how to do so and interpret it for me if I were to post it here?

Gosh that scared the beep out of me.

[Klaire]

After doing some research, I can't decide if I should get a laptop with an i5 or i7 processor. I read that the i7 would be faster but I read that most games would work better with an i5. So should I spend the extra cash for a PC with an i7 or not? :unsure:

I5 is plenty for gaming, hell, my q9550 is still a beast for gaming. I7's are better for video editing/F@H etc. Not saying they are not good gaming CPU's, they're just more than most games will use.

I just had one of those blue screens of death and my pc did an automatic restart. I know there is some way to look up what event caused it but haven't had a need to look for something like that in years. Can someone tell me how to do so and interpret it for me if I were to post it here?

Gosh that scared the beep out of me.

Right click>My Computer>Manage>Event Viewer>Somewhere in there depending which OS.

[SexyPimpAss]

I'm planning on buying a crappy eMachines with a 220W PSU; it's coming with an AMD Athlon II X2 215 CPU and 4GB DDR3 RAM, as well as a 500GB SATA HDD (actually not sure if hard drives consume any power?). I was going to replace it with a 500W PSU with a PCI-E connector so that I could use my old Radeon X1950PRO with 512 GDDR3 VRAM, which while not being the best card anymore, will be a definite step-up from the GeForce 6150SE onboard. Anyway, should a 500W PSU have enough wattage to cover all this? And will that CPU bottleneck the X1950PRO? If my Athlon 64 4000+ didn't I'm assuming it won't, but I've gotten behind on all this stuff.

And a dumb question: I've got a VGA adapter, will my non-HD, non-widescreen 15" flatscreen from like 2001 be able to display Windows 7, like at 1024x768? Or is Windows 7 only compatible with those wacky widescreen resolutions?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Wane Peters]

I'm planning on buying a crappy eMachines with a 220W PSU; it's coming with an AMD Athlon II X2 215 CPU and 4GB DDR3 RAM, as well as a 500GB SATA HDD (actually not sure if hard drives consume any power?). I was going to replace it with a 500W PSU with a PCI-E connector so that I could use my old Radeon X1950PRO with 512 GDDR3 VRAM, which while not being the best card anymore, will be a definite step-up from the GeForce 6150SE onboard. Anyway, should a 500W PSU have enough wattage to cover all this? And will that CPU bottleneck the X1950PRO? If my Athlon 64 4000+ didn't I'm assuming it won't, but I've gotten behind on all this stuff.

And a dumb question: I've got a VGA adapter, will my non-HD, non-widescreen 15" flatscreen from like 2001 be able to display Windows 7, like at 1024x768? Or is Windows 7 only compatible with those wacky widescreen resolutions?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Windows 7 will be able to display fine on that monitor. Also a PSU doesnt really bottleneck the system too much. It either works or works for a while and blows up. It will run fine on that one. While the GPU and CPU arent too great, it will do fine if you arent doing too much gaming.

[X(S.a.R.a.H)X]

Windows 7 will be able to display fine on that monitor. Also a PSU doesnt really bottleneck the system too much. It either works or works for a while and blows up. It will run fine on that one. While the GPU and CPU arent too great, it will do fine if you arent doing too much gaming.

500W is OK then? Well this is all just the stuff I needed to know, thanks.

[Richus Dude]

500W is OK then? Well this is all just the stuff I needed to know, thanks.

Well 500W is decent, depending on what brand it is. What brand makes it? I wouldnt trust it with a high end video card but it should be fine for that one.

[Talitha Kukk]

Well 500W is decent, depending on what brand it is. What brand makes it? I wouldnt trust it with a high end video card but it should be fine for that one.

Good question, they're all http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007657+600036427+600014020+4025&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&IsNodeId=1&Subcategory=58&description=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc= and seemingly identical specs-wise, so I wasn't sure which to go with.

[Ashley Clifft]

Good question, they're all http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007657+600036427+600014020+4025&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&IsNodeId=1&Subcategory=58&description=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc= and seemingly identical specs-wise, so I wasn't sure which to go with.

Well most of those brands I dont really like too much, you would be fine with that PC with a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008&Tpk=Corsair%20400W. (Corsair is like the Mercedes of PC world, they make high end products).

[priscillaaa]

Well most of those brands I dont really like too much, you would be fine with that PC with a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008&Tpk=Corsair%20400W. (Corsair is like the Mercedes of PC world, they make high end products).

Anything cheaper than that you can recommend? Money is kind of an issue for me, I was already wincing at $40.

[Hella Beast]

Anything cheaper than that you can recommend? Money is kind of an issue for me, I was already wincing at $40.

Well you really dont want a cheap PSU, a cheap one could mean your entire system could blow. I wouldnt trust any PSU under $40 at all. Also are you sure that the case you are putting the new PSU in can support the standard ATX PSU? A lot of manufacturers have went to the smaller cases that only take specialized PSUs.

[Code Affinity]

My friend has an external hard drive. It's casing broke off and now it's as exposed as a normal internal hard drive, except it can be hooked up via USB. She puts the hard drive on every surface imaginable, tables, carpeted floors, sheets, etc, and even stores it in her purse where it bangs up against other items, and yet it still works fine and has worked fine for months. How is this possible? The thought of taking my computer hardware and putting it on a carpet or in a purse makes me cringe because of how easy it is to damage computer parts with static. Is it not as easy as I thought and I could just go rubbing my hard drive all over the carpet with no consequences or is she just incredibly lucky?

[Curveballs On Phoenix]

Due to a major system failure, I need to move from an IDE (or PATA) based system to a SATA system. However, I have an almost-new 320GB hard drive.

Would I be better off getting a converter to use the drive internally, or getting an enclosure and using it as an external USB drive? I do plan on using the drive for gaming- not just for backup.

Alternatively, would it just be better to get a true SATA internal larger than the 60GB that comes with the new (used) system, and to use the IDE to USB external setup as a storage/backup device?

[Kristian Perez]

Not all, but many mobos should have both, mine does. It's got 6 SATA and 1 IDE/PATA connection. (Hell, 1 floppy to.)

[amhain]

Not all, but many mobos should have both, mine does. It's got 6 SATA and 1 IDE/PATA connection. (Hell, 1 floppy to.)

True... And the more I think about it, why do I really need 2 CD/DVD drives? I can just pull the CD-ROM that comes with the system and put my Sony DRU on one channel and the IDE hard drive on the other- as long as the ribbon cable will reach...

[dell]

Hi

I got tired of the probems my current computer is giving me so I decided that its time to partially upgrade that computer. After weekend spent on searching for suitable components and good prices for them I've managed to put together a suitable set of parts.

This is what I thought of getting:

CPU: Intel i7 920 (D0 stepping) (OEM)
Mobo: GIGABYTE X58A-UD3R
RAM: Corsair TR3X6G1600C9

Anyone have ideas or suggestions of what to improve or change? My budget is around 700€.

Rest of the parts I can scavenge from my current comp. Those parts include ATi48902GB, Auzentech X-Fi Prelude 7.1, Enermax Liberty 620w and Antec P182 case.

All help would be appreciated.

- MvS

[Guy Pearce]

For soem reason on Win7 Pro x64 when I turn on my PC I get two processes for Windows Update running in 32bit mode, and 4 extra Windows Explorer processes. I have the Windows Update service set to manual and told it to never check for updates so it shouldn't even start up. Anyone have any ideas what is going on? It just started recently and am not sure why.

[Felix Walde]

I've got two monitors, that are about to be given away, is there anything I can do with them?

[aisha jamil]

I've got two monitors, that are about to be given away, is there anything I can do with them?

Eyefinity?

More desktop real-estate?

If neither suites your needs, give em away.

[Poetic Vice]

I've got two monitors, that are about to be given away, is there anything I can do with them?

You could run dual monitors or connect one to a laptop :shrug:

Edit: ninja'd by wolfpup :ninja:

[Sara Johanna Scenariste]

Eyefinity?

More desktop real-estate?

If neither suites your needs, give em away.

So do I just plug in the other one? Or do I need a special program?

[Jennifer Munroe]

So do I just plug in the other one? Or do I need a special program?

What GPU do you have? Eyefinity is ATI's multi-monitor name, Nvidia is 3D-vision or some such. (Needs 2 GPUs to do 3+ monitors. ATI only needs 1, in the 5000 series.)

Any GPU with multi outputs will do expanded desktop by simply plugging it in and going to the display options to set up "Dual-Monitors". (Different from Eyefinity/3D-Vision.)

Eyefinity/3D-Vision allows 3 monitors to act as one. (ATI now has bezel management....woot.) So 3 1920x1080 in landscape mode would do 5760x1080, or in portrait mode, 1920x3240.

Expanded simply gives you more desktop space, but games/full screen apps would only use 1 monitor with some extra desktop on the second+.

[Petr Jordy Zugar]

What GPU do you have? Eyefinity is ATI's multi-monitor name, Nvidia is 3D-vision or some such. (Needs 2 GPUs to do 3+ monitors. ATI only needs 1, in the 5000 series.)

Any GPU with multi outputs will do expanded desktop by simply plugging it in and going to the display options to set up "Dual-Monitors". (Different from Eyefinity/3D-Vision.)

Eyefinity/3D-Vision allows 3 monitors to act as one. (ATI now has bezel management....woot.) So 3 1920x1080 in landscape mode would do 5760x1080, or in portrait mode, 1920x3240.

Expanded simply gives you more desktop space, but games/full screen apps would only use 1 monitor with some extra desktop on the second+.

I have a Nvidia Geforce G100