[Dylan Markese]

Now I'm looking for a new hd and was wondering which one would be the best. I need 500gb and under 80 bucks. Now I'm wondering which would be best between internal/external. I need it mainly for backing up all my data since I'm about to install W7 soon.

man, you missed out. Best Buy was selling 1 TB Western Digital Caviar Blacks for $59 during the week of Black Friday.

If it is just for backing up your data, and having the fastest of the fast isn't necessary, your best bet is a http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Intellipower-Desktop-WD10EARS/dp/B002U1N95K. Otherwise I'd go with Terash's suggestion of Caviar Black.

[D LOpez]

Which version of W7 should I get? I want home premium but all I see is an upgrade version on Newegg.

[Vincent Joe]

Which version of W7 should I get? I want home premium but all I see is an upgrade version on Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754

Assuming you want 64-bit

[Beth Belcher]

Which version of W7 should I get? I want home premium but all I see is an upgrade version on Newegg.

Home Premium is definitely the way to go unless you need legacy software support (which is rarely the case outside of businesses).

You are building this computer, right?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754

If not building, you can just use the upgrade and do a clean install with it.

[Chris Ellis]

No, this is going on my current rig.

Now I can only use the upgraded version on one computer, correct? I was hoping to install it on the family computer also.

[Rachie Stout]

No, this is going on my current rig.

Then OEM is out

Now I can only use the upgraded version on one computer, correct? I was hoping to install it on the family computer also.

Neither Standard OEM, standard Retail, nor standard upgrade is permissive of installing on more than one computer.

Only bulk licenses and family licenses can you do that. Every other version has a clause in the EULA strictly prohibiting it (even bulk and family have the clause, just are explicitly stated in the clause to be permissive of it up to the license count)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116775

[Baylea Isaacs]

Awesome. Thanks Def.

[Robert Devlin]

Awesome. Thanks Def.

A word of advice: after you've upgraded a system, image the hard drive. It'll save you a lot of hassle in the future, as you can just restore that image instead of having to dig up another copy of Windows to authenticate installing with an upgrade copy if you are ever in a situation of needing to reinstall windows on the computer again.

[Mélida Brunet]

Need some help real fast before the new thread is made, I bought Super Meat Boy off of Steam a few days ago and it worked fine the day I bought it but now when I start it up it only gives me audio and no video. Also this is the only game that this happens with.

[i grind hard]

Need some help real fast before the new thread is made, I bought Super Meat Boy off of Steam a few days ago and it worked fine the day I bought it but now when I start it up it only gives me audio and no video. Also this is the only game that this happens with.

What has changed since the last time you played it? (In terms of installing/updating new software [even if the updates are automatic])

I would recommend posting this on the Super Meat Boy forums though, if it only happens with that game it is more likely someone there will know the fix.

[Hearts]

Need some help real fast before the new thread is made, I bought Super Meat Boy off of Steam a few days ago and it worked fine the day I bought it but now when I start it up it only gives me audio and no video. Also this is the only game that this happens with.

Go to the Library>Games section.
Right click Super Meat Boy>Properties>Local Files>Verify integrity of game cache

If there are any corrupted/missing files that should fix it.

Make sure any/all needed 3rd party programs are installed. Like DirectX, GFWL, Microsoft Visual C++.

Good luck.

[SEXY QUEEN]

I have a little problem with my newest folding machine build- a water cooled 980X. It has 4x GTS450s. I'm still working on the OC, and the only way I can see anything before Windows starts, such as the POST screen and BIOS, is to have the monitor connected to the top card. The bottom of the radiator blocks easy access to the top card (meaning I can just barely force it in there).

I thought I had the perfect fix- a right angle DVI to VGA adapter. Unfortunately, I can't find one. After scrolling through 33 pages on Newegg and 15 pages on Amazon, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200411 is the best I found. Size-wise, it should work with a standard adapter to clear the radiator.

Rather than jump to spend $10 (plus $3 shipping), does anyone have a better suggestion? In the meantime, I think I'll try heating and bending one of the crapload of adapters I have laying around.

[Naughty not Nice]

Uh, I have a question. I need to update my nVidia drivers for my GTX 260. My current drivers are the 197 series, the latest are 260.99. Do I uninstall my old drivers before installing the new ones, or is it okay to just install the new ones without uninstalling the old ones? :unsure:

[Wanda Maximoff]

Uh, I have a question. I need to update my nVidia drivers for my GTX 260. My current drivers are the 197 series, the latest are 260.99. Do I uninstall my old drivers before installing the new ones, or is it okay to just install the new ones without uninstalling the old ones? :unsure:

Contrary to what many here would say, I've always just layered my nVidia drivers- install the new one on top of the old one. I've got 8 machines running right now that were done that way.

[Jinx Sykes]

Uh, I have a question. I need to update my nVidia drivers for my GTX 260. My current drivers are the 197 series, the latest are 260.99. Do I uninstall my old drivers before installing the new ones, or is it okay to just install the new ones without uninstalling the old ones? :unsure:

The only reason you need to completely wipe graphics device drivers is when you are changing from architecture type to another (nVidia to AMD, AMD to nVIdia, etc...) or if you are changing from a reference device driver package to a third party package or vice versa (AMD reference to ASUS, AMD reference to Omega). If uninstalling is required it is strongly recommended that this be done in Safe Mode, especially if the graphics device driver package includes a Motherboard Chipset driver.

Most if not all driver packages include a previous driver wipe during installation. This won't clear up all traces of the driver, but will remove conflicts in the System32 directory.

[Toby Green]

The only reason you need to completely wipe graphics device drivers is when you are changing from architecture type to another (nVidia to AMD, AMD to nVIdia, etc...) or if you are changing from a reference device driver package to a third party package or vice versa (AMD reference to ASUS, AMD reference to Omega). If uninstalling is required it is strongly recommended that this be done in Safe Mode, especially if the graphics device driver package includes a Motherboard Chipset driver.

Most if not all driver packages include a previous driver wipe during installation. This won't clear up all traces of the driver, but will remove conflicts in the System32 directory.

So if I were to upgrade from a 4670 to a 6850, as long as I'm using the ATI drivers I should be ok with just taking out the old card, putting the new one in, and installing the drivers for the 6850?

[RaeAnne]

So if I were to upgrade from a 4670 to a 6850, as long as I'm using the ATI drivers I should be ok with just taking out the old card, putting the new one in, and installing the drivers for the 6850?

As long as it's a fairly new one, the Catalyst driver you have installed to run the 4670 should run the 6850 with no need to install a new driver.
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx
I checked this for the 4xxx and 6xxx on the same OS and they both used the same driver.

[Darren]

So if I were to upgrade from a 4670 to a 6850, as long as I'm using the ATI drivers I should be ok with just taking out the old card, putting the new one in, and installing the drivers for the 6850?

You probably won't even need to install a different driver at all. Of course the newest driver may increase performance and a hotfix included may fix a major bug, but the CCC package should work for all Radeon products. However Radeon older than HD 2 series may require an older driver package.

[Josh Lozier]

Friend of mine needs a new laptop. hers is dead and she says it tries to turn on but goes nowhere, she is not technical and I am nowhere near the area to inspect it myself. She says the lights come on on the laptop but not the screen and the laptop reboots within a few seconds. Any ideas what could cause this? Again she is not technical in the slightest and I am not near her to be able to look at it for myself.

If nobody has any idea she needs a new laptop between $400 and $550 USD, $600 would be an absolute max. Its mainly a school computer so 2gb of RAM is fine, she does play Sims 2 and some simple games from Steam (mainly Plants vs Zombies), and she does not need a number pad for it. Any suggestions for this? I found a couple bit she is nit picky for some reason because she is more concerned about price than what she wants to use it for to me.

She lives in the middle of nowhere so NewEgg or TigerDirect would be good if it is online or Best Buy and Wal-Mart, if it is obtainable at a store that would be a plus but not required. I was also just told an acciental type warranty would be good so long as it falls within or close to the price range.

[luis dejesus]

You probably won't even need to install a different driver at all. Of course the newest driver may increase performance and a hotfix included may fix a major bug, but the CCC package should work for all Radeon products. However Radeon older than HD 2 series may require an older driver package.

Oh well that's good. I did download an updated set of drivers though. The onyes I'm using are from February or something.

[Andy durkan]

Can someone please help me with this I cant use my speakers at all

I got a pair of headphones today for christmas, the headphones have a built in sound card and is connected to the computer via usb, problem is though that I can use the speakers for whatever reason, I was told that I need to disable a sound card, is there any easier way or how would I go about doing this?

[CHangohh BOyy]

Can someone please help me with this I cant use my speakers at all

I got a pair of headphones today for christmas, the headphones have a built in sound card and is connected to the computer via usb, problem is though that I can use the speakers for whatever reason, I was told that I need to disable a sound card, is there any easier way or how would I go about doing this?

Is this Windows 7? You have to select a default playback device, and only one can be selected at a time.

[neen]

Is this Windows 7? You have to select a default playback device, and only one can be selected at a time.

nah its windows xp

[lacy lake]

I'm starting to dislike new complications that AVG is giving me with games and false positives.

So I'm thinking about going to Avast!.

However, I've only used Avast! Free years ago. Never their paid services.

Has anyone here in TCTT used any of the Avast! services beyond the free client?

Any recommendations?

[Alyesha Neufeld]

I'm starting to dislike new complications that AVG is giving me with games and false positives.

So I'm thinking about going to Avast!.

However, I've only used Avast! Free years ago. Never their paid services.

Has anyone here in TCTT used any of the Avast! services beyond the free client?

Any recommendations?

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/